558 
Aeonitum  Napellus  aud  other  Species, 
f  Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      Nov.,  1882. 
menting  in  this  direction  I  found  that  the  roots  of  several  species  of 
aconite  did  not  cause  a  tingling  sensation  when  chewed,  and  that  this 
was  the  case  not  merely  with  the  Asiatic  species,  Aeonitum  uncinatum, 
heterophyUum  and  palmatum,  but  that  also  several  plants  which  present 
the  specific  characters  of  A.  Napellus,  although  easily  distinguishable 
from  it  by  habit,  present  the  same  peculiarity.  Of  these  I  may  men- 
tion that  forms  which  were  supplied  to  me  under  the  names  of  ^4. 
Napellus,  var.  pyramidale  and  paniGulatum,  did  not  cause  tingling 
when  chewed,  while  others,  such  as  Stoerckeamim  and  albiflorum,  pro- 
duced a  slight,  and  others  again,  such  as  A.  autumnale,  a  very  power- 
ful tingling  sensation.  Here  a  difficulty  is  met  with  in  the  fact  that 
the  plants  are  not  always  correctly  named,  either  in  botanical  gardens 
or  in  the  collections  of  florists,  from  labels  becoming  displaced.  But 
all  of  the  aconites  in  which  this  variation  occurs,  so  far  as  I  have 
observed,  flower  later  than  the  typical  A.  Napellus,  so  that  if  the  Phar- 
macopoeia added  to  its  description  "  the  root  obtained  from  plants  flow- 
ering in  May  and  June,'^  and  erased  the  words  imported  from  Ger- 
many," one  cause  of  the  unequal  quality  of  the  root  would  be  removed. 
This  is  all  the  more  important,  since  I  have  determined  by  direct 
inquiry  that  some  florists  would  supply  to  a  grower  the  plant  flower- 
ing in  May  and  June,  and  others  would  supply  any  variety  of  A.  Na- 
pellus that  happened  to  be  in  stock,  no  difference  in  the  properties  of 
the  varieties  being  known  to  them.  The  only  way  to  secure  aconite 
of  good  and  uniform  quality  appears  to  be  to  limit  the  official  di^ug  to 
home-grown  aconite,  flowering  in  May  and  June,  and  gathered  when 
the  plant  is  in  flower.  In  this  way  there  can  be  no  mistake  about  the 
species,  and  the  leaves  collected  at  the  same  time  could  be  used  for 
making  extract.  Even  if  the  root  were  thus  not  gathered  in  its  most 
active  condition,  it  would  at  all  events  have  the  advantage  of  unifor- 
mity of  strength,  which  is  of  much  more  importance. 
The  aconite  has  the  property  of  developing  roots  instead  of  leaf  buds 
in  the  axils  of  the  lower  leaves,  provided  that  these  are  covered  with 
soil.  Whether  this  property  has  been  conferred  on  the  plant  with  the 
view  of  enabling  it  to  approach  nearer  to  the  surface  when,  as  must  often 
happen  in  its  native  mountains,  the  plant  becomes  almost  buried  by  the 
fall  of  debris,  or  the  earth  washed  away  from  the  roots  by  floods,  or  to 
propagate  the  species  when  not  under  favorable  conditions  for  produc- 
ing seed,  it  could  at  all  events  be  turned  to  account  in  cultivation,  since 
