2 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
dowed with remedial power; it is enough to ensure it a wel- 
come at the hands of science, that it be possessed of a definite 
constitution and peculiar properties; of this nature is a vege- 
table alkaloid discovered by Lassaigne and Fenetjlle, in 
the seeds of the Delphinium stavisagria 1 or stavesacre seeds, 
and called delphia, or delphinia, and the following series of 
experiments are intended to demonstrate the existence of this 
principle in a different species of the same genus, the Delphi- 
nium consolida* 
BOTANICAL HISTORY. 
The genus Delphinium is found under the class Polyandria, 
and order Trigynia; it belongs to the natural order Ranunculi 
of Jussieu, or Ranunculacese of Decandolle and Lindley. 
The fancied resemblance between its flower and the head of 
the dolphin, has conferred the generic title. The genus is 
characterized as follows: calyx none, petals five, nectary bifid 
and horned, pods one or three. It is divided by botanists 
into nine species, several of which are indigenous to our own 
country. 
Local names. — Larkspur, larksfoot, stagger weed, rocket 
larkspur. Larkspur is an annual herbaceous plant, usually 
attaining the height of ten or twelve inches, though it exceeds 
this in situations favorable to its growth. It has a fibrous, 
yellowish root, and an erect branching stem, which is some- 
what hairy. The leaves are deeply sinuated, so as to give 
rise to long, linear segments, which are forked at the top; it 
is this form of the leaf which has originated the popular 
name of the plant. The flowers are generally of a sky-blue 
color, and disposed upon the plant in loose, terminal racemes. 
The peduncles are longer than the bractes, and the nectaries are 
one-leaved, having an ascending anterior horn, which is about 
as long as the corolla. The seeds are borne in smooth pods, 
are irregularly angular, about one line in diameter, of a brown, 
or blackish-brown color, and have an embossed appearance, 
owing to minute hairs upon their surfaces, which, when 
viewed through the microscope, are found to be collected 
