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ANTHRISCUS. 
ANTHRISCUS. A small genus of herbaceous 
plants, of the umbelliferous group. The common 
species, Anthriscus vulgaris, sometimes popularly 
called rough chervil, is an annual weed of the 
hedge banks of Great Britain; and possesses a 
close resemblance to the common chervil, Chwro- 
phyllum sativum, but is poisonous. Some of the 
Dutch soldiers who were in Britain in 1745, mis- 
took it for common chervil, and were poisoned by 
it. A perennial species, Anthriscus nodosa, was 
introduced to Britain from Sicily in 1656; and 
seven other species are known to botanists. 
ANTHYLLUIS. See Kipyuy Vurcu. 
ANTICOR. A malignant swelling in the breast 
of horses, sometimes extending to the very sheath 
under the belly, and accompanied with fever, 
great depression and weakness, and a total want 
of appetite. Large and repeated bleedings are 
required, to abate the inflammation; emollient 
clysters, each containing an ounce of sal prunella, 
ought to be injected twice or thrice a-day; and 
unguents and opening poultices ought to be daily 
applied to the swelling. On the fourth or fifth 
day, when the inflammation in the throat is sub- 
dued, the swelling on the breast should be so 
treated as to be brought if possible to a state of 
suppuration; and when suppurated, it must be 
opened with a knife, and dressed with strong tur- 
pentine ointment. If the swelling will not sup- 
purate, and if it so increases as to endanger suffo- 
cation, it must be pierced with a hot-pointed 
cautery, and afterwards dressed with very stimu- 
lating ointment, such as a turpentine ointment 
sharpened with a little cantharides and euphor- 
bium, and the adjoining parts bathed and foment- 
ed with preparations of marshmallows. Two 
distinguished veterinary surgeons of the old 
school advised that, when the swelling will not 
suppurate, a piece of black hellebore steeped in 
vinegar should be introduced through an open- 
ing of the skin, and allowed to remain during 
twenty-four hours, to act as a stimulant, and oc- 
casion a counter-irritation. 
ANTIDESMA. A genus of evergreen East 
Indian plants of the class Dicecia and order Pen- 
tandria, but of very doubtful station in the natu- 
ral botanical system. ‘Two species, the laurel- 
leaved and the panicled, both growing to the 
height of ten feet, were introduced about fifty 
years ago to Great Britain ; and eight other spe- 
cies are known to botanists. The bark of the 
laurel-leaved species is used in India as a mate- 
rial for ropes ; and a decoction of the leaves is said 
to be an antidote against the venom of serpents. 
ANTIDOTE. See Porson. 
ANTIMONY. A white shining coloured metal. 
The ore of antimony, from which it is obtained 
by fusion, is an aggregation of extremely small 
sparkling granules, and, when first broken, has 
the appearance of a lump of the purest steel. 
Productive mines of the ore occur in Hungary, 
Transylvania, Bohemia, Saxony, and many parts 
of France. Antimony is used by founders, type- 
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ANTIMONY. 205 
founders, pewterers, clockwork-makers, and man- 
ufacturing chemists ; and four preparations of it 
—the black sesqui-sulphuret of antimony, emetic 
tartar, the compound powder of antimony, and 
the chloride or butyr of antimony—are used as 
horse and cattle medicines. 
The black sesqui-sulphuret of antimony has a 
shining, striated appearance; is hard, brittle, and 
very heavy ; and consists of antimony and sulphur 
in the proportion of 20 weights of antimony to 7 
weights of sulphur. A professed powder of it is 
sold in theshops, but ought never to be purchased 
by either farmer or farrier ; for it is often grossly 
adulterated with lead, manganese, forge-dust, and 
arsenic. Ifa little of the adulterated powder be 
placed on a red-hot iron plate, the pure sesqui- 
sulphuret will wholly evaporate, the arsenic will 
also evaporate but will occasion an evident smell 
like that of garlic, and a portion of the lead and 
the manganese will be left upon the plate. The 
pure sesqui-sulphuret, bought in bulk and pow- 
dered by the retail purchaser, is a good altera- 
tive for horses and other animals, and, in mixture 
with sulphur and saltpetre, is given in doses of 
various strength and frequency, according to the 
nature of the disease and the degree of desired 
rapidity in the change proposed to be effected in 
the system. An ounce, however, is the most com- 
mon quantity for a full-grown horse; and this is 
repeated according to circumstances. The sesqui- 
sulphuret of antimony is said to have also been 
advantageously administered in the fattening of 
hogs and cattle. 
Emetic tartar, or tartrate of potash and anti- 
mony, is a compound of super-tartrate of potash 
and oxide of antimony; and it is, in a slight de- | 
gree, decomposable by the action of light, and 
ought to be kept in a jar or green bottle. An 
adulteration of it is frequently made with arsenic ; 
but this can easily be detected by its emitting a 
garlic smell when placed upon a red hot iron, or 
by a solution of it with sulphuret of ammonia not 
yielding a beautiful gold-coloured precipitate. 
Tartar emetic is a very useful nauseant, sedative, 
and sudorific; and exerts a considerable irritat- 
ing power upon the skin. When administered in 
doses of from half a drachm to a drachm to horned 
cattle, or from a drachm to a drachm and a half 
to horses, but in combination with a due propor- 
tion of nitre and digitalis, it has great efficacy 
in lowering the circulation of the blood, and pro- 
moting restoration to health, in all cases of in- 
flammation of the lungs, in all catarrhal affec- 
tions, and especially in the particular forms of 
pleurisy with which domestic animals are so 
liable to be attacked; and when administered on 
an empty stomach, and for several successive 
days, in combination with some mechanical ver- 
mifuge such as tin filings or ground glass, in doses 
of two drachms to a horse, it acts very beneficially 
in cases of affliction with worms, and, even when 
it fails to expel them, will materially improve the 
horse’s condition, and promote the sleekness of 
