The Botanist's Companion Part 20

369. OCYMUM Basilic.u.m. BASIL. The Leaves.--These have a soft, somewhat warm taste; and when rubbed, a strong unpleasant smell, which by moderate drying becomes more agreeable. They are said to attenuate viscid phlegm, promote expectoration, and the uterine secretions.

370. OPHIOGLOSSUM vulgatum. ADDERS-TONGUE. The Leaf.--An ointment is made of the fresh leaves, and it is a good application to green wounds.

It is a very antient application, although now discarded from the apothecary's shop.

371. PAEONIA corolloides. MALE PEONY. The Seeds.--These are strong, and worn round the neck to a.s.sist detention, and are probably as good as other celebrated anodyne beads which have been so long recommended for the same purpose.

372. Ph.e.l.lANDRIUM aquatic.u.m. WATER HEMLOCK.--The seeds of this plant, according to Dr. Lange, when taken in large doses, produce a remarkable sensation of weight in the head, accompanied with giddiness, intoxication, &c. It may probably prove, however, an active medicine, especially in wounds and inveterate ulcers of different kinds, and even in cancers; also in phthisis pulmonalis, asthma, dyspepsia, intermittent fevers, &c. About two scruples of the seed, two or three times a-day, was the ordinary dose given. Medicines of this kind should be used with great caution.--Woodville's Med. Bot. p. 91, 92.

373. PIMPINELLA saxifraga. BURNET SAXIFRAGE. The Root, Leaves, and Seeds.--This root promises from its sensible qualities, to be a medicine of considerable utility, though little regarded in common pratice.

Stahl, Hoffman, and other German physicians, are extremely fond of it, and recommend it as an excellent stomachic, resolvent, detergent, diuretic, diaph.o.r.etic, and alexipharmic.

374. PLANTAGO major. COMMON BROAD-LEAVED PLANTAIN.--The leaves are slightly astringent, and the seeds said to be so; and hence they stand recommended in haemorrhages, and other cases where medicines of this kind are proper. The leaves bruised a little, are the usual application of the common people to slight flesh wounds. The Edinburgh College used to direct an extract to be made from the leaves.

375. POTENTILLA anserina. SILVERWEED. The Leaves.--The sensible qualities of Anserina promise no great virtue of any kind, for to the taste it discovers only a slight roughness, from whence it was thought to be ent.i.tled to a place among the milder corroborants. As the astringency of Tormentil is confined chiefly to its root, it might be thought that the same circ.u.mstance would take place in this plant; but the root is found to have no other than a pleasant sweetish taste, like that of parsnip, but not so strong.

376. POTENTILLA reptans. CINQUEFOIL, OR FIVE-LEAVED GRa.s.s. Root.--The root is moderately astringent: and as such is sometimes given internally against diarrhoeas and other fluxes; and employed in gargarisms for strengthening the gums, &c. The cortical part of the root may be taken, in substance, to the quant.i.ty of a dram: the internal part is considerably weaker, and requires to be given in double the dose to produce the same effect. It is scarcely otherwise made use of than as an ingredient in Venice treacle.--Lewis's Mat. Med.

377. POPULUS niger. THE BLACK POPLAR. Its Buds.--The young buds or rudiments of the leaves, which appear in the beginning of spring, abound with a yellow, unctuous odorous juice. They have hitherto been employed chiefly in an ointment, which received its name from them; though they are certainly capable of being applied to other purposes: a tincture of them made in rectified spirit, yields upon being isnp.i.s.sated, a fragrant resin superior to many of those brought from abroad.

378. PRIMULA officinalis. COWSLIP. The Flowers.--The flowers appear in April; they have a pleasant sweet smell, and a subacrid, bitterish, subastringent taste. An infusion of them, used as tea, is recommended as a mild corroborant in nervous complaints. A strong infusion of them, with a proper quant.i.ty of sugar, forms an agreeable syrup, which for a long time maintained a place in the shops. By boiling, even for a little time, their fine flavour is destroyed. A wine is also made of the flowers, which is given as an opiate.

379. PRUNELLA vulgaris. SELFHEAL. The Leaves.--It has an herbaceous roughish taste, and hence stands recommended in haemorrhages and alvine fluxes. It has been princ.i.p.ally celebrated as a vulnerary, whence its name; and in gargarisms for aphthae and inflammations of the fauces.

380. PULMONARIA officinalis. SPOTTED LUNGWORT. The Leaves.--They stand recommended against ulcers of the lungs, phthisis, and other like disorders.--Lewis's Mat. Med.

381. RANUNCULUS Ficaria. PILEWORT. The Leaves and Root.--The roots consist of slender fibres, with some little tubercles among them. These, with the leaves, are considered of considerable eficacy in the cure of haemorrhoids; for which purpose, considerable quant.i.ties are sold at herb-shops in London.

382. RANUNCULUS Flammula. SMALL SPEARWORT.--It has been lately discovered that this plant possesses very active powers as an emetic, and it is supposed to be useful in some cases of vegetable poisons.

383. RHAMNUS Frangula. THE BLACK OR BERRY-BEARING ALDER. Its Bark.--The internal bark of the trunk or root of the tree, given to the quant.i.ty of a dram, purges violently, occasioning gripes, nausea, and vomiting.

These may be in good measure prevented by the addition of aromatics; but we have plenty of safer and less precarious purgatives.

384. RHUS coriaria. ELM-LEAVED SUMACH.--Both the leaves and berries have been employed in medicine; but the former are more astringent and tonic, and have been long in common use, though at present discarded from the Pharmacopoeias.

385. RIBES nigrum.--The juice of black currants boiled up with sugar to a jelly, is an excellent remedy against sore throats.

386. RUMEX Hydrolapathum. THE GREAT WATER DOCK.--The leaves of the docks gently loosen the belly, and have sometimes been made ingredients in decoctions for removing a costive habit. The roots, in conjunction with other medicines, are celebrated for the cure of s...o...b..tic and cutaneous disorders, for which the following receipt is given by Lewis.

Six ounces of the roots of the water dock, with two of saffron; and of mace, cinnamon, gentian root, liquorice root, and black pepper, each three ounces, (or, where the pepper is improper, six ounces of liquorice,) are to be reduced into coa.r.s.e powder, and put into a mixture of two gallons of wine, with half a gallon of strong vinegar, and the yolks of three egs; and the whole digested, with a moderate warmth, for three days, in a glazed vessel close stopped: from three to six ounces of this liquor are to be taken every morning on an empty stomach, for fourteen or twenty days, or longer.

387. SALVIA Sclarea. GARDEN CLARY. The Leaves and Seeds.--These have a warm, bitterish, pungent taste; and a strong, not very agreeable smell: the touch discovers in the leaves a large quant.i.ty of glutinous or resinous matter. They are princ.i.p.ally recommended in female weaknesses, in hysteric disorders, and in flatulent colics.

388. SAMBUCUS Ebulus. DWARF ELDER, OR DANEWORT. The Root, Bark, and Leaves.--These have a nauseous, sharp, bitter taste, and a kind of acrid ungrateful smell: they are all strong cathartics, and as such are recommended in dropsies, and other cases where medicines of that kind are indicated. The bark of the root is said to be strongest: the leaves the weakest. But they are all too churlish medicines for general use: they sometimes evacuate violently upwards, almost always nauseate the stomach, and occasion great uneasiness of the bowels. By boiling they become (like the other drastics) milder, and more safe in operation.

Fernelius relates, that by long coction they entirely lose their purgative virtue. The berries of this plant are likewise purgative, but less virulent than the other parts. A rob prepared from them may be given to the quant.i.ty of an ounce, as a cathartic; and in smaller ones as an aperient and deobstruent in chronic disorders: in this last intention, it is said by Haller to be frequently used in Switzerland, in the dose of a dram.

389. SANICULA officinalis. SANICLE. The Leaves.--These have an herbaceous, roughish taste: they have long been celebrated for sanative virtues, both internally and externally; nevertheless their effects, in any intention, are not considerable enough to gain them a place in the present practice.

390. SAPONARIA officinalis. SOAPWORT. The Herb and Root.--The roots taste sweetish and somewhat pungent; and have a light smell like those of liquorice: digested in rectified spirit they yield a strong tincture, which loses nothing of its taste or flavour in being insp.i.s.sated to the consistence of an extract. This elegant root has not come much into practice among us, though it promises, from its sensible qualities, to be a medicine of considerable utility: it is greatly esteemed by the German physicians as an aperient, corroborant, and sudorific; and preferred by the College of Wirtemberg, by Stahl, Neumann, and others, to sarsaparilla.

391. SAXIFRAGA granulata.--Linnaeus describes the taste of this plant to be acrid and pungent, which we have not been able to discover. Neither the tubercles of this root, nor the leaves, manifest to the organs of taste any quality likely to be of medicinal use; and therefore, though this species of Saxifraga has been long employed as a popular remedy in nephritic and gravelly disorders, yet we do not find, either from its sensible qualities or from any published instances of its efficacy, that it deserves a place in the Materia Medica.--Woodville's Med. Bot. p.

551.