and a peculiar principle, Hydrastin, of a yellow color. Howard, speaking of the qualities of this root, says, "The Golden Seal is a powerful bitter tonic, highly useful in all cases of debility and loss. of appetite. It may be used alone, or combined with other tonics. Very useful during the recovery from fevers, in dyspepsia, or any other complaint, to remove the heavy disagreeable sensation often produced by indigestible food, by taking a tea-spoonful of the powdered root in hot water sweetened. A decoction of this root is also a very valuable remedy for sore eyes, as well as all other local inflammations, externally applied." Rafinesque says that the Indians use a decoction of this root for the cure of cancers, the powder for blistering, and the infusion for dropsy.

Solanacea.

STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.

Class V. PENTANDRIA. Order I.

VOMIC NUT OF POISON NUT.

MONOGYNIA.

Gen. Char. Corolla, five-parted. Berry, one-celled, with a woody rind.

Spe. Char. Leaves, ovate. Stem, erect.

THIS is a large tree, sending off numerous strong branches, covered with dark gray, smooth bark; the young branches have swelled articulations, or a knotty jointed appearance, scandent, and covered with a bark of a dark green color; the leaves start from the joints in pairs, upon short footstalks, and are ovate, broad, pointed, entire, with three or five ribs, and on the upper side of a shining green color; the flowers terminate the branches in a kind of fasciculated umbel; calyx small, tubular, five-toothed; corolla monopetalous; tube cylindrical, or rather inflated at the middle, very long, and at the limb cut into five small ovate segments; filaments five, short fixed at the mouth of the tube, and furnished with simple anthers; germen roundish, supporting a simple style, terminated by a blunt stigma; fruit a round, smooth, large, pulpy berry, externally yellow, and containing round depressed seeds, covered with downy radiated hairs.

This tree is a native of the East Indies, and, according to history, was introduced into England in 1778, by Dr. Partrick Russel, but has never yet been cultivated with success in that country. The nux vomica, lignum colubrinum, and faba sancti Ignatii, have been long krown in the Materia Medica as narcotic poisons, brought from

Vol. iii.-176.

the East Indies, while the vegetables which produced them were unknown, or at least not botanically ascertained.

By the judicious discrimination of Linnæus, the Nux vomica was found to be the fruit of the tree described and figured under the name Candam, now called Strychnos. The seed of the fruit or the berry of this tree is the officinal Nux vomica; it is flat, round, about an inch broad, and near a quarter of an inch in thickness, with a prominence in the middle on both sides, of a gray color, covered with a kind of woolly matter, and internally hard and tough like horn; the taste is extremely bitter, but has no remarkable smell. It consists chiefly of a gummy matter, which is moderately bitter; the resinous part is rather limited in quantity, but intensely bitter; hence rectified spirit has been considered its best menstruum.

Medical Properties and Uses. Nux vomica is considered one of the most powerful poisons of the narcotic kind, especially to the brute creation; nor are instances wanting of its deleterious effects upon the human system. It proves fatal to dogs in a very short time, as appears by various authorities. It has also been found to prove equally poisonous to hares, foxes, wolves, cats, rabbits, and even some birds, crows, ducks, &c.; and one author relates a case of a horse that died in four hours after taking a drachm of the seed in a half roasted state. The effects of this baneful drug upon different animals, and even upon those of the same species, appear to be rather uncertain, and not always in proportion to the quantity of the poison given. With some animals it produces its effects almost instantaneously; with others not till after several hours, when laborious respiration, followed by torpor, tremblings, coma and convulsions, usually precede the fatal spasms, or tetanus, with which this drug commonly extinguishes life.

From cases reported of its mortal effects upon human subjects, we find the symptoms to correspond nearly with these which we have here mentioned of brutes; and these, as well as the dissections of dogs, killed by this poison, have ever shown any injury done to the