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Show WOODY NIGHTSIIADE. WOODY NIGHTSHADE. a bright red andinviting appearance somewhat resembling ouy currant, andofa bitter sweet taste. assueverit, nauseam et vomitum excitat, quin-convulsiones ct de- 142 HISTORY. This climbing shrub grows common in moist hedges and on dunghills, has woody brittle stalks, and flowers in June and July. The twigs should be gathered early in spring. The taste, as the name of the plant expresses, is both hitter and sweet; the bitterness being first perceived, and the sweetness after. wards; and when fresh they have a nauseous smell. MEDICAL USE. The dulcamara was formerly much esteemed as a powerful medicine. It is in general said to increase all the secretions and excretions, to excite the heart and arteries, and, in large doses, to produce nausea, vomiting, and convulsions; but its effects seemto differ according to the nature of the. soil on whichit grows, being most efficacious in warmclimates, and ondrysoils. It has been recommendedin cutaneous affections, in rheumatic and cathartic swellings, in ill-conditioned ulcers, scrophula, indurations from milk, leucortheea, jaundice, and obstructed men- struation. It has principally been employed under the form of the wateryinfusion of a drachm taken daily, and graduallyincreased to two ounces. Six ounces maybe boiled in six pounds of water to four, andfour or five ounces given for a dose in as much milk. Inthe formof extract, from five to ten grains may be given for a dose. The expressed juice of the dulcamarais useful in inflammations and cancers. ‘ I have seen,” says Haller, ‘‘ a cancerous ulcer of the breast soften by the application of the juice upon the wound, and the leaves applied over the whole breast, and cicatrise afterwards perfectly, and without a return of the complaint, in a lady 70 years old. The ulcer was in the commencement, but half an inch in depth. Socrhaave,”’ adds Haller, “¢ my illustrious master, set 4 great value on this plant in pleurisy and pituitous peripneumony, ordering his patients to drink an infusion of the twigs. ” It must be here observed, that this remedy should be commenced “ce in a small dose, for in a large one dangerous symptoms are fre- quently excited. This caution is given by Murra y, who says, “ rgior dulcamare usus initio et antequam yentriculus illi et, notante cl. Govan, ge dose of the dulcam: 145 protractam paralysin lingue.”— being given before the stomach has been accustomed to its effects, produces nausea and vomit- ing, also convulsions and delirium, and, as Govan observes, a protracted paralysis of the tongue.” ‘he preparation should be as follows, according to Razou: Take of the fresh twigs of duleamara ~~ clear water - - = = © = ounces 16: Boil to eight ounces. The dose is three or four drachms, in some milk, to be taken every four hours. An emetic and cathartic should befirst premised. ‘This obviates the necessity for bleeding, and the recovery by this mode of treatment is more rapid, and the patient is sooner able to return to his ordinary occupation. It should be given only in robust habits. Bergius recommends a decoctionofits stalks, made byboiling adrachm of them from a pint to half a pint of water, to be mixed with milk, and to be taken for the cure of herpes and land scurvy, and other cutaneous diseases. Tragus considers this as a sovereign remedyfor jaundice, even in the last stag Haller mentions that it is an admirable remedy for inward bruises, and relates a case of a man who was attacked by a robber, aud nearly beaten to death, who took a decoction of the stalks, and at the end of two days was cured of the most riolent inward bruises, accompanied with extreme agony. The stalks are more powerful than the leaves, and a decoction of the woodypart acts as a purgative, and is recammended by Lobel as a cure of the dropsy. The berries both purge and vomit, and are extremely dat for children, for thirty of them being given to a dog, killed if in less than three hours, |