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Show 174 plete as to deceive the multitude by such an extraordinary vegetable production. The possessor of such wonders reported, that it was death to dig up the root; that sereams were heard when these became wounded; and that they were to be drawn out by means of a dog, which perished; and in this way only they could be extracted. ‘¢ Ferunt has prestantissimas radices non sine periculo manu effodi, quapropter eas primum confodiendum esse, ita ut mini. mum ex radice terra sit conditum, dein ab ea religandum canem, a quo postea fugiente radix extrahitur et sequitur, sed non adeo longe, quandoquidem statim atque effossa est, canis moritur: nullum postea accipientibus amplius metum esse, imo summe proficuas esse, maleficia et infortunia quecunque avertendo, et felicitates quascunque desiderabiles afferendo.”’—Geoff. «6 As an amulet this root was deposited on the mantle-pieces to avert misfortune, and bring to the pdssessor everydesirable felicity :”—so degraded once was the Materia Medica,filled with such absurd and ridiculous fancies ! This root is anodyne and soporific; hence our immortal bard makes Othello say, after his destruction of Desdemona, Not poppy nor mandragora, — Norall the drowsy syrups of the world, Shall ever medicine meto that sweet sleep Which I had yesterday. Bythis it appears it was formerlygiven in the formof a syrup, and in powder it has been administered for this purpose in the dose of three or four grains of the dried root. A tincture has been employed, but the extract might answer better. Boerhaave mentions, that even the smell of the plant induces sleep :— ‘¢ Hee planta loco clauso illata somnum conciliat iis qui dormire non poterant, hinc odore dicitur somnum excitare.” It has been employed by the ancients in maniacal cases ; and Pallas mentions its frequent use in dreadful chronic disorders, which require the alleviation of some powerful drug. Hoffberg advises its use in ‘¢ gout,” in the dose of a scruple three times a day ; a disease that baffles the ordinary remedies, and its unhappy sufferers are too often doomed to become the martyrs of dangerous experiments, which debilitate the habit, stop for a time the progress of a disease ptrhaps salutary to the patient, but soonafter he finally sinks under some other more dreadful malady. MANDRAKE. MANDRAKE. jIn $20 0 iat king’s evil, Fae 175 " the scrophulous or glandular affections, the leaves boredwith milk are reported by the great Boerhaave as beneficial: ‘* Folia ejus cum lacte in cataplasmatis formamcocta conducunt in omnibus tumoribus scrophulosis et scirrhosis.” Voodville reports, that the berries of the mandrake maybe eaten without producing anybad effects, from the authority of > ; : Ray. Boerhaave makes it doubtful; ‘ Fructus comestus dicitur vitam extinguere, verum clari yiri in Gallia publicé sine cA ederunt aden haceas.?? oe oe baccas.”” Haller says, that Rhazes relates, that a such as have eaten thee berri bears of the mandragora, ra 2 a havefelt heaviness of the head, andthat five of these apples have pro. AT we ah ., Lee . ° oo = duced syncope and other dangerous symptoms, which he has cured ; and that modern authors, worthyof credit, confirm the report of its soporific effects, and sometimes producing convul« sions and violent maniacal fury. Respecting the root Haller relates, iat a priest having chewedit for liquorice root, it pro. duced cardialgia, syncope, and almost mortal delirium, Such contradictory reports merit inquiry, Perhaps next to an emetic, acids may counteract this poison. |