IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) %s K^ e^^; i< 4^ « 1.0 u lU u 2.2 IM 2.0 IL25 i 1.4 ImIBB iiyiiu4 Hiotographic Sciences Corporalion 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTeil,N.Y. 14SM (716) 172-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian da microraproductions historiquas Technical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notaa tachniquaa at bibliographiquaa Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. 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Les imeges suivsntes ont 4tt§ reprodultoa avec ie plua grand soin. compte tenu do la condition at da la nettetA do rexemplelra fItanA. et en conformltA evec lee conditions du contret de fUmege. Lee exempleires orlglneux dent ie couvertura en pepler eet ImprlmAe sent fNmAs en commenpent per Ie premier plot et en terminent soit per ie de m lA ra paga qui comporte une empreinte dimpreealon ou dINuetretion. soH per Ie second plat, eelon ie ces. Tous lee eutree exempleires orlglneux sont fHmAs en commen^ent per Ie premMra pege qui comporte une empreinte dimpreeelon ou dINuetretion et en terminent per Ie demlAra pege qui comporte une teHe The lest recorded frame on eech microflclie sheN contein the symbol -^ (meening "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol ▼ (meening "END"), whichever eppiies. Un dee symboiss suivents epperaftra sur ie demlAra imege de cheque microfiche, seion Ie cee: Ie symbde ^ signHle "A 8UIVRE", ie symboie ▼ signlfle "FIN". pietes, cherts, etc., mey be fHmed et differem reduction retios. Those too lerge to be entirely Included in one expoeure era filmed beginning in the upper left hend comer, left to right end top to bottom, ee meny framee es required. The following diegrams Uiustrete the method: Les certes. plenchee. taMeeux, etc., peuvent Atra filmAs A des teux de rAductlon dHf Arents. Lorsque Ie document eet trop grand pour Atra reproduit en un soul cllchA. H eet fllmA A pertir de I'engie supArieur geuche. de geuclie A droite. et de heut en bee. en prenent Ie nombra d'Imegee nAcssselra. Les diegrammes suhrants illustrent Ie mAthode. 12 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 /T1315 SOMEWHAT ABOUT A FEW MEDICINAL PLANTS OF NEW BRUNSWICK. z^- BY DR., DUNCAN, OF BATHURST. A The following original paper, contributed by Dr. Duncan, was read before the Natural History Society, on Tuesday Evening, 5th inst. : — (^^lA^t^ /S^/ OzRll* Ae«l4Melli». One of the prettiest flowen that grows in our WAods is the Oxalls Acetosella, or " wood sorreL" No sooner does spring awaken vege- tation than, Phoenix lilce, the wood sorrel renovates the remains of last season's verdure and, under the influence of warmth and sun> shine, carpets beneath the shade of the firs with a greenness all its own. Take this specimen and let us examine its finely pencilled characteristics. In the old Botanists, by rare similitudes and antique but tnie phrases, is presented the life-like features of the plant, free from the technicalities of modern botany. Though unique the language is none the less plain or easily understood. "Wood sorrel is a lowe or base herbe, without stalkes, the leaves do growe from the roote, (every one standing on a long foote stalke), and, at their first comming foorth, are folden together, but afterwarde they spread abroade, and are of a faire greene colour, in number, three, and fashioned almost like the trefoyl, saving that each leaf hath a deep clift in the middle," and is heart-shaped, which trsfoil is not "Among these leaves rise up divers slender, weake fuote-stalkes, not ({rowing above them, with every one of them a flower at the top," " almost made like little belles, of a white colour, with purple veynes all alongst," " or in some dasht over with a small shew of blush, and in some but on the backe side only." " The floure consisteth of five small leaves (petalM), after which come little round knaps or huakes, full of yellcM|iFh seed." "The roote is very threddy, anoof a reddish colour, not perishing in the year, but abiding with some leaves thereon in the winter." So-saith Syte's " Dudoens," printed at Antwerp, 1578, supplemented by Uerarde and Parkinson. Alongside this, we may place those descriptive lines of Carlotte Smith— " Wood sorrel, with its light n-een leaves. Heart sliaped, and triply folded ; and its root Creeping like beaded L-oral ;" and those happy strokes — "Trim Osalis, with her penciU'd (lower, Close to the sheltring oopae the m'dden cleaves, And coyly plaits her purpte«tinted leaves." These leaves, thus purple-tinted on the un- der surface, are the old oxidised ones ; oocaai- onally they are blanched, and at times varie- gated white and green. Like clovers, they are sometimes in fours. On the claw of each petal is a yellow spot, five " fairy favours " in alL There are ten $tamena a short outer row of five, and a longer inner series opposite the petals. One of these is mayhap the abortive inner cor- olla needed, so says Braun, to perfect the structure of the oxalis. The geptUa, five in number, equal and persistent, are in dry situ* ations converted into leaves. These miniature leaves are jointed on to red swellings, which are repetitions of the scales of the root-stem, and appear capable of propagating the plant in circumstances unfavorable for the produc- tion of seed. There are five atyltM pencilled at the apex or capitate. The aeed-veuti scatters its contents in a remarkable manner. When ripe, the fruit, a membraneous pod, erects it- self straight, and the sliKhtest touch, even it 9 wind, makes the seeds fly aronn'^ reminding 125382 MEDICINAL PLANTS OF NEW BRUNSWICK. oae cloHely of the Impatieru ftUva or " spotted touch-me-not." The capsule is a pentaKon baviog 6 cells »nd 5 valves, openiuK lengthwise and, with elasticity, down the curners, each cell containing one or two compressed striated teeds, which are arillated. The white fleshy aril, (or outer integameot uf the seed) ringed like a caterpillar, curls back at the maturity of the fruit and jerks the seed to some distance, sometimes accompanyinK it, add, after touch- ing the ground, again rebounds and sends the embryotic plant, like an "April fool," "further on." Thus providing tresh soil not otherwise easily obtainable. What is commonly called the root is simply an underground creeping stem (rhizoma) and fleshy knobs that stud it are either the bases of fallen leaves or single bud-scales, giving origin to lateral buds, which like the terminal one, increase the network by which the plant is ever burn anew. The leafieU, like those of the Mimota pudica or Sensitive plant, possess the remarkable property of self-moving. When tbo<>e which are spread in a horizontal position, are stroked upwards or are pressen upon at the base they gradually droop. The same thing is noticed after plucking a portion of the plant. If placed in water some time elapses before it re- covers its composure and permits the leaflets to again expand. An exotic species of Oxalis, the Oxalia Kmitiva, is so remarkably irritable that its leaves contract at the gentlest touch, and is for this reason held in superstitious veneration in the Eaiit Indies, the priests em- ploying it in their magic rites and as a charm against diseases too powerful for their skill. It has been observed that most of such plantes irritablet are acid. An old writer reinarlcs that the "leaflets close against rain," and an- other has it that "the leaves hhut before rain and when it is fair open again." Linnseun, however, says they expand in rainy and con- tract in dry weather. At no time certainly have I observed the leaves more borizimtal than in rain, the few that remained drooped, appearing to be influenced by the dry soil and had not yet been gladdened by a draught of nature's cordial. This is, as might be expected, in spite of Pliny's dictum to the contrary. Among his "Prognostica Tempestiva" he enu- merate : "Trifolium quoque inhorrescere, et folia tempestatum subrigere certum est" The sleep of the leaves is best observed by removing a portion of the plant into the house and placing it in water, when the leaflets will be seen to droop in rest at night. The little white flower with its delicate pur- plish veins is a Sun Worthipper, following it during the day and looking towards it ere it sets, pays homage by folding up its blossom. It is also a good natural Hygrometer. This was noticed by Linnseus, who in his "Tour in Lapland" remarks : "Here also grew Hepatica and Woodsorrel. Their blossoms were all closed. Who has endowed plants with intelli- gence to shut themselves up at the approach of rain ? Even when the weather changes from sunshine to rain, though before expanded, they immediately close." An old botanist, Fuchsius by name, states that, not only in his own experience, but in that of many others, an abundance of flowen in this plant foretokens copious rains and inundations for that year, if few, a drought. Last spring and throughout the whole year till Ute in autumn the Oxalis Acetosella flowered in abundance, hence, no diiubt, the late floods and inundations. The wood sorrel chooses northern exposures and shady cool woods, particularly those of pine and 6r, where the light soil gives free access to its suckers. It hives aUo the mould- ering trunks and roots of old trees, beautifying them in their decline and fall. It is everv- where plentiful around Bothurst, and flowers in June. It is found all over the northern regions of North America, Lake Superior, northerwardx, south to the Alleghanies, and Eladdens the botanist of Europe, equally in lapland and the Alps, as in the heath>clad Cheviots (hence not confined to woods) There Ih a pretty pink variety, which I have seen several times. It is the variety "flores purpures" in Kay's Synopsis. Oamerarius considered this to be male una the white the female plant— so little were the^exes in plants known to the older writers. De Candolle mentions a blue variety. It has long been in ust as analitii. Dr. Wm. Turner, one of the earlist English botanists, (1562,1 reckoned it "very good to make salettes of." Linnseus avers that the acidity of the leaves is more agreeable and delicate than that of a lemon. Philip Miller recommends a border of it in every kitchen garden. From an early period wood sorrel has been a member of the Materia Afedica. It is described as refrigerant, antincorbutic, diuretic and antiseptic. Of its stomachic effects mention is made as far back as Pliny, whom Gerarde thus paraphrases "S >rrell 'du Bois or wtmd sorrell, stamped and u^^ed for green sauce, is good for them that have sick and feeble stomachs; for it htreaKtheneth the stomache, procureth appetite, and of all sorrel sauces is the best,notonely in vertue but alxo in pleasant- nesse of his taste." It is still used on the con- tinent of Europe as a fish sauce, and as a sub- stitute for lemonade. From its leaflets reseruh- ling the heart it has been regarded as a cardiac, but, like most Frenchmen around Bathurst, the old physicians appear to have confounded heart and stomach, so that what comforted the one cheered the other. The practitioners of Germany write, that "the distilled water of Alleluya cooleth well and comforteth the heart, and quencheth thirst and that it is i;oiid in all bote disea-^es and inflimmations. They hold also that the diHtilled water of Wood Sorrel is good to be t-unpered with alumn for the wounds and sores of the mouthe."^ Infused in milk, to form whey, or as a tea it is said to be used in putrid and other fevers with good success. The leaves and stalks, wrapped in a cabbage leaf and macerated in warm ashes until reduced to a pulp, hive been applied to scrofulous sores. It is recommended by W. H. Taylor (Lancet, June 6th, 1869), as extra- ordinarily efficacious in scurvy, havintr effected cures after lemon-juice had failed. The fresh plant may be eaten raw, or 4 grains of the Quadroxalate of Potash, a salt obtained from its expressed juice, may be used three times a day. I* MEDICINAL PLANTS OF NEW BRUNSWICK. The jnice rDddeni vegetable blues, coagu- lates milk and instantly precipitates lime from its BoiutiuDs. It owes its aoiaity to the super or Binoxalate of Potash, which is ciyntalised from the expressed juice, and sold as *'£uential Saltof Lemong." The French name it "8alt »f Sorrel." Like Oxalic Acid it is poisonous. It is frequently (very I may truly say) adulter- ated with Cream of Tartar and, somtimes, Sulphuric Acid or Vitriol and Cream of Tartar are substituted for it. It is u^ed to take iron moulds and ink stains out of linen, and as a text for the presence of lime The Wood S >rrel is now pretty KsnorAlly considered to be the ancient Irish Shamrock, into an examination of its claims, aowever, I shall not enter. The Generic name Oxalit, adopted by Lin- noeu-<, did not belong to this plant, but was fiven to a species of Dock by Dioscorides. 'liny's name, Oxys, which like Oxalis, means sharp-pointetl or metaphorically acid, ur sour, is that made use of by the older botanists. Acetosella (iittie sorrel), preserved in the French "Ja petite oseille," seems to have been used by the Pharmacitpoeias, in order to distiuKuiah it from Acit4)sa the sorrel proper. It bears the same name in 6drmary tore.it h'd. Where pealing belU for Easter masses runif. "It vhanced upon the good St. Pktrick's Day, A warrior, wounded, fell with riven crest ; Thy little careless plant bluomed where he lay, And hope rkvivini; spi. :ig within his breast, 'jiriu-gu-bragh'— lie ^luck'd the irefuii'd stem, And vo«'d a vow by holy Patrick's shrine, A Hhramrock chaplet for a diadem, Erin's, greeu Erin's burnish'd helm should twine. Then came t>o ne village leech, down-beut and old. And placed thee in his widely-Kathei'd st<>re. ) * * » * « Thoutrh long he mused upon thy healing power. The named ne ttave— uncouth they were and rude; 'Htubuiort' he cill'd thee, 'Oxalis,' 'WoodMur,' That by his skill the cooling draught imbued, 'i he uulearn'd pea^nt 1 )ves thy frMfiie form, And Oipsy children seek thy mossy bed, When daj s are long, and April suns are warm, Ihey lauxb and say, thou art 'The Cudcoo's Bread.' " Anemone nemorosn— Wood Anemone. Of spring favorites rone prettier than the "C!our.igeous windflower, loveliest of the frail." Not so symmetrically leaved as the oxalis, by its greater size and the profusion of its blosaumsjit catches the eye more readily. What more attractive sight than a bank robed in white Anemones— the "flor atelia," floral star of the Italians. A happy fancy caught by Charlotte Smith- There, thickly streMrn in woodland bowers. Anemones their stars unfold." And Mrs. Hemana— " Dost thou see," she asks— " Where southern winds flrat make their vernal singing. The star-gleam of the Wood Anemone f* The flowers give out their fragrance, thought by some to be as choice as that of the viol» odorata, to the roving wind, which wantonly scatters it abroad, informing us of their pres- ence, long before seen. Let us examine the specimen. Like the Oxalis it is perennial with single radical leaves. Those of the stem, three together, whorled, forming an involuere remote from the flower (which is apetalons), and by long petioled, three divided, toothed and cut : the lateral divisions often two parted (vari> quinqud folia). The septUs, 4 to 7 in number, are oval, white — the pale anemima— sometimes tinged with purple outside, so that though at iirHt plain looking, it gathers fresher tints as it matures and at length wears a blush of beauty on its modest cheek, gracefully pendant as they "wait the breathing of the wind." The sepals "close together in rainy weather, and the flow- er hangs downwards" to "shun the impending shower." At times may be noticed one of the sepals partially or wholly converted into a green leaf; and a flower-stem in iti> develop- ment upwards will now and then steal away one of the triple leaflets of the involucre, and wear it as a trophy under the seed-carpels It is said that purple varieties are common. Blue and double varieties abound near Wimbledon, of "Kolapore" fame, but I have neither seen nor heani of their being seen in New Bruns- wick. The blue species— .^nemon« Appennina frequents the groves and thickets of Italy. During some seasons there is quite a scarcity of blossom-*, generally due to drought, but some- times due altto to the unpreparedness of the root-stock after particular seasons, to produce a flower-stem. The root-stock is like a piece of stick dead at one end. It creeps "longwise under the upper crust of the ground, spreading out its divers small knobs like branches, of a dark brown color outside," and a section show- ing "white within." According to Braun it prolongs its subterranean growth, with alter- nations of leaves and bud-scales for several years before it arrives at a flower terminating the shMot. "The cumber of annual bud-scales on the horizontal root-stock increases from year to year, rising gradually to 8, and each of these fkreparatory sections terminate with a single ong-stalked leaf, till, finally, the last section, after producing its proper number of bud- scales, rises into an erect shaft, producing the three-leaved whorle of stem leaves and the nod- ding flower." How very little do we think, while heedlessly plucking one of the blossoms, that, by so doing, we in a moment destroy the elaborate preparation of years ! This explains why, when under cultivation in our gardens the plant cannot bear to be much shifted, and MEDICINAL PLANTS OF NEW BRUNSWICK. why it does not flower freely or in perfection unlew left to extend itself undisturbed. HtU)itaL — The wood anemone flourishes from Canada to Carolina, and on both sides of the Kooky Mountains. Though found in abundance around Bathurst, it is some- what rare in our northern counties, and more common in the southern ones. It prefers the margins of woods and flowers with the coming ol the swallow in May. The variety with the leaves five partite (a quinqnefolia) ranges from Virginia to near Lake Winnipeg. This plant is fairly scattered over Europe, be- ing equally well known in Great Britain and France as in Germany and the Swiss Alps. English poets write lovingly of the " frail and fair anemone." Thus writes Merritt : " The queen of spring flowers— wood anemone, In gylph-llke pride; I love that flower, most aelicitely fair, 80 fondly bendingr on her olender stay, As though in love with her own leaver; and where In fleld or grove Be leaves su exquiBitely wrought as they 1— Chapiet for love." Our own poets admire it no \ea% warmly. Thus Hoffman longs for " The breeze that calls The Wind-flower by the hillside rill," to lift the tresses from his true-love's cheek, " And let me see the blush divine;" for wlio doubts that our "ladies faire" have,as Bryant puts it, " Eyes that shame the violet, Or the dark drop that on the pansy lies, And foreheads white ai when in clusters set The anemone* by forest fountains rise; And the spring l>eauiy boasts no tenderer streak Than the soft red on many a jouthfui cheek." NAMES. "AMtnone" occurs in Hippocrates and Dios- oorides. It is derived from the Greek "Ane- mos," the wind,for the "floure doth never open itselfe but when the winde doth blow, "as Pliny writes, or, in the words of Horace Smith, " The coy anemone, that ne'er uncloses Her lips until they're blown on by the winds." According to an ancient legend the anemone is said to have sprung from the tears shed by the Goddess of Love when she wept o'er the I)ody of Adonis : *' Alas the Psphian ! Fair Adonis slain ! Tears, plenteous as his blood she pours amain; But gentle flowers are born and bloom around From every drop that falls uoon the ground; Where streams bis blood there blushing springs the rose, And where a tear has dropped a Wind-flower blows" — Bion's Idyl. It is doubtful if our Anemone is the same as the classical one. It is applicable, however, to plants of several different genera under present arrangements. Dr. Prior thinks it was the Cistus or rock-rose. The apecitio term nemo- rota (in the sense of pertaining to a wood), is found in the Banunculus nemorosus of Fuchsi- as. The French still retain the sense— a relic, doubtless of some ancient impress given to popular opinion— in the pretty term Sylvie. The Anemone of Dioscorides, whatever it was, he commends for ocular diseases, as does Pliny and Galen. Our plant has inherited part of its virtues, otherwise the Germans would not have termed it **augen vmrts eye-herb,," i. e., and is said to "take away tlte scares and scales which grow on the eyes." It is also called in German "itork flower," both iteing equally hail- ed as the harbinger of sprilnr;." In ancient times the anemone had a great reputation for its medical properties. Magici- ans ordered every person to gather the first they saw in the year, at the same time repeating the following formnla :— "I gather thee for a remedy against disease." It was then carefully preserved, and in the event of the gatherer being ill was tied around bis neck or arm, as this was supposed to drive away the malady. The leaves possess such an acridity, resembling in this respect other Ranunculaceae, as to be in some measure poitonoiu. They have been used as a substitute for Cantharides in raising blisters, "producing not only a more speedy, but less painful effect" (Willich). It is said to act as a poison to cattle, producing bloody urine and convulsions. Cows naturally reject the plant, but eat it in- advertently when shifted from the fields to the woodland pastures, where it is common. It is stated to have proved a vpeedy cure for Tinea Capitis or Scalled Head, the bruised leaves be- ing applied twice daily. The active principle of the Anemone is Anemoniiu, a ohamphor-like crystalline body. It is colorless and shining, tasteless and neutral, and possesses powerful toxic properties. Anemonine is found also in Anemone puUatilla , Anemone pratensit, Banunculus Flammula ; R, tceler- atus, and R. bulboiut. In half to one grain doses it is very useful in irritative, cough, asthma, and whoopiog ce the means of stirring up an interest in our "weeds" popu- larly BO called, so many of which are of con- siderable value in combatting disease, I shall feel amply rep. id for the time spent on this.