Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/72

48&#93; 43} A N E In its iv • - - .anemone is almost flavourless, though its ta.^ie, when chewed, is extremely pungent, and corrodes the tongue and fauces; a pre; also manifested in a slight degree by the dric d leaves. Hence we may conclude, that this plant possesses considerable medicinal virtues ; a supposition amply confirmed, though often contested, by various doners of great respecfa': Chemists, however, have proved by experiment, that one of its con- stituent parts is camphor, which has been obtained in the form of als. Hence it has been suc- cessfully employed in the cure of chronic arlect;.::. syeSi espe- cially in gutta sereua, cataraft, and opacity of the cornea. But, on ac- count of its singular efficacy has generally been used in external applications, as an excellent aperi- ent, detergent, and vulnerary me- dicine, with whose virtues the an- cients were well acauainted, though they accounted for such effects from itious notions. The juice of the anemone root, chewed in small quantities, stimu- lates the. salival glands, and fre- quently affords sudden relief in ex- cruciating tooth-ach, if it proceed from an acrimony or superfluity of humours, in phlegmatic habits. When boiled in rich win 3 ., and ap- plied as a cataplasm, it not only abates in 1 as of the eyes, but also cleanses indolent and foul ulcers. Its leaves and stalks, slowly simmered in ptisan, and occasionally eaten, are saidun- 'commonly to increase the maternal If credit be due to the an- cients, they also cure that freq and destructive complaint of young females, called chlorosis ; and, i beaten up with a mixture of bees- wax and turpentine, so as to A N E form a pessary, tend to restore'the catamenicu We doubt, however, ler dre numerous other vir- ascribed to this vegetable, be "d on truth ; yet we believe tliat external applications of it, properly repeated, especially the >, bruised together with marshy- mallow root or other cooling herbs, cure paralytic attacks in their commencement, herpetic eruptions', and even the leprosy ; though we would not rely upon its i. true syphilis, in caries or mortifi- l of the bones, and still less, in cases of melancholv, or me The dark violet leaves of diis species, when boiled together with of the Serratula tinclcria, L. or common saw-wort, and a pro- per addition of alum, afford, ac- cording to Professor Pallas, au excellent green water-colour for landscape and other paintings. 2. Anemone Pulsatilla, L. or Tasque Flower, so called because it general! 1 • about Easter, when it adorns some of our dry, chalky- hills. In April it bears beautiful I - & flowers, of a purple or reddish colour. A de- scription and representation of it may be found in Sowersy's Eng- lish Bolar:)/, p. 4. 5. — 51. Although this species mavnotbc possessed of healing virtues similar to the preceding, yet it is asserted that its flowers are of great efficacy in curing inveterate ulcers, in man and cattle. As it is a poisonous plant, the i » of Kamtschat- ka u.-e ir> leaves for staining their arrows; which, unless the wound be immediately cleansed, and the communicated virus extracted by the mouth, are said to prove inevit- ably fatal : in like manner, dtese un- tutored savages destroy the whales w : e!i frequent their coast. Eodi die flowers and leaves of thi»