Volume 1

The elements of materia medica. Comprehending the natural history, preparation, properties, composition, effects and uses of medicines / [Jonathan Pereira].

  • Pereira, Jonathan, 1804-1853.
Date:
1839-1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The elements of materia medica. Comprehending the natural history, preparation, properties, composition, effects and uses of medicines / [Jonathan Pereira]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    any particular species be injurious, neighbouring species are likewise more or less so, Experience has fully proved that in a very large number of instances there exists an analogy between the exterior forms and the medicinal properties of plants, so that we can sometimes predict the active principle and mode of operation of a vegetable, merely by know- . ing to what part of a natural arrangement it properly belongs. Crucifere (fig. 1), for example, present the greatest uniformity in their botanical, ve Th chemical, and medicinal characters. They contain a volatile acrid principle, which renders them stimu- lant; and having been employed successfully in scurvy, are frequently termed anti-scorbutics. .The Lahiate (fig. 2), which constitute, perhaps, the most natural family of the whole vegetable kingdom, con- tain a bitter resinous, or extractive matter, and an etherial, aromatic, or volatile oil; which two princi- ples, mixed in different proportions, are found in all the species, to which they communicate tonic and carminative properties. Neither Crucifere nor Labiaté contam a single unwholesome or even suspicious species. In Coni- Jere (fig. 3) we find the different species pervaded with an oleo-resinous juice, in consequence of which they possess stimulant properties.—Many other fami- lies might be quoted to the same effect, and, therefore, we admit as a general rule, that plants of similar struc- ture possess similar medicinal qualities. We are obliged, nevertheless, to admit the exist- ence of numerous exceptions. There are many families, the plants of which appear to possess the greatest botanical affinity for each other, but which are endowed with Fie. 3 very dissimilar remedial properties. Umbellifere (fig. 4) : is an example of this. The root and leaves of Daucus Carota are wholesome and nutritive, but the analogous parts of Conium maculatum are highly poisonous. In some cases we even find plants of the same genus differ- ing considerably in their medicinal properties. I need only mention in proof, Cucumis Melo and Cucumis Colo- cynthis. If we are to believe the statements of credible writers, even Graminee, which Decandolle declares to be “la famille la plus naturelle,” contains more than one exception to the general statement in question. For the most part the plants of this family are farmaceous and nutritive. “None,” says Dr. Lindley (Natural System), “are unwholesome in their natural state, with the single exception of Lolium temulentum (fig. 5), a com- mon weed in many parts of England, the effects of which are undoubtedly deleterious, although perhaps much ex- aggerated.” I may remark, however, that several other grasses have been asserted to be unwholesome. Loudon a (Encyclopedia of Plants, p. 64) tells us that the seeds cy) of Bromus mollis bring on giddiness in the human species Picea vulgaris and quadrupeds, and are fatal to poultry. The root of _ (Nees ab Esenbeck.) Bromus purgans is said to be used in, Canada as an - Raphanus sativus. Glechoma hederacea.