Flora Medica

ACONITUM.Helmet compressed, much lengthened upwards and rounded, terminatedby a short apex. Ovaries 3-5. The plants of thisdivision are only known from the Napelli by their helmet beingmore lengthened.33. A. paniculatum Lam. fl. fr. ed. 1.suppL 1224. DC.prodr. i. 60. Lycoctonum autumnale vii. Clus. hist. ii. p. 98.A. Napellus officinale Sto'rck de aconit. Broken mountainousground in the alps of Europe.Stem erect, smooth. Leaves divided in 3 nearly down to the petiole;the segments cuneate at the base, the side ones 2-parted whence the leaflooks as if 5-cleft; the segments acuminate, sharply pinnatifid andslashed. Raceme lax, corymbose, erect. Pedicels downy, the lowest longand branched. Bracteolae subulate. Flowers pale blue, smooth. Wingssmooth inside. Helmet convex, more acuminate than in the Napelli,but scarcely with an abrupt point, DC. Leaves are moderately bitter,acrid and narcotic :they are diaphoretic and diuretic ;but in overdosesthey are exceedingly dangerous, producing vomiting, hypercatharsis,mania, convulsions and death. The extract, or the aconitine,are used in chronic rheumatism, gout, paralysis, dropsy, &c. The rootsare more dangerous than the leaves. Dr. Thomson says that for medicinalpurposes the leaves should be gathered when the flowers appear.(Dispens. p. 168.) Is not this much too early?Sect. IV.NAPELLUS.Roots fibrous, from a somewhat tuberous trunk. Leaves withmultifid lobes and linear segments. Raceme cylindrical simple.Flowers blue purple or white never yellow. Helmet convex, bydegrees tapering to a point..34. A Napellus Linn.sp. pi. 751. Woodv. t. 6. Eng.Bot.t.2730. S.and C. i. t.28. A. Lycoctonum vi. Napellus vulgaris,Clus. hist. ii.p. 96. f. 2. A. vulgare DC. prodr.\. 62. Highmountainous meadows, and coldexposed hills in many parts ofEurope.Variable in the breadth of the leaves, the number of the slashes, andin the downiness of the various parts. Stems always quite simple.Leaves completely divided to the base into 5 wedge-shaped lobes, whichare 3-fid their ; segments being also slashed linear and acute usuallycallous at the re-entering angles. Raceme cylindrical quite simple.Flowers deep purple, hairy. Helmet semicircular, gradually ending ina point. Wings hairy inside. Ovaries 3, smooth. A true narcoticoacridpoison. Numerous fatal cases of its application are recorded ;see Christison, p. 784. Three out of five persons who took a spirituousinfusion of the root, which had been mistaken for lovage, died in 2hours, with vomiting, purging, and burning in the throat, colic, andswelling of the belly. Like the last it has been found sudorific anddiuretic in small repeated doses, and has been used in paralysis andepilepsy, rheumatic and neuralgic pains, dropsy, uterine complaints,intermittent fevers, &c. The leaves are the part employed.A crowd of spurious species has been created out of this very commonand variable plant. It would be useless even to name them.11