tart ii. Matekia Med/ca. — Daphne Mezereum.

279

Officinal. Mezerei cortex, Loncl. Daphnes Mezerei cortex,Edin. Kadicis cortex, DubS The bark of the root.Syn. Laureole gentile (F.), Kellerkals ( G. ), Mezereo (/.).

Mezereon grows wild in England and the North of Europe;but for medical use, and as an ornamental shrub, it is cultivatedin gardens. Its flowers expand in March, before the leaves. Itis a hardy plant, seldom exceeding four feet in height, with astrong woody branching stem, covered with a smooth greycuticle, and a tough fibrous inner bark. The root is ofa fibrous texture, pale-coloured, with a smooth olive-colouredbark: the leaves, which are protruded from the extremities ofthe branches, are tender, pale green, deciduous, lanceolate,sessile, entire, and smooth: the flowers are of a pale rosecolour, odorous, surrounding the twigs in clusters below wherethe leaves are sent off; they are sessile, two three and fourclustered, with deciduous bractese at the base of each cluster;monopetalous, tubular, and the lip divided into four ovatespreading segments. The stamens fire alternately shorter;the four higher ones displaying their yellow anthers at themouth of the tube •. the germen is oval, supporting a flattishstigma on a very short style; and the fruit is a red, pulpydrupe, containing one round seed. There is a variety of themezereon with white flowers and yellow fruit, but the medicinaleffects of both are the same.

For medical use, the roots are dug up in the autumn, afterthe leaves have fallen. The cuticle of the dried root is corru-gated, and the inner bark has a white cotton-like appearance.° Qualities. —The inner bark of every part of this plant, whenfresh, is very acrid, capable of producing inflammation, vesica-tion, and a discharge of serum when applied to the skfh ; andwhen chewed, excites a considerable heat of the mouth andfauces, which continues for many hours afterwards. The fruitis equally acrid, acting as a corrosive poison, if eaten. The barkretains its acrimony when dried. It yields its virtues to waterand vineo-ar. By digesting the bark in alcohol, then evaporat-ing the liquid to separate the resin, and diluting the residualfluid with water, filtering, and adding acetate of lead, Vauquelinobtained a copious yellow precipitate, which, when freed fromthe lead by means of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, he found to bea vegetable principle, Sid generis He has given it the name ofDaphnin.*

Medical properties and uses. — It operates as a stimulatingdiaphoretic, increasing the general arterial action, and deter-mining powerfully to the surface; but is apt to disorder the

1 The Dublin College, in its Pharmacopoeia, has quoted Eng. Bat. 119. errone-ously, the plate referred to being that of Daphne Luureola, Spurge Laurel,* Ann. <U Chim. lxxxiv. p. 174.

T 4