COMMENTARY. There seems no reason to doubt that it is the _Narcissus poeticus_. Dioscorides says of it, that its root, when boiled and eaten or drunk, proves emetic; that triturated with honey it is a good application to burns; that in a cataplasm it agglutinates nerves that have been cut asunder; that it relieves sprains and chronic pains about the joints, in a cataplasm with honey; that it clears ephelis and alphos, with nettle-seed and vinegar; that it cleanses foul ulcers, and breaks apostemes which are difficult to ripen; and that in a cataplasm, with the flour of darnel and honey, it extracts thorns. (iv, 158.) Galen and the other Greek authorities give its virtues in brief terms, like our author. The Arabians, as they are wont, copy freely from Dioscorides and Galen. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 503); Serapion (c. 188); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 489); Ebn Baithar (ii, 552.) Rhases and Avicenna ascribe to it strong powers as an uterine medicine, stating of it that it produces delivery of the fœtus either dead or alive; that it promotes the dilatation of the mouth of the womb, and relieves pains of it. The narcissus occurs in the lists of medicines used both by Hippocrates and by Celsus. Our old herbalists, Gerard and Parkinson, repeat the characters of the narcissus given by the ancient authorities; but it has long ceased to have a place in our Dispensatory. Νευρὰς, Neuras (called also Poterium), is desiccative without pungency, so as even to agglutinate divided tendons. The roots have the same effects both when applied externally and when drunk. * * * * * COMMENTARY. There are few articles in the Materia Medica of the ancients which it is more difficult to determine. Sprengel conjectures that it was the _Astragalus Poterium_. Dioscorides says its roots exude tears like gum, and that they are highly beneficial in wounds of the nerves. (iii, 18.) Galen, and all the other Greek authorities that treat of it, give exactly the same account of it as Dioscorides. We have not been able to find it in the works of the Arabians. Our old English herbalists give a figure and description of it, as being a species of tragacantha. See Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 996) and Gerard (History of Plants, 1328.) It has long ceased, however, to hold a place in any Dispensatory with which we are acquainted. Νήριον ἢ Ροδοδάφνη, Nerium, _Rosebay_ or _Oleander_, when applied externally is possessed of discutient powers; but when taken internally it proves fatal. * * * * *