THE GALL OR DYERS OAK.

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tatv ne< * “ won derful success ” in tlie cure of reducible hernia; byfo lt »ng the groin (the hernia having been previously reduced) three orUr times daily with a warm inspissated decoction of oak bark, and thenJ/'ying a truss. The practice, however, is not a new one (See thefences in Ploucquet’s Literatura Medica, t. ii. p. 297.)j^he inhalation of finely-powdered oak bark is said to have proved veryo^iicial in a supposed case of pulmonary consumption (Eberle, Treat.tli ■ Med. vol. i. p. 268, 2nd ed.) I have already noticed (p. 51)f 0r llls piration of impalpable powders of other astringents as a remedy0 |. Phthisis . Connected with this, the popular opinion of the exemptionU °perative tanners from phthisis pulmonalis deserves to be men-^ed. D r Dods (Land. Med. Gaz. vol. iii. p. 497), who has paide attention to this subject, concludes, that the popular notion isl; 4t ec t; and he ascribes the exemption to “ the inhalation of that pecu-d u . ar oma, or volatile matter, which is constantly arising from tan-pits. ln g the process of tanning with bark.” Hitherto, however, no suffi-a j evidence has been advanced to prove that tanners are exempt from/Wase.

jjjf . a tonic, oak bark has been employed in medicine, but it is muchi e H°r t] 10 cinchona. Baths made of a decoction of this substanceMtL ' Jeen used by Dr. Eberle in the intermittents of very young children0 ^ )ene fit j and Dr. Fletcher (of Virginia) has recommended the samed e e dy in tabes mesenterica (Eberle, op. cit. vol. i. pp. 267, 8.) TheUji ^don, powder, and extract, have been taken internally in inter-im 6nts > bat they are very apt to irritate the stomach. Dr. CullenH Med. vol. i. p. 45) says, that both by itself and joined with cha-l^'ie flowers, he has prevented the paroxysms of intermittents.tuV^tiNisTRATTON.—Dose of the powder from half a drachm to one orj drachms.

\y ‘ -^Ecoctum Quf.rcus, L. E. D.—(Oak bark, bruised, 5x. [3i. D.] ;a lo [distilled, L.] Oii. Boil down to a pint, and strain). Used aso t | Ca l astringent for various purposes, in the form of gargle, injection,^° ll0r i. Administered internally in doses of fSii. to fSiv. Sometimes°.Ved as a bath, especially for children.li 0 Zxtractum QuERctis, D.—(Obtained by evaporating a decoc-W' Harely employed in medicine. May be given internally as an,n gent, in the dose of from ten grains to a drachm.

^er'eug infecto'ria, Olivier, L. E. D.— The Gall or Dyers' Oak.

Sex . Syst. Monoecia, Polyandria.

j (Gallae; Gemma: morbid*, L. Gall*; Excrescences, E. Gall*, D.)

Ist °Ry.— Hippocrates employed the nutgall (t'We) as an astringent,.eternally and externally {ed. Foes. pp. 609, 267, &c.) Dioscorides hf Ca P- 146) describes it as the fruit of the oak; and the same error°/ ^ 11 d in the works of comparatively recent writers, as of Pomet {Hist.M. Engl. Transl. 1712). Mr. Lambert {Trans, of the Linn. Soc.K rri Vl1, P- 445) declares the celebrated Mad Apples {Mala insana seuhi tl ] tt Soclomitica) to be galls of the Quercus infectoria ; but he is eer-ily 111 error when he says they “ are identical with those of commerce.”)j. ra 'ving of them disproves this statement.

ASY — Gen. Char. Vide Quercuspednnculata.