The genus to which our common Poke belongs, was named Phytolacca, by Tournefort, a barbarous combination of the Greek, plant, and lacca, a coloring substance like Lake or Laque, or, as Dr. Gray states, the French lac, which the purplish, crimson color of the berries resembles when fresh, but every school-boy knows how speedily it turns to dirty yellow; which may again be restored, however, by the application of an acid.

Parkinson, in his Theatrum Botanicum, published in 1640, denominates it "Solanum Magnum Virginianum rubrum." This is one of the oldest accounts found of it. Plukenet conjectures it may be the Cuechiliz tomatl of Hernandez, so vaguely described. The plant is now found in Europe from Portugal to Greece, and in the Barbary States in Africa. There arc seven species described; viz*: 1. the P. Octandra; 2. stricta; 3. Abyssinica; 4. decandra; 5. icosandra; 6. dioica, and 7. dodecandra - thus making sad havoc in the artificial classifications of Linnceus, as their several names imply; we have but one species common to the United States; this has >ten stamens and ten styles, and is the Phytolacca decandra.

This well-known weed, called garget, cocum, jalap, pigeon berries, and commonly .Poke - corrupted from the old Virginian name of Pocan, needs no special description, being so abundant in all parts of the United States, flourishing along fence rows, on the borders of woods, and in newly-cleared and uncultivated fields. Flowering in July, and ripening its crimson fruit in autumn.

The annual stems often attain the height of from 6 to 10 feet. Those were cut for walking-sticks, and paraded in the political processions, by the partisans of Jas. K. Polk, of Tennessee, as significant emblems, in the campaign of 1844, as many will remember in our section, at least.

Poultry and birds are fond of the berries, but if eaten in large quantities, they give the flesh a disagreeable flavor. The juice contains saccharine matter, which, after fermenting, yields alcohol by distillation. "From half a bushel of the berries, six pints of spirits were obtained, sufficiently strong to take fire and burn with readiness. Two ounces of this given to a dog occasioned nausea, drowsiness, spasmodic motions, but no vomiting." - Loudon.

A few drops of lime water added to the purple juice of the berries, change it to a yellow color: this yellow liquid Mr. Braconnot considers the most delicate test, and found it to be four times as sensible to the presence of acid as that of the infusion of litmus - requiring, however, to be used immediately after it is prepared, since a few hours cause a spontaneous change in it, ending with a deprivation of color.

"Poke-root is emetic, purgative, and somewhat narcotic; in over doses it produces excessive vomiting and purging. The dose of the powdered root as an emetic is from ten to thirty grains; as an alterative from one to five grains; a saturated tincture of the berries, in dilute alcohol, is useful in rheumatic cases, in the dose of a fluid drachm three times a day. A strong infusion of the leaves or root has been recommended in piles. An ointment prepared by mixing a drachm of the powdered root or leaves with an ounce of lard, has been used with advantage in cutaneous diseases. It has also, in the form of an extract, acquired considerable reputation in the cure of every kind of cancerous disease." - Extract from the United States Dispensatory.

PHYTOLACCA DECANDRA.

The following two letters from Dr. Franklin - one to Dr. Colden, the other to M. Dubourg - may be of interest, as a matter of history, and are appended in conclusion:

"I am heartily glad to hear more instances of the success of the Poke-weed in the cure of cancer. You will deserve highly of mankind for the communication. But I find in Boston they are at a loss to know the right plant; some asserting it is what they call Mechoacan, others other things. In one of their late papers it is publicly requested that a perfect description may be given of the plant, its place of growth, etc. I have mislaid the paper, or I would send it to you. I thought you had described it pretty fully".

Dr. Franklin to M. Dubourg.

"I apprehend that our Poke-weed is what botanists term phytolacca. This plant bears berries,as large as peas. The skin is black, but it contains a crimson juice. It is this juice, thickened by evaporation in the sun, which was employed. It caused great pain, but some persons were said to have been cured. I am not quite certain of the facts; all that I know is that Dr. Colden has a good opinion of the remedy." - Notes - Bigelou's Medical Botany, Vol. I.

[Some country people who are too lazy to make an asparagus bed, boil and eat the young shoots with a little vinegar, finding it very palatable. For birds in cages, especially the robin, the ripe berries are much employed. - Ed. H].