ANEM′ONE (ă-nĕm′-o-ne). Syn. Anem′ony; Anem′one, L., Gr.; Anémone, Fr. The wind-flower. In botany, a genus of beautiful flowering herbaceous plants, of the nat. ord. Ranunculaceæ. The double flowers of some of the species are among the most elegant ornaments of our gardens. Others are used in medicine. They are all acrid and stimulating.
Anem′ones, Sea. (-o-nēz). Syn. An′imal-flowers‡, Sea sun′flowers‡. Animals of the genus actin′ia, so called from the resemblance of their claws or tentacles, when expanded, to the petals of a flower. They are of various colours, are generally fixed by one end to rocks or stones in the sand, and are very voracious, being accused of occasionally swallowing a mussel or a crab as large as a hen’s egg for a meal. They belong to the highly organised polypes of Cuvier.
ANEMON′IC ACID. See Anemonine.
ANEMONIN. A crystalline substance found in the leaves of several species of anemone, viz. A. pulsatilla, A. pretensis, A. nemorosa. Water distilled from these leaves, after some weeks, deposits a colourless inodorous substance, which softens at 150° C, giving off water and acrid vapours. It is purified by repeated crystallisation from boiling alcohol. Anemonin is a poisonous body. It causes slight irritation when applied to the skin. By the action of alkalies anemonin is transferred into anemonic acid.
ANEM′OSCOPE (ăn′-e—Brande, Mayne). Syn. Anemosco′pium, L.; Anémoscope, Fr.; Anemoskop, Ger. An instrument to measure the force and velocity of the wind. See Anemometer.
AN′EROID (-royd)[62]. In physics, &c., not fluid, or not depending on water or a fluid for its action; applied to a certain form of barometer (which see)
[62] That is—α, without, νηρος , (the) watery, ειδος, form, as correctly given by Brande. By some strange mistake, Dr Mayne, in his new ‘Expository Lexicon,’ gives “α, priv., αηρ, air, terminal -ides,” as the derivation of this word; and marks it ‘ane′roid,’
ANEURISM. A tumour on an artery, produced by the rupture of the inner coat of the vessel, and the blood getting between it and the outer coat.
ANGEL′ICA (-jĕl′-). [L., Port., Sp.; Ph. E. & D.] Syn. Garden Angelica; Angélique, Fr.; Angelika, A.-wurzel, Angelkraut, Ger. The angelica archangel′ica of Linnæus, an aromatic herbaceous plant with a biennial, fleshy root, indigenous to the north of Europe, but frequently found wild in England, and largely cultivated in our gardens. Dried root (ANGELICA, Ph. E.), aperient, carminative, diaphoretic, and tonic; much esteemed by the Laplanders, both as food and medicine;—fruit or seed (Angelica, Ph. D.) resembles the root, but is weaker. The whole plant has been extolled as an aromatic tonic. As a masticatory, it leaves an agreeable glowing heat in the mouth. The aromatic properties of this plant depend on a peculiar volatile oil and resin.
Uses, &c. It has been recommended in diarrhœa, dyspepsia, debility, and some fevers; but is now seldom used in medicine. Dose, 30 gr. to 1 dr. The dried root and seeds are used by rectifiers to flavour gin and liqueurs; and the fresh root, tender stems, stalks, &c., are made by the confectioners into an aromatic candy. See Candying, Liqueurs, &c.