Definition
Juniperus sabina is the botanical name for the plant commonly known as savin, a shrub of the cypress family. In legal contexts, the term appears exclusively in medical jurisprudence, where savin carried significance as a substance historically associated with attempts to induce abortion. Its appearance in legal sources reflects the plant's role as a subject of criminal prosecutions and toxicological testimony rather than any independent legal doctrine.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Juniperus sabina is a species of juniper native to the mountains of central and southern Europe and western to central Asia, recognized in botany and horticulture as an ornamental and medicinal shrub.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Savin (also savine) is defined as a shrubby evergreen plant of the genus Juniperus, the tops of which were used in medicine as a powerful stimulant and emmenagogue, and in large doses as an irritant poison.
The legal significance of this plant is not found in its horticultural identity but in its historical use as an abortifacient. Webster's 1913 candidly captures the pharmacological dimension — "emmenagogue" and "irritant poison" — that made savin a recurring subject of 19th-century criminal trials and coroner's inquests. The gap between the common and legal meanings is essentially a gap between botany and evidence: in legal sources, the plant is named not to classify a shrub but to identify a substance central to prosecutions for criminal abortion or poisoning.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encounter Juniperus sabina almost exclusively in 19th and early 20th-century sources dealing with criminal abortion, infanticide, or poisoning cases. Several navigational points matter:
First, the term is taxonomic, not doctrinal. No legal rule or test is named after the plant. Its appearance in a legal dictionary signals that courts and medical witnesses needed a precise botanical identification on record — the Latin binomial was the authoritative form for expert testimony purposes.
Second, indexing inconsistency is a real trap. Historical reporters and digests may index relevant cases under "savin," "abortion," "poisoning," or "medical jurisprudence" without cross-referencing the Latin name. A search confined to "Juniperus sabina" in digitized historical sources will almost certainly undercount relevant material.
Third, the plant connects directly to the broader corpus of 19th-century medical jurisprudence literature, including treatises by Taylor, Beck, and Wharton & Stille, where savin is discussed as one of several ecbolic or abortifacient substances alongside ergot, pennyroyal, and oil of tansy. Researchers tracing the evidentiary treatment of abortifacients in criminal courts should treat this term as a gateway into that literature rather than a standalone entry.
Fourth, the decriminalization and later constitutional treatment of abortion in the 20th century rendered savin-related prosecutions obsolete, which is why the term effectively disappears from legal dictionaries after the early 20th century. Its presence in Black's signals a historical moment, not a living doctrine.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both editions of Black's Law Dictionary consulted give identical, minimal entries: the plant is identified by its Latin name, placed in the category of medical jurisprudence, and its common name — savin — is supplied. Neither edition elaborates on the legal contexts in which the plant was relevant, the nature of testimony involving it, or the criminal law framework surrounding abortifacient substances. This brevity is characteristic of how Black's treated botanical and pharmacological subjects: the dictionary's role was identification and cross-reference, not substantive treatment. Researchers should not expect Black's to serve as a guide to the underlying doctrine here. The substantive legal analysis of savin and comparable substances belongs to the dedicated medical jurisprudence treatise literature of the 19th century, which is substantially richer on the point.
Jurisdictional Note
The legal relevance of savin was shaped by each jurisdiction's criminal abortion statutes, which varied considerably across American states and between American and English law in the 19th century. The substance of prosecutions — what had to be proved, whether the drug needed to have actually caused an abortion or merely been administered with intent — depended on local statutory language. Researchers should not assume uniform treatment across jurisdictions.