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Show 20 taken not to let it come near the eyes, for it will | The beggars frequently make fores on their lees with this plant, to promote ommiferation ; caufe violent inflammations. In the gout thebruifed leaves and roots have been d it is eafy to know that what cc suld do this ufed with great fuccefs. We have alfo accounts 1 ight be applied ufefully on fome occafions. of cures by themin the plague, byraifing blifters An infufion of the leaves of the ivy-leave with them, and keeping them open inthe manner water-crowfoot in wine, with alder-tops and fa of iffues near buboes in the groin, or elfewhere. -| is recommendedftrongly by fome in the dropfy, Thediftilled water of the roots, and a tinéture and other diforders arifine from obftru€tions of made from them in wine, are recommended alfo the vifcera, andin the feurvy. in the plague internally. ene tat 2S CHELIDONIUM MINUS. HEflower is compofed of feveral petals, and has a three-leaved cup, which falls withit. The feeds ftand in a fmall naked clufter ; and the leaves are roundifh, and heart-fafhioned. us places this amongthe polyandria pol ia, and makes it a iE fpecies of crowfoot. He calls sfoot, with heart-fafbioned, an ted d leaves ; but the cup confifting of three leaves, diftinguifhes it from the crowfoot, whofe cup has five; not to mention the greater number of petals in the flower. It is a plant alfo of confiderable virtues, which are recorded ofit under the names ofpilewort and chelidor : wherefore there is ufe in preferving the diftinétion. What is called greater celandine, is a plant of an altogether different clafs, as will be feen herei] after. Linnzus, who makes this a fpecies of ranunculus, gives for the firft charaéter of that genus, a cup compofedoffive leaves: therefore, according to his original eftablifhment of the genus, this plant does not belong to it. He gives, by way of an exception at the end, this among others; and there eftablifhes the effential character of the genus to be the neCtarium of the flower ; the reft of the parts being all inconftant. Let us examine this conduct in the eye of reafon, and take this as an example of the foundation there is for that fafhionable fyftem. Linnzus gives a defcription of the feveral parts of the cup, flower, andfruit, of the ranunculus; which defcription he calls the generical charaéter: then among the fpecies of ranunculus he places pilewort, which does. not agree with that character. Indeed it contradi&s the two moft abfolute and obvious articles. He fays the ranunculus has a cup compofed offive leaves, and a flower compofedoffive petals; but pilewort hasa cupof three leaves, anda flower of more numerous petals, It is thus diftinguifhed by nature, and it has always been diftinguifhed by na and has diftiné virtues. Why therefore fhould it be thus confounded with crowfoot? Linneus perceives afterwards, that pilewort does not agree with his characters of that genus: then he makes an obfervation, whichis, that all the parts are inconftant, except that there is a nectarium about the unguis of each petal. This, he fays, isthe effential mark. iffo, his whole generical charaéter is fet afide. He him. felf acknowledges it to be ufelefs ; why then is it continued ? We have fhewnit to befalfe: th erefore it ought to be rejected. Befide thefe obvious things in which the pilewort differs fromhis eftablifhed charaéter of ranuncuIus, there are others, as the pointed ends of its petals, and the likeleffer articles. Thefe I do not name, the former being fo evident. I have been the moreparticular on this head, as it may ftandin all refpeéts for an inftance of the wrong management brought intothe fcience by this new method. There is but one known fpecies of pilewort, andthat is a native of Britain. 3 B RWIS By fcribed as different fpecies by authors; but they are only accidental varieties, The roots of pilewort are cooling and foftening. They are an excellent remedy in the pain of the piles; bruifed, and applied to the part: hence they obtained the name. A decoétion of them in red wine is alfo excellent in the fame diforder when they bleed too much. A cataplafm made of the roots and leaves bruifed, and laid on fcrophulous tumors, has been knownto do great fervice. Inwardly a ftrong decoction is good in the jaundice. Having thus feen the formand virtues of this PILE'WORT. The root. is compofed of a great many little tuberous pieces, of the bignefs of a barley-corn, wha a a they are re brownith brownift with fibres among them: whitifh,. or redifh on the outfide, © within. The leaves ftand on long footftalks; and are of-a roundith ferm, fome more fome lefs cornered or angulated, but all indented in the mannerof a heart, for the reception of the footftalk: Thofe which rife firft are rounder, the others more cornered. They are of a fine green, and frequently have a fpot of whitith or blackith in ; p the middle. The ftalks are fhort, andlie upon the ground: Ther. hey have numerous leaves on the lower part, and hey fend up long flender nakedfootftalks for the flowers. arre yellow, large, and beautiful: one ds at the top of each ftalk, and is compofed ' : a great number ofc narrow fharp-pointed petals in a three-leaved cup, and has a tuft of threads in the centre. The feeds ftand naked in a fmall clutter. common under hedges, and flowers in C. Baut it Chelidonia rotu nor , others in general, Chelidonium minus. Wecall it Figwort, pilewort, and Small c dine. Sometimesit grows grows much m roer in in leaves leaves larger and flowers, and fometimes the flowers are naturally double. In thefe conditions it has been de- fexibed G ier Ne aie RB ATs at plant, the reader will be able to pafs a more pi fect judgment on that method, which propo making it a fpecies of crowfoot. Here is an herb different in form, fhape, and virtues, from crowfoot, anddiftinguifhed by the moft obvious and effential parts, on a nearerinfpection. Can it be reafonable, therefore, when the flower andits cup fhew a manifeft difference, we fhould look fora hole in the bottom ofthe petals, to unite this and the crowfoot? Or can it be proper tojoin together a plant with a cooling root; and a whole feries of others which are of a burning andcauftick nature? This is confounding what Nature has widely feparated; and we fee fhe has given marks enoughof that diftinction. 10.) oS iy) ARROWHEAD. Saar RiP r i ‘HE flower confifts of three petals, and has a three-leaved cup: the feeds ftand in a round naked clufter: the leaves have long footftalks, and are fhapedlike the bearded head of anarrow, There are two forts of flowers onthis plant, male and female. ‘The male ftand uppermott on the ftalks. Their general form is alike ; but in the centre of the male flowers there are only threads topp’d with buttons: in the female, none of thefe but the rudiments of the future feeds, with their appendages, a kindof filaments for the reception of the duft from the buttons. Linneus places this among the Monacia Polyandria, feparating it far from the other naked feeded plants ; and joining it with the oak, hazel, and walnut tree. The reafon of this is, that there are the different male and female flowers. His explanation of the clafs of Monecia is this: It confitts of plants, in which the males and females live in the fame houfe, but Sleep in different beds**; that is, there are male and female flowers on the fame plant. This is an inftance how unnatural the methodofthat author is. In our plain courfe, in this part marked out by Mr. Ray, the a7 ad is joined to thofe plants to whichits flowers and feeds thew it naturally belongs; and the mentioning the feparate fowers in the account is fufficient, DE Vise ON a. BRET Si He-8 Pic Tess; 1. Common Arrowhead. Sagittaria vulgaris. & o The root is large, thick, white, and hung with long fibres. The firft leaves are long, narrow, andgrafly ; andthefe, till better known, were miftaken for a feparate plant; and called the great-rooted water grafs. The following leaves are thofe which characterife the plant. They are placed on very long footftalks, reaching from the bottomtothe furface often where there is a great depth: thefe are thick, foft, fpungy, and of an obtufely angulated form. The leaves are large, and formedlike the bearded headof an arrow, tolerably fharp at the point, and at the two beards, They are of a gloffy furface, and fine green, The ftalks rife two or three together from the centre of the clufter of leaves: theyare naked two, three, or fourfeet high, thick, and fpungy, and of a fmooth furface. The flo ftand on long footftalks, and are rge and white: they grow three or four from e, furroundingthe ftalk. fol low the female, which are the * Mares h lower flowers, and ftandin large roundifh naked clufters. It is commonin waters, and flowers in Fuly. Allauthorscall it Sagitia,andSagittaria aquati 3 but they idly divide it into a larger and fmaller kind, fromthe difference of fize in the leaves : there is alfo another variety, which they defcrit as a diftinét fpecies, under the name of the x TOW-LE. All thefe grow d finaller arrowhead. promifcuoufly together, and are no more than accidental changes ; but thereis one {mall {pecies, the form of whofe leaves and flowers fliews it to e be diftinét. 2. Little Arrowhead, with pointed leaves, and large flowers. Sagittaria minor foliis acutioribus flore majore. The root confifts of a great clufter of whitith fibres. The leaves thatrife firft are narrow, fhort, and deeply ribbed. They have no footftalks, and are in fome degree grafly, The leaves that follow thefe rife in a little clufter : their footftatks are {mall and firm; and they are very narrow, andvery fharp-pointed, of a pale green, andhighly ribbed. t cum fceminibus in eadem domo, fed diverfo thalamo G |
