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Show Lies B Ro Ts bb Seam HE RB ASL. EOS The, BR ETIS D DIV iS LOW? Natives of BRITAIN. BEgA -G&k ON Wes True black Hellebore. It tHE L LAE BeOR EF. HELLEBORUS NIGER. Lac lebore has fingered leaves; and large flowers, compofed of five roundith petals: and thef J have no cup. Inthe centre ftand numerous threads, with upright flatted buttons, and the rydiments of feveral capfules, which when ripe are large, and comprefléd, andcontain roundith feeds, It is one of the polyandria palyg) yzynia of Linneus. DE Vieiis TG Ni 1, B RETISH 1. Small wild Hellebore. inft contagious’ difeafes. It is a y dicine, and fhould be given with caution . C. Bauhine calls this eborafter ni T worten= Sis fore viridi others, Helleboraftrum, ft leaves ftand on long footftalks; and e, of adeep green, and dividedinto feveral parts, in the manner of fingers: thefe are each of them long, narrow, fharp- pointed, and deeply ferrated at the edges. The ftalks are numerous, and about a foot high: they are round, green, firm, and upri The leaves on thefe are few: they refemble thofe from the root; but are fimaller, and have fhort footftalks ; often none. The flowers ftandat the tops of the branches, andverylarge and fingular: they have no cup: they are green, but paler than the leaves; and they have a great number of threads, with white buttons i r centre. els appear among thefe, andafterIs ripen; the flower not falling, but remaining with them. Somehave henc dthat it is properly a cup, andthat this plant has no flower. It is true, that the flower of this plant does not agree withtheir definitions of a Hower, which fay that ir muft be compofedof leaves differently coloured fromthofe ofthe plant, and that they muft fall off before the feed ripens ; but natureis more certain than their charatters. The flowerofthe h &: that thould be altered ; not this {truck out of the lift of flowers. The pods, when ripened, are la ‘ge, flatted, and tough; and each contains feveral feeds. i it. It has been found in woods and in Buckinghamhhire. It It has the virtues of ior degree. ntry-people ed root to their it is too rough powder diz children medicine. tlebore, but -in an a little of the powainft worm The leavesdri SPECIE s. i Helleborafter niger t Sa IES Helleborus niger flore rofeo. Thofe of which one or more fpecies are naturally wild in this country. GE lk at wild Hellebore. The root is long, large, and fi manyfibres. The leaves are numerous, large, and beautiful: they ftand on long footftalks, and are divided deep, in the manner of fingers: re nine or more of thefe on each ftalk, or compofing each compleat leaf, They are of a bluith oreen The root confifts of a vaft quantity of thick, tough, long, and blackfibres; fometimes faftened toa fmall head, fometimes without any. Theleaves rife in a clufter, and are large and beautiful : they are ofthe fingered kind, and ofa pale green colour, and flefhy texture. ‘They ftand on footftalks three or four inches long, thick, flethy, redith, but feldom quite ereét; and each leaf is compofed of about feven parts, fometimes lefs: thefe are broad, fhort, ferrated at the edges, and pointed at the ends, Among thefe rife the ftalks which fupport the flowers, Thefe are fhorter than the footftalks of the leaves, and, like them, thick, flefhy;*and often redifh : each fuftains a fingle flower, and each has a kind oflittle leaf on it placed about its middle, andaltogether unlike the others. The flower is very large, and verybeautiful ; it is white, with a bluth of redith, and is as big as a {mall fingle rofe: there are numerous threads in the centre, with white buttons. The feed-veflels are numeroys, flatted, and full of a roundith feed. It is a native of Germany, and is frequent on Goan very thick, andfull ofleaves. Thefe have their long footft: alks like thofe n fromthe troot. he Thofe on the lower part refemble thofe of the root in form 3 but thofe near the top are fimple, not fingered; they are only divided into two or three irregular parts at the end. TI flowers are ne very numerous, but not fo large as in the preceding they are green, with a bluhh of purple, principally on the outfide ; and they | ave merou! threads, with white numerous buttons in the centre. The feed veffls are many , and the feed is roundifh, It is wild in fome parts of Kent and Suffex, but is not common. It flowe rs very ea rly in ipring. . C. Bauhine calls it Helleborus niger flore rofeo ; others, Helleborus niger veru This is the black bellebore fo celebrated the antients forits virtues. It was efteeme vereign cure for madnefs. It is an excellent deobftruent, and is good in nervous and hyfterick cafes. The principal virtue is in the outer bark ofthe root, the relt being infipid, It may be given in powder, or in tin@ure ; but the beft methodis the latter. It is a coarfe, rough medicine; and there fhould always be given with it cloves, cardamoms, or fome other fpice. It operates as a cathartick, but very uncertainly. Its beft ufe is in obftinate obftru@ions. I have knowninveterate complaints in the head cured by a continued ufeof a tinGture of belledore and cloves, thirty drops for a dofe. Thetincture for this purpofe fhould be made with an ounce of ellebore-reot, a dram and a half of cloves, and a quart ofproof {pirit, without heat. Great care muft be taken that the root be freth, for it is often dam by keeping, wes II. GLOBE- EL OWE R, colour, and gloffy ; and are very narrow, fharp- pointed, notched at the edges, and often turninwardat the ends, The falk isa yard high: it is green, round > SiN the Apenine mountains. It flowers in the dead ‘winter; whence it has obtained among our gardeners the name ofChriftmas flower. TROL £ ILUS, PAAHE leaves are fingered: the flower confifts of numerous petals; the outer ones are fhorte ry and the inner, which are larger, bend toward one anot fo that the floweris globular : the capfules of feeds are numerous, Linnzus, in his Genera Plantarum, makes this a fpecies of hellebore; from which it differs in that efféntial and obvious charaéter, the number, form, and difpofitionof the petals which compofe the ower. He was not ignorant of this plain diftin@ion : but the fondnefs for his fyftem would not then let him feparate a plant he fawfo perfectly diftiné&. He knowledges that the number and figure of the feveral parts of the flower vary ; but he fays the ential charaéter of the genus confifts in the nec. tarium. This is the fhift to which we have feen this great author before reduced in the crowfoot kir Nature difclaims that fyftem, which will force, under one imaginary ¢ s plants the form, number, and fituation of the feveral parts of whofe flowers are unlike; becaufe in each thereis a little glandulein the lower part of the petal, that is, fomewhat alike in one andin the other. In his Species Plantarumthis author has given themas feparate 5genera, PEEVE T Sal OA eo, BREE) Seat Common Globe- flower. 6 Pe Ce oh f a pale green, and fecarce at all divided I into branches. The roots are a violent purge, and too harfh for inwardufe. PPita ea etn f i . “he count ry-people put pieces of them into Tae mie sek 7 holes cut in the ears, 3 or otherparts of thei cattle, in manydiforders ; and they producea difcha whichoften is ferviceable : theyca ll thefe fe and the plant has thence been named amono es are few, and placed gularly: there ne or two towards the bottom, and one only top; the lower ones have fhort footalks, the upper none: they refemble thofe which from the root in Jetterwort, C, Bauhine calls it Helle borus niger Bylo Pl 2 ThA in Plinii 8, Helleb orafter this as they a r ate, are kept byour count: vhere they call them bothdea 8 is alfo tointo fe- I T points, leaving only <, upright, two feet ie body of the flower: herefore gl r. There ftand |