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Show BR T7124 Sa The tH’ ER’ B AsL, BRITISH HERBAL. 157 SS acini Saal suit dts Bes If. Thofe of ‘which there is no {pecies native of this country. Gi. sk The whole plant thus far refembles commonrue, Neyo), Re Ba &, AAD pees HE flower is compofed of four petals, which are hollow, narrow, and ftand open, and it has a tuft of threads.in the centre: the cupis {mall, formed ofa fingle piece, but divided into four fegments at the edge, and permanent: the feed-veffel is large and fingle, but compofed of fourlobes, andlightly divided into four partitions: the feeds are numerous and rough. Linnzus places this among the offandria monogynia; the threads in each flower being eight, and the rudiment of the capfule withits ftyle fingle. There is fometimes a variation in the uppermoft flower of rue, it having five inftead of four pe- tals; but in that cafe all the reft of the flowers, wherever fo numerous, Confift only of foureach: in the cafe offive petals, there are alfo foundten inftead of eight threads in the flower. This fhews the uncertainty of any one part, much more of anyfmall part of a plant, to. fix a generical character. When it happens that even thete is a petal too muchin the flow er, ftill the feed-veflel fhews.a diff romall other plants, and is confiftent and uniform: this therefore is an effential part in a generical character. 1. Common Ruta fylve SL A5I 7 The root islong and large, divided into many parts, and furnifhed with numerous fibres. The ftalk.is round, and,’ when the plant ‘has ftood foie time, it grows hard and woody,.and is covered with a greyifh bark. At firftit-is:tender and green,” andthe branches and youngi thoots continue of ‘that texture ahd: colour: it rifés to two or ‘three feet high, fometimes more, ‘and. is very much branched, The leaves are very numerous, of abluith'co- jour; thick,-“and' of a flethy fubftance: they are, properlyfpeaking, doubly pinnated, féveral pairs of pinnated leaves growing on a middle rib, and each of thefe being compofed offour or five pair of {mallones ‘on its rib, with an odd leaf at the end 3 but theyoare fo numero us, “that this diffofition is not much tegarded: thefefeparate leaves/are hort, broad, and obtufe. The piss ftand at the tops of the branch es cP tufts, and are fmall, and of a bi ight The feed-ve ee ffel is large, and feems as if comf of four parts, and the feeds are rough, is a native of the fouthern parts of feIt Geis Eur s Angute ec be Ol eee) hiswtoe cae, and of very powerful qualiti es. Rubbed the fkin, it raifes an inflammation, andis uf by fome in this manner againft headachs. They diftil a water from it in the fhops, which has Jittle virtue, for the qualities of rue are not of that kind whichrife in diftillation, : There no better way of Siving it than : : ina conferve made of the freth tops, beaten up with and is like ic fhrubby, and three feet high, and very much branched. The feparate leaves fhew a manifeft difference: they are in the com é fhort, and roundifh or blunt; in this es they are oblong, narrow, and fharp-pointed : their colour is a greyifh green, and they are not fo flefhy as in the com- mon rue. The flowers ftand at the tops of the branches, and are large andyell The and tl C. Bauhine calls it R donzus, Rute gre so fugar. In this formitis excellent again{t hyfterick complaints arifing from fuppreffions of the menfes ; anditaken for-a. continuance againft the epi lepfy. The-\juice of me, exprefled with white wine, and.taken in very {fmall dofes, isa remedy for that troublefome difeafe the nightmare. An: ibfufion of jit taken for a continuance of tishe, sis greatly recommended alfo againtt diforders of the eyes. rs ‘The antients had-an opinion of rue as a pre ferver of chaftity, or a preventer of lewd though ts hls 3. Little five-leaved Rue. Ruta pumila tenuifolia. AZL23,, The root is long, thick, divided, and furnithed with numerous fibres. The firft leaves rife feparate from the ftalk, and lie upon the ground: they are pinnated in a fingular manner ; each is compofed of three or four pairs of pinne, with an oddone at the end, fet on a flender, naked rib; but thefe pinneare not compofed of fmaller leaves, as in the fpecies before defcribed, but are deeply and irregularly dividedina pinnated form, into long, narrowfegments; fo that the whole large leaf has a very beautiful appearance. The ftalks are numerous, weak, and tough: they are a foot and a half high, and have leaves placed irregularly on them, refembling thofe from the root, and ofa pale green. The flowers ftand in tufts at the tops of the ftalks, and are fmall and yellow. It is a native of Italy, and flowers in June. C. Bauhine calls it Ruta fylueftris minor. The plant cailed in Latin bearmala, and by many wild r#e, is of another » to be defcribed hereafter. Ui 128 II. EUPHORBIUM. PYNHE flower confifts the cup is divided into four fegments, and thefe are placed alternately between each other: the feed veffel is roundifh, but marked with three divifions, and contains three cells, in each of which there is a fingle feed: the body of the plant is thick, flefhy, and angulated. Linnzus places this among the polyandria monog to the receptacle, and the ftyle from the rudiment of the fi He joins underthis name, as we have fhewnbefore, the common that the flowers and feed-veflels agree; but there is enough in tl rant a diftinction. it is true, he plants to war- but.we give no medicines for diforders of the mind, C. Bauhine defcribes another :kind of rve, un. derthe:name of Ruta hortenfis altera; bunt is only a variety, not a diftiné {pecies : eid Linnzus, carrying the thought too far. ash e led to confider moft of the other finde defcri bed by authors to be alfo varieties : we fhall thew by their foures and deferi tins th: h _ oi f. ficientlydiftinét. : oe | The true botanift thould be as careful to ae the really feparate {pecies of plants ecn ie ae, have nat number fe rlode thofe which been calledee fo but are only varieti Moft h 1 : vith on ahiS head he ie: a. ey : fus is oetoo ; Linne aneconfine ns d. . pe pecies of plants, according to the general ity : authors, taking all they have fuppof ed to be d amount to about fixteen thoufand three hundred. Rue is a-plant of a very ftrong tafte and fme The ftem is thick, round, and firm, and, when old, is covered with a pale:brown bark; but the young fhoots and twigs are tender and green. Theleaves are numerous, and are of the doublypinnated kind, each compofed of two or three pairs on a rib, and each of thefe of feveral pairs offeparate leaves joined to their rib, with an odd one at the end. Linnzus would reduce them to le than ten thoufand; but a moderate comput ation will eftablifh them at about twelve thoufa nd four hundred. Thisis the neareft accoun t of the number of known plants. 2. Sharp-leaved Rue. ; ong, thick, divided, andfurnithed with numerous fibres. 1. Common Fx Euphorbiz The root is large, parts, and hung with i The plant rifes from this in a fi ner, not with a ftalk and leaves, hitherto defcribed, but v yera flefhy ftems: thefe are formed into a number of {mall faces, with fo mar deepblackifh green: armat the bottom, for t fmaller at the top, a foot or morein heigh rmedat the edges of all the planes orar prickles placed two tos This is the general f and appearance of the plant, and is all that is with us ufually feen of it: there never are any Icaves, nor any other ftem than thefe ftrange pieces. Whenit has flowers, t parts at the angles or e lowith green colour; e capfule, of aroun aces withlines, a’ It is a native of A Aveutt. Ifnard calls it Lupharbium polygonum cerei effigii. Others fimply Exuphorbis If any part of the plant be cut or broken, there flows out a cauftick liquor, which refently hardens into arefinous fubftance, of a burning, fiery tafte, and horrible qualities. The hardened juice of this plant is the drug called euphorbium. It was once given as a purge in dropfies, and other defperate diftempers, but a better practice has rejected it. The ‘operation was by vomit and ftool, and both in extremes ; and it often inflamed the inteftines, We find at prefent medicines that anfwer the fame purpofe, without the danger of thefe terrible confequenc es. Surgeons once ufed it in the cure of carious bones ; but they foundit fo ungovernable even in that application, that it is nowutterly neglected. The plant here defcribed affords the euphorZium of late time brought into the fhops; but it was from another of the fame genus that the euphorbium was obtainedin the times of the an: the difference of the plant is, however, no more than that of fpecies of the fame kind; and of the drug no more than might be expected in fuch a cafe. The euphorbium of the antients Sf was |
