r 



195, 



\ 



THE root IS perennial, long, brancheclj and fibrous: the ftems 

 are numerous, procumbent, fpreading, woody, fcarcely a foot in 



N 



glh, and feldom divided into branches: the leaves are oblon 

 btufe, narrowed tow^ards the bafe, entire, thick or fleihy, fi 

 without footftalks, of a dingy green colour, and clofely furround 



upper part of the ftalk : the flowers are whitiih or fleih-coloured, and 

 terminate the flems in fmall clufters upon iliort ffender pedicles : the 



X is very fmall, and divided into five obtufe teeth : the corolla 

 confifts of a fmgle petal, which is tubular, oval, contraded/ and 

 divided at the margin into five minute reflexed fegEiients: the filaments 



are ten, Ihort, downy, tapering, and crowned with ere6t reddifh 



anthers : the germen is oval, and placed above the infertion of 

 corolla : the ftyle is tapering, longer than the filaments, and temiinated 

 with a fimple iligma : the fruit is a pulpy, round, red berry. It is a 

 native of the Northern parts of Britain, and fi 



Profeflor Murray has not been able to determine whether 

 ant is the a^ytov ^xpvxy,, vdiich is much commended by Galen ^ m 

 cafes of hxmoptyfis, or the 'dx^as ^ ;^^ ufed as a general afl:ringent by 



4 



Diofcorides/ It growls in great abundance in different parts of 

 Europe and America, particularly in barren fandy foils ; and that 

 which is found in dry, lofty, and expofed fituations, is preferred '' for 

 medical ufe to that w^hich is colleded in valleys and ihady grounds. 

 The leaves of this plant, in a dried ftate, have no remarkable fmell, 

 but a bitteriili aftringent tafte, and by fome are ufed for the purpofe 

 of dying an afli-colour, and for tanning leather. The fapid matter 

 of thefe leaves has been attributed rather to the prefence*of gummy 



than of refinous particles, as w^atery menfi:rua extrad their virtues 

 more completely than 



The Uva Urfi, though employed by the ancients in feveral 



difeafes requiring afi:ringent medicines, had almoft entirely fall 

 into difufe till about the middle of the prefent century, when it firil 

 drew the attention of phyficiahs as a ufeful remedy in calculous and 



^ h 



» Our artifl, by fuppofing the contraaed ftate of the corolla to be merely the efFea 

 ot drying, has made it appear too inflated in the annexed figure. 



«> Be comp. nud fee, he, L. 7. c. 4; p, 548. Ed. Chart. <= Mat. Med. L. 4. c. 



42. p. 4«2. td. Vergil ^ Girardi /. c. p. 454. « Murray App. Med. vol il p. s'^. 



No 



5. 3 ^ 



"-> 



s 



ph 



X 



^ 



