226 



five leafits, perfiftentjOval, obtufe, protuberant at the bafe, and tin 



ged 



rium 



/ 



with a dark purpHlh colour : the corolla confifts of five irregular petals 

 of a bluiih purple colour ; the two lateral petals are bearded towards 

 the bafe, and the claw of the undermoft formed into a horn-fliaped 

 nedarium : the five filaments are very fhort : the antherse are bilocu- 

 lar, flightly joined together, yellowifh, and terminated by an oval 

 membrane of an orange colour: from behind two of the antherge 

 there arifes a flat greenifh appendage, which is inferted in the neda- 



the germen is orbicular : the ftyle twifted, and fupplied with 

 a hooked ftigma : the capfule is roundifh, comprefTed, feparated by 

 three valves, and contains feveral roundifh light-coloured feeds. It 

 is common near warm hedges, and on ditch banks, and flowers in 

 March and April. . - ... 



This fpecies of violet may be diftinguifhed from the Viola hirta, 

 to which it bears a great refemblance, by the latter having its leaves 

 and footftalks befet with fmall hairs ; by not fending off creeping 

 fhoots which ftrike root ; by its flowers being inodorous, and of a 

 fainter blue colour 



and by the bradteas being placed fomewhat 

 below the middle of the fcapus or peduncle.'' 



The Viola odorata is evidently ,the lov f^ixxv of Theophraflus, and 



the lov 'ujo^^vpiv of Diofcoridesy it was alio well known to the Arabian 



phyficians, as Mefue commends its ufe highly in various inflamma- 



tory difeafes. Viola is likewife frequently mentioned by the Latin 



poets, who allude to its effects as a vulnerary.^ The recent flowers 

 only are now received in the catalogues of the Materia Medica ; they 

 have an agreeable fweet fmell, and a mucilaginous bitterifh taite; to 

 water they readily give out both their virtue and their fine flavour, 



but fcarcely impart any tinaure to redified fpirit, though they im- 



pregnate the fpirit with their 



avouT 



Thefe flowers taken m 



the 



quantity of a dram or two are faid to be gently purgative or laxative, 

 and according to Bergius, and fome others, they pofl^efs an anodyne 

 and pedoral quahty. The officinal preparation of thefe flowers is a 



'^ This laft circumftance was firft noticed by Mr. Curtis, who introduced it Into the 

 fpecific charader. ■■'■.. 



Viola, quafi vitula, Grsecis lov ab lo Puella In vaccam a Jove converfam, i}^^ 

 cenfetur. MatthioL Viola per diminuvlonem a Greeco dida eft, fpintu km i^ 



hteram converfo, ut In aliis multls." 



C (C 



Vide Lewis's Mat, Mid, p. 664. "* Vide Ovid iMdamorph, Jib. x. v. IQO 



fyrup 



J 



K 



