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263 



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arger, Hand upon long footftalks 



and the pinnae are elliptical, and deeply ferrated : the fl 

 fpear-ihaped and pointed : the flowers are fmall, of a white or purplifli 

 colour, and terminate the ftem and branches in large bunches ; there 

 is no calyx, or only a fmall narrow rim : the corolla confifts of a 



narrow tube, fomewhat fweiled on the under fide, and divided at the 

 limb into five obtufe fegments : the three filaments are tapering, 

 longer than the corolla, and furnifhed with round anthers : the ger- 

 men is placed beneath the corolla, and fupports a flender ftyle, fhorter 

 than the filaments, and terminated by a thick bearded ftip;ma : the 



pfule is crowned with a radiated feather, and contains one feed of 

 an oblong fhape. It flowers in June, and commonly grows about 

 hedges and woods. 



The narrower-leaved variety of this fpecies of Valerian, which 



does not exceed two feet in height, and affeds dry heaths and high 

 paftures, is juftly in more repute than the other ; its roots manifeft 

 ftronger fenfible qualities, and confequently pofl"efs more medicinal 

 pov/er; their fmell is ftrong, and has been compared to that of a 

 mixture of aromatics with fetids ; their tafle unpleafantly warm, 

 bitterilh, and fubacrid. " The powdered root, infufed in water or 



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digefted in rectified fpirit, impregnates both menfl:rua flrongly with 

 its fmell and tafte. Water diftilled from it fmells confiderably of the 

 root, but no efl^ential oil feparates, though feveral pounds be fub- 

 xnitted to the operation at once." 



Valerian is fuppofed to be the ?*« of Diofcorides and Galen,* by 

 tvhom it is mentioned as an aromatic and diuretic : it was firfl brought 

 into eftimation in convulfive affediions by Fabius Columna," who 

 relates that he cured himfelf of an epilepfy by the root of this plant ; 

 we are told however, that Columna fufFered a relapfe of the diforder, 

 and no further accounts of the efficacy of Valerian in epilepfy followed 

 till thofe publifhed by Dominions Panarolus " fifty years afterwards, 



t Lewis, M. M. . 



^ Grsecls (pa efle credo, a c^v abominantis : olet enim radix felinum quid, non tamen fine 



Hoff. "Th 



rats are alfo faid to be 



equally fond of thefe roots, and that rat-catchers employ them to draw the rats together.' 



Withering, Lc " •» Phytobafamos Neapol. 1592. />. 97. 



logifm. s. medicin, hift. pentac, quinque Rom, 1643. ^^^i^^' ^' ^kf' ZZ' P 



No. 20 



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