345 



/ 



jn 



aves 

 ers 



ftrong branches, and is covered with rough brown bark : the 

 are oblong, broader towards the end, deeply cut or finuated at the ( 



forming obtufe lobes, and ftand upon fliort footftalks : the fl . 



are very fmall, and are male and female upon the fame treel thQ 

 calyx of the male Jloivcrs is divided into five, fix, or feven feginents, 

 which are pointed, and often cloven: there is no corolla : the filaments 

 are from five to ten, and fupplied with large double anthcrx : the calyx 

 of the female fowcr is membranous, hemifpherical, and cornpofed of 

 numerous imbricated pointed fegments : there is no corolla: the 

 ^ermen is oval : the flyles from two to five, and furniflied Vv^ith fimple 

 permanent ftigmata : its fruit is a nut, which is oblon^, fixed to a 

 Ihort cup, and ripens in Odober, but the flowers appear in April. 



This valuable tree is well known to be a native of Britain, where 

 it has in fome inflances acquired an extraordinary magnitude t its 

 wood is of general ufe in carpentry, and by uniting ^lardnefs with 

 fuch a degree of toughnefs as not eafily to fplinter, has been Ion 

 jullly preferred for the purpofe of building fliips."* 



The aftringent effeds of the Oak were fufficiently known to the 

 ancients, by whom different parts of the tree were ufed ; but it is the 

 bark which is now direded for medicinal ufe by our pharmacopoeias. 

 To this tree we may alfo refer the Gallse, d^ Galls, which are pro- 

 ■duced from its leaves by means of a certain infedl. 



Oak bark manifefts to the tafle a flrong aftringency, accompanied 

 with a moderate bitternefs, qualities which are extraded both by 

 water and by redified fpirit. Its univerfal ufe and preference in the 

 tanning of leather is a proof of its great aflringency, and like oth 



\ 



aitringents it has been recommended in agues, and for retraining 

 hxmorrharies, alvine fluxes, and 



other immod 



A 



decodion of it has likewife been advantageoufly employed as a gargle, 

 and as a fomentation or lotion in procidentia redi et uteri. Dr. Cullen 

 tells us, that he has frequently employed the decodion with fuccefs 

 m flight tumefadions of the mucous membrane of the fauces, and in 



Oak faw-duft is the principal indi 



fuftian. All the 



fhades of brown, are mad 



r:» 



managed and compounded. Oak apples are likewife ufed in dying, as a fub 

 galls. An infufion of the bark, with a fmall quantity of copperas, is ufed by the 



people to d^Q woollen of a purplifh blue^ which is fufficiently durable, mther 



fly 



many 



