4-1 o 
veflels or pods (land nearly parallel with the branches, and 
fmooth, protuberant at the bafe, two-celled, two-valved, and 
ctii 
many globular mining dark feeds. It is common in corn field 
— d 'banks £>f ditches; but it is cultivated for ufe, and flowers in 
n 
Jun 
^e. 
The feeds of this fpecies of Muftard, which are directed bt 
London College, and thofe of the S. alba, which are preferred by 
that of Edinburgh, manifeft no remarkable difference to the tafte, 
nor in their general effects, and therefore anfwer equally well for 
the ufes of the table, and for the purpofes of medicine. They 
have an acrid pungent tafte, and when bruifed this pungency 
fhews its volatility by powerfully affecting the organs of fmell ; they 
readily impart thefe qualities to aqueous liquors, and by diftillation 
with water yield an effential oil of great acrimony. To rectified 
thefe feeds give out very little either of their fmell or tafte. 
Subjected to the prefs, they yield a confiderable quantity of mild 
infipid oil, which is as free from acrimony as that of almonds. 
By writers on the Materia Medica, Muftard is confidered to promote 
appetite, aflift digeftion, attenuate vifcid juices, and by ftimulating 
the fibres, to prove a general remedy in paralytic and rheumatic affec- 
tions. Joined to its ftimulant qualities, it frequently, if take 
confiderable quantity, opens the body, a and increafes the urinary 
difcharge, and hence has been found ufeful in dropfical complaints. 
It belongs to the fame natural order as the laft mentioned pla 
which it is nearly allied in its medicinal character, and, like all the 
other Siliquofae, has been recommended- as an antifcorbutic ; c though 
we are told by Haller, that the ufe of Muftard difpofes the humours 
.. feeds as an ordinary table-fpoon will contain does not 
prove heating to the ftomach, but ftimulates the inteftinal canal, and commonly prov 
laxative. Cullen, M. M. vol. tu p. 171. 
b See Mead and others. 
Semen Sinapeos in mortario tritum & cum vino albo mixtum, multas cen un 
Scorbutieorum & languentium hominum in obfidione Rupellenfi famtati ieil " 
Plerique enim obfeflbrum & urbe incluforum fame & inedia preffi, multa fordida « q 
natura abhorret efitare coafti, refpirandi difficultatem, gingivarum putredmem, den ^ 
nigritiem & vacillationem, aliaque Scorbuti fymptomata contraxerant, unde mu 
riebantur, donee tandem Sinapi in foflis circa urbem cqpiose inventum, & q u0 
M modo adhibitum omnes liberavit." V ide Rati Hijl. p. 803 
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