DERIVATIONS OF THE LATIN NAMES OP PLANTS. 183 



upper half very fine, whitish, semi-transparent, fixed to the centre of the broad 

 top of the opake woody part, which is encompassed with very minute teeth 

 (pi. 24-, c). The anthers are purple, giving a cast of colouring to the panicle. 



Ajuga. — Said to be an alteration of abigo, to expel or drive away. The Latins 

 attributed emmenagogue qualities to a plant called Ajuga, which is believed to be 

 our Teucrium chamcedrys. 



Ajuga reptans, Common Bugle, Sickle-wort, Herb Carpenter. — This plant 

 has been considered by the old writers as an excellent vulnerary, both internally 

 and externally ; hence the French had this expression : — " Those who have Bugle 

 and Sanicle need no surgeon." The Rev. R. Walkek observes, in his Flora of 

 Oxfordshire, that almost any other leaf would probably answer the same purpose 

 of excluding the air, and healing a wound, by what surgeons call the first inten- 

 tion. It is numbered amongst cooling and gently astringent vegetables, but its 

 virtues are as yet but slightly ascertained. In sore throats, without much 

 constitutional derangement, it is said to be a specific; and some foreign physicians 

 of eminence have recommended a decoction of it in the quinsy. A white variety 

 abounds in the Isle of Wight, and a flesh-coloured one has sometimes been 

 observed. In dry mountainous situations the plant acquires a considerable degree 

 of hairiness. The English name Bugle appears to be a corruption of bugula, a 

 contractive diminutive of buglossum, which the plant resembles in medical 

 qualities. 



Ajuga Chamcepitys, Yellow Bugle, Ground Pine. — This plant has a degree of 

 bitterness and acrimony, but its real use is far from being accurately ascertained. 

 It stands recommended in the gout, jaundice, and intermitting fevers. 



Alchemilla. — Named from the Arabic alkemelyeh, Alchemy, from its pretended 

 alchemical virtues. 



Alchemilla vulgaris, Common Lady's-mantle. — Loudon observes that it is 

 readily eaten by Horses, Sheep, and Goats, and is considered a good herbage- 

 plant where it abounds in upland pastures. The foregoing statement, however, 

 does not accord very well with the following from Withering. The Rev. S. 

 Dickenson gives the ensuing curious account of its pernicious effects on Cows : — 

 I Being lately on a visit at Somerford, the Hon. E. Moncton requested me to 

 examine the herbage of a meadow near the river Penk, in which he had the 

 misfortune, a few years ago, to have five milking Cows die suddenly at once, and 

 several more were with difficulty recovered. The symptoms of the disease, 

 which he attributed to some noxious plant, were irremediable obstruction in the 

 bowels. Upon examination, I found a very unusual abundance of Alchemilla 

 vulgaris in every part of the field ; and am inclined to believe this plant the 

 cause of the fatality, as it is known to be of a very astringent quality. It was 

 the aftermath the herd depastured ; and the survivors, upon being introduced 



