92 The Ujeful Family Herbal: 
than thefe; and the Flowers. are of a very pecu 
liar kind , they are difpofed together in a kind of 
flat Form, and are very {mall and inconfiderable. 
The Bed on which they are fituated is of an oval 
Figure, and is called the Placenta of the Plant; 
it is of a pale Colour and thin. : 
We are told of another Plant of the fame kind; 
the Leaves of which are lefs divided, and the — 
Placenta is fquare, but the Roots of both aré — 
_ allowed to be exactly alike, and it is thereforé 
more probable, that this is not another Plant, but 
the fame in a different Stage of Growth. i 
- We ufe the Roots, our Druggifts keep them, 
and they are the principal Ingredient in that fe 
mous Powder, called from its being rolled up into 
Balls, Lapis Contrayerva. It is an excellent Cor 
dial and Sudorifie, good in Fevers and in nervous 
Cafes, and againft Indigeftions, Cholics, and 
Weaknefies of the Stomach. It may be takeni@ 
Powder or in Tincture, but it is better to give 
alone, than with that Mixture of Crabs Claws 
and other ufelefs Ingredients, which go into the — 
_ Contrayerva Stone. In Fevers andnervous Di _ 
_- orders, it is beft to give it in Powder, in Weak- — 
nefles of the Stoinath. it is beft'in Finéiure. It — 
is alfo an excellent Ingredient in bitter Tintures; — 
and it is wonderful the prefent Pra@tice has not put 
it to that Ufe. All the old Prefcribers of Forms — 
for thefe Things, have put fome warm Root into 
them, but none is fo proper as this, the moft 
-ufual has been the Galangul, but that has a moft 
reeable Flavour in Tinéture : The Contray- 
as all the Virtues expected to be found it 
eye 
