FAMILY HERBAL. 17 



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kind of manna used in France^ called the Briancon 

 manna; this is produced by the larch-tree: and 

 there is another kind more rare, called Persian 

 manna ; this is produced by the shrub called 

 alhagi, a 'kind of broom^ or nearly allied to iU 

 But these are scarce with us. 



Asparagus. Asparagus safivus. 



'The asparagus plant is one whose root is 

 useful in medicine^ although a different part 

 of it be eaten at the table. Its virtues are 

 not unlike those of the artichoke root but 

 greater. 



The asparagus is a wild plant in many parts 

 of England about the sea-coasts; and its root, in 

 this wild state, is better than that of the cultivated 

 plants, but its shoots have not that fine fleshy 

 fulness. The plant, when full grown, is three 

 feeV high, and very much branched, and the 

 leaves are fine and of a pale green ; the flowers 

 are small and greenish, but the berries which suc- 

 ceed them, are as big as pease and red. 



The root is a powerful diuretic, and is good 

 in all obstructions or the viscera. It has been 

 known singly to perform cures in jaundices and 

 dropsies. It is best given in decoction. 



Asphodel. Asphadelus verus ^ramosus albus. 



- 1 ■, 



AN elegant garden flower, a native of Italj, and 

 preserTed with us move for its beautV than its 

 use, though sometimes taken as a jnedicine. It 

 grows to thjr^ 'feet in height/ and the stalk di- 

 vides into three or four branches towards the 

 top. The flowers are white, and they stand h\ 

 spikes on the tops of these divisions. They are 



