FAMILY HERBAL. 245 



they also have the same dismal aspect ; they arc 

 large, hollo w^ and hang down. On the outside 

 thev are of a dusky col our^, between brown and 

 green, and within they are of a very deep purple* 

 These are succeeded by berries of the bigness of 

 cherries^ black and shining when ripe^ and full of 

 a pulpy matter^ of a sweetish and mawkish taste. 

 The root is long. The betries are fatal ; children 

 have often eat thera, and perished by it. The leaves 

 externally applied are cooling alid softening; they 

 are good against the ringworm and tetters^ and 

 against hard swellings. They have very great 

 virtue in this respect, but the plant should be kept 

 out of the way of children^ or never suffered to 



S 



The NuTxMegTree. Niix moschata. 



A Tx\LL, spreading tree, native only of the 

 warm climates ; the trunk is large^ and the bran- 

 ches are numerous and irregular ; the bark is of 

 a greyish colour, and the wood light and soft. 

 The leaves are large, long, and somewhat broad: 

 they are not unlike those of thebay tree^ but bigger, 

 and are of a beautiful green on the upper side, and 

 whitish underneath. They stand irregularly^ but 

 often so nearly opposite, that they seem in paire^ 

 as we see in the leaves of some of our willows. 

 The blossom is of the shape and bigness of that 

 of our cherry tree, but its colour is yellow. The 

 fruit which succeeds this, is of the bigness of a 

 small peach, and not unlike it in the general form ; 

 when cut open there appears first the fleshy coat, 

 which is a finger thick, and of a rough taste, then 

 the mace spread over a woody shell, in which it 

 the nutmeg. We often have the whole fruit sent 

 «ver preserved. 



