278 FAMILY HERBAL. 



grows four feet high. The stalks are slender, 

 toiijrhj and covered with a smooth brown bark. 

 The leaves are oblong and narrow : they are small, 

 of a dusky green colour_, broadest in the middle^, 

 and placed in pairs opposite to one another^ and 

 ijieyareof a somewhat firm substance, and have 

 DO indenting atthe edges. The flowers are white 

 and little, but they stand in tufis at the ends of the 

 branches, and by that make a good appearance. 

 The fruit is a black berry : one succeeds to every 

 flower in the cluster. 



The tops are used _; and they are best when the 

 flowers are just beginning to bud. A strong in- 

 cision of them in water, with the addition of a 

 little honey and red wine, is excellent to wash the 

 mouth and throat when there are little sores in 

 ihem, and when the gums are apt to bleed i. 



Pur SLAIN. Portiilaca. 



A COMMON plant in our gardens, and of a 

 very singular aspect : we have few so succulent. 

 It grows a foot long, but trails on the ground. 

 The stalks are round, thick, and fleshy, of a reddish 

 colour, and very brittle. The leaves are short 

 and broad ; they are of a good green, thick, fleshy, 

 and broad, and blunt at the end. The flowers 

 are little and yellow : they stand among the leaves 

 toward the tops of the stalks. The root is small, 

 fibrous, and whitish. 



Purslain is a pleasant herb in sallads, aiid so 

 wholesome, that 'tis a pity more of it is not eaten : 

 it is excellent against the scurvy. The juice fresh 

 pressed out with a little white wine, works by 

 vrine, and is excellent against sfranguries and 

 violent heats, and also against the scurvy. 



