FAMILY HERBAL. 313 



t)»e figure of a bag, or pouch, and are divided a 

 little at the end. The seeds are small and vellow- 

 ish, and the roots white. 



The juice of shepherd's purse is cooling and 

 a&Uingent; it ia good against purgings, with sharp 

 and bloody stools.; against the bleeding of the piles, 

 and the overflowings of the menses* 



Skirret. Sisarum. 



A PLANT kept in our kitchen gardens. It 

 grows three or four feet high. The stalk is round, 

 lioUoWj striated^ and somewhat branched : the leaves 

 are each composed oi three or five smaller, two or 

 four set opposite and one at the end ; they are ob- 

 longs serrated at the edges^ and sharp pointed ; the 

 end leaf is longer than the others. The flowers are 

 little: they stand in round clusters oo the lops of 

 the branches. The root is of a singular form ; it 

 is composed of several long parts like carrots. They 

 are of a good taste, and some people eat them at 



tlieir tables. 



A decoction of them works by urine, and h good 

 as^ainit the gravel. The roots boiled in milkt are 

 aa excellent restorative to people who have suiTered 

 long illnesses. 



r 

 W 



The Sloe Tree. Frunus svlvestri" 



THE common low shrub in our hedges, which 

 we call the blackthorn. It is a plum tree in 

 rninlature. It grows five or six feet high ; the trunk 

 and branches are all covered with a dark purplish or 

 blackish bark. The leaves are roundish, and of a 

 l^ood green, elegantly dentated about the edges. 

 The flowers are small and whit«. The fruit is a 



t s 



