F.^MILY HERBAL. 335 



Tarragon. DraciinciiluSu 



A COMMON plant in our gardens. It is two 

 feet high. The stalk is round, upright, firm, 

 and green ; the leaves are very numerous, and 

 stand irregularly. Thej are longisb and very 

 Earrovv, and of a deep green colour ; the flowers 

 are little and greenish, in form like those af 

 wormwood : they stand in spikes at the tops of 

 the stalks. The whole plant has a strong smell, 

 somewhat like fennel. 



An infusion of the fresh tops works by urine, 

 and gently promotes the menses. 



Tea. Thea. 



A SHRUB, native of the East, and cherished 

 there with great rare. It is six or seven feet high ; 

 the branches are slender ; the leaves are numerous. 



oblong 



harp 



ed. The flowers are as big as orange flowers, 

 and white ; they stand in a very small cup : the 

 fruit is dry, and of the bigness of a nut, contain- 

 ing one, two, or three cells. 



AH the kinds of tea are the leaves of this shrub ; 

 they only dilFer as they are gathered in diflTerent 

 states: the bohca tea is gathered when the leave* 

 are in the bud, and more heat is used in drying 

 it. The several torts of ^reen are got from the 



b 



sum- 



mer, or in autumn, and dried with dificrent de- 

 grees of care, according to their value. 



Good green tea, drank moderately, strengthens 

 the stomach, and assists digestion ; it is good 

 against sicknesses, and will prevent the colic : but 

 when bad tea is drank, and a great deal of it, 

 nothing is more pciaicious, Bohea tea is more 



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