IFAMILY HERBAL. 337 



<;rs arc yellow ; thej stand in a kind of green ieafy 

 heads : the little leaves composing' these heads 

 are prickly ; and each of the cups of the flowers 

 ends in a long brown spine^ dented on both sides. 



It is a bitter and stomachic. An infusion of it, 

 taken in lar^e quantities, will excite vomiting" : 

 in smaller draughts, it is good to create an appe- 

 tite, and prevents sicknesses and Teachings. The 

 leaves, dried and powdered, are good against worms, 

 ll was ai one time supposed to possess very great 

 virtues against fevers of all kinds ; but that is 

 now disregarded. 



Milk Thistle. Carduus.marits. 



G 



A VERY beautiful plant, common hy road- 

 ies, but wanting only to have been a native of 

 reece, or the Indies, to be esteemed one of the 

 most elegant vegetables in the world. The leaves 

 rising from the root arc two feet long, and more 

 than a foot broad, of a beautiful deep green, varie- 

 gated all over with irregular lines of a milk white, 

 dentated deeply at the edges, and prickly. They 

 spread themselves into a round of more than a yard 

 diameter, and when they grow out of the way oi 

 dust, make a most charming appearance, 

 stalk rises in the midst of these. It is five feet 

 high, round, thick, very firm, upright, and divided 

 dt the top into a few branches. The leaves on it 

 are like those from the root, and variegated with 



in the same manner. At the tops stand the 

 „„..v..Sj which are of the nature of those of other 

 thistles, but twice as big, and vastly more beau- 

 ftful. The fiowerv .art is of a deep and fine pur- 

 ple; the head itself is compoi-d of beautiful scales 

 arransred wLUi srreat f<\^ularity, and ea(;h termi 



X X 



A siiigia 



white 



