CLASS IV. 



FOUR STAMINA. 



This Class has three Orders. 



DEVIL'S-BIT SCABIOUS abounds in grassy ™^ am 

 pastures that are somewhat moist, and blossoms from 

 August to October inclusively. This plant has an ab- 

 rupt root, as if it were cut or bitten off; and from the 

 notion that formerly prevailed as to the cause of this 

 peculiarity, it was supposed to have great efficacy in 

 medicine. Gerarde, in his Herbal, has given this 

 whimsical account concerning it: " It is commonly 

 called MorsusTHaboli, or Devil's bit, of the root (as 

 it seemeth) that is bitten off: for the superstitious 

 people hold opinion, that the Devil, for the envy that 

 he beareth to mankind, bit it off, because it would be 

 otherwise good for many uses." 



Of this Class and Order is the Teasel, very curious 

 in its structure, and important in our woollen manu- 

 factures, and the Madder which is cultivated in large 

 quantities for dying red. 



SLENDER BUFFONIA blossoms in May and ^ggjk. 

 June : it was first noticed in England by Ray. It was 

 named by Sovage in honour of the Count de Buffon; 

 and Linnaeus added the epithet tenuifolia, appropriate 

 to the plant, and at the same time expressive of the 



