GOLDEN ROD. 363 



wood, cucn as it were at our towncs end, no man 

 will giue halfc a crowne for an hundred weiglit of 

 it ; wliicli plainly settcth foorth our inconstancie 

 and sudden mutabilitie, esteemino; no lonocr of 

 any thing (how precious soever it be) than whilst it 

 is strange and rare.'* 



The use of this plant has been much commended 

 by ancient medical writers, as a remedy against 

 the disorders of the stone and gravel, &c. 



A case is related in the Gentleman's Magazine, 

 for February, 1788, of the efficacy of a decoction 

 made with this plant in the stone. A boy, ten 

 or eleven years of age, after taking a decoction or 

 infusion of the Golden Rod for some months, voided 

 great quantities of gravel, with many small stones, 

 and after that fifteen larger stones, from three- 

 fourths of an ounce to an ounce and a quarter, 

 besides fifty or more not smaller than a large pea. 

 It is frequently called Woundwort, from its vul- 

 nerary character. 



It is not, however, used in modern practice, 

 either in this country or on the continent; and we 

 will therefore drop its generic title, and speak of it 

 as the Golden Rod of the garden, which name it 

 obtained from the colour of its diminutive and nu- 

 merous flowers, which form spikes at the end of 

 each spray of the plant. It is also called Aaron's 



11 o 



