SCABIOUS. 325 



bious that have been cultivated in the royal gar- 

 dens at Kew, and Marty n enumerates no less 

 than forty-three species in his excellent edition 

 of Miller. Three of these varieties are indi- 

 genous to our fields, one of which, Scabiosa Ar- 

 vensis, chooses to mix its lilac flowers amongst 

 the corn, but in this situation its beauty cannot 

 defend it from the umbrageous name of a weed, 

 whilst the Columbaria and Siiccisa plant them- 

 selves in pasture-grounds, where their foliage 

 becomes food for cattle. 



All these native species were formerly held in 

 estimation on account of their medical properties; 

 and we find some of the most learned and re- 

 spectable of the iEsculapian writers have highly 

 extolled the virtues of these plants for all diseases 

 of the lungs, and strongly recommended it as k 

 soporific that may be usefully employed in fevers. 

 EttmuUer commends its use, especially in all 

 catarrhal fevers. He very highly extols a decoc- 

 tion of this plant in cutaneous eruptions and 

 tinea, or scald-head, ^c. 



