GOLDEN-ROD. 399 



founde in Hampsteed-wood, euen as it were at 

 our townes end, no man will giue halfe a crowne 

 for an hundred weight of it : which plainly set- 

 teth foorth our inconstancie and sudden muta- 

 bilitie, esteeming no longer of any thing (how 

 precious soever it be,) than whilst it is strange 

 and rare.'* 



The use of this plant has been much com- 

 mended by ancient medical writers, as a re- 

 medy against the disorders of the stone and 

 gravel, &c. 



A case is related in the Gentleman's Maga- 

 zine for February, 1788, of the efficacy of a de- 

 coction 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 vulnerary 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 dimi- 

 nutive and numerous flowers, which form spikes 



