MEZEREUM. 37 



of the greatest ornaments to our gardens in the months of 

 February and March, when it is, as Cowper says 



" Though leafless, well attired and thick beset 

 With blushing wreaths, investing every spray." 



The flowers are verv sweet-scented, and where there are many 

 together they will perfume the air to a considerable distance. 

 It is observed by Mr, Phillip ps, that " Nature, whose works 

 never cease to excite our admiration, astonishes us by the 

 wonders contained in the buds of this plant, where not only 

 the flowers but the parts of fructification may be distinctly 

 seen the year before they unfold themselves. This is corrobo- 

 rated by Mr. Baxter, from whose work on British Plucnoga- 

 mous Botany this description is taken. 



Geographical Distribution. — Great Britain ; Central 

 and Northern Europe ; northern parts of Asia ; North 



America. 



Localities.— In woods. In this country rare. Oxford- 



shire: in Wychwood Forest. Berks : Appleton Common. 



Derbyshire : Matlock, Cheetor. Dorsetshire : parts of Cran- 



borne Chase. Durham : Tunstall Hills, south of Sunderland. 



Gloucestershire : Painswick. Hants : Selborne Ha 



■ p 



Woods near Andover. Kent: in some places. Somersetshire: 

 in "Brass-knocker Wood, near Bath. Staffordshire: in Xeed- 



wood Forest. Wilts 



Worcestershire : 



abont Earlham and Stanford. Yorkshire: Oldfield Wood, 

 near Ripon ; on an island in the Swale. It is collected for 

 medicinal purposes in Kent and Hampshire. 



Parts used in Medicine, and Mode of Preparation. 



The Bark, taken from the plant before the appearance of the 

 leaves and flowers. The bark is tough, pliable, and fibrous ; 

 externally, brown and corrugated ; internally, white and cottony. 

 Its taste is at first sweetish, afterwards highly acrid; it has no 

 odour. In Germany, the bark of the stem and larger branches 

 is removed in spring, folded in small bundles, and dried for 

 medicinal purposes. In its preparation for homoeopathic pur- 



