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186 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
kind of acrid, bitter taste, which it loses by drying, but which it imparts to water or 
alcohol. To the presence of this oil are attributed the well-known antiscorbutic 
properties of the herb: they are more probably due to its mineral constituents. 
Possibly these virtues have been exaggerated, for although the leaves form a very whole- 
some salad in the spring, they are not better than those of many other plants, such as 
the Water-Cress, &c. On the Continent the essential oil has been applied in paralytic 
cases, and in this country it is said to have been used successfully for rheumatism. 
Found on most temperate and cold sea-coasts, the Scurvy-Grass was well known to our 
early navigators as a remedy for the ravages of scurvy, from which our ships’ crews 
suffered so terribly. Captain Cook made extensive use of this and other similar herbs 
in his expedition to the Southern Seas’ The plant is reported to grow luxuriantly on 
the shores of the islands known as Tierra del Fuego. 
Sus-Srecies I1.—Cochlearia alpina. Watson. 
Prats CXXXI.* 
C. Groenlandica, Sm. Eng. Bot. No. 2403 (non Linn.). 
C. officinalis, var. alpina, Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 30. 
Radical leaves roundish or reniform, deeply cordate at the base, 
and entire or faintly crenated; stem leaves sessile, amplexicaul 
(except the lower ones, which are shortly stalked), angulated, or 
3- to 5-lobed. Pod rhomboid-ovoid, attenuated both at the base 
and apex. 
In wet places on mountains. Not unfrequent, occurring on the 
Welsh mountains, on those in the North of England, and on most 
of the Scottish mountains. 
England, Scotland. Biennial or Perennial. Summer, Autumn. 
Extremely like C. officinalis, but usually much smaller, and 
with the leaves more angulated, sometimes even lobed, and the pod 
broadest in the middle and tapering towards each end, the length 
being considerably greater than the breadth. 
Mountain Scurvy- Grass. 
Sup-Species I1l.—Cochlearia danica. Linn. 
Puate CXXXII.+ 
Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. II. Zetr. Tab. XVI. Fig. 4257, 
C. officinalis, var. y, Hook. & Arn. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. p. 29. 
Radical leaves roundish, deeply cordate at the base, ‘‘ somewhat 
lobed” (Bab.); stem leaves mostly stalked, or the uppermost 
ones sessile and amplexicaul, 3- to 5-lobed, the lateral lobes divari- 
* The Plate is E. B. 2403, with pods added by Mr. J. E. Sowerby. 
t+ The Plate is E. B. 696, unaltered. 
