130 URTICACE^ 



Scotland, and perhaps eaten of it, but never till I visited the banks of the 

 Lena had I found Nettles artificially grown as greens. At Sitka I had par- 

 taken of them dried and preserved, and to my taste they were an excellent 

 vegetable." The foliage of the Nettle is sometimes, in villages, cut up for 

 the food of turkeys ; and a rennet made of a strong decoction of Nettles, of 

 which three pints are added to a quart of salt, is often kept in bottles for 

 use. Of this liquid about a tablespoonful is put into a large bowl of milk, 

 which readily coagulates, forming a very pleasant beverage, quite free from 

 any flavour of the Nettle. 



The Nettle is an astringent, and was of old times much used medicinally ; 

 while in country places a decoction of its leaves is still commonly employed 

 as a gargle for sore throats. Dr. Thornton says, that its seeds will cure goitre, 

 and recommends that about fourteen or fifteen of these ground to powder 

 should be daily taken for this purpose. The plant was also much used as a 

 styptic. Even the stings have proved serviceable in some maladies ; and 

 we have the authority of Mr. Purton, an excellent medical botanist, for 

 saying, that a Nettle leaf pressed against the roof of the mouth is very 

 efficacious in stopping the bleeding of the nose ; and that this leaf, producing 

 as it does a considerable irritation on the skin, has been employed as a 

 rubefacient, and found of use in restoring torpid or paralytic limbs ; a mode 

 of treatment which is termed urtication. We have seen these leaves placed 

 in the basket of plums gathered in the Kentish orchards, and been told by 

 the fruit-pickers, that this manner of packing best preserved the " bloom " 

 on the plums. In the same way, the gardeners pack grapes for the London 

 market with the leaves of cucumber ; and doubtless, the reason in both cases 

 is, that while the leaf preserves the coolness of the fruit, it is kept from too 

 close a contact, by the numerous hairs on the surface. The roots of the 

 plant boiled with alum will dye wool of a good yellow colour. The juice is 

 also useful for stopping the leakage of wooden vessels. Before the rents are 

 large, they should be well rubbed with handfuls of the leaves, and the juice 

 entering into the small crevices, soon coagulates so as to prevent the escape 

 of the contents of the vessel. The rubbing must be continued more or less, 

 according to the shrinking of the wood, and in a few minutes a very success- 

 ful result is produced by the process. In Sweden, large quantities of Nettles 

 are planted in rows as food for cows. 



The fibres of the Nettle are so tough and strong, as to be scarcely inferior 

 to those of the Hemp. They are commonly, in the north of Europe, woven 

 into cloth and cordage ; and those of one plant of the family are made into 

 that beautiful muslin now so much prized as Nettle-cloth, or Grass-cloth. 

 This is produced from the Bohneria nivea. Its fibres have, from time im- 

 memorial, been used in China for the manufacture of this delicate fabric, 

 which is well known also all over India, and is about the texture of fine 

 cambric ; making excellent clothing for hot countries. The fibres are also 

 wrought into sewing thread, and as they will take a rich dye, they are used 

 for a variety of ornamental purposes. 



Nettle-fibre has been long used in Siberia, in making paper, and a very 

 superior paper has been manufactured in Germany from this material. A 

 few years ago it was tried in England, but the fi.bre is considered very inferior 



