vi PREFACE. 



as th^fe gradations are, there proba- 

 bly may be found amongft our va- 

 rious'vegetables thofe whofe virtues, 

 or whofe baneful qualities, would 

 fill up every rank. 



Some botanical authors, in de- 

 fcribing the powers of plants, feem 

 to have been guided only by imagi- 

 nation. They afcribcd to them qua- 

 lities which nature never gave them, 

 and fwelled beyond all probability 

 thofe which they really poffefs. Almoft 

 every plant which they treat of, would 

 be a certain remedy for half the dif- 

 orders in the world, or a mofi: fatal 

 poifon, if the charader they give to 

 it Vvxre true. But experience is now 

 believed, in frequent opppfition to 

 Gerard and Parkinfon : and many 

 herbs which were celebrated by them 

 for their medicinal virtues, no longer 



make 



