J<52 On the Preparfttlov, Use, &Ci of the Orchis Root. 



M ith a suilicient quaiititv of flour, salt, and yeast. The 

 flonr amounted to two pounds, the yeast to two ounces, 

 and the salt to eighty grains. The loaf, ^vhen baked, was 

 renicirkably well fennenlcd, and weighed three pounds two 

 winces. Another loaf, made with the same quantity of 

 flour, &c. weighed two pounds and twelve ounces : from 

 which it appears that the salep, though used in so small a 

 proportion, increased the gravity of the loaf six ounces, by 

 absorbing and retaming more water than the flour alone was 

 capable of. Half a pound of flour and an ounce of salep 

 were mixed together, and the water added according to the 

 usual method of preparing bread. 'Jhe loaf, when baked, 

 weighed thirteen ounces and a half; and would probably 

 have been heavier if the salep had been previously dissolved; 

 in about a pint of water. But it should be remarked, that 

 the quantity of flour used in this trial was not sufiicient to 

 conceal the peculiar tapte of the salep. 



The restorativ.e, mucilaginous, and denndcent qualities of 

 the orchis root reiider it of considerable use in various dis- 

 eases. In the sea-scurvv it powerfully obtunds the acri- 

 monv of the fluids, and at the sanie time is easily assimu- 

 kted into a mild and nutricious chyle. In diarrhoeas and 

 thedysentery it is highly serviceable, by sheathing the inter- 

 nal coat of the intestines, by abating irritation, and gently 

 correcting putrefaction. In the symptomatic fever, which 

 arises from the absorption of pus, from ulcers in the lungs, 

 from wounds, or from amputation, salep, used plentifully, 

 is an admirable demulcent, and well adapted to resist that 

 dissolution of the crasis of the blood which is so evident 

 in these cases. And, by the same mucilaginous quality, it 

 is equally efficacious in the strangury and dysury ; especially 

 in the latter, when arising from a venereal cause; because 

 the discharge of urine is then attended with the most exqui- 

 site pain, from the ulcerations about the neck of the blad- 

 der, and through the course of the urethra. I have found 

 it also an useiul aliment for patients who labour under the 

 stone or gravel*. 



From 



* The ancient chemists seem to have entertained a very high opi- 

 nion of the virtues of t;ie orchis root, of which the folbwintj quotation, 

 from the SECRET A SECRETORUMof Raymund Lully, affords a di- 

 verting proof. The woik is dated 1565. 



SEXTA HERBA. 

 Satiiiofi. 



*' Savirion h'T'aest p!uribusr.ota, hujusradicis collecta ad pondus lib* 

 4. die 20 mcnsis Januani, contunde fcttiter tt massAin coniusam pone in 



ollaiT> 



