84 Literary Intelligence. 



A shrub, from four to six or eight feet in height. 

 Deciduous. Flowers (in Virginia) from June to Au- 

 gust. Ripens its fruit in August and September. 



Miller informs us, that Dr. Samuel Dale employed, 

 with good effect, the leaves of Callicarpa, in cases of 

 dropsy. This would seem to favour the opinion of 

 Linnaeus, that all the plants of the natural order of Du- 

 viosce, to which the Callicarpa belongs, are endued with 

 active qualities*. The berries, however, are eaten in 

 Carolina, and are thought agreeable, after they have, for 

 some time, been exposed to the influence of the frost. 

 At such time, they are very sweet. Lawson says, that 

 he " can see nothing inviting in them, and reckons 

 them a very indifferent fruit." /. c. In Carolina they 

 are also used, infused in beer, to which they impart a 

 very agreeable taste. — The unripe berries are conside- 

 rably ascescent : hence one of the provincial names of 

 this vegetable, Sower-Bush, by which it is known in 

 Virginia, &c. 



The berries, bruised and boiled with alum, communi- 

 cate a purple colour to wqplens. Schoepf, /. c. I 

 doubt, however, if they be deserving of much attention 

 as a dye ; especially in a country abounding, as do the 

 United- States, in such a great variety of valuable Plants 

 tinctorice. 



* " Omnes ha; (Dumomx) conveniunt qualitate maligna. Vcl 

 purgant, vel omnino deletcria sunt," he. Pralectiones, istc. //. 504. 

 See, also, my Elements of Botany. Part 3. p. 24. 



