534 



have originated in carelessness. The same is not the case with tluvi- 

 atile : I am decidedly of opinion that the name in this instance must 

 be changed ; and I make the proposition previously to publishing the 

 species, in order that I may be favoured with the opinions of those 

 botanists who think otherwise. I propose restoring the Linnean name 

 to the limosum of Smith, and sinking the name limosum to the rank 

 of a variety ; thus : — 



Equisetumjluviatile, Linn. = Equisetum limosum. Smith. 



„ „ &. limosum, with the stem quite simple, = 



Equisetum limosum Linn. 



The species hitherto called fluviatile is already so well provided 

 with names that it is difficult to determine which to select. It seems 

 to be the Equisetum majus of Gerarde* and Ray,t the Eq. Telmateia 

 of Ehrartt and Flora Danica,§ and the Eq. ebumeum of Roth.|| 



In a plant of which the synonymy is so imperfectly known as the 

 marsh horse-tail, it is by no means an easy task to trace the record 

 of medical and other properties. Haller seems to have collected to- 

 gether a number of wise saws from a variety of sources, and gives 

 them under his Equisetum No. 1677 : but not only do I doubt whe- 

 ther the whole of them were intended for any one species, but I also 

 doubt whether his No. 1677 is the species now under consideration. 

 The point is not worth a very rigid scrutiny. He makes out his No. 

 1677 to be hurtful to oxen and cows, giving them diarrhoea and mak- 

 ing their teeth loose, but at the same time to be harmless to horses 

 and sheep. He also speaks of the great difficulty of extirpating it 

 from a field where it is once naturalized : of its uses as a medicine he 

 cannot speak with certainty.H 



The roots are slender and frequently divided ; they appear to spring 

 from the joints of the rhizoma, and are generally covered with minute 



*Ger. Em. 1113. f. f Ray, Syn. 130. t Ehr. Beitr. ii. 159. Crypt. 31. 



§ Flora Danica, tab. 1469. || Roth, Cat. i. 129. 



H Haller, 3. 2. 1677. Hoc equisetum minus quam 1676 tamen et ipsum pecori 

 nocet et dentium facit in bobus et vaccis vacillationem turn diarrhoeam. Cum seduc- 

 tus pulchritudine Trifolii Equiseto 1676 inquinati, famulus, qui bourn meorum curam 

 gerebat, semel aut ilerum vaccam nuper vitulam enixam hac pestilente herba aluisset, 

 ex diarrhoea immedicabili eadem periit. Quare magnis pecuniis nostri arcanum redi- 

 merent, quo prata infaustissiraa herbarum liberarent. Mihi neque aratmm, neque 

 firaus, neque alia cura profuit. Equis non nocet, neque ovibus et rangiferis. Porci 

 nostrates recusant, cum in Suecia non detvectant. Radicibus tamen glandium simile 

 aliquid saepe adhasret, quod porcos credas requirere. 



Vires medicas vix satis certas auturao. Aquosa planta est, parum acris : ei ad- 

 stringcntes vires tribuerunt in diarrhoea, in haeraoptoe efficaces, &c. ^c. 



