382 BOTANICAL NOTES, NOTICES, AND QUERIES. [December^ 



tors (of whom there are far too many) I was unwilling to use it. It is 

 said a drowning man will catch at a straw, and it was so with me ; I 

 knew that if it were not beneficial, at least, like the priest's holy water, 

 as they say in Scotland, it would be harmless. I consulted a modern me- 

 dical work I possess, ' Domestic Medicine,' in Bohn's series, and found it 

 there highly recommended ; 1 likewise saw the same favourable report of 

 its qualities in Green's ' Botanical Dictionary ' and Thomson's ' Con- 

 spectus.' I then prepared a decoction according to the rule laid down in 

 the latter work, and had only taken two doses when I experienced immediate 

 relief. To the decoction T added a little cinnamon and ginger as an adjunct, 

 to render it more grateful. For the benefit of those who may not have 

 Thomson's ' Conspectus,' I insert the prescription in plain English : "Take 

 dried Tormentil-root, one ounce ; water, one English (imperial) pint and a 

 half; boil down to one pint, and strain through a linen or cotton cloth; 

 when cold take two ounces (four tablespoonfiils) three times a day." I 

 promulgate the above for the benefit of suffering humanity (for the readers 

 of the ' Phytologist ' at least), as no rank or condition of men renders 

 them exempt from this painful, dangerous, and debilitating malady. There 

 is, I think, a Chinese proverb that says, " No man need die who has sage 

 in his garden." I would say no man or woman need suffer when the 

 Tormentil-root is so abundant, as an ounce can be had for twopence in 

 any druggist's shop (chemist's, if you please) in the United Kingdom. 

 When the roots had boiled until soft, I took them out of the water, and 

 cut them into small fragments, and put them in again, and boiled down the 

 decoction to the required quantity. I did so in order that the water might 

 extract more thoroughly all their virtues. Although the ' Phytologist ' is 

 not a medical work, yet I trust the insertion of the above will not in the 

 least detract from its merit, but may be the means of giving relief to 

 any who, like myself, have or may suffer from this painful, troublesome, 

 and dangerous complaint. John Sim. 



3. The subjoined will speak for itself, or tell its own object ; see ' Phy- 

 tologist,' vol. vi. p. 291. 



LUZULA MULTIFLOKA. 



Though altogether unknown to your correspondent Mr. Sim, and to 

 most readers of the ' Phytologist,' I may perhaps be pardoned for making 

 a few remarks respecting the proposed division of Luzula midtifiora into 

 two species. In July I had an opportunity of examining living specimens 

 of both varieties, and although the idea of separating them did not occur 

 to me, I was struck by their dissimilarity in one or two important 

 respects. It seems on the whole desirable that the change advocated by 

 Mr. Sim should be adopted, but I would suggest that the specific name 

 L. aggregata be given to var. /5 in preference to L. congesta, as the latter 

 has been in turn affixed to each variety. Perhaps the union of these two 

 species (if really distinct) may be attributed to the peculiar thickly-clus- 

 tered panicle, which certainly gives both plants a character quite different 

 from all other species of the same genus. L. C. Miall. 



4. Our correspondent " F. W.," of St. Ann's Hotel, Buxton, is hereby 

 thanked for his communication. The High Peak of Derbyshire is a good 

 botanizing tract, and the walk along the Wye from Buxton to Tideswell 



