882 



ORDER 38. SAXIFRAGEJE. 



64. Saxifraga. Seventy species ; 10, 2, L. 



Saxifraga Pennsylvania. Rock saxifrage. This plant is bitter 

 and astringent. The roots are useful in gravel. Raf. 



65. Mitella diphylla. Currant leaf; 10, 2, L. This plant is 

 refrigerant, and is much used as a cooling drink in fevers. 



66. Tiarella cordifolia, Miterwort ; 10, 2, L. The root is con- 

 sidered to be both mucilaginous and pectoral. 



ORDER 39. HAMAMELIACEJE. 



67. Hamamelis ; 4, 2, L. 



Hamamelis Virginica, Witch-hazel ; winter bloom ; pistacha nut. 

 Sec. This singular shrub does not begin to flower till late in the 

 fall, and the flowers do not drop off till winter. The fruit does not 

 ripen till the following fall. The bark is a bitter astringent, with 

 a sweet and somewhat pungent taste. By the Indians it has been em- 

 ployed as a sedative and resolvent in painful tumours, and in external 

 inflammations. It may be used in the form of a poultice, or of a 

 wash in the piles, and in inflammation of the eyes. The infusion 

 of the leaves is similar in its properties to that of the bark, and is 

 given in affections of the bowels, and in hemorrhagic complaints. 

 A tea made of the leaves is good in suppression of the menses, for 

 pain in the side, breasts, &c., and for hematemesis. It is thought to 

 be a mild astringent, and may be used as a substitute for statice and 

 many other mild astringents. Raf. It is thought by some to pos- 

 sess anodyne properties ; but I am not aware of the fact. 



ORDER 49. CIRCORACE^E. 



68. Circsea lutetiana, 2, 2, L. Enchanter's nightshade. It de- 

 rived its name from being much celebrated in former times in the 

 mysteries of witchcraft, and for the purpose of raising the devil. 

 This superstition is fostered from the fact of its growing among 

 the mouldering bones and decayed coffins in the ruinous vaults of 

 Strafford church in Lincolnshire, Eng. Darwin, in his Botanic 

 Garden, has some amusing remarks upon it in connection with 

 animal magnetism. The enchanters made use of this method by 

 the employment of this plant. This same kind of enchantment, 

 without the use of this plant, was revived in this country in 18 37 

 and 1838, and the mummery went down the throats of many of 



