Royal Society. 321 
Xvhich grow to the bignefs of trees, with fuch a kind of down 
upon them, and ibme of our capillaries have ibmething like it • 
it leems to be ihaped by nature to imitate a lamb, the roots or 
climbing part being made to relemble the body, and the extant 
foot-ftaiks the legs: Dr. Merret takes notice of this down by the 
name of 'Toco femple, a golden mofs, and he calls it a cordial ; 
Dr. Shane was affured by Dr. Broiym^ who had made very good 
obfervations in the Eafi-hidics, that this down, or hair, is\ifed 
by them for the flopping of blood in frefh wounds, as cobwebs 
are with us, and that they have it in lb great eiieem that few 
houfes are without it^ Dr. Sloane has known it much uled in 
Ipitting of blood, it being pretended that fbme of the linall 
down may, by being fwallowed, eafily Hip into the wind-pipe^ 
and fo flop the bleeding 5 but on trials he had leen made of it, 
the' he believes it innocent, yet he was fure it was not infallible. 
A 'Defcription of Snake-root ^ by Mr. John Bannifter. Phil. 
Tranf. N° 297. p. 4(^7. 
THE ^iftolochia, Serpentaria Virginia, or fnake-root, hath 
a bufliy root, confilting of a number of fmall firings of a 
yellowiih colour, and of a hot aromatic fcent and tafle 5 thence 
grow one or two fmooth, at leafl: very fmall hairy ftalks, round 
and mofl commonly upright, not fquare nor trailing; the leaves 
grow alternately on this fide and that, one at a joint or knee, 
they are thin, long and pointed, coming in like a heart at the 
foot-ilalk, a little hairy above, and rough with many protuberant 
veins underneath, and in handling they flick a little to the 
fingers- near the ground grow one or two hollow flowers, each 
upon its proper tbot-flalk, diflferent in form from the 'Tiftolocbia 
•Cretica, or any other yet known, all whofe flowers (if author's 
figures, or the plants themfelves dried, rightly informed him) 
refemble a cow's horn, the top growing to the rudiments of the 
feed-vefifel, and the open end cut flanting like a drenching horn, 
whereas this terminates with a heel, which fupports a broad, 
round, galericulated lip, the centre of which opens into the 
hollow of the flower 5 the lip is of a light rufTet colour j the 
fced-vefl[el is hexagonal, fhaped like a pear, when full grown 
near half an inch in diameter, it is not an ever-green, but after the 
feeds are ripe, the leaves and ftalks begin to wither and decays 
it flowers in May, and its feeds are ripe in Augitjl, 
Vol. III. ^ S f Jn 
