LOUISIANA. 353 



In the country of the Illinois there is a little 

 fhrub, about three feet high, which bears a 

 fruit of the fize of a fmdl apple, and of the 

 tafte of citrons. The woods there likewife con- 

 tain chefnuts, and hazel-nuts of the fame kind 

 as in France. 



Louif.ana abounds with good fimples ; ahibng 

 them is the ginfeng^ the root of which is an 

 excellent reftorative, jalaps rhubarb^ fnake- 

 root^ farfapariUa, and St. John's wort^^ of 

 which they make an excellent oil for healing 

 of wounds. The following is the Indian doc- 

 tor's method of making the oil. They take an 

 earthen pot, and put the flowers of St. John's 

 wort in it, and feme bear's oil above it •, the 

 pot or vafe is well Hopped up, and expofed to 



Vol. I. A a the 



> Ginfeng is the plant fo mucli in requeft in China ; it is 



Panax qui'nqiiefoliumy Linn^ See Oibeck's Voy. . to Ghina, 



vol. i. p. 22 2. andKalm's Travels into North America, vol. 



iii. p. 1 14. and Catefby's Nat. Hiihof Carolina, app. t. i6k 



Jalap is the Mirabilis of LinhiEuS, there are fever^l i]ie- 



cies of it. Rhubarb is the Rheum Linn, but probably not 



the true one. Snake-root\ perhaps the Poly gala Senega, 



Linn, or elle an Arijlokchia^ — ^Sarfapariila, Smilax Jarjk' 



parillat Linn. St. John's wort, Hypericum, Linn, there 



are many plants of this genus in North America ; and it is 

 among the defiderata of the botanill to know Svhat fpeciefi arc 

 employed for medicinal wfes. F. 



