xiv. INTRODUCTION. 



woods which we use are best kept in the block, 

 awl shaved off as they are wanted ; for being 

 kept in shavings, they lose their virtue : and in 

 the same manner as to the foreign woods,, it is 

 best to keep a block of sassafras, and of lignum 

 Yitm in the house, and cut them as they are 

 Wanted. 



As to the excrescences, such as galls of the 

 oak, and the burr upon the wild briar, they are na- 

 turally so dry, that they only require to be ex- 

 posed a few days to the air, upon a table, and 

 then they may be put up with safety, and will 

 keep a long time. 



Lastly, the funguses, such as Jew's ears and 

 the like, are to be gathered when they are full 

 grown, and strung upon a line, that they may 

 dry leisurely, for else they spoil : they must be 

 very well dried before they are put up, else 

 they will grow mouldy in damp weather ; and 

 if once that happen, no art can recover their 

 virtues. 



Thus may a druggist's shop of a new kind 

 be filled, and it will consist of as many articles 

 as those which receive their furniture from abroad ; 

 and there will be this advantage in having every 

 thing ready ; that when custom has made the vir- 

 tues of the several things familiar, the lady may 

 do from her judgment as the physician in his pre- 

 scription, mix several things of like virtue to- 

 gether, and not depend upon the virtues of any 

 one singly, when the case requires something of 

 power. These roots and barks powdered, will 

 make as handsome and as efficacious boluses and 

 mixtures, as any furnished by the apothecary. 



