FAMILY HERBAL. 17 



kind of manna used in France, called the Eriancon 

 manna; this is produced by the larch-tree: and 

 there is another kind more rare, called Persian 

 manna ; this is produced bv the shrub called 

 alhagi, a kind of broom, or nearly allied to it. 

 But these are scarce with us. 



Asparagus. Aspcwagus sativus. 



THE asparagus plant is one whose root is 

 useful in medicine, although a different part 

 of it be eaten at the table. Its virtues are 

 not unlike those of the artichoke root but 

 greater. 



The asparagus is a wild plant in many parts 

 of England about the sea-coasts ; and its root, in 

 this wild state, is better than that of the cultivated 

 plants, but its shoots have not that fine fleshy 

 fulness. The plant, when full grown, is three 

 feet high, and very much branched, and the 

 leaves are fine and of a pale green ; the flowers 

 are small and greenish, but the berries which suc- 

 ceed them, are as big as pease and red. 



The root is a powerful diuretic, and is good 

 in all obstructions of the viscera. It has been 

 known singly to perform cures in jaundices and 

 dropsies. It is best given in decoction. 



Asphodel. Aspliadelus verus ramosus albus. 



AN elegant garden flower, a native of Italy, and 

 preserved with us more for its beauty than its 

 use, though sometimes taken as a medicine. It 

 grows to three feet in height, and the stalk di- 

 vides into three or four branches towards the 

 top. The flowers are wlhte, and they stand h\ 

 spike? on the top3 of these divisions. They are 



