FAMILY HERBAL. $S 



and all disorders of the breast and lungs ; they 

 cause expectoration., and are Yery balsamic and 



astringent. 



The Cotton Thistle. Acanthium. 



A TALL and stately wild plant, common by 

 our way sides, and known by its great white 

 prickly leaves and red flowers. It is four or 

 five feet high. The leaves which grow from 

 the root are a foot and a half long, a foot broad, 

 deeply indented at the edges, and beset with yel- 

 lowish thorns; they are of a whitish colour, and 

 seem covered with a downy matter of the nature ot 

 cotton. The stalks are thick, round, firm, and up- 

 right ; and winged with a sort of leafy substances 

 which rise from them, and have the same sort of 

 prickles that are upon the leaves. The ordinary 

 leaves upon the stalks are like those which grow 

 from the root, only they are more deeply indented, 

 and more prickly ; the flowers are purple ; they 

 stand in long prickly heads, and make a beautiful 

 appearance. The root is very long, thick, and 

 white. 



The root, is the part used, and that should be 

 fresh gathered. It opens obstructions, and is good 

 against the jaundice, and in dropsies, and other 

 disorders arising from obstructions. It also mo- 

 derately promotes the menses. It may be dried 

 and given in powder for the same purposes. But 

 the virtues are much less. 



Couch Grass. Gramen caninum. 







A VERY troublesome weed in fields and gar- 

 dens, but very useful in medicine. Nature 

 has made those plants which may be most useful 



