FAMILY HERBAL. 99 



is an approved remedy, and it is strange that it is 

 not more in use. 



Wart Cresses, or Swine's Cresses. Coronoput 



ruellii. 



A LITTLE wild plant very common about our 

 fields and gardens. It spreads upon the ground. 

 The stalks are five or six inches long ; firm, and 

 thick, but usually flat on the earth ; very much 

 branched, and full of leaves. The leaves that rise 

 immediately from the root are long, and deeply 

 divided : and those on the stalks resemble them, 

 only they are smaller : they are of a deep glossy 

 green colour, and not at all hairy. The flowers 

 are small and white ; they stand at the tops of the 

 branches and among the leaves ; the seed-vessels 

 Are small and rough. 



This is an excellent diuretic, safe, and yel very 

 powerful. It is an ingredient in Mrs. Stephens* 

 medicine : the juice may be taken ; and it is good 

 for the jaundice, and against all inward obstruc- 

 tions, and against the scurvy ; the leaves may 

 also be eaten as salad, or dried and given in de- 

 coction. 



Cross-wort. Cruciata. 



A VERY pretty wild plant, but not very com- 

 mon : it grows afoot and a half high. The stalks 

 are square, hairy, weak, and of a pale green. The 

 leaves are broad and short ; they stand four at 

 every joint, star-fashioned, upon the stalk. The 

 flowers are little and yellow ; they stand in clusters 

 round the stalk, at the joints, rising from the in- 

 sertion of the leaves. It is to be found in dry 

 places. 



