FAMILY HERBAL. 121 



The Dragon's Blood Tree. Sanguis draconis 



arbor. 



A VERY beautiful tree, native of the Canaries, 

 .. ! some other places. It is of the palm kind, and 

 oiie of the handsomest of them, The trunk is na- 

 ked ail the way to the top, and there stand on its 

 summit a great quantity of leaves, long, narrow, 

 and pointed at the ends ; of a bluish green colour, 

 and not unlike the leaves of our flags. The fruit 

 is round, and is of the bigness of a walnut with 

 the green rind upon it. 



The dragon's blood is a red friable resin, Our 

 druggists keep it : the best is in small lumps ; there 

 is an inferior kind in cakes or masses. It is pro- 

 cured by cutting the trunk of this tree in the great 

 heats. There are also two other kinds of palm, 

 that aflford the same resin, It is a very excellent 

 astringent. It is useful in purgings and in the 

 (overflowing of the menses, in spitting of blood, and 

 all other occasions of that kind, It may be given 

 in powder, 



Drofwort. Filipendula. 



A VERY pretty wild plant, with tufts of whitish 

 flowers, and leaves finely divided. It grows two 

 feet high. The stalk is round, striated, upright, 

 firm, and branched. The leaves are large and 

 divided into a great number of firm segments, they 

 rise principally from the root, and stand on slender 

 foot-stalks. There are few leaves on the stalks, and 

 they are small. The flowers are little, but they 

 stand in great tufts 'at the tops of the branches : they 

 are white on the inside, and often reddish on the 

 outside. The seeds are flattish and grow .neveral 

 together, The root is composed of a great number 



