FAMILY HERBAL. 123 



tions of the liver : jaundices have been cured by 

 it singly. 



Dwarf Elder. Ebulus. 



A PLANT so much resembling the common 

 elder-tree, that it may be easily mistaken for it till 

 examined. It grows four or five feet high. The 

 stalks are green, round, tender, and upright ; and 

 they have very much the appearance of the young 

 shoots of elder ; but there is no woody part from 

 whence they rise. The leaves are large, and com- 

 posed of several pairs of others, as those of elder, 

 with an old one at the end ; but these are longer than 

 in the elder, and they are serrated round the edges. 

 The flowers arc imall and white; but they stand 

 in very large clusters or umbels, just as those of the 

 elder ; and they are succeeded by berries which 

 are black when ripe ; but that is a condition in 

 which we seldom see them ; for the birds are so 

 fond of them, they eat them as they come to ma- 

 turity. The root is white and creeping ; and the 

 whole plant dies down every year to the gound. 



It is wild in England, but not common ; a great 

 quantity of it grows at the back of Cuper's gar- 

 dens. It may be dried : but the best way of 

 giving it is in the juice. This works strongly both 

 by stool and urine, and has often cured dropsies. 



Dyer's Weed. Luteola. 



A VERY singular and pretty wild plant ; it 

 grows on dry banks and upon walls, and is known 

 at sight by its upright stalks, and very long spikes 

 of greenish yellow flowers. It grows to four feet 

 or more in height. The stalk is thick, firm, chan- 

 nelled, and in a manner covered with leaves : they 



