IU FAMILY HERBAL. 



are small in proportion to the bigness of the plant, 

 oblong, narrow,, and pointed at the ends, of a yel- 

 lowish green colour, and not serrated at the edges ; 

 a tuft of the same kind of leaves, but somewhat 

 larger, surrounds the bottom of the stalk. The 

 root is long and white. The flowers are small, 

 but very numerous. 



The flowery tops of this plant dried, and given 

 in decoction, are said to be a remedy for the evil, 

 but the report is not established by any known ex- 

 perience. 



E 



Elder. Sa??ibucus. 



A COMMON wild shrub ; it grows irregularly. 

 The stem or trunk is covered with a rough whitish 

 bark, and the wood is firm, but there is a hollow 

 within ; this is smallest in the largest parts of the 

 shrub, but it is never quite obliterated. The young 

 shoots are thick, long, and green ; they grow quick, 

 and are often a yard long before they begin to change 

 colour, or grow woody. These contain a large 

 quantity of pith ; and their bark as they stand be- 

 comes brownish, and their under surface woody. The 

 leaves are composed of several pairs of others, 

 with an odd one at the end : the flowers stand in 

 vast clusters, or umbeb, and are small and white ; 

 they are succeeded by berries, which arc black 

 when ripe, and are full of a purple juice. There 

 is another kind of elder, with berries white when 

 they are ripe, and another with jagged leaves, but 

 the common elder is the sort to be used. 



The inner bark of the elder is a strong purge; 

 and it has been known to cure dropsies when taken 

 in time, and often repeated. The flowers are made 



