198 FAMILY HERBAL. 



Water Lily. Kgnvphc&a alba. 



A large and elegant plant, the broad leaves 

 of which we see floating upon the surface of the 

 water in our brooks not unfrequently ; and in the 

 autumn large white flowers among" them. The 

 root of the plant is very long, and extremely thick, 

 and lies bunco >n the mud. The leaves rise singly 

 one on each stalk ; the stalks ate round, thick, and 

 of a spungy substance, having < white pith in 

 them ; and the leaves aiso are thick and somewhat 

 spungy ; they are of a roundish figure, and they 

 lie flat upon the surface of the water. The flow- 

 ers stand upon single foot-stalks, arising like those 

 of the leaves separately from the root, and being 

 like them, light, round, glossy, and full of a white 

 pith ; the flowers are large and white, and have 

 some yellow threads in the middle ; the seed-vessel 

 is large and roundish, and the seeds are numerous. 



The root is the part used, and it is best fresh, and 

 given in a strong deeoction. It is a powerful re- 

 medy in the whites, and in those weaknesses left 

 after venereal complaints : it is also good against 

 violent purgings, especially where there are bloody 

 stools. There arc other kinds of water lily in our 

 ditches, particularly a large yellow flowered one, 

 whose roots possess the same virtues with the others., 

 but in a less degree. 



Lime Tree. Tilia. 



A tree common enough in parks and gardens, 

 and when in flower very beautiful and fragrant ; 

 the trunk is (hick, and the branches grow with a 

 tolerable regularity. The leaves are short, broad, 

 of a figure approaching to round, but terminating 

 in a point, and serrated about the edges. The 



