200 FAMILY HERBAL. 



Liquid Storax Tree. Sty rax liquida arbor. 



A large tree, so much we hear of it, is native 

 of the East Indies, but very ill described to us. We 

 are told the leaves are large, and the flowers fra- 

 grant, but of what form they are nobody has told 

 us, or what is the fruit. All that we use is a liquid 

 resin of a very peculiar kind, which we are told is 

 obtained by boiling the bark ; and the shoots of this 

 free in water ; the resin swims at the top, and they 

 scum it off and strain it, but it will not all pass 

 through. It is from hence that we see two kinds ; 

 the one finer, thinner, and purer, the other thicker 

 and coarser ; this last kind is more common than the 

 better sort, and it is generally used. 



It is a balsam of the nature of the turpentines ; 

 and is good against the whites, and the weaknesses 

 that follow venereal disorders. Some have used it 

 also in diseases of the lungs, but it has never been 

 in great repute on those occasions. It is sometimes 

 put into ointments intended for old ulcers ; and it i 

 *aid to be used this way with great success. 



Liquorice. GJycyrrhiza. 



A rough looking plant, cultivated in many 

 places for the sake of the root. It is a yard high 

 or more. The stalk is round, striated, and branch- 

 ed : the leaves arc long and large, each is com- 

 posed of a great many pairs of smaller, standing on 

 a middle rib, with an odd one at the end ; these are 

 of an oval figure, of a dusky green colour, and 

 they are clammy to the touch. The flowers are 

 very small and blue, they stand in long spikes, 

 ri^ini;- from the bosoms of the leaves. The seeds 

 arc contained in pods. The root is the part used ; 

 and its virtues are very srreat. It is best fresh taken 



