FAMILY HERBAL. 211 



mtm fern of the divided kind, only very small. It 

 grows to eight or (en inches high. The stalks 

 arc thick, black, and flossy. The leaves are very 

 beautifully divided into a great many parts : these 

 are short, of a dark shining green, and deeply notch- 

 ed at the edges, and they terminate in a sharp point, 

 not blunt as some of those already mentioned. The 

 seeds lie on the edges of the under part of the leaves, 

 in form of a brown dust. It is not uncommon by 

 wood sides, and in shady lanes. 



A decoction of it works powerfully by urine, and 

 U has the same virtue with the rest in the cure of 

 coughs. 



Of these four, for they possess the same virtues, 

 the preference is given to the first described, or 

 true kind ; next to the English maidenhair ; and 

 in defect of both these, to the black kind. The 

 white maidenhair is preferred to any against the 

 gravel, and in suppression of urine ; but for the com- 

 mon use in coughs and hoarsenesses^ it is the least 

 esteemed of all. 



There is another plant, called by the name of maid- 

 enhair, which is yet to be described, it makes one of 

 what are commonly called the five capellary herbs, 

 but it is so distinct from the others, that it is best 

 kept separate. They are all kinds of fern : this is a 

 sort of moss. 



Golden Maidenhair. Adtantum aureuin, 



A little upright plant, but considered as a 

 rnoss, one of the largest of the kind. It grows 

 four or five inches high, when in perfection. The 

 tower part of the stalk is covered for an inch or 

 more, with thick, short, narrow leaves, sharp at 

 the point, and of a dusky green colour : these Stand 

 in such clusters, that they quite hide the stalk ; from 



