FAMILY HERBAL. 233 



tufts of it are often a foot long 1 , and in the whole two 

 or three inches thick ; they are composed of a great 

 quantity of stalks and branches, the largest not 

 bigger than a large packthread ; these are of a grey 

 colour, and are composed of a soft bark, and a firm 

 wiiite fibre within : this bark is often cracked, and 

 the fibres appear jointed ; the small fibres of the 

 plant resemble hairs : on the larger grow, at Certain 

 seasons, little hollow brown bodies. These contain 

 the seeds, but they are too minute to be distinguished 

 singly. The whole plant is dry, and sapless as it 

 grows, and has not the least appearance of leaves up- 

 on it. 



The powder of this moss is an excellent astrin- 

 gent ; it is to be dried in an oven, and beat in a mor- 

 tar : the white fibres wiii remain, when the soft 

 part has gone through the sieve ; they are of no 

 use, the other lias all the virtue. It is good against 

 the whites, against overflowing of the menses, and 

 bloody fluxes, and against spitting of blood : it de- 

 serves to be much more regarded than it is in the 

 present practice. The dose is half a dram. 



Cup Moss. Muscus pyxidatus. 



A common little plant on ditch banks, by 

 wood sides, and in dry barren places. It consists 

 of a thin coat of a leafy matter, spread upon the 

 surface of the ground, and of a kind of a little cups 

 rising from it. The leafy part is dry and without 

 juice, divided into several portions, and these 

 irregularly notched ; it is grey or greenish on the 

 upper side, and whitish underneath. The cups 

 are half an inch high. They have each a thick, 

 stem, and an open mouth, and rather resemble a 

 clumsy drinking glass, than a cup. They are of 

 a grey colour, often with some odd mixture of 



Hh 



