FAMILY HERBAL. 309 



square, and a little hairy ; the leaves stand in pairs 

 upon it, but there are seldom more than two gr 

 three pair, the great quantity of them rise imme- 

 ciiaieiy from the root ; they are oblong 1 , broad, 

 bhint at the point, ami not at all indented at the 

 ( 'dgos. The flowers are small; they stand in ft 

 kind of short spikes or heads: the cups of them 

 are often purplish. The root is small and creep- 

 ing and full of fibres. The juice of self-heal 

 is astringent : it is irood against pur<nnffs, with 

 very sharp or bloody tools, and against overflow- 

 ings of the menses. The dried herb made into 

 an infussion and sweatencd with honey, is 2;ood 

 ag-ainst a sore throat, and ulcers of the mouth. 



Sena Shrub. Sena. 



A little shrub, three or four feet high, 

 native of the East. The trunk is covered with a 

 whitish and rough bark ; the leaves are composed 

 each of three pair of smaller, disposed on a com- 

 mon rib, with an odd one at the end : they are 

 oblong", narrow, and sharp pointed, of a smooth 

 surface, a thick substance, of a pale green colour, 

 and not indented at the edges. The (lowers are 

 like a pea blossom in shape, but they are veliow, 

 marked with purple veins. The pods are short 

 and flat, and the seeds are small and brown. 



We have the dried leaves from the East, the 

 druggists keep them. T'ey are given in infusion, 

 and are an excellent pur::", but as they are apt to 

 gripe in the working', the common method is to 

 throw in a few cardamom seeds, or some other 

 warm medicine into the water. 



