FAMILY HERBAL. 315 



oblong and sharp at the point. They are of a deep 

 green colour, and firm substance : the flowers are 

 small, they grow in clusters upon the branches, not 

 at their extremities, but in different parts of them. 

 The fruit is large, and much of the shape of a 

 walnut. It is yellow when ripe, and contains a 

 great many round fiat seeds. These are exactly of 

 the shape and form of what we call nux vomica, 

 but they are not half so big. Some have, for this 

 reason, supposed the real nux vomica to be the 

 fruit of this tree ; but it is produced by another of 

 the same genus. The wood of the smaller branches 

 is used : this is what we called litlnum colubrinum, 

 adder- wood, and snake-wood. It is famous in the 

 East for curing fevers and destroying worms ; 

 they also say it is a remedy against the bites of 

 serpents, and hence comes its name. We have been 

 tempted to give it in some cases ; but it seems better 

 suited to the constitutions of the people among 

 whom it grows than to ours : it brings on con- 

 vulsions, if given in too large a dose, or if too fresh. 

 It loses its strength by degrees in keeping ; but 

 I don't know how it can be possible to determine 

 what dose to give of such a medicine. 



Sneezewokt. Ptarmica , 



A very pretty wild plant with daisy-like 

 flowers, and a norrovv dentated leaves. It grows 

 two feet high. The stalk is round, firm, upright, 

 and but little branched. The leaves are very 

 numerous, and they stand irregularly ; they are 

 an inch or more in length, and very narrow, rough 

 to the touch, and of a bright green. The flowers 

 stand at the tops of the stalks, so that they form 

 a kind of round head ; they are less than daises 

 and their leaves broader. 



