320 FAMILY HERBAL. 



and dentated at the edges : the flowers are small 

 and blue ; they grow in slender spikes, arising 

 from the bosoms of the leaves ; the root is small 

 and fibrous. 



The whole herb is used,- and it is best fresh, An 

 infusion of it drank in quantities, works by urine, 

 and opens all obstructions : it promotes the menses. 

 There was an opinion lately that this plant would 

 cure the gout. The dried leaves picked from the 

 stalks, were sold in our markets, and people made a 

 tea of them. The opinion was so prevalent, that 

 the plant was in a manner destroyed .for many 

 miles ab&it London, but like all other things, 

 that want the truth for then' foundation, it came to 

 nothing. 



Sprignel. jSIcum. 



A wild plant not altogether unlike fennel. 

 It grows two or three feet high. The stalks are 

 round, striated, and branched. The leaves are 

 large, and divided like those of fennel, but into 

 narrower and finer parts, and they arc of a very 

 dark green colour. The (lowers are little and 

 white, but they stand in dusters at the tops of the 

 stalks, and are conspicuous by their number. The 

 root is long and brown, and there are always a 

 quantity of filaments at the head of it like hairs: 

 these are the fibres of (he stalks of former leaves. 



The root is used, and it is best fresh taken up. 

 An infusion of it is excellent medicine in the gravel ; 

 it also opens obstructions, and promotes the menses. 

 The root dried and given in powder strengthens the 

 stomach, creates an appetite, and is good against 

 the colic. 



