FAMILY HERBAL. 335 



Tarragon. Dracunculus. 



A common plant in our gardens. It is two 

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

 green ; the leaves are very numerous, and stand 

 irregularly. They are longish and very narrow, 

 and of a deep green colour ; the flowers are 

 little and greenish, in form like those of wormwood : 

 they stand in spikes at the tops of the stalks. The 

 whole plant has a strong smell, somewhat like 

 fennel. 



An infusion of the fresh tops works by urine, and 

 gently promotes the menses. 



Tea. Thea. 



A ssirub, native of the East, and cherished there 

 with great care. It is six or seven feet high ; the 

 branches are slender ; the leaves are numerous, 

 oblong, serrated round the edges, and sharp pointed. 

 The flowers are as big as orange flowers, and white ; 

 they stand in a very small cup : the fruit is dry, and 

 of the bigness of a nut, containing one, two, or three 

 cells. 



All the kinds of tea -are the leaves of this shrub ; 

 they only differ as they are gathered in ditferent 

 states : thebohea tea is gathered when the leaves are 

 in the bud, and more heat is used in drying it. 

 The several soils of green are got from the young 

 shoots or older branches, in spring, in summer, or in 

 autumn, and dried with different degrees of care, ac- 

 cording to their value. 



Good green tea, drank moderately, strengthens 

 the stomach, and assists digestion ; it is good 

 against sicknesses, and will prevent the coiic : but 

 when bad tea is drank, and a great deal of it, 

 nothing is more pernicious. Bohea tea is more 



