s c 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



T H 



side, obtuse; leaflets obtuse. It is a native of the East 

 Indies, and may be propagated in the same manner as the 

 first species. 



7. JEschynomeneSesban; Egyptian &schynomene. Stem 

 herbaceous, smooth ; legumes cylindric, equal ; leaflets ob- 

 tuse. It is a native of Egypt, flowers in July and August. 



8 jEschynomene Pumila ; Dwarf JEschynomene. Stem 

 herbaceous, smooth ; legumes serrate on one side, rough in 

 the middle ; leaflets acuminate. This is an annual plant, a 

 foot and half high, branching at bottom, and a native of 

 the East Indies. For the method of propagating it with us, 

 see the first species. 



9. jEschynomene SensitSva. Stem shrubby, smooth ; leaf- 

 lets obtuse ; legumes smooth and even, obtuse ; stipules 

 acute, deciduous. Native of the West Indies ; it flowers in 

 July, and the seeds ripen in October. 



10. ./Eschynomene Heterophylla. Stem shrubby, lower 

 leaves teruate-ovate, upper pinnate, roundish. The stem 

 of this species is arboreous, weak, with spreading tomen- 

 tose branches. A native of northern Cochin China. 



11. .iEschynomene Lagenaria. Stem herbaceous, leaflets 

 obtuse, in several pairs ; legumes muricate. The stein of 

 this plant, which is a native of marshy places in Cochin 

 China, is there used for stopping bottles, where are no 

 corks. It is herbaceous, three feet high, upright, thick, 

 round, spongy, and elastic. 



12. JLschynomene Cannabina. Stem herbaceous ; leaflets 

 obtuse, acuminate ; peduncles solitary ; legumes compress- 

 ed, smooth, and even. In the East Indies, where it is in- 

 digenous. If treated as hemp, as its name signifies, it may 

 be applied to the same purposes. 



/Esculus ; a genus of the class Heptandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Callx : perianth one-leafed, 

 ventricose, small, five-toothed. Corolla: petals five, round- 

 ish, plaited, and waving about the edge, flat, spreading claws 

 narrow, inserted into the calix, irregularly coloured. Sta- 

 mina: filaments subulate, .the length of the corolla, declin- 

 ing ; anthera? ascending. Pistil : germ roundish, ending in 

 a subulate style; stigma acuminate. Pericarp: capsule 

 leathery, roundish, three-celled, three-valved. Seeds: two, 

 subglobular. Observe, one seed only commonly occurs in 

 the capsule, but, on inspection of the embryos, it is evident 

 that the natural number is two. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix ; one-leafed, five-toothed, ventricose. Corolla: five- 

 petalled, irregularly coloured, inserted into the calix. Cap- 

 sule : three-celled. The species are, 



1. JEsculus Hippocastanum ; Common Horse Chesnut. 

 The flowers with seven stamina ; leaves digitate, with seven 

 entire leaflets ; capsules prickly. This tree is well known, 

 and was formerly in greater esteem for walks and avenues 

 than at present, which is owing to the litter made by its leaves 

 when falling; it affords, notwithstanding, a noble shade very 

 early in the year, and no tree has more beauty during the 

 time of its flowering, for the extremities of the branches are 

 terminated by fine spikes of flowers, so that every part of the 

 tree seems covered with them, and being intermixed with the 

 large digitate leiiyes, they make a noble appearance, conti- 

 nuing in beauty for nearly a month. In Turkey the nuts are 

 ground, and mixed with the provender of those horses which 

 have coughs or are broken-winded. Some assert that swine 

 will fatten on them ; and Haller says that sheep have been fed 

 with them whole, and poultry with them boiled, and that 

 both have done well ; but this is disputed by others'. They 

 may be used to save soap in washing, having a saponaceous 

 quality ; and the bark has been successfully used in Italy 

 s a medicine for intermittent fevers; and has answered very 



well in dyeing several sorts of yellow colours. Notwith- 

 standing the bad character Mr. Miller gives of the timber 

 of this tree, it is said to be useful in making pipes to con- 

 vey water under ground, as it will last longer than harder 

 woods. Dr. Hunter says it is used for turnery, and is worth 

 sixpence per foot in the north of England. Mr. Hanbury 

 confirms Hunter's account, and adds, that the tree grows 

 speedily to a great magnitude, and sells at sufch a price as 

 to make it well worth planting for the sake of the timber, 

 and that it ought to be felled in November or December. 

 This species was brought from the northern parts of Asia 

 nearly three centuries ago, and is more common now than 

 it was an hundred years since. These trees are propagated 

 by sowing the nuts early in the spring, but they must be 

 preserved in sand during the winter, otherwise they will 

 mould and rot. They will shoot nearly a foot the first 

 summer, and if they stand close, should be transplanted 

 the next autumn into the nursery, and remain there two 

 years ; they should then be removed where they are in- 

 tended to remain, and well secured by a fence of good 

 stakes against young cattle and violent winds. It requires 

 little care in the management, is never injured by the cold 

 of this climate, and will thrive in most soils and situations, 

 but in a sandy loam makes the greatest progress. 



2. jEsculus Flava ; Yellow-Jlowered Horse Chesnut. Leaves 

 digitate, with five leaflets ; the lamina of the corolla cordate, 

 roundish ; the claws twice the length of the calix. This 

 species flowers in May and June ; and is a native of North 

 Carolina. 



3. yEsculus Pavia ; Scarlet Horse Chesnut. Flowers with 

 eight stamina ; leaves digitate, with five or six serrate leaf- 

 lets ; capsules smooth ; laininas of the corolla obovate ; 

 claws the length of the calix. This species rises to the height 

 of twenty feet, but does not spread its branches to any ex- 

 tent. The flowers appear in June, and are sometimes suc- 

 ceeded by fruit, but the seeds rarely ripen in England. It 

 grows naturally in Brazil, Carolina, Japan, and several parts 

 of the East ; from which countries those who wish to pro- 

 pagate it must procure the nuts, and plant them early in the 

 spring, in pots which must be plunged into a moderate hot- 

 bed. The nursery -men, who propagate this tree for sale, 

 commonly graft or bud it upon common Horse-ch^snut 

 stocks ; but as the stock greatly outgrows the bud or graft, 

 the trees make a bad appearance, and do not last long. 



JEihiapis. . See Sali-ia. 



/Ethusa ; a genus of the Pentandria class, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : umbel universal spreading, 

 the rays gradually shortening towards the middle ; partial 

 also spreading, but small. Involucre universal, none ; par- 

 tial placed on' the outside, only consisting of three very long, 

 linear, pendulous leaflets. Proper, perianth scarcely observ- 

 able. Corotl/i : universal nearly uniform, -with all the flos- 

 cules fertile ; partial has the petals bent in, heart-shaped, 

 and unequal. Stamina .- filaments simple, with roundish 

 intherae. Pistil: germ inferior ; styles reflex, '.vith obtuse 

 stigmas. Pericarp ; none. Fruit .- roundish, streaked, bi- 

 jartite. Seedy: two, roundish, streaked, except on a third 

 >art of the surface, which is plane. ESSEXTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Partial involucre ; halved, three-leaved, pendulous. Fruit: 

 streaked. The species are, 



I. jEthusa t'ynapium ; Common Fuel's Parsley. Leaves 

 conform. This species has a stem from one to two feet high, 

 md is a common weed in kitchen gardens, and in a slight 

 degree poisonous. It is easily mistaken for true Parsley and 

 Chervil when young. Theleavesemit, iu a alight degree, adis- 

 agreeable smell. The safest way to avoid all doubt is to cul- 



