AGA 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



AGA 



tivate the curled Parsley, for which this cannot be mistaken. 

 Most cattle eat it ; but it is said to be noxious to geese. This 

 is an annual plant, and may be easily restrained in gardens 

 by not suffering it to seed, which it does abundantly. 



2. JEthusa Bunius ; Coriander-leaved Fool's Parsley. 

 Radical leaves pinnate, cauline manifold-setaceous. This is 

 u perennial plant, native of the Pyrenees. It flowers in July. 



3. jEthusa Meum; Spicknel, Mew, or Bawd Money. 

 All the leaves manifold setaceous. This is a perennial 

 plant, rising a foot and a half high, with channelled stalks, 

 terminated by an umbel of flowers that are white with a 

 tincture of green, and are succeeded by oblong smooth 

 seeds. It grows wild in the mountains of Switzerland, 

 Germany, Austria, Carniola, Italy, and Spain : also in the 

 high pastures of Westmoreland, Cumberland, Lancashire, 

 and Merionethshire. It blossoms in May. The roots and 

 seeds are aromatic and acrid ; they are recommended as car- 

 minatives and stomachics ; in the stone, stoppage of urine, 

 and all uterine disorders ; sometimes they are given to cure 

 tertians. Spicknel is an ingredient in theriaca and mithri- 

 date ; and appears to be of the same nature as lovage. It is 

 a powerful diuretic, and remover of obstructions in the vis- 

 cera, consequently good against the gravel, jaundice, ob- 

 structions of the menses, &c. The root is the part to be 

 made use of for these purposes, and an infusion of it is the 

 best preparative ; dried and given in powder, it strengthens 

 the stomach, creates an appetite, and is good against the 

 colic. This is a hardy plant, and may be increased by part- 

 ing the roots at Michaelmas, or sowing the seeds soon after 

 they are ripe, which is in July and August. They should 

 have a shady situation and a moist soil. 



4. ^thusa Fatua ; Fine-leaved Fool's Parsley. All the 

 leaves many-parted, setaceous ; leaflets subverticillate ; stem 

 many-leaved ; sheaths of the petioles narrow ; universal in- 

 volucre many-leaved. This species flowers in August and 

 September : it is not known of what country it is a native. 



' African Bladder Nut. See Royena. 

 African Flea-Bane. See Tarchonanthus. 

 African Marygold. See Tagetes. 

 African Ragwort. See Othonna. 

 As;allocha. See Excoecaria. 



Agapanthus, a genus of the Hexandria class, Monogynia 

 order. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : Spathe common 

 gaping at the side. Corolla : one-petalled, funnel-shaped, 

 regular ; tube cornered, as if composed of six claws ; bor- 

 der six-parted ; parts oblong spreading. Stamina.- filaments 

 six, inserted into the throat, shorter than the corolla.declinate, 

 antherae kidney-shaped, incumbent. Pistil : germ superior, 

 oblong, three-cornered ; style filiform, length of the stamina, 

 declinate ; stigma simple. Pericarp : capsule oblong, three- 

 sided, three-celled, three-valved ; valves navicular, with 

 contrary dissepiment. Seeds : numerous, oblong, com- 

 pressed, enlarged with a membrane. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Corolla: inferior, funnel-shaped, hexapetaloid, regular. 



Of this genus the following species only is known, 



1. Agapanthus Umbellatus ; African Blue Lily. It is a 

 native of the Cape; and is propagated by offsets, which 

 come out of the sides of the old plants ; and may be taken 

 off at the latter end of June, planted each in a separate pot, 

 and placed in a shady situation, where they can have the 

 morning sun and free air, and be watered twice a week. They 

 only require protection from frost and wet, and as they 

 flower at the end of August, or in the beginning of Septem- 

 ber, they will frequently continue in beauty till spring 



Agaricus, a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Fungi. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Pileus or cap; with gills under- 



VOL. I. 6. 



neath. Gills : differing in substance from the rest of the 

 >lant, composed of two laminas. Seeds : in the gills. In or- 

 der to cultivate Agarici or Mushrooms, the small white knobs 

 which are always found near their roots, in August or Sep- 

 ember, and are the offsets, or young mushrooms, should be 

 carefully gathered with the earth about them ; and as this 

 spawn cannot be found in the pastures except during the 

 mushroom season, you will probably find it in old dunghills 

 where there has been much litter and little wet, also in old 

 lot-beds, shooting out in long strings. The beds for these 

 spawn should be made of dung, with good store of litter, 

 on dry ground, three feet wide at bottom, and long in pro- 

 jortion to the quantity desired. The dung must be laid a 

 foot thick, covered with four inches of strong earth, and 

 upon this two more layers of dung ten inches thick, suc- 

 ceeded by another layer of earth, contracting the sides of 

 the bed like the roof of a house. When finished, the bed 

 should be covered with litter or old thatch, to keep out the 

 wet, and prevent the bed from drying. In eight or ten days 

 the bed will be moderately warm, and fit to receive the 

 spawn ; then the thatch or litter being removed, a covering 

 of rich light earth, about an inch deep, should be laid all , 

 over the bed, placing the lumps of spawn upon it, four or 

 five inches asunder, which must be covered with the same 

 light earth, half an inch deep ; and the old thatch or litter 

 then replaced, to keep out the wet, as before. In warm 

 weather the mushrooms will probably appear in a month ; 

 but if the weather be cold it will be much longer. The 

 great skill is, to keep up a due degree of moisture in these 

 beds ; in warm weather showers of rain may be admitted, 

 in winter they must be kept as dry as possible. A bed thus 

 managed, if the spawn take kindly, will remain good for se- 

 veral months, and produce better mushrooms than can be 

 gathered in the fields. When destroyed, the spawn for a 

 new bed may be taken out of it, and plenty of mushrooms 

 may thus be ensured throughout the year. In many parts 

 of Europe several sorts are eaten, which we deem poison- 

 ous. Even Agpiperatus, the most acrid and suspicious spe- 

 cies of this genus, is eaten in large quantities by the Rus- 

 sians. They season or pickle them with salt in autumn, and 

 eat them in Lent. Caution is nevertheless very indispensa- 

 ble, as several species would be highly injurious, if taken in 

 any considerable quantity. See Fungi. Authors differ ex- 

 ceedingly in their enumerations of the species of this genus : 

 the following are the most worthy of notice, viz : 



Agaricus Campestris ; Common Mushroom, or Champignon. 

 Gills crowded, irregular, pink changing to liver colour ; cap 

 convex, white to brown ; stem white, cylindrical ; curtf.in 

 white. The stem of this species is solid, from two to three 

 inches high, and half an inch in diameter. It is esteemed 

 the best and most savoury of the genus ; and is in much re- 

 quest for the table in England. It is eaten fresh, either stewed 

 or broiled, and preserved either as a pickle or in powder : the 

 sauce vulgarly called Catchup, is made from its juice with 

 salt and spices. The wild mushrooms, fresh from undunged 

 pastures, are more delicate than those raised on artificial 

 beds, the flesh of the latter being less tender; and those 

 who are much accustomed to them, can distinguish them 

 from each other by the smell. Those artificially raised are cer- 

 tainly more sightly, and more easily procured in a proper state 

 for eating ; they are also firmer, and better for pickling. 



Agaricus Georgii, of Linn*us, resembles this, but is far 

 inferior to it in flavour, though not poisonous, as it is gene- 

 rally supposed. It is very common ; and the caps turn yel- 

 low, but the gills are always white. 



Agaricus Procerus, or Tall Mushroom, which is common 

 S 



