126 



ART 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



ART 



used in some countries as a culinary aromatic, and a. decoc- 

 tion of it taken for the ague. A woman who had been af- 

 flicted with hysteric fits for many years, and had taken as- 

 safoetida and aether without obtaining any relief, was cured in 

 a few days by taking a drachm of the powdered leaves four 

 times daily. The Chinese bruise the leaves, and apply them 

 to fresh wounds, which they soon heal. It is, says Hill, an 

 excellent medicine in hysteric complaints, and in all obstruc- 

 tions of the viscera, for which a strong infusion is most ser- 

 viceable. Meyrick informs us, that a decoction of it, sweet- 

 ened with honey, eases the most violent coughs, and is good 

 in sciatic pains. An ointment, made of the juice of the leaves 

 and hog's lard, disperses wens, and hard knots and kernels 

 about the neck and throat. Culpeper observes, that the herb 

 itself taken fresh, or the juice of it, is an especial remedy for 

 removing the bad effects of taking too much opium. A de- 

 coction made with Chamomile and Agrimony, he assures us 

 will remove all the pains of the sinews and the cramp, by 

 bathing the affected part with it. No quadruped seems to 

 feed on this plant. It may be raised by slips, cuttings, or 

 parting the roots. There are several varieties. 



36. ArtemisiaPectinata. Leaves pinnate,pectinate,smooth, 

 sessile; flowers axillary, solitary, sessile, having four florets. 

 This is an elegant and exceedingly fragrant plant, with an 

 annual root, and an upright herbaceous stem about eight 

 inches high. Found in the dry lands of Dauria. 



**** Leaves simple. 



37. Artemisia Integrifolia ; Entire-leaved Mugwort. Leaves 

 lanceolate, tomentose underneath, entire, or with one or two 

 teeth ; female florets five. It is as hardy as the Common 

 Mugwort, and multiplies as fast. Native of Siberia. 



38. Artemisia Japonica ; Japanese Mugwort. Leaves on 

 the branches smooth, lanceolate, entire ; on the stem, oblong 

 and trifid ; flowers racemed, nodding. Native of Japan. 



39. Artemisia Caerulescens ; Lavender-leaved Wormwood. 

 Stem-leaves lanceolate, entire ; roots multifid ; flowers 

 ovate-cylindrical,small, woolly; female florets three. Found 

 in the southern parts of Europe upon the sea coast, and in Lin- 

 colnshire, near Boston. It flowers from August to October. 



40. Artemisia Dracunculus ; Tarragon. Leaves simple, 

 lanceolate, smooth, quite entire ; root perennial. Native of 

 Siberia and Tartary ; it flowers in August. It is generally 

 used in Persia, to excite an appetite at their meals ; and the 

 French employ it frequently in sallads to correct the coldness 

 of other herbs. The leaves, which have a fragrant smell and 

 an aromatic taste, make an excellent pickle. This plant is 

 very hardy, and propagates greatly by its creeping roots; or 

 may be multiplied very fast by planting the young shoots in 

 the same manner as Mint, and if well watered in dry wea- 

 ther, they will soon spread and meet. 



41. Artemisia Chinensis ; Chinese Mugwort. Leaves 

 simple, tomentose.obtuse, lanceolate ; the lower ones wedge- 

 shaped, three-lobed. Native of China and Siberia. This is 

 the species from which the Moxa is prepared in China, where 

 the natives term it the Physician's herb, and employ it in he- 

 morrhages, dysenteries, pleurisies, and disorders of the sto- 

 mach ; girdles of the down are recommended in the sciatica ; 

 and those who are afflicted with the rheumatism in the legs, 

 quilt their stockings with it. The Common Mugwort is 

 more efficacious for making Moxa than this sort. Moxa is 

 celebrated in the East for preventing and curing many disor- 

 ders, by being burnt on the skin ; it produces a dark-coloured 

 spot, the ex-ulceration of which is promoted by applying a 

 little garlic, and the ulcer is either healed up when the eschar 

 separates, or kept running, as circumstances require. A fun- 

 gous substance found in the fissures of old Birch-trees, is 



used by the Laplanders for the same purpose , and cotton 

 impregnated with a solution of nitre, and then dried, will 

 answer the end as well as the Moxa. All these applications 

 are only means of producing an exulceratiou of the skin, 

 and its consequence, a drain of humours. 



42. Artemisia Maderaspatana ; Madras Wormwood. Leaves 

 simple, lyrate-sinuate ; stems procumbent ; flowers peduncu- 

 late, solitary, globose, opposite to the leaves, large, yellow. 

 Native of the East Indies, flowering in July and August. 



43. Artemisia Minima ; Least Wormwood. Leaves simple, 

 wedge-shaped, repand ; stem procumbent : flowers axillary, 

 sessile. Native of China : a minute, annual plant. 



44. Artemisia Littoralis. Procumbent, strigose : leaves 

 spatulate.serrate-toothed, simple ; calices naked, pedicelled. 

 Found in the East Indies. 



Artichoke. See Cynara. 



Artichoke of Jerusalem. See Helianthus. 



Artocarpus ; a gehus of the class Monoecia, order Monan- 

 dria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male flowert. Calix : none : 

 ament cylindrical, all covered with florets. Corolla: two 

 petals each, oblong, concave, blunt, villose. Stamina: 

 filamenta single, within each corolla, filiform, the length of 

 the corolla ; anthera oblong, female flowers, on the same 

 tree. Calix and Corolla : none. Pistil: germina very many, 

 connected into a globe, hexangular ; style to each filiform ; 

 stigmas single, or two, capillary, revolute. Pericarp : fruit 

 ovate-globular, compound, muricate. Seed : for each ger- 

 men solitary, oblong, covered with pulpy arils, placed on an 

 ovate receptacle. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male, ament. 

 Calix : none. Corolla : two petalled. Female. Calix and 

 Corolla : none ; style one ; berries one seeded, connected, and 

 forming a roundish muricated fruit. These are milky trees. 

 Those varieties which bear seeds may be propagated by them, 

 sown in a pot of rich earth, and plunged in the bark-bed. 

 Those which have no seed in the fruit may be increased by 



suckers, in which they abound very much, or by layers. 



The species are, 



1. Artocarpus Incisa ; Bread-fruit Tree. Leaves gashed. 

 Capt. Cook observes, that this tree is about the height of a 

 middling Oak; its leaves are frequently a foot and a half long, 

 deeply sinuated like those of the Fig-tree, which they resem- 

 ble in consistence and colour, and in exuding a milky juice 

 when broken. The fruit is of the size and shape of a child's 

 head, and the surface is netted not much unlike a truffle ; it 

 is covered with a thin skin, and has a core about as big as 

 the handle of a small knife ; the eatable part lies between 

 the skin and the core ; it is white as snow, and somewhat of 

 the consistence of new bread. It must be roasted before it is 

 eaten, being first divided into three or four parts ; its taste is 

 insipid, with a slight sweetness resembling that of the crumb 

 of Wheaten bread mixed with Jerusalem Artichoke. As it is 

 not in season at all times of the year, by reducing it to a sour 

 paste, called mahie, they supply that defect. The tree is not 

 only useful for food, (three trees yielding sufficient nourish- 

 ment for one person,) but also for clothing ; for the bark is 

 stripped off the suckers, and formed into a kind of cloth. 

 This plant is distributed very extensively over the East 

 Indian continent and Islands, as well as in the innumerable 

 islands of the South Sea. It was imported into the West 

 India islands about the year 1793, where it has been most 

 successfully established. The principal varieties are, that 

 producing fruit with seeds, and that without ; the former may 

 be considered to be the tree in its wild state, as the want of 

 seed is probably occasioned by cultivation. 



2. Artocarpus Integrifolia; Indian Jacca Tree. Leaves 

 entire. This is about the same size or rather larger than the 



