170 



NI C 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



N 1C 



five. Capsule: inferior, ten-celled, ten-seeded, prickly. 

 The only species yet discovered is, 



1. Neurada Procumbens. Stems dispersed, rigid, round, 



a palm high, or more ; branches from each of the lower axils. 



Native of Egypt, Arabia, and Numidia. 



New Jersey Tea. See Ceanothus. 



Nicandra; a genus of the class Decandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, turbinate, thick, coloured, four-parted ; segments 

 wide, concave, blunt; the two outside ones larger, and the 

 two internal ones less. Corolla: one petalled; tube very 

 short; border deeply ten-cleft; segments oblong, imbricate, 

 curved inwards at top, rigid; nectary a short membrana- 

 ceous ring, surrounding the base of the germen. Stamina: 

 filamenta ten, very short, connected with the nectary, inserted 

 into the receptacle ; antherse linear, four-cornered, acute, 

 erect, approximating. Pistil: germen ovate; styles short; 

 stigma peltate, orbicular, six-rayed. Pericarp : berry round- 

 ish, six-grooved, three-celled. Seeds: many, very small, 

 angular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: turbinate, 

 coloured, four-parted. Corolla: one-petalled, ten-cleft. Ger- 

 tnen; encircled with a membranaceous ring. Stigma: peltate, 

 orbicular, six-rayed. Berry: roundish, six-grooved, three- 

 celled, many-seeded. The only known species is, 



1 . Nicandra Amara. Stem simple, straight, hard, woody, 

 knotty, the thickness of a finger ; leaves simple, entire, smooth, 

 narrow at the base, wide above, round and pointed at the 

 end; flowers terminating, on one, or two, or three peduncles, 

 the base, enveloped in a sheath. The corolla is white ; the 

 fruit yellow, fleshy, and the size of a cherry. All parts of 

 this plant are bitter: the leaves and tender twigs are used 

 in venereal cases, and where there is suspicion of poison. 

 It is highly emetic in a large dose. Native of Guiana. 



Nicker Tree. See Guilandina. 



Nicotiana; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

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

 ovate, half five-cleft, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, 

 funnel-form; tube longer than the calix; border somewhat 

 spreading, half five-cleft, in five folds. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, awl-shaped, almost the length of the corolla, ascending; 

 antheree oblong. Pistil: germen ovate; style filiform, the 

 length of the corolla; stigma capitate, emarginate. Peri- 

 carp: capsule subovate, marked with a line on each side, 

 two-celled, two-valved, opening at top; receptacles half ovate, 

 dotted, fastened to the partition; seeds numerous, kidney- 

 form, wrinkled. Observe. The acuminate and blunt figure 

 is various in this genus. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla: 

 funnel-form, with a plaited border. Stamina: inclined. Cap- 

 sule: two-valved, two-celled. The species are, 



1. Nicotiana Fruticosa; Shrubby Tobacco. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, subpetioled, embracing; flowers acute; stem fru- 

 tescent. It rises with very branching stalks about five feet 

 high. The stalks divide into many smaller branches, termi- 

 nated by loose bunches of flowers of a bright purple colour, 

 succeeded by acutely pointed seed-vessels. There is a vari- 

 ety about five feet high, the stalk of which does not branch 

 so much as the former. It is a native of the woods of the 

 island of Tobago. Sir George Staunton informs us, that 

 great quantities of Tobacco are planted in the low grounds 

 of China, through which the embassy passed: and that there 

 is no traditional account of its being introduced into that 

 country, or into India, where it is likewise cultivated, and 

 used in vast abundance. In neither country are foreign 

 usages adopted. It is possible that, like the Ginseng, it may 

 Le naturally found in particular spots, both in the old and 

 new world. In China, where the use of Tobacco both in 



' 



snuff and for smoking is very general, buildings are not 

 thought necessary, as they are in the West Indies, for curing 

 it ; there being little apprehension of rain to injure the leave! 

 when plucked. They are hung on cords to dry without any 

 shelter, upon the spot in which they grew. Each owner 

 with his family takes care of his own produce. This indicates 

 both the nature of the climate, little subject to moisture, 

 and the general division of property into minute parcels. 

 Tobacco is cultivated in open fields in several parts of the 

 continent of Europe; and some think it might be advantage- 

 ously grown in England, if it were not prohibited by the 

 legislature. All the species however, except the third arid 

 fourth, require the same culture, and are too tender to grow 

 from seeds sown in the full ground to any degree of perfection^ 

 in this country, but must be raised on a hot-bed. The seeds 

 must be sown in March, and when the plants are come up 1 

 fit to remove, they should be transplanted into a new hot* 

 bed of a moderate warmth, about four inches asunder each 

 way, observing to water and shade them until they have 

 taken root; after which let them have air in proportion to 

 the warmth of the season, as without it they will draw up 

 very weak, and be thereby less capable of enduring the open 

 air: water them frequently, but in small quantities; while 

 they are very young, it should not be given to them in too 

 great quantities, though, when they are grown strong, they 

 will require to have it often and in abundance. In this bed 

 the plants should remain till the middle of May, by which 

 time, if they have succeeded well, they will touch each other; 

 therefore they should be inured to bear the open air gradu- 

 ally; after which they must be taken up carefully, preserving- 

 a large ball of earth to each root, and planted into a rich 

 light soil in rows four feet asunder, and the plants three feet 

 distance in the rows, observing to water them until they have 

 taken root; after which they will require no further care, 

 except weeding, until they begin to shew their flower-stems; 

 when their tops should be cut off, that their leaves may 

 receive more nourishment, and become larger and of a thicker*, 

 substance. In August they will be full grown, when they 

 should be cut for use; for if they be permitted to stand 

 longer, their under leaves will begin to decay. This is to 

 lie. understood of such plants as are propagated for use; but 

 those designed for ornament should be planted in the bur- 

 rs of the pleasure garden, and permitted to grow their full 

 height, where they will continue flowering from July till the 

 frost puts a stop to them. 



2. Nicotiana Tabacum; Virginian Tobacco. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, ovate, sessile, decurrent; flowers acute. Root large,' 

 long, annual; stalk hairy, upright, strong, round, branching 

 towards the top; leaves numerous, large, pointed, entire, 

 veined, viscid, pale green; bractes long, linear, pointed; flow- 

 ers in loose clusters or panicles; calix hairy, about half the 

 length of the corolla, cut into five narrow segments; tube of 

 the corolla hairy, gradually swelling towards the border, where 

 't divides into five folding acute segments of a reddish colour; 

 capsule ovate, conical, clothed with the calix, smooth, with 

 'our depressed streaks, two-celled, opening four ways at top; 

 Dartition simple, contrary to the valves ; receptacle very large, 

 ungous, ovate-acuminate, convex on one side, and flat on 

 the other, or reniform, concave, fastened on both sides to 

 ;he partition; seeds very numerous, small, ovate, subreni- 

 'br.m, with raised lines or nerves beautifully netted of a yel- 

 owish bay colour. Mr. Millar describes three species of 

 Virginian Tobacco: 1. The Great Broad-leaved, which he 

 says was formerly the most commonly sown in England, and 

 las been generally taken for the Common Broad-leaved To- 

 >acco of Caspar Bauhin andothers, butis very different from it. 



