206 



O RC 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



ORC 



niola, France, Italy, and Britain. It is found about Hart-field 

 in Middlesex; Dartford in Kent; Stocking wood in Leicester- 

 shire ; Chesterton, Hinton, Devil's Ditch near Newmarket, 

 and Linton, in Cambridgeshire ; Whichwood forest, between 

 Woodstock and Enston ; and on Caversham warren in Oxford- 

 shire; and also in Scotland. 



23. Orchis Corsoppora ; Lizard Orckit. Bulbs undivided ; 

 lip of the nectary trifid, reflex, crenate ; horn short ; petals 

 converging; stem erect, a foot high, round, jointed, smooth, 

 leafy ; leaves seven or eight, all sheathing, the lowest four 

 inches long, the others gradually less, bright green, very 

 smooth, five or six of them spreading, the others rolled round 

 the scape. Some say the flowers smell like a goat, others 

 like a bug. Native of Denmark, Germany, the southern 

 parts of Europe, and the Levant. It flowers in June. 



24. Orchis Cubitalis. Bulbs undivided ; lip of the nectary 

 trifid, filiform, middle ovate; horn shorter than the germina; 

 stem a foot and half high ; leaves towards the loot four or 

 five, alternate, sheathing, lanceolate ; the rest of the stem 

 without leaves. Native of the island of Ceylon. 



25. Orchis Morio ; Female or Meadow Orchis. Bulbs 

 undivided ; lip of the nectary quadrifid, crenulate ; horn 

 blunt, ascending ; petals blunt, converging ; flowers few, from 

 six to eight, seldom more that twelve, purple, sitting loosely 

 on the stalk. There are varieties with red, violet, flesh-co- 

 loured, and white flowers; but in all it retains more or less 

 strongly the green parallel lines, with which the two outer- 

 most petals are strikingly marked. This has been said to be 

 the true sort which produces the Oriental Salep ; but it is clear 

 that more species than one are used for it, because some of 

 the roots imported in that drug are undivided, as in this, and 

 others are palmated. Some of the other species have larger 

 roots than this ; and the quality of all appears to be the same. 

 It grows in meadows that are moderately dry, such as Cow- 

 slips are usually found in, and is sometimes so abundant as 

 to empurple the spot it grows on. It flowers in May and 

 June ; and is eaten by goats, but horses refuse it. 



26. Orchis Mascula; Male or Early Spotted Orchis. Bulbs 

 undivided ; lip of the nectary four-lobed, crenulate ; horn 

 blunt ; dorsal petals bent back ; flowers in a loose spike, 

 numerous ; bractes lanceolate, membranaceous, longer than 

 the germen. The spikes of the flowers, says Lightfoot, are 

 the Long Purples, or Dead-men's Fingers, which helped to 

 compose Ophelia's garland. The Queen describing the 

 manner of Ophelia's death, says, 



" There is a willow growing o'er a brook, 



That shows his hoary leaves to th' glassy stream. 



Near which fantastic garlands she did make 



Of Crow flowers, Nettles, Daisies, and Long Purples, 



Which lib'ral shepherds give a grosser name. 



But our cold maids, Dead-men's Finqers call them." 



Hamlet, Act. IV. 



The grosser name here alluded to, is that of Fools' Stones, 

 by which there appears no reason to doubt that this is the 

 plant alluded to, although the name of Dead-men's Fingers 

 would better suit the thirty-fourth species. The roots abound 

 with a glutinous slime, of a sweetish taste, and a faint and 

 somewhat unpleasant smell . This mucilaginous or gelatinous 

 quality of the Orchis root, has recommended it as a demul- 

 cent; and it is generally used in the same complaints as the 

 roots of Althea and the Gum Arabic. M. Mault, of Roch- 

 dale, has favoured the world with the following method of 

 curing the Orchis root : It is to be washed in water while 

 fresh, and the fine brown skin which covers it is to be sepa- 

 rated by means of a small brush, or by dipping the root in 

 hot water, and rubbing it with a coarse linen cloth ; when a 



sufficient number of roots have been thus cleaned, they are 

 to be spread on a tin plate, and placed in an oven heated to 

 the usual degree, where they are to remain six or ten minutes, 

 in which time they will have lost their milky whiteness, and 

 acquired a transparency like horn, without any diminution 

 of bulk: being arrived at this state, they are to be removed, 

 in order to dry and harden in the air, which will require 

 several days ; or by using a very gentle heat, they may be 

 finished in a few hours. The properest time for gathering 

 the roots, is when the seed is formed, and the stalk is ready 

 to fall ; because the new bulb is then arrived at its full matu- 

 rity, and may be distinguished from the old one by a white 

 bud rising from the top of it. Salep, considered as an article 

 of diet, is accounted extremely nutritious, containing a great 

 quantity of farinaceous matter in a small bulk ; and hence it 

 has been thought fit to constitute a part of the provisions of 

 every ship's company, to prevent a famine at sea. For it is 

 observed by Dr. Percival, that this powder, and the dry gela- 

 tinous part of a flesh or portable soup, dissolved in boiling 

 water, form a rich thick jelly, capable of supporting life for 

 a considerable length of time. An ounce of each of these 

 articles, with two quarts of boiling water, will be sufficient 

 subsistence for each man per day. The same physician not 

 only recommends the use of Salep in diarrhoea, dysentery, 

 'dysury, and calculous complaints ; but he thinks that in the 

 symptomatic fever, which arises fom the absorption of pus, 

 from ulcers in the lungs, from wounds, or from amputation, 

 Salep, used plentifully, is an admirable demulcent, and well 

 adapted to resist that dissolution of the crasis of the blood 

 which is so evident in these cases. Dr. Withering justly ex- 

 presses a hope, that as this plant can be procured at home 

 in almost any quantity, we shall no longer depend upon 

 foreign markets for supplies. It flowers in April and May, 

 and is common in most of our woods and meadows. 



27. Orchis Ustulata ; Dwarf Orchis. Bulbs undivided ; 

 lip of the nectary quadrifid, rugged with dots ; horn blunt, 

 very short ; petals distinct ; stem from four to six or eight 

 inches high, angular, almost hid by the upper leaves. Villars 

 observes, that this is one of the smallest species : the leaves 

 narrow, glaucous, or silvery ; spike short, ovate, close, small, 

 appearing blackish at the top, whence its name Ustulata; and 

 bright red, or whitish towards the base ; this appearance is 

 caused by the upper petals, which open last, being of a very 

 deep colour on the outside, and of a bright red within, con- 

 trary to the usual case with flowers, which have commonly 

 the colours lighter in the parts most exposed to the air. This 

 elegant little plant is distinguished at first sight by its small 

 dotted flowers, which appear in May and June. It appears 

 in great quantities on many of our downs, and affects a dry 

 calcareous soil. It occurs near Harefield, in Middlesex ; on 

 Gogmagog hills, in Devil's Ditch, and at Chippenham, in 

 Cambridgeshire; at Barneck heathf near Stamford; and 

 between Stamford and Duddington, in Northamptonshire ; 

 on Wick cliffs ; and on the Wiltshire downs, as upon Salis- 

 bury plain, particularly on the Barrows, near Stonehenge ; on 

 Burford down, and Caversham warren, in Oxfordshire. 



28. Orchis Militaris ; Man Orchis. Bulbs undivided ; lip 

 of the nectary five-cleft, rugged with dots; horn blunt; petals 

 confluent; stem about one foot high, round, smooth ; leaves 

 about four, sheathing, acutely lanceolate, the three lower 

 spreading, the upper one closely embracing, bright green, 

 with numerous parallel veins ; spikes from one to two inches 

 long, with numerous flowers. It is found in calcareous mea- 

 dows and pastures : as at Crawsham hills, by the Thames' side ; 

 not far from Reading in Berkshire ; and near the old chalk- 

 pit, by the paper-mill, at Harefield ; as also at Caversham 



