732 



VER 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



VER 



dose is from one to three fluid-drachms. The root was 

 formerly given in small doses, to quicken other purgatives 

 and emetics, and sometimes as an alterative in obstinate 

 chronical disorders ; for which last intention it is, without 

 doubt, a medicine of great efficacy, but its effects are not 

 ascertained with any degree of precision. To propagate this 

 plant, sow the seeds as soon as they are ripe, either in a bed 

 or box, filled with light fresh earth, and keep the ground con- 

 stantly clean from weeds. In the spring the plants will ap- 

 pear, and must be carefully weeded, and in dry weather re- 

 freshed with water. In the following autumn, when their 

 leaves decay, prepare a bed of fresh light earth, take up the 

 young plants carefully without breaking their roots, and 

 plant them about six inches square : let them remain until 

 they are strong enough to flower, when they should be trans- 

 planted into the borders of the pleasure garden. But as 

 these plants seldom flower in less than four years from seeds, 

 this method of procuring them is not much practised in Eng- 

 land. When once obtained, they are easily increased by 

 parting their roots in autumn, when their leaves decay : but 

 care must be taken not to part them too small, as that will 

 prevent their flowering in the following summer. Plant them 

 in a Jight fresh rich soil, and do not remove them oftener 

 than once in three or four years. They form pretty orna- 

 ments when planted in the middle of the pleasure garden, and 

 should not be placed near fences which harbour snails, as 

 those vermin devour the leaves, and destroy their appearance. 



2. Veratrum Viride; Green-flowered Veratrum. Raceme 

 superdecompound ; corollas bell-shaped, with the claws 

 thickened at the side within. A stately plant, from three to 

 six feet high. Native of North America. 



3. Veratrum Nigrum ; Dark-flowered Veratrum. Raceme 

 compound; corollas spreading very much. Root perennial. 

 It is very nearly allied to the first species, but differs in 

 place of growth, colour, villose peduncles, spreading corolla, 

 and compound raceme, not subdivided into a panicle. It is 

 also less strong and acrid. Native of Austria and Siberia. 



4. Veratrum Luteum ; Yellow-flowered Veratrum. Ra- 

 ceme quite simple ; leaves sessile ; root tuberous and large. 

 Between the leaves there comes out a single stem nearly 

 a foot high ; the flowers are produced at the top, in a single 

 thick close spike : they are small, and of a yellowish-white 

 colour. Native of North America. 



5. Veratrum Parvirlorum. Racemes paniculate; branches 

 filiform; flowers pedicellate, stellate, small, green; petals 

 oval-lanceolate; leaves oval or lanceolate, plane, glabrous. 

 Grows on the high mountains of Carolina. 



6. Veratrum Angustifolium. Plant lofty, dioicous ; 

 panicle simple ; petals linear ; leaves very long, linear, 

 keeled ; flowers greenish-yellow. Grows on the high moun- 

 tains of Virginia and Carolina. 



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

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, five-parted, small, permanent; segments erect, acute. 

 Corolla: one-petalled, wheel-shaped, a little unequal; tube 

 cylindric, very short; border spreading, five-parted; seg- 

 ments ovate, obtuse. Stamina: filamenta five, awl-shaped, 

 shorter than the corolla; antherse roundish, compressed, 

 erect. Pistil: germen roundish; style filiform, rather longer 

 than the stamina, inclined ; stiejma thickish, obtuse. Peri- 

 carp : capsule roundish, two-celled, two-valved, opening at 

 tup ; receptacles half ovate, fastened to the partition. Seeds : 

 numerous, angular. Observe. In most of the species the 

 stamina are inclined and unequal, and clothed at bottom 

 with coloured villose hairs. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Corulla: wheel-shaped, u little unequal Stamina: distant, 



declined, bearded. Capsule: two-celled, two-valved, many- 

 seeded. Stigma: simple. The plants of this genus, as they 

 require little care, may be allowed a place in the borders of 

 large gardens, for the variety of their hoary leaves, and the 

 sweetness of the flowers, which have a scent somewhat like 

 violets. If the seeds be permitted to scatter they will come 

 up without care, but as they frequently lie dormant a whole 

 year, the ground should not be disturbed. Most of the spe- 

 cies are biennial, and may be increased by sowing their seeds 

 in August, on a bed of light earth, in an open situation, 

 where the plants will sometimes come up in the following 

 month, and in a dry soil will endure the cold of winter, in 

 February, transplant them where they are to remain, not 

 nearer, than two feet asunder : they flower in June, and ripen 



seeds in August and September. The species are, 



1. Verbascum Thapsus ; Great Mullein. Leaves decur- 

 rent, tomentose on both sides; stem simple. Root biennial, 

 spindle-shaped ; stem from three to five feet high, erect, 

 woolly, winged with decurrent acute leaves, clothed with en- 

 tangled starry wool ; spike terminating, erect, cylindrical, 

 many-flowered ; flowers sessile, closely set, bright yellow, 

 sometimes, but rarely, white. There are some varieties. The 

 leaves, and the whole of the herb, are mucilaginous, and are 

 recommended both as internal and external emollients. A 

 pint of cow's milk, with a handful of the leaves, either of this 

 or the seventh species, boiled in it to half a pint, sweetened 

 with sugar, strained, and taken at bed-time, is a pleasant and 

 nutritious medicine for allaying a cough ; and more particu- 

 larly for taking off the pain and irritation of the piles, to 

 which it is often externally applied : it is also used as an 

 injection in tenesmus. In diarrhoeas of an old standing, the 

 decoction is employed to mitigate the pain of the intestines : 

 for this purpose two ounces of the leaves are boiled in a 

 quart of water, and four ounces are given every three hours. 

 Its great use in the pulmonary complaints of cattle, has 

 obtained for it the name of Cow's Lungwort; and it is well 

 known to the country cow-leeches under the name of Mur- 

 rain Grass, which is a corruption of Mullein. The French 

 call it Bouillon blanc, and use an infusion of the flowers in 

 coughs, supposing them to possess anodyne and pectoral 

 virtues ; but it does not appear to possess much of the nar- 

 cotic powers, for which most of its natural order are distin- 

 guished. This is a plant of considerable virtues, though but 

 little regarded. It is good in nervous disorders, and few 

 things are better against inveterate headaches, for which pur- 

 pose it is best taken in powder, about a scruple for a dose, 

 and the use of it continued for some time. The juice, boiled 

 to a syrup with honey, is excellent in coughs and other dis- 

 orders of the breast, and a strong infusion of the leaves is 

 good against obstructions of the viscera, particularly the 

 spleen. It is a powerful restringent. The root, dried and 

 powdered, is good in the bloody flux, after the bowels have 

 been emptied of their acrid contents, by means of a gentle 

 dose or two of rhubarb : the dose is fifteen grains, or a 

 scruple. The juice of the root, expressed with red wine, 

 checks immoderate flowings of the menses, and is, alone, a 

 most excellent medicine for spitting of blood. The seeds are 

 said to stupify fish so much, that they may be taken with the 

 hand. In addition to the names of this plant, already given, 

 Gerarde enumerates Woollen, Hig Taper, Torches, Lung- 

 wort, Bullock's Lungwort, and Hare's-beard. Dr. Withering 

 adds, Ladies' Foxglove ; and it is probable that the above 

 alteration by Gerarde, from Mullein to Woollen, is correct, 

 especially as the Dutch call it Wiillkraut. Hig Taper is 

 altered to High Taper in almost all modern books; but as it 

 is called Hag Taper in the north, of which Hig Taper is a 



