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pose of colouring soups, and the Jews in Poland em- 

 ploy it much in their viands. The seeds are purga- 

 tive, and have been recommended in dropsy. Though 

 bitter, they are eaten by birds, especially by parrots, 

 and hence they are sometimes called parrot grains. 



Carthannts lanafus is used by the women in the 

 south of France and Spain for distaffs, and hence it is 

 denominated distaft' thistle. 



Arctium lappa, common burdock, and Arctium Bar- 

 cfowa.which seems to be merely a variety with a downy 

 calyx, are well known on account of the hooked scales 

 of their involucre, by means of which the heads fasten 

 themselves most pertinaciously to clothes and the 

 coats of animals. The seeds are oily and bitter, and 

 the whole plant possesses diuretic, diaphoretic and 

 aperient qualities. The root contains carbonate 

 and nitrate of potass ; and a decoction of it has been 

 used as a substitute for sarsaparilla, and administered 

 in cutaneous and rheumatic affections. The juice of 

 the leaves mixed with oil forms a liniment which has 

 been used in dressing wounds and ulcers. 



Contoured benedicta, blessed thistle, a native of the 

 Grecian islands,is accounted a stomachic, and its seeds 

 are used to produce perspiration. An extract from 

 the plant has been recommended in the catarrh of 

 children. Centaurea calcicrapa,commoi\ star-thistle, pos- 

 sesses febrifuge virtues. Its roots were formerly con- 

 sidered useful in calculous complaints, and its leaves 

 and flowers were prescribed in ague. Centaurea cyanus, 

 corn blue-bottle, has been sometimes employed medi- 

 cinally. The juice of its flowers is used as a kind of 

 ink, and stains linen of a blue colour. 



Carlina acanthifolia is a wholesome article of diet. 

 Carlina acaulis has black woody routs, an inch in 

 thickness, the upper part of which, as well as the re- 

 ceptacle of the flowers, may be eaten. The flowers of 

 Ech'niops strigosus'Ave used in Spain for tinder. 



II. CICHORACE.*. Most of the plants of this tribe 

 yield a milky juice, which is bitter, astringent, and 

 slightly narcotic. To this juice they owe their medical 

 properties ; and, when it exists in great quantity, the 

 plants may be looked upon with some degree of sus- 

 picion. Many of the CtchoracecE are employed as arti- 

 cles of food, either in a young state, Before the bitter 

 narcotic juice is fully formed, or in a more advanced 

 state, after being blanched. By cultivation a great 

 change is often effected in their qualities. 



The chief genera included in this sub-division of 

 composite plants are, Cichorium, the succory and en- 

 dive ; Lactuca, the Lettuce ; Smtchus, Leontodon, Scor- 

 sonera/fragopogon, Hicracium, Apargia, Lrtpsana, &c. 

 Cic/ioriitm intybus, common wild succory, is met 

 with chiefly on gravelly and chalky soil, in several 

 parts of Britain, and is very abundant on the con- 

 tinent. It bears numerous large bright but pale blue 

 flowers, which close during the night, but expand on 

 the first approach of morn. The plant was eaten by 

 the Ptomans, and is still used as an article of food in 

 France. The seeds are sown in July, and the plants 

 are allowed to grow six inches apart. In winter the 

 roots are takeu up and packed in a warm cellar among 

 earth, the upper portion being the only part exposed. 

 In this situation, young leaves are quickly produced, 

 in a blanched state, fit for being used as a salad. The 

 leaves and root are very bitter in a wild state, less so 

 when cultivated. The juice of the fresh leaves acts 

 as a tonic, and a stomachic syrup is prepared from 

 them. The root, when dried and roasted, has an agree- 

 able bitter flavor, and is used on the continent as a 



substitute for coffee. At one time when the latter 

 article bore a high price in the market, succory was 

 much used in France, and it is still employed in that 

 country, although it certainly wants the fine aroma of 

 the Arabian grain. The herb in a luxuriant cultivated 

 state, is an excellent early fodder for cattle. 



Cichorium endivia, common endive, is a native of 

 Japan and China, and is cultivated in gardens for the 

 purpose ot furnishing the salad which bears its 

 name. 



The genus Lactuca, lettuce, furnishes several spe- 

 cies, three of which, Lactuca virosa, strong-scented 

 lettuce ; scariola, prickly lettuce ; and saligna, least 

 lettuce, are natives of Britain. Lactuca virosa, wild 

 or strong-scented lettuce, yields a milky juice, having 

 a disagreeable and well-marked narcotic odour. In its 

 medical properties and effects, it bears a considerable 

 resemblance to many of the SolanecB. An extract is 

 prepared from it, which is used as a substitute for 

 opium. A large quantity of this plant was cultivated 

 about a year ago in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, 

 by a celebrated druggist of that town, and the con- 

 crete juice procured from it was sold extensively in 

 the London market. 



Lactuca sativa, common lettuce, is another species 

 of the genus. This plant has been cultivated in gar- 

 dens, almost from time immemorial, and its native 

 country is not known. There are several varieties of 

 cultivated lettuce. The leaves of all have a 1'resh, 

 watery, and somewhat bitter flavour, and are used 

 much as a salad. Lettuce thrives well both in tem- 

 perate and warm regions. 



The inspissated juice of this, as well as the former 

 species, is called lactucarium, and was first introduced 

 into notice by Dr. Duncan of Edinburgh. This sub- 

 stance is called by the French physicians thridace, 

 from the Greek word for lettuce. Although lactu- 

 carium is procured from both species of lactuca, still 

 the lactuca virosa yields it in greatest quantity. The 

 juice, which exists chiefly in the vessels immediately 

 under the cuticle, ought to be collected at the time 

 when the plant is in flower, and the mode of procedure 

 is as follows : Transverse incisions are made succes- 

 sively in the stems of the plants, and the white or 

 , rnilky juice, which exudes copiously, is scraped off. It 

 j is then put into glass or porcelain vessels, and allowed 

 to concrete by exposure to the air. It thus assumes 

 a brown colour. The thridace of the French is pro- 

 cured by expressing the juice, and consequently it is 

 not so pure as the British lactucarium. 



Lactucarium varies much in purity, according to 

 the season, as well as the mode of its preparation. It. 

 often contains a great quantity of caoutchouc, which, 

 of course, interferes much with its properties. It lias 

 much of the taste and odour of opium, and exerts a 

 soothing anodyne effect upon the system. Duncan, 

 Young, Scudamore, Bidaut, and Francis, have used it 

 extensively in the cure of diseases. It may be adminis- 

 tered in most cases where the use of opium is indicated 

 in doses of five, ten, or even twenty grains. It would 

 seem not to produce the prejudicial effects which often 

 attend the use of opium. The narcotic principle of 

 lactucarium has not yet been procured in a separate 

 state. No morphia could be obtained from it. Lac- 

 tucarium has also been used as a diuretic in cases of 

 dropsy and water in the chest. 



The soporific effects of lettuce have been long 

 known. Galen is said to have used it much in the 

 decline of his life, on account of constant wakcfulncss. 

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