126 ^VII.D FLOWERS. 



nettle, and in Sweden, it is planted in rows foi 

 forage. The roots furnish a beautiful yellow 

 colour to the dyers of Russia, and are very 

 extensively employed by them for this purpose. 

 It is a singular fact, that steel dipped in the 

 juice of the nettle becomes flexible. 



But there are still further uses to which this 

 neglected and despised plant may be applied. 

 Dr. Thornton, who has made the medicinal 

 properties of our wild plants his peculiar 

 study, states, that lint dipped in nettle juice, 

 and put up the nostril, has been known to stay 

 the bleeding of the nose, when all other reme- 

 dies have failed ; and adds, that fourteen or 

 fifteen of the seeds, ground into powdei', and 

 taken daily, will cure the swelling in the neck, 

 known by the name of goitre, without in any 

 way injuring the general health. 



The English word, nettle, is supposed to 

 have been derived from the Anglo-Saxon word, 

 noedl, or noedle. The pain caused by the 

 sting of this plant arises from the poisonous 

 juice, which lies in a small bag, at the base ot 

 each sting, or hair ; the fine hair penetrates the 

 skin, and the juice flows through an aperture 

 at the point, into the wound which it has made, 

 and thus gives a degree of pain, which would 

 not be caused by the mere puncture. 



The wild nettles are found everywhere, on 

 the neglected garden, or field, on the crumbling 

 wall, or towerhig clifP, or in tlie dim and gloomy 

 forest. Lilce the evil passions of man, they need 

 no cherishing; we have only to leave them 



