CAPERS. 115 



dens, it may be remarked, that it is not a 

 capsule or seed, which is pickled ; but the 

 bud of the flower just before it is ready to 

 blossom, when the branches are stripped of 

 their buds and leaves, and afterwards sepa- 

 rated by passing through a sieve, when they 

 are dried in the shade, and then pickled 

 either in salt or vinegar, and brought to us 

 in barrels, principally from Italy and Toulon. 

 The small Majorca capers that are brought 

 in a salt pickle are esteemed by many per- 

 sons. Capers are considered an aperient 

 that excites appetite, and assists digestion ; 

 and they sometimes enter into compositions 

 for diseases of the spleen and liver. 



Benivenius, De Abditis Morborum Causis, 

 chap. 105, informs us, that he cured a patient, 

 labouring under disorders of the spleen, only 

 by the use of capers, ordering him to drink 

 forge-water for a year ; after he had been 

 harassed with this distemper for seven years, 

 consulted many physicians, and tried many 

 remedies to no purpose. " Externally," says 

 Ettmuller, " the pickle of capers is applied 

 to the side, under the left hypochondrium, 

 with linen cloths, or a sponge, for discussing 

 swellings of the spleen. If to this mustard- 

 seed is added, that the vinegar may be im- 



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