116 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



pregnated with its volatile salt, it is an excel- 

 lent remedy in disorders of the spleen." 



The austere bitterish taste of capers suf- 

 ficiently convinces us of their astringent and 

 corroborating virtues ; and if we consider 

 the qualities they derive from the vinegar 

 and salt, we may easily conceive, that they 

 are of a resolvent and inciding nature : for 

 this reason, they are recommended as pickles 

 with food, in order to strengthen a languid 

 appetite ; and are principally beneficial to 

 those whose stomachs abound with gross 

 pituitous humours, or who have weak sto- 

 machs, and want a due appetite. They are 

 also good for obstructions of the viscera, espe- 

 cially those of the spleen; for the palsy, and 

 convulsions arising from a superfluity of 

 peccant humours. They are also highly re- 

 commended in long and chronical fevers. * 



Laurentius Joubert recommends them in 

 the plague, seasoned with salt, gently boiled 

 in water, and eaten with vinegar ; " for," says 

 he, " they excite an appetite, and open ob- 

 structions, if there are any in the body." For 

 this reason they ought not only to be allowed 

 in pestilential cases, but also recommended 

 because they resist putrefaction. 



* Prosp. Alpin. Hist. Nat. 



