208 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



hibited the same oil with the desired suc- 

 cess ; for, by its balsamatic and emplastic 

 virtue, it consolidates the affected parts. 



The oil, boiled with honey, clears the face 

 and skin of spots, and all cutaneous ble- 

 mishes.* 



Linseed oil consists of parts so subtile, 

 that it cannot be kept in earthen vessels, 

 without transudation. 



The lint made from linen rags has ever 

 been in great use in surgical cases, from its 

 softness, smoothness, and flexibility ; where- 

 as that made from cotton can never be used 

 about wounds, on account of its denticulated 

 parts, which dispose to inflammation.-f 



Formerly the seed of the flax was occasion- 

 ally used with corn to make bread, but it 

 was considered hard of digestion, and hurt- 

 ful to the stomach. In a scarcity of corn 

 which happened in Zeland in the sixteenth 

 century, the inhabitants of Middleburgh 

 had recourse to linseed, which they made 

 into cakes, and which caused the death of 

 many of the citizens who ate of it ; causing 

 dreadful swellings of the body and face. 



* Hist. Plant, ascript. Boerhaave. 



t Seethe cause of this under the article Cotton, p. 169. 



