A G 



futed long fince: There is no 

 great B':auty in it, but it may have 

 A Place in a Collection for its 

 Oddnefs. 



AGNUS CASTUSi vUe Vitex. 



AGRIFOLIUM 5 vUe Aquifo- 

 ium. 



AGRIMONIA ; Agrimony. 

 The Characters are^ 



The Leaves are rough, hairy, 

 fmnated, and grow alternately on 

 the Branches ; The Calyx ( or 

 Tlorver-cup ) confifts of one Leaf 

 liohich is divided into five Segments ■■, 

 The Tlowers have five or fix Leaves y 

 and are fiorm'd into a long Spike, 

 yphich expayid in Form ofi a Rofe : 

 The Fruit is oblong, dry and prickly, 

 like the Burdock ; in each ofi which 

 are contained two Kernels. 



There are leveral Varieties of 

 this Plant, but t\Mo of them only 

 deferve our Giro, roiz,. 



1 . Agrimonia, Qfficinnrum .Tourn. 

 The common cr Medicinal Agri- 

 mony. 



2. AgrixMoni a, odor at a. Ca- 

 mer. The fweet fiiielling Agri- 

 jTiony. 



The firft of thefe Sorts is 

 common in the Hedges in many 

 Parts of E?igland, and is the Sort 

 commonly ufed in Medicine i but 

 fliould not be wanting in a Gar- 

 den : It will grow in alraofi: any 

 Soil or Situation i and is increasd 

 by parting the Roots- in Autumn 

 or by fowing the Seeds foon after 

 they are ripe. 



The fweet-rmeljin;^ Aarimony 

 IS by lome preierr'd to the. com- 

 mon Sort for medicinal Uies j 

 but hovv^ever it is certainly the 

 moff grateful to infafe for pc'cloral 

 Decofftions, and makes a pleaiant 

 Sort of Tea : it 13 propagated as 

 the common Sort, bat requires an 

 opener Expofart. . 



AIR; By Air is meant all that 

 fluid ' expanded Mafs of Matter 

 which liirrounds our Eatth, in 

 v/hich we live and v/alk, and 

 which we are continually re- 

 ceiving and calling out again by 

 Refpiratioh. 



ylir is a principal Caufe of the 

 Vegetation of Tlants, an Inftance 

 of which we have from Mr. Ray, 

 in the Fhilofiophical Tranfiaciions, of 

 Lettice-Sced, that was fown i^ 

 the Glafs Receiver of the Air 

 Fu?np, which was exhaufted and 

 clear'd from all Air, which grew 

 not at all in eight Days Time ; 

 whereas fome of the fame Seed 

 that was Ibwn at the fame Time 

 in the open Air, was rifen to the 

 Heighth of an Inch ^and an half 

 in ihat Timcj but the Air being 

 let into the empty Receiver, the 

 Seed grew up to the Heighth of 

 two or three Inches in the Space 

 of one Week. 



Another Inftance of the Ufe- 

 fulnefs of the Air in Vegetation, 

 is the Sedum, which wiM puih out 

 Roots without Earth and Wa«-er, 

 2ivA live for feveral Months : And 

 fome Sorts of Aloes, if hung up 

 in a PvOom intirely fecur'd from 

 Frofls, will remain freili for fome 

 Years, tho' they will fenlibiy lofe 

 in their Weight, 



. Air is capable of penetrating 

 the porous and fpongy Parts of 

 Plants, and being there contra6ted, 

 and dilating itfelf again. 



The Air operates alfo within 

 the Bowels of the Eartli, and by 

 its Subtilty perfpiring through the 

 Pores, affills in the Rarefaclion of 

 the Crudities of the Earth, and in 

 the difpeiling all fuperfiuous Moi^ 

 fhirc, entring into the very Pores 

 and Veins of the Trees, Plants, ^ 

 Herbs, ^c. carrying along v/ith 

 it thofc Salts contum'd either in 



itfein 



