ALKALINE PLANTS. 281? 



Soap-wort, or Saponarict qfficinalis, is. another 

 plant of the same description, the roots of which con-v 

 tain a saponaceous juice. This grows in Switzer- 

 land and the north of Europe. It has a perennial 

 root scarcely thicker than a quill ; the stem is her- 

 baceous and cylindrical, throwing out many branches, 

 and attaining to about three feet in height. The 

 leaves are lance-shaped, and attached to the stalk in 

 pairs opposite to each other. From the axillae of 

 the upper leaves lilac flowers come forth, several 

 grouped together but growing on separate foot- 

 stalks ; these bloom in autumn, and are succeeded 

 by oblong capsules, enveloped in their calyx and 

 containing numerous round, reddish brown seeds. 



In the Helvetian Alps the sheep are washed with 

 a decoction of the plant and root, previously to their 

 being shorn. With a mixture of ashes this decoction 

 serves for cleansing linen. The plant, even without 

 being boiled, imparts to water its peculiar property ; 

 on being steeped for several days the infusion be- 

 comes viscid and soft to the touch, and by agitation 

 froths almost like soap-suds *. 



Marcandier recommends the employment of horse- 

 chesnuts in conjunction with soap as a detergent, 

 whereby a great saving in soap is obtained, as only a 

 comparatively small quantity is required. For this 

 purpose about twenty horse-chesnuts are rasped in 

 five or six gallons of hot water, and with the addition 

 of a very little soap this mixture is advantageously 

 used in cleansing and bleaching hempen cloth and 

 stuffs. 



It is said that the juice of the leaves of the agave 

 has a remarkably saponaceous quality, and which 

 is well known and applied in the West Indies. 

 The juice is expressed by passing the leaves 

 through rollers ; it is then exposed to the rays of a 

 * Dictionnaire d' Agriculture. 



