I 



crrLPBPSB'i noxPLiTX hibbal. 208 



i«h on the top, and the taste is earthy and flat, but has no 

 ■mell. It sticks close to the bodj of the tree, and has lit- 

 tle or no pedicle. 



Place, — It fjTOws at the bottom of old elder-trees. 



Time. — Mild damp weather is the most favourable. 



OovemTMnt and Virtues. — This is under Saturn, in the 

 sign Virga It is astringent and drying, but is seldom ta- 

 ken inwardly, as it is dangerous. However, they are good 

 for sore throats, quinsy, and swelling or inflammation of 

 the tonsils. 



JOHN'S WORT {^T.)— (Hypericum Perfcyratum,) 



Bescrip. — Common St John's Wort shoots forth brown- 

 ish, upright, hard, round stalks, two feet high, spreading 

 many branches from the sides up to th€ tops of them, with 

 two small leaves set one against another at every place, 

 which are of a deep greeu colour, somewhat like the leaves 

 of the lesser centaury, but narrow, and full of small holes 

 in every leaf, which cannot be so well perceived, as when 

 they are held up to the light ; at the tops of the stalks 

 and branches stand yellow flowers of five leaves each, with 

 many yellow heads in the middle, which being bruised do 

 yield a reddish juice like blood; after which do come small 

 round heads, which contain small blackish seed, smelling 

 like rosin. The root is hard and woody, with divers strings 

 and fibres, of a brownish colour, which abides in the ground 

 many years, shooting anew every spring. 



P^ace. — This grows in shady woods and copses. 



Time. — It flowers about Midsummer, and its seed if 

 ripe in the latter end of July or August. 



Oovemment and Virtues. — It is under the celestial sign 

 Leo, and the dominion of the Sun. St. John's Wort is 

 ape rati ve, detersive and diuretic, helpful against tertian 

 and quartan agues, is alexipharmic, and destroys worms ; 

 it is an excellent vulnerary plant. A tincture of the flow- 

 ers in spirit of wine, is commended against melancholy and 

 madness. Outwanlly, it is of great service in bruises, con- 

 tusions, and wounds, especially in the nervous parts, if it 

 be boiled in wine: made into an ointment, it opens obstruo- 

 tions, dissolves swellings, and closes up the lips of wounds. 

 The decoction of the herb and flowers, especially the seed, 

 being drunk in wine, with the juice of knot-gass, help all 

 Banner of vomiting and spitting of blood, it is gooa also 

 for those who cannot make water, and are bitten or stung 



