250 CULPEPFTl'S COMPLKTE HERBAU 



NETTLE {COMMOJif.)--{UrticaI>ioica,) 



Dtscrip. — ^The root is creeping, the stalk is ridged, and 

 ^rows a yard or more high, beset with little prickles or 

 stings, with a perforation at the point, and a bag at the 

 base ; when the sting is pressed, it reai^ilj enters the skin, 

 and the same pressure forces an acrid liquor from the bag 

 into the wound, which produces a burning tingling sensa- 

 tion. The leaves are large, broad, oblong, shiu-p -pointed, 

 serrated, and covered with the same prickles. The flowen 

 are greenish and inconsiderable. 



Plac4. — It is common by way-sides, and in hedges. 



Tims, — It flowers in July. 



Oovemment and Vvrtvsa. — This is an herb of Mara. It 

 consumes the phlegmatic superfluities in the body of man, 

 that the coldness and moisture of winter ha* left behind. 

 The roots or leaves boiled, or the juice of either of them, 

 or both, made into an electuary with honey and sugar, is a 

 8:ife and sure medicine to open the passages of the lungs, 

 which is the cause of wheezing ana shoitness of breath, 

 and helps to expectorate phlegm, also to raise the impos- 

 thumed pleurisy ; it likewise helps the swelling of both the 

 mouth and throat if they be gargled with it. The juice is 

 effectual to settle the palate of the mouth to its place, and 

 heal the inflammations and soreness of the mouth and 

 throat. If the decoction of the leaves be drunk in wine, it 

 will provoke the courses, settle the suffocation and strang- 

 ling of the mother, and all other diseases thereof ; as also, 

 applied outwardly, with a little mvrrh. The same, or the 

 seed, provokes urine, and expels tne gravel and stone. It 

 kills the worms in children, eases pains in the sides, and 

 dissolves the windiness in the spleen, as also the body. The 

 juice of the leaves taken two or three days together, stays 

 bleeding at the mouth. The seed being drunk, is a reme- 

 dy against the bites of mad dogs, the poisonous qualities of 

 hemlock, henbane, nightshade, mandrake, or such herbs as 

 ■tupify the senses ; as also the lethargy, especially if used 

 outwardly, to rub the forehead or temples in that disease. 

 The distilled water is effectual, though not so powerful, 

 for the diseases aforementioned ; as for outward wounds or 

 ■ores to wash them, and to cleanse the skin from morphew, 

 and other discolourings thereof. The seed or leaves bruis- 

 •d, and put into the nostrils, stays the bleeding of them, 

 and takes away the polypus. The iuice of the leaven, or 



