HEMP- AGRIMONY. 395 



ftve lanceolate lubes ; the middle lobe longCfel, ol an asli- 

 coloiued green, slightly pubescent on tlie upper surface. The 

 flowers are very numerous, and thickly crowded in terniina! 

 corymbs. The involucre is composed of oblong, obtuse, imbri- 

 cated scales, coloured at the summit ; for the most part form- 

 ing calyces, which enclose about five salient florets. The co- 

 rollas are uniform, tubular, perfect, with a regular five-lobed 

 limb, of a pale reddish-purple colour. The filaments are ca- 

 pillary, very short, with the anthers united into a tube. The 

 germen is oblong, small, with a filiform style, longer than the 

 corolla, and deej)ly cleft ; stigmas downy, spreading. The 

 fruit is oblong, angular, crowned by the sessile, pilose pappus. 

 The receptacle is small and naked. Plate 25, fig. 1, (a) group 

 of five flowers detached from the corymb, (6) floret, isolated, 

 (c) fruit. 



This plant flourishes on the banks of rivers and in watery 

 places, flowering in July and August. 



'I'he name Eupatorium, according to Pliny *, was given in 

 honour of Eupator Mithridates, King of Pontus, who first dis- 

 covered its medicinal properties. It is uncertain whether this 

 plant was known to the ancients ; it appears not to be the Eu- 

 patoriimi of the Greeks nor of Avicenna. 



Qualities and general Uses. — The leaves of this ])lant, 

 with the addition of logwood boiled in a solution of green 

 vitriol, yield a good black colour. Dambourney obtained a 

 yellow dye by making a decoction of the whole plant. It is 

 not eaten by any animal except the goat. 



Hemp-x\grimony has a strong odour, somewhat resembling 

 that oi" umbelliferous plants, such as wild parsnep. Every part 

 of the plant, and especially the root, has a bitter, pungent, and 

 aromatic taste ; but the leaves liave most bitterness. It con- 

 tains a small quantity of resin, united with an abundant, acrid, 

 bitter mucilage, soluble in boiling water, while the resinous 

 part is soluble in alcohol. In distillation with water, it yields 

 a volatile oil. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — Gesner -j- found by experi- 

 ment that the root of this plant infused in wine produced vo- 

 miting and copious evacuations both by stool and urine, 



* Hist. lili. xxv. c. fi. 



f Epist. lol. Ixiii, et ixxi. 



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