588 



CLX. VERBASCE^]. 



hence a very energetic but sometimes dangerous purge. [It is the reputed basis of the euii intdiciiiale, a 

 famous gout medicine]. Of all the medicinal Scrophularinete the most useful is the Foxglove ; its very 

 bitter and rather acrid leaves are poisonous iu large quantities, but in small doses are diuretic, lower the 

 pulse and subdue palpitations ; its active principle, digititline, is poisonous even in minute doses, so that 

 many practitioners prefer administering the plant itself. [Scoparia dulcis, a common tropical weed, is a 

 famed febrifuge in America. Some are intense bitters, as the Indian Herpestes amara, and the Himalayan 

 Teeta (Picrorhixa Teetd), a renowned Indian ague medicine. Bninxfelsia (Franciscea) uniflora is the Mer- 

 curio Vegetal or Manaca of the Brazils, with a bitter nauseous bark that acts like mercury on the lym- 

 phatics, and is an active poison in overdoses.] 



CLX. VERBASCEJE. 1 



(SOLANEARUM genus, Jussieu. SCROPHULAEINEAEUM sectio, Endlicher. 

 VEEBASCE^E, Bartling.) 



Mullein. 

 Flower cut vertically (mag.). 



Mullein. 



Horizontal section 

 of ovary (mag.). 



Mullein. 

 Corolla laid open, showing pen- 



tandrous andrcecium with unequal Mullein, 



and dissimilar filaments (mag,)* Pistil (mag.). 



Mullein. ( Verbascum 

 Thapsus.) 



Mullt-in. 

 Seed, entire (mag.). 



Mullein. 

 Seed, cut vertically (mag.). 



Mullein. 



Capsule with septi- 



cidal dehiflceuce 



(mag.). 



COEOLLA monopetalous, hypogynous, isostemonous, sub-irregular, aestivation imbri- 

 cate. STAMENS inserted on the corolla-tube; filaments unequal; ANTHEES sub-l-celled. 



OVA-EY with 2 many-ovuled antero-posterior cells j PLACENTAE on the septum. OVULES 







1 See Tribe II. of Scropkitlarinem, p. 586. ED. 



