The BRITISH HERBAL 
The ftalks are very numerous : they are round, 
thick, brown, and tolerably upright, except in 
the lower part, where they ufually lean a little 
upon the ground, and they ate fix inches high. 
The leaves on thefe are more numerous than on 
almoft any of the other kinds, and they perfectly 
refemble thofe from the root: they are fupported 
on long, flender footftalks, and are three pointed 
as the others. ; 
The flowers are fmall and white : they ftand in 
little tufts at the tops of the ftalks. 
The feed-veflls are very fhort, and the feeds 
are numerous and frall. 
It is found on the coaft of Lancathire. 
Ray calls it Cochlearia marina folio angulofo 
parvo. 
The earlier botanifts feem to have defcribed it, 
though they have referred it to a wrong genus. 
Lobel calls it Thla/pi hederaceum, and our Gerard 
and Parkinfon from him Téla/pi hederaceo folio. 
‘ 
All thefe fpecies have the fame virtues, and 
they are very confiderable. The firft and fecond 
kind here deferibed are moft ufed; and of thefe, 
the preference given by cuftom to the lirft, is due 
in reality to the fecond. 
ft is fo eminent in the cure of the feurvy, that 
207 
itis thence named if our language. The juice ig 
taken in {pring ; and no way is better. Some 
give the infufion, which has alfo a great deal of 
virtue ; but the method of brewing it in ale is alfo 
ufeful. 
A conferve of the freth top is, another very 
good method of taking it, P 
The feurvy, under various forms and appears 
ances, is fo commonin thiskingdoh, and the vir- 
tues of this plant are fo fovereign againtt ic, that itg 
ufe, cannot be too much recommended. In fpring; 
when the herb is in feafon, the juice fhould be 
ufed 5 after this the conferve, fo long as it rea 
tains its virtue; and, when it is not to be had 
in other forms, a weak beer brewed with it will 
be very ferviceable.. It isa method by no means 
to be ufed inftead of the others, but may have its 
effect when they cannot be had. To have any con- 
fiderable efficacy, the malt liquor mutt be in icfelf 
finall : it muft be very ftrong of the herb, and i€ 
muft be ufed for the common drink, 
The freth leaves of feurvygra/:, bruifed, and 
laid to the face for a few hours, are recommended 
to take off fpots and funburn ; and, when the fkin 
can bear them, they will take this effet : but thofé 
who have delicate complexions take moft care of 
them 5 and-fuch cannot bear it, 
DIVISION If EF VOER. BE. TG.N:* SP ReGen: 
Purple-flowered Scurvygrafs, 
Cochlearia floribus purpurafcentibus. 
The root is long, flender, and furnithed with 
many fibres. 
The firft leaves are very numerous, and are 
fupported on fhort, redifh, tender footftalks : they 
are of a roundith figure, but fomewhat oblong, 
and finuated at the edges, 
The ftalk is round, upright, frm, and ten 
inches high. 
The leaves ftand irregularly on it, and are of 
an oval figure, broad at the bafe, where they ad- 
here to the ftalk, and fmaller to the end, where 
they terminate obtufely ; and they are varioufly 
and irregularly indented at the edges, 
Gest 
Some of the leaft leaves toward the top of the 
flalk have only two notches. This gives them 
fome refemblance to the ivy-leaved kind jut des 
feribed ; but they are longer, and the whole plant 
is altogether different. 
The flowers ftand in little clufters at the tops 
~ of the ftalks and branches : they are fmall, but 
they are of a very beautiful pale purple. 
The feed-veffels are large and oval: the feeds 
are very numerous and brown. 
It is a native of Denmark, and flowers in 
April. 
Morifon calls it Cocblearia minima Armorica pore 
dilute violaceo. 
Its virtues are the fame as thofe of the others, 
NY ee oS XI. 
€“R SB 45° 8) 
NASTURTIUM. ‘ aa 
HE flower is compofed of four petals, which expand crofs-ways: they ate fmall and oblong, 
largeft at the top, where they terminate obtufely, and terminated by very narrow bottoms in 
the cup. The cup is formied of four, little leaves, which are of an oval figure, and hollowed, and it 
falls with the fowet : the feed-veffel is rounded, but flightly finuated at the top, fomewhat compref 
fed, and fharp at the edges : it is divided into two cells, and in each is a fingle feed. 
Linnztus places this among the tetradynitmia filicilofa , the flower having four longer and two fhorter 
threads, and the feed-veflel being a regular filicule : but he has introduced great confufion into thé 
{cience by his conduct and difpofition of it. 
He takes away the name cré/s, za/turtium, and calls all the plants belonging to it {pecies of lepidium. 
This has been rafhly done; and he feems fince to have perceived it; for, at the end of the generical 
character, he adds, that the feed-veflel of /epidinm, commonly fo called, is not fharp at the edges, or 
finuated at the top; therefore lepidiumt is not properly a fpecies of this genus, though he has ufed its 
name for the generical term: 
We 
