323 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



Rue was much used by the ancients, who 

 ascribed to it many virtues. Hippocrates praises 

 it as a diuretic, and attributes to it the power of 

 resisting the contagion of fevers, as well as other 

 poisons; and with this view it was used by 

 Mithridates. Boerhaave even gave it credit for 

 these virtues; but it is now almost entirely laid 

 aside as a medicine. In Shakespeare and other 

 authors, it is called herb of grace, as rosemary is 

 called herb of remembrance. 



The first account we have of the cultivation 

 of rue in Britain is given by Turner, who 

 published his herbal in 1662. It is now a very 

 common plant in gardens, where it retains its 

 verdure the whole year. It has a strong, un- 

 grateful smell, and a bitter, hot, penetrating 

 taste. The leaves are so acrid, that by much 

 handling they are said to irritate and influence 

 the skin; and the plant, in its natural or uncul- 

 tivated state, is reported to possess these sensible 

 qualities still more powerfully. Both water and 

 rectified spirit extract its virtues, but the latter 

 more perfectly than the former. 



Its properties are no doubt highly stimulating, 

 and adapted to phlegmatic habits where there 

 is nervous irregularity of the system, and espe- 

 cially of the uterine system. Dr CuUen says, 

 I have no doubt of its antispasmodic powers. 



HoREiiouND (marruhium vidgare). Natural 

 family labiatce ; didynamia, gt/mnospermia. This 

 is a perennial plant, with hairy stalks, and oblong, 

 deeply serrated leaves, which are also covered 

 with a down. The flowers are white, and pro- 

 duced in whorls at the footstalks. It is a native 

 of Britain, growing near the sides of roads and 

 among rubbish, and flowers in June. The 

 leaves have a moderately strong aromatic smell, 

 which is rendered less disagreeable by drying, 

 and keeping for some months. Their taste is 

 very bitter, penetrating, diffusive, and durable 

 in the mouth. The dry herb gives out its medi- 

 cinal qualities both to water and spirits. This 

 plant is the prasion of the ancient Greeks, by 

 whom it was held in estimation as a cure for 

 affections of the lungs and intestines. It was 

 at one time a good deal employed as a cure for 

 asthma, obstinate coughs, and affections of the 

 chest; but it now seems to have fallen into dis- 

 repute. That it possesses some tonic and stimu- 

 lating powers, cannot be disputed; but its former 

 reputation as an active and useful medicine was 

 no doubt overrated. The expressed juice of the 

 fresh plant, or the dried leaves, taken either in 

 powder or in an infusion in water or spirits, are 

 the modes of administering this herb. 



Balm (melissa officinalis) . This is another herb 

 belonging to the same family as the above. It 

 is a perennial, with stems two feet in height, 

 with oblong, deeply serrated leaves, and a white 

 flower. 



This plant is a native of the southern parts of 



Europe, especially of mountainous districts. It 

 was cultivated by Gerard previous to the year 

 1696, and is common in our gardens. - The herb, 

 in its recent state, has a weak, roughish, aromatic 

 taste, and a pleasant smell, somewhat of the 

 lemon kind, and hence it has been called lemon 

 balm. A small portion of essential oil is obtained 

 by distillation, of a yellowish colour and very 

 fragrant smell. It is uncertain under what name 

 it was known to the ancients. It was formerly 

 esteemed of use in all nervous affections; and 

 Paracelsus employed it in hj'pochondriacal 

 diseases. The praises bestowed on it by the Arabic 

 physicians probably sustained its reputation even 

 to the time of Hoffman and Boerhaave; but it 

 is now looked upon as a medicine of inferior 

 powers, and little used. Prepared as tea, how- 

 ever, it makes a grateful and slightly stimulating 

 drink in fevers. The essential oil recommended 

 by Hoffman, seems to possess no other remark- 

 able properties than that of a stimulating aro- 

 matic. 



Ginseng (panex quinquifoliwm ) . Natural 

 family aratiacem ; poli/gamia, dimcia, of Linnasus. 



Ginseng. 



The fame which tliis plant has acquired in Cliina, 

 is not by any means maintained by the estima- 

 tion in which it is held in Europe. It is a per- 

 ennial, with a round purple stalk about a foot 

 high. The leaves arise with the flower stems 

 from a thick joint at the extremity of the stalk. 

 They are generally three, but sometimes more 

 of the digitated kind, each dividing into five 

 simple leaves, which are of an irregular, oval 

 shape, with serrated edges; smooth and pointed, 

 and of a deep green colour. The flowers are 

 produced in a round terminal umbel, and are of 

 a whitish colour. They appear in June. 



This plant was formerly supposed to be con- 

 fined to Chinese Tartary, growing in mountain- 

 ous situations shaded by close woods; but it is 

 now known to be a native of North America, 

 from whence Sarrasin transmitted specimens to 

 Paris, in 1704; and the ginseng, since discovered 

 in Canada and the United States, has been found 

 to be identical with that of Tartary; so that its 

 roots are regularly purchased by the Chinese, 

 who consider them to be the same as that of 



