SWEET-FLAa 



529 



their own growth, though theirs undergoes a 

 process whereby its appearance is rendered some- 

 vvliat different. In China the roots are said to 

 be washed or soaked in a decoction of rice, or 

 millet seed, and afterwards exposed to the steam 

 of this liquor, by which they acquire a greater 

 firmness and clearness than in their natural state. 

 The plant was first introduced into England in 

 1740, by that industrious botanist Peter Collin- 

 son. The dried root of ginseng, as imported 

 here, is scarcely the thickness of the little finger; 

 about three or four inches long, frequently 

 forked, transversely wrinkled, of a homy tex- 

 ture, and both externally and internally of a 

 yellowish white colour. To the taste it discovers 

 a mucilaginous sweetness, approaching to that of 

 liquorice, accompanied with some degree of 

 bitterness, and a slight aromatic warmth, with 

 little or no smell. It is far sweeter and pleasanter 

 than the roots of fennel, to which it has been by 

 some supposed similar, and differs likewise 

 remarkably from those roots in its nature and 

 properties; the sweet matter of the ginsengbeing 

 preserved entire in the watery as well as in the 

 spirituous extract, whereas that of fennel roots 

 is destroyed or dissipated in the evaporation of 

 the watery tincture. The slight aromatic flavour 

 of the ginseng is likewise in a good measure 

 retained in the watery extract, and perfectly in 

 the spirituous. 



The Chinese ascribe extraordinary virtues to 

 the ginseng root, and have long considered it as 

 a sovereign remedy in almost all diseases to 

 which they are liable, having no confidence in 

 any medicine unless in combination with it. It 

 is observed by Jartoux, that the most eminent 

 physicians in China have written volumes on 

 the medicinal powers of this plant, asserting, 

 that it gives immediate relief in extreme fatigue, 

 either of body or of mind, that it dissolves 

 superfluous and noxious humours, and eases 

 respiration, strengthens the stomacli, improves 

 the appetite and digestion, allays vomitings, and 

 almost any other iU that flesh is heir to. These 

 and many other effects of this root equally 

 extravagant, are related gravely by various 

 authors; and Jartoux was so much biassed by 

 this eastern prejudice in its favour, that he seems 

 to have given them full credit, and confirms them 

 in some measure by his own experience. 



Osbeck says that he never looked into the 

 apothecaries' shops in China but they were always 

 selling ginseng; that both poor people and those 

 of the highest rank made use of it; and that 

 they boil half an ounce in their tea or soup 

 every morning, as a remedy for consumption 

 and other diseases. In Europe, however, exper- 

 ience has by no means borne out those assertions. 

 It is seldom or never now employed, nor do its 

 sensible qualities seem to produce any active 

 effects. 



The hardy species of this plant gi-ows well in 

 rich light soil, the others in loam and peat; they 

 are propagated by cuttings in sand, under a hand 

 glass. 



Sweet-Flao (acorus calamus). Natural 

 family aroidece; hexandria, monogj/nia, of Lin- 

 nseus. This is one of the most pleasing and 

 powerful of the aromatic hitters. It is a peren- 

 nial. The root, which is the medicinal part, is 

 about an inch in thickness, somewhat compressed, 

 of a yellowish colour outside, and white and 

 porous within. The leaves are long, sword- 

 shaped, sheathing one another, and commonly 

 undulated on one side. The flowers are small, 

 numerous, and produced on a spadix, or conical 

 spike at the edge of the leaf; they are of a 

 greenish yellow. The capsule is oblong, three- 

 celled, and contains numerous oval seeds. Ac- 

 cording to Linnaeus, this is the only tme aro- 

 matic plant indigenous to northern climates. 

 It is common in many parts of England, and 

 usually grows in stagnant waters, and by the sides 

 of rivers, producing its flowers in May or June. 

 The roots have been long medicinally employed, 

 and were formerly imported here from Asia and 

 the Levant; but those of English growth are 

 now very generally substituted, and found to be 

 little or nothing inferior to the exotic sort, which 

 is merely a variety of the same species. The 

 root, in its dried state, has a moderately strong 

 aromatic smell, and a warm, pungent, bitter, 

 taste, Water completely extracts this bitter 

 principle, and rectified spirit that of the aro- 

 matic. Distillation with water affords a small 

 proportion of aromatic oil. 



Both the Greek and Arabian physicians em- 

 ployed this root as a medicine. It is pungent, 

 warm, and bitter, though not so heating as the 

 spices, and is used greatly in conjunction with 

 the other simple bitters, to render them more 

 grateful to the stomach. It has been adminis- 

 tered in intermittent fevers, and with success 

 even after the failure of Peruvian bark. Accor- 

 ding to Professor Thomson, it is too little used 

 in modem practice. 



White Canella (canella alba). Natural 

 family oleracece ; dodecandria, monogj/nia, of 

 Linnseus. This is a tree from ten to fifty feet 

 in height, with a straight stem, branched only 

 at the top. It is covered with a whitish baric, 

 by which it is easily distinguished at a distance 

 from other trees, in the woods where it grows; 

 the leaves are placed upon short footstalks, and 

 stand alternately. They are oblong, obtuse, 

 entire, of a dark shining green hue, and thick 

 like those of the laurel. The flowers are small, 

 seldom opening, of a violet colour, and grow in 

 clusters at the tops of the branches upon divided 

 footstalks. The fruit is an oblong berry, con- 

 taining four kidney-shaped seeds, of unequal 

 size. 



3 X 



