B R Y 



Stem flinibby, 

 fcr- 



irt,, concave; peduncles one-floivered. ' Si<-m Ji^rM 

 grooved. clitnb=..^' by trif.d tc-ndrlls. /,«;.'.-/ cord.te 

 rat.-renai.d, fmootl. on both Tides. Sl,/'u!,s fonnlc. /-W/ 

 andro^'vnons, wtute, axilbry, lolitary i^.^rry ovate, (harp- 

 ill,, fmoolh. yello.v, an inch and half lo„g, fuvj-celled, 

 n>anv-leeded. Native of Cochinchina. 24. B. C..-/-.-.-/--^- 

 n.«A'. M^rtyn. L<n.r. Cochin. ,^<>S- " i-''^«, .f^''-^"''- 

 nered, rouRh ; berries three-celled, ten-cornered. 6/m 

 l.crbaceoiu; four-;n-ooved, branchinfc, fcandent, cu'rhole. 

 /.fjw cordate, toothed, alternate, petioled. //j rye/van- 

 drotn-noir. white, large, axilUry, fulitary, on lonR pedun- 

 cles. 6Vv.v one-l.afed ; the tube at bottom cyhndncal, :it 

 top ovate," dilated; border five-ckft with linear fe(rmaus. 

 Corolla almr-ll wheel-lhaped, fixed to the mouth of the ca yx ; 

 fegments ovate-oblon^. FihimenU placed on the middle ot 

 the tube of the calvx. yiniha- o;ie, large, oblonR-ovate, 

 placed on the tlute filaments ::. form of a tnpod. Gi-rmm. 

 ferior, ovate-oblong, grooved. Sly!^ filitorni, (liorter than 

 the tube. Sti-.mi oblong, three-cornered, tnfid at the lip. 

 Berry ovate, fliarpilh at both «nd-;, red, fmooth. Seeds 

 ovate-oblong, comprefl'cd, fmooth. Profefior Martyn ob- 

 fervcs, that it differs from the other bryonies, but mud re- 

 main here, unlefs it be made to conlUtute a new genus. 



Propagation and Culture. The exotic fpecies require the 

 proteaion of the bark or dry ftove, according to the tempe- 

 rature of their native climate. They are propagated by feeds 

 fown on a hot-bed, and tranfplanted into pots filled with 

 light frea. earth. Several of them will endure the open air 

 in fummer, but in winter mull be flickered, and fhould then 

 have little water. Thev generally flower in July, and ir, fa- 

 vourable fummers will ripen their feeds. Thofe which are 

 annual mull be fown on a hot-bed early in the fpnng, and, 

 when about three inches higli, tranfplanted into fniall pots ; 

 afterwards Hiifttd into larger pots, and placed in the bark- 

 ftove, where their branches may be trained to the wall, or 

 againft an efpalier, that they may have fun and air, without 

 which tliey will not produce fruit. When full of fruit, they 

 make a pretty variety in the ftove. Miller. 



Medical and Ecmomical Ufes. The frelb root of the com- 

 mon bryony, taken up in the beginning of fpring, abounds 

 with a thin milky juice, which may be coUeftcd, for two or 

 three days fuccefiivelv, by baring the root of its earth, cut- 

 ting the top trail fverfely, and forming a cavity in the niiddle 

 to receive it. Both the root in fubdance, and the juice, 

 have a difagreeable fmell and a naufeous, bitter, biting tafte : 

 applied for fome timv to the fl<in, they inflame, and even 

 veficate the part. On drying the one, or infpiiTating the 

 other, they lofe mod of their acrimony, and nearly the whole 

 of their ill fcent. In fummer, the root is much lefs juicy 

 and powerful. This ftrong and irritatin;r cathartic, though 

 row feldom. prefcribed, is faid to be of great efficacy in eva- 

 cuating ferous humours ; and has chiefly been employed in 

 hydropical diforders ; but is reported to have good efferts 

 alfo in adhma, mani?., and epilepfy. lu fm.dl dofes it ope- 

 rates as a diuretic, and is refolvent and dt(;bftrucnt ; given 

 in powder, from a fcruple to a dram, it proves drongly pur- 

 gative ; the juice, in dofes of a fpoonful or more, bars luuilar 

 effefts ; but is more gentle in its operation. An extract, 

 prepared by water, afts more mildly and with greater fafety, 

 and may be given from half a dr;'.m to a dram. Exttnially 

 , the freili root has been employed in cataplafms as a refolvent 

 ' and dilcutient, alfo in ifchiadic and other rheumatic aifcc- 

 ' tions. VVoodville, Med. Bot. vol.iii. p. 518. A decodioil 

 made with one pound of the frefli root is the bell purge for 

 horned cattle. Withering. Bofc obferves (Nouv. DIcl.) 

 that it has much affinity with the root of jatroplia manihot, 

 and that a wfholefome capava naay be made of it Ly the fame 



B R Y 



procefs as is employed in the W'.fl Indies on the manihnt. 

 Deaumc was the fir'd who difcovered, that, wh^n grated in 

 water, it yields a fecula exaftly the fame with that of the 

 potatoe. During the fcarcity at the time of the French 

 revolution, Bofc hin.felf often cat of it, and found it very 

 nourilhing. He could never e:;tirely deprive it, by macera- 

 tion, of its peculiar fnieU and talle ; but the uiipleafar.tnefs 

 was overcome by a pretty high feaibning. The root mull 

 be gathered for this piirpofc in autumn and winter ; and a 

 fingle one will often be a fiillicieiit brcakfalt for one perfon. 

 The root of B. Ahyffmica boiled is faid to be eaten in its 

 native country. 



BRYONIA (Plumier). See MFLoTHRiA/>cnr/«/a, and 

 Rajania hajiala. 



Bryonia alha. (Sloane Jam.) See Cissv sJIeyoiJcs, asi- 

 il.i, el Irifoliata. 



Bryonia ji'igru (Sloane Jam.) See Tournefortia w- 

 /;;/;■•/. 



Bryonia (Dal. Pharm.) See Convolvulus Jalapa. 



Bryonia (C. Bauh.) See Tamus. 



Bryonia, in C'jtchology, a fptcies of Strombus, about 

 feven inches in length, fufcous, variegated with wliite and 

 blue in clouds. This fliell i.s fpecilically defcribed as being 

 of a conic form, with a mucronate, eight-dentatcd lip, and 

 knotty fpire. Defcribed by Lider. 



This fhell is extremely rare. Gmelin is in doubt whether it 

 belongs to the Strombus genus. Native place unknown. 



BRYONIiE SiMiLis (Pluk.) in Botany. See Dios- 

 COREA •viHoJa. 



BRYONIOIDES (Dill. Elth.) See Sieves angiilala. 

 Bryonioides (Pluk.) Sec Cissvs acida, 

 BRYUM, (from 0/vii, germ.ino, puUulo) firft ufed as 

 a generic name by DiUenius in his catalogue of plants in 

 the neighbourhood of Gieffen, printed at Frankfort on 

 the Mayne in 17 17, introduced by him into his edition 

 of Ray's Synoplis 1724, and finally illudrated with full 

 defcriptions and figures of all the then known fpecies 

 in his admirable Hilkoiy of Mofl^es, publifhed at Oxford 

 1 741. It was given to a family of modes diilinguidied by 

 the following charaftcrs. Stems generally ereft, and little 

 if at all branched. Peduncles either terminal, or fpringing 

 diieftly from the ftemlefs root ; and when apparently 

 lateral proceeding from the termination of the lad year's 

 dem, not furrounded at its bafc, like hypnum, with a peri- 

 chfetium or fcaly involucrum, but having inllead of it an ob- 

 long knob or tubercle. Capfules when young covered with 

 a fmooth calyptra. It was taken up by Linnsus in his 

 Flora Lapponica and Genera Plantarum, both publidied in 

 1737, and continued in all his fubfequent works, with no 

 material change of the original generic charafler. Dillcnius 

 enumerates eighty-one fpecies in his Hidoria Mufcorum, 

 fixty-one of which appear as Engllfh plants in the third 

 edition of Ray's Synoplis ; but in the Species Planlanim the 

 number is reduced to thirty-two, many of Dllleiiius's fpecies 

 being confidered only as varieties, and thofe wliich appear 

 to be dioicous being removed by Linnaeus to Mnium. 

 The twelfth edition of the Sydema Naturos has only thirty- 

 one, the B. capillare of the Species Plantarum being alfo 

 removed to Triiiiura. The number has fiuce been greatly 

 increafed, fo that Dr. Withering in the third edition of 

 his Botanical Arrangement reckons ninety-two Britifli 

 fpecies. 



Hedwig, in his new fyftem of moffes which is generally 

 received in Germany, and is beginning to make its way 

 in England through the powerful influence of Dr. Smith 

 and Mr. Dawfon Turner, has contrafted the genus didin- 

 guiP.ied by this name within much narrower limits, taking 



•- . out 



