VACCINIUM. 



is remembered, that in Great Britain and Ireland alone, the 

 yearly mortality arifing from the Imall-pox ufed to be efti- 

 raated at about 45,000 perfons. In the Ruffian empire, 

 and other cold countries, the ravages of the fmall-pox were 

 far more dreadful, and this contagion fometimes broke out 

 in fuch regions with a degree of fury far exceeding any 

 thing ever heard of the plague itfelf. See Inoculation. 



VACCINIA, the new fcientific name of the cow-pox, 

 and which is now adopted by all the latell and bcft medical 

 writers. See Cow-pox, and Vaccination. 



VACCINIUM, in Botany, an ancient Latin name, whe- 

 ther of a flower or a berry has always been a point in difpute 

 among critics, as well as the etymology of the word. Some 

 conceive it to have been derived from the Greek uaxivSo,-, and 

 therefore to be either precifely lynonimous with the Latin 

 Hyacinthus, or at lealt to belong to fomething agreeing with 

 that plant in colour. The hne of Virgil, 



•' Alba liguflra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguniur," 



has afforded fcope for the commentators, being equally ob- 

 fcure, whether we fuppofe ligujlra to mean the flowers of the 

 privet, and vaccinia its black berries, (which, by the bye, 

 are not gathered by any body, ) or whether, as is the moll 

 general opinion, the latter word may exprefs our Bilberry, 

 or any other black or dark berry in general ufe. We 

 have already obferved, in its proper place, that our Privet is 

 not the original Ligustrum ; fee that article. Linnieus 

 however declares, very reafonably, that no future contentions 

 or difcoveries of the learned fliall unfettle his name of Vacci- 

 tiium, as apphed to the Bilberry or Whortleberry tribe, for 

 which this generic appellation is now univerfally adopted. — 

 Linn. Gen. 191. Schreb. 258. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 2. 348. 

 Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 4. Sm. Fl. Brit. 414. Prodr. Fl. 

 Grajc. Sibth. v. 1. 255. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 355. 

 Purfti 284. Jufl". 162. Lamarck lUuftr. t. 286. Gaertn. 

 t. 28. (Vitisidsea; Tourn. t. 377. Oxycoccus ; Tourn. 

 t. 43 I . Purfh 263. ) — Clafs and order, O&andria Monogynia. 

 (Decandria Monogynia, Purjh. ) Nat. Ord. Bicornes, Linn. 

 Ericd, JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Gal. Perianth fupcrior, of one leaf, fmall, per- 

 manent. Cor. of one petal, bell-toped, more or lefs deeply 

 four-cleft ; the fegmenta revolute. Stam. Filaments eight, 

 fimple, inferted into the receptacle ; anthers two-horned, 

 burlUng at the fummits, and fometimes furnilhed at the 

 back with two fpreading fpurs, or brilUes. Pijl. Germen 

 roundifli, inferior ; ftyle fimple, longer than the ftamens ; 

 ftigma obtufe. Pcric. Berry globofe, deprefled at the top, 

 of four cells. Seeds few, fmall. 



Eff. Ch. Corolla of one petal. Stamens inferted into the 

 receptacle. Anthers with two terminal pores. Berry in- 

 ferior, of four cells, with feveral feeds. 



Obf. Linnjeus remarks, that " one fifth is often added to 

 every part of the frudification ;" hence Mr. Purlli has 

 removed Vaccinium to the clafs Decandria. The Swedilh 

 naturahft alfo mentions, that " the calyx, fcur-cleft m many 

 of the fpecies, is entire in V. MyrtiUus ; and that almoll the 

 whole of the frefh corolla of V. Oxycoccus is rolled back to 

 its bafe." The latter charafter caufed Tournefort, who 

 relied fo much on the foro//a, to feparate Oxycoccus as a genus, 

 in which Purfh, with one or two other botamfts, have fol- 

 lowed him. But Tournefort erroneoufiy fuppofed this 

 flower to have four diftinft petals, a mifl;ake corrected by 

 LinnEUS ; fee Fl. Lapp. n. 145 y, where fufficient reafons 

 appear for confidering the plant as a Vaccimum. The cha- 

 rafter of the tubular deeply divided anthers in Oxycoccus, 

 fuperadded by Mr. Purfli, tends only to deceive, bemg found 

 in feveral indubitable fpecies of Faccinium. 



The genus before us, moftly confined to Eurepe and 

 North Amenca, is peculiarly abundant in the latter country. 

 It IS very remarkable that, as no Erica occurs in America, 

 fo no Vaccinium has been found at the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Thefe genera, fimilar in many of ihstw fowers, differ no lefs 

 widely in the fituation of their germens, and texture of their 

 fruits, than in the infertion and habit oi \.\\en foliage, which 

 in Vaccimum is fcattered, dilated, generally membranous 

 and deciduous ; always indeed fimple and undivided ; but 

 totally unhke the narrow, whorled, evergreen leaves of Erica. 

 The flowers in Vaccinium arc copious, ftalked, either folitary, 

 fimply racemofe, or tufted, drooping, inodorous, generally 

 very elegant, tinted with various fliades of red or pink, 

 never blue, fcarcely yellowifh. Berries black, purple, blue- 

 ifii or red, generally eatable, though not pleafant, nor always 

 wholefome, in a crude ftate. Stem ftirubby, bufliy, of humble 

 fl;ature. Stipulas none. 



The fpecies of Vaccinium were ill underflood by Linnaeus, 

 but we hope to trace the origin of many of his errors, which 

 have never been cleared up, and have led all following au- 

 thors aftray. Murray defines but fifteen fpecies in the four- 

 teenth edition of Syil. Veg. ; Willdenow has twenty-feven, 

 of which five are European, three natives of Japan, one of 

 Otaheite, one of Jamaica, the reft; North American. Purfh 

 has twenty-five fpecies of Vaccinium, befides three of Oxy- 

 coccus, from North America only. In reviewing the whole 

 of the genus, we find fomething to add, though we have 

 many fpecimens that are dubious. We are obhged to fol- 

 low the diftribution of Linnaeus, by which the evergreen 

 fpecies are feparated from thofe which are deciduous, though 

 fome uncertainty muft always attend that charafter, refpeft- 

 ing fpecies known from dried fpecimens only. 



Seft. 1. Leaves deciduous. 



1. W. MyrtiUus. Common Bilberry, or Bleaberry, Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 498. Willd. n. I. Fl. Brit. n. I. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 456. Fl. Dan. t. 974. (Vaccinia nigra; Ger. Em. 1415. 

 MyrtiUus; Matth. Valgr. v. i. 210. Camer. Epit. 135.) 

 — Stalks folitary, fingle-flowered. Leaves deciduous, fer- 

 rated, ovate, fmooth. Stem acutely angular. Calyx 

 fcarcely divided. — Native of heaths, ftony moors, and moun- 

 tainous woods, throughout moft parts of Europe, efpecially 

 the. more northern, flowering in May. Dr. Sibthorp ga- 

 thered it alfo on the Bithynian Olympus. The root is 

 woody. Stem from fix or eight inches to two feet high, 

 ereft, bufhy, fmooth ; the young green branches leafy, a 

 little zigzag, furniftied with very acute dilated angles. 

 Leaves about an inch long, on fliort footftalks, pellucid, 

 veiny, rather acute, copioufly ferrated ; paler beneath. 

 Flowers pendulous, on fimple, naked, fmooth, axillary 

 ft;alks. Calyx dilated, angular, feldom fo much lobed as in 

 Engl. Bot. Corolla globofe, generally five-cleft, of a very 

 delicate waxy pink hue. Anthers horned. Germen glau- 

 cous. Berry the fize of a currant, blueifli-black, acid, eaten 

 in tarts, or with cream, in the north and weft: of England. 

 In the eaftern counties this plant is not plentiful. Its fruit 

 is fometimes fent into Norfolk from Devonfhire. Mr. Men- 

 zies brought, from the weft coafl; of North America, what 

 we can fcarcely make more than a gigantic variety of this 

 fpecies, feven or eight feet high, larger in every part, with 

 lefs difiinftly ferrated leaves. 



2. V. ovalifolium. Oval-leaved Bilberry — Stalks fbhtar)', 

 fingle-flowered. Leaves deciduous, elhptical, obtufe, point- 

 lefs, entire, fmooth, ftrongly veined beneath. Stem angular. 

 Calyx fcarcely divided — Brought by Mr. Menzies from the 

 weft coaft of North America. AJbrub ten or twelvefeet high, 

 whofe fmooth branches arc kfs acutely angular than in the 

 forecoinij, and whofe leaves arc very efTentiully Jifteirni, 



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