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Method of Culture— M\ thefe plants may be increafed by 

 feed and parting the roots. 



The feed (hould be fown in the autumn or early fpring, 

 upon a bed or border of light earth, or in a bos filled with 

 the fame fort of mould. When the plants are come up m 

 the fpring, keep them clear from weeds, and refrefhed with 

 water occafionallv when the feafon is hot and dry ; and in 

 the following autumn, when the leaves decay, take them up 

 carefully without injuring the roots, and plant them out 

 about half a foot fquare in a fre(h bed of light mould ; and 

 when they have remained in it till fit for flowering, they 

 Ihould be removed into the borders, clumps, or other parts. 

 This is, however, a tedious method, as they feldom flower 

 in lefs than four years ; therefore the root method is moftly 

 had rccoarfe to. 



The roots may be divided in autumn, when the leaves 

 decay, and be planted out in a light, frefli, rich mould where 

 they are to grow ; they fhould not be removed oftener than 

 once in about four ye»rs. The roots ftiould not be parted 

 too fmall. 



Thefe plants have a fine effeft in the middle of large 

 borders, clumps, and other fimilar fituations, in pleafure 

 " grounds and other places by the Angularity of their large 

 furrowed leaves, and their different modes of flowering. 



The firft fort is much cultivated as a medicinal plant for 

 the ufe of its root, as well as the black fort occafionally ; 

 in which intention the plants fhould be fet out in beds or 

 borders in any common parts of the ground. 



Veratrum, in the Materia Med'tca. See Hellebore. 

 Mr. James Moore has fuggefted that a vinous infufion of 

 the root of the veratrum album, or white hellebore, confli- 

 tutes the adive ingredient in the eau medlcinale d'HuJfon. 

 Mr. Moore gives the following preparation : take of white 

 hellebore -root, eight ounces ; white wine, two pints and a 

 half. The root is to be cut in thin flices, and infufed for 

 ten days, occafionally fhaking the bottle. Let the infufion 

 be then filtered through paper. 



The dofe of the mixture, in cafes of gout, may be from 

 one fluid-drachm to three fluid-drachms. 



VERB, in Grammar, a word ferving to exprefs what we 

 affirm of any fubjea, or attribute to it ; or, it is that part 

 of fpeech, by which one thing is attributed to another, as to 

 its fubjeft ; as the words is, underjiands, hears, believes. Sec. 

 This is, in other words, the definition of a verb adopted by 

 Dr. Prieflley in his Grammar. But this definition feems to 

 include not only verbs, but likewife all adjeftives, and ab- 

 ftraa nouns fignifying qualities ; for when we fay " God is 

 good," or " Goodnefs belongs to God," do not the words 

 " good" and " goodnefs" exprefs what is affirmed of or 

 attributed to the Deity ? But if in this definition it is 

 merely afferted, that theeffenceof the verb confiflsin affirm- 

 ation, it might have been expren"ed with greater precifion, 

 thus : " a verb is a word affirming fomething of, or attri- 

 buting fomething to, a thing." It is, fays Dr. Blair, the 

 affirmation that feems to be that which chiefly diflin- 

 guifties the verb from the other parts of fpeech, and gives 

 it its moft confpicuous power. Hence there can be no 

 fentence, or complete propofition, without a verb either ex- 

 preffed or implied ; for whenever we fpeak, we always 

 mean to aflert, itiat fomething is or is not ; and the word 

 which carries this aflertion, or afBrmation, is a verb. This 

 ingenious writer, however, feems to have improperly in- 

 cluded time as one of the three things implied in all 

 verbs, adding this to the attribute of fome fubftantive, 

 and an affirmation concerning that attribute. The defini- 

 tion of Dr. Beattie feems to be more objeftionable. He 

 defines a verb to be " a word neceflary in every fentence, 

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fignifying the affirmation of forae attribute, together with 

 the defignation of time, number, and perfon." According 

 to this definition, neither infinitive moods, nor gerunds, nor 

 fupines, nor participles are verbs ; for they neither contain 

 an affirmation, nor fignify tim.e, nor are limited either to 

 number or perfon. If affirmation, which we conceive to be 

 the cafe, be effential to verbs, it is pofTible to form a tole- 

 rably copious language with only one verb in it ; for infini- 

 tives, participles, adjectives, &c. may be fo united to nouns 

 by the copula, or verb is, alone, as to exprefs almoft any 

 idea which we can have occafion to communicate. But if 

 the circumilances of time, perfon, and number, be effential 

 to verbs, it is more than probable that languages may fub- 

 fifl in the world, which have not a fingle verb in them. 

 And in this cafe Dr. Beattie cannot confidently maintain, 

 as he afferts, that a verb is " a word neceffary in every 

 fentence." In the Malayan language, e. g. which is held 

 in high eftimation, and which has wide extent in the Eaft 

 Indies, the verb admits of no modification whatever, on ac- 

 count either of perfon, tenfe, or voice ; in all thefe refpefts, 

 the perfonal pronouns only, with particles prefixed, de- 

 termine the fenfe. 



The verb is thus called of the Latin verbum, word, by 

 way of eminence ; as being the principal word of a fen- 

 tence. Accordingly verbs, as Dr. Adam Smith obferves, 

 muil have been coeval witli the firfl attempts towards the 

 formation of language. No affirmation can be expreffed 

 without the affiilance of fome verb. This writer fuggefls, 

 that the radical verb, or the firft form of it, in mofl languages, 

 would be what we now call the Imperfonal VL'rb : as " it 

 rains," and the like : as this is the fimpleft form of the 

 verb, and merely affirms the exiflence of an event, or of a 

 ftate of things. By degrees, after pronouns were invented, 

 fuch verbs became perfonal, and were branched out into all 

 the varieties of tenfes and moods. On this fubjeft, fee 

 Verb, Subjlantive, infra. 



The common definition given by grammarians is, that the 

 verb is a word which betokens being, doing, or fuffering. 

 This is the definition of the learned bifhop Lowth, and it 

 includes nothing more than what is effential ; fo that it is 

 equally applicable to the verb in all languages, in all its 

 various forms, comprehending not only infinitives and par- 

 ticiples, but likewife gerunds~and fupines. If it is in any 

 refpeft defeftive, it is becaufe it does not in all cafes fuf- 

 ficiently diftinguifh verbs from verbal nouns. Infinitives 

 and participles, gerunds and fupines '^fee each in its place), 

 not only fignify aft ions, but govern the cafes of nouns and 

 pronouns in the fame manner with the verbs, and therefore 

 fhould be comprehended under the name of verbs. But 

 thofe verbal nouns which do not govern accufative cafes 

 have not the fame pretenfions ; for they have not the regimen 

 of verbs, but of fubftantives, and confequently more pro- 

 perly belong to that clafs. 



To conceive the origin and office of verbs, it may be ob- 

 ferved, that the judgment we make of any thing, as when I 

 fay the earth is round, neceffarily includes three terms. The 

 firfl, called the fubjea, is the thing we affirm of, e.g. earth. 

 The fecond, called the attribute, is the thing affirmed, e. g. 

 round. The third, is, connefts thofe two terms together, 

 and expreffes the aftion of the mind, affirming the attribute 

 of the fubjeft. 



This lafl is what we properly call the verb ; and which 

 fome of our later grammarians, particularly the Port 

 Royalifts, choofe to call by a more fignificant word, affirm- 

 ation- The reafon is, that its principal ufe is to fignify 

 affirmation ; that is, to fhew the difcourfe in which that 

 word is ufed, is the difcourfe of a man who does not only 

 conceive things, but judges and ai&rms fomewhat of them. 



By 



