V I R 



loyalty, Sec. ; towards our/elves, as chadity, fobriety, Iciu- 

 P'.'iatice, prefeivation of life, of healtli, &c. 



VlUTUivS, in ihe Ci:leJ}'ial Hierarchy, the third rank, or 

 choir, of angels, being that in order between dominations 

 and powers. 



To thefe is attributed the power of working miraclts, and 

 of ilrengtlipniiig and reinforcing the inferior angels in the 

 ejcrcife of their lunftions. 



Virtues of Plants, in the hiftory of Botany, are generally 

 uiiderftood to he certain qualities, appropriated to every 

 plant, and inherent in its conftitution, by which it is rendered 

 effcftual in the cure of particular difeafes. ..-The difcovery 

 of fuch qualities was, doubtlefs, at firtt, in every country, 

 cafual, or empirical ; and the hiftory or knowledge of them 

 traditionary. Such knowledge, acquired to any coniider- 

 able extent, rendered its poflclfor an important perfonage in 

 human fociety ; and when combined with drill in the difcri- 

 mination of difeafes themfelves, completed the charaftcr of a 

 phyfician. Such was the fcience of Hippocrates and Diof- 

 corides ; the former having been bell verfed in the know- 

 ledge of difeafes ; the latter in a praftical acquaintance with 

 their reputed remedies. This kind of praftical knowledge 

 makes up the v/hole hiftory of ancient medicine. How foon 

 hypothetical enquiries, or opinions, may have arifen, it is 

 fcarcely poffible to learn, or even to conjecture. Among 

 thefe, the fuppofed influence of the heavenly bodies upon 

 the properties of plants, particularly with refpeft to the 

 time when they ought to be gathered in order to be the 

 moll effeftual, feems one of the moft ancient hypothefes. 

 When the imagination was once let loofe, and theory took 

 place of experience, mankind were difpofed to run headlong 

 into this, like every other fuperftition or folly. The com- 

 plete hiftory of fuch, is buried in the darknefs of antiquity ; 

 but its traces are abundantly vifible in the medical records of 

 every ancient nation, efpecially of China, Hindooftan, Ara- 

 bia, and Greece, nor are they quite L-ffaced among the moil 

 enlightened people. Into thefe it is by no means our prefent 

 purpofe to enter. 



At that memorable era in the hiftory of roankiud, em- 

 phatically termed the revival of learning, tlic firft objeft of 

 learned phyficians was to inform themfelves of tlic opinions 

 of the ancients, on every fnbjeft connefted witli their fci- 

 ence, and above all, on the Medical Virtues of Plants. No 

 one prefumed to have an opinion which was not authorized 

 by a Greek or Latin, or perhaps an Arabian, writer. So 

 that here the fcience of medicine, philofophically confidered, 

 made a complete ftand, and became once more traditional 

 and empirical. 



We have, under the article Odontites, fpoken of one 

 method, which was fyftematically ufed, to inveftigate the 

 qualities of plants ; a comparifon of their outward form 

 with certain parts of the human body, on which they were 

 fuppofed fpecifically to aft. Some traces of this notion 

 may be found in Diofcorides ; in his account of the Orchis, 

 for inftance ; which plant is indeed fo remarkable for the 

 figure of its root, that one cannot wonder at any fancies it 

 may have excited, nor that fuppofed qualities, founded 

 thereon, ftiould have been handed down to our times. The 

 celebrated reftorative properties of Salep reft, we believe, on 

 no firmer foundation, whatever may be the cfFeft of the 

 wine, fugar, or aromatics added to make that mucilaginous 

 fubftance palatable, or whatever nutriment it may, as a mu- 

 cilage, contain. If however there be, in this inllance, fomc 

 cafual coincidence between the ftiapc and the fpecific virtue 

 of the plant, the fame will fcarcely be beUeved to e xift be- 

 tween heart-fhaped leaves, or roots, and the human hesrt ; 

 or between herbs with capillary llalks, like ferns or moflV?, 



V I R 



and the hair of our heads. A perfon raging with the tooth- 

 ache would not twice recur for a cure, to the various kinds 

 ot Toothwort, becaufe of their notched roots, though one 

 of them, Lathrta Squamaria, be ever fo good an imitation 

 of the fore teeth. Yet thefe, and many otiier vain ima- 

 ginations, are found in the elaborate book of Baptifla 

 Porta. So far we might take him for an honeft enthufiaft. 

 But when he purpofcly delineates the ruots of Doronicum 

 or Arnica, with the precifc (hapc of a fcorpion, to prove 

 the plants a cure for its fting ; we can fcarcely beheve he 

 intended to deceive himfelf, and therefore he muft have had 

 fome other aim, not worth inquiring into. Few perfons 

 will be led by this author, to believe in any conncftion be- 

 tween the hooked prickles of a Bramble, and the teeth of 

 a Viper, or the fcales of a Lily-root, and thofe of a Fifh. 

 We fhall detain the reader no longer on this part of our 

 fubjeft. 



Chemical analyfis has proved abfolutely ufelefs to de- 

 teft the properties of plants. The world is obhged to 

 GeofFroT, Chomel, and their pupils, who with this aim have 

 analyfed nearly two thoufand different fpccies ; becaufe their 

 labours, having led to no difcovery whatever, except of their 

 own futility, no man in future will have any inducement to 

 wafte his time in this purfuit. 



Linnrcus was, if we miftake not, the firft perfon who fug- 

 gefted an enquiry into the qualities of plants, on the prin- 

 ciple of botanical affinity, or technical charaftcrs. That 

 vegetables of one great obvious natural clafs, fuch as Grali'es, 

 Leguminous or Umbelliferous plants, ihould have a gene- 

 ral agreement with each other, is probable at firft light. 

 Each clafs may be expefted to be throughout falutary or 

 dangerous, and they generally prove fo, with certain limit- 

 ations. The Darnel is almoft a fohtary inftance of any 

 thing pernicious among Graffes ; Umbellate plants in a dry 

 foil are aromatic and wholefome ; in a wet one, acrid and 

 highly dangerous. The Convolvulus genus affords feteral 

 eminently purgative roots, nor would any rational botanitt 

 venture to ufe them without caution ; though the opera- 

 tions of cookery render one of this genus, C. Batatas, whole- 

 fome and dehcious. The acrid qualities of one fpecies of 

 Euphorbia, as being a moft decidedly marked, and very pe- 

 cuHar, genus, are found in more or Icfs aftivity, in all. 

 Agreement in the parts of fruftification is therefore, with 

 great reafon, fet forth by the learned author of the fexual 

 lyftem, as the index to a fimilarity of properties. Thus the 

 Stellate are diuretic, the Afpenjolu emollient, the Luridtt 

 narcotic and dangerous, the Bicornes allringent, the Verticil- 

 lata: fragrant and harmlefs, the Compofitt bitter, greatly 

 mclior.ited by culture and cookery. All thefe, though 

 named from various charafters, are diftinguiftied by their 

 fruftification. The difterent infertion of parts fonietimes 

 indicates a difference of quality, of which the clafs Icnfandria 

 is a memorable and often repeated example. The infertion 

 ot ilijlamcns into the calyx, is attended with a wholefome 

 fruit, and the fame infertion in other claffes, may be lately 

 trulled in that rcfpcft. Plants wiiich have a ne8ary dillinft 

 from l\\ii petals, are always to be miftrufted. So are milky 

 plants in general, yet not without exception. A dry foil 

 ufu.illy renders plants aromatic and wholefome, aud abounds 

 moll with fuch ; moifture, or much wet, nourifties viroft, 

 acrid, poifonous tribes, of various dcfcriptions. Sweel- 

 fmelling and agreeably-flavoured vegetables are, for the 

 moft part, wholefome, for it were a fort of treachery in Na- 

 ture to have made tliem otherwife. Fetid herbs and nau- 

 feous fruits are revolting to our fenfes, and warn us of danger. 

 Linnxus obforvcs that a pale colour indicates infipidity, at 

 Icaft in the hcrbajje ; yellow u a figu of biUerncfs or acri- 

 mony ; 



