WIT 



Sp. PI. V.I. 622. Mart. Mill. Dift. V, 4. Ait. Hort. 

 Kew. V. I. 248. ed. i. v. i. 149. Jufl". 450. Lamarck 



Ilkiftr. t. 82 Clafs and order, Tetrandria Monogynia. 



Nat. Ord. Luridit, Linn. Sola/tea, Jufl. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, very (hort, 

 obfcurely four-toothed, permanent. Cor. of one petal, 

 wheel-(haped : tube very Jhoit, nearly globular : limb 

 in four deep, lanceolate, acute, recurved fegments. Nec- 

 tary four (lightly-bordered cavities, in the tube of the 

 petal. Stam. Filament? four, ereft, roundilh, downy, 

 inferted into the bafe of the corolla ; anthers converg- 

 ing, ovate, two-lobed, burfting at the fides. Pijl. Ger- 

 men fuperior, ovate ; ftyle thread-fliaped, rather longer 

 than the jlamens ; ftigma capitate. Peric. Berry round- 

 iHi, of two cells. Seeds numerous, inferted into the di- 

 vided receptacle. 



EfT. Ch. Corolla deeply four-cleft, reflexed ; its tube 

 with four external prominences, internally concave. Calyx 

 obfcurely four-toothed. Anthers converging, burfting la- 

 terally. Berry with two cells, and many feeds. 



l.'W.folanacea. Yellow-flowered Witheringia. Willd. 

 n. I. Ait. n. I. L'Herit. Sert. Angl. 33. t. i.— Native 

 of South America. A ilove plant, flowering moft part of 

 the year, and cultivated as early as the year 1742 by tlie 

 celebrated lord Petre. Its appearance and charafters, fo 

 nearly approaching to Solanum, had caufed this plant to be 

 neglefted by botanifts, till the eager and piercing eyes of 

 M. L'Heritier detefted its differences, and eftabhflied its 

 generic charafters. The mode of buriting of the anthers 

 more efpecially ftamp the genus as diftinft from Solanum. 

 The root isperennial. Stem herbaceous, hardly a foot high, 

 round, downy, reddifh, rendered (lightly angular by the 

 decurrent footjlalks. Lea-ves in alternate pairs, (talked, 

 ovate-oblong, acute, wavy, entire, rather downy, four or 

 five inches long. Flowers about the fize and (hape of 

 Solanum nigrum, except being only four-cleft, pale yellow, 

 drooping, in many-flowered, axillary, felTile umbels ; their 

 Jialis round, fmooth, lialf an inch, or more, in length. 

 Stamens whitifli, internally hairy. Few exotics are lefs 

 likely to be cultivated for ornament, however interefting 

 for the fake of its name and chaiafters to a fcientitic 

 botanift. 



WITHE RITE, in Mineralogy, a name given to the 

 carbonate of barytes, in honour of Dr. Withering, by whom 

 tliis mineral was (Irft difcovered, as containing an earth 

 before unknown. (See Bahvtes.) Witherite occurs 

 generally maffive, and fometimes cryftaUized, in fix-fided 

 prifms terminated by fix-iided pyramids, in which the edges 

 and points are often truncated. It occurs alfo in double 

 Cx-fided pyramids. When maffive, it is often found in 

 globular concretions, which have a radiated diverging ftruc- 

 ture. The principal frafture has a fliining luftre ; the crofs 

 frafture is glimmering. It is tranflucent, and is moft gene- 

 rally of a yellowi(h-white colour, but is fometimes of a pale 

 bluei(h-grey, or fle(h-red. Witherite is eafily frangible ; it 

 breaks into wedge-fliaped fragments ; it yields eafily to the 

 knife. 



The fpecific gravity 134.3 ! it decrepitates (lightly before 

 the blow-pipe, and melts very readily into a white enamel. 

 It is foluble with etfervefcence in dilute muriatic or nitric 

 acid. It contains, 



Barytes - 

 Carbonic acid - 

 Water 



79.66 

 20. 

 •33 



Witherite was (irft difcovered at Anglefark, in Lanca- 

 (hire, in a vein of lead-ore, accompanied vfith heavy fpar. 



W 1 T 



It occurs in confiderable quantities on the weftern fide of 

 Yorklhire, and in the counties of Northumberland, Dur- 

 ham, and Weftmoreland, in veins which traverfe mountain 

 lime-ftone and fand-ftone. In fomeof thefe veins it has been 

 obferved, that when the vein palTes through the lime-ftone, 

 it contains Witherite, or carbonate of barytes ; but where it 

 paffes through the fand-ftone, it contains fulphate of barytes, 

 or heavy fpar. It fometimes occurs in a ftalaftical or cel- 

 lular form, and diffeminated in other minerals. 



Witherite is rather a fcarce mineral on the continent. 

 It is a very aftive poifon. It has not been ufed in the arts 

 in this country. It is probable that it may be employed 

 on the continent in the decompoiition of the alkaline ful- 

 phates, as foreigners fometimes obtain it from the mines in 

 York(hire in confiderable quantities. 



WITHERNAM, in Lam, a reprifal, or taking of other 

 goods or cattle, in lieu of thofe unjuftly taken and elToined, 

 or other wife withholden. 



The word is compounded of the Saxon -wither, contrOf 

 againjl; and nam, captio, taking. See Naam. 



Where goods are taken by colour of diftrefs, and driven 

 to a hold, or out of the county, fo that the flieriff cannot, 

 upon replevy, make deliverance thereof to the party dif- 

 trained ; in this cafe, the writ of capias in ivitbernam, or Je 

 vetito namio, is iffued, direfted to the (heriff, for the taking 

 as many of the party's beafts, as he did thus unlawfully dil- 

 train ; or as much goods of his, till he has made deliverance 

 of the (irft diftrefs : and, therefore, goods taken in wither- 

 nam cannot be replevied, till the original diftrefs is forth- 

 coming. 



Withernam, Nomine capto in. See Homine. 

 WITHERS of a Horfe, the junfture of the (houlder- 

 bones at the bottom of the neck and mane, towards the 

 upper part of the (houlder. 



Thefe parts (hould be well raifed and pretty ftrong, for 

 this is a fign of ftrength and goodnefs in the horfe. They 

 keep the faddle from coming forward upon the horfe's 

 (houlders and neck, which immediately galls and fpoils him. 

 A hurt in this part is very difficult to cure, and, for this 

 reafon, they (hould be lean rather than flefliy, as they are 

 then lefs fubjeft to be bruifed and hurt by the faddle. 



When there are fores on the withers, the caufe muft be 

 looked to, in order to determine a proper cure, and prevent 

 a return. If the hurt be caufed by the largenefs of the 

 faddle-bands, provided that it be not too great, it may be 

 eafily cured by the following remedy : take the whites of 

 fix eggs, beat them with a piece of alum as big as an egg 

 for a quarter of an hour, or till the whole is reduced to a 

 thick fcum or froth ; let the fweUing be rubbed well with 

 this mixture, and then covered over with more of the froth ; 

 this is to be left to dry on, and the application is to be re- 

 peated every ten or twelve hours ; notwithftanding that the 

 heat and fwelling remains, this, by degrees, will take place, 

 though not at firft. 



If the hurt be great, recourfe muft be had to bleeding; 

 and this may be repeated after two days, if the fwelling and 

 inflammation continue. 



If a tumour, with great inflammation, follow a bruife 

 with the faddle-bows, the part affefted is to be rubbed with 

 lime-water, and covered with a lamb's flcin, the woolly part 

 next the back ; after the wafliing, the ointment, well known 

 among our farriers by the name of the duke's ointment, is to 

 be applied ; and if the tumour inclines to fuppurate, the 

 ointment muft be walhed oft with a mixture of vinegar and 

 water, warmed, mixed with a handful of fait to every quart 

 of it : an ointment is then to be made of half a pound of 

 populeon, and a quarter of a pound of black foap, and as 



much 



