ASTERACE^E. 405 



of Genipi, and which are much esteemed for their vulnerary and sudorific 

 properties. A liqueur is prepared from them called Absinthe de Suisse, 

 which is in high repute as a stomachic and tonic. The A. moschata also 

 furnishes a distilled water much used in Europe, and Ifnown as Esprit cT Iva. 

 The* P. herba rota, of Piedmont, according to Allioni, (Flor. Peel. 656,) pos- 

 sesses the same properties, and is much used. The P. clavennce was at one 

 time greatly prized, in consequence of a treatise pub ished on its virtues by 

 Clavenna, in 1609 ; but it does not appear to possess more efficacy than the 

 other species spoken of above. 



Artemisia. — Linn. 



Heads discoid, few or many-flowered, heterogamous, with the central flowers perfect, 

 and five-toothed ; and the radical pistillate in a single series, with a tubular, 3-toothed 

 corolla ; or sometimes homogamous, with the flowers all perfect. Scales of the involucre 

 imbricated, mostly dry, with scarious margins. Receptacle flatfish or convex, naked or 

 villous. Achenia obovoid, with a small epigynous disk, and destitute of a pappus. 



An extensive genus of bitter and mostly aromatic shrubs or herbs, with 

 alternate, and usually pinnately divided or dissected leaves, and small spicate 

 or racemose heads of flowers, which are usually yellowish or purplish. A 

 large number of them are natives of North America. The genus presents 

 several well-defined sections, which have been erected into genera by some 

 botanists. 



A. absinthium, Linn. — SufFruticose, erect, silky canescent ; leaves bi- or tripinnately 

 divided ; the lobes lanceolate, often incised, obtuse ; flower-heads small, hemispherical, 

 racemose paniculate, nodding ; external scales of involucre, linear or lanceolate, silky ; 

 the inner broad, rounded and scarious. 



Linn., Sp. PL 1188 ; Torrey and Gray, Fl ii. 424 ; Woodville, i. t. 22 ; 

 Stephenson and Churchill, i. 58 ; Lindley, FL Med. 464. 



Common Name. — Wormwood. 



Foreign Names. — Absinthe, Fr.; Assenzio, It. ; Wermuth, Ger. 



Wormwood is a native of Europe, and is naturalized in the Northern parts 

 of this country ; it is also cultivated in most gardens. It flowers in July and 

 August. The whole plant has a strong fragrant odour, and an intensely bit- 

 ter aromatic taste. The tops, or extremities of the branches are the officinal 

 part ; they have a grayish-white appearance, and a soft, silky feel, and give 

 out their properties to water and alcohol. These depend on a bitter principle 

 Absinthin, and a volatile oil, which is of a yellow or brownish colour, and 

 very bitter and acrid ; besides this, Wormwood contains an acid, which is 

 called the Absinthic, several salts, &c. 



Medical Properties. — In moderate doses Wormwood has the properties of 

 the other aromatic, bitter tonics, but is inferior to many of them. It is also 

 anthelmintic, and somewhat diuretic. In large doses it acts as an irritant and 

 stimulant, and also appears to affect the cerebro-spinal system, as it causes 

 vertigo, headache, &c. It is but little employed in medicine at the present 

 day, but was in much repute formerly. Haller speaks of it highly as a 

 stomachic, and as a preventive to attacks of the gout ; and it formed one of 

 the ingredients of the celebrated Portland powder so highly vaunted as a 

 cure for that disease. The essential oil is recommended by Hoffmann as an 

 antispasmodic and anodyne, and by Boerhaave in intermittents. It is chiefly 

 used, at present, in dyspepsia, and is much employed in France and Germany 

 as a bitter. The dose, in substance, is a scruple to half a drachm ; of the in- 

 fusion, made with an ounce of the herb to a pint of water, an ounce to two 

 ounces. 



