22G The Agrimony. 



Still ma) r one smile, as moonbeam tender, 

 E'en to the last unwearied shine, 



Gilding thy manhood's waning splendor, 

 And oh! may that one smile be thine"? 



Moral of Flowers. 



The Agrimony, 



This is a genus of the class Dodccandria, order Digynia. The 

 name is derived from two Greek words meaning a field and 

 alone, as it was considered the chief of all wild herbs. Its char- 

 acters are : — calyx five-cleft, female with another ; petals five ; 

 seeds two at the bottom of the calyx. Specific characters : — stem- 

 leaves pinnate, the end lobe petioled ; Fruit hispid. The Agri- 

 monia Eupatoria — Agrimony, rises to the height of about two 

 feet, with an angular hairy stem, which is simple or undivided and 

 herbaceous. It is a native of the fields of Europe, and was 

 early introduced into this country, where it has become natural- 

 ized, and so common that it is found almost everywhere by 

 fences and thickets. The leaves, which are on the lower part of 

 the stem, come directly out from it without the intervention of 

 footstalks, which the terminal ones have ; they are uninterruptedly 

 pinnate ; of an oval form, and cut on the margins with minute 

 teeth. The scales at the base of the leaf-stalks, which differ in 

 some degree from common leaves, are large, semicircular, and 

 cut serrate. The flower spikes are elevated, rather thinly scat- 

 tered, and in the months of June and July bear a somewhat 

 bell-shaped, pretty yellow flower. It has a permanent flower-cup, 

 which is armed with hooked bristles. The whole height of 

 the plant is from twenty-four to thirty-two inches. After flower- 

 ing, it perfects two hard-coated seeds in the bottom of the calyx. 

 The plant is perennial. In floral language, it emblemizes Thank- 

 fulness. This plant, in domestic practice, is often very useful, 

 as it possesses mildly astringent properties. Chomel relates two 

 cases in his successful treatment of enlarged and indurated livers 

 by its use ; and it has often been found advantageous in weak 

 hemorrhagic affections. In cutaneous diseases, particularly in 

 scabies, we have been told it manifests great efficacy, for which 



