22 A Medico- Botanical Catalogue of Plants^ fyc. 



much used in medicine, but the syrup from the leaves, is given 

 in asthma, and as a gargle in angina tonsillaris. 



Lycopus angustifolius, (L. Europeus of Eaton.) — (Water hore- 

 hound.) U. S. Disp., 437 ; Ell. Bot., 25 ; Me. & de L. Diet, de 

 Mat. Med. t. II., 16S; see L. Europ. & L. Virginicus, also Mat- 

 son's Veg, Practice, 250. Used by the vegetable practitioners in 

 diarrhoea, atonic conditions of the digestive organs, and as a 

 cleansing wash for sores. It has been highly spoken of, on the 

 continent of Europe, in intermittent fevers. These plants should 

 be experimented with more carefully. The L. Yirginicus im- 

 parts a black color to linen, wollen and silk. It has been used 

 by some with great success in internal hemorrhage, (see the 

 Diet, de Mat. Med. and U. S. Disp.,) and in phthisis it lessens 

 the force of the circulation. 



Ludwigia alternifolia. — Me. & de L. Diet, de Mat. Med. t. 

 IV., 154. Merat says that in America, a decoction of the root is 

 employed as an unfailing emetic. Diet, de Mat. Med., Loc. cit. 



Magnolia glauca, (Bay.)— Pe. Mat. Med. II., 733; U. S. 

 Disp., 442; Big. Am. Med.' Bot. II., 67 ; Bart. Med. Bot. I., 77] 

 Michaux N. Am. Sylvia II., 8 : Royle Mat. Med., 24S ; Ball. & 

 Gar., 189 , Me. & de L. Diet, de Mat. Med., t. IV., 193 ; 'Kalm's 

 Travels, I., 205 ; Marshall Arbus, 83 ; Humphries Med. Com- 

 ment. XVIII.: Bart. Essay to Mat. Med., 46; Price's Inaug. 

 Diss. Phil. 1812; Cit. in Big. Am. Med. Bot.: "bark of root an 

 excellent tonic ;" Lind. Nat. System, Bot. 16. Berries are of 

 considerable value in domestic practice for the cure of rheuma- 

 tism. This tree is supposed by many to prevent the water of 

 bays and galls, from generating Malaria. It certainly seems that 

 the water is much clearer in which the Bay tree grows.* 



* In that old work on Herbs, (of which we have seen but one copy and that 

 not dated,) entitled the "English Physician, by Nick Culpepper, gent, student in 

 Physic and Astrology;" we have met with a great deal concerning the em- 

 ployment of herbs in medicine; but, from the absence of botanical terms it is 

 impossible to ascertain in many cases what species are intended. In order to 

 show the surprisingly superstitious credence, then placed upon the influence of 

 Astrology, in determining the virtues of, and the times proper for gathering 

 plants, and also the diversity of qualities attributed to them, we will extract a 

 portion of what Culpepper says of the "Bay Tree," " 'government and virtues." 

 That it is a tree of the sun, and under the celestial sign, Leo, and resisteth witch- 

 craft very potently, as also all the evils old Saturn can do to the body of man, 

 and they are not a few ; for it is the speech of one, and I am mistaken if it were 

 not Mezaldus, that neither witch nor devil, thunder nor lightning, will hurt a 

 man in the place where a Bay tree is. Galen said, that the leaves or bark do dry 

 and heal very much, and the berries more than the leaves ; the bark of the root 

 is less sharp and hot, but more bitter, and hath some astriction withal, whereby 

 it is effectual to break the stone, and good to open obstructions of the liver, 

 spleen, and other inward parts, which bring the dropsy, jaundice, &c. The ber- 

 ries are very effectual against all poison of venomous creatures, and the sting of 

 wasps and bees ; as also against the pestilence and other infectious diseases, and 

 therefore put into sundry treacles for the purpose. They likewise procure wo- 

 men's courses, and seven of them given to woman in sore travel of child-birth, 



