491 



E5e STrsa^urg nf 2Sntaitg. 



[fica 



the enlarged calyx and the shell of the 

 fruit ; it contains a number of large fiat 

 seeds embedded in solid flesh, and does 

 not split open when ripe. 



F. cordifolia is the Sequa or Cacoon An- 

 tidote of Jamaica, where it is a common 

 plant in shady woods, climbing to a great 

 height up the trunks of trees. The fruits 

 are four or five inches in diameter, and 

 contain from twelve to fifteen large flat- 

 seeds, which possess purgative and emetic 

 properties and have an intensely bitter 

 taste. In Jamaica the negroes- employ 

 them as a remedy in a variety of diseases, 

 and consider them to be an antidote 

 against the effects of poison ; they also 

 obtain a large quantity of semi-solid fatty 

 oil, which is liberated by pressing and boil- 

 ing them in water. 



The seeds of an allied species called 

 Abilla in Peru, contain so much oil thatthe 

 Peruvians use them for making candles. 

 These are made by cutting cubical pieces 

 of the seed and stringing them upon a 

 thin piece of stick, the point of which is 

 lighted. The candles thus rudely con- 

 structed, burn well, with a tolerably clear 

 light, and, not being readily extinguished 

 by wind, are commonly used in the open- 

 air processions of the Roman Catholic 

 Church. Another curious use is made of 

 these Abillaseeds : the shell is lined with a 

 soft felt-like substance, which when dry 

 forms an excellent tinder, and the Indian, 

 by rapidly twirling a pointed stickupon it, 

 soon obtains a light ; thus the same seed 

 furnishes him with his candle, and with 

 tinder for lighting it. [A. S.] 



FEVE, or F. DE MARAIS. (Fr.) Faba 

 vulgaris. 



FEVER-BUSH". An American name for 

 Benzoin. 



FEVERFEW. Pyrethrum Parthenium. 

 —, BASTARD. Parthenium Hyster cypher us. 



FEVEROLLE. (Fr.) Faba vulgaris. 

 FEVERWORT. Triosteum. 



FEVIER. (Fr.) Gleditschia. — D'AME- 

 RIQUE. Gleditschia triacanthos. 



FIBRE, ELEMENTARY. That thread 

 which is turned round the interior of the 

 tubes that are called spiral vessels, or of 

 any similar kind of tissue. 



FIBRILL.E (adj. FIBRILLOSE). The 

 roots of lichens ; any kind of small thread- 

 shaped root ; also applied occasionally 

 among fungals to the stipe. 



FIBROUS. Containing a great propor- 

 tion of woody fibre; as the rind of a 

 cocoa-nut. 



FIBRO-VASCELAR. Consisting of 

 woody tissue and spiral or other vessels. I 



FICAIRE. (Fr.) Ficaria ranunculoides. 



FICARIA. This genus is distinguished 

 from Ranunculus by its having three de- 

 ciduous instead of five persistent sepals, I 



and nine petals instead of five ; in all other 

 respects it is a true crowfoot ; indeed, 

 our native species, F. ranunculoides, is 

 notunfrequently described under the name 

 i of Ranunculus Ficaria. Though called 

 : Small Celandine and Lesser Celandine, 

 it is totally distinct from the true celan- 

 dine (Chelldonium). Being one of the i 

 : earliest of British flowering plants, and its i 

 ] petals being of a beautiful golden-yellow, f 

 I and its leaves a glossy green, it is a gene- ' 

 ral favourite. Its roots consist of a num- j 

 ber of small fleshy tubers, which store up j 

 nourishment like bulbs during the whole | 

 of the summer and autumn. Gerarde's 

 description of its duration is worth quot- 

 i ing for its accuracy and quaintness : ' It 

 ! commeth forth about the calends of March, 

 1 and floureth a little after; it beginneth 

 to fade away in Aprill, it is quite gone in 

 May, afterwards it is hard to be found, 

 yea, scarcely the root.' This might be 

 taken for an allegorical epitome of the <. 

 life of man. The young leaves of Ficaria, \ 

 according to Linnaeus, are sometimes used 

 as greens in Sweden. A variety with 

 double flowers is occasionally cultivated. 

 French, Petite Chelidoine ; German, Feigen- 

 ranunkel. [C. A. J.] 



The trivial name of Pilewort has been 

 bestowed upon this plant from the struc- 

 ture of its tubercles, which grow in bun- 

 dles of small tubers, so like the shape of 

 those excrescences which occur in the 

 more distressing cases of piles (haemor- 

 rhoids), that our forefathers, who chose 

 their medicines, not from a knowledge of 

 the properties and qualities of the plants, 

 but from a kind of fancy as to Nature's ex- 

 ternal impress indicating innate virtues, 

 adopted it as a remedy for this malady. 

 Culpepper is most enthusiastic in describ- 

 ing its virtues: 'Here is another secret 

 for my countrymen and women— a couple 

 of them together. Pilewort made into an 

 oil, ointment, or plaster, readily cures 

 both the piles, or haemorrhoids, and the 

 king's-evil. The very herb borne about 

 one's body next the skin helps in such ; 

 diseases, though it never touched the j 

 place grieved. Let poor people make much j 

 for their uses. With this I cured my own j 

 daughter of the king's-evil.' Confident as I 

 are these assertions, yet the use of the I 

 plant is all but discontinued in the present 

 day,' medical practitioners very properly 

 looking for sounder principles than those ■ 

 derived from the doctrine of similitudes. ! 

 In Green's Universal Herbal we find the ! 

 following observations :—' The particular j 

 form of the roots probably recommended 

 this plant as a cure for the piles ; and this 

 fancied quality was the origin of the Eng- j 

 lish name. The roots are sometimes wash- I 

 ed bare by the rains ; and this induced the i 

 ignorant and superstitious to imagine that 

 it rained wheat, to which the uncovered 

 tubercles bear a little resemblance.' That 

 this plant, from these and other reasons, 

 was long considered as a 'herb of grace,' 

 there can be no doubt ; however, it is at 

 present looked upon principally as a weed 

 which can best be got rid of, when trouble- 



