* This plant has of late-years been generally fed as a falad-herb in the fpring'of the year;rand is by many 
** preferred to all other forts of falads, for its agreeable warm bitter tafle, and eing accounted an excellent 
* remedy for the fcurvy and to cleanfe the blood, as alfo a good diuretic, it has greatly obtained a preference, 
** to moft other forts for winter and {pring ufe with many people. This is generally- gathered in the ditches’ 
** and other flanding waters near London, to fupply the markets; but whoever has a mind to cultivate it, may. 
** eafily do it, by taking fome of the plants from the places of their natural growth early in the fpring, being 
** careful to preferve their roots as entire as poffible and plant them into mud, and then let the water in on 
“them by degrees; when they have taken root, they will foon flourifh and fpreàd over a large compafs of 
* water: they fhould not be cut the firft feafon, but fuffered torun to feed, which will fall into the water, and - 
“ furnifh a fufficient fupply of plants afterwards; but where the water is fo deep that it will not be eafy to plant 
* them ; the beft method will be, to get a quantity of the plants, juft as their feeds are ripening, and throw 
* them on the furface of the water, where they are defigned to grow, and their feeds will ripen and fall to the 
" bottom, where they will take root and produce a fufficiency of thefe plants." MiurLEm's Gard. Di&. 
The leaves of the Water-crefs have a moderately pungent tafte, and when rubbed between the fingers, emit 
a quick penetrating fmell, like that of muftard feed, but much weaker. Their pungent matter is taken up 
both by watery and fpirituous menflrua, and accompany the aqueous juice, which iffues copioully on expreflion ; 
it is very volatile, fo as to rife in great part in diftillation with re&ified fpirit as well as with water, and almoft 
totally to exhale in drying the leaves, or infpiffating by the gentleft heat, to the confiftence of an extraét, 
either the expreffed juice, or the watery or fpirituous tin&ures. Both the infpiffated juice and the watery 
extract, difcover to the tafte a faline impregnation, and, in keeping, throw up cryftalline efflorefcences to the 
furface. On diftilling with water confiderable quantities of the herb, a {mall proportion of a fubtle, volatile, 
and very pungent eflential oil is obtained. 
This herb is one of the milder acrid aperient antifcorbutics, of the fame general virtues with the Cochlearia, 
but confiderably lefs pungent, and, in a great meafure, free from the peculiar flavour which accompanies 
that plant, HorrMAN has a great opinion of it, and recommends it as of fingular efficacy for ftrengthening 
the vifcera, opening obftructions of the glands, promoting the fluid fecretions, and purifying the body of 
humours : for thefe purpofes, the herb may be ufed as a dietétic article, or the expreffed juice, taken in dofes 
of from one to four ounces twice or thrice a day, Lewis’s Materia Medica. 
