VEGETABLES. 



287 



bruised leaves moistened with brandy and applied to 

 the skin, produced blisters. The Indians use the P. 

 rotundifolia for the same purpose. 



Asclefiias Syriaca^ or swallow wort. The stalks 

 of this valuable plant attain the height of seven feet ; 

 the pale purplish flowers appear in June or July, and 

 are succeeded by large, thick, and rough capsules, 

 the seeds of which are furnished with long glossy 

 silk. I'his plant abounds in the neighbourhood of 

 Philadelphia, and other parts of the United States, 

 and deserves to be cultivated for the many valuable 

 purposes to which it may be applied. In Germany 

 the plant is cultivated ektensive'iy, and stuffs have 

 been made from it which rival in lustre the true ani 

 mal silk. The stems of the plant are said to dye a 

 good olive ; and also to answer for candlewicks. The 

 valves of the flowers are said to possess the same ir- 

 ritability as the dionm mucipula^ or fly-trap, and 

 close upon the common house fly which light on 

 them.* 



Snake root (Virginia), or aristolochia serfien^ 

 taria ; a well known medicinal plant, and a native of 

 the United States exclusively. It has a bitter taste 

 joined with an aromatic acrimony ; highly stimulant, 

 and increases the force of the pulse very perceptibly. 

 It is a powerful sudorific, but is improper whenever 

 bleeding is requisite. It is a common remedy in low 

 fevers. Dr. Barton (Collection for a Mat. Med. 2d 

 edit.) says it was used with great benefit in a malig- 

 nant fever attended with carbuncles, which prevailed 

 in Bristol on the Delaware, in this state, in 1749 and 



See the Amer. Phil. Trans, vol. vi, for Dr. Barton's paper on this 

 subject. 



