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SCILLA MARITIMA. 
medicine with the uninformed ; as a warm bitter it is probably equal 
in medicinal powers to many other herbs possessing similar 
qualities. 
The leaves and flowers are commonly taken in the form of 
infusion and drank as tea ; the leaves when powdered may be taken 
in doses of one drachm or more two or three times a day. 
Off. The Leaves. 
». 
SCILLA MARITIMA. 
Officinal Squill.^ 
Class Hexandria. — Order Monogynia. 
Nat. Old. CoRONARi^, Linn. Asphodeli, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Corolla six-petalled, spreading-, deciduous. 
Filaments thread-like. 
Spec. Char. Flower naked. Bracteas refracted. 
This species of squill f is a perennial bulbous-rooted plant, a 
native of Spain, Sicily, the North of Africa, and the Levant, growing 
wild on the sandy shores near the coast: hence its specific name. 
The Scilla Maritima was introduced into England early in the 
seventeenth century, and was cultivated in the botanic garden at 
Oxford in the year 1648. This plant appears to have been well 
known and esteemed for its medical properties in the early ages of 
Greece. Its introduction into medical practice is referred to Pytha- 
goras or Empedocles.J It is noticed by Dioscorides, Hippocrates, 
Galen, Aetius, Celsus, Pliny, and the Arabian physicians. 
The squill flowers in April and May ; the root is perennial, large, 
pear-shaped, bulbous, composed of many thick, fleshy scales, and 
* Fig. a. the spike of flowers, b. The root. c. The top part of the leaf. 
•f" 7.KiKKn Dioscoridis. 
% Vide Haller, Bib. Bot. p 12. 
