100 
ARTEMISIA ABROTANUM. 
tonica, but also of various other species of the same genus, as the 
Artemisia Judaica, Austriaca, &c. 
Qualities, Medical Properties, &c. The sensible and che- 
mical properties of tliis plant resemble those of the Al)sint.hiura al- 
ready described. The seeds have a very bitter and somewhat acrid 
taste, a strong disagreeable smell, and are he;Jling and stimulating: 
these seeds have been long employed as an anthelmintic, and have 
been considered a very effectual remedy for the expulsion of lum- 
brici. They are given to children, finely powdered, in doses of from 
ten to thirty grains, and to adults in double the quantity, combined 
with syrup, honey, or treacle: this quantity is usually taken two or 
three times a day, occasionally interposing a cathartic ; or they are 
conjoined from the tirst with jalap, calomel, rhubarb, or sulphate of 
iron. Formerly the seeds were considered to be emmenagogue, but 
are now nevelr employed but as a vermifuge. 
Off. The Seeds. 
^ 
ARTEMISIA ABROTANUM. 
Common Southernwood * 
Shrubby erect. 
Spec. Char. Leaves setaceous, pinnatifid. »S'^em very branch- 
ing, shrubby. 
This species of Artemisia is called by the Greeks A^porovov, a 
name supposed to be given to it from its extreme bitterness. 
Southernwood is a perennial shrub, a native of Franco, Spain, Italy, 
Carniola, China, and other southern climates. In England it was first 
cultivated by Gerarde, about the year 1596, and its great fragrance 
has obtained for it a place in most gardens. Although it bears the 
cold of our variable winters, it seldom flowers in this country. 
The roots of this plant are woody and fibrous; the stalk rises to 
the height of two or three feet, shrubby, covered with a smooth 
brown bark, and sends out numerous branches; the leaves are nume- 
• This plant being well known, and never employed in modern practice, we have 
not thought it necessary to give a figure of \\. 
