WvW W.iy VWaAU ^HOkVlMd^m^i iW,} 
50 
THE BRITISH HERBAL. 
I can without iiiuchcenfiire reconcile this contradiftion ■. there are plants of the l/ar^a capr^ethzi have 
tiowers with both the threads, and rudiments of the capfules in them i though there are others that have 
only male, and others that have only female flowers. This is the language of the modern botanifts 
and 'iccording to the lame dialeft, thofe flowers which have both the threads and rudiments of capfules 
are called hermaphrodites : thefe led Linnaeus to place the plant among his icofandriay againfl: his 
former judgment, tie had truth on his fide in both cafes ; lor it is nature varies : but we have hence 
this lefl"on, Thole accidents are unfit for the clafTical dirtindlions of plants, which are not conftant and 
certain ; this is not the only genus in which there are foinetimes male flowers on one plant and fe- 
male on another, though there are alfo in fome plants of this kind hermaphrodite flowers; it is a 
proof added to the many we have had occafion to mention before, and which will be ftrengthened by 
many others hereafter, that this method was taken up too haftily, and that upon better knowledge 
of nature, men will be obliged to lay it down. 
Of this genus there is but one known fpecies. It has much the afpefl of the common mca- 
dowfweet, except in the difpoficion of the flowers. Moil authors have joined it with that plant ; 
and indeed it comes very near its nature. The feeds of meadowfweet are covered, as wc have fliewn, 
with a kind of cruft; an^ in this plant they have but very rude capfules. However, the diftinftion 
is prcferved: nature on all occafions goes off gradually from one clafs to another : this would have 
been feen if men had regarded the greater and more diftinftive parts of plants with that attention 
they have ill befl:owed upon the more minute and frivolous. It is here the gentle flep is made irom 
the herbs with feveral naked feeds after every flower, to thofe in which each flower is followed by fe- 
ver al capfules. 
I 
Sweetbeard. 
Barba Capr^. 
The root is large, thick, long, and furnifhed 
with many fibres. It has a rcdifh bark, a woody 
fubftance within that, and in the central part a 
Ipungy pith. 
The leaves rife in a great tuft, but commonly 
wither when the ftalk gets ftrength. They are 
placed on long footltalks, and are compofcd of 
three principal parts, each of which confiih of 
about five fmaller leaves, difpofed in the pinnated 
manner in two pairs, with an odd one at the 
end : thefe are oblong, ferrated, and pointed at 
the ends. 
Theflalks are four feet high, round, fVriated, 
credt, and but little branched. They have the 
fame kind of leaves on them, and at their tops 
bear numerous flowers in long firings, feveral 
connefted toward the bottom, or rifing fo near 
one another that they form a tuft rcfembling a 
long, white beard. 
The flowers are white, httle, and of a flight 
but agreeable fmell. 
It is a native of the warmer parts of Europe, 
and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Barba capr^e floribus ohlongis. • 
J. Bauhine, Barba capri. We in Englifli fome- 
times tranfiating the Latin name, call it goats- 
beard % but as that is with us the name of another 
plant, I have taken the liberty of varying it a 
little, prefcrving the word beard, and adding 
for its farther charafter, its fragrant fceat ; many 
of the common writers have called it ulmaria ma- 
jor^ xhz greater mcadowfweet. 
The flowers are efl:eemed cordial and fudorifick. 
The bark of the root alfo poflelTes the fame 
virtue, with a mixture of aftringency. This re- 
commends it among the country pradtifcrs, where 
common, in fevers attended with diarrhceas. 
Thefe are the plants properly and diitindlly 
belonging to the prefent clafs ; from which we 
are to advance to another, which i.s very com- 
prehenfive, containing the plants, with a flower 
confifting of one petal, and fucceeded by a finglg 
capfule : but in our way we are to regard an in- 
termediate genus, which happily conneifls thefe 
two, or according to the cuftom of nature, here 
often remarked, makes the progreflion eafy. 
7le E ND of the SECOND CLASS. 
THE 
