The BRITISH HERBAL. 
S8 
who firfl found ic in Kent, called it Convolvuliu fiore 
minimo ad unguem fere fe£fo ; and under this name 
it is placed in Dillenius's edition of the Zymffis 
of Brittfli plants. 
5. Sea Bindweed. 
Soldanella vulgaris. 
The root is long, flender, and creeping. 
The ftaiks are round, ftriated, weak, and 
ufualiy of a purplifii colour : they grow to a foot 
or more in length, and lean upon the ground. 
The leaves ftand irregularly: they have Jong 
footllalks, and are of a rounded figure, rather 
broader than long, and have a kind of ears at 
the flaik. 
The flowers are large, and of a beautiful deep 
red : they have long footftalks, and rife fingly 
from the bofoms of the leaves. The feed-vellcl 
is fhort. 
The ftalk is tough, the leaves are of a flefhy 
thick fiiblUnce, and the plant abounds with a 
milky juice. 
It is common on our fca-coafls, and flowers in 
June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Scldanella r.iaritiim minor. 
Others, Soldanella -vulgaris. 
We have no other fpecies of foldanella a na- 
tive of this country. 
The roots and leaves of this fpecies are a veiy 
violent purge : they are much more fharp in their 
operation than thofe of the common bindweed; but 
for conflitutions that can bear them, they may- 
be ufeful. There have been infl-ances of great 
good done by this plant in dropfies. 
Some upon the fea-coaUs pickle the young 
tops in the manner of fampirc; and even in this 
way they purge very briflcy. In this form they 
are a popular remedy againft the fcurvy ; whence 
the plant, has obtained the name oi fatrvygrafs 
among the common people ; that name of righc 
belonging to a quite different plant. 
The beft way of giving it is, to dry and pow- 
der the root ; but even in this ftate it will work, 
very violently. Its proper correftives are ginger 
and annifeeds ; and, with right management, ic 
may thus be made very ferviceabic in fome ftub- 
born complaints. 
DIVISION II. FOREIGN SPECIES. 
1. Syrian Scammony. 
Convolvulus foliis fagi t talis pedunculis hifloris. 
The root is very long, large, and thick, and 
furniflied with many fibres. 
The ftaiks are numerous and weak, like thofe 
of our mnmon great bindweed : they climb upon 
buflies in the fame manner, and run to eight feet 
in length. 
The leaves Hand irregularly, and have long 
footflalks : they are large, oblong, and of the 
arrowhead fhape ; they are fiiarp at the point, 
and as it were cut off with a nick at the two ends 
behind the ftalk. 
The flowers are large, hollow, undivided, and 
of a beautitul purple : they itand two upon each 
footftalk but only one of them blows at a time. 
The feed-vefl^el is fingle, and roundifh, the 
-feeds large and black. 
It is a native of Syria, and flowers in June. 
J. Bauhine calls it Scammonea Syriaca flore ma 
jore convohuli. Others, Scammonea Syriaca. 
The drug known by the name of fcammony at 
the druggilts, is the hardened juice of the root of 
this plant : it is a fl:rong cathartick. We have 
feen that the roots of mofb of the bindweeds are 
purging, and this pofiefl"es that quality in the 
ftrongefl: degree of all. The juice which we know 
by the name of fcammony, though an excellent, 
is a rough medicine, and is never to be given 
without corredtives. 
2. Cretick Scammony. 
Convolvulus radice longijfima. 
The root is flender, brown, and of a vafl: 
length. 
The fl:alks are numerous, flender, weak, and 
three or four feet high. 
The leaves Itand in pairs and are large, and 
of a beautiful green : they have long, (lender 
footftalks, and are heart-fafliioned at the bafe, 
narrow in proportion to their length, aud pointed 
at the ends. 
The flowers are large, and of a beautiful 
purple: they Itand fingly at the tops of the 
branches, and are irregularly dented at the 
edges. 
The feed-veflel is fliort and thick, and the 
feeds are black. 
It is a native of the ifland of Crete, and flowers 
in July. 
Alpinus calls it Scammonea macrorbizos. 
Others, Scammonea Creiica. 
The root abounds with a fliarp juice, of the 
fame nature with that of the Syrian fcammony. 
It is prepared in the fame manner, by dry- 
ing, and ufed for the fame purpofes; but it is 
milder than the other. 
3. Silver Bindweed, 
Convolvulus althcfa foliis argenteus. 
The root is long, flender, and fpreading. 
The ftaiks are numerous, and weak ; they trarj 
upon the ground, and are of a pale green colour, 
hairy, and tough. 
The leaves fliand irregularly. They have long 
footftalks, which are fo weak that they often 
droop : they arc of a beautiful fliape and colour : 
they arc oblong, heart-fafliioned at the bafe, 
and pointed at the end ; but toward the bafe 
they are alio deeply indented or divided in the 
palmated manner ; and they are notched all the 
way along the edges, 
The flowers ufually grow two on a footftalk, 
fometimes fingly. Eacli has its own feparate 
pedicle ; and they are large, and of a beautiful 
red. 
The feed-veflTel is fliort and thick. 
The 
