The BRITISH FIERBAL. 
95 
1, Common Brcoklime. 
Becahirtga vulgaris. 
The rooc is long, flender, and creeping: it 
runs among the mud, and fends out duflers of 
fibres in many parts. 
The fiioots that firft rife from it arc weak and 
fiendcr: they often take root again as they lie 
upon the wet bottom. 
The ftalks are round, thick, flefiiy, of a pale 
green, and ten inches high. 
The leaves Hand in pairs, and have no foot- 
ftalk : they are broad, fhort, and lightly dcnt- 
ated at the edges. 
The fiowers are fmall, but very numerous, and 
of a beautiful blue: they fland in long fpikes 
which grow from the bofoms of the leaves ; the 
top of the ftalk being always terminated by a 
duller of young leaves, not by a fpike of flowers. 
The fced-veffel is fmall and heart-fafliioned: 
the feed minute and brown. 
It is frequent in fiiallow waters, and fiowers in 
June. 
C. Bauhine calls \t Anagallis aqiiatica folio fubro- 
tuttdo. He divides it into two fpecies, under 
the name of a greater and lefTer; but thefe are 
only accidental varieties. Others call it Veronica 
aquatica. 
1. Long-leaved Brcoklime, 
Becabun^a lorigifolia. 
The root is long, thick, and furnifhed with 
many fibres. 
The ftalk is round, very thick and flefhy, up- 
right, much branched, and a foot and half high. 
The leaves ftand in pairs : they are long, nar- 
row, and fcitdLcJ . Llicy have no footftalks, and 
are of a pale green. 
The flowers are fmall, and of a pale purple : 
they are very numerous, and ftand in long fpikes 
both on the main-ftalk and the branches. 
The feed-veflel is hcart-fafhioned, and the 
feeds are numerous and fmall. 
It is common in fliallow waters, and about the 
fides of ditches and rivers. It flowers from May 
to September. 
C. Bauhine calls it Anagallis aqmlica minor folio 
oblongo. Ray, Veronica nquatica hngifolia media, 
Parkinfon defcribes and figures it under the name 
ol the Lefftr water par/nip. 
3. Narrow-leaved Brookiime, 
Becahunga angufiifolia. 
The root confifts of a few long, flender fibres. 
The ftalk is round, thick, flefhy, and ten 
inches high, very little branched, and of a pale 
green. 
The leaves ftand in pairs ; tiiey are long, nar- 
row, and not at all fcrrated, (harp-pointed of a 
deep green, and without footftalks. 
The flowers are few in number, of a pale 
purple, often vsliite : they ftand on long, flender 
footftalks, and quickly fade. 
The feed veflel is heart-falhioned, broad, and 
flat. 
It is not uncommon in watery places about 
woods. It flowers in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it /InagaUt! a^uatka angufii- 
folia fcMelUta. J. Bauhine, Anagallis atigufiifolia. 
Thefe three fpecies have the fame virtues-, but 
the firft or common brooklime is pofieircd of thera 
in fo much greater a degree, that i: ought only 
to be ufed. 
It is an excellent antifcorbutick. Its juice, ta- 
ken in fpring, is one of the firft of that clafs wc 
ufually call fwcetcners of the blood. It may bs 
given either alone or mixed with the juice of 
water-crefs and of Seville orange. 
An infufion of the whole plant is an excellent 
diuretick. It alfo promotes the menfes ; and is 
good in the jaundice, and dropfies. 
A frelb and tender leaf of brooklime laid on a 
flight wound heals it without any other appli- 
cation. 
It is an old praftice to mix brooklime leaves and 
cobwebs for this purpofe; but the brooklime doci 
alone. 
A large quantity of this herb put into beer, 
while brewing, gives it the virtues of an anti- 
fcorbutick and fweetener of the blood in a very 
happy manner. 
A pukice of it, boiled tender, is exsellent in 
the piles. 
SERIES II. 
FOREIGN GENERA. 
GENUS I. 
TOBACCO. 
N 1 C O r I A N A. 
THE flower confifts of a fingle petal, which is tubular, divided into five fegments, and dif- 
tingmflied by five folds at the rim: the feedveflel is a fingle capfule,' of an oval figure, 
marked with a line on each fide : the cup is divided into five fegments, and remains with the fruit. 
Lninseus places this among the penta„dria momgynia ; the threads in each flower being five, and the 
ftyle nfing from the rudiment of the fruit fingle. 
* I. Broad- 
