The BRITISH HERBAL. 
There is no part of LmnsEus's condudt that will in manys cafe bear lefs palliation than this. I 
have taken occafion thus far to explain here my reafons for differing from him, as the plant which is 
coming under confideration is in itfelf, and in its proper name, one of the moft ftriking inftanccs 
of this fault. 
Of this plant, diftingui(hed by its proper charaiSters, of which the extreme fmallnefs of the petals 
is the principal, there is but one fpecies. This is defcribed by the antients under the name/i^^m, and 
has virtues attributed to it with juftice which belong to no other plant in fo eminent a degree. This 
is a farther reafon for preferving its name, continuing it appropriated to the plant, and giving it to 
no other. 
Sciatica Crefs, 
Iberis. 
The root is long, flendcr, and furniilied with 
many fibres. 
The firft leaves are numerous, fmall, ob- 
long, and of a pale green. They rife in a thick 
tuft: they have no footftalks, but are narroweft 
at the bafe, and broadefl toward the end j and 
chey are indented at the edges. 
The itulk ib round, upright, and divided into 
many branches : it is of a pale green colour, and 
about ten inches high. 
The leaves oa the main flalk, toward its lower 
part, are oblong, broad, and fliarply ferrated, 
like thofe from the root i but thofe on the 
branches, and on the upper part of the ftalk, are 
narrow, and undivided at the edges, and of a 
paler green. 
The flowers (land in great numbers on the tops 
of the branches, and they are fmal! and white. 
The feed-velfel is fmall and broad, and the 
feeds are numerous and minute. 
It is frequent in the fouthern parts of Eng- 
land, though lefs common in other places. It 
ilowers in July. 
C. Bauhine calls it Iberis latiore folio. Others, 
Iberis. 
Diofcorides fpeaks with great carneflnefs of the 
virtues of this plant againft the fciatica ; and we 
read in other of the old Greeks, and in the Ro- 
mans who copied them, rhe moft furprifing ac- 
counts of its efficacy in the fame diforder. The 
manner in which they ufed it was this. 
They bruifed a great quantity of the root in a 
mortar, and mixed in with it hogs lard. This 
ointment they rubbed well in, not only on the 
hip, but alfoup the fide, and all down the thigh j 
and after this chey covered the pares with a vaft 
plaifler of it, fpread to a confiderable thicknefs; 
This application was fufFered to remain on four 
hours, or in tenderer bodies only three ; and in 
this time it adted as a finapifm, heating and in- 
flaming the flcin. 
It was then taken off; and the parts foftly an- 
ointed with oil and wine, and the perfon after- 
wards was put into a warm bath. Upon coming 
out, the part was wrapt round with a good thick- 
nefs of foft wool ; and this generally performed 
a cure at once. If any pain remained, or the dif- 
order threatened to return, the fame method was 
repeated at the end of three weeks. 
Our country. people in fome places ufe the 
bruifed herb for the fame purpofcs, and with 
great fuccefs ; but it is not fo much regarded as 
it deferves in the common courfe of praLtice. 
GENUS VJII. 
GOLD OF PLEASURE. 
AI r A G RU M. 
'TpHE flower is compofed of four petals, which open in a regular crofs direction : they are fmall 
roundifh, and obtiife at the ends, and they have very narrow bottoms. The cup is compofed of 
four little leaves ; they are oval, hollow, and Hand apart ; the whole cup is coloured, and falis with 
the flower: the feed-vefiel is fliort and fwelled, of a fomewhat heart-falhioned form, and terminated 
by a firm point. 
Linnsus places this among the tetradynamia filiculofa \ the flower having four longer and two Ihorter 
threads, and the feed-vcflel being a regular filicule. He alfo joins very properly under the fame name 
fcverai plants, improperly called by others fpecies of alyjfum; a genus of very different charader. 
DIVISION L BRITISH SPECIES. 
I. Common Myagrum. 
Myagrum vulgare. 
The root is long, fiender, white, and fur- 
niflied with many fibres. 
The ftalk is round, firm, upright, a foot and 
half high, and divided into a great number of 
branches. 
The leaves are numerous, and they are placed 
with an agreeable regularity from its bottom to 
its top : they are oblong, narrow, and of a pale 
green : they adhere to the ftalk by a broad bafe, 
and are from thence fmaller to the extremity, 
where they terminate in a point ; and they are 
fharply ferrated at the edges. 
The flowers ftand in little tufts at the tops of 
the branches, and are of a gold yellow. 
The feed-veffcls are fhorc and hard : the feeds 
are yellow. 
It is found in corn-fields in fomc parts of Eng- 
land, and flowers in July. 
C. Bauhine 
