274 
The BRITISH HERBAL. 
ftanding fome upright, and others fpreading out 
obliquely. 
Among thefe rife ftalks, which, when they have 
grown to two or three inches, droop at the ends, 
and touching the mud, take root again, fending up 
tliere new tufts of leaves like the firft. By this 
nieans^the plant fpreads itfclf every way, and in a 
little time covers a great (pace of the bottom. 
The leaves and ftalks are of a pale green colour, 
afljd foft fubftance : the leaves are rounded at the 
back, and flat at the front-fide, and are ftuffed 
with a teiider pithy matter, as ruflies are. 
The ftalks which fupport the flowers rife to four 
inchts in height; and are weak, flendcr, and 
ftufFcd with a pith like' the leaves. 
The flowers are very final!, and of a greenlfh 
white. 
The feed-veficls are ovai, and full of fmalj 
brown feeds. 
It grows at the bottoms of rivers in the north 
of England, and flo- ,.-is in July. 
Ray calls it oiihularia r .yens folio minus rigido. 
The virtues ol ihcfe plants are altogether un- 
known. 
SERIES 11. 
Thofe of which there is no Ipecies native of this country. 
G E N U S I. 
J L r s s u M. 
b.- 
fTpHE flower is compofed of four petals fpreading crofs-ways: they are fmall, and open wide; 
and they have very rtiort and (lender bottoms. The cup is oblong, and is formed of four iictle' 
leaves : thefe are of an oblong oval fhape, and obtufe at the ends : they converge at the points,- and 
fall with the flower. Ths fecd-veffcl is roundifli, and has a flender point of confiderable length rifing 
from its end : the feeds are oval and comprcfl'ed. It is fingular in this plant, that the two fhorter 
threads in the flower are notched on the infide toward the bafc, or have in that part a little jagg ftand- 
ing inward. 
Linn3:'us places this among the telradynamia fiUculofa \ the flower having four longer and two 
fhorter threads, and the feed-veflel being a regular filicule. The fpecies of it have been treated of by 
fome authors in an irregular and indeterminate manner, and many of them called by other names. 
1, The Alyfllim of the Antlents. 
. ■ . . . Myjfum aniiqiiorum. 
The root is flender, long, and divided into 
fibres at the bottom. 
The firft leaves grow in an irregular manner, 
fume upright, fome leaning, and fome lying al- 
together on the ground : they are long, narrow, 
and of a whitilh green : they have no footftalks, 
they are hairy, and they are irregularly Cnuated 
at the edges, and obtufe at the ends. 
The ft:alk is round, upright, not much 
branched, and a foot and half high. 
■ The leaves ftand irregularly on this,- and re- 
femble thofe from the root: they are oblong, 
narrow, hairy, and without footftalks: they are 
in the fame manner as the others, finuated at the 
edges ; but they are fliarper at the point. 
The flowers grow at the tops of the branches 
feveral together, and are fmall and inconfiderable. 
, Tl\e (eed-veflTels are very large and confpi- 
CLious : t]?,ey are of an oval figi;re, flatted, and 
terminated by a point, and they much refemblc 
tlie pods of honefty, but that they are of a firmer 
fubftance, and z:q hairy. 
The feeds are large and brown. 
It is frequent about the vineyards of Italy, and 
flowers in- Auguft. 
C. Bauhine calls it Leticoimn alyjfoides clypeatum 
' majus. Dodonsus, Aly^on Diofcoridis, 
The antients celebrate this plant extremely for 
virtues which would be of the greateft import- 
ance, il v;tll eftabiilhcd. They fay it will cute 
the madnefs occafioncd by the bite of a mad dog. 
The frefh leaves are to be bruifcd, and given lor 
this purpofe. They affirm, the fame manner of 
giving them mixed with the food, will cure 
dogs that are going mad, or prevent their goino- 
fo after the bite. This is afl*erted by authors in 
moll things worthy credit ; and it is worth while 
to try whether it be (rue : fince, if it prove fo, it 
will turnifli us a remedy for the moft terrible dif- 
order to which human nature is fubjeift, and fur 
which (with due rcf[ eift to the great name of Dr. 
Mead be it fpoken) no cure is yet known. 
Its lelTer virtues are not inconfiderable. Dio- 
fcorides fays it cures the hiccough immediately, 
and others recommend it againfl: convulfions in 
children. The plant grows readily from feed 
with us, and it well dtlerves a trial. 
2. Yellow Alyfllim with fwoJn capfuies. 
j^lyjfum jiorc fla-vo fillcuUs injiatis. 
The root is long and thick, and fpreads ac 
the bottom into many fibres. 
The firft leaves rile without footftalks, and 
ftand in a Utde tuft : they are oblong, narrow, 
and of a dufky green, not at all indented at the 
edges, but lliarp-poiiiCed. 
The ftalk is round, upright, and branched, and 
is a foot and a hall high. 
7 The 
