64 
NAT. ORDER. LILIACE^. 
pear from the great care he took of the seedling plants, preserving 
them through the winter in his bed chamber. According to Mr. 
Aiton, this species was introduced to the Royal Garden of Eng- 
land by Messrs. Kennedy and Lee, as long ago as the year 1753. 
This being a mountainous plant, it is found to be much more 
hardy than the Ligtu, and is generally treated as a green-house 
plant ; it is found, however, to flower and ripen its seeds better 
under the glass of. a hot-bed frame, where air is freely admitted. 
It flowers from June till October, and though a perennial, is gen- 
erally raised from seeds, yet may sometimes be increased by part- 
ing its roots, which somewhat resemble those of the Asparagus. 
The seeds should be sown in spring, in a pot of light earth, on a 
gentle hot-bed of rich soil. 
Medical Properties and Uses. The root of this plant, which is 
inodorous, and of a weak, sweetish taste, was formerly used in the 
southern part of France, as a diuretic, aperient, and purifier of 
the blood ; and it is stated to be still employed, not only there but 
in many parts of England. It is most generally given in the form 
of a decoction, made in the proportion of one or two ounces of 
the dried root to a quart of water. From experiments of more 
-modern practitioners, it appears that this medicine, operates pow- 
erfully on the kidneys, and in almost all cases where it has been 
administered, to increase the quantity of urine, which in some in- 
stances was quintupled. The most conveni^at forms for exhibition 
are those of sirup and extract, prepared from the roots. The 
former may be given in the dose of one or two fluid ounces, the 
latter, of half a drachm or a drachm. The best method of pre- 
paring the sirup is by adding a sufficient quantity of sugar to the 
expressed juice of the roots, previously deprived of its albumen 
by exposure to heat and by filtration. The extract is made by 
evaporating the same juice to the consistence of a pibular mass. 
This medicine has also been highly recommended as a remedy for 
diseased heart. 
1 
