little hollowed, and marked with 2 lines, leafy, branched, somewhat 
downy, down minute and bent back (recurved). Leaves opposite, 
on shcrt leaf-stalks, tapering from a heart-shaped (cordate) base 
into a broadish spear-shaped, blunt figure, w ith shallow" notches or 
teeth (serratuxes), a little wrinkled, veined, minutely hairy, paler 
underneath. Floral-leaves ( Bracteas ) two, very small, bristle- 
shaped, at the base of the Flower-stalk (Peduncle). Flowers axil- 
lary, in pairs, or solitary, on short peduncles, all leaning to one side 
of the stem or branches (unilateral), downy, the upper part varie- 
gated with shades of blue, the under nearly white, with light blue 
stripes, the n outh almost closed. Calyx hairy, furnished above 
with an arched scale. When the corolla falls off, the closed calyx 
and its lid become remarkable, somewhat resembling, in external 
appearance, a helmet with its crest, and characterize the genus 
beyond all uncertainty. 
Dr. Withering remarks, that when the blossom falls off, the 
calyx closes upon the seeds, which when ripe, being still smaller 
than the calyx, could not possibly open its mouth, or overcome 
its elastic force, and must consequently remain without a pos- 
sibility of escaping, did not Nature, ever fruitful of resources, find 
a method to discharge them. The calyx becoming dry, divides 
into two distinct parts ; when the seeds already detached from the 
receptacle, fall to the ground. 
Cows, goats, and sheep, are said to eat this plant ; horses and 
swine to refuse it. 
Scutelldria lateriflora, a North American plant, bears a great 
resemblance to this species, but it is more branched, the leaves are 
broader, more egg-shaped, and have longer footstalks, and the 
flowers are not solitary, or in pairs, as in S. galericulata, but are 
produced on racemes or bunches, from the axils of the leaves. 
This species (S. lateriflora) has been much celebrated in America 
as a remedy for preventing and curing Hydrophobia, and when 
properly and seasonably administered is seldom known to fail. 
Although the S. lateriflora and S. galericulata so nearly resemble 
each other, in external appearance, yet the latter is said to possess 
none of the virtues of the former, and a mistake of taking one for 
the other has sometimes produced fatal effects. See “ A History of 
the introduction and use of Scutellaria lateriflora, ( skull-cap ,) as a 
remedy for preventing and curing Hydrophoeia, occasioned by 
the bite of Rabid Animals ; with cases, accompanied with a plate 
of the plant. By Lyman Spalding, M. D.” Printed at New 
York, 1819. 
“ Then names are good, for how, without their aid 
Is knowledge gained by man. to man conveyed 1 
But from that source, shall all our pleasure flow ? 
Shall ail our knowledge he, these names to know 1 
Then he with memory hlest, shall bear away 
The palm front Gm w, and Middleton, and Hay : 
No ! let us rather seek in grove and field. 
What food for wonder, what for use they yield ; 
Some just remark, from Nature’s people bring, 
And some new source of homage for iter King.” — C rabbe. 
