sharp, and rather prominent, edges, the base dilated, and sheathing, 
and frequently of a purplish colour. Scape ( flower-stalk ) rising 
2 or 3 feet above the water, bluntly 3-angled, naked, smooth, pa- 
nicled, with numerous, whorled, compound, spreading, bracteated 
branches and subdivisions. Bractcas short, several together, spear- 
shaped, membranous, brownish. Flowers terminating each branch 
or subdivision of the panicle, solitary, small. Calyx of 3, egg- 
shaped, somewhat pointed, concave, spreading, striated sepals, 
membranous at the margins. Corolla of 3, roundish, flat, spread- 
ing petals, ragged at the end, of a delicate pale purple, yellow at 
the base. Filaments very slender, slightly bending inwards, fixed 
to the receptacle. Fruit (fig. 5.) somewhat 3-cornered. Capsules 
(see fig. 5.) about 18, ranged side by side in a circle. Embryo (see 
fig. 7.) curved. The flowers are said to be fully expanded about 
four in the afternoon. When growing in deep or running water 
the leaves become lengthened out more or less, and then constitut- 
ing the varieties /3 and y of Sir J. E. Smith’s English Flora. In 
the latter, Sir James informs us, they are perfectly linear. 
This is one of our most common plants in and by the sides of 
ponds, rivers, watery ditches, &c. It “ has long enjoyed a not un- 
questioned reputation for its specific influence in the treatment of 
canine madness. Several cases have been published by Lewshin, 
Bukdacij, Moser, and others, in which it is asserted to have 
worked well-marked cures. Its root was administered in doses of 
two drachms and a half daily, and the leaves made into a poultice 
and applied to the wound. But notwithstanding these assurances, 
it is probable that the escape of the patients alluded to should be 
rather attributed to the well known casualty of the hydrophobic 
poison having been never introduced, than to the antilyssic virtues 
of Alisma. The powdered roots have been substituted for uva ursi 
with advantage in cases of irritable bladder, in doses of a drachm.” 
The tubers of this plant, as well as those of the sagiltaria (t. 109.), 
contain a good deal of amylaceous matter, and form a nutritious 
food. They are commonly eaten by the Kalmuc Tartars. See 
Burn. Outl. of Bot. p. 424. 
It is observed by Mr. Henry Turner, of the Bury Botanic 
Garden, that the circulation of the Sap in Plants may be as dis- 
tinctly traced in the Alisma Plantago, as in the C 'haras. See Mag. 
Nat. Hist. v. viii. p. 630. 
“ There is a spell in every flower, a sweetness in each spray, 
And every simple bird has power to please me with its lay. 
And there is music on the breeze that sports along the glade ; 
The crystal dew-drops on the trees are gems by fancy made. 
O, there is joy and happiness in every thing I see, 
Which bids my soul rise up and bless the God who blesses me.” 
Anon. 
