( 1 96 ) 
different Plants to which that Virtue is afcribed, the 
Name of Contrayerva feems to have been given by 
the Spaniards to as many of them as have come un- 
der their Knowledge ; for Hernandez has defcribed a 
Species of Granadilla by that Name, and there are: 
feveral other Roots that are commonly known by it : 
But far from pretending to give a Hiftory of all thofe 
Roots, I only offer a fhort Account of that Plant 
whofe Root is called Contrayerva here in England , 
and is fo well known to all that any way deal in Me* 
dicines. 
The Root itfelf being fo commonly known, it would 
be fuperfluous to defcribe it, I fhall therefore confine 
myfelf to the Defcription of the Plant that produces 
it, which I have not hitherto met with to my Satis- 
faction in any Author. 
Father Plumier, in his Book entituled, Nova Plan- 
tarum Americanarum Genera , defcribes a Genus 
which he calls Dorjlenia , whereof I have found two 
Species in the Wejl -Indies , the Roots of which are 
gathered and exported indifferently, as being very 
much alike, both in Appearance and Virtues. One 0^ 
thefe' I think may be called 
Dorjlenia ,Dentari<e r . radices Sphondylii folio , 
placenta ovali, Fig 7 . And the other 
Dorjtenia Dent art# radices folio minus lac'miato, 
placenta qmdrangulari & undul at a, Fig. II. 
The firfl Kind feems to be the fuzpdflDoi 
Hernandez, pag. 147. Its Roots, which ate._$e- 
rennial, put forth in the Month of May ( or as 
foon 
