148 A Treatise on 
Puberibus caitlem foliis , et flore comantem 
Pur pur eo. 
Neither is Pliny to be regarded, who follow- 
ing Diofccrides in his Miftake tells us, /. xxv. c. 53. 
that Dittany has no Flower, nor Seed, nor Stalk : 
Wherein he feems to contradict himfelf, having 
faid above from Theophraftus , that the Leaves only 
are ufed. And accordingly the Leaves are com- 
monly brought alone, the flowery Tops being very 
feldom imported with them. 
The Plant is called Origanum Creticum latifolium , 
tomentofum , feu Diblamnus Creticus, Infi. R. H. 199. 
Diblamnus Creticus , C. B. P. 222. It grows wild 
in the Clefts of Rocks in Candy , and Greece . 
It contains a large Quantity of eflential Oil, join- 
ed with a volatile Salt, as we may conjecture from 
its Smell and Tafte. 
Among the Ancients it is greatly commended 
for promoting the Exclufion of a dead Foetus, ex- 
pelling the Secundine, provoking the Menfes , cu- 
ring Wounds, and againft Poifons, and venomous 
Bites and Stings. Hippocrates , as Galen relates, 
among the Remedies he was acquainted with for 
helping forward the After-Birth, places Dittany in 
the firlt Rank. There goes an old Fable, that when 
Goats in Candy are wounded, they make the Dart 
fall from the Wound by browfing upon this Plant. 
It is given in Powder from gfs. to 3j. and infufed 
in Wine from f). to ^fs. to forward Delivery, and 
to expel a Mola or falfe Conception, a dead Foetus , 
or the After-Birth ; as alfo in malignant Fevers, 
and againft the Bites or Stings of poifonous Ani- 
mals. 
Artic. 
