448 
A Treatise on 
To C H A P. VL add 
Almonds. 
A MYGT) ALJE dulces and Amygdala amar^i 
Off. fweet and bitter Almonds of the Shops. 
Thefe are too well known to need Defcription. They 
ought to be chofen fmooth on the Outfide, and 
very white within ; for when they are wrinkled, and 
turning yellow, they are unfit for Ufe, being ftrong 
and rancid. They are the Kernels of a Fruit, fome- 
thing like a fmall Peach. The Trees to which the 
officinal Almonds belong are diftinguiffied, from 
the Tafle of the Kernel* into Am\gdalus dulcis , the 
Sweet Almond-tree, J.B. i. 174. And Amygdalus 
amara , the Bitter Almond-tree, C. B. P . 441. 
They grow in Barbary , Spain , Languedoc , and other 
warm Climates. 
Sweet Almonds are foftening, pedloral, and nu- 
tritive, but hard of Digeftion •, being apt to fluff 
up the Stomach, and, if not well chew’d, to pafs 
through the Inteftines unaltered. They are moftly 
given in Emulfions, in which Form they abate the 
Heat of the Humours, by obtunding their Acri- 
mony ; and are therefore thus prefcribed in ardent 
Fevers, Wakefulnefs, Heat of Urine, Inflamma- 
tions of the Kidneys and Bladder } Pains, Loofenef- 
fes, Dyfenteries, Hemorrhages, and fuch like Dif- 
orders. Emulfions prepared from them are like- 
wife very ferviceable to confumptive People, efpe- 
cially when inclined to fweat. 
The expreffed Oil efficacioufly foftens and relaxes 
the Fibres, and blunts the Acrimony of the Hu- 
mours. It is given in inflammatory Difeafes, in 
nephritick and colick Pains, in Dyfenteries, and 
Coughs ; as alfo againfl Prynefs or Coftivenefs of 
the 
