DERIVATIONS OF THE LATIN NAMES OF PLANTS. 
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upper half very fine, whitish, semi-transparent, fixed to the centre of the broad 
top of the opake woody part, which is encompassed with very minute teeth 
(pi. 24, c.). The anthers are purple, giving a cast of colouring to the panicle. 
Ajuga .—Said to be an alteration of abigo, to expel or drive away. The Latins 
attributed emmenagogue qualities to a plant called Ajuga , which is believed to be 
our Teucrium chamcedrys. 
Ajuga reptans , Common Bugle, Sickle-wort, Herb Carpenter.—This plant 
has been considered by the old writers as an excellent vulnerary, both internally 
and externally; hence the French had this expression :— u Those who have Bugle 
and Sanicle need no surgeon.” The Rev. R. Walker observes, in his Flora of 
Oxfordshire, that almost any other leaf would probably answer the same purpose 
of excluding the air, and healing a wound, by what surgeons call the first inten¬ 
tion. It is numbered amongst cooling and gently astringent vegetables, but its 
virtues are as yet but slightly ascertained. In sore throats, without much 
constitutional derangement,it is said to be a specific; and some foreign physicians 
of eminence have recommended a decoction of it in the quinsy. A white variety 
abounds in the Isle of Wight, and a flesh-coloured one has sometimes been 
observed. In dry mountainous situations the plant acquires a considerable degree 
of hairiness. The English name Bugle appears to be a corruption of bugula, a 
contractive diminutive of buglossum, which the plant resembles in medical 
qualities. 
Ajuga Chamoepitys, Yellow Bugle, Ground Pine.'—This plant has a degree of 
bitterness and acrimony, but its real use is far from being accurately ascertained. 
It stands recommended in the gout, jaundice, and intermitting fevers. 
Alchemilla .—Named from the Arabic alkemelyeh, Alchemy, from its pretended 
alchemical virtues. 
Alchemilla vulgaris. Common Lady’s-mantle. —Loudon observes that it is 
readily eaten by Horses, Sheep, and Goats, and is considered a good herbage- 
plant where it abounds in upland pastures. The foregoing statement, however, 
does not accord very well with the following from Withering. The Rev. S. 
Dickenson gives the ensuing curious account of its pernicious effects on Cows :— 
“ Being lately on a visit at Somerford, the Hon. E. Moncton requested me to 
examine the herbage of a meadow near the river Penk, in which he had the 
misfortune, a few years ago, to have five milking Cows die suddenly at once, and 
several more were with difficulty recovered. The symptoms of the disease, 
which he attributed to some noxious plant, were irremediable obstruction in the 
bowels. Upon examination, I found a very unusual abundance of Alchemilla 
vulgaris in every part of the field; and am inclined to believe this plant the 
cause of the fatality, as it is known to be of a very astringent quality. It was 
the aftermath the herd depastured; and the survivors, upon being introduced 
