D R A 
51 
iflore for die fake of variety tlian for beauty ; for, except 
the fifth fort, there is not any of them which make much 
appearance ; that indeed may be buffered to have a place 
again!! the wall of the ftove, over which it will fpread, 
and cover the nakednefs of the wall ; and the leaves, 
which are fo remarkably perforated, remaining all the 
year, make a Angular appearance. 
All the other forts of dragon being tender plants, will 
not live in this country, unlefs they are preferved in the 
warmed doves 5 the feveral American forts grow natu¬ 
rally in the woods in Jamaica, and other hot parts of 
America ; the climbing forts twill themfelves round the 
trunks of trees, into which they fallen their roots, which 
art fent forth from their joints, and rife to the height of 
thirty or forty feet. Thefe climbing forts are eafily pro¬ 
pagated by cutting 0 , which, being very fucculent, may 
be brought over to England in a box of dry hay, if they 
are packed up feparate, fo as not to injure each other by 
the moifture, which is apt to flow out at the part where 
they are cut off, which may ocCafion a fermentation, and 
thereby rot the cuttings. When the'cuttings arrive, they 
fhould be planted in fmall pots filled with light frefh 
earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanner’s bark, being- 
very careful not to let them have too much moilture'un- 
til they haye taken root, left it rot them : when they have 
taken root, they mull be frequently refrefhed with water ; 
and when they are grown pretty large, they fhould be 
placed in the bark-bed in the ftove, where they mull be 
placed near forne ftrong plants, to which they may fallen 
themfelves, other wife they will not thrive ; for though 
they will fend forth roots at their joints, which will fallen 
to the mortar of the ftove, when placed againft the wall, 
yet they will not thrive near fo well as againft a ftrong 
plant, which will afford them nourilhment. 
The other forts are propagated by offsets from .their 
roots; thefe maybe procured from the countries of their 
growth, and fhould be planted in tubs of earth, about a 
month before they are put on-board the fhip to tranfport 
them ; thefe tubs fhould be placed in a fhady fituation 
until they have taken root. In their paffage, great care 
fhould be had to keep them from fait water, as alfo not 
to let them have too much water given them ; for if they 
have a little water once or twice a-week while they are 
in a hot climate, and when they are come into a cooler 
climate once in a-fortnight, this will be fufficient for 
them ; and it fhould be done fparingly, left it rot them ; 
for if the tops of the plants fhould decay for want of 
water in their paffage, if the roots are not rotted, they 
will foon recover with proper care. Thefe plants will 
rife to the height of three, four, or five, feet, and will af¬ 
ford a very agreeable variety amongft other tender exotic 
plants in the ftove. See Arum and Pothos. 
DRACUNCULO'IDES, f. in botany. See Hteman- 
thus. 
DRACUN'CULUS, f. in botany. See Achillea, 
Artemisia, Arum Calla, Pothos, and Rudbeckia. 
DRACUN'CULUS,y] [from S'camny, Gr. a ferpent.J 
The Guinea Worm, called alio Jolitary worm. The 
Arabians call it Medinenjis , or viedena vena. They ftyled 
it vena, becaufe they doubted its being a living animal, 
and Medinenjis, from the frequency of its appearance at 
Medina. Hence Avicenna treats of it among abfceffes. 
Dr. Frend fays, that Hitius is the firft who gives an ac¬ 
count of thefe worms; but Plutarch quotes Agathar- 
chides for an account of them, who wrote long before 
,/Etius. Plutarch calls them opaaoma pwxps;. T hey are 
common in both the Indies, in mod parts of Africa, par¬ 
ticularly in Guinea, from which they derived their tri¬ 
vial name ; in Svvifferland, Genoa, and many other hot 
countries. It is the Jilaria medinenjis of Gmelin’s Lin- 
nseus. See Filaria. This worm is commonly found 
in the legs, but fometimes it is in the mufcular part of 
the arms. While they move under tire Ikin they create 
no trouble 5 bpt in length of time the place near the dra- 
cuncuius fuppurates, and the animal puts forth its head, 
j 
D R A 
If it be drawn, it excites confiderable uneafinefs, efpeci- 
ally if drawn fo forcibly as to break it; for the part left 
within creates intolerable pain. PEtius, ii. c. 85. Paulus 
.ZEgineta mentions them as being always feated in the 
mufcular parts of the thighs, legs, and arms; and he 
fays, that fometimes they are met with in the fides of 
children. In the fij^th volume of the Edinburgh Medi¬ 
cal Effays, mention is made of one that was three yards 
and a half in length. In fome inftances, belides the pain 
which it occafions, a fever is alfo a confequence. Thefe 
worms are fain to be frequent in the morning dew, from 
whence they enter the naked feet of the negroes, and bury 
themfelves under the cuticle. 
Dr. Towne, in his Treatife on the Difeafes of the Weft 
Indies, deferibes this worm as being long, white, round, 
and refembling fmall round bobbing. This defcription 
is juft. Nothing need be done until a tumor comes on ; 
and then the bell method is to promote fnppuration : as 
foon as the tumor isopen, the head of the worm appears, 
which, being tied by a thread, may be fecured on a roll 
of linen fpread with (ticking-plaifter, and as the worm ap¬ 
pears, it may be rolled round this linen, until the whole 
is extradled; after which, the treatment will be only as 
in common cafes. During the time that this worm is 
coming out, the greatell care is neceffary that it may 
not be broken, for the confequence of fuch an accident 
are tedious ulcers in the w hole length of that part which 
is poffeffed of the remaining worm. A daily ufe of aloes, 
or of any other anthelmintic, is convenient, during the 
extraction of the worm, as fuch means are obferved to 
haften its expulfion. Dr. Ifert, phyfician-general to the 
Danifh fettlement in Africa, on his return from the Pi- 
ton mountains, found his ancle very much fwelled and 
inflamed; and, on examination, difeovered that it was 
occafioned by a dracunculus, which lie gradually ex¬ 
tracted: it was near five feet in length, and about the 
thicknefs of a ftraw. He imagines that he brought it 
from Guinea; and if fo, he muft have had it for eight 
months about him before it produced any inconvenience. 
See his Voyage to Guinea, Dordt, 1790. 
DRA'CUT, a townlhip of the American States, in the 
northernmoft part of Middlefex county, on the bank of 
Merrimack river, oppofite Patucket falls : thirty miles 
north by weft of Bolton, and twenty-eight fouth-weft of 
Exeter, in New Hampfhire. 
DR AD, adj. [for dread, or the part. paff. of To dread.] 
Terrible; formidable; dreaded: 
Th’ utmoft fand-breach they fhortly fetch, 
Whilft the drad danger does behind remain. Spenfer. 
DRAFF, f. [bpop, Sax. dirty; draff, Dut. the fedi- 
mentofale.] Refufe ; lees; dregs: properly fomething 
fluid.—You would think I had a hundred.and fifty tat¬ 
tered prodigals lately come from fwinekeeping, from eat¬ 
ing draff and hulks. Shakejpearc. 
’Twere fimple fury, Hill thyfelf to wafte 
On fuch as have no fade ; 
To offer them a furfeit of pure bread 
Whofe appetite is dead ! 
No, give them grains their fill ; 
Hulks, draff, to drink and fwill. Ben Jonfon. 
Refufe ; fweepings. Perhaps improper.—Younger bro- 
tliers but the draff of nature. Dryden. 
DRAF'FY, adj. Worthlefs; dreggy. 
DRAFT, adj. [corrupt for draught .] Employed to 
draw.—Ulyffes and old Neftor yoke you like drajt oxen, 
and make you plough up the wair. ShakeJ'peare. 
DRAFT, f. An order in writing to receive money. 
See Bill of Exchange, vol. iii. p. 29. 
7 b DRAG, v. a. [bjiagan, Sax.] To pull along the 
ground by main force ; to draw heavily along : 
Such his afpeCl", when, foil’d with bloody dull, 
Dragg'd by the cords which thro* hi$ feet were thruft. 
Denham. 
T® 
