c o c 
anatomy, that part of the ear which turns fplrally round 
a nucleus. 
COCHLEA'RE, f. [from cochlea, a cockle, whofe fhell 
its bowl reprefents.]- A meafure for fluids, ufed by apo¬ 
thecaries in making up prefcriptions, but not very judi- 
cioufly, becaufe not very accurately. Blanchard has 
thus determined its contents : the greateft contains four 
drachms, the fecond a drachm and a half, the fmaller one 
a drachm, and'the leafthalf a drachm. 
COCHLEA'RIA, f. [from the form of the leaves, 
which being flightly hollowed, referable an old-fathioned 
fpoon.] In botany, a genus of the clafs tetradynamia, 
ordeh filiculofa, natural order of filiquofe, or cruciformes. 
The generic charabters are—Calyx: perianthium four¬ 
leaved ; leaflets ovate, concave, gaping, deciduous. Co¬ 
rolla: four-petalled, cruciform; petals obovate, fpread- 
ing, twice the fize of the calyx ; claws narrow, thorter 
than the calyx-, patulous. Stamina: filaments fix, tabu¬ 
late, length of the calyx, the oppofite ones fhorter; an- 
therae obtufe, comprefled. Piftillum : germ heart-fhaped; 
ftyle fimple, very fliort, permanent; ftigma obtufe. Peri- 
carpium : filicle heart-fliaped, gibbous, turgid, emargi- 
nate, furnished with a flyle, two-ceiled, fcabrous; valves 
gibbous, obtufe.- Seeds: about four in each cell.— EJjen- 
tial Character. Silicle emarginate, turgid,-fcabrous; valves 
gibbous, obtuie. 
Species, i. Cochlearia officinalis, or common fcurvy- 
grafs: root-leaves cordate-roundilh; Item-leaves oblong, 
a little fmuate. Root perennial;- Item angular, branch¬ 
ing; root-leaves kidney-fhaped, entire, veined, fmooth, 
fielliy, obtufe, with feven callous obfcure crenules, fome- 
times flightly angular, on long petioles; Item leaves ob¬ 
long, fellile, or clafping, the lower ones fometimes on 
broad petioles, deep green, flightly toothed, or with a few 
large angular dents on the edges ; petals fleffiy, clear white 
with greenilh claws ; filicles oval, gibbous, fmooth, either 
not emarginate or fcarcely fenfibly fo, on long flender pe¬ 
duncles, lpreading and fometimes bent back; partition 
double, in each cell four rough feeds. Found on the fea- 
fliores of the north of Europe ; alio on mountains, With 
xis, on the coaft of Norfolk, near Lynn and Yarmouth ; 
near Hull, Bofton, Whapload, Holbeach ; in Cornwall, 
Cumberland, Lancafliire, Wales; and at a great difiance 
from the tea near Caftleton in Derbyfliire; Penigent, In- 
gleborough, and Stanemore, in Yorkfliire; near Settle, on 
the highlands of Scotland; and mountains of Wales. 
Common feurvy-grafs has long been held in very high 
eftimation as an a,ntil'corbutic and purifier of the blood. 
It has a fomewhat unpleafant i'mell, and a warm bitter 
tafte. Its ablive matter is extrabfed by maceration both 
in watery and fpirituous menftrua, and accompanies the 
juice obtained by expreffion. The mod confiderable part 
of it is of a very volatile kind ; the peculiar penetrating 
pungency totally exhaling in the drying of the herb, and 
in the evaporation of the liquors. Its principal virtue 
refides in an eflential oil, leparable in a very fmall quan¬ 
tity by diftillation with water. Scurvy-grafs is antifep- 
tic, attenuant, aperient, and diuretic ; and is laid to'open 
obftrublions of the vifcera and remoter -glands, without 
heating or irritating the lyftem. It has been long corifi- 
dered as the mod effectual of all the antifcoi butic plants, 
of which we have the tefiimonies of the mod celebrated 
phyfieians, and it has been obferved that it naturally 
grows moll in thofe high latitudes where the feurvy is 
jnoft prevalent. In rheumatic pains of long continuance, 
accompanied with fever, this plant, combined with arum 
and wood-forrel, is highly commended by Sydenham and 
Lewis. A remarkably volatile and pungent fpirit, pre¬ 
pared from this herb, and called fpiritus antijcorbuticu's, 
was found by Werlhof to be a ufeful remedy in palfy and 
other diforders requiring an ablive flimulant, given in 
the dofe of thirty drops feveral times a-day ; but no pre¬ 
paration feems fo beneficial by way of an antifcorbutic 
as the frelh plant eaten as a lalad, or its expreffed juice 
drunk. If the green herb be irifufed in ale or beer, and 
C O C 731 
put into a bottle well corked, it will communicate to it 
all its antifcoibutic virtue or volatile fpirit in three or 
four days time. Mr. Ray, from his own experience, re¬ 
commends this ale to Inch as are troubled- with the (curvy, 
to be taken for their ordinary drink. He fays that it is 
not fo good if the feurvy-grafs has been long infufed in 
it; for thereby the earthy and fixed parts are forced from 
the herb, and communicated to the ale, and the volatile 
parts either fly away, or, being jumbled with the more 
fixed parts, lofe a great deal of their virtue. The juice 
of fcurvy-grals with the bruifed herb applied to the face 
has been recommended as a cofmetic, and fliould be af¬ 
terwards wafhed off with a decoition of bran. 
2. Cochlearia.Danica, or Danifh feurvy-grafs: leaves 
haftate-angular, all deltoid. Lightfoot obfei ves-that the 
root-leaves are often rounded, as in the preceding, but 
they are fmaller; the ftalks are weak, and commonly trail 
upon the ground; the Item-leaves are ha ft a be', with an 
angle or dent on-each fide near the bale,''and ftand on 
fliort peduncles. He is difpofed to confider this only as a 
variety, having obferved the limits between it and the 
officinalis to vanifli infenfibly into one another. Found 
on the fea-coafts of Denmark; Sweden, and Britain, Port¬ 
land, and about Plymouth; at Wells in. Norfolk; ifle of 
Walney, Lancafliire; near Llanbadrick-church, Angle- 
fea; and in Scotland. 
3. Cochlearia Anglica,or Englifh or fea feurvy-grafs: all 
the leaves ovate-lanceolate. Leaves fticciilent, often red- 
difh, many having no finufes, but only fuch an angle as 
Linnaeus deferibes. Ray affirms that even the lowed: leaves 
are angular or indented. Hudfon doubts whether this aifo 
may not be a variety of the firft fort. Woodward thinks 
it to be out of all doubt diftinbt ; and affirms, that at 
Yarmouth, where it grows abundantly, and eifewbere, it 
never appears to vary : Miller fays that it flowers later 
in the feafon. Grows on the fea-co.alt in muddy foils ; 
brims of the river Thames; Portfmouth, Briftol, &c. the 
falt-marfhes of Kent and Effex ; ifle of Wight; King’s 
Wefton ; rocks of Inch Columb, &c. 
4. Cochlearia Groenlandica, or Greenland feurvy-grafs s 
leaves kidney-form, entire, flefliy. Root-leaves very (mall, 
underneath very convex and flefliy, veinlefs, very entire, 
on long petioles. Stem-leaves haftate, angular, on fliort 
petioles. Not above two inches high. Only a flarved 
variety of the firft fort. Grows on the fea-coafts of Muf- 
covy and Davis’s Straits; alfo on the mountains of Caer¬ 
narvonshire, about Llanberys ; near Settle ; on the high¬ 
lands, and in the Orkneys. Thefe three are faid to be 
biennial plants; whereas the firft, or common feurvy- 
grafs, is perennial. This feems fcarcely probable. 
5. Cochlearia coronopus, or wild feurvy-grafs, or 
fwine’s-crefs: leaves pinnatifid, ftem deprelied. This 
fpecies is found bv road-fides, on rubbifh, dunghills, &c. 
Annual; flowering from June to Augult. It is acrid, and 
taftes like garden-crefs. The alhes were an ingredient in 
Mrs. Stephens’s once-celebrated medicine for the done. 
6. Cochlearia armoracia, or horfe-radifh: root-leaves 
lanceolate, crenate ; Item-leaves gaflfed. Root perennialj 
creeping. Leaves very large, varying much, lometimes 
deeply pinnatifid, fometime entire, and only crenated. 
Flowering-ftem a foot or eighteen inches high, branching 
at top, almoft naked. Flowers white, in loole panicles. 
Found on the fides of ditches, among rubbilh, and in 
paftures ; flowering in May. 
Horfe-radifh is pofleffed of a volatile and pungent qua¬ 
lity, which flies off in drying. Tt impregnates both wa¬ 
ter and fpirit, by infufion or diftillation, very richly with 
its active matter. Horfe-radilh is a moderate, ftinnilating, 
aperient, and antileptic, medicine; it fenfibly promotes 
perfpiration, urine, and the expebloration ot vifcid 
phlegm, and excites appetite when the ltomach is weak¬ 
ened or relaxed. It is principally ufed in paralytic and 
rheumatic complaints, in fcurvies and impurities ot the 
humours, in cacheblic diforders, and in dropfies, parti¬ 
cularly thole which follow intermitting fevers. Taken in 
confiderable 
