A R T E 
2S. Artemifia fpicata, or fpiked wormwood : root-leaves 
biternate, (icm afcending, fpiked, flowers erect. Linnaeus 
made this only a variety of the foregoing, differing in hav- 
ng longer brandies, and in fome other circumftances ow¬ 
ing perhaps to fituation, But the leaves are much broader; 
the Items are like thole of the foregoing, but not branch¬ 
ing, fcarcely a long fpan in height. Native of the Alps 
of Switzerland, Auffria, Piedmont, and Dauphine. Thefe 
three forts of alpine wormwood are in great requeft among 
the inhabitants of the Alps, under the common name of 
gen ip i, for refforing a fupprefl'ed perfpiration, in pains of 
the fide, and in intermittent fevers. They are an itfeful 
medicine in cafes where ffrong diaphoretics are ferviceable, 
as in the rheumatifm, and in intermittent and catarrhal 
fevers; but are dangerous in the pleurify, though they are 
tifed indiferiminately by the peasants in all inflammatory 
diforders. 
III. Ereft, herbaceous, with compound leaves. 29. Ar- 
temifia anethifolia, or dill-leaved wormwood : leaves mul¬ 
tifid, very flenderly divided ; corymbs roundilh, nodding, 
one-ranked, loofely fpiked. Native of Siberia. 
30. Artemifia pontica, or Roman wormwood : leaves 
many-parted, tomentofe beneath ; flowers roundilh, nod¬ 
ding; receptacle naked. Root creeping ; Items one or two 
feet high, in gardens four feet; below fniootli, reddilh- 
brown ; above hoary, leafy, with many axillary branches, 
almoft upright. The whole plant has a pleafant aromatic 
fmell ; and is lefs bitter to the taffe than common worm¬ 
wood. Its bitternefs indeed is fo mixed with a kind of 
aromatic flavour as fcarcely to be dilagreeable. It appears 
to be more eligible than either common or lea wormwood 
as a ftomachic and corroborant; for which purpofe a con- 
ferve of the tops has been greatly recommended, and it is 
undoubtedly an elegant and uleful preparation. Mr. Miller 
fays, that it is now never ufed in any of our Ihops, though 
it might be had in as great plenty as lea wormwood, which 
is univerlally fubftituted for it, and is indeed ordered by 
tile London college, if it were cultivated by thole who fup- 
ply the markets with medicinal herbs. Native of Hungary, 
Germany, Auffria, Piedmont, &c. Cultivated in 1683, by 
Mr. James Sutherland. It flowers in September. 
31. Artemifia Auftriaca, or Auftrian wormwood : leaves 
many-parted, tomentofe, hoary; flowers oblong, nodding; 
receptacles naked. The whole plant is pleafantly and 
ffrongly aromatic, and the taffe very bitter. It differs 
from lea wormwood in the leaves being much lefs tomen- 
tofe and hoary, roundilh, not oblong. Native of Auffria. 
32. Artemifia annua, or annual wormwood: leaves three¬ 
fold pinnate, fmooth on both Tides; flowers fub-globofe, 
nodding; receptacle fmooth, conical. This is an annual 
plant, with an upright, round, ffreaked, fmooth, ffem, very 
ltraight, growing to eight feet in height, (with us feldom 
much more than two,) green when young, but becomes 
reddifh brown when old, and fomewhat woody at the bafe ; 
branches oblique, three-fold, alternate. Flowers pale yel¬ 
low, fmaller than a pepper-corn. The plant has a moll: 
agreeable fcent, which it retains a long time after it has 
been dried. Native of Siberia, and China near Pekin, 
whence Loureiro introduced it into Portugal, where the 
feeds produced plants ten feet in height. It was cultiva¬ 
ted in England by Mr. Miller, in 1759, an< ^ flowers in July 
and Auguff. Loureiro recommends the leaves and flowers 
in hedlic fevers, the dyfentery, and putrid ulcers. 
33. Artemifia tanacetifolia, or tanly-leaved wormwood: 
leaves bipinnate, underneath tomentofe fhining; pinnas 
tranfverfe, racemes fimple. Root perennial. Stems nume¬ 
rous, fimple, from fix inches to a foot in height. Native 
of Dauphine, Piedmont, and Siberia. It has no fenfible 
odour. On very high lituafions it is fometimes entirely 
tomentofe. 
34. Artemifia abfinthium, or common wormwood: leaves 
compound, multifid ; flowers fubglobofe, pendulous; re¬ 
ceptacle villofe. Common wormwood has a perennial 
branching root. Stems from a foot and a half to two feet 
and upwards in height, upright, grooved, whitilh, with a. 
M I S I A., 223 
very fliort knap, efpecially towards the top, branched, the 
branches making half a right angle with the fiem. Com¬ 
mon wormwood is found wild in almoft every part of Eu¬ 
rope, in rocky places, byroad (ides, among rubbilh, about 
farm-yards, See. flowering from July to October. The 
leaves and flowers are very bitter; the roots are warm 
and aromatic. A confiderable quantity of ellential oil rifes 
from it in diftillation. This oil is ufed both externally 
and internally to deftroy worms. The leaves put into four 
beer foon deftroy the afcefcency. They relift putrefaction, 
and are therefore a principal ingredient in antifeptic fo¬ 
mentations. An infufion of them is a good ftomachic, and, 
with the addition of fixed alkaline fait, a powerful diure¬ 
tic in fome droplical cafes. The afhes afford a more pure 
alkaline fait than moft other vegetables, excepting bean- 
ftalks, broom, and the larger trees. Linnaeus mentions two 
cafes, wherein an effence prepared from this plant, and ta¬ 
ken for a confiderable time, prevented the formation of 
(tones in the kidnies or bladder; the patients forbearing 
the ufe of wine and acids. It will, like other bitters, weak¬ 
en the aCtion of the nervous fyftem, but in thefe inftances 
no fuch effect took place. An infufion of it, given to a 
woman that fuckles, makes her milk bitter ; and it gives 
a bitternefs to the flefh of fheep that eat it. The plant 
lleeped in boiling water, and repeatedly applied to a bruife, 
will remove pain in a fliort time, and prevent the dwelling 
and dilcoloration of the part. Wormwood leaves give Out 
nearly the whole ot their fmell and taffe botli ty aqueous 
and fpirituous menftrua. The watery infufions, prepared 
without heat, are the lead: ungrateful. The quantity of the 
ellential oil, which conies over in diftillation, varies great¬ 
ly, according to the foil and feafon, ten pounds having 
afforded two ounces, and twenty pounds little more than 
011c. Wormwood as a ftomachic and corroborant has gi¬ 
ven place to bitters lefs unpleafant. A bitter however 
fufficiently elegant, of little or no particular flavour, may 
be obtained from it, either in a folid form, or in that of a 
watery or fpirituous folution. The fpirituous ex tract feems 
preferable as a vermifuge to the pure oil, as it contains, 
along with the oil, all the bitter matter of the herb. The 
roots, being moderately warm and aromatic, promife ty 
be applicable to fome ufeful purpofes. Their virtue re¬ 
sides in the bark. This powerful plant, though it appears 
in the lift of materia medica, is not admitted into any pre¬ 
paration in the London Pharmacopoeia. It is however 
more efficacious than either the (ea or Roman worm¬ 
wood, and may be had in quantity, in moft places, with¬ 
out cultivation; which recommends it much, moft plains 
in their wild date being abundantly (Longer, and more fit 
for medicinal purpofes, than when cultivated in a garden. 
Our common or broad-leaved wormwood is called in 
French abfinthe commune-, in Italian aJJ'enzio or abfmtio ; in 
Spanifh ajenjo or n/ozna; in Portuguese abfinthio or loj'na-, in 
German wennuth ; in Dutch al/em; in Svvedifli inaldrt ; in 
Danifti mcilurt ; and in Ruffian polin or glijlnik. 
35. Artemifia vulgaris, or mugwort: leaves pinnatifid, 
flat, gaftied, tomentofe underneath ; racemes fimple, re¬ 
curved ; ray five-flowered. Root perennial, creeping far. 
Mugwort is found wild over the greateft part of Europe, 
China, Japan, See. on the borders of fields and ditch banks, 
by way-(ides, in wafte places, and about farm-yards. It 
flowers with 11s in Auguff and September. Mugwort has 
been chiefly recommended for promoting the uterine eva¬ 
cuations, and abating hyfterie fpafins ; for which purpofes, 
infufions of it have been drunk as tea, and ufed as a bath. 
It appears to be one of the inildeft of the fubffances ufed 
in fuch intentions, and may perhaps be of fervice, where 
medicines of more adbivity would be improper. The flow¬ 
ery tops are corfiiderably (Longer than the leaves. In 
fome countries it is ufed as a culinary aromatic. A de¬ 
coction of it is taken by the common people to cure the 
ague. A dram ot the leaves powdered was given four 
times a day by Dr. Home, to a woman who had been af¬ 
fected with hyfterie fits for many years. The fits ceafed 
in a few days, In this patient affafeetida and tether had 
been 
