U8 L Y T 
deep pits ; the largeft of which is faid to be unfathomable, 
but has a fubterraneous paiTage with the Kent-river s the 
water from thefe pits runs through Thorpel-bridge. 
LY'TPIE CHAP'EL, a village in Suffex, north-weft of 
Stedham. 
LYTHRO'DES, f. [from hv6pov, Gr. coagulated blood, 
which is the appearance of frefh-broken fpecimens of this 
mineral.] A new genus and fpeciesof mineral, difcovered 
by D. L. G. Karften, at Fridrichfworn in Norway, and de- 
fcribed by him inthe GefellfchaftNaturforfchenderfreunde 
zu Berlin Magazin, 1810. The following are its charac¬ 
ters—Colour : aurora red, palling into brownilb red, and 
in feme fpecimens through flelh red into yellowilh brown 
and pale brown, here and there with cream, yellow, and 
greenilh, fpots. External afpeft: tnaftive and diifemi- 
riated. Luftre: in the principal fracture, refinous and 
glimmering; in the crofs fraflure, without luft-re. Frac¬ 
ture: palling from uneven to fplintery ; but the texture 
concealed foliated with feveral cleavages, which were only 
afeertained after having examined a number of fpecimens. 
It is opake, or at molt llightly tranllucent on the edges; 
pretty ealily frangible. Specific gravity, 2-510. Not par¬ 
ticularly heavy. According to an analyfis of this ioftil 
performed by Dr. John, its conftituents are as follows: 
Silica 
Alumina 
Lime 
Soda 
Water 
Oxyd of iron 
Lots 
There is no other mineral which poflefles the characters 
and yields the fame cortftituents as this, among which the 
proportions of foda and water are the molt remarkable. 
Some of the varieties of this mineral, where two of the 
plates that occalion the concealed foliated fra flu re are let 
perpendicularly upon each other, may be miftaken for a 
fpecies of felfpar ; but a clofer infpeCtion, together with 
the confideration of its conftituents, will undeceive us. 
When lythrodes exhibits fmall fplendant particles, it con¬ 
tains labrador felfpar mixed with it. The other fub- 
llances occafionally mixed with this mineral are black 
hornblende, white analeime, and dark brown zircon. 
LY'THRUM, J. [Taipon, Gr. gore; from the purple 
colour of the flower.] Willow-here; in botany, a genus 
of the clafs dodecandria, order monogynia, natural order 
of calycanthemse, (falicarite, Ji/Jf.) The generic characters 
are—Calyx: perianthium one-ieafed, cylindric, ftriated ; 
with twelve teeth, alternately fmaller. Corolla: petals 
fix, oblong, bluntilh, fpreading, with the claws inferted 
into the teeth of the calyx. Stamina: filaments twelve, 
filiform, the length of the calyx; the upper ones.lhorter 
than the lower; antherse Ample, riling. Piftillum : germ 
oblong; Ityle awl-lhaped, the length of the flamens, de¬ 
clined ; ftigma orbiculate, rifing. Pericarpium : capfule 
oblong, acuminate, Itraight, two-celled, or one-celled. 
Seeds : numerous, fmall.— EJ'cntial Charatter. Calyx 
twelve-toothed : petals fix, inferted into the calyx; cap- 
iule two-celled, many-needed. 
Species, i. Lythrum falicaria, common or purple wil¬ 
low-herb : leaves oppolite, cordate-lanceolate; flowers in 
fpikes, twelve-ftamened. Root perennial, thick, branched, 
fomewhat woody, widely extended. Stem from two or 
three to four or fix feet high, upright, tinged with red, 
below fmocth and four-cornered, above pubefeent and 
five-cornered ; corners lliarp, membranaceous, rugged. 
Leaves feffile, embracing, about three inches long, fmpoth 
above, underneath flightly downy. Flowers in cl alters-, 
placed at a little diftance from each other, in the axil, of 
the leaves, each confuting of about eight flowers, together 
forming a long leafy fpike; corolla red purple. Scopoli 
remarks that there are eighteen flowers in a whorl, that the 
calyxes are felhle and ten-cornered, the capfule brown, 
le parable from the calyx, and two-celled or three-celled, 
the feeds wedge-lhaped .and rufefeent, and that the whole 
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plant becomes red as it advances in age. Krocker ob» 
ferves, that the calyx is not green, but white, with twelve 
red ftreaks, that the petals are waved, and that the ftamens 
vary in number from fix to twelve. Native of molt parts 
of Europe, in marlhes, and on the banks of rivers, ponds, 
and ditches, which it ornaments with its beautiful fpikes 
of purple flowers. Thunberg alfo found it in Japan, and 
remarks that it is entirely fmooth there. It flowers late 
in thefuminer; Linnatus fays,with Hypericum perforatum, 
or common St. John’s wort. It Is aftringent, and is re¬ 
commended by De Haen and feveral other foreign phvfi- 
cians in long-protracted diarrhoeas and dyfenteries. " A 
decoCtion or the exprefled juice is given from one to three 
ounces. When dried and powdered, it imbibes a great 
quantity of water before it lofes its glutinofity. It has 
been uled with fuccefs in tanning leather. It feems ge¬ 
nerally to remain untouched by cattle ; Schreber however 
affirms, that they feed on it. In Englifli it is named pur- 
ple-fpiked willow-herb, or loofefmfe, to diftihgui.lh it from 
Lyfimachia, the common yellow loofeftrife or willow- 
herb; and from Epilobium, which is alfo called willow- 
herb. In German, braune weiderich, rother weiderich, pur pur 
weiderich, weidenhraut, blutkraut, blatter fuchjfchwanz ; in 
Dutch, partyke ; in French, falicaire, lijimaque rouge-, in 
Ruffian, plakun. 
There are feveral varieties of this handfome plant. 
One of thefe ( 3 , is made a diftinft fpecies by Mr. Miller. 
The ltalks are upright and branching, three feet high. 
Leaves cordate-ovate, an inch long, and three quarters’ of 
an inch broad, downy, and placed by threes. Flowers in- 
long fpikes, difpofed in thick whorls, with fpaces between 
each ; they are of a fine purple colour-. It is Salicaria 
purpurea foliis fubrotundis, ’Tournef. lnjl. 253. It is a 
fmaller plant than the common, much more down}’-, and 
the leaves broader. We are not told of what country it 
is a native. 
7. L. trifolia. The common fort often varies with three 
leaves to a joint; in which cafe the Hem is fix-cornered. 
efi L. quadrifolia. It has fometimes even four leaves at 
a joint. Boccone fays, the leaves^are fofter and longer. 
e. L. foliis alternis. Linnaeus, in his Flora Lapponica, 
mentions a Angular variety, of which he found only a An¬ 
gle plant there. The lien) a foot high and Ample ; leaves 
alternate, cordate-lanceolate, feffile; flowers from each 
upper axil, folitary, feffile. Miller has two other fpecies, 
that feem to be only varieties of L. falicaria. j. Lythrum 
Lufitanicum, the Salicaria Lufitanica, anguftiore folio, of 
Tournef. InIt. 253. It grows naturally in Spain and Por¬ 
tugal, by the fide of waters; but isieldoin more than a 
foot high. Leaves fmooth, growing by threes, narrower 
and Ihorterthan the common fort; flowers in terminating 
fpikes, of a light purple colour, appearing in July. 2. L. 
Hifpanicum, the Salicaria Hifpanica byflopifolia, flor. ob- 
longis fat urate cseruleis, of Tournefort. This is allb a na¬ 
tive both of Spain and Portugal. The ftalks are /lender, 
no: more than nine or ten inches long, fpreading out on 
every fide ; the lower part has oblong-ovate leaves, placed 
oppofite ; on the upper part, the leaves are narrower,, 
and alternate. The flowers come out fihgly from the fide 
of the ltalks at each joint ; they are larger than tho/e of 
the common fort, and of a deeper purple colour; they 
therefore make a fine appearance in July, when they are 
in beauty. 
2. Lythrum virgatum, or fine-branched willow-herb : 
leaves oppofite, lanceolate; panicle, virgate; flowers 
twelve-ftamened, in threes. Root perennial, thick. Stems 
upright, panicled, from a foot to two feet in length ; at 
bottom hard and woody, round, pale brown mixed with 
green, commonly without leaves; towards the top green, 
four-cornered, leafy, with rod-like, axillary, upright, 
long, alternate, branches. Leaves oppolite, quite entire, 
acuminate, an inch and a half long, on very lliort petioles, 
or feffile. Flowers in fpikes, of the fame colour and Aze 
as in the preceding, peduncled, in whorls. Ax in a whorl, 
the lower ones more remote, all axillary. Linnaeus ikys, 
A • that 
lOO’OO. 
