
THE COMMON BRAKES. 237 
cinal reputation, the suceulent caudices and the young fronds being 
used in decoctions and diet drinks, and in chronic disorders of all 
kinds arising from obstructions of the viscera and the spleen. It 
has, however, fallen into disuse in modern practice; though as 
Lightfoot states,* the country people still retain some of its 
ancient uses, for they give a powder of it to destroy worms, and 
look upon a bed of the green plant as a sovereign remedy for the 
rickets in children. Dr. Deakin states, that it is still retained in 
the Materia Medica, as a remedy against the tape-worm. "The pow- 
dered rhizome is given in one to three drachm doses for several 
mornings, followed by a brisk purgative, and this is said to have 
been useful when all other remedies have failed. M. Pescher of 
Geneva, submitted the caudices to the action of sulphurie ether, 
and obtained the active principle in the form of an oily resinous 
substance which he used most successfully. According to Dr. 
Lindsay,t the plant is possessed of very astringent properties, from 
containing a considerable amount of tannic and gallic acids, and in 
consequence of this has been much used as an anthelmintic. 
The Pteris is applied to various economic uses; indeed, in this 
point of view, it is the most valuable of our native Ferns. The 
fronds are in many parts of the country cut dry, and stored 
to be employed as bedding or litter for cattle; and Mr. Newman 
informs us, that in some parts of Wales they are chopped up in 
the dry state and given with straw or hay, to horses and mules. 
These fronds also make an excellent thatch that does not harbour 
insects, or hold moisture, and is moreover, durable, especially if the 
stalks are used; and they form a dry elastic packing material, 
which is extensively made use of. The dry fronds form a capital 
material for the packing and storing of fruit, on account of their 
not becoming musty, or imparting a disagreeable flavour. They 
form, moreover, an efficient covering material in gardens, for the pre- 
servation of plants from injury by frosts; and as fuel they are much 
used in country places, for heating ovens, kilns, &e. 
The fronds when cut green, make good manure for land, on 
* Lightfoot, Flora Scotica, ii. 659. 
+ Deakin, Florigraphia Britannica, iv. 57. 
+ Dr. W. Lauder Lindsay, in Phytologist, iv. 1065. 

