A*ki™m£*'}         Notes  on  Scrophulariaceoe.  381 
said  to  be  valuable  in  the  treatment  of  ague ;  and  finally  he  refers  to 
a  report  of  '  several  cases  in  which  the  paroxysms  of  intermittent 
fever  were  completely  prevented  by  the  administration  of  the  warm? 
infusion  of  the  fresh  root.  Four  ounces  of  the  fresh  root  to  one  pint 
of  water,  reduced  one-half  by  boiling,  of  which  two  ounces  were  given 
every  hour,  commencing  four  hours  previous  to  the  expected  chill.'  " 
Other  species  of  Verbascum  have  been  said  to  possess  similar  pro- 
perties to  the  species  just  mentioned. 
Jn  the  genus  Veronica,  which  is  well  known  in  this  country  as 
including  some  of  the  prettiest  of  our  native  flowers,  we  find  several 
species  have  been  used  at  various  times  in  medicine.  The  well-known 
and  beautiful  little  plant,  the  germander  speedwell  ( Veronica  cha- 
mcedrys,  L.),  was  at  one  time  valuable  amongst  the  old  herb-doctors 
as  a  vulnerary,  and  Gerarde  recommends  the  root  as  a  specific  in  pes- 
tilent fevers. 
The  leaves  of  the  common  speedwell  (V.  officinalis,  L.)  are  astrin- 
gent and  bitter,  and  were,  even  up  to  a  comparatively  recent  dater 
not  only  used  as  medicine  in  this  country,  but  also  as  a  substitute  for 
tea.  The  plant  grows  in  South  Carolina,  and,  though  not  at  present 
included  in  the  United  States  Dispensatory  as  an  officinal  medicine, 
it  is  nevertheless,  after  careful  examination,  reported  to  contain  "  in 
the  fresh  juice  and  an  extract  from  the  herb,  a  bitter  principle,  sol- 
uble in  alcohol,  but  scarcely  so  in  ether ;  an  acrid  principle,  red  col- 
oring matter,  a  variety  of  tannic  acid,  a  crystallizable  fatty  acid,  with 
malic,  tartaric,  citric,  acetic  and  lactic  acids  ;  a  soft,  dark,  green, 
bitter  resin  and  mannite."  The  Brooklime  (V.  Beccabunga,  L.),  also 
a  British  species  and  found  in  moist  places,  was  formerly  valued  as 
an  antiscorbutic,  the  leaves  and  young  tender  stems  being  the  parts 
used.  In  some  parts  the  leaves  are  occasionally  applied  as  a  styptic 
to  wounds,  and  when  bruised  are  also  applied  to  burns.  Like  the 
former,  this  species  has  been  used  in  North  American  practice  for 
purifying  the  blood. 
Within  the  last  few  years,  some  attention  has  been  given  in  Amer- 
ica to  the  Virginian  veronica  or  culversroot  {Veronica  Virginica,  L.) 
It  is  a  perennial  plant,  common  in  the  United  States  in  mountain  val- 
leys, and  grows  to  a  height  of  three  or  four  feet.  The  root  is  the 
part  used ;  it  is  bitter  and  nauseous,  and  imparts  its  active  properties 
to  boiling  water.  The  fresh  root  is  an  active  cathartic  and  emetic. 
A  large  teaspoonful  of  the  root  in  a  gill  of  boiling  water,  repeated 
