| la. 
and when chewed, they yield first a mint-like 
taste, and next a mingled sensation of pungency 
and sweetness. They are tonic, sudorific, and 
diuretic, and have been found useful in cases of 
rheumatism, chronic catarrh, inflammation of 
the bladder, and retention of urine. The Dublin 
Pharmacopeeia orders their exhibition in the form 
of both tincture and infusion. 
BUCKBEAN, — botanically Menyanthes. A 
small genus of perennial, herbaceous, aquatic 
plants, of the gentian tribe. The three-leaved 
species, Menyanthes trifoliata, grows wild in tur- 
baries, marshes, and other moist places, in many 
parts of Britain ; and, on account of the char- 
acter of its habitat, is often popularly called bog- 
bean, and has been described by us under that 
name. See the article Boc-Bran. The ingeni- 
ous author of two interesting ‘Essays on Hus- 
bandry,’ published in 1764, says, respecting this 
species, “ Buckbean is a plant of an unsavoury 
taste; and sheep, when sound and in health, 
always avoid eating it. But when the symp- 
toms of the rot begin to attack them, they 
search for it by instinct, and devour it greedily. 
Where such sheep are pastured, no buckbean is 
to be found ; for, in a week or two, they devour 
it all, Might it not be prudent, therefore, in 
husbandmen who graze large flocks, to cultivate 
an acre of these plants in some morassy ground, 
which otherwise would not yield them two shil- 
lings the acre? Some might’ be cut up green 
for unsound sheep, and given them with lucerne, 
as occasion requires; and some might be made 
into hay, and mixed with their fodder.” An 
American species, Menyanthes americana, was in- 
troduced to Great Britain in 1818; and this is so 
similar to the British species as to have been 
mistaken for it by Michaux. 
BUCKLER-MUSTARD,—botanically Biscutel- 
A genus of hardy, herbaceous, ornamental 
plants, of the cruciferous order. Nearly thirty 
species are known to inhabit the south of Europe 
and the Levant; and most of these are cultivated 
in the gardens of Great Britain. The ear-podded 
species, Biscutella auriculata, grows naturally in 
the south of France and Italy, and was brought 
to Britain in the latter part of the 17th century. 
Tt is an annual. Its stem usually rises to the 
height of about 18 inches, and divides into se- 
veral branches; an oblong and slightly indented 
leaf garnishes each joint of each branch; and the 
flowers have four obtuse pale-yellow petals, and 
are produced in loose panicles at the ends of 
the branches——The Apulian species, Biscutella 
apula, is also an annual, and was introduced 
from Italy in the early part of last century. 
| Many oblong, hairy, slightly indented leaves 
grow from the root; a hairy branching stem 
rises from among the leaves to the height of 
about 20 inches, has an oblong indented leaf at 
each joint, and ramifies into several branches; 
and a close spike of pale yellow flowers is pro- 
Eee from the end of each branch, and appears 
hee 
BUCKTHORN. 009 
in June and July.—All the other introduced 
species bear yellow flowers; most have a height 
of about 12 or 18 inches; one is a biennial, one 
is a herbaceous evergreen, seven have perennial 
roots, and all the others are annuals. 
BUCK’S-EYE-TREE. See Aiscuus. 
BUCKTHORN, — botanically Rhamnus. <A 
genus of shrubby plants, forming the type of 
the order Rhamnez. This order comprises 
eighteen genera, and has, in the wilds and gar- 
‘dens of Britain, one hardy herbaceous species, 
upwards of fifty hardy lgneous species, about 
ninety greenhouse species, and upwards of thirty 
hothouse species. It differs from the order Ce- 
lastrineee, or staff-tree tribe, in minute botanical 
characters of the stamens, sepals, and ovarium ; 
but wholly agrees with that order in habit, and 
does not widely differ from it in medicinal pro- 
perties. Both the fruit and the inner bark of 
very many of the species of rhamnez are emetic 
and purgative; but the fruit of some is a whole- 
some and agreeable dessert, while that of most 
yields valuable green and yellow dyes.—Two spe- 
cies of the genus rhamnus grow wild in Great 
Britain ; about thirty-five species have been in- 
troduced from countries of both continents, or of 
nearly all parts of the world; and about fifteen | 
other species have been described by botanists. 
One of the British species is the topic of our ar- 
ticle ALprR (Berry-Brarine); and the most or- 
namental of the hardy introduced species is de- 
scribed in the article ALATERNUS. 
The purging species, Rhamnus catharticus, | 
grows wild in woods and hedges near brooks in 
England. Its stem is woody, rigid, strong, rami- 
fied, and about sixteen feet in height ; its branch- 
es are alternate and round, and terminate each 
in a spine; its leaves are ovate, nerved, serrated, 
fascicled, and on footstalks, and the younger ones 
are downy ; its flowers are four-cleft and green- | 
ish-yellow, grow from the same buds as the leaves, 
and bloom in May and June; and its berries are 
small, round, black, four-seeded, and about the 
size of pease. The berries are very succulent, 
and yield by pressure a deep green juice; and 
both they and this juice were formerly much 
used by the human physician as a -hydragogue 
purgative, and a syrup prepared from them still 
figures in the pharmacopeeias. The juice is some- 
times administered by farriers in combination 
with other purgatives, but is really a useless me- 
dicine for the horse; yet, when combined with 
castor-oil and syrup of poppies, it seems to be 
beneficial in the disease called red-water in cat- 
tle. The inspissated juice, combined with an 
alkali, constitutes the well-known pigment called 
sap-green.—One variety of Rhamnus catharticus, 
called the dwarf buckthorn, attains a height of 
only about three feet, and has small and nearly 
oval leaves, and irregularly growing branches ; 
and another variety, called the long-leaved dwarf 
buckthorn, is a larger shrub than the preceding, 
and has longer leaves. | 
