Scammony, Dr. Withering says, is the inspissated juice of a species of Convolvulus so much resembling this, that they are with difficulty distinguished. Can it then, says he, be worth while to import Scammony from Aleppo, at a considerable annual expence, when a medicine, with the very same properties, grows spontaneously in many of our hedges? If the If the preparation of Scammony would be a saving to England, it must certainly be a much greater to America, in proportion to the quantity used. Besides, as the imported Scammony is often very impure, and as there is so much difference in the purgative virtue of some masses of it, and that of others, that it is seldom to be depended upon alone in extemporaneous practice, might it not be prepared here much purer, and be more uniform in its virtue? Notwithstanding the roots of the Convolvulus is a very acrid purgative to the human race, hogs will eat it in large quantities without any ill effects.

IPOMOEA.

Ipomoea foliis cordatis lis bifloris. Syst. Nat.

AMERICAN JASMINE. yellow, tinged with red. July.

Linn. Gen. Plant. 199. integerrimis glabris laconosis, peduncu

Leaves stand opposite. Blossoms
Among hazel bushes. Very rare.

AMERICAN TEA. The calix a very small permanent rim, surrounding the receptacle; scarcely visible. Corolla one petal; tubular. Limb divided into five acuminated segments; rolled inward. Nectaria five hooded petals, with long, filiform claws, inserted into the corolla below the sinuses of the segments; erect; longer than the segments of the corolla. Stamina five subulated filaments standing upon the corolla just below

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below the petals of the nectarium. Antheræ globular; covered by the hooded petals of the nectarium. Germen above; globular. Stile cylindrical; erect; shorter than the stamina. Stigma trifid. Capsules three; each one cell; one valve. Seeds one in each cell; ovate compressed.

Stems woody. Leaves ovate; serrated; acuminated. Blossoms in long, terminating, open spikes; snow white. By fences, and among bushes in loamy land. July.

The leaves of this shrub have been much used by the common people, in some parts of the country, in the room of India tea; and is, perhaps, the best substitute the country affords. They immerse the fresh leaves in a boiling decoction of the leaves and branches of the same shrub, and then dry them with a gentle heat. The tea, when the leaves are cured in this way, has an agreeable taste, and leaves a roughness on the tongue somewhat resembling that of the bohea tea.

CAMPANULA? Linn. Gen. Plant. 201.

Campanula foliis subovatis integerrimis, caulibus diffusis. Syst.

Nat.

VENUS LOOKING-GLASS.

July.

Blossoms yellow. On high land.

PHYTEUMA. Linn. Gen. Plant. 203.

Phyteuma capitulo subfolioso, foliis omnibus lanceolatis. Syst.

Nat.

RAMPION. Blossoms white with blue veins. Moist land.

July.

LONICERA. Linn. Gen. Plant. 210.

Lonicera racemis terminalibus, foliis serratis. Syst. Nat. HONEYSUCKLE. Bastard Cherry. Blossoms yellow, tinged

with red. Among bushes in loamy land. June.

VERBASCUM.

VERBASCUM. Linn. Gen. Plant. 217.

Verbascum foliis decurrentibus utrinque tomentosis. Syst. Nat. Blossoms in long terminating spikes; yellow.

MULLEIN.

Common in old fields. July.

Verbascum foliis amplexicaulibus oblongis glabris, pedunculis solitariis. Syst. Nat.

MOTH MULLEIN.

sides in Lynn. July.

Blossoms yellowish white. By the road

DATURA. Linn. Gen. Plant. 218.

Datura pericarpiis spinosis erectis ovatis. Syst. Nat. APPLEPERU. Stramonium. Thornapple. Blossoms white with a tinge of purple. The upper leaves have been observed to rise up and enclose the blossoms at night. Common by the way sides. August.

This plant is said to be an exotic, and that it is not found growing at any great distance from the sea. The seeds taken internally bring on delirium; large doses would, no doubt, prove fatal. The leaves applied to the feet, or part affected, have been found efficacious in removing spasms; and applied in cataplasms give ease in external inflammations. An ointment prepared from the leaves gives ease likewise in external inflammations and hæmorrhoids. The Edinburgh College direct an extract to be prepared by evaporating the expressed juice of the leaves. Its medical properties undoubtedly merit attention.

None of the herbivorous animals will eat it.

HYOSCYAMOUS. Linn. Gen. Plant. 219.

Hyoscyamus foliis amplexicaulibus. Syst. Nat.

HENBANE. Blossoms purple and brown; clammy. Common amongst rubbish, and by road sides. July.

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The seeds, the leaves, and the roots, Dr. Withering observes, are all poisonous. Madness, convulsions, and death, are the general consequence. In a smaller dose, they occasion giddiness and stupor. The Edinburgh College order the expressed juice of the plant to be evaporated to an extract. In this state, the Doctor supposes, it may be advantageously joined with opium, where the effects of that medicine are desirable, and costiveness is to be avoided. There is no doubt, he says, of its being a useful medicine under proper management. The dose is from half a scruple to half a dram. It is said, that the leaves scattered about a house will drive away mice.

SOLANUM. Linn. Gen. Plant. 224.

Solanum caule inermi frutescente flexuoso, foliis superioribus hastatis, racemis cymosis. Syst. Nat.

BITTER-SWEET. Blossoms purple, with spots of white. Common about fences in moist land. June.

Boerhaave says, it is a medicine far superior to China and Sarsaparilla as a sweetner and restorative. Linnæus says, an infusion of the young twigs is an admirable medicine in acute rheumatisms, inflammations, fevers, and suppression of the lochia. Dr. Hill says, he has found it very efficacious in the asthma.

Solanum caule inermi herbaceo, foliis ovatis dentato-angulatis, umbellis nautantibus. Syst. Nat.

NIGHTSHADE. Blossoms white. Berries black. Common among rubbish. July.

Dr. Withering says, from one to three grains of the leaves infused in boiling water, and taken at bed time, occasions a copious perspiration; increases secretions by the kidneys, and

generally

generally purges more or less the following day. These properties, judiciously applied, render it capable of doing essential service in several diseases. But its effects on the nervous system are so uncertain, and sometimes so considerable, that it must ever be administered with the greatest caution. The leaves applied externally, ease pain and abate inflammations.

TIVERTWIG. American Mezerion. The generic characters do not entirely agree with the Solanum; but they approach nearer to this than any other genus. Stems woody; twining about shrubs or trees; branched. Leaves ovate; serrated; acuminated. Blossoms greenish white. Berry pale red. In hedges and wood land. June.

It is used with success in discussing indurated tumors. Farmers apply it to swellings in cows bags. Physicians of distinguished characters say, that the roots answer as valuable a purpose, in venereal cases, as the Mezerion.

RIBES. Linn. Gen. Plant. 247.

Ribes inerme, racemis pilosis, floribus oblongis. Syst. Nat. BLACK CURRANT. Blossoms yellowish. Berries black. It is rarely found growing naturally here, but is cultivated in gardens. In some parts of the eastern country it is said to be found in great plenty, particularly near Kennebeck-river.

A jelly made of the fruit is celebrated in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society for curing very bad kinds of sore throat. It has been found to answer very well here, particularly in that species of the sore throat in which the tonsils suppurate. It ought to be applied early and frequently. When the fruit could not be obtained, an infusion of the bark, sweetened with honey, and used as a gargle, has proved beneficial.

Dr.