The candied root is sufficiently agreeable, and highly esteemed as an antiseptic, and used to prevent contagion when epidemic diseases are prevalent.

Gold Thread.

THIS is a small vine which runs on the ground in moist woody lands in America. The root, which is the part used for medicinal purposes, spreads itself just below the surface of the earth, from whence it is easily drawn by handsful, and resembles a large entangled skein of thread of a bright gold colour, from whence it derives its name. It is a fine astringent bitter. The Indians use it for canker in the mouth, and our physicians find it an excellent remedy in gargarisms for that complaint.

House Leek.

THIS is a singular plant, which loves to cling to old stumps and hedges; it looks,

while growing, like a cluster of green balls, but upon nearer inspection, they assume the form of roses; the leaves are thick, and appear full of a mucilaginous juice; simmered in fresh butter, oil, or lard, it makes an excellent ointment for burns, or any cutaneous eruptions. There is another species also, called air plant, which is very beautiful, and has nearly the same virtues.

Hyssop.

THIS is an invaluable herb among children, especially those who are liable to have lung complaints. In inflammatory fevers, it has not its superiour. A very strong de coction of it, sweetened with honey, and a small piece of spermaceti dissolved in it, taken in doses of a table spoonful several times a day, repeatedly cured one of my children who was very subject to inflammation on the lungs, and has finally conquered the disease.

Catmint or Catnip.

THIS is an excellent herb for infants. The distilled water and essential oil, are powerful in their bowel complaints. It is said to partake of the virtues of mint and pennyroyal. It grows in great abundance in fields and hedges, and is too well known to need a particular description. I have distilled it in the flower, and found it yield a small quantity of very pungent essential oil, which cooled in white flakes, but readily dissolved in rectified spirit. I also distilled it when the seeds were just formed, and obtained a very clear essential oil of a dark green colour, resembling the other in smell and flavour.

Spearmint.

THIS plant is one of the most powerful vermifuges we have in our vegetable kingdom, and is found in all our highways. It yields a large quantity of very limpid essential oil, which dropped on sugar in doses of from one to six drops, and given to chil.

dren who are subject to worms, every morning for a length of time, will frequently expel numbers of those vermin, and remove many disagreeable symptoms occasioned by them. The distilled water is highly stomachic; the leaves, when fresh or dry, drank as a tea, is not less efficacious, though not quite so convenient. "Their

virtues are those of a warm stomachic and carminative. In loss of appetite, nausea, continual retchings to vomit, and, as Boerhaave expresses it, in almost paralytic weaknesses of the stomach, few simples are perhaps of equal efficacy.

Edinburgh Dispensatory.

Tansy.

THIS herb is a warm deobstruent bitter, and an excellent vermifuge for children. The essential oil or essence, may be given in the same manner as the last-mentioned plants.

Z*

Peppermint.

THE essence procured from this plant, has long maintained a conspicuous place in public opinion; but although more agreeable, it is, perhaps, inferior in some respects to the spearmint. It is, however, an excellent medicine in many cases, especially faintness and loss of appetite. It grows in abundance in almost every garden, but is not a native of our soil.

Pennyroyal.

Is a native, and one of our choicest plants. "Pennyroyal is a warm pungent herb, of the aromatic kind, similar to mint, but more acrid and less agreeable. It has long been held in great esteem, as an aperient and deobstruent, particularly in hysteric complaints; for this purpose, the distilled water is generally used, or an infusion of the leaves.

Edinburgh Dispensatory.