For the use of the Medical Student I selected in the foregoing section such plants as are contained in the Pharmacopoeias of the present day:  but there are many mentioned in Woodville’s Medical Botany, Lewis’s Dispensatory, &c. which, although discarded from the College list, are nevertheless still used by medical practitioners and others.

It would be difficult to give a full history of all the plants that have from time to time been recommended for medical uses.  The old writers, as Gerard, Parkinson, Lyte, &c. attributed medical virtues to all the plants which came under their notice; and, on the other hand, as we observed above, the vegetable department of the Pharmacopoeias has from time to time been reduced so much, that, if we had confined ourselves to that alone, we fear our little treatise on this head would, by many persons, be thought defective.  The following list is therefore given, as containing what are used, though probably not so much by practitioners in medicine, as by our good housewives in the country, who, without disparagement to medical science, often relieve the distresses of their families and neighbours by the judicious application of drugs of this nature, and many of which are also sold for the same purposes in the London herb-shops.

291.  Acanthus mollis.  Smooth bears-Breech.  The Leaves.—­Are of a soft sweetish taste, and abound with a mucilaginous juice:  its virtues do not seem to differ from those of Althea and other mucilaginous plants.

292.  ACHILLA Ptarmica.  Sneezewort.  The Root.—­The roots have and acrid smell, and a hot biting taste:  chewed, they occasion a plentiful discharge of saliva; and when powdered and snuffed up the nose, provoke sneezing.  These are sold at the herb-shops as a substitute for pellitory of Spain.

293.  Achillea Ageratum.  Maudlin.  The Leaves and Flowers.—­This has a light agreeable smell; and a roughish, somewhat warm and bitterish taste.  These qualities point out its use as a mild corroborant; but it has long been a stranger in practice, and is now omitted both by the London and Edinburgh Colleges.  It is however in use by the common people.

294.  Achillea Millefolium.  Yarrow.  The Leaves.—­The leaves have a rough bitterish taste, and a faint aromatic smell.  Their virtues are those of a very mild astringent, and as such they stand recommended in haemorrhages both internal and external, diarrhoeas, debility and laxity of the fibres; and likewise in spasmodic hysterical affections.

295.  AJUGA reptans.  Bugle.  The Leaves.—­These have at first a sweetish taste, which gradually becomes bitterish and roughish.  They are recommended as vulnerary medicines, and in all cases where mild astringents or corroborants are proper.

296.  Alchemilla vulgaris.  Lady’s Mantle.  The Leaves.—­These discover to the taste a moderate astringency, and were formerly much esteemed in some female weaknesses, and in fluxes of the belly.  They are now rarely made use of; though both the fresh leaves and roots might doubtless be of service in cases where mild astringents are required.