It is probable
the virtue of the composition was rather owing to the vinegar than to
the powder.
351. HERNIARIA glabra. RUPTUREWORT. The Leaves.--It is a very mild
restringent, and may, in some degree, be serviceable in disorders
proceeding from a weak flaccid state of the viscera: the virtue which it
has been most celebrated for, it has little title to, that of curing
hernias.
352. HYPERICUM perforatum. ST. JOHN'S WORT. The Leaves and Flowers.--Its
taste is rough and bitterish; the smell disagreeable. Hypericum has long
been celebrated as a corroborant, diuretic, and vulnerary; but more
particularly in hysterical and maniacal disorders: it has been reckoned
of such efficacy in these last, as to have thence received the name of
fuga daemonum.
353. JASMINUM officinale. JASMINE. The Flowers.--The flowers have a
strong smell, which is liked by most people, though to some
disagreeable: expressed oils extract their fragrance by infusion; and
water elevates somewhat of it in distillation, but scarcely any
essential oil can be obtained from them: the distilled water, kept for a
little time, loses its odour.
354. IRIS Pseudoacorus. FLOWER-DE-LUCE. The Root.--The roots, when
recent, have a bitter, acrid, nauseous taste, and taken into the stomach
prove strongly cathartic; and hence the juice is recommended in
dropsies, in the dose of three or four scruples.
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