Pharmaco-botanologia: or, an alphabetical and classical dissertation on all the British indigenous and garden plants of the New London dispensatory ... Decad. II / [Patrick Blair].

  • Patrick Blair
Date:
1724
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pharmaco-botanologia: or, an alphabetical and classical dissertation on all the British indigenous and garden plants of the New London dispensatory ... Decad. II / [Patrick Blair]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    20/108 page 64
    of an infipid Tafte. Therefore having cut off leveral of the Leaves for Experiments fake, it came in his Mind, that this Juice might not pro¬ ceed from the carnous Part, or Parenchyma, but from the Veins (which I call the 7uhuli) upon the Obfervation of which, tearing fome of the Leaves frclh from the Root,he found a little of a yellow ]uice to flow from the Orifices of each of thefe Veins, and faw it diftill by lb many drops, upon repeating the Experiment, he became affur’d that this mu ft only be the yellow venal Juice, which being afterwards iufpifTated by the heat of the Sun, becomes what is called thzGum Aloes *, wherefore having ful- pended leveral of thefe Leaves above a glas’d earthen Pot, he oblerv’d this yellow Juice to diftil naturally from the Veins, and even he could prefs and Iqueeze it out with his Hands. Having thus obtain’d a luffici- ent quantity of Juice, and expos’d it three Days to the Sun, and ftirring it fo, as what thicker parts adher’d to the Sides, might be mix’d with the thinner part in*the middle frequently in the Day time, and expoftng it to the cool of the Evening, he found ev’ry Morning a friable compleatly thickned juice. The Colour declin’d from an. Orange, to a more dark, a little reddifn, and at laft quite black like a Liver. This Experiment is fo very anftverable to my Opinion, that its the fi¬ brous broad-leav’d Aloes, prickly or not prickly, that furnilhes moft ofthe Gum •, that though thele Veins in the leffer Species may contain a fmaller quantity of this bitter purging Subftance, yet their Thicknels and Bulk is chiefly ftuff’d with this lymph or gelly Subftance fit for no Ule *, but that all the Species of Aloes according to the quantity of thele Veins, af¬ ford more or lels of this more ufeful concreted Subftance. VIII. Alfine. Alfine Media, C. B. P. 250. Morif Hift. 2. 550. vulg.five Morfus Ga!lin<$, J. B. 3. 29. 363. Adinor Dod. pempt. 29. Tournef. 242. Boer. Ind. 1. 209. Raij Hift. 1030. Common Chickweed. The T R I B E. This is the firft Rofiaceous, or Rofy Flower the Alphabet affords, whole Definition according to Tournefort (the Author of that Name) is, that they confift of leveral Petals dilpoled in a Circle round the Stamina or Chives, as in a Rofe. Their Number is not neceflary to be regarded, but their Dif- pofition, for this is certain, that uncertain } they ieldom confift of two Petals (of which there is only one, though not Officinal, viz. Circaa) or four, as in P of'aver : commonly of five. Thole which exceed this Number, are called Polypetalow7 with many Petals, as varying in the Number. Alfine
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3