Family Herbal - Electric Scotland

IU FAMILY HERBAL.
are small in proportion to the bigness of the plant,
oblong, narrow,, and pointed at the ends, of a yellowish
green colour, and not serrated at the edges ;
a tuft of the same kind of leaves, but somewhat
larger,
surrounds the bottom of the stalk. The
root is long and white. The flowers are small,
but very numerous.
The flowery tops of this plant dried, and given
in decoction, are said to be a remedy for the evil,
but the report is not established by any known ex-
perience.
E
Elder. Sa??ibucus.
A COMMON wild shrub ; it grows irregularly.
The stem or trunk is covered with a rough whitish
bark, and the wood is firm, but there is a hollow
within ; this is smallest in the largest parts of the
shrub, but it is never quite obliterated. The young
shoots are thick, long, and green ; they grow quick,
and are often a yard long before they begin to change
colour, or grow woody. These contain a large
quantity of pith ; and their bark as they stand becomes
brownish, and their under surface woody. The
leaves are composed of several pairs of others,
with an odd one at the end : the flowers stand in
vast clusters, or umbeb, and are small and white ;
they are succeeded by berries, which arc black
when ripe, and are full of a purple juice. There
is another kind of elder, with berries white when
they are ripe, and another with jagged leaves, but
the common elder is the sort to be used.
The inner bark of the elder is a strong purge;
and it has been known to cure dropsies when taken
in time, and often repeated.
The flowers are made