Family Herbal - Electric Scotland

FAMILY HERBAL. ]$5
into an ointment, by boiling them in lard, till they
are almost crisp, and then it
pouring off, this is
cooling ; the juice
of the berries is boiled down
with a little sugar, or by some wholly without,
and this, when it comes to the consistence of honey,
is the famous rob of elder, in good
colds and sore
throats. A wine is made of the elder-berries, which
has the flavour of Frontignac.
Elecampane. Enula campana.
A TALL and robust plant, wild in some parts
of England, but kept in gardens for the uses of
medicine ; it grows five feet high, and the flower
is yellow, and very large. The stalk is round,
thick, upright, very robust, and reddish : the
leaves are long, large, and rough, and they are
pointed at the ends ; of a pale green colour.
The flowers grow at the tops of the branches,
and have something like the appearance of a dou-
ble sun flower. They arc two inches in diameter,
yellow, and very beautiful. The root is long
and thick, and is brown on the outside, and white
within.
The root is the part used ; we have it dried from
Germany, but it is for most purposes better to take
that fresh out of the garden, which we have here.
Hardly any plant has more virtues. It is good in
all disorders of the breast and lungs, and it opens
obstructions : It operates by urine powerfully, and
also by sweat : and the juice of it will cure the
itch, applied externally.
Its greatest virtue, however,
is against coughs, and for this purpose it is
best taken candied, provided that be well done. A
little of it may in this way be held almost conti-
nually in the mouth, and swallowed gently, so that