Family Herbal - Electric Scotland

Family herbal. Ms
Mezereon Shrub. Mezereum.
A very pretty shrub, native of many parts of
Europe, and frequent in our gardens. It is four
feet high, and very much branched. The branches
stand irregularly, and they are very tough and firm.
The leaves are oblong' and narrow : they grow in
clusters from certain little swellings on the bark.
The (towers are small and red ; they are hollow, and
are succeeded by oblong berries, which are black
when ripe. The root is woody and creeping ; and
the plant is not easily destroyed, when once well
established.
The bark of the root, or the Inner bark of the
branches is to be used ; but it is a violent medicine,
and must be given with great caution, in small
doses, and only to those who have strong constitu-
tions. It will cause vomiting, and bloody stools
to people that are tender, or to any, in a large dose ;
but to robust people, it only acts as a brisk purge.
It is excellent in dropsies, and other stubborn dis-
orders ; and the best way of giving it, is in a light
infusion.
Millet. Milllum.
A plant of the grass kind, large, upright, and
not without its beauty. It is four feet high. The
stalk is round, hollow, jointed, thick, and firm. The
leaves are long and broad, of a pale green, and hairy.
The flowers and seeds glow at the top of the stalk,
in a vast cluster, so heavv that the head usually hangs
down : they are altogether of the grass kind. The
flowers are inconsiderable, and the seeds small, hard,
and white.
The seeds are used sometimes in the manner of
barley to make a drink, which is good in fWtr?