830

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

Order 34. Scropiiclaria'ce.e, Lindley. —The Figwort Tri dE-

Personatas, Decani.— Scbophularine.e, R. Brown.

Essential Character.— Calyx free, five-divided, or more generally ® u pperfour-divided ; the sepals more or less united, or sometimes free, unequal; ,j,oO<>'

one largest; the lateral ones smallest; imbricated in (Estivation. CoroUu p fll)r .petalous, five-divided or (by the cohesion of the two upper petals to the y' q U aIl/divided; the tube short, or elongated; the limb expanded or erect, nearly ^ a j s ;partite or bilabiate; imbricated in aestivation. Stamens simple, opposite u tb ethe upper stamens entirely wanting, or sterile, very rarely fertile ; shorter t j, a o

others ; the two lateral equal, rarely abortive ; the two lower equal to, orthe lateral ones ; sometimes wanting. Anthers two- or one-celled, dehiscing(finally. Ovary free, two-celled ; the cells two-or many-seeded. Style sony Mslightly bifid. Fruit capsular, rarely baccate, two-celled, two-seeded, debts ^ t |>evalves or pores. Dissepiment parallel, or opposite to the valves, becoming 1°° ^pa-centre, or altogether free. Placenta adhering to the dissepiments; sonieti ^ I]|e i].rating when ripe. Seeds generally indefinite. Embryo variously placed in the a—Inodorous or fetid herbs or shrubs (Macreight.)

Properties.—N ot uniform : suspicious.

Digitalis purpurea, Linn. L. E. D.— Purple Foxglove-

Sex. Syst. Didynamia, Angiospermia.

(Folia; Semina, //.—Folia, D. —Leaves, E.) ^

History. —It appears very improbable that the ancients should 0 fov erlooked so common and elegant a plant as foxglove ; yet in n , e jstheir writings can we find any plant whose description precisely a J , yyto the one now under examination. Fabricius Columna (fi 1 ^ , ( potMcntzelius, Index Nom. Plant, p. 104) thought that it was the sof Dioscorides (lib. iv. cap. 85), but the description of the latter a gafll eat all agree with foxglove. The Bax^aptc (lib. iii. cap. 51) of f ^ c0 rwriter has also been referred to, but with little more probabilityrectness. The term Foxej'-jlope occurs in a MS., Glossarium A&J aprobably written before the Norman Conquest (A. D. lOfifi)? an g fiieMS. Saxon translation of L. Apulius; both of which are »•)

Cottonian manuscripts in the British Museum (Lye , Diet-Fuchsius (Hist. Stirp. 1542) is usually regarded as the earliest j lU t, awho mentions this plant, which he named Digitalis (from Finff 1 g ] 0 \-e)-finger-stall, on account of the blossoms resembling the finger of a ° ? jiOFuchsius states, that until he gave it this appellation, the plan 1 1Greek or Latin name. . c!l jii'

Botany. Gen. Char. — Calyx five-partite, unequal. CoroM e1iSpanulate; the limb obliquely four-lobed; the lobes unequal- y , g offour, didynamous; no vestige of the fifth apparent. Stigma sinl ‘bilamellate. Capsule ovate-acuminate (Hot. Gall.) e ■ its

Sp- Char.—S egments of the calyx ovate, acute. Corolla ° 1,taS ce ’ 0 uS'upper lobe scarcely cloven. Leaves downy (Smith). — Herb aRoot of numerous long and slender fibres ; biennial. Stem erecor four feet high, commonly simple, roundish with several slig* 1downy. Leaves alternate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong? jjjtodowny, rugged, and veiny, of a dull green; tapering at the ba- 0)l e*winged footstalks; lower ones largest. Raceme terminal, ereC ^ 0 \fe^‘sided, long, simple, of numerous, large, pendulous, odourlessCorolla crimson, elegantly marked with eye-like spots, as well a& cJ . e aii>'within.—A variety with white flowers, spotted with shades o