England, on damp chalky places, on borders of woods, or under hedges. The little cream-coloured flowers expand in August. The umbels of flowers are very small. The whole plant has a very offensive odour, especially if bruised. The fruit, which is egg-shaped, is pungent and aromatic. This plant is the Berle aromatique of the French; the Germans call it Amomlein.

10. GOPÓDIUM (Gout-weed).

1. E. Podagrária (Common Gout-weed, or Bishop's weed).-Stem erect, furrowed; leaves two or three times ternate; leaflets egg-shaped, pointed, and acutely serrated, unequal at the base. Plant perennial. The gardener who has shady or damp places in his garden, is often much troubled with this plant; for its creeping root will take such hold of the soil, that it is very difficult of eradication. It has large dark-green leaves and white flowers, and soon grows, if left untouched, to a foot or a foot and a half high. It is common in damp spots throughout the country; and though a disagreeable weed, it was doubtless introduced by the monks, and had an old repute as a cure for gout, for which malady the German physicians are said still to prescribe it. The creeping root is pungent and aromatic, with some acrimony, and this is the portion of the plant employed. Culpepper says, "Neither is it to be supposed Goutweed hath its name for nothing; but upon experiment it will be found to heal the gout and sciatica, as also joint-aches and other cold griefs. The very bearing of it about one easeth the pain of the gout, and defends him that bears it from the disease." The plant also was called Herb Gerrard, and Asheweed.

11. CARUM (Caraway).

1. C. Cárui (Common Caraway).-Partial involucre none; general none, or one-leaved; leaves twice pinnate; leaflets cut into slender segments. Plant biennial. This is a rare plant in our meadows and pastures; nor is it truly indigenous, though found in various parts of England and Scotland. The flowers, which are white, grow in rather large umbels, on a stem one or two feet high, in June. The aromatic carpels, known by the name of Caraway-seeds, are too often used in cookery, confectionery, liqueurs, and medicines, to need any description, and the plant is often cultivated on their account. The slightly pungent leaves are sometimes used as ingredients in salads, or, like those of parsley, for seasoning dishes; and the root, which is spindle-shaped, is sometimes eaten like the parsnep, but it partakes slightly of the peculiar flavour of the carpels, which would render it unpleasant to some palates, when eaten with cooked meat. According to the old writers this root is "pleasant and comfortable, and helpeth digestion;" one of them says that the root, "eaten as men eat parsneps, strengthens the stomachs of ancient people exceedingly, and they need not make a whole meal of them neither." He adds that the Caraway should be planted in every garden. The Caraway comfits were also considered when eaten fasting, as an excellent stomachic, and were at least a more agreeable one than many others recommended by these "simplers." They were believed too to sharpen the eye-sight. The French call the Caraway plant, Carvi; the Germans term it, Kümmel; and the Italians, Carui.

2. C. Bulbocastanum (Tuberous Caraway).-Leaves thrice pinnate, with very slender leaflets; general and partial involucres of many thread-like leaves; root tuberous and perennial. This is a rare plant in most parts of this kingdom, and is found chiefly in chalky fields of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, though occurring on some of these in great abundance.

3. C. verticillátum (Whorled Caraway).-Leaves mostly from the root, pinnate, and cut into slender thread-like segments; umbels few, terminal; genera

and partial involucres very small. Root perennial. The foliage of this plant is not truly whorled, but the segments of the leaflets surround the leaf-stalk in a spreading direction, so as to look like a whorl. The slender stem is about a foot high; and the small white flowers appear in July and August. Though a rare plant in England, it is abundant on the hills in the west of Scotland. It is found also on the level parts of Wales, and about Killarney, in Ireland.

12. BÚNIUM (Earth-nut).

1. B. flexuosum (Common Earth-nut).-Leaves of the stem few, nearly sessile, with linear segments; general involucre of 1-3 leaves, partial more numerous; both involucres sometimes wanting; styles erect. Plant perennial. This is a pretty and common plant, bearing its terminal umbels of white flowers in May and June. There is something elegant and graceful in its form, and the slight stem is a foot or more high, having a few leaves cut into slender segments. The tubers of the Earth-nut are sweet and esculent; they fatten pigs exceedingly, and being eagerly sought after and rooted up by these animals, the plant is in many country places called Pig-nut. A large amount of farinaceous

and nutritive matter exists in these roots; and in time of famine they have been useful in furnishing food for man. Though we cannot praise their flavour very highly, yet they are much liked by country children, who eat them in their uncooked condition as they would a chestnut, which fruit they are not unlike in flavour. The Italians and Spaniards both call the plant Castagno di terra; and it is the Terre noix of the French, the Erdnuss of the Germans, and the Ardnoot of the Dutch. The old writers recommended the powdered root as a remedy for cough. They called the tubers Ground-nuts, and Cipper-nuts.

13. PIMPINELLA (Burnet Saxifrage).

1. P. Saxifraga (Common Burnet Saxifrage).-Root-leaves pinnate; leaflets roundish, sharply serrate or cut; stem-leaves twice pinnate, with linear segments. Plant perennial. The lower leaves of this herb are so like those of the common Burnet, as to deserve the allusion to that plant contained in its name; those of the root are on long stalks, and those of the stem are often very much divided. The stem is round, one or two feet high, the flower-stalks usually smooth, though occasionally downy. The small greenish-white flowers appear in July and August.

The Burnet Saxifrage is common on dry pastures, and is often to be seen among the turf of those rounded hills which so often occur in our chalk districts. It is remarkable for varying much in the shape of its foliage, owing to some circumstances of soil or season; hence the earlier botanists classed as distinct species, forms now known to be mere varieties; and we had formerly P. major, P. minor, and P. dissectum. The root, which is of an astringent nature, is very pungent and even acrid in flavour. Country people consider it a cure for the toothache; and a decoction of the plant has also been long in use as a cosmetic, and probably would not be altogether useless in the removal of freckles and sunburn. This root is much infested by a species of coccus, from which a red colouring matter may be procured. The French call the plant Le Boucage; it is the Pimpinella blanca of the Spaniards, and is termed by the Germans Kleine bibernel.

2. P. mágna (Greater Burnet Saxifrage).-Leaves all pinnate; leaflets eggshaped, serrate, somewhat cut, the terminal one 3-lobed; fruit smooth. Plant perennial. This species is much larger than the last, and has an angled stem marked with lines. It occurs on chalky and limestone soils, but is not so frequent as the Common Burnet Saxifrage. Its white flowers appear in July and August.