Gen. Char. Calyx, five-parted, with three bracts. Corolla, ringent, ventricose, sterile. Filament, shorter than the rest. Anthers, woolly. Capsules, two-celled, two-valved, Seeds, membranaceously margined.

Spe. Char. Stem, smooth. Leaves, opposite, lanceolate, oblong, accuminate, serrate. Flowers, in dense spikes.

The root of this plant is perennial and fibrous; the stems are numerous, erect, branched near the top, smooth, bluntly four cornered, and rise from three to five feet in height; the leaves are opposite, tapering, from five to six inches long, pointed, edged with acute teeth, of a dark green color when fresh, almost black when dry, and intensely bitter; the flowers are terminal, of different colors in different varieties, white, spotted, tinged in some instances with a delicate shade of red, and of a most singular shape, resembling the head of a snake with its open mouth; they are disposed in a cluster, as may be seen in the drawing. It does not bloom until late in the autumn.

This valuable plant was cultivated and extensively employed as a medicine in the sixteenth, and beginning of the seventeenth century. Salmond, in his English Herbal, published in 1710, describes this plant and several of its varieties, as possessing highly valuable medical properties; since which time it appears to have fallen into disuse, or forgotten; but has recently been revived,

and now enters largely into various compounds prepared as a tonic or strengthening syrup. Matterson says the herb should be collected in clear, dry weather, and as soon as it is in bloom, as the leaves frequently become mildewed after that time. It should be dried in the sun, or in a warm chamber or loft, and carefully guarded from a moist or damp atmosphere, or it will acquire a dark and black color.

Medical Properties and Uses. Balmony possesses both tonic and laxative properties, and, without exception, is one of the best articles to promote an appetite that can be found. It can be administered by itself, or in combination with other articles. Thomson says, "the balmony is a bitter of, the first order, for correcting the morbid secretions of the bile, removing the torpidity of the liver, and creating an appetite. A tea made of the leaves is well calculated to restore the digestive powers." Matterson describes this plant as having long been known in New England as a tonic and laxative. “It is employed in costiveness, dyspepsia, loss of appetite, and general languor or debility. Given to children afflicted with worms, it will generally afford relief. It is a valuable medicine in disorders of the liver; and in jaundice, it tends to remove the yellow tinge from the skin and eyes." Rafinesque says it is an active and powerful cathartic, as well as tonic; but of this I am inclined to think he may be mistaken, as I have administered it in many cases, and never found it to act as a cathartic, unless frequently taken, and in extreme large doses; in which cases it sometimes caused a gentle movement of the bowels. As a vermifuge, combined with the chenopodium anthelminthicum, I think it has no superior, rarely failing to expel the worms; it should be administered in infusions, continued for a time, and followed by a suitable It is said that the Indians made use of a strong purge. decoction of the whole plant in eruptive diseases, biles, sores, scrofula, piles, &c. An even tea-spoonful of the powdered leaves is a dose, and may be given in fevers, jaundice, &c.

Calastrineæ.

CELASTRUS SCANDENS.

BITTER SWEET.

Class V. PENTANDRIA. Order I. MONOGYNIA.

Gen. Char. Calyx, five-lobed, flat. Corolla, five petaled. Stamens, seated around a five-toothed glandulous disk. Capsule, or theca, obtusely triangular, three-celled, three-valved. Cells, one-seeded. Seeds, covered with a four-cleft colored arillus. Spe. Char. Stem, climbing, unarmed. Leaves, oblong, acuminate, serrate. Racemes, terminal. Flowers, arillus.

The root is creeping, of a bright orange color, from threeeights to three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and sometimes extends several rods in length; the stem is covered with a reddish brown bark, and seldom exceeds an inch in diameter; the leaves are tapering near the base, with minute teeth along the margins, and a sharp and extended point; the blossoms are of a greenish yellow color, and very fragrant; the berries grow in clusters, and remain upon the vines during winter. Early in the autumn, they are of an orange color, but after the first or second frost, the external covering divides into three valves, which turn backward, and disclose a beautiful scarlet berry in the centre. It flowers in the first or second week in June.

A very beautiful description of this species of Bitter Sweet may be found in Matterson's Vegetable Practice, from which we copy. "The Bitter Sweet is a woody vine, attaining, in favorable situations, the height of thirty or forty feet. It twines around the branches of trees similar to the grape-vine, and creeps upon hedges,