Pellitory of Spain

Pellitory of spain is a foreign plant, but it is grown in some gardens in england. It requires care and attention. The root goes down into the ground, bearing leaves, similar to, but larger than the leaves of chamomile. At the top it bears one single large flower at a place, having a border of many leaves, white on the upper side, and reddish underneath, with a yellow thrumb in the middle, not standing so close as that of camomile.

The common pellitory which grows here, has a root of a biting taste, scarcely discernible by the taste from that just described. It has several brittle stalks, a yard high and more, with narrow long leaves finely dented at the edges, standing one above another up to the tops. The flowers are many and white, in tufts like those of yarrow, with a small yellowish thrum in the middle. The seed is very small. The last grows in fields, under hedges, and other places. It flowers in june and july.

I am persuaded it is one of the best purgers of the brain that grows. An ounce of the juice taken in a draught of light wine an hour before the fit of ague comes, it will drive it away at the second or third time taking. Either the herb or root dried and chewed in the mouth, purges the head of phlegmatic humours, by which headache will be reamoved, and coughs, falling sickness, and lethargy relieved. The powder of the herb or root snuffed up the nostrils, causes sneezing, and eases head-ache; being made ink) an ointment with lard, it takes away black and blue spots occasioned by blows or falls, and cures gout and sciatica. The root chewed is a sovereign remedy for tooth-ache.

It is sold by the druggists. It has been very useful in dropsy. It has cured the effects of salivation, has stimulated the palsy tongue and throat, and given relief to diseased uvula.