70 SECT. VII.----PLANTS USEFUL IN MEDICINE.

latino with water, it yields a small portion of a butyraceous oil, whoseflavour exactly resembles that of the roses. This oil, and the distilledwater, are very useful and agreeable cordials. Hoffmann strongly re-commends them as of singular efficacy for raising the strength, cheer-ing and recruiting the spirits, and allaying pain ; which they performwithout raising any heat in the constitution, rather abating it when in-ordinate. Although the damask rose is recommended by Dr. Wood*ville, yet, having grown this article for sale, I find that the preferenceis always given to the Provence rose by those who distil them.

260. ROSA Gallica. Red Officinal Rose. Petals. L. E. D.-4This has very little of the fragrance of the foregoing sort; it is a mil''and grateful astringent, especially before the flower has opened: thi-is considerably improved by hasty exsiccation, but both the astringenc/and colour are impaired by slow drying. In the shops are prepared aconserve and a tincture.

261. ROSA canina. Dog-Rose. The Pulp of the Fruit. L.E.-*The fruit, called heps or hips, has a sourish taste, and obtains a placein the London Pharmacopoeia in the form of a conserve : for this pur*pose, the seeds and chaffy fibres are to be carefully removed ; for, $these prickly fibres are not entirely scraped off from the internal sur*face of the hips, the conserve is liable to produce considerable irrita*tion on the primal vias.

262. ROSMARINUS officinalis. Rosemaev. Tops. L. E. D.— Rose-mary has a fragrant smell and a warm pungent bitterish taste, ap'proaching to those of lavender : the leaves and tender tops are strong'est; next to these the cup of the flower ; the flowers themselves areconsiderably the weakest, but most pleasant. Aqueous liquors ex-tract great share of the virtues of rosemary leaves by infusion, andelevate them in distillation : along with the water arises a considerablequantity of essential oil, of an agreeable strong penetrating smell'Pure spirit extracts in great perfection the whole aromatic flavour <ithe rosemary, and elevates very little of it in distillation : hence theresinous mass left upon abstracting the spirit, proves an elegant aro-matic, very rich in the peculiar qualities of the plant. The flowers o»rosemary give over great part of their flavour in distillation with purespirit; by watery liquors, their fragrance is much injured; by heat-ing, destroyed.

263. RUBIA tinctorum. Madder. Roots. L. E. R—It has littleor no smell; a sweetish taste, mixed with a little bitterness. The vir-tues attributed to it are those of a detergent and aperient; whence i'has been usually ranked among the opening roots, and recommendedin obstructions of the viscera, particularly of the kidneys, in coagula-tions of the blood from falls or bruises, in the jaundice, and beginningdropsies.