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little virtue in any of thefe p3rts,the fragrance admired in the flow-ers of this plant refiding chiefly inthe cups.

Seeds and Fruits.

be feparated only at the time ofufing; the hulk, or cortical partferving to defend the feed frombeing injured by the air.

Woods and Barks.

See»s fhould be colle&ed whenripe and beginning to grow dry,before they fall off fpontane-oufly. Fruits alfo are to be ga-thered when ripe, unlefs they areordered to be otherwife [£.]

Of the fruits whofe colle&ioncomes under the notice of the apo-thecary, there are few which areufed in an unripe ftate: the prin-cipal is the floe, whofe virtue as amild aftringent, is greatly dimi-nifhed by maturation. The fruitof the orange tree raifed in ourgardens or green houfes, is fome-times gathered in a ftate of muchgreater immaturity, foon after itis formed on the tree, before it hasacquired its acid juice ; at this timeit proves an elegant aromatic bit-ter, greatly refembling what arecalled Curafl'aooranges, which ap-pear to be no other than the famefruit gathered at the fame period,in a warmer climate.

The rule for colltfling feeds ismore general than any of theothers, all the officinal feeds be-ing in their greateft perfection atthe time of their maturity. Asfeedscontain little watery moifture,they require no other warmth fordrying them than that of the tem-perate air in autumn: fuch asabound with a grofs expreflible oil,as thofe commonly called the coldfeeds, fhould never be expofed toany confiderable heat; for thiswould haften the rancidity, which,however carefully kept, they arevery liable to contract. Seeds arebelt preferved in their naturalhulks, or coverings, which iliould

The molt proper feafon for thefelling of woods, or {having offtheir barks, is generally thewinter [£.]

The only woods of our owngrowth, retained in the cataloguesof fimples of our pharmacopoeias,are the juniper and box ; the firftof which is rarely or never kept inthe (hops, or employed in pradtice;the other is procured from theturner, and it is indifferent at whatfeafon it has been cut down, beingat all times fufiiciently fit for theonly ufe it is applied to, the yield-ing an empyreumatic oil by diltil-lation in a ftrong fire.

Of the barks of our own growth,the London college has not retain-ed one: in the Edinburgh phar-macopoeia there are feveral, viz.thofe of the afh tree, birch tree,oak, elm, floe, wild fervice, blackalder, and elder, which, however,have been fo rarely ufed in medi-cine, that the feafons of theirgreateft perfeftion cannot be afcer-tained from experience. It may bedoubted, whether barks are notgenerally more replete with medi-cinal matter in the fummer andfpring than in winter. Thebar!«k$of many trees are, in fummer, fomuch loaded with refin and gum,as to burft fpontaneoufly, and dis-charge the redundant quantity. Itis faid that the. bark of the oakanfwers beftforthe tanners, at thetime of the rifing of the fap infpring ; and as its ufe in tanningdepends on the fame aftringentquality for which it is ufed in me-dicine, it fliould feem to be fitt. it

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