THE UMBELLIFERS.

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Temperament and medicinal properties.

• Lovage original: "Levisticum" belongs to the order of drying and heating plants; it is no less useful for driving out poisons than Angelica. The root of Lovage is beneficial for a "cold stomach" in humoral medicine, a stomach lacking the "heat" necessary for digestion; it aids digestion and consumes excess humors. When drunk in wine at the weight of half a drachm original: ʒ ß; about 2 grams, it expels poison and stimulates the flow of urine and menstruation. It is used in sitz-baths and standard baths to provoke urine, induce menses, and bring forth stones kidney or bladder stones. It warms all the internal organs. Women in childbirth use the seed in food and drink, and add it to sweat-baths so they may be properly cleansed after delivery. These details are from Tragus Hieronymus Bock, a 16th-century German botanist. Whoever desires more concerning its powers should consult Johann Bauhin, page 123, Volume 3, Part 2, who brings to light in that place all the powers assigned to it by all botanical authors at quite some length.

Mountain Laserwort original: "Siler montanum". This plant closely resembles the former (namely, Lovage) in the height of its stem. However, the leaves themselves are divided into opposite "wings" pinnate leaflets on stalks the length of a palm or a palm and a half about 3 to 5 inches. The outer segments are almost always in groups of three, oblong, somewhat wide, with a slightly blunt tip, similar to the leaves of the Laburnum original: "cithyfi" described by Tragus. The seed is large, oblong, and striated ribbed, with an unpleasant taste very similar to Cumin. The lowest part of the stem, near the surface of the earth, is adorned with a fibrous and wrinkled "beard" original: "coma", as one may see in Sulphur-wort original: "Peucedanum" and various other fragrant Umbellifers.

Place and time.

Ligusticum another name for Lovage or its relatives is so named from the Ligurian or Apennine mountains, because it grows there. It is found not far from Genoa on rugged mountains. It also grows on the mountain overlooking the thermal baths of Baden, where it grows more copiously and abundantly than anywhere else. Carolus Clusius a highly influential 16th-century botanist observed it growing throughout all of Austria. It flowers in the month of June and perfects its seed in July and August.

Names.

Mountain Laserwort: according to Tragus, Lobel, and Dodonaeus. Common Mountain Seseli or Laserwort: according to Johann Bauhin. Mountain Laserwort, commonly called Seseli: according to Parkinson. Ligusticum: according to Matthiolus and the "History of Plants of Lyon" original: "Lugd." or Historia Plantarum Lugdunensis.

Temperament and medicinal properties.

The power of this seed is heating and drying in the third degree a high level of potency in the four-degree scale of Galenic medicine; it draws out urine and menses when drunk. It promotes digestion. See Johann Bauhin, pages 169 and 170, Volume 3, Part 2.

Columbine-leaved Laserwort original: "Siler aquilegiæ foliis", so named by us. It is called this because it corresponds more closely with the Laserworts in the scent and taste of the seed than with any species of Moonwort original: "Libanotidum"; literally "incense-herbs"—which we properly defined at the beginning of this treatise on Umbellifers as those having seeds enclosed in a spongy substance. It was inadvertently called Libanotis by Caspar Bauhin, except for the fact that it pours out a juice from its pith that smells like something between a spice and Birthwort original: "Aristolochiam" in flavor; yet it happens that many different species of Umbellifers pour out fragrant juices. Based on the scent, it is more aptly reduced to the Laserworts than to the Lovages (as Johann Bauhin does) or to the Seselis (as Camerarius does). Whether it be called Siler, Ligusticum, or Seseli, it has a larger striated seed; therefore, I do not admit it to be a species of Libanotis, which has a spongy seed. Otherwise, if all incense-bearing Umbellifers served under one and the same name without any regard for the shape of the seeds, but only for the incense-like scent they breathe out, the same confusion would remain that has existed in these recent centuries. Among our more general observations, we shall provide a nomenclature of the Umbellifers, including those that offer pleasing and delightful liquids, as well as those that are unpleasant and foul-smelling. Among all the Umbellifers, this species of Laserwort is recognized at first glance because the leaves are thick, rigid, smooth, green, and shining above, while becoming white underneath. They are divided like the leaves of the Columbine original: "aquilegiæ"; the lower ones on a more vigorous plant usually have five lobes from a triple division of the stalk, while elsewhere they have three lobes sitting on three stalks. It has a single stem, rarely exceeding two or three cubits about 3 to 4.5 feet, distributed into several branches, bearing a large umbel with white flowers—