Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/88

64&#93; < 4 ] ANI mane Society, under the immedi- ate patronage of our august Sove- reign, we shall adjourn this sub- ject, in the words of our wor- thy friend, the philanthropic Dr. Hawes, a gentleman whose inte- grity and disinterested activiiy de- serve equal commendation : "Ani- mation (says this noble veteran), has been given to thousands since 17/4, the birth of our life- saving labours." ANISE, or Pimpinella, in bo- tany, is an annual, umbelliferous and aromatic plant, of which there are ten species, though scarcely three of them are indigenous, name- ly: ] . The Common Burnet Saxi- frage, or the Pimpinella Saxifraga, L. which grows on a dry, calcare- ous, gravelly soil, blossoms in July and August ; and is described in Dr. Withering' s Arrangement of British Plants, p. 311, and Engl. Bot. T. 40/. Every part of this useful plant lias a fragrant smell and taste, and is subservient to many beneficial purposes. ' The white root of die burnet- saxifrage is of a very hot, pungent, bitterish taste, which may be en- tirely extracted in rectified spirits of wine, and aifords a medicine of great efficacy in scorbutic and cu- taneous disorders in general, but especially for dropsical and asthma- tic complaints, in which it has been administered by the great Boer- haave. with singular success. Al- though he directs it to be taken on- ly in a watery infusion, vet we would prefer the tincture, as pos- sessing in a superior degree the me- dicinal virtues of the root. In &hort, the physicians of Germany frequently prescribe it in i where emollient, resolvent, deter^ ANI gent, diuretic, and stomachic re- medies are indicated, as well as for removing tumors and obstructions in the glands. Frederic Hoffman asserts, that this vegetable is an excellent medicine for promoting the men- ses ; while other writers recom- mend it in all cases where pituitous humours are supposed to prevail, such as catarrhal coughs, hoarse- ness, and humid asthma, but par- ticularly in a symptomatic sore throat, called the mucous quinsy. There is a variety of the burnet- saxifrage growing wild in Branden- burg!), and denominated by Els- holz, a Prussian botanist, the Pimpinella ccerulea, or the blue pimpinella ; as it differs from the former only, by yielding a blue colour in rectified spirit, a similar oil on distillation, and a fine blue juice on expressing the fresh root. For this reason, we have men- tioned it, as it may probably afford a proper substitute for indigo, which we are obliged to import at a con- siderable expence. The young leaves and shoots of this species are very palatable, and are eaten as sallad : small bunches of them tied together, and suspend- ed in a cask of table-beer, or ale, impart to it an agreeable aromatic taste ; and, it is aifirmed, that they likewise tend to correct tart and spoiled wines, which, by this sim- ple expedient, may be restored to their former briskness-. As the herbs of this plant are acknowledged to be a very whole- some fodder for cows, to increase their milk, and to preserve them against epidemics, we presume to recommend its culture to the far- mer and grazier. 2. The Great Burnet-Saxifrage, or the Pimpinella magna, L. de- lights