Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/403

381&#93; PIL to aggravate the disorder ; especi- ally riding on horse-back, and sleep- ing iu fentiier-heds. — On his reco- very, moderate and daily exercise in the open air will greatly contri- bute to invigorate t:ie constitution; while his meals are temperate, and his conduct is adapted to the pre- servation of health, which other- wise will ever be in a precarious state. PILEWORT, the Common, or Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus Ficaria, L. an indigenous peren- nial plnnt, growing in mt-adows and pastures ; and flowering in the month of April. — ^This herb mny be eaten in the spring, either boiled or in salads. Its root is uncom- monlv acrid, an 1 bli:,ters the skin ; so tJiiit it mav be emploved as a vesicatory. Nevertheless, Bryant, a Fn nch traveller, inibrms us, that, by skilful management, a tolerably good starch may be extracted from these roots. FILL, a form of medicine re- sembling a small pea, and which is designed to be swallowed entire. Drugs that operate in minute doses, and the otfensive taste or smell of which requires to be con- cealed from the paiaie, are gene- rally converted into pills. They dissolve with great ditiiculty in the stomach, and are calculated to pro- duce very gradual and permanent effeds. Hence, such medicines as are intended to operate speedily, for instance, emetics, ought not to be taken in pills ; as these often pass through the stomach undis- solvetl, and are decomposed in the intestines, where they prove vio- lent purgatives. Nor s.ould pills be adopted as a vehicle of medi- cines for children, whose tender organs of digestion are thus liable to be greatly injured, — ^^Ve cannot PI N [38' approve of tampering with the stomachs of young [x'ople : and, of all the medicines prepared la the shops, pills are the most ab- surd, if not the most injurious to their constitution. PtELS. See Oat, the Niikcd. PiMr.NTo. See Alls^pice. PlMPERNELL, theEvsTARrs or Small Chaffwekd, Centun' cuius minimus, L. an indigenous low plant, which grows in salt- marshes and meadows near the sea-coast ; flowers in the month «f June, and seldom exceeds one inch in length. — For this useless weed, other vegetables thriving iu sat/di/ situations, ought to be sub- stituted; in order tc; cousoUdate and improve tl>e soil. PIMPERNELL, the Scarlet, or Anagallis arveiisis, L. an indi- genous plant, growing in corn-fields and sandy places ; llowering from May till August. — Dr. WiTHiiit- iNG observes, that every part of this plant is singularly beautiful: according to Bechstein, it is much relished by sheep, and its flowers were formerly iu great re- pute, for their supposed eflicacy in curing the bite of a mad dog, as well as the giddiness iu sheep. — Ft is farther remarkable, that these flov/ers regularly open between eight and nine o'clock in the jnorn- ing, and close their petals at four iu die afternoon. PIN, a well-known little instru- ment, usually made of brass-wire, llanchmi, and v.-hich is chieHy em- ployed by females, iu adjustmg their dress. Notwithstanding the apparent simplicity of pins, their manufac- ture is extremely curious and com- ple.K ; but, as a description of this article might be acceptable only to a iew oi oar rcaJerSj we shall conr rine