Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/165

143&#93; 5T O • 2. The acr€, Wall-pepper, Biting, or Pepper Stone-crop, grows on the surface of walls, roofs, rocks, and in dry pastures ; flow- ers in June or July. Tliis vegetable is eaten by goats, but refused by horses, cows, and sheep. It con- tinues to vegetate, while suspended in a chamber : being very acrid, if applied externally, it excites blis- ters j but, when taken internally, occasions vomiting. — According" to Dr. Withering, it is an excellent remedy in scorbutic cases, and in quartan agues : a table spoonful of ks expressed juice operates power- fully as a purgative. At present, however, it is .seldom employed; though, on account of its aftive properties, the wall-pepper pro- mises to be an useful medicine, when administered with judgment. 3. The reflexum, or Yellow Stone-crop, thrives on walls, roofs, and rocks, wiiere its bright yellow flowers appear in July. 4. The rupes(ic,orP.ocKSTOifE- cRop, grows principally on St. Vincent's rock, near Bristol, and on the Chedder hills, in Somerset- shire, It differs from the preceding species only in its smaller flowers,' >vhich likewise blow in July. Both vegetables, last mentioned, having an agreeable, pungent taste, are cultivated in Holland and Ger- many, where they are esteemed as ii)grcdients in salads. They may be easily propagated, by planting either their roots, or the cuttings of the .shpots in a moist soil, where .they will readily take root, and spread with great luxuriance. STOll AX, a fragrant gum-resin, exuding from incisions made in the Common Storax-tree, or Styrax officinalis, L. a native of Italy and the Levant, where it flowers ii) July. S T O [143 The best storax is obtained froia Asiatic Turkey, in small, irregular, transparent masses, of a pale-red, or yellowish colour, and generally abounds with whitish tears, resem- bling those of Benzoin. The drug, however, which is commonly sold in the shops, consists of large, liglit pieces, very impure, from the saw-dust w.ith which the resi- nous juice is mixed. And, though inferior to the preceding sort, yet in a purified state, it possesses greater fragrance. Storax is one of the most grate- ful of the odoriferous gum-resins, but is at present disused in medi- cine ; and employed chiefiy in fu- migations, or as a perfume : it- pays, on importation, from the coun- tries of which the storax-tree is a native, only Pjd., but from other places, 2s. 5|d. per lb. There is another species, known under the name of LifjJiid Storax, which exudes from incisions made in the Liquid- am I ar Styracifiua,h. asserted to be a native of Virginia and Mexico. It is farther obtained, by boiling the bark or branches of that tree ; in consequence of which the purer particles rise to the sur- face. The genuine liquid storax is of the consistence of honey, pos- sesses a fragrant smell, somewhat resembling that of the preceding, solid species. But the drug of this name kept in the shops, is an arti- ficial compound of the concrete storax, common resin, wine, and oil, properly incorporated. Whether genuine or spurious, it is only used externally as a balsamic. The im- ported liquid storax pays a duty of 4|d. per lb. STOVE, in domestic economy, a contrivance, or apparatus, in which fires are made, with the view of conveying heat tliroughout houses.