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CHAP. 17. (15.)—THE SCORPIO, TWO KINDS OF IT: ONE REMEDY.

The scorpio1 has received its appellation from the animal of that name, in consequence of the resemblance of its seeds to a scorpion's tail. The leaves of it are few in number, and it is efficacious for the sting2 of the animal from which it derives its name. There is also another plant3 known by the same name, and possessed of similar properties; it is destitute of leaves, has a stem like that of asparagus,4 and a sharp point at the top, to which it owes its appellation.

1 The Spartium scorpius of Linnæus, or the Scorpiurus sulcata of Linnæus: scorpion-grass, or scorpion-wort.

2 Its properties are entirely inert, and it has no such virtues as those here mentioned. As Fée remarks, we might be quite sure, however, from the form of the seeds, that this property would be ascribed to it in the Materia Medica of the ancients.

3 Supposed to be the Salsola tragus of Linnæus, kali, or glass-wort.

4 Not the Asparagus officinalis, Fée says, but the Asparagus acutifolius, the stem of which is somewhat prickly.

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