Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/168

i 4 S] DOC most efficacious remedies of this description, is the expressed juice of the common radish ('Raphanus satinis, L.) mixed with sugar to the consistence of a thin syrup, and taken in doses of one or two spoon- fuls, every three or four hours, or oftener. DOCK, or Rumer, L. a genus of perennial plants, comprising 39 species, of which eleven are na- tives 5 and of these the following are the principal : 1. The crisptis, or Curled Dock, which is found in meadows, pas- tures, on road-sides, and in almost every cultivated soil : it dowers in the month of June or July •. its ereel stalk attains the height of three feet. In the county of Nor- folk this plant vegetates most lux- uriantly, and is the pest of clover fields, from which it is very diffi- cult to be extirpated. It is refused by horses, cows, and goats. — Ac- cording to Dr. Withering, the fresh roots of the curled dock, when bruised and made into an ciatment, cure the itch ; and its seeds have been given with success in cases of dysentery.— In Germany, a decocf ion of the root is employed by country people for the cure of the scab, and other eruptions in cattle. The whole plant has been advantageously used on the Conti- nent, for tanning or currying lea- ther. — In early spring, the leaves may be boiled like spinach ; and the peasantry abroad frequently smoke them instead of common tobacco. — Bechstein informs us, that the dried seeds afford flour and bread. 2. The acutus, or Sharp Dock, which is common in woods, hedges, en the siilcs of rivers, and roads, and is sometimes found in fields and meadows. Its gtalk grows ire- DOC quently six feet high ; and the dowers appear in June or July. This plant is refused by cows and horses. The roots, however, are employed by dyers, and with the addition of alum and cream of tar- tar, give a variety of shades, from a straw-colour to a line olive : they impart a beautiful deep green to cloths that have been previously dyed blue. — The whole plant has been recommended to tanners as an useful substitute for oak-bark. 3. The aquaticus, or Water Dock, growing in peat-marshes, wet ditches, pools, at the sidee of rivers, and in shallow water. It flowers in July or August, and is succeeded by large seeds. — This plant affords a medicine of consider- able efficacy, when applied exter- nally as a wash for spongy, putrid gums : its roots, when pulverized, have been found excellent for clean- ing the teeth. These roots are of a bitter, astringent taste, and have often been employed for the cure of scorbutic and cutaneous dis- orders, whether administered in- ternally, or applied externally in ointments, cataplasms, lotions, or fomentations. Decocrions of the leaves are, likewise, an efficacious laxative, and have been taken with advantage in rheumatic rains, and chronical diseases, occasioned by costiveness, or by visceral obstruc- tions. — The dose usually given, is a decocfion of half an ounce of the fresh roots, or from one to two drams of them, in a dry state. 4. Tiie 1 bbusijdlius, or Broad- leaved Dock, winch grows among rubbish, in farm-yards, courts, parks, and at the sides of ditches : it flowers in the month of July or August. — arc ex- tremely fond of this species, as well as ot the gharp dock, and eat