en applied to the fundament; and its French sobriquet, _Culrage_,
conveys the same meaning:--

"An erbe is the cause of all this rage,
In our tongue called Culrage."

The plant is further known to rustics as Cyderach, or Ciderage, and
as Red-knees, from its red angular points. It possesses an acrid,
biting taste, somewhat like that of the Peppermint, which resides in
the glandular dots sprinkled about its surface, and which is lost in
drying. Fleas will not come into rooms where this herb is kept. It is
called also "lake weed." A tradition says that the plant when placed
under the saddle will enable a horse to travel for some long time
without becoming hungry or thirsty. The Scythians knew this herb
(_Hippice_) to be useful for such a purpose.

The Water Pepper has its virtues first taught by a beggar of Savoy.
It is admirable against syphilis, and to arrest sexual losses: being
long adored because "healing the original sin."

Farriers use it for curing proud flesh in the sores of animals, and
when applied to the human skin, the leaves will serve the purpose of
a mustard poultice. Also, a piece of the plant may be chewed to
relieve toothache, as well as to cure small ulcers of thrush in the
mouth, and pimples on the tongue.

The expressed juice of the freshly-gathered plant has been found
very useful in jaundice. From one to three [607] tablespoonfuls may
be taken for a dose. A hot decoction made from the whole herb
(Water Persicaria) has a sheet soaked in it as an American remedy
for cholera, the patient being wrapped therein immediately when
seized. This herb, together with the _Thuja Occidentalis_ (_Arbor
vitoe_) makes the _Anti-venereo_ of Count Mattaei.

Another Polygonum, the great Bistort, or Snakeweed, and
Adderswort, is a common wild plant in the northern parts of Great
Britain, having bent or crooked roots, which are difficult to be
extirpated, and are strongly astringent.

This Bistort, "twice twisted," on account of its snake-like
root, was at one time called _Serpentaria_, _Columbrina_, and
_Dracunculus_.

It has been thought to be the _Oxylapathum Britannicum_ and
_Limonium_ of the ancients.

The dose of the root in substance is from twenty to sixty grains. In
the North of England the plant is known as Easter Giant, and its
young shoots are eaten in herb pudding. About Manchester they are
substituted for greens, under the name of Passion's dock. The root
may be employed both externally