s, being
outwardly applied to the grieved place. Also the leaves when boiled
in pottage or broths for sick and feeble persons that have hot, weak,
and feeble stomachs, do strengthen the same.

It is said that the roots, if put into heaps and dried, are liable to
spontaneous combustion. The taproot of the cultivated plant is
roasted in France, and mixed with coffee, to which, when infused, it
gives a bitterish taste and a dark colour.

The chemical constituents of Succory and Chicory are--in addition
to those ordinarily appertaining to vegetables--inulin, and a special
bitter principle not named.

Chicory, when taken too habitually or too freely, causes venous
passive congestion in the digestive organs within the abdomen, and
a fulness of blood in the head. Both it and Succory, if used in excess
as a medicine, will bring about amaurosis, or loss of visual power in
[543] the retina of the eyes. Therefore, when given in a much
diluted form they are remedial for these affections.

The only benefit of quality which Chicory gives to coffee is by
increase of colour and body, with some bitterness, but not by
possessing any aroma, or fragrant oil, or stimulating virtue. French
writers say it is _contra-stimulante_, and serving to correct the
excitation caused by the active principles of coffee, and therefore it
suits sanguineo-bilious subjects who suffer from habitual tonic
constipation. But it is ill adapted for persons whose vital energy
soon flags; and for lymphatic, or bloodless people its use should be
altogether forbidden.

The flowers of Succory used to rank among the four cordial flowers,
and a water was distilled from them to allay inflammation of the
eyes. The seeds contain abundantly a demulcent oil, whilst the
petals furnish a glucoside which is colourless unless treated with
alkalies, when it becomes of a golden yellow.

SUNDEW.

The Sundew (_Ros solis_, or _Drosera rotundifolia_) is a little plant
always eagerly recognised in marshy and heathy grounds by ardent
young botanists. In the sun its leaves seem tipped with dew
(_drosos_). It grows plentifully in Hampshire and the New Forest,
bearing a cluster of hairy leaves in a stellate form, at the top of a
slender stem. These leaves either from lack of other sustenance in so
barren a soil, or more probably as an advance in plant evolution to a
higher grade of development, excrete a sticky moisture or dew,
which entangles unwary flies settling on the plan