Rosemary.
Rosmarinus.
A pretty shrub, wild in Spain and France, and kept in our gardens. It is five or six feet high, but weak, and not well able to support itself. The trunk is covered with a rough bark. The leaves stand very thick on the branches, which are brittle and slender: they are narrow, an inch long and thick, and they are of a deep green on tho upper side, and whitish underneath. The flowers stand at the tops of the branches among the leaves; they are large and very beautiful, of a greyish colour, with a somewhat reddish tinge, and of a very fragrant smell. Rosemary, when in flower, makes a very beautiful appearance.
The flowery tops of rosemary, fresh gathered, contain its greatest virtue. If they are used in the manner of tea, for a continuance of time, they are excellent against head-achs, tremblings of the limbs, and all other nervous disorders. A conserve is made of them also, which very well answers this purpose, but when the conserve is made only of the picked flowers, it has less virtue. The con serve is best made by beating up the fresh gathered tops with three times their weight of sugar. The famous Hungary water is made also of these flowery tops of rosemary. Put two pound of these into a common still, with two gallons of melasses spirit, and distil off one gallon and a pint. This is Hungary water.
