Speedwell.
Veronica mas.
A common little plant in our dry pastures, and on heaths. The stalks are six or eight inches long; the leaves are short, and of an oval figure, The stalks are not upright: they trail along the ground, only rising at thin upper parts. The leaves are of a pale green colour, a little hairy, and dentated at the edges: the flowers are small and blue; they grow in slender spikes, arising from the bosoms of the leaves; the root is small and fibrous.
The whole herb is used, and it is best fresh, An infusion of it drank in quantities, works by urine, and opens all obstructions: it promotes the menses. There was an opinion lately that this plant would cure the gout. The dried leaves picked from the stalks, were sold in our markets, and people made a tea of them. The opinion was so prevalent, that the plant was in a manner destroyed for many miles about London, but like all other things, that want the truth for their foundation, it came to nothing.
