A gargle of _Pyrethrum_ infusion is prescribed for relaxed uvula, and for a partial paralysis of the tongue and lips. The tincture made from the dried root may be most helpfully applied on cotton wool to the interior of a decayed tooth which is aching, or the milder tincture of the wall Pellitory may be employed for the same purpose. To make a gargle, two or three teaspoonfuls of the tincture of _Pyrethrum_, which can be had from any druggist, should be mixed with a pint of cold water, and sweetened with honey, if desired. The powdered root forms a good snuff to cure chronic catarrh of the head and nostrils, and to clear the brain by exciting a free flow of nasal mucus and tears--_Purgatur cerebrum mansa radice Pyrethri_. Incidentally, as a quaint but effective remedy for carious toothache, may be mentioned the common lady bird insect, Coccinella, which when captured secretes from its legs a yellow acrid fluid having a disagreeable odour. This fluid will serve to ease the most violent toothache, if the creature be placed alive in the cavity of the hollow tooth. Gerard says this _Pyrethrurn_ (Pellitory of Spain, or Pelletor) "is most singular for the surgeons of the hospitals to put into their unctions _contra Neapolitanum morbum_, and such other diseases that are cousin germanes thereunto." The _Parietaria_, or Pellitory of the wall, is named Lichwort, from growing on stones. [426] Sir William Roberts, of Manchester, has advised jujubes, made of gum arabic and pyrethrum, to be slowly masticated by persons who suffer from acid fermentation in the stomach, a copious flow of alkaline saliva being stimulated thereby in the mouth, which is repeatedly swallowed during the sucking of one or more of the jujubes, and which serves to neutralise the acid generated within the stomach. Distressing heartburn is thus effectively relieved without taking injurious alkalies, such as potash and soda. PENNYROYAL, _see_ MINT. PERIWINKLE. There are two British Periwinkles growing wild; the one _Vinca major_, or greater, a doubtful native, and found only in the neighbourhood of dwelling-houses; the other _Vinca minor_ lesser, abounding in English woods, particularly in the Western counties, and often entirely covering the ground with its prostrate evergreen leaves. The common name of each is derived from _vincio_, to bind, as it were by its stems resembling cord; or because bound in olden times into festive garlands and funeral chaplets. Their title used also to be Pervinca, and Pervinkle, Pervenkle, and Pucellage (or virgin flower).