Atriplex, _Orache_, moistens in the second degree and cools in the first. It therefore opens the belly. Its fruit is possessed of detergent powers, whence it is useful in jaundice and obstructions of the liver. * * * * * COMMENTARY. We have treated of the orach (_Atriplex Hortensis_) as a culinary herb in Book I, § 74. It is still used as an article of food on the Continent. Our author copies from Dioscorides (ii, 145), whose account of it is amplified and explained by Galen. (De Simpl. v.) It is briefly treated of in like terms by Avicenna (ii, 2, 174); Serapion (c. 146); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 97.) Rhases, after quoting what Dioscorides and Paulus say of it, adds on his own authority that he had known the seed of it prove powerfully emetic and laxative. Ἀφάκη, Aphace, _Wild Vetch_, is possessed of astringent powers like the lentil; but when eaten it is more difficult to digest than the lentil, and is more strongly desiccative, with a moderate degree of heating properties. * * * * * COMMENTARY. This is clearly a species of _Vicia_, but whether the _bithynica_, _lutea_, or _hybrida_ cannot be satisfactorily determined. It is treated of by our older herbalists, who agree with the ancients in assigning to it astringent powers. The Arabian authorities would appear to have overlooked it. Our author is indebted to Dioscorides (ii, 177) and Galen (De Simpl. v.) Αφρόνιτρον, Aphronitrum is possessed of discutient and detergent powers, so as not only to cleanse those parts which are foul, but also to cure pruritus. But when drunk it is bad for the stomach. Ἀφρὸς νίτρου, Spuma nitri; it has powers like those of natron, but its substance is more attenuate, and therefore it is smooth like flour. * * * * *