Sir J. E. Smith has remarked that this tree is, as it were, a whole magazine of physic to rustic practitioners, and that it is not quite neglected even by professional men. Ointments have been made of the green _inner bark_, and of the _leaves_. The dried _flowers_, infused in water, are used in fomentations, or as tea: and, mixed with butter-milk, they are sometimes employed as a wash for the face; and the clusters of flowers, before they open, may be made into a delicious pickle, to eat with boiled mutton. The _berries_ are boiled into a rob, which is useful in sore throats, colds, and hoarsenesses. In addition to their medicinal services, the leaves are sometimes thrown into the subterraneous paths of moles, under an impression that their smell will drive away those noxious animals. If turnips, cabbages, fruit trees, or corn, all of which are subject to blight from various kinds of insects, be strongly whipped with the green leaves and branches of elder, insects will not attack them; and an infusion of the leaves is sometimes sprinkled by gardeners over the buds of such flowers as they wish to preserve from the devastation of caterpillars. Elder flowers have an agreeable flavour, which they impart, in distillation, to water: they are likewise used to give a flavour to vinegar. The berries are poisonous to poultry, but their juice, properly fermented, makes a pleasant and wholesome wine; and, in Germany, a very pure and strong spirit is distilled from them. The juice of elder berries is sometimes employed to give a red colour to raisin or other sweet wine. The _young shoots_ of this shrub are filled with an exceedingly light _pith_, which is cut into balls for electrical experiments; and is also made into toys for the amusement of children. The elder will grow and thrive in almost any soil and situation; but, as every part of this shrub has an unpleasant narcotic smell, people ought to be cautious not to sleep under its shade, as, in such case, it might prove of serious injury to them. TETRAGYNIA. 97. _FLAX is the produce of an annual plant_ (Linum usitatissimum, Fig. 37), _with spear-shaped leaves, and blue flowers, which is cultivated in several parts of Great Britain, and grows wild in corn-fields and sandy pastures of some of the southern counties._ _The stems of these plants rise to the height of about two feet. The seed vessels and leaves of the calyx are sharp pointed, and the flowers have each five scolloped petals._