Dog Tooth.
Dens caninus.
A VERY pretty little plant, with two broad leaves and a large drooping flower; common in Italy and Germany, and frequent in our gardens. It is five or six inches high. The stalk is round, slender, weak, and greenish towards the top; often white at the bottom. The leaves stand a little height above the ground: they are oblong, some what broad, of a beautiful green, not at all dented at the edges, and blunt at the end: they inclose the stalk at the base. The flower is large and white, but with a tinge of reddish; it hangs down, and is long, hollow, and very elegant. The root is roundish, and has some fibres growing from its bottom; it is full of a slimy juice.
The fresh gathered roots are used; for they dry very ill, and generally lose their virtues entirely. They are good against worms in children, and take a surprising and speedy effect against those violent pains in the belly, which are owing to those creatures. The best way of giving them is in the expressed juice; or if children will not take that, they may be boiled in milk, to which they give very little taste. It is a powerful remedy; and a small dose will take effect, especially of the juice; so that it is best to begin with very little, and as that is well borne, to increase the quantity.
