Horsetail.
(While he describes Equisetum sylvaticum, "Equisetum segetale" is now called Equisetum arvense, and E. arvense is the species which should be used. -Henriette)
Equisetum segetale.
A common, and yet very singular wild plant, frequent in our corn-fields, and composed of branches only, without leaves; there are also many other kinds of horsetail. It is a foot or more in height, and is extremely branched; the stalk is round, blunt, ridged, and angulated, and composed of joints. It is hollow, weak, and seldom supports itself tolerably upright. The branches are of the same structure, and they are again branched; they grow several from every joint of the main stalk, and have others again, though in less number, growing from their joints. The whole plant is of a green colour, and when bruised, not of a very agreeable smell.
The whole plant is to be used, and it is best fresh, though it retains a great deal of its virtue dried. Given in decoction, it stops overflowings of the menses, and bloody stools; and applied externally, it immediately stops the bleeding of wounds and heals them.
