FOOTNOTES:

[62] Cadwallader Colden. See note, page 250. Editor.

[63] As the poke-weed, though out of place, is introduced here, we shall translate and insert two extracts of letters from Dr. Franklin to M. Dubourg, the French translator of his works, on the same subject.

"LONDON, MARCH 27, 1773.

"I apprehend that our poke-weed is what the botanists term phytolacca. This plant bears berries as large as peas; the skin is black, but it contains a crimson juice. It is this juice, thickened by evaporation in the sun, which was employed. It caused great pain, but some persons were said to have been cured. I am not quite certain of the facts; all that I know is, that Dr. Colden had a good opinion of the remedy."

"LONDON, APRIL 23, 1773.

"You will see by the annexed paper by Dr. Solander, that this herb, poke-weed, in which has been found a specific remedy for cancers, is the most common species of phytolacca. (Phytolacca decandra L.)"

Editor.

MR. E. KINNERSLEY, AT BOSTON, TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ESQ. AT PHILADELPHIA.