DOCK, the name apOied to the plants constituting the section Lapathunt of the genus Rumex, and natural order Polygoncteece. The leaves of the docks are pinnate-veined, and are never sagittate or hastate ; the flowers, which are arranged in two to five rows, in alternate fascicles similar to whorls, are generally perfect, and have three free styles, multifid stigmas, six stamens, and the three inner perianth-segments or petals in some cases tubercled ; the fruit is an achene (see vol. iv. p. 150). In the Common or Broad-leaved Dock, Rumex obtxtailditta, the flower-stem is erect, branching, and 18 incites to 3 feet high, with large radical leaves, heart-shaped at the base, and more or less blunt ; the other leaves are more pointed, and have shorter stalks. 'The whorls are many-flowered, close to the stem, and mostly leafless. The root is many-headed, black externally, and yellow within. The flowers appLar from June to August. In autumn the whole pla,nt may become of a bright red colour. It is a troublesome weed, common by roadsides and in fields, pastures, and waste places through-out Europe. An infusion of its root has been used as a remedy for ichthyosis ; in large quantities it acts as a purgative. The powdered root is sometimes employed as a dentifrice. The Great Water Dock, R. llydrolapatham, believed to be the herta britannica of Pliny (Xat. xxv. 6), is a tall-growing species ; its root is used as an antiscor-butic. The root of the Curled Dock, le. erispus, affords an ointment and decoction reputed to be cures for scabies; and the seeds of the same species have been found efficacious in dysentery. Other British species are the Shaw Dock, R. conglomerata, the root of which has been employed in dyeing ; the Bloody-veined Dock, or Bloodwort, I?. sangninezts ; the Yellow Marsh Dock, R. pctlustris ; the Fiddle Dock, R. pulcher ; the Golden Dock, /1, nutritimics; the Grainless Curled Dock, R. domesticus (= aquaticus); and the Meadovv Dock, I?. pratcmsis. The naturalized species, R. alpinus, or " 14Ionk's Rhubarb," was early cul-tivated in Great Britain, and was accounted an excellent remedy for ague.