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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19352-8.txt b/19352-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a74d32 --- /dev/null +++ b/19352-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24093 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of +Cure, by William Thomas Fernie + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure + + +Author: William Thomas Fernie + + + +Release Date: September 22, 2006 [eBook #19352] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN +USES OF CURE*** + + +Transcribed by Ruth Hart ruthhart@twilightoracle.com + + + +Transcriber's notes: + + While most of the book titles and non-English words are + italicized, not all of them are, and I have left the + non-italicized terms as is. + + Page numbers have been placed in sqare brackets to facilitate + the use of the table of contents and the index. + + + + + +HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN USES OF CURE + +by + +W. T. FERNIE, M.D. +Author of "Botanical Outlines," etc_ + +Second Edition. + + + + + + + +"Medicine is mine; what herbs and _Simples_ grow +In fields and forests, all their powers I know." + DRYDEN. + + + +Philadelphia: +Boericke & Tafel. +1897. + + + + "Jamque aderat Phoebo ante alios dilectus lapis + Iasides: acri quondam cui captus amore + Ipse suas artes, sua munera, laetus Apollo + Augurium, citharamque dabat, celeresque sagittas + Ille ut _depositi_ proferret fata _clientis,_ + Scire potestates herbarum, usumque medendi + Maluit, et mutas agitare inglorius artes." + VIRGIL, _AEnid_: Libr. xii. v. 391-8. + + "And now lapis had appeared, + Blest leech! to Phoebus'-self endeared + Beyond all men below; + On whom the fond, indulgent God + His augury had fain bestowed, + His lyre-his sounding bow! + But he, the further to prolong + A fellow creature's span, + _The humbler art of Medicine chose, + The knowledge of each plant that grows,_ + Plying a craft not known to song, + An unambitious man!" + + + +[vii] + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + +It may happen that one or another enquirer taking up this book will +ask, to begin with, "What is a Herbal Simple?" The English word +"Simple," composed of two Latin words, _Singula plica_ (a single +fold), means "Singleness," whether of material or purpose. + +From primitive times the term "Herbal Simple" has been applied +to any homely curative remedy consisting of one ingredient only, +and that of a vegetable nature. Many such a native medicine found +favour and success with our single-minded forefathers, this being +the "reverent simplicity of ancienter times." + +In our own nursery days, as we now fondly remember, it was: +"Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair; said Simple Simon +to the pieman, 'Let me taste your ware.'" That ingenuous youth had +but one idea, connected simply with his stomach; and his sole +thought was how to devour the contents of the pieman's tin. We +venture to hope our readers may be equally eager to stock their +minds with the sound knowledge of Herbal Simples which this +modest Manual seeks to provide for their use. + +Healing by herbs has always been popular both [xviii] with the +classic nations of old, and with the British islanders of more recent +times. Two hundred and sixty years before the date of Hippocrates +(460 B.C.) the prophet Isaiah bade King Hezekiah, when sick unto +death, "take a lump of Figs, and lay it on the boil; and straightway +the King recovered." + +Iapis, the favourite pupil of Apollo, was offered endowments of +skill in augury, music, or archery. But he preferred to acquire a +knowledge of herbs for service of cure in sickness; and, armed +with this knowledge, he saved the life of AEneas when grievously +wounded by an arrow. He averted the hero's death by applying the +plant "Dittany," smooth of leaf, and purple of blossom, as plucked +on the mountain Ida. + +It is told in _Malvern Chase_ that Mary of Eldersfield (1454), +"whom some called a witch," famous for her knowledge of herbs +and medicaments, "descending the hill from her hut, with a small +phial of oil, and a bunch of the 'Danewort,' speedily enabled Lord +Edward of March, who had just then heavily sprained his knee, to +avoid danger by mounting 'Roan Roland' freed from pain, as it +were by magic, through the plant-rubbing which Mary +administered." + +In Shakespeare's time there was a London street, named +Bucklersbury (near the present Mansion House), noted for its +number of druggists who sold Simples and sweet-smelling herbs. +We read, in [ix] _The Merry Wives of Windsor_, that Sir John +Falstaff flouted the effeminate fops of his day as "Lisping +hawthorn buds that smell like Bucklersbury in simple time." + +Various British herbalists have produced works, more or less +learned and voluminous, about our native medicinal plants; but no +author has hitherto radically explained the why and where fore of +their ultimate curative action. In common with their early +predecessors, these several writers have recognised the healing +virtues of the herbs, but have failed to explore the chemical +principles on which such virtues depend. Some have attributed the +herbal properties to the planets which rule their growth. Others +have associated the remedial herbs with certain cognate colours, +ordaining red flowers for disorders of the blood, and yellow for +those of the liver. "The exorcised demon of jaundice," says +Conway, "was consigned to yellow parrots; that of inflammatory +disease to scarlet, or red weeds." Again, other herbalists have +selected their healing plants on the doctrine of allied signatures, +choosing, for instance, the Viper's Bugloss as effectual against +venomous bites, because of its resembling a snake; and the sweet +little English Eyebright, which shows a dark pupil in the centre +white ocular corolla, as of signal benefit for inflamed eyes. + +Thus it has continued to happen that until the [x] last half-century +Herbal Physic has remained only speculative and experimental, +instead of gaining a solid foothold in the field of medical science. +Its claims have been merely empirical, and its curative methods +those of a blind art:-- + + "Si vis curari, de morbo nescio quali, + Accipias herbam; sed quale nescio; nec quâ + Ponas; nescio quo; curabere, nescio quando." + + Your sore, I know not what, be not foreslow + To cure with herbs, which, where, I do not know; + Place them, well pounc't, I know not how, and then + You shall be perfect whole, I know not when." + +Happily now-a-days, as our French neighbours would say, _Nous +avons changé tout cela_, "Old things are passed away; behold all +things are become new!" Herbal Simples stand to-day safely +determined on sure ground by the help of the accurate chemist. +They hold their own with the best, and rank high for homely cures, +because of their proved constituents. Their manifest healing +virtues are shown to depend on medicinal elements plainly +disclosed by analysis. Henceforward the curtain of oblivion must +fall on cordial waters distilled mechanically from sweet herbs, and +on electuaries artlessly compounded of seeds and roots by a Lady +Monmouth, or a Countess of Arundel, as in the Stuart and Tudor +times. Our Herbal Simples are fairly entitled at last to independent +promotion from the shelves of the amateur still-room, from [xi] +the rustic ventures of the village grandam, and from the shallow +practices of self styled botanical doctors in the back streets of our +cities. + + "I do remember an apothecary,-- + And hereabouts he dwells,--whom late I noted + In tatter'd weeds, with overwhelming brows, + _Culling of Simples_; meagre were his looks; + And in his needy shop a tortoise hung, + An alligator stuff'd, and other skins + Of ill-shap'd fishes; and about his shelves + A beggarly account of empty boxes, + Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, + Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses + Were thinly scattered to make up a show." + _Romeo and Juliet_, Act V. Sc. 1. + +Chemically assured, therefore, of the sterling curative powers +which our Herbal Simples possess, and anxious to expound them +with a competent pen, the present author approaches his task with +a zealous purpose, taking as his pattern, from the _Comus_ of +Milton:-- + + "A certain shepherd lad + Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled + In every virtuous plant, and healing herb; + He would beg me sing; + Which, when I did, he on the tender grass + Would sit, and hearken even to constancy; + And in requital ope his leathern scrip, + And show me _Simples_, of a thousand names, + Telling their strange, and vigorous faculties." + +Shakespeare said, three centuries ago, "throw physic to the dogs." +But prior to him, one Doctor Key, self styled Caius, had written in +the Latin [xii] tongue (_tempore_ Henry VIII.), a Medical History +of the British Canine Race. His book became popular, though +abounding in false concords; insomuch that from then until now +medical classics have been held by scholars in poor repute for +grammar, and sound construction. Notwithstanding which risk, +many a passage is quoted here of ancient Herbal lore in the past +tongues of Greece, Rome; and the Gauls. It is fondly hoped that +the apt lines thus borrowed from old faultless sources will escape +reproach for a defective modern rendering in Dog Latin, Mongrel +Greek, or the "French of Stratford atte bowe." + +Lastly, quaint old Fuller shall lend an appropriate Epilogue. "I +stand ready," said he (1672), "with a pencil in one hand, and a spunge +in the other, to add, alter, insert, efface, enlarge, and delete, +according to better information. And if these my pains shall be +found worthy to passe a second Impression, my faults I will +confess with shame, and amend with thankfulnesse, to such as will +contribute clearer intelligence unto me." + + 1895. + + + +[xiii] + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + +On its First Reading, a Bill drafted in Parliament meets with +acquiescence from the House on both sides mainly because its +merits and demerits are to be more deliberately questioned when it +comes up again in the future for a second closer Reading, +Meanwhile, its faults can be amended, and its omissions supplied: +fresh clauses can be introduced: and the whole scheme of the Bill +can be better adapted to the spirit of the House inferred from its +first reception. + +In somewhat similar fashion the Second Edition of "Herbal +Simples" is now submitted to a Parliament of readers with the +belief that its ultimate success, or failure of purpose, is to depend +on its present revised contents, and the amplified scope of its +chapters. + +The criticism which public journalists, not a few, thought proper to +pass on its First Edition have been attentively considered herein. It +is true their comments were in some cases so conflicting as to be +difficult of practical appliance. The fabled old man and his ass +stand always in traditional warning against futile attempts to +satisfy inconsistent objectors, or to carry into effect suggestions +made by irreconcilable censors. "_Quot homines, tot [xiv] +sententioe_," is an adage signally verified when a fresh venture is +made on the waters of chartered opinion. How shall the perplexed +navigator steer his course when monitors in office accuse him on +the one hand of lax precision throughout, and belaud him on the +other for careful observance of detail? Or how shall he trim his +sails when a contemptuous Standard-bearer, strangely uninformed +on the point, ignores, as a leader of any repute, "one Gerard," a +former famous Captain of the Herbal fleet? With the would-be +Spectator's lament that Gerard's graphic drawings are regrettedly +wanting here, the author is fain to concur. He feels that the +absence of appropriate cuts to depict the various herbs is quite a +deficiency: but the hope is inspired that a still future Edition may +serve to supply this need. Certain botanical mistakes pointed out +with authority by the _Pharmaceutical Journal _have here been +duly corrected: and as many as fifty additional Simples will be +found described in the present Enlarged Edition. At the same time +a higher claim than hitherto made for the paramount importance of +the whole subject is now courageously advanced. + +To all who accept as literal truth the Scriptural account of the +Garden of Eden it must be evident how intimately man's welfare +from the first was made to depend on his uses of trees and herbs. +The labour of earning his bread in the sweat of his brow by tilling +the ground: and the penalty of [xv] and thistles produced +thereupon, were alike incurred by Eve's disobedience in plucking +the forbidden fruit: and a signified possibility of man's eventful +share in the tree of life, to "put forth his hand, and eat, and live +for ever," has been more than vaguely revealed. So that with almost a +sacred mission, and with an exalted motive of supreme usefulness, +this Manual of healing Herbs is published anew, to reach, it is +hoped, and to rescue many an ailing mortal. + +Against its main principle an objection has been speciously raised, +which at first sight appears of subversive weight; though, when +further examined, it is found to be clearly fallacious. By an able +but carping critic it was alleged that the mere chemical analysis of +old-fashioned Herbal Simples makes their medicinal actions no +less empirical than before: and that a pedantic knowledge of their +constituent parts, invested with fine technical names, gives them +no more scientific a position than that which our fathers +understood. + +But, taking, for instance, the herb Rue, which was formerly +brought into Court to protect a and the Bench from gaol fever, and +other infectious disease; no one knew at the time by what +particular virtue the Rue could exercise this salutary power. But +more recent research has taught, that the essential oil contained in +this, and other allied aromatic herbs, such as Elecampane, [xvi] +Rosemary, and Cinnamon, serves by its germicidal principles +(stearoptens, methyl-ethers, and camphors), to extinguish bacterial +life which underlies all contagion. In a parallel way the antiseptic +diffusible oils of Pine, Peppermint, and Thyme, are likewise +employed with marked success for inhalation into the lungs by +consumptive patients. Their volatile vapours reach remote parts of +the diseased air-passages, and heal by destroying the morbid +germs which perpetuate mischief therein. It need scarcely be said +the very existence of these causative microbes, much less any +mode of cure by their abolishment, was quite unknown to former +Herbal Simplers. + +Again, in past times a large number of our native, plants acquired +a well-deserved, but purely empirical celebrity, for curing scrofula +and scurvy. But later discovery has shown that each of these +several herbs contains lime, and earthy salts, in a subtle form of +high natural sub-division: whilst, at the same time, the law of cure +by medicinal similars has established the cognate fact that to those +who inherit a strumous taint, infinitesimal doses of these earth +salts are incontestably curative. The parents had first undergone a +gradual impairment of health because of calcareous matters to +excess in their general conditions of sustenance; and the lime +proves potent to cure in the offspring what, through the parental +surfeit, was entailed as [xvii] a heritage of disease. Just in the +same way the mineral waters of Missisquoi, and Bethesda, in America, +through containing siliceous qualities so sublimated as almost to +defy the analyst, are effective to cure cancer, albuminuria, and +other organic complaints. + +Nor is this by any means a new policy of cure. Its barbaric practice +has long since obtained, even in African wilds, where the native +snake doctor inoculates with his prepared snake poison to save the +life of a victim otherwise fatally bitten by another snake of the +same deadly virus. To Ovid, of Roman fame (20 B.C.), the same +sanative axiom was also indisputably known as we learn from his +lines:-- + + "Tunc observatas augur descendit in herbas; + Usus et auxilio est anguis ab angue dato." + + "Then searched the Augur low mid grass close scanned + For snake to heal a snake-envenomed hand." + +And with equal cogency other arguments, which are manifold, +might be readily adduced, as of congruous force, to vindicate our +claim in favour of analytical knowledge over blind experience in +the methods of Herbal cure, especially if this be pursued on the +broad lines of enlightened practice by similars. + +So now, to be brief, and to change our allegory, "on the banks of +the Nile," as Mrs. Malaprop would have pervertingly put it, with +"a nice [xviii] derangement of epitaphs," we invite our many +guests to a simple "dinner of herbs." Such was man's primitive +food in Paradise: "every green herb bearing seed, and every tree in +the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed:" "the green herb for +meat for every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air." What +better Preface can we indite than a grace to be said before sitting +down to the meal? "Sallets," it is hoped, will be found "in the lines +to make the matter savoury." Far be it from our object to preach a +prelude of texts, or to weary those at our board I with a +meaningless long benediction. "'Tis not so plain as the old Hill of +Howth," said tender-hearted witty Tom Hood, with serio-comic +truth, "a man has got his belly full of meat, because he talks with +victuals in his mouth." Rather would we choose the "russet Yeas +and honest kersey Noes" of sturdy yeoman speech; and cheerfully +taking the head of our well-stocked table, ask in homely terms that +"God will bless these the good creatures of His Herbal Simples to +our saving uses, and us to His grateful service." + + 1897. + + + +[xix] + +CONTENTS. + +Absinthe . . . 614 +Acorn . . . 15 +Agaric, Fly . . . 368 +Agrimony . . . 18 +Alexanders . . . 313 +Allspice . . . 386 +Amadou . . . 378 +Anemone, Wood . . . 20 +Angelica . . . 23 +Aniseed . . . 24 +Apple . . . 26 +Arsmart . . . 606 +Artichoke, Globe . . . 548 + " Jerusalem . . . 549 +Arum . . . 33 +Asafetida . . . 269 +Ash, Mountain . . . 350 +Asparagus . . . 35 +Asphodel, Bog . . . 482 +Avens . . . 47 + +Balm . . . 39 +Barberry . . . 42 +Barley . . . 44 +Basil, Sweet . . . 45 +Bean . . . 415 +Bedstraw . . . 231 +Bee sting . . . 260 +Beet . . . 507 +Belladonna . . . 388 +Bennet Herb . . . 47 +Betony, Water . . . 50, 198 + " Wood . . . 42 +Bilberry . . . 652 +Bistort, Great . . . 607 +Blackberry . . . 53 +Black Pot Herb . . . 312 +Blackthorn . . . 517 +Bladderwrack . . . 503 +Blessed Thistle . . . 557 +Blue Bell . . . 57 +Bog Bean . . . 58 +Borage . . . 60 +Bracken . . . 184 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Broom . . . 62 +Bryony, Black . . . 68 + " White . . . 65 +Buckthorn . . . 69 +Bugle . . . 510 +Bullace . . . 520 +Bulrush . . . 481 +Burdock . . . 162 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Butcher's Broom . . . 64 +Butterbur . . . 119 +Buttercup . . . 71 + +Cabbage . . . 74 + " Sea . . . 76 +Calamint . . . 343 +Camphor . . . 337 +Capsicum . . . 78 +Caraway . . . 81 +Carline Thistle . . . 558 +Carraigeen Moss . . . 500 +Carrot . . . 88 +Cascara Sagrada . . . 70 +Cat Mint . . . 344 +Cat Thyme . . . 565 +Cat's Tail . . . 482 +[xx] Celandine, Greater . . . 92 + " Lesser . . . 90 +Celery . . . 94 +Centaury . . . 96 +Chamomile . . . 84 + " Bitter . . . 86 +Cherry . . . 98 +Chervil . . . 100 +Chestnut, Horse . . . 102 + " Sweet . . . 104 +Chickweed . . . 105 +Chicory . . . 542 +Christmas Rose . . . 107 +Cider . . . 30 +Cinnamon . . . 390 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 516 +Clary . . . 492 +Cleavers . . . 230 +Clover, Meadow . . . 110 + " Sweet . . . 112 +Clovers . . . 395 +Club Moss . . . 113 +Colchicum . . . 483 +Coltsfoot . . . 116 +Comfrey . . . 120, 595 + " Prickly . . . 122 +Coriander . . . 122 +Couch Grass . . . 242 +Cow . . . 126 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Crab Apple . . . 29 +Cresses . . . 127 +Cress, Garden . . . 128 + " Water . . . 129 +Crowfoot . . . 71 +Cuckoo Flower . . . 134 +Cuckoo Pint . . . 33 +Cumin . . . 135 +Currants, Red, White, and Black . . . 137 + +Daffodil . . . 141 +Daisy . . . 143 +Damson . . . 520 +Dandelion . . . 147 +Darnel . . . 242 +Date . . . 152 +Dill . . . 155 +Dock . . . 157 + " Great Water . . . 164 + " Yellow Curled . . . 163 +Dodder . . . 112 +Dog's Mercury . . . 332 +Dropwort, Water . . . 603 +Dulse . . . 501 + +Earthnut . . . 372 +Egg . . . 150 +Elder . . . 164 + " Dwarf . . . 171 +Elecampane . . . 172 +Eryngo . . . 499 +Eyebright . . . 175 + +Fairy rings . . . 374 +Fennel . . . 179 + " Water . . . 604 +Ferns . . . 182 + " Female (Bracken) . . . 184 + " Hart's-tongue . . . 187 + " Maidenhair . . . 188 + " Male . . . 183 + " Polypody . . . 189 + " Royal . . . 186 + " Spleenwort . . . 190 + " Wall Rue . . . 191 +Feverfew . . . 192 +Fig . . . 194 +Figwort . . . 54 +Flag, Blue . . . 199 + " Yellow . . . 200 + " Stinking (Gladdon) . . . 201 + " Sweet . . . 201, 480 +Flax . . . 202 + " Purging . . . 204 +Fly Agaric . . . 368 +Foxglove . . . 205 +Fumitory . . . 201 +Furze . . . 63 + +Gage, Green . . . 521 +Garlic . . . 214 + " Poor Man's . . . 222 +Ginger . . . 392 +Gipsy Wort (Water Hore-hound) . . . 269 +[xxi] Good King Henry . . . 227 +Gooseberry . . . 223 +Goosefoot . . . 227 + " Stinking . . . 229 +Goosegrass . . . 230 +Goutweed . . . 235 +Grapes . . . 236 +Grasses . . . 241 +Ground Ivy . . . 283 +Groundsel . . . 243 + +Hawthorn . . . 245 +Hellebore, Stinking . . . 109 +Hemlock . . . 248 + " Water . . . 251 +Hemp Agrimony . . . 19 +Henbane . . . 252 +Herb, Bennet . . . 47 +Hoglouse . . . 564 +Honey . . . 256 +Hop . . . 262 +Horehound, Black . . . 268 + " White . . . 267 +Horse Radish . . . 269 +House Leek . . . 273 +Hyssop . . . 277 + " Hedge . . . 279 + +Iceland Moss . . . 500 +Irish Moss . . . 500 +Ivy . . . 280 + " Ground . . . 283 + +John's Wort, Saint . . . 287 +Juniper . . . 291 + +Knapweed, the Lesser . . . 296 + +Ladies' Mantle . . . 511 + " Smock . . . 134 +Lavender . . . 296 + " Sea . . . 300 +Laver . . . 505 +Leek . . . 220 +Lemon . . . 300 +Lentil . . . 305 +Lettuce . . . 308 +Lettuce, Lamb's . . . 312 + " Wild . . . 307 +Lily of the Valley 313 +Lily, Water . . . 604 +Lime Tree . . . 316 +Linseed . . . 202 +Liquorice . . . 318 +Lords and Ladies (Arum) . . . 33 +Lungwort . . . 594 +Lupine . . . 306 + +Mace . . . 395 +Mace Reed . . . 482 +Mallow . . . 322 + " Marsh . . . 323 + " Musk . . . 325 +Mandrake . . . 66 +Marigold . . . 327 + " Corn . . . 326 + " Marsh . . . 329 +Marjoram . . . 331 +Melancholy Thistle . . . 560 +Menthol . . . 339 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 332 + " English . . . 228 +Milk Thistle . . . 556 +Mints . . . 333 +Mistletoe . . . 345 +Monk's Rhubarb . . . 159 +Moon Daisy . . . 146 +Moss, Club . . . 113 + " Iceland . . . 500 + " Irish . . . 500 +Mountain Ash . . . 350 +Mugwort . . . 352 +Mulberry . . . 356 +Mullein . . . 359 +Mum . . . 581 +Mushrooms . . . 362 +Mustard . . . 375 + " Hedge . . . 222, 381 + +Nasturtium . . . 132 +Nettle . . . 382 + " Dead . . . 387 +Night Shade, Deadly . . . 388 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +Nuts . . . 602 + +[xxii] Oak Bark . . . 16 +Oat . . . 397 +Onion . . . 209 +Orach . . . 229 +Orange . . . 399 +Orchids . . . 404 +Orpine (Live Long) . . . 276 +Ox eye Daisy . . . 146 + +Pansy, Wild . . . 589 +Parsley . . . 407 + " Fool's . . . 412 +Parsnip . . . 413 + " Water . . . 414 +Pea . . . 416 +Peach . . . 418 +Pear . . . 419 +Pellitory of Spain . . . 424 + " of Wall . . . 423 +Pennyroyal . . . 334 +Peppermint . . . 338 +Pepper, Water . . . 606 +Periwinkle, Greater . . . 427 + " Lesser . . . 428 +Perry . . . 422 +Pilewort . . . 90 +Pimento, Allspice . . . 386 +Pimpernel . . . 428 +Pine . . . 576 +Pink . . . 432 +Plantain, Greater . . . 433 + " Ribwort . . . 435 + " Water . . . 435 +Plum, Common . . . 520 + " Wild . . . 520 +Polypody Fern . . . 190 +Poppy, Scarlet . . . 437 + " Welsh . . . 441 + " White . . . 438 +Potato . . . 441 +Primrose . . . 447 + " Evening . . . 449 +Primula . . . 449 +Prune . . . 522 +Prunella . . . 509 +Psyllium Seeds . . . 436 +Puff Ball . . . 365 +Pulsatilla . . . 20 + +Quince . . . 452 + +Radish . . . 455 + " Horse . . . 269 +Ragwort . . . 457 +Ransoms . . . 221 +Raspberry . . . 459 +Reed, Sweet Scented . . . 480 +Rest Harrow . . . 320 +Rhubarb, Garden . . . 159 +Rice . . . 461 +Rosemary . . . 470 + " Wild . . . 474 +Roses . . . 463 + " Rock . . . 469 +Rue . . . 475 +Rushes . . . 479 + +Saffron . . . 485 + " Meadow . . . 483 +Sage . . . 489 + " Meadow . . . 492 +Sago . . . 155 +Saint John's Wort . . . 287 +Salep . . . 405 +Saliva . . . 178 +Samphire . . . 497 +Sanicle . . . 508 +Saucealone . . . 222 +Savin . . . 493 +Schalot . . . 222 +Scurvy Grass . . . 133, 495 +Sea Holly . . . 498 + " Tang . . . 502 + " Water . . . 508 + " Weeds . . . 496 +Selfheal . . . 508 +Service Tree . . . 352 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 511 +Silverweed . . . 514 +Skullcap . . . 516 + " the Lesser . . . 517 +Sloe . . . 517 +Snails . . . 409 +Soapwort . . . 522 +Solomon's Seal . . . 524 +Sorrel . . . 160 + " Wood . . . 161 +Southernwood . . . 526 +Sowbread . . . 450 +Sow Thistle . . . 559 +Spearmint . . . 342 +Speedwell . . . 527 +Spinach . . . 529 + " Sea . . . 506 +Spindle Tree . . . 530 +Spurge Wood . . . 532 + " Petty . . . 602 +Stitchwort . . . 535 +Stonecrop (House Leek) . . . 276 +Strawberry . . . 538 + " Wild . . . 537 +Succory . . . 541 +Sundew . . . 543 +Sunflower . . . 546 + +Tamarind . . . 550 +Tansy . . . 552 +Tar . . . 580 +Tarragon . . . 554 +Teasel, Fuller's . . . 559 + " Wild . . . 559 +Thistles . . . 555 +Thyme . . . 560 +Thymol . . . 563 +Toadflax . . . 565 +Toadstool . . . 372 +Tomato . . . 567 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Truffle . . . 371 +Turnip . . . 574 +Turpentine . . . 576 +Tutsan . . . 290 + +Valerian, Red . . . 585 + " Wild . . . 583 +Verbena (Vervain) . . . 586 +Verguice . . . 29, 238 +Vernal grass . . . 241 +Vine . . . 240, 588 +Violet, Sweet . . . 592 + " Wild . . . 589 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 594 + +Wallflower . . . 595 +Walnut . . . 597 + " American . . . 601 +Wartwort . . . 602 +Watercress . . . 129 +Water Dropwort . . . 603 + " Figwort . . . 198 + " Horehound . . . 269 + " Lily, White . . . 605 + " Yellow . . . 605 + " Pepper . . . 606 +Whitethorn . . . 245 +Whortleberry . . . 52 +Woodruff, Sweet . . . 608 + " Squinancy . . . 609 +Wood Sorrel . . . 161, 610 +Wormwood . . . 355, 612 +Woundwort, Hedge . . . 615 + +Yarrow 616 +Yew 619 + + + +[1] INTRODUCTION. + +The art of _Simpling _is as old with us as our British hills. It aims +at curing common ailments with simple remedies culled from the +soil, or got from home resources near at hand. + +Since the days of the Anglo-Saxons such remedies have been +chiefly herbal; insomuch that the word "drug" came originally +from their verb _drigan_, to dry, as applied to medicinal plants. + +These primitive Simplers were guided in their choice of herbs +partly by watching animals who sought them out for self-cure, and +partly by discovering for themselves the sensible properties of the +plants as revealed by their odour and taste; also by their supposed +resemblance to those diseases which nature meant them to heal. + +John Evelyn relates in his _Acetaria_ (1725) that "one Signor +Faquinto, physician to Queen Anne (mother to the beloved martyr, +Charles the First), and formerly physician to one of the Popes, +observing scurvy and dropsy to be the epidemical and dominant +diseases [2] of this nation, went himself into the hundreds of +Essex, reputed the most unhealthy county of this island, and used +to follow the sheep and cattle on purpose to observe what plants +they chiefly fed upon; and of these Simples he composed an +excellent electuary of marvellous effects against these same +obnoxious infirmities." Also, in like manner, it was noticed by +others that "the dog, if out of condition, would seek for certain +grasses of an emetic or purgative sort; sheep and cows, when +ill, would devour curative plants; an animal suffering from +rheumatism would remain as much as it could in the sunshine; and +creatures infested by parasites would roll themselves frequently in +the dust." Again, William Coles in his _Nature's Paradise, or, Art +of Simpling_ (1657), wrote thus: "Though sin and Sathan have +plunged mankinde into an ocean of infirmities, jet the mercy of +God, which is over all His works, maketh grass to grow upon the +mountaines, and Herbes for the use of men; and hath not only +stamped upon them a distinct forme, but also given them particular +signatures, whereby a man may read even in legible characters the +use of them." + +The present manual of our native Herbal Simples seeks rather to +justify their uses on the sound basis of accurate chemical analysis, +and precise elementary research. Hitherto medicinal herbs have +come down to us from early times as possessing only a traditional +value, and as exercising merely empirical effects. Their selection +has been commended solely by a shrewd discernment, and by the +practice of successive centuries. But to-day a closer analysis in the +laboratory, and skilled provings by experts have resolved the +several plants into their component parts, and have chemically +determined the medicinal nature of these parts, both [3] singly and +collectively. So that the study and practice of curative British +herbs may now fairly take rank as an exact science, and may +command the full confidence of the sick for supplying trustworthy +aid and succour in their times of bodily need. + +Scientific reasons which are self-convincing may be readily +adduced for prescribing all our best known native herbal +medicines. Among them the Elder, Parsley, Peppermint, and +Watercress may be taken as familiar examples of this leading fact. +Almost from time immemorial in England a "rob" made from the +juice of Elderberries simmered and thickened with sugar, or +mulled Elder wine concocted from the fruit, with raisins, sugar, +and spices, has been a popular remedy in this country, if taken hot +at bedtime, for a recent cold, or for a sore throat. But only of late +has chemistry explained that Elderberries furnish "viburnic acid," +which induces sweating, and is specially curative of inflammatory +bronchial soreness. So likewise Parsley, besides being a favourite +pot herb, and a garnish for cold meats, has been long popular in +rural districts as a tea for catarrh of the bladder or kidneys; whilst +the bruised leaves have been extolled as a poultice for swellings +and open sores. At the same time, a saying about the herb has +commonly prevailed that it "brings death to men, and salvation to +women." Not, however, until recently has it been learnt that the +sweet-smelling plant yields what chemists call "apiol," or +Parsley-Camphor, which, when given in moderation, exercises a quieting +influence on the main sensific centres of life--the head and the +spine. Thereby any feverish irritability of the urinary organs +inflicted by cold, or other nervous shock, would be subordinately +allayed. Thus likewise the Parsley-Camphor (whilst serving, [4] +when applied externally, to usefully stimulate indolent wounds) +proves especially beneficial for female irregularities of the womb, +as was first shown by certain French doctors in 1849. + +Again, with respect to Peppermint, its cordial water, or its +lozenges taken as a confection, have been popular from the days of +our grandmothers for the relief of colic in the bowels, or for the +stomach-ache of flatulent indigestion. But this practice has +obtained simply because the pungent herb was found to diffuse +grateful aromatic warmth within the stomach and bowels, whilst +promoting the expulsion of wind; whereas we now know that an +active principle "menthol" contained in the plant, and which may +be extracted from it as a camphoraceous oil, possesses in a marked +degree antiseptic and sedative properties which are chemically +hostile to putrescence, and preventive of dyspeptic fermentation. + +Lastly, the Watercress has for many years held credit with the +common people for curing scurvy and its allied ailments; while its +juices have been further esteemed as of especial use in arresting +tubercular consumption of the lungs; and yet it has remained for +recent analysis to show that the Watercress is chemically rich in +"antiscorbutic salts," which tend to destroy the germs of tubercular +disease, and which strike at the root of scurvy generally. These +salts and remedial principles are "sulphur," "iodine," "potash," +"phosphatic earths," and a particular volatile essential oil known as +"sulphocyanide of allyl," which is almost identical with the +essential oil of White Mustard. + +Moreover, many of the chief Herbal Simples indigenous to Great Britain +are further entitled for a still stronger reason to the fullest +confidence of both doctor [5] and patient. It has been found that +when taken experimentally in varying quantities by healthy +provers, many single medicines will produce symptoms precisely +according with those of definite recognized maladies; and the +same herbs, if administered curatively, in doses sufficiently small +to avoid producing their toxical effects, will speedily and surely +restore the patient to health by dispelling the said maladies. Good +instances of such homologous cures are afforded by the common +Buttercup, the wild Pansy, and the Sundew of our boggy marshes. +It is widely known that the field Buttercup (_Ranunculus +bulbosus_), when pulled from the ground, and carried in the palm +of the hand, will redden and inflame the skin by the acrimony of its +juices; or, if the bruised leaves are applied to any part they will +excite a blistering of the outer cuticle, with a discharge of watery +fluid from numerous small vesicles, whilst the tissues beneath +become red, hot, and swollen; and these combined symptoms +precisely represent "shingles,"--a painful skin disease given to +arise from a depraved state of the bodily system, and from a faulty +supply of nervous force. These shingles appear as a crop of sore +angry blisters, which commonly surround the walls of the chest +either in part or entirely; and modern medicine teaches that a +medicinal tincture of the Buttercup, if taken in small doses, and +applied, will promptly and effectively cure the same troublesome +ailment; whilst it will further serve to banish a neuralgic or +rheumatic stitch occurring in the side from any other cause. + +And so with respect to the Wild Pansy (_Viola tricolor_), we read +in Hahnemann's commentary on the proved plant: "The Pansy +Violet excites certain cutaneous eruptions about the head and face, +a hard thick scab being formed, which is cracked here and there, +and [6] from which a tenacious yellow matter exudes, and hardens +into a substance like gum." This is an accurate picture of the +diseased state seen often affecting the scalp of unhealthy children, +as milk-crust, or, when aggravated, as a disfiguring eczema, and +concerning the same Dr. Hughes of Brighton, in his authoritative +modern treatise, says, "I have rarely needed any other medicine +than the Viola tricolor for curing milk-crust, which is the plague of +children," and "I have given it in the adult for recent impetigo (a +similar disease of the skin), with very satisfactory results." + +Finally, the Sundew (_Drosera rotundifolia_), which is a common +little plant growing on our bogs, and marshy places, is found to act +in the same double fashion of cause or cure according to the +quantity taken, or administered. Farmers well know that this small +herb when devoured by sheep in their pasturage will bring about a +violent chronic cough, with waste of substance: whilst the Sundew +when given experimentally to cats has been found to stud the +surface of their lungs with morbid tubercular matter, though this is +a form of disease to which cats are not otherwise liable. In like +manner healthy human provers have become hoarse of voice +through taking the plant, and troubled with a severe cough, +accompanied with the expectoration of abundant yellow mucus, +just as in tubercular mischief beginning at the windpipe. Meantime +it has been well demonstrated (by Dr. Curie, and others) that at the +onset of pulmonary consumption in the human subject a cure may +nearly always be brought about, or the symptoms materially +improved, by giving the tincture of Sundew throughout several +weeks--from four to twenty drops in the twenty-four hours. And it +has further become an established fact that the same tincture [7] +will serve with remarkable success to allay the troublesome +spasms of Whooping Cough in its second stage, if given in small +doses, repeated several times a day. + +From these several examples, therefore, which are easy to be +understood, we may fairly conclude that positive remedial actions +are equally exercised by other Herbal Simples, both because of +their chemical constituents and by reason of their curing in many +cases according to the known law of medicinal correspondence. + +Until of late no such an assured position could be rightly claimed +by our native herbs, though pretentions in their favour have been +widely popular since early English times. Indeed, Herbal physic +has engaged the attention of many authors from the primitive days +of Dioscorides (A.D. 60) to those of Elizabethan Gerard, whose +exhaustive and delightful volume published in 1587 has remained +ever since in paramount favour with the English people. Its quaint +fascinating style, and its queer astrological notions, together with +its admirable woodcuts of the plants described, have combined to +make this comprehensive Herbal a standing favourite even to the +present day. + +Gerard had a large physic-garden near his house in Old Bourne +(Holborn), and there is in the British Museum a letter drawn up +by his hand asking Lord Burghley, his patron, to advise the +establishment by the University of Cambridge in their grounds of +a Simpling Herbarium. Nevertheless, we are now told (H. Lee, 1883) +that Gerard's "ponderous book is little more than a translation +of Dodonoeus, from which comparatively un-read author whole +chapters have been taken verbatim without acknowledgment." + +No English work on herbs and plants is met with prior to the +sixteenth century. In 1552 all books on [8] astronomy and +geography were ordered to be destroyed, because supposed to be +infected with magic. And it is more than probable that any +publications extant at that time on the virtues of herbs (then +associated by many persons with witchcraft), underwent the same +fate. In like manner King Hezekiah long ago "fearing lest the +Herbals of Solomon should come into profane hands, caused them +to be burned," as we learn from that "loyal and godly herbalist," +Robert Turner. + +During the reigns of Edward the Sixth and Mary, Dr. William +Bulleyn ranked high as a physician and botanist. He wrote the first +_Boke of Simples_, which remains among the most interesting +literary productions of that era as a record of his acuteness and +learning. It advocates the exclusive employment of our native +herbal medicines. Again, Nicholas Culpeper, "student in physick," +whose name is still a household word with many a plain thinking +English person, published in 1652, for the benefit of the +Commonwealth, his "Compleat Method whereby a man may cure +himself being sick, for threepence charge, with such things only as +grow in England, they being most fit for English bodies." +Likewise in 1696 the Honourable Richard Boyle, F.R.S., published +"_A Collection of Choice, Safe, and Simple English Remedies_, +easily prepared, very useful in families, and fitted for +the service of country people." + +Once more, the noted John Wesley gave to the world in 1769 an +admirable little treatise on _Primitive Physic, or an Easy and +Natural Method for Curing most Diseases_; the medicines on +which he chiefly relied being our native plants. For asthma, he +advised the sufferer to "live a fortnight on boiled Carrots only"; +for "baldness, to wash the head with a decoction of Boxwood"; [9] +for "blood-spitting to drink the juice of Nettles"; for "an open +cancer, to take freely of Clivers, or Goosegrass, whilst covering +the sore with the bruised leaves of this herb"; and for an ague, to +swallow at stated times "six middling pills of Cobweb." + +In Wesley's day tradition only, with shrewd guesses and close +observation, led him to prescribe these remedies. But now we have +learnt by patient chemical research that the Wild Carrot possesses +a particular volatile oil, which promotes copious expectoration for +the relief of asthmatic cough; that the Nettle is endowed in its +stinging hairs with "formic acid," which avails to arrest bleeding; +that Boxwood yields "buxine," a specific stimulant to those nerves +of supply which command the hair bulbs; that Goosegrass or +Clivers is of astringent benefit in cancer, because of its "tannic," +"citric," and "rubichloric acids"; and that the Spider's Web is of +real curative value in ague, because it affords an albuminous +principle "allied to and isomeric with quinine." + +Long before this middle era in medicine, during quite primitive +British times, the name and office of "Leeches" were familiar to +the people as the first doctors of physic; and their _parabilia_ or +"accessibles" were worts from the field and the garden; so that +when the Saxons obtained possession of Britain, they found it +already cultivated and improved by what the Romans knew of +agriculture and of vegetable productions. Hence it had happened +that Rue, Hyssop, Fennel, Mustard, Elecampane, Southernwood, +Celandine, Radish, Cummin, Onion, Lupin, Chervil, Fleur de +Luce, Flax (probably), Rosemary, Savory, Lovage, Parsley, +Coriander, Alexanders, or Olusatrum, the black pot herb, Savin, +and other useful herbs, were already of common growth for +kitchen uses, or for medicinal purposes. + +[10] And as a remarkable incidental fact antiquity has bequeathed +to us the legend, that goats were always exceptionally wise in the +choice of these wholesome herbs; that they are, indeed, the +herbalists among quadrupeds, and known to be "cunning in +simples." From which notion has grown the idea that they are +physicians among their kind, and that their odour is wholesome to +the animals of the farmyard generally. So that in deference, +unknowingly, to this superstition, it still happens that a single +Nanny or a Betty is freakishly maintained in many a modern +farmyard, living at ease, rather than put to any real use, or kept for +any particular purpose of service. But in case of stables on fire, he +or she will face the flames to make good an escape, and then the +horses will follow. + +It was through chewing the beans of Mocha, and becoming stupefied +thereby, that unsuspicious goats first drew the attention +of Mahomedan monks to the wonderful properties of the Coffee +berry. + +Next, coming down to the first part of the present century, we find +that purveyors of medicinal and savoury herbs then wandered over +the whole of England in quest of such useful simples as were in +constant demand at most houses for the medicine-chest, the +store-closet, or the toilet-table. These rustic practitioners of the +healing art were known as "green men," who carried with them their +portable apparatus for distilling essences, and for preparing their +herbal extracts. In token of their having formerly officiated in this +capacity, there may yet be seen in London and elsewhere about the +country, taverns bearing the curious sign of "The Green Man and +(his) Still." + +It is told of a certain French writer not long since, that whilst +complacently describing our British manners [11] customs, he +gravely translated this legend of the into "_L'homme vert, et +tranquil_." + +Passing on finally to our own times at the close of the nineteenth +century, we are able now-a-days, as has been already said, to avail +ourselves of precise chemical research by apparatus far in advance +of the untutored herbalist's still. He prepared his medicaments and +his fragrant essences, merely as a mechanical art, and without +pretending to fathom their method of physical action. But the +skilled expert of to-day resolves his herbal simples into their +ultimate elements by exact analysis in the laboratory, and has +learnt to attach its proper medicinal virtue to each of these curative +principles. It has thus come about that Herbal Physic under +competent guidance, if pursued with intelligent care, is at length a +reliable science of fixed methods, and crowned with sure results. + +Moreover, in this happy way is at last vindicated the infinite +superiority felt instinctively by our forefathers of home-grown +herbs over foreign and far-fetched drugs; a superiority long since +expressed by Ovid with classic felicity in the passage:-- + + "AEtas cui facimus _aurea_ nomen, + Fructibus arbuteis, et humus quas educat herbis + Fortunata fuit."--_Metamorphos., Lib. XV_. + + "Happy the age, to which we moderns give + The name of 'golden,' when men chose to live + On woodland fruits; and for their medicines took + Herbs from the field, and simples from the brook." + +or, as epitomised in the time-worn Latin adage:-- + + "Qui potest mederi _simplicibus_ frustra quaerit composita." + + "If _simple_ herbs suffice to cure, + 'Tis vain to compound drugs endure." + +In the following pages our leading Herbal Simples [12] are +reviewed alphabetically; whilst, to ensure accuracy, the genus and +species of each plant are particularised. + +Most of these herbs may be gathered fresh in their proper season +by persons who have acquired a knowledge of their parts, and who +live in districts where such plants are to be found growing; and to +other persons who inhabit towns, or who have no practical +acquaintance with Botany, great facilities are now given by our +principal druggists for obtaining from their stores concentrated +fresh juices of the chief herbal simples. + +Again, certain preparations of plants used only for their specific +curative methods are to be got exclusively from the Homoeopathic +chemist, unless gathered at first hand. These, not being officinal, +fail to find a place on the shelves of the ordinary Pharmaceutical +druggist. Nevertheless, when suitably employed, they are of +singular efficacy in curing the maladies to which they stand akin +by the law of similars. For convenience of distinction here, the +symbol H. will follow such particular preparations, which number +in all some seventy-five of the simples described. At the same time +any of the more common extracts, juices, and tinctures (or the +proper parts of the plants for making these several medicaments), +may be readily purchased at the shop of every leading druggist. + +It has not been thought expedient to include among the Simples +for homely uses of cure such powerfully poisonous plants as +Monkshood (_Aconite_), Deadly Nightshade (_Belladonna_), +Foxglove (_Digitalis_), Hemlock or Henbane (except for some +outward uses), and the like dangerous herbs, these being beyond +the province of domestic medicine, whilst only to be administered +under the advice and guidance of a qualified prescriber. + +[13] The chief purpose held in view has been to reconsider those +safe and sound herbal curative remedies and medicines which +were formerly most in vogue as homely simples, whether to be +taken or to be outwardly applied. And the main object has been to +show with what confidence their uses may be now resumed, or +retained under the guidance of modern chemical teachings, and of +precise scientific provings. This question equally applies, whether +the Simples be employed as auxiliaries by the physician in +attendance, or are welcomed for prompt service in a household +emergency as ready at hand when the doctor cannot be immediately had. + +Moreover, such a Manual as the present of approved Herbal +Remedies need not by any means be disparaged by the busy +practitioner, when his customary medicines seem to be out of +place, or are beyond speedy reach; it being well known that a sick +person is always ready to accept with eagerness plain assistant +remedies sensibly advised from the garden, the store-closet, the +spice-box, or the field. + + "Of simple medicines, and their powers to cure, + A wise physician makes his knowledge sure; + Else I or the household in his healing art + He stands ill-fitted to take useful part." + +So said Oribasus (freely translated) as long ago as the fourth +century, in classic terms prophetic of later times, _Simplicium +medicamentorum et facultatum quoe in eis insunt cognitio ita +necessaria est ut sine eâ nemo rite medicari queat_. + +But after all has been said and done, none the less must it be +finally acknowledged in the pathetic utterance of King Alfred's +Anglo-Saxon proverb, _Nis [14] no wurt woxen on woode ne on +felde, per enure mage be lif uphelden_. + + "No wort is waxen in wood or wold, + Which may for ever man's life uphold." + +Neither to be discovered in the quaint Herbals of primitive times, +nor to be learnt by the advanced chemical knowledge of modern +plant lore, is there any panacea for all the ills to which our flesh +is heir, or an elixir of life, which can secure for us a perpetual +immunity from sickness. _Contra vim mortis nullum medicamentum +in hortis_, says the rueful Latin distich:-- + + "No healing herb can conquer death, + And so for always give us breath." + +To sum up which humiliating conclusion good George Herbert has +put the matter thus with epigrammatic conciseness:-- + + "St. Luke was a saint and a physician, yet he is dead!" + +But none the less bravely we may still take comfort each in his +mortal frailty, because of the hopeful promise preached to men +long since by the son of Sirach, "A faithful friend is the Medicine +of life; they that fear the Lord shall find Him." + + + +[15] ACORN. + +This is the well-known fruit of our British Oak, to Which tree it +gives the name--_Aik_, or _Eik_, Oak. + +The Acorn was esteemed by Dioscorides, and other old authors, +for its supposed medicinal virtues. As an article of food it is not +known to have been habitually used at any time by the inhabitants +of Britain, though acorns furnished the chief support of the large +herds of swine on which our forefathers subsisted. The right of +maintaining these swine in the woods was called "panage," and +formed a valuable property. + +The earliest inhabitants of Greece and Southern Europe who lived +in the primeval forests were supported almost wholly on the fruit +of the Oak. They were described by classic authors as fat of +person, and were called "balanophagi"--acorn eaters. + +During the great dearth of 1709 the French were driven to eat +bread of acorns steeped in water to destroy the bitterness, and they +suffered therefrom injurious effects, such as obstinate +constipation, or destructive cholera. + +It is worth serious notice medically that in years remarkable for a +large yield of Acorns disastrous losses have occurred among +young cattle from outbreaks of acorn poisoning, or the acorn +disease. Those up to two years old suffered most severely, but +sheep, pigs and deer were not affected by this acorn malady. Its +symptoms are progressive wasting, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, sore +places inside the mouth, discharge from [16] the eyes and nostrils, +excretion of much pale urine, and no fever, but a fall of +temperature below the normal standard. Having regard to which +train of symptoms it is fair to suppose the acorn will afford in the +human subject a useful specific medicine for the marasmus, or +wasting atrophy of young children who are scrofulous. The fruit +should be given in the form of a tincture, or vegetable extract, or +even admixed (when ground) sparingly with wheaten flour in +bread. The dose should fall short of producing any of the above +symptoms, and the remedy should be steadily pursued for many +weeks. + +The tincture should be made of saturated strength with spirit of +wine on the bruised acorns, to stand for a fortnight before being +decanted. Then the dose will be from twenty to thirty drops with +water three or four times a day. + +The Acorn contains chemically starch, a fixed oil, citric acid, +uncrystallizable sugar, and another special sugar called "quercit." + +Acorns, when roasted and powdered, have been sometimes employed +as a fair substitute for coffee. By distillation they will +yield an ardent spirit. + +Dr. Burnett strongly commends a "distilled spirit of acorns" as an +antidote to the effects of alcohol, where the spleen and kidneys +have already suffered, with induced dropsy. It acts on the principle +of similars, ten drops being given three times a day in water. + +In certain parts of Europe it is customary to place acorns in the +hands of the newly dead; whilst in other districts an apple is put +into the palm of a child when lying in its little coffin. + +The bark of an oak tree, and the galls, or apples, produced on its +leaves, or twigs, by an insect named [17] cynips, are very +astringent, by reason of the gallo-tannic acid which they furnish +abundantly. This acid, given as a drug, or the strong decoction of +oak bark which contains it, will serve to restrain bleedings if taken +internally; and finely powdered oak bark, when inhaled pretty +frequently, has proved very beneficial against consumption of the +lungs in its early stages. Working tanners are well known to be +particularly exempt from this disease, probably through their +constantly inhaling the peculiar aroma given off from the tan pits; +and a like effect may be produced by using as snuff the fresh oak +bark dried and reduced to an impalpable powder, or by inhaling +day after day the steam given off from recent oak bark infused in +boiling water. + +Marble galls are formed on the back of young twigs, artichoke +galls at their extremities, and currant galls by spangles on the +under surface of the leaves. From these spangles females presently +emerge, and lay their eggs on the catkins, giving rise to the round +shining currant galls. + +The Oak--_Quercus robur_--is so named from the Celtic "quer," +beautiful; and "cuez," a tree. "Drus," another Celtic word for tree, +and particularly for the Oak, gave rise to the terms Dryads and +Druids. Among the Greeks and Romans a chaplet of oak was one +of the highest honours which could be conferred on a citizen. +Ancient oaks exist in several parts of England, which are +traditionally called Gospel oaks, because it was the practice in +times long past when beating the bounds of a parish to read a +portion of the Gospel on Ascension Day beneath an oak tree which +was growing on the boundary line of the district. Cross oaks were +planted at the juncture of cross roads, so that persons suffering +from ague might peg a lock of their hair into the [18] trunks, and +by wrenching themselves away might leave the hair and the +malady in the tree together. A strong decoction of oak bark is most +usefully applied for prolapse of the lower bowel. + +Oak Apple day (May 29th) is called in Hampshire "Shikshak" day. + + + +AGRIMONY. + +The Agrimony is a Simple well known to all country folk, and +abundant throughout England in the fields and woods, as a popular +domestic medicinal herb. It belongs to the Rose order of plants, +and blossoms from June to September with small yellow flowers, +which sit close along slender spikes a foot high, smelling like +apricots, and called by the rustics "Church Steeples." Botanically +it bears the names _Agrimonia Eupatoria_, of which the first is +derived from the Greek, and means "shining," because the herb is +thought to cure cataract of the eye; and the second bears reference +to the liver, as indicating the use of this plant for curing diseases +of that organ. Chemists have determined that the Agrimony possesses +a particular volatile oil, and yields nearly five per cent. of tannin, +so that its use in the cottage for gargles, and as an astringent +application to indolent wounds, is well justified. The herb does not +seem really to own any qualities for acting medicinally on the +liver. More probably the yellow colour of its flowers, which, with +the root, furnish a dye of a bright nankeen hue, has given it a +reputation in bilious disorders, according to the doctrine of +signatures, because the bile is also yellow. Nevertheless, Gerard +says: "A decoction of the leaves is good for them that have +naughty livers." By pouring a pint of boiling water on a handful of +the plant--stems, flowers and leaves--an [19] excellent gargle may +be made for a relaxed throat; and a teacupful of the same infusion +may be taken cold three or four times in the day for simple +looseness of the bowels; also for passive losses of blood. In +France, Agrimony tea is drank as a beverage at table. This herb +formed an ingredient of the genuine arquebusade water, as +prepared against wounds inflicted by an arquebus, or hand-gun, +and it was mentioned by Philip de Comines in his account of the +battle of Morat, 1476. When the Yeomen of the Guard were first +formed in England--1485--half were armed with bows and arrows, +whilst the other half carried arquebuses. In France the _eau de +arquebusade_ is still applied for sprains and bruises, being +carefully made from many aromatic herbs. Agrimony was at one +time included in the London _Materia Medica_ as a vulnerary +herb. It bears the title of Cockleburr, or Sticklewort, because its +seed vessels cling by the hooked ends of their stiff hairs to any +person or animal coming into contact with the plant. A strong +decoction of the root and leaves, sweetened with honey, has been +taken successfully to cure scrofulous sores, being administered +two or three times a day in doses of a wineglassful persistently for +several months. Perhaps the special volatile oil of the plant, in +common with that contained in other herbs similarly aromatic, is +curatively antiseptic. Pliny called it a herb "of princely +authoritie." + +The _Hemp Agrimony_, or St. John's Herb, belongs to the Composite +order of plants, and grows on the margins of brooks, having +hemp-like leaves, which are bitter of taste and pungent of +smell, as if it were an umbelliferous herb. Because of these +hempen leaves it was formerly called "Holy Rope," being thus +named after the rope with which Jesus was bound. They contain a +volatile [20] oil, which acts on the kidneys; likewise some tannin, +and a bitter chemical principle, which will cut short the chill of +intermittent fever, or perhaps prevent it. Provers of the plant have +found it produce a "bilious fever," with severe headache, redness of +the face, nausea, soreness over the liver, constipation, and +high-coloured urine. Acting on which experience, a tincture, prepared +(H.) from the whole plant, may be confidently given in frequent +small well-diluted doses with water for influenza, or for a similar +feverish chill, with break-bone pains, prostration, hot dry skin, and +some bilious vomiting. Likewise a tea made with boiling water +poured on the dried leaves will give prompt relief if taken hot at +the onset of a bilious catarrh, or of influenza. This plant also is +named _Eupatorium_ because it refers, as Pliny says, to Eupator, a +king of Pontus. In Holland it is used for jaundice, with swollen +feet: and in America it belongs to the tribe of bone-sets. The Hemp +Agrimony grows with us in moist, shady places, with a tall reddish +stem, and with terminal crowded heads of dull lilac flowers. Its +distinctive title is _Cannabinum_, or "Hempen," whilst by some it +is known as "Thoroughwort." + + + +ANEMONE (Wood). + +The _Wood Anemone_, or medicinal English _Pulsatilla_, with its +lovely pink white petals, and drooping blossoms, is one of our best +known and most beautiful spring flowers. Herbalists do not +distinguish it virtually from the silky-haired _Anemone Pulsatilla_, +which medicinal variety is of highly valuable modern curative +use as a Herbal Simple. The active chemical principles of +each plant are "anemonin" and "anemonic acid." A tincture is +made (H.) with spirit of wine from the entire [21] plant, collected +when in flower. This tincture is remarkably beneficial in disorders +of the mucous membranes, alike of the respiratory and of the +digestive passages. For mucous indigestion following a heavy or +rich meal the tincture of Pulsatilla is almost a specific remedy. +Three or four drops thereof should be given at once with a +tablespoonful of water, hot or cold, and the same dose may be +repeated after an hour if then still needed. For catarrhal affections +of the eyes and the ears, as well as for catarrhal diarrhoea, the +tincture is very serviceable; also for female monthly difficulties its +use is always beneficial and safe. As a medicine it best suits +persons of a mild, gentle disposition, and of a lymphatic +constitution, especially females; it is less appropriate for quick, +excitable, energetic men. Anemonin, or Pulsatilla Camphor, which +is the active principle of this plant, is prepared by the chemist, and +may be given in doses of from one fiftieth to one tenth of a grain +rubbed up with dry sugar of milk. Such a dose (or a drop of the +tincture with a tablespoonful of water), given every two or three +hours, will soon relieve a swollen testicle; and the tincture still +more diluted will ease the bladder difficulties of old men. +Furthermore, the tincture, in doses of two or three drops with a +spoonful of water, will allay spasmodic cough, as of whooping +cough, or bronchitis. The vinegar of Wood Anemone made from +the leaves retains all the more acrid properties of the plant, and is +put, in France, to many rural domestic purposes. When applied in +lotions every night for five or six times consecutively, it will heal +indolent ulcers; and its rubefacient effects serve instead of those +produced externally by mustard. If a teaspoonful is sprinkled +within the palms and its volatile vapours are inhaled through the +mouth and nose, this [22] will dispel an incipient catarrh. The +name Pulsatilla is a diminutive of the Latin _puls_, a pottage, as +made from pulse, and used at sacrificial feasts. The title Anemone +signifies "wind-flower." Pliny says this flower never opens but +when the wind is blowing. The title has been misapprehended as +"an emony." Turner says gardeners call the flowers "emonies"; +and Tennyson, in his "Northern Farmer," tells of the dead keeper +being found "doon in the woild _enemies_ afoor I corned to the +plaice." Other names of the plant are Wood Crowfoot, Smell Fox +(Rants), and Flawflower. Alfred Austin says, "With windflower +honey are my tresses smoothed." It is also called the Passover +Flower, because blossoming at Easter; and it belongs to the +Ranunculaceous order of plants. The flower of the Wood Anemone +tells the approach of night, or of a shower, by curling over +its petals like a tent; and it has been said that fairies nestle +within, having first pulled the curtains round them. Among the old +Romans, to gather the first Anemone of the year was deemed a +preservative against fever. The Pasque flower, also named +Bluemoney and Easter, or Dane's flower, is of a violet blue, +growing in chalky pastures, and less common than the Wood +Anemone, but each possesses equally curative virtues. + +The seed of the Anemone being very light and downy, is blown +away by the first breeze of wind. A ready-witted French senator +took advantage of this fact while visiting Bacheliere, a covetous +florist, near Paris, who had long held a secret monopoly of certain +richly-coloured and splendidly handsome anemones from the East. +Vexed to see one man hoard up for himself what ought to be more +widely distributed, he walked and talked with the florist in his +garden when the anemone [23] plants were in seed. Whilst thus +occupied, he let fall his robe, as if by accident, upon the flowers, +and so swept off a number of the little feathery seed vessels which +clung to his dependent garment, and which he afterwards cultivated +at home. The petals of the Pasque flower yield a rich green +colour, which is used For staining Easter eggs, this festival +having been termed Pask time in old works, from "paske," a +crossing over. The plant is said to grow best with iron in the soil. + + + +ANGELICA (also called MASTER-WORT). + +The wild Angelica grows commonly throughout England in wet +places as an umbelliferous plant, with a tall hollow stem, out of +which boys like to make pipes. It is purple, furrowed, and downy, +bearing white flowers tinged with pink. But the herb is not useful +as a simple until cultivated in our gardens, the larger variety being +chosen for this purpose, and bearing the name _Archangelica_. + + "Angelica, the happy counterbane, + Sent down from heaven by some celestial scout, + As well its name and nature both avow't." + +It came to this country from northern latitudes in 1568. The +aromatic stems are grown abundantly near London in moist fields +for the use of confectioners. These stems, when candied, are sold +as a favourite sweetmeat. They are grateful to the feeble stomach, +and will relieve flatulence promptly. The roots of the garden +Angelica contain plentifully a peculiar resin called "angelicin," +which is stimulating to the lungs, and to the skin: they smell +pleasantly of musk, being an excellent tonic and carminative. An +infusion of the plant may be made by pouring a pint of boiling +water on an ounce of the bruised root, and two tablespoonfuls [24] +of this should be given three or four times in the day; or the +powdered root may be administered in doses of from ten to thirty +grains. The infusion will relieve flatulent stomach-ache, and will +promote menstruation if retarded. It is also of use as a stimulating +bronchial tonic in the catarrh of aged and feeble persons. Angelica, +taken in either medicinal form, is said to cause a disgust for +spirituous liquors. In high Dutch it is named the root of the Holy +Ghost. The fruit is employed for flavouring some cordials, notably +Chartreuse. If an incision is made in the bark of the stems, and the +crown of the root, at the commencement of spring, a resinous gum +exudes with a special aromatic flavour as of musk or benzoin, for +either of which it can be substituted. Gerard says: "If you do but +take a piece of the root, and hold it in your mouth, or chew the +same between your teeth, it doth most certainly drive away +pestilent aire." Icelanders eat both the stem and the roots raw with +butter. These parts of the plant, if wounded, yield a yellow juice +which becomes, when dried, a valuable medicine beneficial in +chronic rheumatism and gout. Some have said the Archangelica +was revealed in a dream by an angel to cure the plague; others +aver that it blooms on the day of Michael the Archangel (May 8th, +old style), and is therefore a preservative against evil spirits and +witchcraft. + + + +ANISEED. + +The Anise (_Pimpinella_), from "bipenella," because of its +secondary, feather-like leaflets, belongs to the umbelliferous +plants, and is cultivated in our gardens; but its aromatic seeds +chiefly come from Germany. The careful housewife will do well +always to have a [25] supply of this most useful Simple closely +bottled in her store cupboard. The herb is a variety of the Burnet +Saxifrage, and yields an essential oil of a fine blue colour. To +make the essence of Aniseed one part of the oil should be mixed +with four parts of spirit of wine. This oil, by its chemical basis, +"anethol," represents the medicinal properties of the plant. It has a +special influence on the bronchial tubes to encourage expectoration, +particularly with children. For infantile catarrh, after +its first feverish stage, Aniseed tea is very useful. It should be +made by pouring half-a-pint of boiling water on two teaspoonfuls +of the seeds, bruised in a mortar, and given when cold in doses of +one, two, or three teaspoonfuls, according to the age of the child. +For the relief of flatulent stomach-ache, whether in children or in +adults, from five to fifteen drops of the essence may be given on a +lump of sugar, or mixed with two dessertspoonfuls of hot water. +Gerard says: "The Aniseed helpeth the yeoxing, or hicket +(hiccough), and should be given to young children to eat which are +like to have the falling sickness, or to such as have it by patrimony +or succession." The odd literary mistake has been sometimes made +of regarding Aniseed as a plural noun: thus, in "The Englishman's +Doctor," it is said, "Some anny seeds be sweet, and some bitter." +An old epithet of the Anise was, _Solamen intestinorum_--"The +comforter of the bowels." The Germans have an almost superstitious +belief in the medicinal virtues of Aniseed, and all their +ordinary household bread is plentifully flavoured with the +whole seeds. The mustaceoe, or spiced cakes of the Romans, +introduced at the close of a rich entertainment, to prevent +indigestion, consisted of meal, with anise, cummin, and other +aromatics used for staying putrescence or fermentation within the +[26] intestines. Such a cake was commonly brought in at the end +of a marriage feast; and hence the bridecake of modern times has taken +its origin, though the result of eating this is rather to provoke +dyspepsia than to prevent it. Formerly, in the East, these seeds +were in use as part payment of taxes: "Ye pay tithe of mint, anise +[dill?], and cummin!" The oil destroys lice and the itch insect, for +which purpose it may be mixed with lard or spermaceti as an +ointment. The seed has been used for smoking, so as to promote +expectoration. + +Besides containing the volatile oil, Aniseed yields phosphates, +malates, gum, and a resin. The leaves, if applied externally, will +help to remove freckles; and, "Let me tell you this," says a +practical writer of the present day, "if you are suffering from +bronchitis, with attacks of spasmodic asthma, just send for a bottle +of the liqueur called 'Anisette,' and take a dram of it with a little +water. You will find it an immediate palliative; you will cease +barking like Cerberus; you will be soothed, and go to sleep."-- +_Experto crede!_ "I have been bronchitic and asthmatic for twenty +years, and have never known an alleviative so immediately +efficacious as 'Anisette.'" + +For the restlessness of languid digestion, a dose of essence of +Aniseed in hot water at bedtime is much to be commended. In the +_Paregoric Elixir_, or "Compound Tincture of Camphor," prescribed +as a sedative cordial by doctors (and containing some opium), +the oil of Anise is also included--thirty drops in a pint of +the tincture. This oil is of capital service as a bait for mice. + + + +APPLE. + +The term "Apple" was applied by the ancients indiscriminately to +almost every kind of round fleshy fruit, [27] such as the +thornapple, the pineapple, and the loveapple. Paris gave to Venus +a golden apple; Atalanta lost her classic race by staying to pick up +an apple; the fruit of the Hesperides, guarded by a sleepless +dragon, were golden apples; and through the same fruit befell +"man's first disobedience," bringing "death into the world and all +our woe" (concerning which the old Hebrew myth runs that the +apple of Eden, as the first fermentable fruit known to mankind, +was the beginner of intoxicating drinks, which led to the +knowledge of good and evil). + +Nothing need be said here about the Apple as an esculent; we have +only to deal with this eminently English, and most serviceable +fruit in its curative and remedial aspects. Chemically, the Apple is +composed of vegetable fibre, albumen, sugar, gum, chlorophyll, +malic acid, gallic acid, lime, and much water. Furthermore, +German analysts say that the Apple contains a larger percentage of +phosphorus than any other fruit or vegetable. This phosphorus is +specially adapted for renewing the essential nervous "lethicin" of +the brain and spinal cord. Old Scandinavian traditions represent +the Apple as the food of the gods, who, when they felt themselves +growing feeble and infirm, resorted to this fruit for renewing their +powers of mind and body. Also the acids of the Apple are of signal +use for men of sedentary habits, whose livers are sluggish of +action; they help to eliminate from the body noxious matters, +which, if retained, would make the brain heavy and dull, or +produce jaundice, or skin eruptions, or other allied troubles. Some +experience of this sort has led to the custom of our taking Apple +sauce with roast pork, roast goose, and similar rich dishes. The +malic acid of ripe Apples, raw or cooked, will neutralize the +chalky matter engendered in gouty subjects, particularly from [28] +an excess of meat eating. A good, ripe, raw Apple is one of the +easiest of vegetable substances for the stomach to deal with, the +whole process of its digestion being completed in eighty-five +minutes. Furthermore, a certain aromatic principle is possessed by +the Apple, on which its peculiar flavour depends, this being a +fragrant essential oil--the valerianate of amyl--in a small but +appreciable quantity. It can be made artificially by the chemist, +and used for imparting the flavour of apples to sweetmeats and +confectionery. Gerard found that "the pulp of roasted Apples, +mixed in a wine quart of faire water, and laboured together until it +comes to be as Apples and ale--which we call lambswool (Celtic, +'the day of Apple fruit')--never faileth in certain diseases of the +raines, which myself hath often proved, and gained thereby both +crownes and credit." Also, "The paring of an Apple cut somewhat +thick, and the inside whereof is laid to hot, burning or running +eyes at night when the party goes to bed, and is tied or bound to +the same, doth help the trouble very speedily, and, contrary to +expectation, an excellent secret." A poultice made of rotten Apples +is commonly used in Lincolnshire for the cure of weak, or +rheumatic eyes. Likewise in the _Hotel des Invalides_, at Paris, an +Apple poultice is employed for inflamed eyes, the apple being +roasted, and its pulp applied over the eyes without any intervening +substance To obviate constipation two or three Apples taken at +night, whether baked or raw, are admirably efficient. It was said +long ago: "They do easily and speedily pass through the belly, +therefore they do mollify the belly," and for this reason a modern +maxim teaches that:-- + + "To eat an Apple going to bed + Will make the doctor beg his bread." + +[29] There was concocted in Gerard's day an ointment with the +pulpe of Apples, and swine's grease, and rosewater, which was +used to beautifie the face, and to take away the roughnesse of the +skin, and which was called in the shops "pomatum," from the +apples, "poma," whereof it was prepared. As varieties of the +Apple, mention is made in documents of the twelfth century, of +the pearmain, and the costard, from the latter of which has come +the word costardmonger, as at first a dealer in this fruit, and now +applied to our costermonger. Caracioli, an Italian writer, declared +that the only ripe fruit he met with in Britain was a _baked_ apple. +The juices of Apples are matured and lose their rawness by +keeping the fruit a certain time. These juices, together with those +of the pear, the peach, the plum, and other such fruits, if taken +without adding cane sugar, diminish acidity in the stomach rather +than provoke it: they become converted chemically into alkaline +carbonates, which correct sour fermentation. It is said in +Devonshire that apples shrump up if picked when the moon is on +the wane. From the bark of the stem and root of the apple, pear +and plum trees, a glucoside is to be obtained in small crystals, +which possesses the peculiar property of producing artificial +diabetes in animals to whom it is given. + +The juice of a sour Apple, if rubbed on warts first pared away to +the quick, will serve to cure them. The wild "Scrab," or Crab +Apple, armed with thorns, grows in our fields and hedgerows, +furnishing verjuice, which is rich in tannin, and a most useful +application for old sprains. In the United States of America an +infusion of apple tree bark is given with benefit during +intermittent, remittent, and bilious fevers. We likewise prescribe +Apple water as a grateful cooling drink for [29] feverish patients. +Francatelli directs that it should be made thus: "Slice up thinly +three or four Apples without peeling them, and boil them in a very +clean saucepan, with a quart of water and a little sugar until the +slices of apple become soft; the apple water must then be strained +through a piece of muslin, or clean rag, into a jug, and drank when +cold." If desired, a small piece of the yellow rind of a lemon may +be added, just enough to give it a flavour. + +About the year 1562 a certain rector of St. Ives, in Cornwall, the +Rev. Mr. Attwell, practised physic with milk and Apples so +successfully in many diseases, and so spread his reputation, that +numerous sufferers came to him from all the neighbouring +counties. In Germany ripe Apples are applied to warts for +removing them, by reason of the earthy salts, particularly the +magnesia, of the fruit. It is a fact, though not generally known, that +magnesia, as occurring in ordinary Epsom salts, will cure obstinate +warts, and the disposition thereto. Just a few grains, from three to +six, not enough to produce any sensible medicinal effect, taken +once a day for three or four weeks, will surely dispel a crop of +warts. Old cheese ameliorates Apples if eaten when crude, +probably by reason of the volatile alkali, or ammonia of the cheese +neutralizing the acids of the Apple. Many persons make a practice +of eating cheese with Apple pie. The "core" of an Apple is so +named from the French word, _coeur_, "heart." + +The juice of the cultivated Apple made by fermentation into cider, +which means literally "strong drink," was pronounced by John +Evelyn, in his _Pomona_, 1729, to be "in a word the most +wholesome drink in Europe, as specially sovereign against the +scorbute, the stone, spleen, and what not." This beverage [31] +contains alcohol (on the average a little over five per cent.), gum, +sugar, mineral matters, and several acids, among which the malic +predominates. As an habitual drink, if sweet, it is apt to provoke +acid fermentation with a gouty subject, and to develop rheumatism. +Nevertheless, Dr. Nash, of Worcester, attributed to cider +great virtues in leading to longevity; and a Herefordshire +vicar bears witness to its superlative merits thus:-- + + "All the Gallic wines are not so boon + As hearty cider;--that strong son of wood + In fullest tides refines and purges blood; + Becomes a known Bethesda, whence arise + Full certain cures for spit tall maladies: + Death slowly can the citadel invade; + A draught of this bedulls his scythe, and spade." + +Medical testimony goes to show that in countries where cider--not +of the sweet sort--is the common beverage, stone, or calculus, +is unknown; and a series of enquiries among the doctors of +Normandy, a great Apple country, where cider is the principal, if +not the sole drink, brought to light the fact that not a single case +had been met with there in forty years. Cider Apples were +introduced by the Normans; and the beverage began to be brewed +in 1284. The Hereford orchards were first planted "tempore" +Charles I. + +A chance case of stone in the bladder if admitted into a +Devonshire or a Herefordshire Hospital, is regarded by the +surgeons there as a sort of professional curiosity, probably +imported from a distance. So that it may be fairly surmised that the +habitual use of natural unsweetened cider keeps held in solution +materials which are otherwise liable to be separated in a solid form +by the kidneys. + +Pippins are apples which have been raised from pips; [32] a +codling is an apple which requires to be "coddled," stewed, or +lightly boiled, being yet sour and unfit for eating whilst raw. The +John Apple, or Apple John, ripens on St. John's Day, December +27th. It keeps sound for two years, but becomes very shrunken. Sir +John Falstaff says (_Henry IV_., iii. 3) "Withered like an old +Apple John." The squab pie, famous in Cornwall, contains apples +and onions allied with mutton. + + "Of wheaten walls erect your paste: + Let the round mass extend its breast; + Next slice your apples picked so fresh; + Let the fat sheep supply its flesh: + Then add an onion's pungent juice-- + A sprinkling--be not too profuse! + Well mixt, these nice ingredients--sure! + May gratify an epicure." + +In America, "Apple Slump" is a pie consisting of apples, molasses, +and bread crumbs baked in a tin pan. This is known to New +Englanders as "Pan Dowdy." An agreeable bread was at one time +made by an ingenious Frenchman which consisted of one third of +apples boiled, and two-thirds of wheaten flour. + +It was through the falling of an apple in the garden of Mrs. +Conduitt at Woolthorpe, near Grantham, Sir Isaac Newton was led +to discover the great law of gravitation which regulates the whole +universe. Again, it was an apple the patriot William Tell shot from +the head of his own bright boy with one arrow, whilst reserving a +second for the heart of a tyrant. Dr. Prior says the word Apple took +its origin from the Sanskrit, _Ap_,--"water," and _Phal_,--"fruit," +meaning "water fruit," or "juice fruit"; and with this the Latin +name _Pomum_--from _Poto_, "to drink"--precisely agrees; if +which be so, our apple must have come originally from the East +long ages back. + +[33] The term "Apple-pie order" is derived from the French +phrase, _à plis_, "in plaits," folded in regular plaits; or, perhaps, +from _cap à pied_, "armed from head to foot," in perfect order. +Likewise the "Apple-pie bed" is so called from the French _à +plis_, or it may be from the Apple turnover of Devon and +Cornwall, as made with the paste turned over on itself. + +The botanical name of an apple tree is Pyrus Malus, of which +schoolboys are wont to make ingenious uses by playing on the +latter word. Malo, I had rather be; Malo, in an Apple tree; Malo, +than a wicked man; Malo, in adversity. Or, again, _Mea mater +mala est sus_, which bears the easy translation, "My mother is a +wicked old sow"; but the intentional reading of which signifies +"Run, mother! the sow is eating the apples." The term "Adam's +Apple," which is applied to the most prominent part of a person's +throat in front is based on the superstition that a piece of the +forbidden fruit stuck in Adam's throat, and caused this lump to +remain. + + + +ARUM--THE COMMON. + +The "lords and ladies" (_arum maculatum_) so well known to +every rustic as common throughout Spring in almost every hedge +row, has acquired its name from the colour of its erect pointed +spike enclosed within the curled hood of an upright arrow-shaped +leaf. This is purple or cream hued, according to the accredited sex +of the plant. It bears further the titles of Cuckoo Pint, Wake Robin, +Parson in the Pulpit, Rampe, Starchwort, Arrowroot, Gethsemane, +Bloody Fingers, Snake's Meat, Adam and Eve, Calfsfoot, Aaron, +and Priest's Pintle. The red spots on its glossy emerald arrow-head +leaves, are attributed to the dropping of our Saviour's blood on +[34] the plant whilst growing at the foot of the cross. Several of +the above appellations bear reference to the stimulating effects of +the herb on the sexual organs. Its tuberous root has been found to +contain a particular volatile acrid principle which exercises distinct +medicinal effects, though these are altogether dissipated if the +roots are subjected to heat by boiling or baking. When tasted, the +fresh juice causes an acrid burning irritation of the mouth and +throat; also, if swallowed it will produce a red raw state of the +palate and tongue, with cracked lips. The leaves, when applied +externally to a delicate skin will blister it. Accordingly a tincture +made (H.) from the plant and its root proves curative in diluted +doses for a chronic sore throat, with swollen mucous membrane, +and vocal hoarseness, such as is often known as "Clergyman's +Sore Throat," and likewise for a feverish sore mouth, as well as for +an irresistible tendency to sleepiness, and heaviness after a full +meal. From five to ten drops of the tincture, third decimal strength, +should be given with a tablespoonful of cold water to an adult +three times a day. An ointment made by stewing the fresh sliced +root with lard serves efficiently for the cure of ringworm. + +The fresh juice yields malate of lime, whilst the plant contains +gum, sugar, starch and fat. The name Arum is derived from the +Hebrew _jaron_, "a dart," in allusion to the shape of the leaves like +spear heads; or, as some think, from _aur_, "fire," because of the +acrid juice. The adjective _maculatum _refers to the dark spots or +patches which are seen on the smooth shining leaves of the plant. +These leaves have sometimes proved fatal to children who have +mistaken them for sorrel. The brilliant scarlet coral-like berries +which are found set closely about the erect spike of the arum in the +autumn [35] are known to country lads as adder's meat--a name +corrupted from the Anglo-Saxon _attor_, "poison," as originally +applied to these berries, though it is remarkable that pheasants can +eat them with impunity. + +In Queen Elizabeth's time the Arum was known as starch-wort +because the roots were then used for supplying pure white starch +to stiffen the ruffs and frills worn at that time by gallants and +ladies. This was obtained by boiling or baking the roots, and thus +dispelling their acridity. When dried and powdered the root +constitutes the French cosmetic, "Cypress Powder." Recently a +patented drug, "Tonga," has obtained considerable notoriety for +curing obstinate neuralgia of the head and face--this turning +out to be the dried scraped stem of an aroid (or arum) called +Raphidophora Vitiensis, belonging to the Fiji Islands. Acting on +the knowledge of which fact some recent experimenters have tried +the fresh juice expressed from our common Arum Maculatum in a +severe case of neuralgia which could be relieved previously only +by Tonga: and it was found that this juice in doses of a teaspoonful +gave similar relief. The British Domestic Herbal, of Sydenham's +time, describes a case of alarming dropsy, with great constitutional +exhaustion treated most successfully with a medicine composed of +Arum and Angelica, which cured in about three weeks. The +"English Passion Flower" and "Portland Sago" are other names +given to the Arum Maculatum. + + + +ASPARAGUS. + +The Asparagus, belonging to the Lily order of plants, occurs wild +on the coasts of Essex, Suffolk, and Cornwall. It is there a more +prickly plant than the cultivated vegetable which we grow for the +sake of the tender, [36] edible shoots. The Greeks and Romans +valued it for their tables, and boiled it so quickly that _velocius +quam asparagi coquuntur_--"faster than asparagus is cooked"--was +a proverb with them, to which our "done in a jiffy" closely +corresponds. The shoots, whether wild or cultivated, are succulent, +and contain wax, albumen, acetate of potash, phosphate of potash, +mannite, a green resin, and a fixed principle named "asparagin." +This asparagin stimulates the kidneys, and imparts a peculiar, +strong smell to the urine after taking the shoots; at the same time, +the green resin with which the asparagin is combined, exercises +gently sedative effects on the heart, calming palpitation, or +nervous excitement of that organ. Though not producing actual +sugar in the urine, asparagus forms and excretes a substance +therein which answers to the reactions used by physicians for +detecting sugar, except the fermentation test. It may fairly be given +in diabetes with a promise of useful results. In Russia it is a +domestic medicine for the arrest of flooding. + +Asparagin also bears the chemical name of "althein," and occurs +in crystals, which may be reduced to powder, and which may +likewise be got from the roots of marsh mallow, and liquorice. +One grain of this given three times a day is of service for relieving +dropsy from disease of the heart. Likewise, a medicinal tincture is +made (H.) from the whole plant, of which eight or ten drops given +with a tablespoonful of water three times a day will also allay +urinary irritation, whilst serving to do good against rheumatic +gout. A syrup of asparagus is employed medicinally in France: and +at Aix-les-Bains it forms part of the cure for rheumatic patients to +eat Asparagus. The roots of Asparagus contain diuretic virtues +more abundantly than the shoots. An infusion [37] made from +these roots will assist against jaundice, and congestive torpor of +the liver. The shrubby stalks of the plant bear red, coral-like +berries which, when ripe, yield grape sugar, and spargancin. +Though generally thought to branch out into feathery leaves, these +are only ramified stalks substituted by the plant when growing on +an arid sandy soil, where no moisture could be got for the +maintenance of leaves. The berries are attractive to small birds, +who swallow them whole, and afterwards void the seeds, to +germinate when thus scattered about. Thus there is some valid +reason for the vulgar corruption of the title Asparagus into +Sparrowgrass, or Grass. Botanically the plant is a lily which has +seen better days. In the United States of America, Asparagus is +thought to be undeniably sedative, and a palliative in all heart +affections attended with excited action of the pulse. The water in +which asparagus has been boiled, if drunk, though somewhat +disagreeable, is beneficial against rheumatism. The cellular tissue +of the plant furnishes a substance similar to sago. In Venice, the +wild asparagus is served at table, but it is strong in flavour and +less succulent than the cultivated sort. Mortimer Collins makes Sir +Clare, one of his characters in _Clarisse_ say: "Liebig, or +some other scientist maintains that asparagin--the alkaloid in +asparagus-develops _form_ in the human brain: so, if you get +hold of an artistic child, and give him plenty of asparagus, he +will grow into a second Raffaelle!" + +Gerard calls the plant "Sperage," "which is easily concocted when +eaten, and doth gently loose the belly." Our name, "Asparagus," is +derived from a Greek word signifying "the tearer," in allusion to +the spikes of some species; or perhaps from the Persian "Spurgas," +a shoot. + +[38] John Evelyn, in his _Book of Salads_, derives the term +Asparagus in easy fashion, _ab asperitate_, "from the sharpness of +the plant." "Nothing," says he, "next to flesh is more nourishing; +but in this country we overboil them, and dispel their volatile salts: +the water should boil before they are put in." He tells of asparagus +raised at Battersea in a natural, sweet, and well-cultivated soil, +sixteen of which (each one weighing about four ounces) were +made a present to his wife, showing what "solum, coelum, and +industry will effect." The Asparagus first came into use as a food +about 200 B.C., in the time of the elder Cato, and Augustus was +very partial to it. The wild Asparagus was called Lybicum, and by +the Athenians, Horminium. Roman cooks used to dry the shoots, +and when required these were thrown into hot water, and boiled +for a few minutes to make them look fresh and green. Gerard +advises that asparagus should be sodden in flesh broth, and eaten; +or boiled in fair water, seasoned with oil, pepper, and vinegar, +being served up as a salad. Our ancestors in Tudor times ate the +whole of the stalks with spoons. Swift's patron, Sir William +Temple, who had been British Minister at the Hague, brought the +art of Asparagus culture from Holland; and when William III. +visited Sir William at Moor Park, where young Jonathan was +domiciled as Secretary, his Majesty is said to have taught the +future Dean of St. Patrick's how to eat asparagus in the Dutch +style. Swift afterwards at his own table refused a second helping of +the vegetable to a guest until the stalks had been devoured, +alleging that "King William always ate his stalks." When the large +white asparagus first came into vogue, it was known as the "New +Vegetable." This was grown with lavish manure and was called +Dutch Asparagus. For [39] cooking the stalks should be cut of +equal lengths, and boiled standing upwards in a deep saucepan +with nearly two inches of the heads out of the water. Then the +steam will suffice to cook these tender parts, whilst the hard +stalky portions may be boiled long enough to become soft and +succulently wholesome. Two sorts of asparagus are now grown-- +the one an early kind, pinkish white, cultivated in France and the +Channel Islands; the other green and English. At Kynance Cove in +Cornwall, there is an island called Asparagus Island, from the +abundance in which the plant is found there. + +In connection with this popular vegetable may be quoted the +following riddle:-- + + "What killed a queen to love inclined, + What on a beggar oft we find, + Show--to ourselves if aptly joined, + A plant which we in bundles bind." + + + +BALM. + +The herb Balm, or _Melissa_, which is cultivated quite commonly +in our cottage gardens, has its origin in the wild, or bastard Balm, +growing in our woods, especially in the South of England, and +bearing the name of "Mellitis." Each is a labiate plant, and +"Bawme," say the Arabians, "makes the heart merry and joyful." +The title, "Balm," is an abbreviation of Balsam, which signifies +"the chief of sweet-smelling oils;" Hebrew, _Bal smin_, "chief of +oils"; and the botanical suffix, _Melissa_, bears reference to the +large quantity of honey (_mel_) contained in the flowers of this +herb. + +When cultivated, it yields from its leaves and tops an essential oil +which includes a chemical principle, or "stearopten." "The juice of +Balm," as Gerard tells us, "glueth together greene wounds," and +the leaves, say [40] both Pliny and Dioscorides, "being applied, do +close up woundes without any perill of inflammation." It is now +known as a scientific fact that the balsamic oils of aromatic plants +make most excellent surgical dressings. They give off ozone, and +thus exercise anti-putrescent effects. Moreover, as chemical +"hydrocarbons," they contain so little oxygen, that in wounds +dressed with the fixed balsamic herbal oils, the atomic germs of +disease are starved out. Furthermore, the resinous parts of these +balsamic oils, as they dry upon the sore or wound, seal it up, and +effectually exclude all noxious air. So the essential oils of balm, +peppermint, lavender, and the like, with pine oil, resin of +turpentine, and the balsam of benzoin (Friars' Balsam) should +serve admirably for ready application on lint or fine rag to cuts and +superficial sores. In domestic surgery, the lamentation of Jeremiah +falls to the ground: "Is there no balm in Gilead: is there no +physician there?" Concerning which "balm of Gilead," it may be +here told that it was formerly of great esteem in the East as a +medicine, and as a fragrant unguent. It was the true balsam of +Judea, which at one time grew nowhere else in the whole world +but at Jericho. But when the Turks took the Holy Land, they +transplanted this balsam to Grand Cairo, and guarded its shrubs +most jealously by Janissaries during the time the balsam was +flowing. + +In the "Treacle Bible," 1584, Jeremiah viii., v. 22, this passage is +rendered: "Is there not treacle at Gylead?" Venice treacle, or +triacle, was a famous antidote in the middle ages to all animal +poisons. It was named _Theriaca_ (the Latin word for our present +treacle) from the Greek word _Therion_, a small animal, in +allusion to the vipers which were added to the triacle by +Andromachus, physician to the emperor Nero. + +[41] Tea made of our garden balm, by virtue of the volatile oil, +will prove restorative, and will promote perspiration if taken hot +on the access of a cold or of influenza; also, if used in like manner, +it will help effectively to bring on the delayed monthly flow with +women. But an infusion of the plant made with cold water, acts +better as a remedy for hysterical headache, and as a general +nervine stimulant because the volatile aromatic virtues are not +dispelled by heat. Formerly, a spirit of balm, combined with lemon +peel, nutmeg, and angelica-root, enjoyed a great reputation as a +restorative cordial under the name of Carmelite water. Paracelsus +thought so highly of balm that he believed it would completely +revivify a man, as _primum ens melissoe_. The London Dispensatory +of 1696 said: "The essence of balm given in Canary wine every +morning will renew youth, strengthen the brain, relieve languishing +nature, and prevent baldness." "Balm," adds John Evelyn, "is +sovereign for the brain, strengthening the memory, and powerfully +chasing away melancholy." In France, women bruise the young shoots +of balm, and make them into cakes, with eggs, sugar, and rose +water, which they give to mothers in childbed as a strengthener. + +It is fabled that the Jew Ahasuerus (who refused a cup of water to +our Saviour on His way to Golgotha, and was therefore doomed to +wander athirst until Christ should come again) on a Whitsuntide +evening, asked for a draught of small beer at the door of a +Staffordshire cottager who was far advanced in consumption. He +got the drink, and out of gratitude advised the sick man to gather +in the garden three leaves of Balm, and to put them into a cup of +beer. This was to be repeated every fourth day for twelve days, the +refilling of the cup to be continued as often as might be wished; +then "the [42] disease shall be cured and thy body altered." So +saying, the Jew departed and was never seen there again. But the +cottager obeyed the injunction, and at the end of the twelve days +had become a sound man. + + + +BARBERRY. + +The Common Barberry (_Berberis_), which gives its name to a +special order of plants, grows wild as a shrub in our English +copses and hedges, particularly about Essex, being so called from +Berberin, a pearl oyster, because the leaves are glossy like the +inside of an oyster shell. It is remarkable for the light colour of its +bark, which is yellow inside, and for its three-forked spines. +Provincially it is also termed Pipperidge-bush, from "pepin," a pip, +and "rouge," red, as descriptive of its small scarlet juiceless fruit, +of which the active chemical principles, as well as of the bark, are +"berberin" and "oxyacanthin." The sparingly-produced juice of the +berries is cooling and astringent. It was formerly held in high +esteem by the Egyptians, when diluted as a drink, in pestilential +fevers. The inner, yellow bark, which has been long believed to +exercise a medicinal effect on the liver, because of its colour, is a +true biliary purgative. An infusion of this bark, made with boiling +water, is useful in jaundice from congestive liver, with furred +tongue, lowness of spirits, and yellow complexion; also for +swollen spleen from malarious exposure. A medicinal tincture (H.) +is made of the root-branches and the root-bark, with spirit of wine; +and if given three or four times a day in doses of five drops with +one tablespoonful of cold water, it will admirably rouse the liver to +healthy and more vigorous action. Conversely the tincture when of +reduced strength will stay bilious diarrhoea. British farmers dislike +the [43] Barberry shrub because, when it grows in cornfields, the +wheat near it is blighted, even to the distance of two or three +hundred yards. This is because of a special fungus which is +common to the Barberry, and being carried by the wind reproduces +itself by its spores destructively on the ears of wheat, the +AEcidium Berberidis, which generates Puccinia. + +Clusius setteth it down as a wonderful secret which he had from a +friend, "that if the yellow bark of Barberry be steeped in white +wine for three hours, and be afterwards drank, it will purge one +very marvellously." + +The berries upon old Barberry shrubs are often stoneless, and this +is the best fruit for preserving or for making the jelly. They +contain malic and citric acids; and it is from these berries that the +delicious _confitures d'epine vinette_, for which Rouen is famous, +are commonly prepared. And the same berries are chosen in +England to furnish the kernel for a very nice sugar-plum. The +syrup of Barberries will make with water an excellent astringent +gargle for raw, irritable sore throat; likewise the jelly gives famous +relief for this catarrhal affection. It is prepared by boiling the +berries, when ripe, with an equal weight of sugar, and then +straining. For an attack of colic because of gravel in the kidneys, +five drops of the tincture on sugar every five minutes will +promptly relieve, as likewise when albumen is found by analysis +in the urine. + +A noted modern nostrum belauds the virtues of the Barberry as +specific against bile, heartburn, and the black jaundice, this being +a remedy which was "discovered after infinite pains by one who +had studied for thirty years by candle light for the good of his +countrymen." In Gerard's time at the village of Ivor, near +Colebrooke, most of the hedges consisted solely of Barberry +bushes. + +[44] The following is a good old receipt for making Barberry +jam:--Pick the fruit from the stalks, and bake it in an earthen pan; +then press it through a sieve with a wooden spoon. Having mixed equal +weights of the prepared fruit, and of powdered sugar, put these +together in pots, and cover the mixture up, setting them in a dry +place, and having sifted some powdered sugar over the top of each +pot. Among the Italians the Barberry bears the name of Holy +Thorn, because thought to have formed part of the crown of thorns +made for our Saviour. + + + +BARLEY. + +Hordeum Vulgare--common Barley--is chiefly used in Great Britain +for brewing and distilling; but, it has dietetic and medicinal +virtues which entitle it to be considered among serviceable +simples. Roman gladiators who depended for their strength and +prowess chiefly on Barley, were called Hordearii. Nevertheless, +this cereal is less nourishing than wheat, and when prepared as +food is apt to purge; therefore it is not made into bread, except +when wheat is scarce and dear, though in Scotland poor people eat +Barley bread. In India Barley meal is made into balls of dough for +the oxen and camels. Pearl Barley is prepared in Holland and +Germany by first shelling the grain, and then grinding it into round +white granules. The ancients fed their horses upon Barley, and we +fatten swine on this grain made into meal. Among the Greeks beer +was known as barley wine, which was brewed without hops, these +dating only from the fourteenth century. + +A decoction of barley with gum arabic, one ounce of the gum +dissolved in a pint of the hot decoction, is a very useful drink to +soothe irritation of the bladder, [45] and of the urinary passages. +The chemical constituents of Barley are starch, gluten, albumen, +oil, and hordeic acid. From the earliest times it has been employed +to prepare drinks for the sick, especially in feverish disorders, and +for sore lining membranes of the chest. Honey may be added +beneficially to the decoction of barley for bronchial coughs. The +French make "Orgeat" of barley boiled in successive waters, and +sweetened at length as a cooling drink: though this name is now +applied in France to a liqueur concocted from almonds. + + + +BASIL. + +The herb Sweet Basil (_Ocymum Basilicum_) is so called because +"the smell thereof is fit for a king's house." It grows commonly in +our kitchen gardens, but in England it dies down every year, and +the seeds have to be sown annually. Botanically, it is named +"basilicon," or royal, probably because used of old in some regal +unguent, or bath, or medicine. + +This, and the wild Basil, belong to the Labiate order of plants. The +leaves of the Sweet Basil, when slightly bruised, exhale a +delightful odour; they gave the distinctive flavour to the original +Fetter-Lane sausages. + +The Wild Basil (_Calamintha clinopodium_) or Basil thyme, or +Horse thyme, is a hairy plant growing in bushy places, also about +hedges and roadsides, and bearing whorls of purple flowers with +a strong odour of cloves. The term _Clinopodium_ signifies "bed's-foot +flower," because "the branches dooe resemble the foot of a +bed." In common with the other labiates, Basil, both the wild and +the sweet, furnishes an aromatic volatile camphoraceous oil. On +this account it is much employed in France for flavouring soups +(especially mock turtle) and [46] sauces; and the dry leaves, in the +form of snuff, are used for relieving nervous headaches. A tea, +made by pouring boiling water on the garden basil, when green, +gently but effectually helps on the retarded monthly flow with +women. The Bush Basil is _Ocymum minimum_, of which the leafy +tops are used for seasoning, and in salads. + +The Sweet Basil has been immortalised by Keats in his tender, +pathetic poem of _Isabella and the Pot of Basil_, founded on +a story from Boccaccio. She reverently possessed herself of +the decapitated head of her lover, Lorenzo, who had been +treacherously slain:-- + + "She wrapped it up, and for its tomb did choose + A garden pot, wherein she laid it by, + And covered it with mould, and o'er it set + Sweet Basil, which her tears kept ever wet." + +The herb was used at funerals in Persia. Its seeds were sown by the +Romans with maledictions and curses through the belief that the +more it was abused the better it would prosper. When desiring a +good crop they trod it down with their feet, and prayed the gods it +might not vegetate. The Greeks likewise supposed Basil to thrive +best when sown with swearing; and this fact explains the French +saying, _Semer la Basilic_, as signifying "to slander." It was told +in Elizabeth's time that the hand of a fair lady made Basil flourish; +and this was then planted in pots as an act of gallantry. "Basil," +says John Evelyn, "imparts a grateful flavour to sallets if not too +strong, but is somewhat offensive to the eyes." Shenstone, in his +_School Mistress's Garden_, tells of "the tufted Basil," and +Culpeper quaintly says: "Something is the matter; Basil and Rue +will never grow together: no, nor near one another." It is related +[47] that a certain advocate of Genoa was once sent as an +ambassador to treat for conditions with the Duke of Milan; but the +Duke harshly refused to hear the message, or to grant the +conditions. Then the Ambassador offered him a handful of Basil. +Demanding what this meant, the Duke was told that the properties +of the herb were, if gently handled, to give out a pleasant odour; +but that, if bruised, and hardly wrung, it would breed scorpions. +Moved by this witty answer, the Duke confirmed the conditions, +and sent the Ambassador honourably home. + + + +BEAN (_see_ Pea and Bean). + + + +BELLADONNA (_see_ Night Shade). + + + +BENNET HERB (Avens). + +This, the _Herba Benedicta_, or Blessed Herb, or Avens (_Geum +Urbanum_) is a very common plant of the Rose tribe, in our +woods, hedges, and shady places. It has an erect hairy stem, red at +the base, with terminal bright yellow drooping flowers. The +ordinary name Avens--or Avance, Anancia, Enancia--signifies an +antidote, because it was formerly thought to ward off the Devil, +and evil spirits, and venomous beasts. Where the root is in a house +Satan can do nothing, and flies from it: "therefore" (says Ortus +Sanitatis) "it is blessed before all other herbs; and if a man carries +the root about him no venomous beast can harm him." The herb +is sometimes called Way Bennet, and Wild Rye. Its graceful +trefoiled loaf, and the fine golden petals of its flowers, +symbolising the five wounds of Christ, were sculptured by the +monks of the thirteenth century on their Church architecture. The +botanical title of this [48] plant, _Geum_, is got from _Geuo_, "to +yield an agreeable fragrance," in allusion to the roots. Hence also +has been derived another appellation of the Avens--_Radix +Caryophyllata_, or "clove root," because when freshly dug out of +the ground the roots smell like cloves. They yield tannin freely, +with mucilage, resin, and muriate of lime, together with a heavy +volatile oil. The roots are astringent and antiseptic, having been +given in infusion for ague, and as an excellent cordial sudorific in +chills, or for fresh catarrh. To make this a pint of boiling water +should be poured on half an ounce of the dried root, or rather more +of the fresh root, sliced. Half a wineglassful will be the dose, or +ten grains of the powdered root. An extract is further made. When +the petals of the flower fall off, a small round prickly ball is to be +seen. + + + +BETONY. + +Few, if any, herbal plants have been more praised for their +supposed curative virtues than the Wood Betony (_Stachys +Betonica_), belonging to the order of Labiates. By the common +people it is often called Bitny. The name _Betonica_ is from the +Celtic "ben," head, and "tonic," good, in allusion to the usefulness +of the herb against infirmities of the head. It is of frequent growth +in shady woods and meadows, having aromatic leaves, and spikes +(stakoi) of light purple flowers. Formerly it was held in the very +highest esteem as a leading herbal simple. The Greeks loudly +extolled its good qualities. Pliny, in downright raptures, styled it +_ante cunctas laudatissima_! An old Italian proverb ran thus: +_Vende la tunica en compra la Betonia_, "Sell your coat, and buy +Betony;" whilst modern Italians, when speaking of a most +excellent man, say, [49] "He has as many virtues as Betony"--_He +piu virtù che Bettonica_. + +In the _Medicina Britannica_, 1666, we read: "I have known the +most obstinate headaches cured by daily breakfasting for a month +or six weeks on a decoction of Betony, made with new milk, and +strained." + +Antonius Musa, chief physician to the Emperor Augustus, wrote a +book entirely on the virtues of this herb. Meyrick says, inveterate +headaches after resisting every other remedy, have been cured by +taking daily at breakfast a decoction made from the leaves and +tops of the Wood Betony. Culpeper wrote: "This is a precious herb +well worth keeping in your house." Gerard tells that "Betony +maketh a man have a good appetite to his meat, and is commended +against ache of the knuckle bones" (sciatica). + +A pinch of the powdered herb will provoke violent sneezing. The +dried leaves formed an ingredient in Rowley's British Herb Snuff, +which was at one time quite famous against headaches. + +And yet, notwithstanding all this concensus of praise from writers +of different epochs, it does not appear that the Betony, under +chemical analysis and research, shows itself as containing any +special medicinal or curative constituents. It only affords the +fragrant aromatic principles common to most of the labiate plants. + +Parkinson, who enlarged the _Herbal_ of Gerard, pronounced the +leaves and flowers of Wood Betony, "by their sweet and spicy +taste, comfortable both in meate and medicine." Anyhow, Betony +tea, made with boiling water poured on the plant, is a safe drink, +and likely to prove of benefit against languid nervous headaches; +and the dried herb may be smoked as tobacco for relieving the +same ailment. To make Betony tea, put two ounces of [50] the +herb to a quart of water over the fire, and let this gradually simmer +to three half-pints. Give a wine-glassful of the decoction three +times a day. A conserve may be made from the flowers for similar +purposes. The Poet Laureate, A. Austin, mentions "lye of Betony +to soothe the brow." Both this plant, and the _Water Betony_--so +called from its similarity of leaf--bear the name of Kernel-wort, +from having tubers or kernels attached to the roots, and from being +therefore supposed, on the doctrine of signatures, to cure diseased +kernels or scrofulous glands in the neck; also to banish piles from +the fundament. + +But the Water Betony (Figwort) belongs not to the labiates, but to +the _Scrophulariaceoe_, or scrofula-curing order of plants. It +is called in some counties "brown-wort," and in Yorkshire +"bishopsleaves," or, _l'herbe du siège_, which term has a double +meaning--in allusion both to the seat in the temple of Cloacina +(W.C.) and to the ailments of the lower body in connection +therewith, as well as to the more exalted "See" of a Right +Reverend Prelate. In old times the Water figwort was famous as +a vulnerary, both when used externally, and when taken in +decoction. The name "brown-wort" has been got either from the +brown colour of the stems and flowers, or, more probably, from its +growing abundantly about the "brunnen," or public German +fountains. Wasps and bees are fond of the flowers. In former days +this herb was relied on for the cure of toothache, and for expelling +the particular disembodied spirit, or "mare," which visited our +Saxon ancestors during their sleep after supper, being familiarly +known to them as the "nightmare." The "Echo" was in like manner +thought by the Saxons to be due to a spectre, or mare, which +they called the "wood mare." The Water [51] Betony is said to +make one of the ingredients in Count Mattaei's noted remedy, +"anti-scrofuloso." The Figwort is named in Somersetshire "crowdy-kit" +(the word kit meaning a fiddle), "or fiddlewood," because if two of +the stalks are rubbed together, they make a noise like the scraping +of the bow on violin strings. In Devonshire, also, the plant is +known as "fiddler." + +An allied Figwort--which is botanically called _nodosa_, or +knotted--is considered, when an ointment is made with it, using +the whole plant bruised and treated with unsalted lard, a sovereign +remedy against "burnt holes" or gangrenous chicken-pox, such as +often attacks the Irish peasantry, who subsist on a meagre and +exclusively vegetable diet, being half starved, and pent up in +wretched foul hovels. This herb is said to be certainly curative of +hydrophobia, by taking every morning whilst fasting a slice of +bread and butter on which the powdered knots of the roots have +been spread, following it up with two tumblers of fresh spring +water. Then let the patient be well clad in woollen garments and +made to take a long fast walk until in a profuse perspiration. The +treatment should be continued for nine days. Again, the botanical +name of a fig, _ficus_, has been commonly applied to a sore or +scab appearing on a part of the body where hair is, or to a red sore +in the fundament, i.e., to a pile. And the Figwort is so named in +allusion to its curative virtues against piles, when the plant is made +into an ointment for outward use, and when the tincture is taken +internally. It is specially visited by wasps. + + + +BILBERRY (Whortleberry, or Whinberry). + +This fruit, which belongs to the Cranberry order of plants, grows +abundantly throughout England in heathy [52] and mountainous +districts. The small-branched shrub bears globular, wax-like +flowers, and black berries, which are covered, when quite fresh, +with a grey bloom. In the West of England they are popularly +called "whorts," and they ripen about the time of St. James' Feast, +July 25th. Other names for the fruit are Blueberry, Bulberry, +Hurtleberry, and Huckleberry. The title Whinberry has been +acquired from its growing on Whins, or Heaths; and Bilberry +signifies dark coloured; whence likewise comes Blackwort as +distinguished in its aspect from the Cowberry and the Cranberry. +By a corruption the original word Myrtleberry has suffered change +of its initial M into W. (Whortlebery.) In the middle ages the +Myrtleberry was used in medicine and cookery, to which berry the +Whortleberry bears a strong resemblance. It is agreeable to the +taste, and may be made into tarts, but proves mawkish unless +mixed with some more acid fruit. + +The Bilberry (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_) is an admirable astringent, +and should be included as such among the domestic medicines of +the housewife. If some good brandy be poured over two handfuls +of the fruit in a bottle, this will make an extract which continually +improves by being kept. Obstinate diarrhoea may be cured by +giving doses of a tablespoonful of this extract taken with a +wineglassful of warm water, and repeated at intervals of two hours +whilst needed, even for the more severe cases of dysenteric +diarrhoea. The berries contain chemically much tannin. Their stain +on the lips may be quickly effaced by sucking at a lemon. In +Devonshire they are eaten at table with cream. The Irish call them +"frawns." If the first tender leaves are properly gathered and dried, +they can scarcely be [53] distinguished from good tea. Moor game +live on these berries in the autumn. Their juice will stain paper or +linen purple:-- + + "Sanguineo splendore rosas vaccinia nigro, + Induit, et dulci violas ferrugine pingit." + CLAUDIAN. + +They are also called in some counties, Blaeberries, Truckleberries, +and Blackhearts. + +The extract of Bilberry is found to be a very useful application for +curing such skin diseases as scaly eczema, and other eczema +which is not moist or pustulous; also for burns and scalds. Some of +the extract is to be laid thickly on the cleansed skin with a camel +hairbrush, and a thin layer of cotton wool to be spread over it, the +whole being fastened with a calico or gauze bandage. This should +be changed gently once a day. + +Another Vaccinium (oxycoccos), the Marsh Whortleberry, or +Cranberry, or Fenberry--from growing in fens--is found in peat +bogs, chiefly in the North. This is a low plant with straggling wiry +stems, and solitary terminal bright red flowers, of which the +segments are bent back in a singular manner. Its fruit likewise +makes excellent tarts, and forms a considerable article of +commerce at Langtown, on the borders of Cumberland. The fruit +stalks are crooked at the top, and before the blossom expands they +resemble the head and neck of a crane. + + + +BLACKBERRY. + +This is the well-known fruit of the Common Bramble (_Rubus +fructicosus_), which grows in every English hedgerow, and which +belongs to the Rose order of plants. It has long been esteemed for +its bark and leaves as a [54] capital astringent, these containing +much tannin; also for its fruit, which is supplied with malic and +citric acids, pectin, and albumen. Blackberries go often by the +name of "bumblekites," from "bumble," the cry of the bittern, and +kyte, a Scotch word for belly; the name bumblekite being applied, +says Dr. Prior, "from the rumbling and bumbling caused in the +bellies of children who eat the fruit too greedily." "Rubus" is from +the Latin _ruber_, red. + +The blackberry has likewise acquired the name of scaldberry, from +producing, as some say, the eruption known as scaldhead in +children who eat the fruit to excess; or, as others suppose, from the +curative effects of the leaves and berries in this malady of the +scalp; or, again, from the remedial effects of the leaves when +applied externally to scalds. + +It has been said that the young shoots, eaten as a salad, will fasten +loose teeth. If the leaves are gathered in the Spring and dried, then, +when required, a handful of them may be infused in a pint of +boiling water, and the infusion, when cool, may be taken, a +teacupful at a time, to stay diarrhoea, and for some bleedings. +Similarly, if an ounce of the bruised root is boiled in three +half-pints of water, down to a pint, a teacupful of this may be given +every three or four hours. The decoction is also useful against +whooping-cough in its spasmodic stage. The bark contains tannin; +and if an ounce of the same be boiled in a pint and a half of water, +or of milk, down to a pint, half a teacupful of the decoction may be +given every hour or two for staying relaxed bowels. Likewise the +fruit, if desiccated in a moderately hot oven, and afterwards +reduced to powder (which should be kept ill a well corked bottle) +will prove an efficacious remedy for dysentery. + +[55] Gerard says: "Bramble leaves heal the eyes that hang out, and +stay the haemorrhoides [piles] if they can be laid thereunto." The +London _Pharmacopoeia_ (1696) declared the ripe berries of the +bramble to be a great cordial, and to contain a notable restorative +spirit. In Cruso's _Treasury of Easy Medicines_ (1771), it is +directed for old inveterate ulcers: "Take a decoction of blackberry +leaves made in wine, and foment the ulcers with this whilst hot +each night and morning, which will heal them, however difficult to +be cured." The name of the bush is derived from brambel, or +brymbyll, signifying prickly; its blossom as well as the fruit, ripe +and unripe, in all stages, may be seen on the bush at the same time. +With the ancient Greeks Blackberries were a popular remedy for +gout. + +As soon as blackberries are over-ripe, they become quite +indigestible. Country folk say in Somersetshire and Sussex: "The +devil goes round on Old Michaelmas Day, October 11th, to spite +the Saint, and spits on the blackberries, so that they who eat them +after that date fall sick, or have trouble before the year is out." +Blackberry wine and blackberry jam are taken for sore throats in +many rustic homes. Blackberry jelly is useful for dropsy from +feeble ineffective circulation. To make "blackberry cordial," the +juice should be expressed from the fresh ripe fruit, adding half a +pound of white sugar to each quart thereof, together with half an +ounce of both nutmeg and cloves; then boil these together for a +short time, and add a little brandy to the mixture when cold. + +In Devonshire the peasantry still think that if anyone is troubled +with "blackheads," _i.e._, small pimples, or boils, he may be cured +by creeping from East to West on the hands and knees nine times +beneath an arched [56] bramble bush. This is evidently a relic of +an old Dryad superstition when the angry deities who inhabited +particular trees had to be appeased before the special diseases +which they inflicted could be cured. It is worthy of remark that the +Bramble forms the subject of the oldest known apologue. When +Jonathan upbraided the men of Shechem for their base ingratitude +to his father's house, he related to them the parable of the trees +choosing a king, by whom the Bramble was finally elected, after +the olive, the fig tree, and the vine had excused themselves from +accepting this dignity. + +In the Roxburghe Ballad of "The Children in the Wood," occurs +the verse-- + + "Their pretty lips with Blackberries + Were all besmeared and dyed; + And when they saw the darksome night + They sat them down, and cryed." + +The French name for blackberries is _mûres sauvages_, also +_mûres de haie_; and in some of our provincial districts they are +known as "winterpicks," growing on the Blag. + +Blackberry wine, which is a trustworthy cordial astringent remedy +for looseness of the bowels, may be made thus: Measure your +berries, and bruise them, and to every gallon of the fruit add a +quart of boiling water. Let the mixture stand for twenty-four hours, +occasionally stirring; then strain off the liquid, adding to every +gallon a couple of pounds of refined sugar, and keep it in a cask +tightly corked till the following October, when it will be ripe and +rich. + +A noted hair-dye is said to be made by boiling the leaves of the +bramble in strong lye, which then imparts permanently to the hair +a soft, black colour. Tom Hood, in his humorous way, described a +negro funeral [57] as "going a black burying." An American poet +graphically tell us:-- + + "Earth's full of Heaven, + And every common bush afire with God! + But only they who see take off their shoes; + The rest sit round it, and--pluck blackberries." + + + +BLUEBELL (Wild Hyacinth). + +This,--the _Agraphis mutans_,--of the Lily tribe--is so abundant in +English woods and pastures, whilst so widely known, and popular +with young and old, as to need no description. Hyacinth petals +are marked in general with dark spots, resembling in their +arrangement the Greek word AI, alas! because a youth, beloved by +Apollo, and killed by an ill-wind, was changed into this flower. +But the wild Hyacinth bears no such character on its petals, and is +therefore called "non-scriptus." The graceful curl of the petals, not +their dark violet colour, has suggested to the poets "hyacinthine +locks." + +In Walton's _Angler_ the Bluebell is mentioned as Culverkeys, the +same as "Calverkeys" in Wiltshire. No particular medicinal uses +have attached themselves to the wild Hyacinth flower as a herbal +simple. The root is round, and was formerly prized for its +abundant clammy juice given out when bruised, and employed as +starch. Miss Pratt refers to this as poisonous; and our Poet +Laureate teaches:-- + + "In the month when earth and sky are one, + To squeeze the blue bell 'gainst the adder's bite." + +When dried and powdered, the root as a styptic is of special virtue +to cure the whites of women: in doses of not more than three +grains at a time. "There is [58] hardly," says Sir John Hill, "a more +powerful remedy." Tennyson has termed the woodland abundance +of Hyacinths in full spring time as "The heavens upbreaking +through the earth." On the day of St. George, the Patron Saint of +England, these wild hyacinths tinge the meadows and pastures +with their deep blue colour--an emblem of the ocean empire, over +which England assumes the rule. + +But the chief charms of the Bluebell are its beauty and early +appearance. Now is "the winter past; the rain is over and gone; the +flowers appear on the earth; the time for the singing of birds is +come; and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land." + + "This earth is one great temple, made + For worship everywhere; + The bells are flowers in sun and shade + Which ring the heart to prayer." + + "The city bell takes seven days + To reach the townsman's ear; + But he who kneels in Nature's ways. + Has Sabbath all the year." + +The Hairbell (_Campanula rotundifolia_) is the Bluebell of +Scotland; and nothing rouses a Scot to anger more surely than to +exhibit the wild Hyacinth as the true Bluebell. + + + +BOG BEAN (or Marsh-trefoil). + +The Buck-bean, or Bog-bean, which is common enough in stagnant +pools, and on our spongy bogs, is the most serviceable of +all known herbal tonics. It may be easily recognised growing in +water by its large leaves overtopping the surface, each being +composed of three leaflets, and resembling the leaf of a Windsor +Broad Bean. The flowers when in bud are of a bright rose [59] +color, and when fully blown they have the inner surface of their +petals thickly covered with a white fringe, on which account the +plant is known also as "white fluff." The name Buckbean is +perhaps a corruption of _scorbutus_, scurvy; this giving it another +title, "scurvy bean." And it is termed "goat's bean," perhaps from +the French _le bouc_, "a he-goat." The plant flowers for a month +and therefore bears the botanical designation, "Menyanthes" +(_trifoliata_) from _meen_, "a month," and _anthos_, "a flower." It +belongs to the Gentian tribe, each of which is distinguished by a +tonic and appetizing bitterness of taste. The root of the Bog Bean +is the most bitter part, and is therefore selected for medicinal use. +It contains a chemical glucoside, "Menyanthin," which consists of +glucose and a volatile product, "Menyanthol." For curative +purposes druggists supply an infusion of the herb, and a liquid +extract in combination with liquorice. These preparations are in +moderate doses, strengthening and antiscorbutic; but when given +more largely they are purgative and emetic. Gerard says if the +plant "be taken with mead, or honied water, it is of use against a +cough"; in which respect it is closely allied to the Sundew (another +plant of the bogs) for relieving whooping-cough after the first +feverish stage, or any similar hacking, spasmodic cough. A +tincture is made (H.) from the whole plant with spirit of wine, and +this proves most useful for clearing obscuration of the sight, when +there is a sense, especially in the open-air, of a white vibrating +mist before the eyes; and therefore it has been given with marked +success in early stages of amaurotic paralysis of the retina. The +dose should be three or four drops of the tincture with a +tablespoonful of cold water three times in the day for a week at a +time. + + + +[60] BORAGE. + +The Borage, with its gallant blue flower, is cultivated in our +gardens as a pot herb, and is associated in our minds with bees and +claret cup. It grows wild in abundance on open plains where the +soil is favourable, and it has a long-established reputation for +cheering the spirits. Botanically, it is the _Borago officinalis_, this +title being a corruption of _cor-ago_, i.e., _cor_, the heart, _ago_, +I stimulate--_quia cordis affectibus medetur_, because it cures weak +conditions of the heart. An old Latin adage says: _Borago ego +gaudia semper ago_--"I, Borage, bring always courage"; or the +name may be derived from the Celtic, _Borrach_, "a noble +person." This plant was the Bugloss of the older botanists, and it +corresponds to our Common Bugloss, so called from the shape and +bristly surface of its leaves, which resemble _bous-glossa_, the +tongue of an ox. Chemically, the plant Borage contains potassium +and calcium combined with mineral acids. The fresh juice affords +thirty per cent., and the dried herb three per cent. of nitrate of +potash. The stems and leaves supply much saline mucilage, which, +when boiled and cooled, likewise deposits nitre and common salt. +These crystals, when ignited, will burn with a succession of small +sparkling explosions, to the great delight of the schoolboy. And it +is to such saline qualities the wholesome, invigorating effects and +the specially refreshing properties of the Borage are supposed to +be mainly due. For which reason, the plant, "when taken in +sallets," as says an old herbalist, "doth exhilarate, and make the +mind glad," almost in the same way as a bracing sojourn by the +seaside during an autumn holiday. The flowers possess cordial +virtues which are very revivifying, and have been much commended +against melancholic depression of the nervous system. Burton, +in his [61] _Anatomy of Melancholy_ (1676), wrote with reference +to the frontispiece of that book:-- + + "Borage and Hellebore fill two scenes, + Sovereign plants to purge the veins + Of melancholy, and cheer the heart + Of those black fumes which make it smart; + The best medicine that God e'er made + For this malady, if well assaid." + +"The sprigs of Borage," wrote John Evelyn, "are of known virtue +to revive the hypochondriac and cheer the hard student." + +According to Dioscorides and Pliny, the Borage was that famous +nepenthe of Homer which Polydamas sent to Helen for a token "of +such rare virtue that when taken steep'd in wine, if wife and +children, father and mother, brother and sister, and all thy dearest +friends should die before thy face, thou could'st not grieve, or shed +a tear for them." "The bowl of Helen had no other ingredient, as +most criticks do conjecture, than this of borage." And it was +declared of the herb by another ancient author: _Vinum potatum +quo sit macerata buglossa moerorum cerebri dicunt auferre +periti_:-- + + "To enliven the sad with the joy of a joke, + Give them wine with some borage put in it to soak." + +The Romans named the Borage _Euphrosynon_, because when put +into a cup of wine it made the drinkers of the same merry and +glad. + +Parkinson says, "The seed of Borage helpeth nurses to have more +store of milk, for which purpose its leaves are most conducing." Its +saline constituents promote activity of the kidneys, and for this +reason the plant is used in France to carry off catarrhs which are +feverish. The fresh herb has a cucumber-like odour, and when +compounded with lemon and sugar, added to wine and [62] water, +it makes a delicious "cool tankard," as a summer drink. "A syrup +concocted of the floures," said Gerard, "quieteth the lunatick +person, and the leaves eaten raw do engender good blood." Of all +nectar-loving insects, bees alone know how to pronounce the +"open sesame" of admission to the honey pots of the Borage. + + + +BROOM. + +The Broom, or Link (_Cytisus scoparius_) is a leguminous shrub +which is well known as growing abundantly on open places in our +rural districts. The prefix "cytisus" is derived from the name of a +Greek island where Broom abounded. It formerly bore the name of +_Planta Genista_, and gave rise to the historic title, "Plantagenet." +A sprig of its golden blossom was borne by Geoffrey of Anjou in +his bonnet when going into battle, making him conspicuous +throughout the strife. In the _Ingoldsby Legends_ it is said of our +second King Henry's headdress:-- + + "With a great sprig of broom, which he bore as a badge in it, + He was named from this circumstance, Henry Plantagenet." + +The stalks of the Broom, and especially the topmost young twigs, +are purgative, and act powerfully on the kidneys to increase the +flow of urine. They contain chemically an acid principle, +"scoparin," and an alkaloid, "sparteine." For medical purposes +these terminal twigs are used (whether fresh or dried) to make a +decoction which is of great use in dropsy from a weak heart, but it +should not be given where congestion of the lungs is present. From +half to one ounce by weight of the tops should be boiled down in a +pint of water to half this quantity, and a wineglassful may be taken +as a dose every four or six hours. For more chronic dropsy, +a compound decoction of broom may be given with much [63] +benefit. To make this, use broom-tops and dandelion roots, of each +half an ounce, boiling them in a pint of water down to half a pint, +and towards the last adding half an ounce of bruised juniper +berries. When cold, the decoction should be strained and a +wineglassful may be had three or four times a day. "Henry the +Eighth, a prince of famous memory, was wonte to drinke the +distilled water of broome flowers against surfeits and diseases +therefrom arising." The flower-buds, pickled in vinegar, are +sometimes used as capers; and the roasted seeds have been +substituted for coffee. Sheep become stupefied or excited when by +chance constrained to eat broom-tops. + +The generic name, _Scoparius_, is derived from the Latin word +_scopa_, a besom, this signifying "a shrub to sweep with." It has +been long represented that witches delight to ride thereon: and in +Holland, if a vessel lying in dock has a besom tied to the top of its +mast, this advertises it as in search of a new owner. Hence has +arisen the saying about a woman when seeking a second husband, +_Zij steetk't dem bezen_, "She hangs out the broom." + +There is a tradition in Suffolk and Sussex:-- + + "If you sweep the house with Broom in May, + You'll sweep the head of the house away." + +Allied to the Broom, and likewise belonging to the Papilionaceous +order of leguminous plants, though not affording any known +medicinal principle, the Yellow Gorse (_Ulex_) or Furze grows +commonly throughout England on dry exposed plains. It covers +these during the flowering season with a gorgeous sheet of yellow +blossoms, orange perfumed, and which entirely conceals the +rugged brown unsightly branches beneath. Its elastic seed vessels +burst with a crackling noise in hot [64] weather, and scatter the +seeds on all sides. "Some," says Parkinson, "have used the flowers +against the jaundice," but probably only because of their yellow +colour. "The seeds," adds Gerard, "are employed in medicines +against the stone, and the staying of the laske" (_laxitas_, +looseness). They are certainly astringent, and contain tannin. In +Devonshire the bush is called "Vuzz," and in Sussex "Hawth." + +The Gorse is rare in Scotland, thriving best in our cool humid +climate. In England it is really never out of blossom, not even after +a severe frost, giving rise to the well-known saying "Love is never +out of season except when the Furze is out of bloom." It is also +known as Fursbush, Furrs and Whins, being crushed and given as +fodder to cattle. The tender shoots are protected from being eaten +by herbivorous animals in the same way as are the thistles and the +holly, by the angles of the leaves having grown together so as to +constitute prickles. + + "'Twere to cut off an epigram's point, + Or disfurnish a knight of his spurs, + If we foolishly tried to disjoint + Its arms from the lance-bearing Furze." + +Linnoeus "knelt before it on the sod: and for its beauty thanked his +God." + +The _Butcher's Broom, Ruscus (or Bruscus) aculeatus_, or prickly, +is a plant of the Lily order, which grows chiefly in the South of +England, on heathy places and in woods. It bears sharp-pointed, +stiff leaves (each of which produces a small solitary flower on its +upper surface), and scarlet berries. The shrub is also known as +Knee Hulyer, Knee Holly (confused with the Latin _cneorum_), +Prickly Pettigrue and Jews' Myrtle. Butchers make besoms of its +twigs, with which to sweep their stalls or [65] blocks: and these +twigs are called "pungi topi," "prickrats," from being used to +preserve meat from rats. Jews buy the same for service during the +Feast of Tabernacles; and the boughs have been employed for +flogging chilblains. The Butcher's Broom has been claimed by the +Earls of Sutherland as the distinguishing badge of their followers +and Clan, every Sutherland volunteer wearing a sprig of the bush +in his bonnet on field days. This shrub is highly extolled as a free +promoter of urine in dropsy and obstructions of the kidneys; a pint +of boiling water should be poured on an ounce of the fresh twigs, +or on half-an-ounce of the bruised root, to make an infusion, +which may be taken as tea. The root is at first sweet to the taste, +and afterwards bitter. + + + +BRYONY. + +English hedgerows exhibit Bryony of two distinct sorts--the white +and the black--which differ much, the one from the other, as to +medicinal properties, and which belong to separate orders of +plants. The White Bryony is botanically a cucumber, being of +common growth at our roadsides, and often called the White Vine; +it also bears the name of Tetterberry, from curing a disease of the +skin known as tetters. It climbs about with long straggling stalks, +which attach themselves by spiral tendrils, and which produce +rough, palmated leaves. Insignificant pale-green flowers spring in +small clusters from the bottom of these leaves. The round berries +are at first green, and afterwards brilliantly red. Chemically, the +plant contains "bryonin," a medicinal substance which is intensely +bitter; also malate and phosphate of lime, with gum, starch, and +sugar. + +A tincture is made (H.) from the fresh root collected before the +plant flowers, which is found to [66] be of superlative use for the +relief of chronic rheumatism (especially when aggravated by +moving), and for subduing active congestions of the serous +membranes which line the heart-bag, the ribs, the outer coat of the +brain, and which cover the bowels. In the treatment of pleurisy, +this tincture is invaluable. Four drops should be given in a +tablespoonful of cold water every three or four hours. Also for any +contused bruising of the skin, and especially for a black eye, to +promptly bathe the injured part with a decoction of White +Bryony root will speedily subdue the swelling, and will prevent +discoloration far better than a piece of raw beef applied outside as +the remedy most approved in the Ring. + +In France, the White Bryony is deemed so potent and perilous, that +its root is named the devil's turnip--_navet du diable_. + +Our English plant, the _Bryonia dioica_, purges as actively as +colocynth, if too freely administered. + +The name Bryony is two thousand years old, and comes from a +Greek word _bruein_, "to shoot forth rapidly." + +From the incised root of the White Bryony exudes a milky juice +which is aperient of action, and which has been commended for +epilepsy, as well as for obstructed liver and dropsy; also its +tincture for chronic constipation. + +The popular herbal drink known as Hop Bitters is said to owe +many of its supposed virtues to the bryony root, substituted for the +mandrake which it is alleged to contain. The true mandrake is a +gruesome herb, which was held in superstitious awe by the Greeks +and the Romans. Its root was forked, and bears some resemblance +to the legs of a man; for which reason the moneymakers [67] of +the past increased the likeness, and attributed supernatural powers +to the plant. It was said to grow only beneath a murderer's gibbet, +and when torn from the earth by its root to utter a shriek which +none might hear and live. From earliest times, in the East, a notion +prevailed that the mandrake would remove sterility. With which +purpose in view, Rachel said to Leah: "Give me, I pray thee, of thy +son's mandrakes" (Genesis xxx. v. 14). In later times the Bryony +has come into use instead of the true mandrake, and it has +continued to form a profitable spurious article with mountebank +doctors. In Henry the Eighth's day, ridiculous little images made +from Bryony roots, cut into the figure of a man, and with grains of +millet inserted into the face as eyes, the same being known as +pappettes or mammettes, were accredited with magical powers, +and fetched high prices with simple folk. Italian ladies have been +known to pay as much as thirty golden ducats for one of these +artificial mandrakes. Readers of Thalaba (Southey) will remember +the fine scene in which Khawla procures this plant to form part of +the waxen figure of the Destroyer. Unscrupulous vendors of the +fraudulent articles used to seek out a thriving young Bryony plant, +and to open the earth round it. Then being prepared with a mould +such as is used for making Plaster of Paris figures, they fixed it +close to the root, and fastened it with wire to keep it in place. +Afterwards, by filling the earth up to the root they left it to assume +the required shape, which was generally accomplished in a single +summer. + +The medicinal tincture (H.) of White Bryony (_Bryonia alba_) is +of special service to persons of dark hair and complexion, with +firm fibre of flesh, and of a bilious cross-grained temperament. +Also it is of [68] particular use for relieving coughs, and colds of a +feverish bronchial sort, caught by exposure to the east wind. On +the contrary, the catarrhal troubles of sensitive females, and of +young children, are better met by Ipecacuanha:-- + + "Coughing in a shady grove + Sat my Juliana, + Lozenges I gave my love, + Ipecacuanha-- + Full twenty from the lozenge box + The greedy nymph did pick; + Then, sighing sadly, said to me-- + My Damon, I am sick." + _George Canning._ + + THYRSIS ET PHYLLIS. + In nemore umbroso Phyllis mea forte sedebat, + Cui mollem exhausit tussis anhela sinum: + Nec mora: de loculo deprompsi pyxida loevo, + Ipecacuaneos, exhibuique trochos: + Illa quidem imprudens medicatos leniter orbes + Absorpsit numero bisque quaterque decem: + Tum tenero ducens suspiria pectore dixit, + "Thyrsi! Mihi stomachum nausea tristis habet." + +The _Black Bryony _(Lady's-seal, or Oxberry), which likewise +grows freely in our hedges, is quite a different plant from its +nominal congener. It bears the name of _Tamus Vulgaris_, and +belongs to the natural order of Yams. It is also called the Wild +Hop, and Tetterberry or Tetterwort (in common with the greater +Celandine), because curing the skin disease known as tetters; and +further, Blackbindweed. It has smooth heart-shaped leaves, and +produces scarlet, elliptical berries larger than those of the White +Bryony. A tincture is made (H.) from the root-stock, with spirit of +wine, which proves a most useful application to unbroken +chilblains, when [69] made into a lotion with water, one part to +twenty. The plant is called Black Bryony (_Bryonia nigra_) from +its dark leaves and black root. It is not given at all internally, but +the acrid pulp of the root has been used as a stimulating plaster. + + + +BUCKTHORN. + +The common Buckthorn grows in our woods and thickets, and +used to be popularly known because of the purgative syrup made +from its juice and berries. It bears dense branches of small green +flowers, followed by the black berries, which purge violently. If +gathered before they are ripe they furnish a yellow dye. When +ripe, if mixed with gum arabic and lime water, they form the +pigment called "Bladder Green." Until late in the present century-- +_O dura ilia messorum!_--English rustics, when requiring an +aperient dose for themselves or their children, had recourse to the +syrup of Buckthorn. But its action was so severe, and attended +with such painful gripings, that as time went on the medicine was +discarded, and it is now employed in this respect almost +exclusively by the cattle doctor. Dodoeus taught about Buckthorn +berries: "They be not meet to be administered but to young and +lusty people of the country, which do set more store of their +money than their lives." The shrub grows chiefly on chalk, and +near brooks. The name Buckthorn is from the German _buxdorn_, +boxthorn, hartshorn. In Anglo-Saxon it was Heorot-bremble. It is +also known as Waythorn, Rainberry Thorn, Highway Thorn and +Rhineberries. Each of the berries contains four seeds: and the flesh +of birds which eat thereof is said to be purgative. When the juice is +given medicinally it causes a bad stomach-ache, with much +dryness of the throat: for which reason Sydenham [70] always +ordered a basin of soup to be given after it. Chemically the active +principle of the Buckthorn is "rhamno-cathartine." Likewise a +milder kind of Buckthorn, which is much more useful as a Simple, +grows freely in England, the _Rhamnus frangula_ or so-called +"black berry-bearing Alder," though this appellation is a mistake, +because botanically the Alder never bears any berries. This black +Buckthorn is a slender shrub, which occurs in our woods and +thickets. The juice of its berries is aperient, without being +irritating, and is well suited as a laxative for persons of delicate +constitution. It possesses the merit of continuing to answer in +smaller doses after the patient has become habituated to its +use. The berry of the _Rhamnus frangula _may be known by its +containing only two seeds. Country people give the bark boiled in +ale for jaundice; and this bark is the black dogwood of gunpowder +makers. Lately a certain aperient medicine has become highly +popular with both doctors and patients in this country, the same +being known as Cascara Sagrada. It is really an American +Buckthorn, the _Rhamnus Persiana_, and it possesses no true +advantage over our black Alder Buckthorn, though the bark of this +latter must be used a year old, or it will cause griping. A fluid +extract of the English mild Buckthorn, or of the American +Cascara, is made by our leading druggists, of which from half to +one teaspoonful may be given for a dose. This is likewise a tonic +to the intestines, and is especially useful for relieving piles. +Lozenges also of the Alder Buckthorn are dispensed under the +name of "Aperient Fruit Lozenges;" one, or perhaps two, being +taken for a dose as required. + +There is a Sea Buckthorn, _Hippophoe_, which belongs to a +different natural order, _Eloeagnaceoe_, a low shrubby tree, [71] +growing on sandhills and cliffs, and called also Sallowthorn. The +fruit is made (in Tartary) into a pleasant jelly, because of its acid +flavour, and used in the Gulf of Bothnia for concocting a fish +sauce. + +The name signifies "giving light to a horse," being conferred +because of a supposed power to cure equine blindness; or it may +mean "shining underneath," in allusion to the silvery underside of +the leaf. + +The old-fashioned Cathartic Buckthorn of our hedges and woods +has spinous thorny branchlets, from which its name, _Rhamnus_, +is thought to be derived, because the shrub is set with thorns like +as the ram. At one time this Buckthorn was a botanical puzzle, +even to Royalty, as the following lines assure us:-- + + "Hicum, peridicum; all clothed in green; + The King could not tell it, no more could the Queen; + So they sent to consult wise men from the East. + Who said it had horns, though it was not a beast." + + + +BURNET SAXIFRAGE (_see_ Pimpernel). + + + +BUTTERCUP. + +The most common Buttercup of our fields (_Ranunculus bulbosis_) +needs no detailed description. It belongs to the order termed +_Ranunculaceoe_, so-called from the Latin _rana_, a frog, +because the several varieties of this genus grow in moist places +where frogs abound. Under the general name of Buttercups +are included the creeping Ranunculus, of moist meadows; the +_Ranunculus acris_, Hunger Weed, or Meadow Crowfoot, so named +from the shape of the leaf (each of these two being also +called King Cup), and the _Ranunculus bulbosus_ mentioned +above. "King-Cob" signifies a resemblance between the unexpanded +flowerbud and [72] a stud of gold, such as a king would +wear; so likewise the folded calyx is named Goldcup, Goldknob +and Cuckoobud. The term Buttercup has become conferred through +a mistaken notion that this flower gives butter a yellow +colour through the cows feeding on it (which is not the case), +or, perhaps, from the polished, oily surface of the petals. +The designation really signifies "button cop," or _bouton d'or_; +"the batchelor's button"; this terminal syllable, _cup_, being +corrupted from the old English word "cop," a head. It really means +"button head." The Buttercup generally is known in Wiltshire and +the adjoining counties as Crazy, or Crazies, being reckoned by +some as an insane plant calculated to produce madness; or as a +corruption of Christseye (which was the medieval name of the +Marigold). + +A burning acridity of taste is the common characteristic of the +several varieties of the Buttercup. In its fresh state the ordinary +field Buttercup is so acrimonious that by merely pulling up the +plant by its root, and carrying it some little distance in the hand, +the palm becomes reddened and inflamed. Cows will not eat it +unless very hungry, and then the mouth of the animal becomes +sore and blistered. The leaves of the Buttercup, when bruised and +applied to the skin, produce a blistering of the outer cuticle, with a +discharge of a watery fluid, and with heat, redness, and swelling. +If these leaves are masticated in the mouth they will induce pains +like a stitch between the ribs at the side, with the sharp catchings +of neuralgic rheumatism. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from +the bulbous Buttercup with spirit of wine, which will, as a similar, +cure _shingles_ very expeditiously, both the outbreak of +small watery pimples clustered together at the side, and the +accompanying sharp pains between the ribs. Also this tincture will +[73] promptly relieve neuralgic side-ache, and pleurisy which is of +a passive sort. From six to eight drops of the tincture may be taken +with a tablespoonful of cold water by an adult three or four times a +day for either of the aforesaid purposes. In France, this plant is +called "jaunet." Buttercups are most probably the "Cuckoo Buds" +immortalised by Shakespeare. The fresh leaves of the Crowfoot +(_Ranunculus acris_) formed a part of the famous cancer cure of +Mr. Plunkett in 1794. This cure comprised Crowfoot leaves, +freshly gathered, and dog's-foot fennel leaves, of each an ounce, +with one drachm of white arsenic levigated, and with five scruples +of flowers of sulphur, all beaten together into a paste, and dried by +the sun in balls, which were then powdered, and, being mixed with +yolk of egg, were applied on pieces of pig's bladder. The juice of +the common Buttercup (_Bulbosus_), known sometimes as "St. +Anthony's Turnip," if applied to the nostrils, will provoke +sneezing, and will relieve passive headache in this way. The leaves +have been applied as a blister to the wrists in rheumatism, and +when infused in boiling water as a poultice over the pit of the +stomach as a counter-irritant. For sciatica the tincture of the +bulbous buttercup has proved very helpful. + +The _Ranunculus flammata_, Spearwort, has been used to produce +a slight blistering effect by being put under a limpet shell against +the skin of the part to be relieved, until some smarting and burning +have been sensibly produced, with incipient vesication of the +outermost skin. + +The _Ranunculus Sceleratus_, Marsh Crowfoot, or Celery-leaved +Buttercup, called in France "_herbe sardonique_," and "_grenouillette +d'eau_," when made into a tincture (H.) with spirit of wine, +and given in small diluted doses, proves curative of stitch +in the side, and of neuralgic pains between the ribs, likewise of +pleurisy without [74] feverishness. The dose should be five drops +of the third decimal tincture with a spoonful of water every three +or four hours. This plant grows commonly at the sides of our +pools, and in wet ditches, bearing numerous small yellow flowers, +with petals scarcely longer than the calyx. + + + +CABBAGE. + +"The time has come," as the walrus said in _Alice and the Looking +Glass_, "to talk of many things"-- + + "Of shoes, and ships, and sealing-wax; of _Cabbages_, and + kings." + +The Cabbage, which is fabled to have sprung from the tears of the +Spartan lawgiver, Lycurgus, began as the Colewort, and was for +six hundred years, according to Pliny and Cato, the only internal +remedy used by the Romans. The Ionians had such a veneration +for Cabbages that they swore by them, just as the Egyptians did by +the onion. With ourselves, the wild Cabbage, growing on our +English sea cliffs, is the true Collet, or Colewort, from which have +sprung all our varieties of Cabbage--cauliflower, greens, broccoli, +etc. No vegetables were grown for the table in England before the +time of Henry the Eighth. In the thirteenth century it was the +custom to salt vegetables because they were so scarce; and in the +sixteenth century a Cabbage from Holland was deemed a choice +present. + +The whole tribe of Cabbages is named botanically _Brassicaceoe-- +apo tou brassein_--because they heat, or ferment. + +By natural order they are cruciferous plants; and all contain much +nitrogen, or vegetable albumen, with a considerable quantity of +sulphur; hence they tend strongly to putrefaction, and when +decomposed their odour is very offensive. Being cut into pieces, +and pressed close in a tub with aromatic herbs and salt, so as to +undergo an acescent fermentation (which is [75] arrested at that +stage), Cabbages form the German _Saurkraut_, which is strongly +recommended against scurvy. The white Cabbage is most putrescible; +the red most emollient and pectoral. The juice of the red +cabbage made into syrup, without any condiments, is useful in +chronic coughs, and in bronchial asthma. The leaves of the +common white Cabbage, when gently bruised and applied to a +blistered surface, will promote a free discharge, as also when laid +next the skin in dropsy of the ankles. All the Coleworts are called +"Crambe," from _krambos_, dry, because they dispel drunkenness. + +"There is," says an old author, "a natural enmitie between the +Colewort and the vine, which is such that the vine, if growing near +unto it, withereth and perisheth; yea, if wine be poured into the +Colewort while it is boiling, it will not be any more boiled, and the +colour thereof will be quite altered." The generic term Colewort is +derived from _caulis_, a stalk, and _wourte_, as applied to all +kinds of herbs that "do serve for the potte." "Good worts," +exclaimed Falstaff, catching at Evans' faulty pronunciation of +_words_,--"good worts,"--"good cabbages." An Irish cure for sore +throat is to tie Cabbage leaves round it; and the same remedy is +applied in England with hot Cabbage leaves for a swollen face. In +the Island of Jersey coarse Cabbages are grown abundantly on +patches of roadside ground, and in corners of fields, the stalks of +which attain the height of eight, ten, or more feet, and are used for +making walking sticks or _cannes en tiges de choux_. These are in +great demand on the island, and are largely exported. It may be +that a specially tall cabbage of this sort gave rise to the Fairy tale +of "Jack and the bean stalk." The word Cabbage bears reference +[76] to _caba (caput)_, a head, as signifying a Colewort which +forms a round head. _Kohl rabi_, from _caulo-rapum_, cabbage +turnip, is a name given to the _Brassica oleracea_. In 1595 the sum +of twenty shillings was paid for six Cabbages and a few carrots, at +the port of Hull, by the purveyor to the Clifford family. + +The red Cabbage is thought in France to be highly anti-scorbutic; +and a syrup is made from it with this purpose in view. The juice of +white Cabbage leaves will cure warts. + +The _Brassica oleracea_ is one of the plants used in Count +Mattaei's vaunted nostrum, "anti-scrofuloso." This, the sea +Cabbage, with its pale clusters of handsome yellow flowers, is +very ornamental to our cliffs. Its leaves, which are conspicuously +purple, have a bitter taste when uncooked, but become palatable +for boiling if first repeatedly washed; and they are sold at Dover as +a market vegetable. These should be boiled in two waters, of +which the first will be made laxative, and the second, or thicker +decoction, astringent, which fact was known to Hippocrates, who +said "_jus caulis solvit cujus substantia stringit_." + +Sir Anthony Ashley brought the Cabbage into English cultivation. +It is said a Cabbage is sculptured at his feet on his monument in +Wimbourne Minster, Dorset. He imported the Cabbage (Cale) +from Cadiz (Cales), where he held a command, and grew rich by +seizing other men's possessions, notably by appropriating some +jewels entrusted to his care by a lady. Hence he is said to have got +more by Cales (Cadiz) than by Cale (Cabbage); and this is, +perhaps, the origin of our term "to cabbage." Among tailors, this +phrase "to cabbage" is a cant saying which means to filch the cloth +when cutting out for a customer. Arbuthnot writes "Your [77] +tailor, instead of shreds, cabbages whole yards of cloth." Perhaps +the word comes from the French _cabasser_, to put into a basket. + +From the seed of the wild Cabbage (Rape, or Navew) rape-seed oil +is extracted, and the residue is called rape-cake, or oil-cake. + +Some years ago it was customary to bake bread-rolls wrapped in +Cabbage leaves, for imparting what was considered an agreeable +flavour. John Evelyn said: "In general, Cabbages are thought to +allay fumes, and to prevent intoxication; but some will have them +noxious to the sight." After all it must be confessed the Cabbage is +greatly to be accused for lying undigested in the stomach, and for +provoking eructations; which makes one wonder at the veneration +the ancients had for it, calling the tribe divine, and swearing _per +brassicam_, which was for six hundred years held by the Romans +a panacea: though "_Dis crambee thanatos_"--"Death by twice +Cabbage"--was a Greek proverb. Gerard says the Greeks called +the Cabbage Amethustos, "not only because it driveth away +drunkennesse; but also for that it is like in colour to the pretious +stone called the amethyst." The Cabbage was Pompey's best +beloved dish. To make a winter salad it is customary in America to +choose a firm white Cabbage, and to shred it very fine, serving it +with a dressing of plain oil and vinegar. This goes by the name of +"slaw," which has a Dutch origin. + +The free presence of hydrogen and sulphur causes a very strong +and unpleasant smell to pervade the house during the cooking of +Cabbages. Nevertheless, this sulphur is a very salutary constituent +of the vegetable, most useful in scurvy and scrofula. Partridge and +Cabbage suit the patrician table; bacon and Cabbage [78] better +please the taste and the requirements of the proletarian. The +nitrogen of this and other cruciferous plants serves to make them +emit offensive stinks when they lie out of doors and rot. + +For the purulent scrofulous ophthalmic inflammation of infants, by +cleansing the eyes thoroughly every half-hour with warm water, +and then packing the sockets each time with fresh Cabbage leaves +cleaned and bruised to a soft pulp, the flow of matter will be +increased for a few days, but a cure will be soon effected. Pliny +commended the juice of the raw Cabbage with a little honey for +sore and inflamed eyes which were moist and weeping, but not for +those which were dry and dull. + +In Kent and Sussex, when a Cabbage is cut and the stalk left in the +ground to produce "greens" for the table, a cottager will carve an x +on the top flat surface of the upright stalk, and thus protect it +against mischievous garden sprites and demons. + +Some half a century ago medical apprentices were taught the art of +blood-letting by practising with a lancet on the prominent veins of +a Cabbage leaf. + +Carlyle said "of all plants the Cabbage grows fastest to +completion." His parable of the oak and the Cabbage conveys the +lesson that those things which are most richly endowed when they +come to perfection, are the slowest in their production and +development. + + + +CAPSICUM (CAYENNE). + +The _Capsicum_, or Bird Pepper, or Guinea Pepper, is a native of +tropical countries; but it has been cultivated throughout Great +Britain as a stove plant for so many years (since the time +of Gerard, 1636) as to have become practically indigenous. +Moreover, its fruit-pods are so highly useful, whether as a +condiment, or as a medicine, [79] no apology is needed for +including it among serviceable Herbal Simples. The Cayenne +pepper of our tables is the powdered fruit of Bird Pepper, a variety +of the Capsicum plant, and belonging likewise to the order of +Solanums; whilst the customary "hot" pickle which we take with +our cold meats is prepared from another variety of the Capsicum +plant called "Chilies." This plant--the Bird Pepper--exercises an +important medicinal action, which has only been recently +recognized by doctors. The remarkable success which has attended +the use of Cayenne pepper as a substitute for alcohol with hard +drinkers, and as a valuable drug in _delirium tremens_, has lately +led physicians to regard the Capsicum as a highly useful, +stimulating, and restorative medicine. For an intemperate person, +who really desires to wean himself from taking spirituous liquors, +and yet feels to need a substitute at first, a mixture of tincture of +Capsicum with tincture of orange peel and water will answer very +effectually, the doses being reduced in strength and frequency +from day to day. In _delirium tremens_, if the tincture of +Capsicum be given in doses of half-a-dram well diluted with +water, it will reduce the tremor and agitation in a few hours, +inducing presently a calm prolonged sleep. At the same time the +skin will become warm, and will perspire naturally; the pulse will +fall in quickness, but whilst regaining fulness and volume; and the +kidneys, together with the bowels, will act freely. + +Chemically the plant furnishes an essential oil with a crystalline +principle, "capsicin," of great power. This oil may be taken +remedially in doses of from half to one drop rubbed up with some +powdered white sugar, and mixed with a wineglassful of hot +water. + +The medicinal tincture is made with sixteen grains of [80] the +powdered Capsicum to a fluid ounce of spirit of wine; and the +dose of this tincture is from five to twenty drops with one or two +tablespoonfuls of water. In the smaller doses it serves admirably to +relieve pains in the loins when depending on a sluggish inactivity +of the kidneys. Unbroken chilblains may be readily cured by +rubbing them once a day with a piece of sponge saturated with the +tincture of Capsicum until a strong tingling is induced. In the early +part of the present century, a medicine of Capsicum with salt was +famous for curing severe influenza with putrid sore throat. Two +dessert spoonfuls of small red pepper; or three of ordinary cayenne +pepper, were beaten together with two of fine salt, into a paste, +and with half-a-pint of boiling water added thereto. Then the +liquor was strained off when cold, and half-a-pint of very sharp +vinegar was mixed with it, a tablespoonful of the united mixture +being given to an adult every half, or full hour, diluted with water +if too strong. For inflammation of the eyes, with a relaxed state of +the membranes covering the eyeballs and lining the lids, the +diluted juice of the Capsicum is a sovereign remedy. Again, for +toothache from a decayed molar, a small quantity of cayenne +pepper introduced into the cavity will often give immediate relief. +The tincture or infusion given in small doses has proved useful to +determine outwardly the eruption of measles and scarlet fever, +when imperfectly developed because of weakness. Also for a +scrofulous discharge of matter from the ears, Capsicum tincture, of +a weak strength, four drops with a tablespoonful of cold water +three times a day, to a child, will prove curative. + +A Capsicum ointment, or "Chili paste," scarcely ever fails to +relieve chronic rheumatism when rubbed in [81] topically for ten +minutes at a time with a gloved hand; and an application +afterwards of dry heat will increase the redness and warmth, which +persist for some while, and are renewed by walking. This ointment, +or paste, is made of the Oleo-resin--Capsicin--half-an-ounce, +and Lanolin five ounces, the unguent being melted, and, after +adding the Capsicin, letting them be stirred together until +cold. The powder or tincture of Capsicum will give energy to a +languid digestion, and will correct the flatulency often incidental +to a vegetable diet. Again, a gargle containing Capsicum in a +proper measure will afford prompt relief in many forms of sore +throat, both by its stimulating action, and by virtue of its special +affinities (H.); this particularly holds good for a relaxed state of +the throat, the uvula, and the tonsils. Cayenne pepper is employed +in the adulteration of gin. + +The "Peter Piper" of our young memories took pickled pepper by +the peck. He must have been a Homoeopathic prover with a +vengeance; but has left no useful record of his experiments--the +more's the pity--for our guidance when prescribing its diluted +forms. + + + +CARAWAY. + +The common Caraway is a herb of the umbelliferous order found +growing on many waste places in England, though not a true +native of Great Britain. Its well-known aromatic seeds should be +always at hand in the cupboard of every British housewife. The +plant got its name from inhabiting Caria, a province of Asia +Minor. It is now cultivated for commerce in Kent and Essex; and +the essential oil distilled from the home grown fruit is preferred in +this country. The medicinal properties of the Caraway are cordial +and comforting to [82] the stomach in colic and in flatulent +indigestion; for which troubles a dose of from two to four drops of +the essential oil of Caraway may be given on a lump of sugar, or +in a teaspoonful of hot water. + +For earache, in some districts the country people pound up the +crumb of a loaf hot from the oven, together with a handful of +bruised Caraway seeds; then wetting the whole with some spirit, +they apply it to the affected part. The plant has been long +naturalised in England, and was known here in Shakespeare's time, +who mentions it in the second part of _Henry IV_. thus: "Come, +cousin Silence! we will eat a pippin of last year's graffing, with a +dish of Caraways; and then to bed!" The seeds grow numerously +in the small flat flowers placed thickly together on each floral +plateau, or umbel, and are best known to us in seed cake, and in +Caraway comfits. They are really the dried fruit, and possess, +when rubbed in a mortar, a warm aromatic taste, with a fragrant +spicy smell. Caraway comfits consist of these fruits encrusted with +white sugar; but why the wife of a comfit maker should be given +to swearing, as Shakespeare avers, it is not easy to see. The young +roots of Caraway plants may be sent to table like parsnips; they +warm and stimulate a cold languid stomach. These mixed with +milk and made into bread, formed the _chara_ of Julius Caesar, +eaten by the soldiers of Valerius. Chemically the volatile +oil obtained from Caraway seeds consists of "carvol," and a +hydro-carbon, "carvene," which is a sort of "camphor." Dioscorides +long ago advised the oil for pale-faced girls; and modern ladies +have not disregarded the counsel. + +From six pounds of the unbruised seeds, four ounces of the pure +essential oil can be expressed. In Germany the peasants flavour +their cheese, soups, and household [83] bread--jager--with the +Caraway; and this is not a modern custom, for an old Latin author +says: _Semina carui satis communiter adhibentur ad condiendum +panem; et rustica nostrates estant jusculum e pane, seminibus +carui, et cerevisâ coctum_. + +The Russians and Germans make from Caraways a favourite +liqueur "Kummel," and the Germans add them as a flavouring +condiment to their sawerkraut. In France Caraways enter into the +composition of _l'huile de Venus_, and of other renowned +cordials. + +An ounce of the bruised seeds infused for six hours in a pint of +cold water makes a good Caraway julep for infants, from one to +three teaspoonfuls for a dose, It "consumeth winde, and is +delightful to the stomack; the powdered seed put into a poultice +taketh away blacke and blew spots of blows and bruises." "The oil, +or seeds of Caraway do sharpen vision, and promote the secretion +of milk." Therefore dimsighted men and nursing mothers may +courageously indulge in seed cake! + +The name Caraway comes from the Gaelic _Caroh_, a ship, because +of the shape which the fruit takes. By cultivation the root +becomes more succulent, and the fruit larger, whilst more oily, and +therefore acquiring an increase of aromatic taste and odour. In +Germany the seeds are given for hysterical affections, being finely +powdered and mixed with ginger and salt to spread with butter on +bread. As a draught for flatulent colic twenty grains of the +powdered seeds may be taken with two teaspoonfuls of sugar in a +wineglassful of hot water. Caraway-seed cake was formerly a +standing institution at the feasts given by farmers to their labourers +at the end of wheat sowing. But narcotic effects have been known +to follow the chewing of Caraway seeds in a large quantity, such +as three ounces at a time. + +[84] As regards its stock of honey the Caraway may be termed, +like Uriah Heep, and in a double sense, "truly umbel." The +diminutive florets on its flat disk are so shallow that lepidopterous +and hymenopterous insects, with their long proboses, stand no +chance of getting a meal. They fare as poorly as the stork did in +the fable, whom the fox invited to dinner served on a soup plate. +As Sir John Lubbock has shown, out of fifty-five visitants to the +Caraway plant for nectar, one moth, nine bees, twenty-one flies, +and twenty-four miscellaneous midges constituted the dinner +party. + + + +CHAMOMILE. + +No Simple in the whole catalogue of herbal medicines is possessed +of a quality more friendly and beneficial to the intestines than +"Chamomile flowers." This herb was well known to the Greeks, +who thought it had an odour like that of apples, and therefore they +named it "Earth Apple," from two of their words, _kamai_--on the +ground, and _melon_--an apple. The Spaniards call it _Manzanilla_, +from a little apple, and they give the same name to one of +their lightest sherries flavoured with this plant. The flowers, +or "blows" of the Chamomile belong to the daisy genus, having an +outer fringe of white ray florets, with a central yellow disk, in +which lies the chief medicinal virtue of the plant. In the cultivated +Chamomile the white petals increase, while the yellow centre +diminishes; thus it is that the curative properties of the wild +Chamomile are the more powerful. The true Chamomile is to be +distinguished from the bitter Chamomile (_matricaria chamomilla_) +which has weaker properties, and grows erect, with several +flowers at a level on the same stalk. The true Chamomile +grows prostrate, and produces but [85] one flower (with a convex, +not conical, yellow disk) from each stem, whilst its leaves are +divided into hair-like segments. The flowers exhale a powerful +aromatic smell, and present a peculiar bitter to the taste. When +distilled with water they yield a small quantity of most useful +essential oil, which, if fresh and good, is always of a bluish colour. +It should be green or blue, and not faded to yellow. This oil is a +mixture of ethers, among which "chamomilline," or the valerianate +of butyl, predominates. Medicinally it serves to lower nervous +excitability reflected from some organ in trouble, but remote from +the part where the pain is actually felt; so it is very useful for +such spasmodic coughs as are due to indigestion; also for distal +neuralgia, pains in the head or limbs from the same cause, and for +nervous colic bowels. The oil may be given in doses of from two +to four drops on a lump of sugar, or in a dessert-spoonful of milk. +An officinal tincture (_Tinctura anthemidis_) is made from the +flowers of the true Chamomile (_Anthemis nobilis_) with rectified +spirit of wine. The dose of this is from three to ten drops with a +spoonful of water. It serves usefully to correct the summer +diarrhoea of children, or that which occurs during teething, when +the stools are green, slimy and particoloured. The true Chamomile, +the bitter Chamomile, and the Feverfew, are most obnoxious to +flies and mosquitoes. An infusion of their respective leaves in +spirit will, if used as a wash to the face, arms, or any exposed part +of the body, protect effectually from all attack by these petty foes, +which are quaintly described in an old version of our Bible as "the +pestilence that walketh in the darkness, and the bug that destroyeth +at noonday." Chamomile tea is an excellent stomachic when taken +in moderate doses of half-a-teacupful at a [86] time. It should be +made by pouring half-a-pint of boiling water on half-an-ounce of +the dried flower heads, and letting this stand for fifteen minutes, A +special tincture (H.) of Chammomilla is made from the bitter +Chamomile (_Matricaria_), which, when given in small doses of +three or four drops in a dessertspoonful of cold water every hour, +will signally relieve severe neuralgic pains, particularly if they are +aggravated at night. Likewise this remedy will quickly cure +restlessness and fretfulness in children from teething, and who +refuse to be soothed save by being carried about. + +The name, _Matricaria_, of the bitter Chamomile is derived from +_mater cara_, "beloved mother," because the herb is dedicated to +St. Anne, the reputed mother of the Virgin Mary, or from matrix, +as meaning "the womb." This herb may be known from the true +Chamomile because having a large, yellow, conical disk, and no +scales on the receptacles. + +Chamomile tea is also an excellent drink for giving to aged +persons an hour or more before dinner. Francatelli directs that it +should be made thus: "Put about thirty flowers into a jug, and pour +a pint of boiling water on them; cover up the tea, and when it has +stood for about ten minutes pour it off from the flowers into +another jug, and sweeten with sugar or honey." A teacupful of this +Chamomile tea, into which is stirred a large dessertspoonful of +moist sugar, with a little grated ginger added, will answer the +purpose now indicated. For outward application, to relieve +inflammatory pains, or congestive neuralgia, hot fomentations +made of the infused Chamomile "blows" are invaluable. Bags may +be loosely stuffed with the flowers, and steeped well in boiling +water before being applied. But for internal use the infusion and +the extract of the herb are comparatively [87] useless, because +much of the volatile essential oil is dissipated by boiling, or by dry +heat. This oil made into pills with bread crumbs, and given whilst +fasting two hours before a meal, will effectually dispel intestinal +worms. True Chamomile flowers may be known from spurious +ones (of the Feverfew) which have no bracts on the receptacle +when the florets are removed. + +It is remarkable that each Chamomile is a plant Physician, as +nothing contributes so much to the health of a garden as a number +of Chamomile herbs dispersed about it. Singularly enough, if +another plant is drooping, and apparently dying, in nine cases out +of ten it will recover if you place a herb of Chamomile near it. + +The stinking Chamomile (_Anthemis cotula_) or Mayweed, grows +in cornfields, having a foetid smell, and often blistering the hand +which gathers it. Another name which it bears is "dog's fennel," +because of the disagreeable odour, and the leaf resembling fennel. +Similar uses may be made of it as with the other Chamomiles, but +less effectively. It has solitary flowers with erect stems. + +Dr. Schall declares that the Chamomile is not only a preventive of +nightmare, but the sole certain remedy for this complaint. As a +carminative injection for tiresome flatulence, it has been found +eminently beneficial to employ Chamomile flowers boiled in tripe +broth, and strained through a cloth, and with a few drops of the oil +of Aniseed added to the decoction. + +Falstaffe says in _Henry IV_.: "Though Chamomile, the more it is +trodden on the faster it grows; yet youth, the more it is wasted the +sooner it wears." For coarse feeders and drunkards Chamomile is +peculiarly suitable. Its infusion will cut short an attack of delirium +tremens in the early stage. Gerard found the oil of the flowers [88] +a remedy against all weariness; and quaint old Culpeper reminds +us that the Egyptians dedicated the Chamomile to the sun because +it cured agues. He slyly adds: "They were like enough to do it, for +they were the arrantest apes in their religion I ever read of." + + + +CARROT. + +Our garden Carrot, or Dauke, is a cultivated variety of the +_Dalucus sylvestris_, or wild carrot, an umbelliferous plant, which +groweth of itself in untoiled places, and is called _philtron_, +because it serveth for love matters. This wild Carrot may be found +abundantly in our fields and on the sea shore; the term Carrot +being Celtic, and signifying "red of colour," or perhaps derived +from caro, flesh, because this is a fleshy vegetable. Daucus is from +the Greek _daio_, to burn, on account of the pungent and +stimulating qualities. It is common also on our roadsides, being +popularly known as "Bee's nest," because the stems of its +flowering head, or umbel, form a concave semi-circle, or nest, +which bees, when belated from the hive will use as a dormitory. +The small purple flower which grows in the middle of the umbel +has been found beneficial for the cure of epilepsy. The juice of the +Carrot contains "carotine" in red crystals; also pectin, albumen, +and a particular volatile oil, on which the medicinal properties of +the root depend. The seeds are warm and aromatic to the taste, +whilst they are slightly diuretic. A tea made from the whole plant, +and taken each night and morning, is excellent when the lithic +acid, or gouty disposition prevails, with the deposit of a brick-dust +sediment in the urine on its becoming cool. + +The chief virtues of Carrots lie in the strong antiseptic qualities +they possess, which prevent all putrescent [89] changes within the +body. In Suffolk they were given long since as a secret specific for +preserving and restoring the wind of horses, but cows if fed long +on them will make bloody urine. Wild Carrots are superior +medicinally to those of the cultivated kind. Carrot sugar got from +the inspissated juice of the roots may be used at table, and is good +for the coughs of consumptive children. The seeds of the wild +Carrot were formerly esteemed as a specific remedy for jaundice; +and in Savoy the peasants now give an infusion of the roots for the +same purpose; whilst this infusion has served to prevent stone in +the bladder throughout several years when the patient had been +previously subject to frequent attacks. + +Carrots boiled sufficiently, and mashed into a pulp, when applied +directly to a putrid, indolent sore, will sweeten and heal it. The +Carrot poultice was first used by Sulzer for mitigating the pain, +and correcting the stench of foul ulcers. Raw scraped Carrot is +an excellent plaster for chapped nipples. At Vichy, where +derangements of the liver and of the biliary digestion are +particularly treated, Carrots in one or another form are served at +every meal, whether in soup, or as a vegetable; and considerable +efficacy of cure is attributed to them. In the time of Parkinson +(1640) the leaves of the Carrot were thought to be so ornamental +that ladies wore them as a head-dress instead of feathers. A good +British wine may be brewed from the roots of the Carrot; and very +tolerable bread may be prepared for travellers from these roots +when dried and powdered. Pectic acid can be extracted by the +chemist from Carrots, which will solidify plain sugared water into +a wholesome appetising jelly. One part of this pectic acid +dissolved in a little hot water, and added to make three hundred +parts of warm water, [90] is soon converted into a mass of +trembling jelly. The yellow core of the Carrot is the part which is +difficult of digestion with some persons, not the outer red layer. +Before the French Revolution the sale of Carrots and oranges was +prohibited in the Dutch markets, because of the unpopular +aristocratic colour of these commodities. In one thousand parts of +a Carrot there are ninety-five of sugar, and (according to some +chemists) only three of starch. In country districts raw Carrots are +sometimes given to children for expelling worms, probably +because the vegetable matter passes mechanically through the +body unchanged, and scours it. "Remember, William," says Sir +Hugh Evans in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, "Focative is +Caret," "and that" replies Mrs. Quickly, "is a good root." + + "The man in the moon drinks claret, + But he is a dull Jack-a-dandy; + Would he know a sheep's head from a Carrot + He should learn to drink cider and brandy." + Song of Mad Tom in _Midsummer Night's Dream_. + + + +CELANDINE (Greater, and Lesser). + +This latter flower is a conspicuous herald of spring, which is +strikingly welcome to everyone living in the country throughout +England, and a stranger to none. The Pilewort, or lesser Celandine, +bespangles all our banks with its brilliant, glossy, golden stars, +coming into blossom on or about March 7th, St. Perpetua's day. +They are a timely tocsin for five o'clock tea, because punctually at +that hour they shut up their showy petals until 9.0 a.m. on the +following morning. The well-known little herb, with its heart-shaped +leaves, is a Ranunculus, and bears the affix _ficaria_ from +its curative value in the malady called _ficus_--a "red sore in the +fundament". (Littleton, 1684). + +[91] The popular title, Pilewort, from _Pila_, a ball, was probably +first acquired because, after the doctrine of signatures, the small +oval tubercles attached to its stringy roots were supposed to +resemble and to cure piles. Nevertheless, it has been since proved +practically that the whole plant, when bruised and made into an +ointment with fresh lard, is really useful for healing piles; as +likewise when applied to the part in the form of a poultice or hot +fomentation. "There be those also who thinke that if the herbe be +but carried about by one that hath the piles the paine forthwith +ceaseth." It has sometimes happened that the small white tubercles +collected about the roots of the plant, when washed bare by heavy +rains, and lying free on the ground, have given rise to a supposed +shower of wheat. After flowering the Pilewort withdraws its +substance of leaf and stem into a small rounded tube underground, +so as to withstand the heat of summer, and the cold of the +subsequent winter. + +With the acrid juice of this herb, and of others belonging to the +same Ranunculous order, beggars in England used to produce +sores about their body for the sake of exciting pity, and getting +alms. They afterwards cured these sores by applying fresh mullein +leaves to heal them. The lesser Celandine furnishes a golden +yellow volatile oil, which is readily converted into anemonic acid. + +Wordsworth specially loved this lesser Celandine, and turned his +lyre to sing its praises:-- + + "There is a flower that shall be mine, + 'Tis the little Celandine; + I will sing as doth behove + Hymns in praise of what I love." + +In token of which affectionate regard these flowers have been +carved on the white marble of his tomb. + +[92] The greater Celandine, or _Coeli donum_ (_Chelidonium +majus_), though growing freely in our waste places and hedgerows, +is, perhaps, scarcely so well known as its diminutive namesake. +Yet most persons acquainted with our ordinary rural plants +have repeatedly come across this conspicuous herb, which +exudes a bright yellow juice when bruised. It has sharply cut vivid +leaves of a dull green, with a small blossom of brilliant yellow, +and is not altogether unlike a buttercup, though growing to the +height of a couple of feet. But this Celandine belongs to the Poppy +tribe, whilst the Buttercup is a Ranunculus. The technical name of +the greater Celandine (_Chelidonium_) comes from the Greek +word _Chelidon_, a swallow, because of an ancient tradition that +the bird makes use of this herb to open the eyes of its young, or to +restore their sight when it has been lost:-- + + "Caecatis pullis hâc lumina mater hirundo + (Plinius ut scripsit) quamvis sint eruta, reddit." + +The ancients entertained a strong belief that birds are gifted with a +knowledge of herbs; the woodpecker, for instance, seeking out the +Springwort to remove obstructions, and the linnet making use of +the Eyebright to restore its vision. + +Queen Elizabeth in the forty-sixth year of her age was attacked +with such a grievous toothache that she could obtain no rest by +night or day because of the torture she endured. The lords of her +council decided on sending for an "outlandish physician" named +Penatus, who was famous for curing this agonising pain. He +advised that when all was said and done, if the tooth was hollow, it +were best to have it drawn; but as Her Majesty could not bring +herself to submit to the use of [93] chirugical instruments, he +suggested that the _Chelidonius major_--our greater Celandine-- +should be put into the tooth, and this stopped with wax, which +would so loosen the tooth that in a short time it might be pulled +out with the fingers. Aylmer, Bishop of London, tried to +encourage the Queen by telling her that though he was an old man, +and had not many teeth to spare, she should see a practical +experiment made on himself. Thereupon he bade the surgeon who +was in attendance extract one of his teeth in Her Majesty's +presence. + +This plant, the _Chelidonium majus_, is still used in Suffolk for +toothache by way of fomentation. It goes also by the name of +"Fenugreek" (_Foenum Groecum_), Yellow Spit, Grecian Hay, +and by that of Tetterwort. The root contains chemically "chelidonin" +and "sanguinarin." + +On the doctrine of signatures the herb, because of its bright +orange-coloured juice, was formerly believed to be curative of +jaundice. A medicinal tincture (H.) made from the entire plant +with spirit of wine is at the present time held in high esteem by +many physicians for overcoming torpid conditions of the liver. Eight +or ten drops of this tincture, or of the fresh juice of the plant, +may be given for a dose three times in the day in sweetened water +when bilious yellowness of the skin is present, with itching, and +with clayey stools, dark thick urine, constipation, and a pain in the +right shoulder; also for neuralgia of the head and face on the right +side. It is certainly remarkable that though the fanciful theory of +choosing curative plants by their signatures has been long since +exploded, yet doctors of to-day select several yellow medicines for +treating biliary disorders--to wit, this greater Celandine with its +ochreous juice; the Yellow Barberry; the Dandelion; [94] the +Golden Seal (Hydrastis); the Marigold; Orange; Saffron; and +Tomato. Animals poisoned by the greater Celandine have developed +active and pernicious congestion of the lungs and liver. +Clusius found by experience that the juice of the greater +Celandine, when squeezed into small green wounds of what sort +so ever, wonderfully cured them. "If the juice to the bigness of a +pin's head be dropped into the eye in the morning in bed, it takes +away outward specks, and stops incipient suffusions." Also if the +yellow juice is applied to warts, or to corns, first gently scraped, +it will cure them promptly and painlessly. The greater Celandine is +by genus closely allied to the horned Poppy which grows so +abundantly on our coasts. Its tincture given in small doses proves +of considerable service in whooping-cough when very spasmodic. + +Curious remedies for this complaint have found rustic favour: in +Yorkshire owl broth is considered to be a specific; again in +Gloucestershire a roasted mouse is given to be eaten by the +patient; and in Staffordshire the child is made to look at the new +moon whilst the right hand of the nurse is rubbed up and down its +bare belly. + + + +CELERY. + +The Parsleys are botanically named _Selinon_, and by some verbal +accident, through the middle letter "n" in this word being changed +into "r," making it _Seliron_, or, in the Italian, Celeri, our Celery +(which is a Parsley) obtained its title. It is a cultivated variety of +the common Smallage (_Small ache_) or wild Celery (_Apium +graveolens_), which grows abundantly in moist English ditches, or +in water. This is an umbelliferous herb, unwholesome as a food, +and having a coarse root, with [95] a fetid smell. But, like many +others of the same natural order, when transplanted into the +garden, and bleached, it becomes aromatic and healthful, making +an excellent condimentary vegetable. But more than this, the +cultivated Celery may well take rank as a curative Herbal Simple. +Dr. Pereira has shown us that it contains sulphur (a known +preventive of rheumatism) as freely as do the cruciferous plants, +Mustard, and the Cresses. In 1879, Mr. Gibson Ward, then +President of the Vegetarian Society, wrote some letters to the +Times, which commanded much attention, about Celery as a food +and a medicament. "Celery," said he, "when cooked, is a very fine +dish, both as a nutriment and as a purifier of the blood; I will not +attempt to enumerate all the marvellous cures I have made with +Celery, lest medical men should be worrying me _en masse_. Let +me fearlessly say that rheumatism is impossible on this diet; and +yet English doctors in 1876 allowed rheumatism to kill three +thousand six hundred and forty human beings, every death being +as unnecessary as is a dirty face." + +The seeds of our Sweet Celery are carminative, and act on the +kidneys. An admirable tincture is made from these seeds, when +bruised, with spirit of wine; of which a teaspoonful may be taken +three times a day, with a spoonful or two of water. The root of the +Wild Celery, Smallage, or Marsh Parsley, was reckoned, by the +ancients, one of the five great aperient roots, and was employed in +their diet drinks. The Great Parsley is the Large Age, or Large +Ache; as a strange inconsistency the Romans adorned the heads of +their guests, and the tombs of their dead with crowns of the +Smallage. Our cultivated Celery is a capital instance of fact that +most of the poisonous plants call, by [96] human ingenuity, be so +altered in character as to become eminently serviceable for food or +medicine. Thus, the Wild Celery, which is certainly poisonous +when growing exposed to daylight, becomes most palatable, and +even beneficial, by having its edible leaf stalks earthed up and +bleached during their time of cultivation. + +Dr. Pereira says the digestibility of Celery is increased by its +maceration in vinegar. As taken at table, Celery possesses certain +qualities which tend to soothe nervous irritability, and to relieve +sick headaches. "This herb Celery [Sellery] is for its high and +grateful taste," says John Evelyn, in his _Acetaria_, "ever placed +in the middle of the grand sallet at our great men's tables, and our +Praetor's feasts, as the grace of the whole board." It contains some +sugar and a volatile odorous principle, which in the wild plant +smells and tastes strongly and disagreeably. The characteristic +odour and flavour of the cultivated plant are due to this essential +oil, which has now become of modified strength and qualities; also +when freshly cut it affords albumen, starch, mucilage, and mineral +matter. Why Celery accompanies cheese at the end of dinner it is +not easy to see. This is as much a puzzle as why sucking pig and +prune sauce should be taken in combination,--of which delicacies +James Bloomfield Rush, the Norwich murderer, desired that plenty +should be served for his supper the night before he was hanged, on +April 20th, 1849. + + + +CENTAURY. + +Of all the bitter appetising herbs which grow in our fields and +hedgerows, and which serve as excellent simple tonics, the +Centaury, particularly its white flowered variety, belonging to the +Gentian order of [97] plants, is the most efficacious. It shares in an +abundant measure the restorative antiseptic virtues of the Field +Gentian and the Buckbean. There are four wild varieties of the +Centaury, square stemmed, and each bearing flat tufts of flowers +which are more or less rose coloured. The ancients named this +bitter plant the Gall of the Earth, and it is now known as Christ's +Ladder, or Felwort. + +Though growing commonly in dry pastures, in woods, and on +chalky cliffs, yet the Centaury cannot be reared in a garden. Of old +its tribe was called "Chironia," after Chiron, the Greek Centaur, +well skilled in herbal physic; and most probably the name of our +English plant was thus originated. But the Germans call the Centaury +_Tausendgulden kraut_--"the herb of a thousand florins,"--either +because of its medicinal value, or as a corruption of _Centum +aureum_, "a hundred golden sovereigns." Centaury has become +popularly reduced in Worcestershire to Centre of the Sun. +Its generic adjective "erythroea" signifies red. The flowers +open only in fine weather, and not after twelve o'clock (noon) in +the day. Chemically the herb contains erythrocentaurin--a bitter +principle of compound character,--together with the usual herbal +constituents, but with scarcely any tannin. The tops of the +Centaury, especially of that _flore albo_--with the light coloured +petals--are given in infusion, or in powder, or when made into an +extract. For languid digestion, with heartburn after food, and a +want of appetite, the infusion prepared with cold water, an ounce +of the herb to a pint is best; but for muscular rheumatism the +infusion should be made with boiling water. A wineglass of either +will be the proper dose, two or three times a day. + + + +[98] CHERRY. + +The wild Cherry (_Cerasus_), which occurs of two distinct kinds, +has by budding and grafting begotten most of our finest garden +fruits of its genus. The name _Cerasus _was derived from +Kerasous, a city of Cappadocia, where the fruit was plentiful. +According to Pliny, Cherries were first brought to Rome by +Lucullus after his great victory over Mithridates, 89 B.C. The +cultivated Cherry disappeared in this country during the Saxon +period, and was not re-introduced until the reign of Henry VIII. +The _Cerasus sylvestris _is a wild Cherry tree rising to the height +of thirty or forty feet, and producing innumerable small globose +fruits; whilst the _Cerasus vulgaris_, another wild Cherry, is a +mere shrub, called _Cerevisier_ in France, of which the fruit is +sour and bitter. Cherry stones have been found in the primitive +lake dwellings of Western Switzerland. There is a tradition that +Christ gave a Cherry to St. Peter, admonishing him not to despise +little things. In the time of Charles the First, Herrick, the +clergyman poet, wrote a simple song, to which our well-known +pretty "Cherry Ripe" has been adapted:-- + + "Cherry ripe! ripe! I cry, + Full and fair ones I come, and buy! + If so be you ask me where + They do grow: I answer there + Where my Julia's lips do smile, + There's the land: a cherry isle." + +"Cherries on the ryse" (or, on twigs) was well known as a London +street cry in the fifteenth century; but these were probably the +fruit of the wild Cherry, or Gean tree. In France soup made from +Cherries, and taken with bread, is the common sustenance of the +wood cutters and charcoal burners of the forest during the [99] +winter. The French distil from Cherries a liqueur named _Eau de +Cerises_, or, in German, _Kirschwasser_; whilst the Italians +prepare from a Cherry called _Marusca_ the liqueur noted as +_Marasquin_. Cherries termed as Mazzards are grown in Devon +and Cornwall, A gum exudes from the bark of the Cherry tree +which is equal in value to gum arabic. A caravan going from +Ethiopia to Egypt, says Husselquist, and a garrison of more than +two hundred men during a siege which lasted two months, were +kept alive with no other food than this gum, "which they sucked +often and slowly." It is known chemically as "cerasin," and differs +from gum acacia in being less soluble. + +The leaves of the tree and the kernels of the fruit contain a basis +of prussic acid. + +The American wild Cherry (_Prunus virginiana_) yields from its +bark a larger quantity of the prussic acid principle, which is +sedative to the nervous centres, and also some considerable tannin. +As an infusion, or syrup, or vegetable extract, it will allay nervous +palpitation of the heart, and will quiet the irritative hectic cough of +consumption, whilst tending to ameliorate the impaired digestion. +Its preparations can be readily had from our leading druggists, and +are found to be highly useful. A teaspoonful of the syrup, with one +or two tablespoonfuls of cold water, is a dose for an adult every +three or four hours. The oozing of the gum-tears from the trunk +and boughs is due to the operation of a minute parasitic fungus. +Helena, in the _Midsummer Night's Dream_, paints a charming +picture of the close affection between Hermia and herself-- + + "So we grew together + Like to a double Cherry-seeming parted, + But yet a union in partition: + Two lovely berries moulded on one stem." + + + +CHERVIL, or BEAKED PARSLEY. + +"There is found," writes Parkinson, "during June and July, in almost +every English hedge, a certain plant called _Choerophyllum_, +in show very like unto Hemlockes, of a good and pleasant +smell and taste, which have caused us to term it 'Sweet Chervill.'" +And in modern times this plant has taken rank as a pot herb +in our gardens, though its virtues and uses are not sufficiently +known. "The root is great, thick and long, exceedingly sweet +in smell, and tasting like unto anise seeds. This root is much +used among the Dutch people in a kind of loblolly or hotchpot, +which they do eat, calling it _warmus_. The seeds taken as a salad +whilst they are yet green, exceed all other salads by many degrees +in pleasantness of taste, sweetness of smell, and wholesomeness +for the cold and feeble stomach." In common with other camphoraceous +and strongly aromatic herbs, by reason of its volatile oil +and its terebinthine properties, the Scandix, or Sweet Chervil, +was entitled to make one of the choice spices used for composing +the holy oil with which the sacred vessels of the Tabernacle +were anointed by Moses. It belongs to the particular group +of umbelliferous plants which is endowed with balsamic gums, +and with carminative essences appealing powerfully to the +sense of smell. + +The herb Chervil was in the mind of Roman Catullus when discoursing +sweet verses of old to his friend Fabullus:-- + + "Nam unguentum dabo quod meoe puelloe + Donârunt veneres, cupidinesque. + Quod tu quum olfacies deo rogabis + Totum ut te faciat. Fabulle! nasum." + + "I will give you a perfume my damsels gave me, + Sweet daughters of Venus, sad hoydens are ye! + Which the moment you smell will incite you to pray + My Fabullus! to live as 'all nose' from that day." + +Evelyn taught (1565) that "the tender tops of Cherville should +never be wanting in our sallets, being exceeding wholesome, and +chearing the spirits; also that the roots boiled and cold are to be +much commended for aged persons." But in 1745 several Dutch +soldiers were poisoned by eating the rough wild Chervil, from +which the cultivated sweet variety is to be distinguished by its +having its stems swollen beneath the joints--much as our +blue-blooded patricians are signalised by gouty knuckles and +bunioned feet. + +The botanical name of the Sweet Chervil (_Choerophyllum_) +signifies a plant which rejoices the heart--_Kairei-phyllum_. "The +roots," said an old writer, "are very good for old people that are +dull and without courage; they gladden and comfort the spirits, +and do increase their lusty strength." The juice is slightly aperient, +and abundantly lacteal when mixed with goat's milk, or in gruel. +Physicians formerly held this herb in high esteem, as capable of +curing most chronic disorders connected with the urinary +passages, and gravel. Some have even asserted that if these +distempers will not yield to a constant use of Chervil, they win be +scarcely curable by any other medicine. The Wild Chervil will +"help to dissolve any tumours or swellings in all parts of the body +speedily, if applied to the place, as also to take away the spots and +marks in the flesh and skin, of congealed blood by blows or +bruises." The feathery leaves of Chervil, which are of a bright +emerald hue in the spring, become of a rich purple in the +autumn, just as the objectionably carroty locks of Tittlebat +Titmouse, in _Ten Thousand a Year_, became vividly green under +"Cyanochaitanthropopoin," and were afterwards strangely empurpled +by "Tetragmenon abracadabra," at nine and sixpence the bottle. + + + +[102] CHESTNUTS (Horse, and Sweet). + +Ever since 1633 the Horse Chestnut tree has grown and flourished +in England, having been brought at first from the mountains of +Northern Asia. For the most part it is rather known and admired +for its wealth of shade, its large handsome floral spikes of creamy, +pink-tinted blossom, and its white, soft wood, than supposed to +exercise useful medicinal properties. But none the less is this tree +remarkable for the curative virtues contained in its large nuts of +mahogany polish, its broad palmate leaves, and its smooth silvery +bark. These virtues have been discovered and made public +especially by physicians and chemists of the homoeopathic school. +From the large digitated leaves an extract is made which has +proved of service in whooping-cough, and of which from one-third +to half a teaspoonful may be given for a dose. On the Continent +the bark is held in estimation for cutting short attacks of +intermittent fever and ague by acting in the same way as Peruvian +bark, though it is much more astringent. But the nuts are chiefly to +be regarded as the medicinal belongings of the Horse Chestnut +tree; and their bodily sphere of action is the rectum, or lower +bowel, in cases of piles, and of obstinate constipation. Their use is +particularly indicated when the bottom of the back gives out on +walking, with aching and a sense of weariness in that region. +Likewise, signal relief is found to be wrought by the same remedy +when the throat is duskily red and dry, in conjunction with +costiveness, and piles. A tincture is made (H.) from the ripe nuts +with spirit of wine, for the purposes described above, or the nuts +themselves are finely powdered and given in that form. These nuts +are starchy, and contain so much potash, that they may be +used when boiled for washing purposes. [103] In France and +Switzerland they are employed for cleansing wool and bleaching +linen, on account of their "saponin." Botanically, the Horse +Chestnut is named _AEsculus hippocastanea_--the first word +coming from _esca_, food; and the second from _hippos_, a horse; +and _Castana_, the city, so called. The epithet "horse" does not +imply any remedial use in diseases of that animal, but rather the +size and coarseness of this species as compared with the Sweet +Spanish Chestnut. In the same way we talk of the horse radish, the +horse daisy, and the horse leech. In Turkey the fruit is given to +horses touched or broken in the wind, but in this country horses +will not eat it. Nevertheless, Horse Chestnuts may be used for +fattening cattle, particularly sheep, the nuts being cut up, and +mixed with oats, or beans. Their bitterness can be removed by first +washing the Chestnuts in lime water. Medicinally, the ripe nut of +this tree is employed, being collected in September or October, +and deprived of its shell. The odour of the flowers is powerful and +peculiar. No chemical analysis of them, or of the nuts, has been +made, but they are found to contain tannin freely. Rich-coloured, +of a reddish brown, and glossy, these nuts have given their name +to a certain shade of mellow dark auburn hair. Rosalind, in _As +You Like It_, says "Orlando's locks are of a good colour: I' faith +your Chestnut was ever the only colour." + +Of the Horse Chestnut tincture, two or three drops, with a spoonful +of water, taken before meals and at bedtime, will cure almost any +simple case of piles in a week. Also, carrying a Horse Chestnut +about the person, is said to obviate giddiness, and to prevent piles. + +Taken altogether, the Horse Chestnut, for its splendour of +blossom, and wealth of umbrageous leaf, [104] its polished +mahogany fruit, and its special medicinal virtues, is _facile +princeps_ the belle of our English trees. But, like many a +ball-room beauty, when the time comes for putting aside the gay leafy +attire, it is sadly untidy, and makes a great litter of its cast-off +clothing. + +It has been ingeniously suggested that the cicatrix of the leaf +resembles a horse-shoe, with all its nails evenly placed. + +The Sweet Spanish Chestnut tree is grown much less commonly in +this country, and its fruit affords only material for food, without +possessing medicinal properties; though, in the United States of +America, an infusion of the leaves is thought to be useful for +staying the paroxysms of whooping-cough. Of all known nuts, this +(the Sweet Chestnut, Stover Nut, or Meat Nut) is the most +farinaceous and least oily; hence it is more easy of digestion than +any other. To mountaineers it is invaluable, so that on the +Apennines and the Pyrenees the Chestnut harvest is the event of +the year. The Italian Chestnut-cakes, called _necci_, contain forty +per cent. of nutritious matter soluble in cold water; and Chestnut +flour, when properly prepared, is a capital food for children. + +To be harvested the Chestnuts are spread on a frame of lattice-work +overhead, and a fire is kept burning underneath. When dry the +fruit is boiled, or steamed, or roasted, or ground into a kind of +flour, with which puddings are made, or an excellent kind of bread +is produced. The ripe Chestnut possesses a fine creamy flavour, +and when roasted it becomes almost aromatic. A good way to cook +Chestnuts is to boil them for twenty minutes, and then place them +for five minutes more in a Dutch oven. + +It was about the fruit of the Spanish tree Shakespeare [105] said: +"A woman's tongue gives not half so great a blow to the ear as will +a Chestnut in a farmer's fire." In the United States of America an +old time-worn story, or oft repeated tale, is called in banter a +"Chestnut," and a stale joker is told "not to rattle the Chestnuts." + +For convalescents, after a long serious illness, the French make a +chocolate of sweet Chestnuts, which is highly restorative. The nuts +are first cooked in _eau de vie_ until their shells and the pellicle +of the kernels can be peeled off; then they are beaten into a pulp +together with sufficient milk and sugar, with some cinnamon +added. The mixture is afterwards boiled with more milk, and +frothed up in a chocolate pot. + + + +CHICKWEED. + +Chickweed--called _Alsine_ or _Stellaria media_, a floral star of +middle magnitude--belongs to the Clove-pink order of plants, and, +despite the most severe weather, grows with us all the year round, +in waste places by the roadsides, and as a garden weed. It is easily +known by its fresh-looking, juicy, verdant little leaves, and by its +tiny white star-like flowers; also by a line of small stiff hairs, +which runs up one side of the stalk like a vegetable hog-mane, and +when it reaches a pair of leaves immediately shifts its position, and +runs up higher on the opposite side. + +The fact of our finding Chickweed (and Groundsel) in England, as +well as on the mainland of Europe, affords a proof that Britain, +when repeopled after the great Ice age, must have been united +somewhere to the continent; and its having lasted from earliest +times throughout Europe, North America, and Siberia, seems to +show that this modest plant must be possessed of some universal +utility which has enabled it to hold its own [106] until now in the +great evolutionary struggle. It grows wild allover the earth, and +serves as food for small birds, such as finches, linnets, and other +feathered songsters of the woods. Moreover, we read in the old +herbal of Turner: _Qui alunt aviculas caveis inclusas hoc solent +illas si quando cibos fastigiant recreare_--or, as Gerard translates +this: "Little birds in cages are refreshed with Chickweed when +they loath their meat." + +The Chickweed is termed _Alsine--quia lucos, vel alsous amat_-- +because it loves to grow in shady places This small herb abounds +with the earthy salts of potash, which are admirable against +scurvy when thus found in nature's laboratory, and a continued +deprivation from which always proves disastrous to mankind. +"The water of Chickweed," says an old writer, "is given to +children for their fits, and its juice is used for their gripes." When +boiled, the plant may be eaten instead of Spinach. Its fresh juice if +rubbed on warts, first pared to the quick, will presently cause them +to fall off. + +Fresh Chickweed juice, as proved medicinally in 1893, produced +sharp rheumatic pains and stitches in the head and eyes, with a +general feeling of being bruised; also pressure about the liver and +soreness there, with sensations of burning, and of bilious +indigestion. Subsequently, the herb, when given in quite small +doses of tincture, or fresh juice, or infusion, has been found by its +affinity to remove the train of symptoms just described, and to act +most reliably in curing obstinate rheumatism allied therewith. +Furthermore, a poultice prepared from the fresh green juicy leaves, +is emollient and cooling, whilst an ointment made from them with +hog's lard, is manifestly healing. + +When rain is impending, the flowers remain closed; [107] and the +plant teaches an exemplary matrimonial lesson, seeing that at night +its leaves approach one another in loving pairs, and sleep with the +tender buds protected between them. Culpeper says: "Chickweed +is a fine, soft, pleasing herb, under the dominion of the moon, and +good for many things." Parkinson orders thus: "To make a salve fit +to heal sore legs, boil a handful of Chickweed with a handful of +red rose leaves in a pint of the oil of trotters or sheep's feet, and +anoint the grieved places therewith against a fire each evening and +morning; then bind some of the herb, if ye will, to the sore, and so +shall ye find help, if God will." + + + +CHRISTMAS ROSE--BLACK HELLEBORE. + +This well-known plant, a native of Southern Europe, and belonging +to the Ranunculus order, is grown commonly in our gardens +for the sake of its showy white flowers, conspicuous in winter, +from December to February. The root has been famous since +time immemorial as a remedy for insanity. From its abundant +growth in the Grecian island of Anticyra arose the proverb: +_Naviget Anticyram_--"Take a voyage to Anticyra," as applied +by way of advice to a man who has lost his reason. + +When fresh the root is very acrid, and will blister the skin. If dried +and given as powder it will cause vomiting and purging, also +provoking sneezing when smelt, and inducing the monthly flow of +a woman. This root contains a chemical glucoside--"helleborin," +which, if given in full doses, stimulates the kidneys to such an +excess that their function becomes temporarily paralyzed. It +therefore happens that a medicinal tincture (H.) made from the +fresh root collected at Christmas, just before the plant would +flower, when [108] taken in small doses, will promptly relieve +dropsy, especially a sudden dropsical swelling of the skin, with +passive venous congestion of the kidneys, as in scrofulous +children. + +A former method of administering the root was by sticking a +particularly sweet apple full of its fibres, and roasting this under +hot embers; then the fibres were withdrawn, and the apple was +eaten by the patient. + +Taken by mischance in any quantity the root is highly poisonous: +one ounce of a watery decoction has caused death in eight hours, +with vomiting, giddiness, insensibility, and palsy. Passive dropsy +in children after scarlet fever may be effectually cured by small +doses of the tincture, third decimal strength. + +The name Hellebore, as applied to the plant, comes from the +Greek _Elein_--to injure, and _Bora_--fodder. It is also known as +_Melampodium_, being thus designated because Melampus, a +physician in the Peloponnesus (B.C. 1530) watched the effect on +his goats when they had eaten the leaves, and cured therewith the +insane daughters of Proetus, King of Argos. + +It was famous among the Egyptian and Greek doctors of old as the +most effectual remedy for the diseases of mania, epilepsy, +apoplexy, dropsy, and gout. The tincture is very useful in mental +stupor, with functional impairment of the hearing and sight; +likewise for strumous water on the brain. + +The original reputation of this herb was acquired because of its +purgative properties, which enabled it to carry off black bile which +was causing insanity. + +No tannin is contained in the root. A few drops of the juice +obtained therefrom, if dropped warm into the ear each night and +morning, will cure singing and noises in the ears. A proper dose of +the powdered root [109] is from five to ten grains. Snuff made +with this powder has cured night blindness, as among the French +prisoners at Norman Cross in 1806. The Gauls used to rub the +points of their hunting spears with Hellebore, believing the game +they killed was thus rendered more tender. Hahnemann said that at +least one third of the cases of insanity occurring in lunatic asylums +may be cured by this and the white Hellebore (an allied plant) in +such small doses as of the tincture twelfth dilution, given in the +patient's drink. + +A bastard Hellebore, which is _foetidus_, or, "stinking," and is +known to rustics as Bearsfoot, because of its digitate leaves, grows +frequently near houses in this country, though a doubtful native. +The sepals of its flowers are purple, and the leaves are evergreen; +the petals are green and leaf-like, whilst the nectaries are large and +tubular, often containing small flies. The nectar is reputed to be +poisonous. Again, this plant bears the names Pegroots, Oxbeel, +Oxheal, and Setterwort, because used for "settering" cattle. A +piece of the root is inserted as a seton (so-called from _seta_--a +hank of silk) into the dewlap, and this is termed "pegging," or, +"settering," for the benefit of diseased lungs. "The root," says +Gerard, "consists of many small black strings, involved or wrapped +one within another very intricately." The smell of the fresh plant is +extremely fetid, and, when taken, it will purge, or provoke +vomiting. The leaves are very useful for expelling worms. Dr. +Woodville says their juice made into a syrup, with coarse sugar, is +almost the only vermifuge he had used against round worms for +three years past. "If these leaves be dried in an oven after the bread +is drawne out, and the powder thereof be taken in a figge, or raisin, +or strewed upon a piece of [110] bread spread with honey, and +eaten, it killeth worms in children exceedingly." A decoction made +with one drachm of the green leaves, or about fifteen grains of the +dried leaves in powder, is the usual dose for a child between four +and six years of age; but a larger dose will provoke sickness, or +diarrhoea. The medicine should be repeated on two or three +consecutive mornings; and it will be found that the second dose +acts more powerfully than the first, "never failing to expel round +worms by stool, if there be any lodged in the alimentary tube." + + + +CLOVER. + +In this country we possess about twenty species of the trefoil, or +Clover, which is a plant so well known in its general features by +its abundance in every field and on every grass plot, as not to need +any detailed description. The special variety endowed with +medicinal and curative virtues, is the Meadow Clover (_Trifolium +pratense_), or red clover, called by some, Cocksheads, and +familiar to children as Suckles, or Honey-suckles, because of the +abundant nectar in the long tubes of its corollae. Other names for it +are Bee-bread, and Smere. An extract of this red clover is now +confidently said to have the power of healing scrofulous sores, and +of curing cancer. The _New York Tribune_ of September, 1884, +related a case of indisputable cancer of the breast of six years' +standing, with an open fetid sore, which had penetrated the +chest-wall between the ribs, and which was radically healed by a +prolonged internal use of the extract of red clover. Four years +afterwards, in September, 1888, "the breast was found to be +restored to its normal condition, all but a small place the size of +half a dollar, which will in every probability become absorbed like +[111] the rest, so that the patient is considered by her physicians to +be absolutely cured." + +The likelihood is that whatever virtue the red clover can boast for +counteracting a scrofulous disposition, and as antidotal to cancer, +resides in its highly-elaborated lime, silica, and other earthy salts. +Moreover, this experience is not new. Sir Spencer Wells, twenty +years ago, recorded some cases of confirmed cancer cured by +taking powdered and triturated oyster shells; whilst egg shells +similarly reduced to a fine dust have proved equally efficacious. It +is remarkable that if the moorlands in the North of England, and in +some parts of Ireland, are turned up for the first time, and strewed +with lime, white clover springs up there in abundance. + +Again, a syrup is made from the flowers of the red clover, which +has a trustworthy reputation for curing whooping-cough, and of +which a teaspoonful may be taken three or four times in the day. +Also stress is laid on the healing of skin eruptions in children, by a +decoction of the purple and white meadow trefoils. + +The word clover is a corruption of the Latin _clava_ a club; and +the "clubs" on our playing cards are representations of clover +leaves; whilst in France the same black suit is called _trefle_. + +A conventional trefoil is figured on our coins, both Irish and +English, this plant being the National Badge of Ireland. Its charm +has been ever supposed there as an unfailing protection against +evil influences, as is attested by the spray in the workman's cap, +and in the bosom of the cotter's wife. + +The clover trefoil is in some measure a sensitive plant; "its +leaves," said Pliny, "do start up as if afraid of an assault when +tempestuous weather is at hand." + +[112] The phrase, "living in clover," alludes to cattle being put to +feed in rich pasturage. + +A sworn foe to the purple clover cultivated by farmers, is the +Dodder (_Cuscuta trifolii_), a destructive vegetable parasite which +strangles the plants in a crafty fashion, and which goes by the +name of "hellweed," or "devil's guts." It lies in ambush like a +pigmy field octopus, with deadly suckers for draining the sap of its +victims. These it mats together in its wiry, sinuous coils, and +chokes relentlessly by the acre. Nevertheless, the petty garotter-- +like a toad, "ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in its +head." "If boiled," says Hill, "with a little ginger, the dodder in +decoction works briskly as a purge. Also, the thievish herb, when +bruised and applied externally to scrofulous tumours, is an +excellent remedy." + +The word "dodder" signifies the plural of "dodd," a bunch of +threads. The parasite is sometimes called "Red tangle" and "Lady's +laces." + +Its botanical name _Cuscuta_ comes from the Greek _Kassuo_--to +sew together. If the piece of land infested with it is closely mown +(and the cut material carried away unshaken), being next covered +with deal saw-dust, on which a ten per cent. solution of sulphate of +iron is freely poured, then by combining with the tannin contained +in the stems of the Dodder, this will serve to kill the parasite +without doing any injury to the clover or lucerne. Although a +parasite the plant springs every year from seed. It is a remedy for +swooning or fainting fits. + +The Sweet Clover (or yellow Melilot), when prepared as a tincture +(H.), with spirit of wine, and given as a medicine in material +doses, causes, in sensitive persons, a severe headache, sometimes +with a determination of [113] blood to the head, and bleeding from +the nose. When administered, on the principle of curative affinity, +in much smaller doses, it is singularly beneficial against nervous +headaches, with oppression of the brain, acting helpfully within +five minutes. Dr. Hughes (Brighton) writes: "I value this medicine +much in nervous headaches, and I always carry it in my pocket-case-- +as the mother tincture--which I generally administer _by olfaction_." +For epilepsy, it is said in the United States of America +to be "the one grand master-remedy," by giving a drop of the +tincture every five minutes during the attack, and five drops five +times a day in water, for some weeks afterwards. + +The Melilot (from _mel_, honey, and _lotus_, because much liked +by bees) is known as Plaster Clover from its use since Galen's time +in plasters for dispersing tumours. Continental physicians still +employ the same made of melilot, wax, resin, and olive oil. The +plant contains, "Coumarin" in common with the Sweet Woodruff, +and the Tonquin Bean. Other names for it are "Harts' Clover," +because deer delight to feed on it and "King's Clover" or "Corona +Regis," because "the yellow flouers doe crown the top of the +stalkes as with a chaplet of gold." It is an herbaceous plant +common in waste places, and having light green leaves; when +dried it smells like Woodruff, or new hay. + + + +CLUB MOSS. + +Though not generally thought worth more than a passing notice, or +to possess any claims of a medicinal sort, yet the Club Moss, +which is of common growth in Great Britain on heaths and hilly +pastures, exerts by its spores very remarkable curative effects, and +[114] therefore it should be favourably regarded as a Herbal +Simple. It is exclusively due to homoeopathic provings and +practice, that the _Lycopodium clavatum _(Club Moss) takes an +important position amongst the most curative vegetable remedies +of the present day. + +The word _lycopodium_ means "wolf's claw," because of the +claw-like ends to the trailing stems of this moss; and the word +clavatum signifies that its inflorescence resembles a club. The +spores of Club Moss constitute a fine pale-yellow, dusty powder +which is unctuous, tasteless, inodorous, and only medicinal when +pounded in all agate mortar until the individual spores, or nuts, are +fractured. + +By being thus triturated, the nuts give out their contents, which are +shown to be oil globules, wherein the curative virtues of the moss +reside. Sugar of milk is then rubbed up for two hours or more with +the broken spores, so as to compose a medicinal powder, which is +afterwards to be further diluted; or a tincture is made from the +fractured spores, with spirit of ether, which will develop their +specific medicinal properties. The Club Moss, thus prepared, +has been experimentally taken by provers in varying material +doses; and is found through its toxical affinities in this way +to be remarkably useful for chronic mucous indigestion and +mal-nutrition, attended with sallow complexion, slow, difficult +digestion, flatulence, waterbrash, heartburn, decay of bodily +strength, and mental depression. It is said that whenever a fan-like +movement of the wings of the nostrils can be observed during the +breathing, the whole group of symptoms thus detailed is _specially_ +curable by Club Moss. + +As a dose of the triturated powder, reduced to a weaker +dilution, ten grains may be taken twice a day [115] mixed with a +dessertspoonful of water; or of the tincture largely reduced in +strength, ten drops twice a day in like manner. Chemically, the oil +globules extracted from the spores contain "alumina" and +"phosphoric acid." The diluted powder has proved practically +beneficial for reducing the swelling and for diminishing the +pulsation of aneurism when affecting a main blood-vessel of the +heart. + +In Cornwall the Club Moss is considered good against most +diseases of the eyes, provided it be gathered on the third day of the +moon when first seen; being shown the knife whilst the gatherer +repeats these words:-- + + "As Christ healed the issue of blood, + Do thou cut what thou cut test for good." + +"Then at sundown the Club Moss should be cut by the operator +whilst kneeling, and with carefully washed hands. It is to be +tenderly wrapped in a fair white cloth, and afterwards boiled in +water procured from the spring nearest the spot where it grew," +and the liquor is to be applied as a fomentation; or the Club Moss +may be "made into an ointment with butter from the milk of a new +cow." Such superstitious customs had without doubt a Druidic +origin, and they identify the Club Moss with the Selago, or golden +herb, "Cloth of Gold" of the Druids. This was reputed to confer the +power of understanding the language of birds and beasts, and was +intimately connected with some of their mysterious rites; though +by others it is thought to have been a sort of Hedge Hyssop +(_Gratiola_). + +The Common Lycopodium bears in some, districts the name of +"Robin Hood's hatband." Its unmoistenable powder from the +spores is a capital absorbing application to weeping, raw surfaces. +At the shops, this [116] powder of the Club Moss spores is sold as +"witch meal," or "vegetable sulphur." For trade purposes it is +obtained from the ears of a Wolfsfoot Moss, the Lycopodium +clavatum, which grows in the forests of Russia and Finland. The +powder is yellow of colour, dust-like and smooth to the touch. +Half a drachm of it given during July in any proper vehicle has +been esteemed "a noble remedy to cure stone in the bladder." +Being mixed with black pepper, it was recognized by the College +of Physicians in 1721 as a medicine of singular value for +preventing and curing hydrophobia. Dr. Mead, who had repeated +experience of its worth, declared that he never knew it to fail when +combined with cold bathing. + +Club Moss powder ignites with a flicker, and is used for stage +lightning. It is the _Blitzmehl_, or lightning-meal of the Germans, +who give it in doses of from fifteen to twenty grains for the cure of +epilepsy in children. + +When the "Mortal Struggle" was produced (see _Nicholas Nickleby_) +by Mr. Vincent Crummles at Portsmouth, with the aid of Miss +Snevelicci, and the Infant Phenomenon, lurid lightning was +much in request to astonish the natives; and this was sufficiently +well simulated by igniting, with a sudden flash and a hiss, +highly inflammable spores of the Club Moss projected against +burning tow within a hollow cone, producing weird scenic effects. + + + +COLTSFOOT. + +The Coltsfoot, which grows abundantly throughout England in +places of moist, heavy soil, especially along the sides of our raised +railway banks, has been justly termed "nature's best herb for the +lungs, and her most eminent thoracic." Its seeds are supposed to +have lain [117] dormant from primitive times, where our railway +cuttings now upturn them and set them growing anew; and the +rotting foliage of the primeval herb by retaining its juices, is +thought to have promoted the development and growth of our +common earthworm. + +The botanical name of Coltsfoot is _Tussilago farfara_, signifying +_tussis ago_, "I drive away a cold"; and _farfar_, the white poplar +tree, which has a similar leaf. It is one of the Composite order, and +the older authors named this plant, _Filius ante patrem_--"the son +before the father," because the flowers appear and wither before +the leaves are produced. These flowers, at the very beginning of +Spring, stud the banks with gay, golden, leafless blossoms, each +growing on a stiff scaly stalk, and resembling a dandelion in +miniature. The leaves, which follow later on, are made often into +cigars, or are smoked as British herbal tobacco, being mixed for +this purpose with the dried leaves and flowers of the eye-bright, +buckbean, betony, thyme, and lavender, to which some persons +add rose leaves, and chamomile flowers. All these are rubbed +together by the hands into a coarse powder, Coltsfoot forming +quite one-half of the same; and this powder may be very +beneficially smoked for asthma, or for spasmodic bronchial cough. +Linnoeus said, "_Et adhuc hodie plebs in Sueciâ, instar tabaci +contra tussim fugit_"--"Even to-day the Swiss people cure their +coughs with Coltsfoot employed like tobacco." When the flowers +are fully blown and fall off, the seeds with their "clock" form a +beautiful head of white flossy silk, and if this flies away when +there is no wind it is said to be a sure sign of coming rain. The +Goldfinch often lines her nest with the soft pappus of the +Coltsfoot. In Paris the Coltsfoot flower is painted on the doorposts +of an apothecary's house. + +[118] From earliest times, the plant has been found helpful in +maladies of the chest. Hippocrates advised it with honey for +"ulcerations of the lungs." Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galen, severally +commended the use of its smoke, conducted into the mouth +through a funnel or reed, for giving ease to cough and difficult +breathing; they named it _breechion_, from _breex_, a cough. + +In taste, the leaves are harsh, bitter, and mucilaginous. They +appear late in March, being green above, with an undersurface +which is white, and cottony. Sussex peasants esteem the white +down of the leaves as a most valuable medicine. + +All parts of the plant contain chemically tannin, with a special +bitter principle, and free mucilage; so that the herb is to be +considered emollient, demulcent, and tonic. Dr. Cullen employed a +decoction of the leaves with much benefit in scrofula, where the +use of sea water had failed. And Dr. Fuller tells about a girl cured +of twelve scrofulous sores, by drinking daily, for four months, as +much as she could of Coltsfoot tea, made so strong from the leaves +as to be sweet and glutinous. A modern decoction is prepared from +the herb with boiling water poured on the leaves, and with +liquorice root and honey added. + +But, "hark! I hear the pancake bell," said Poor Richard in his +almanack, 1684; alluding to pancakes then made with Coltsfoot, +like tansies, and fried with saged butter. + +A century later it was still the fashion to treat consumptive young +women with quaint remedies. Mrs. Delaney writes in 1758, "Does +Mary cough in the Night? two or three snails boiled in her barley +water may be of great service to her." + +Again, the confectioner provides Coltsfoot rock, [119] concocted +in fluted sticks of a brown colour, as a sweetmeat, and flavoured +with some essential oil--as aniseed, or dill--these sticks being well +beloved by most schoolboys. The dried leaves, when soaked out in +warm water, will serve as an excellent emollient poultice. A +certain preparation, called "Essence of Coltsfoot," found great +favour with our grand sires for treating their colds. This consisted +of Balsam of Tolu and Friar's Balsam in equal parts, together with +double the quantity of Spirit of Wine. It did not really contain +a trace of Coltsfoot, and the nostrum was provocative of +inflammation, because of the spirit in excess. Dr. Paris said: "And +this, forsooth, is a pectoral for coughs! If a patient with a catarrh +should recover whilst using such a remedy, I should certainly +designate it a lucky escape, rather than a skilful cure." Gerard +wrote about Coltsfoot: "The fume of the dried leaves, burned upon +coles, effectually helpeth those that fetch their winde thicke, and +breaketh without peril the impostumes of the brest"; also "the +green leaves do heal the hot inflammation called Saint Anthony's +fire." + +The names of the herb--Coltsfoot, and Horsehoof--are derived +from the shape of the leaf. It is likewise known as Asses' foot, and +Cough wort; also as Foal's foot, and Bull's foot, Hoofs, and (in +Yorkshire) Cleats. + +To make an infusion or decoction of the plant for a confirmed +cough, or for chronic bronchitis, pour a pint of boiling water on an +ounce of the dried leaves and flowers, and take half a teacupful of +it when cold three or four times in the day. The silky down of the +seed-heads is used in the Highlands for stuffing pillows, and the +presence of coal is said to be indicated by an abundant growth of +the herb. + +Another species, the Butter bur (_Tussilago petasites_), [120] is +named from _petasus_, an umbrella, or a broad covering for the +head. It produces the largest leaves of any plant in Great Britain, +which sometimes measure three feet in breadth. This plant was +thought to be of great use in the time of the plague, and thus got +the names of Pestilent wort, Plague flower and Bog Rhubarb. Both +it, and the Coltsfoot, are specific remedies (H.) for severe and +obstinate neuralgia in the small of the back, and the loins, a +medicinal tincture being prepared from each herb. + + + +COMFREY. + +The Comfrey of our river banks, and moist watery places, is the +_Consound_, or Knit-back, or Bone-set, and Blackwort of country +folk; and the old _Symphytum_ of Dioscorides. It has derived +these names from the consolidating and vulnerary qualities +attributed to the plant, from _confirmo_, to strengthen together, or +the French, _comfrie_. This herb is of the Borage tribe, and is +conspicuous by its height of from one to two feet, its large rough +leaves, which provoke itching when handled, and its drooping +white or purple flowers growing on short stalks. Chemically, the +most important part of the plant is its "mucilage." This contains +tannin, asparagin, sugar, and starch granules. The roots are sweet, +sticky, and without any odour. "_Quia tanta proestantia est_," says +Pliny, "_ut si carnes duroe coquuntur conglutinet addita; unde +nomen!_"--"and the roots be so glutinative that they will solder or +glew together meat that is chopt in pieces, seething in a pot, and +make it into one lump: the same bruysed, and lay'd in the manner +of a plaister, doth heale all fresh and green wounds." These roots +are very brittle, and the least bit of them will start growing afresh. + +[121] The whole plant, beaten to a cataplasm, and applied hot as a +poultice, has always been deemed excellent for soothing pain in +any tender, inflamed or suppurating part. It was formerly applied +to raw indolent ulcers as a glutinous astringent, and most useful +vulnerary. Pauli recommended it for broken bones, and externally +for wounds of the nerves, tendons, and arteries. More recently +surgeons have declared that the powdered root (which, when +broken, is white within, and full of a slimy juice), if dissolved in +water to a mucilage, is far from contemptible for bleedings, +fractures, and luxations, whilst it hastens the callus of bones under +repair. Its strong decoction has been found very useful in Germany +for tanning leather. The leaves were formerly employed for giving +a flavour to cakes and panada. + +A modern medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the root-stock with +spirit of wine; and ten drops of this should be taken three or four +times a day with a tablespoonful of cold water. French nurses treat +cracked nipples by applying a hollow section of the fresh root over +the sore caruncle; and a decoction of the root made by boiling +from two to four drachms in a pint of water, is given for bleedings +from the lungs or bladder. + +The name _Consound_, owned by the Common Comfrey, was given +likewise to the daisy and the bugle, in the middle ages. "It +joyeth," says Gerard, "in watery ditches, in fat and fruitful +meadows." A solve concocted from the fresh herb will certainly +tend to promote the healing of bruised and broken parts, +suggesting as an appropriate motto for the salve box: "Behold how +good and pleasant a thing it is to dwell together in unity! It is +like the precious ointment which ran down Aaron's beard." Some +foreknowledge [122] of the Comfrey perhaps inspired the Prophet +Isaiah to predict that after a time "the heart should rejoice and the +bones flourish like a herb." The Poet Laureate tells of + + "This, the Consound, + Whereby the lungs are eased of their grief." + +About a century ago, the _Prickly Comfrey_--a variety of our +Consound--was naturalised in this country from the Caucasus, and +has since proved itself amazingly productive to farmers, as, when +cultivated, it will grow six crops in the year; and the plant is both +preventive and curative of foot and mouth disease in cattle. It +bears flowers of a rich blue colour. + +From our Common Comfrey a sort of glue is got in Angora, which +is used for spinning the famous fleeces of that country. Mr. +Cockayne relates that the locksman at Teddington informed him +how the bone of his little finger being broken, was grinding and +grunching so sadly for two months, that sometimes he felt quite +wrong in his head. One day he saw a doctor go by, and told him +about the distress. The doctor said: "You see that Comfrey +growing there? Take a piece of its root, and champ it, and put it +about your finger, and wrap it up." The man did so, and in four +days his finger was well. + + + +CORIANDER. + +Coriander comfits, sold by the confectioner as admirably warming +to the stomach, and corrective of flatulence, consist of small +aromatic seeds coated with white sugar. These are produced by the +Coriander, an umbelliferous herb cultivated in England from early +times for medicinal and culinary uses, though introduced at first +from the Mediterranean. It has now [123] become wild as an +escape, growing freely in our fields and waste places. Farmers +produce it, especially about Essex, under the name of Col, the +crops being mown down when ripe, and the fruits being then +thrashed out to procure the seeds. The generic name has been +derived from _koros_, a bug; alluding to the stinking odour of the +bruised leaves, though these, when dried, are fragrant, and +pleasant of smell. In some countries, as Egypt and Peru, they are +taken in soups. The seeds are cordial, but become narcotic if used +too freely. When distilled with water they yield a yellow essential +oil of a very aromatic and strong odour. + +Coriander water was formerly much esteemed as a carminative for +windy colic. Being so aromatic and comfortably stimulating, the +fruit is commended for aiding the digestion of savoury pastry, and +to correct the griping tendencies of such medicines as senna and +rhubarb. It contains malic acid, tannin, the special volatile oil of +the herb, and some fatty matter. + +Distillers of gin make use of this fruit, and veterinary surgeons +employ it as a drug for cattle and horses. Alston says, "The green +herb--seeds and all--stinks intolerably of bugs"; and Hoffman +admonishes, "_Si largius sumptura fuerit semen non sine periculo +e suâ sede et statu demovet, et qui sumpsere varia dictu pudenda +blaterant_." The fruits are blended with curry powder, and are +chosen to flavour several liquors. By the Chinese a power of +conferring immortality is thought to be possessed by the seeds. +From a passage in the Book of Numbers where manna is likened +to Coriander seed, it would seem that this seed was familiar to the +Israelites and used by them for domestic purposes. Robert Turner +says when taken in wine it stimulates the animal passions. + + + +[124] COWSLIP. + +Our English pastures and meadows, especially where the soil is of +blue lias clay, become brilliantly gay, "with gaudy cowslips drest," +quite early in the spring. But it is a mistake to suppose that these +flowers are a favourite food with cows, who, in fact, never eat +them if they can help it. The name Cowslip is really derived, says +Dr. Prior, from the Flemish words, _kous loppe_, meaning "hose +flap," a humble part of woollen nether garments. But Skeat thinks +it arose from the fact that the plant was supposed to spring up +where a patch of cow dung had fallen. + +Originally, the Mullein--which has large, oval, woolly leaves-- +and the Cowslip were included under one common Latin name, +_Verbascum_; for which reason the attributes of the Mullein still +remain accredited by mistake to the second plant. Former medical +writers called the Cowslip _herba paralysis_, or, "palsywort," +because of its supposed efficacy in relieving paralysis. The whole +plant is known to be gently narcotic and somniferous. Pope +praised the herb and its flowers on account of their sedative +qualities:-- + + "For want of rest, + Lettuce and Cowslip wine--_Probatum est_." + +Whilst Coleridge makes his _Christabel_ declare with reference to +the fragrant brew concocted from its petals, with lemons and +sugar:-- + + "It is a wine of virtuous powers, + My mother made it of wild flowers." + +Physicians for the last two centuries have used the powdered roots +of the Cowslip (and the Primrose) for wakefulness, hysterical +attacks, and muscular rheumatism; and the cowslip root was +named of old both [124] _radix paralyseos_, and _radix arthritica_. +This root, and the flowers, have an odour of anise, which +is due to their containing some volatile oil identical with +mannite. Their more acrid principle is "saponin." Hill tells us that +when boiled in ale, the roots are taken by country persons for +giddiness, with no little success. "They be likewise in great request +among those that use to hunt after goats and roebucks on high +mountains, for the strengthening of the head when they pass by +fearful precipices and steep places, in following their game, so that +giddiness and swimming of the brain may not seize upon them." +The dose of the dried and powdered flowers is from fifteen to +twenty grains. A syrup of a fine yellow colour may also be made +from the petals, which answers the same purposes. Three pounds +of the fresh blossoms should be infused in five pints of boiling +water, and then simmered down to a proper consistence with +sugar. + +Herbals of the Elizabethan date, say that an ointment made from +cowslip flowers "taketh away the spots and wrinkles of the skin, +and doth add beauty exceedingly, as divers ladies, gentlewomen, +and she citizens--whether wives or widows--know well enough." + +The tiny people were then supposed to be fond of nestling in the +drooping bells of Cowslips, and hence the flowers were called +fairy cups; and, in accordance with the doctrine of signatures, they +were thought effective for removing freckles from the face. + + + "In their gold coats spots you see, + These be rubies: fairy favours. + In these freckles live their savours." + +The cluster of blossoms on a single stalk sometimes bears the +name of "lady's keys" or "St. Peter's wort," either because it +resembles a bunch of keys as St. [126] Peter's badge, or because as +_primula veris_ it unlocks the treasures of spring. + +Cowslip flowers are frequently done up by playful children into +balls, which they call tisty tosty, or simply a tosty. For this +purpose the umbels of blossoms fully blown are strung closely +together, and tied into a firm ball. + +The leaves were at one time eaten in salad, and mixed with other +herbs to stuff meat, whilst the flowers were made into a delicate +conserve. + +Yorkshire people call this plant the Cowstripling; and in +Devonshire, where it is scarcely to be found, because of the red +marl, it has come about that the foxglove goes by the name of +Cowslip. Again, in some provincial districts, the Cowslip is known +as Petty Mullein, and in others as Paigle (Palsywort). The old +English proverb, "As blake as a paigle," means, "As yellow as a +cowslip." + +One word may be said here in medicinal favour of the poor cow, whose +association with the flower now under discussion has been so +unceremoniously disproved. The breath and smell of this sweet-odoured +animal are thought in Flintshire to be good against consumption. +Henderson tells of a blacksmith's apprentice who was restored +to health when far advanced in a decline, by taking the milk +of cows fed in a kirkyard. In the south of Hampshire, a useful +plaster of fresh cow-dung is applied to open wounds. And +even in its evolutionary development, the homely animal reads us +a lesson; for _Dat Deus immiti cornua curta bovi_, says the Latin +proverb--"Savage cattle have only short horns." So was it in "the +House that Jack built," where the fretful creature that tossed the +dog had but one horn, and this grew crumpled. + + + +[127] CRESSES. + +The Cress of the herbalist is a noun of multitude: it comprises +several sorts, differing in kind but possessing the common +properties of wholesomeness and pungency. Here "order in variety +we see"; and here, "though all things differ, all agree." The name +is thought by some to be derived from the Latin verb _crescere_, +to grow fast. + +Each kind of Cress belongs to the Cruciferous genus of plants; +whence comes, perhaps, the common name The several varieties +of Cress are stimulating and anti-scorbutic, whilst each contains a +particular essential principle, of acrid flavour, and of sharp biting +qualities. The whole tribe is termed _lepidium_, or "siliquose," +scaly, with reference to the shape of the seed-pouches. It includes +"Land Cress (formerly dedicated to St. Barbara); Broad-leaved +Cress (or the Poor-man's pepper); Penny Cress (_thlapsus_); +Garden, or Town Cress; and the well known edible Water Cress." +Formerly the Greeks attached much value to the whole order of +Cresses, which they thought very beneficial to the brain. A +favourite maxim with them was, "Eat Cresses, and get wit." + +In England these plants have long been cultivated as a source of +profit; whence arose the saying that a graceless fellow is not worth +a "kurse" or cress--in German, _kers_. Thus Chaucer speaks about +a character in the _Canterbury Tales_, "Of paramours ne fraught +he not a kers." But some writers have referred this saying rather to +the wild cherry or kerse, making it of the same significance as our +common phrase, "Not worth a fig." + +As Curative Herbal Simples we need only consider the Garden or +Town Cress, and the Water Cress: whilst regarding the other +varieties rather as condiments, and [128] salad herbs to be taken +by way of pleasant wholesome appetisers at table. These +aromatic herbs were employed to season the homely dishes of our +forefathers, before commerce had brought the spices of the East at +a cheap rate to our doors; and Cresses were held in common +favour by peasants for such a purpose. The black, or white pepper +of to-day, was then so costly that "to promise a saint yearly a +pound of it was considered a liberal bequest." And therefore the +leaves of wild Cresses were eaten as a substitute for giving +pungency to the food. Remarkable among these was the _Dittander +Sativus_, a species found chiefly near the sea, with foliage +so hot and acrid, that the plant then went by the name of +"Poor-man's Pepper," or "Pepper Wort." Pliny said, "It is of the +number of scorching and blistering Simples." "This herbe," says +Lyte, "is fondly and unlearnedly called in English Dittany. It were +better in following the Dutchmen to name it Pepperwort." + +The _Garden Cress_, called _Sativum_ (from _satum_, a pasture), +is the sort commonly coupled with the herb Mustard in our +familiar "Mustard and Cress." It has been grown in England since +the middle of the sixteenth century, and its other name _Town_ +Cress refers to its cultivation in "tounes," or enclosures. It was +also known as Passerage; from _passer_, to drive away--rage, or +madness, because of its reputed power to expel hydrophobia. "This +Garden Cress," said Wm. Coles in his _Paradise of Plants_, 1650, +"being green, and therefore more qualified by reason of its +humidity, is eaten by country people, either alone with butter, or +with lettice and purslane, in Sallets, or otherwise." + +It contains sulphur, and a special ardent volatile medicinal oil. The +small leaves combined with those of [129] our white garden +Mustard are excellent against rheumatism and gout. Likewise it is +a preventive of scurvy by reason of its mineral salts. In which +salutary respects the twin plants, Mustard and Cress, are happily +consorted, and well play a capital common part, like the "two +single gentlemen rolled into one" of George Colman, the younger. + +The _Water Cress_ (_Nasturtium officinale_) is among cresses, to +use an American simile, the "finest toad in the puddle." This is +because of its superlative medicinal worth, and its great popularity +at table. Early writers called the herb "Shamrock," and common +folk now-a-days term it the "Stertion." Zenophon advised the +Persians to feed their children on Water-cresses (_kardamon +esthie_) that they might grow in stature and have active minds. + +The Latin name _Nasturtium_ was given to the Watercress because +of its volatile pungency when bruised and smelt; from _nasus_, +a nose, and _tortus_, turned away, it being so to say, "a herb +that wriths or twists the nose." For the same reason it is called +_Nasitord_ in France. When bruised its leaves affect the eyes and +nose almost like mustard. They have been usefully applied to the +scald head and tetters of children. In New Zealand the stems grow +as thick as a man's wrist, and nearly choke some of the rivers. Like +an oyster, the Water-cress is in proper season only when there is +an "r" in the month. + +According to an analysis made recently in the School of Pharmacy +at Paris, the Water-cress contains a sulpho-nitrogenous oil, iodine, +iron, phosphates, potash, certain other earthy salts, a bitter extract, +and water. Its volatile oil which is rich in nitrogen and sulphur +(problematical) is the sulpho-cyanide of allyl. Anyhow [130] there +is much sulphur possessed by the whole plant in one form or +another, together with a considerable quantity of mineral matter. +Thus the popular plant is so constituted as to be particularly +curative of scrofulous affections, especially in the spring time, +when the bodily humours are on the ferment. Dr. King Chambers +writes (_Diet in Health and Disease_), "I feel sure that the +infertility, pallor, fetid breath, and bad teeth which characterise +some of our town populations are to a great extent due to their +inability to get fresh anti-scorbutic vegetables as articles of diet: +therefore I regard the Water-cress seller as one of the saviours of +her country." Culpeper said pithily long ago: "They that will live +in health may eat Water-cress if they please; and if they won't, I +cannot help it." + +The scrofula to which the Water-cress and its allied plants are +antidotal, got its name from _scrofa_, "a burrowing pig," +signifying the radical destruction of important glands in the body +by this undermining constitutional disease. Possibly the quaint +lines which nurses have long been given to repeat for the +amusement of babies while fondling their infantine fingers bear a +hidden meaning which pointedly imports the scrofulous taint. This +nursery distich, as we remember, personates the fingers one by one +as five little fabulous pigs:--the first small piggy doesn't feel well; +and the second one threatens the doctor to tell; the third little pig +has to linger at home; and the fourth small porker of meat has +none; then the fifth little pig, with a querulous note, cries "weak, +weak, weak" from its poor little throat. + + "oegrotat multis doloribus porculus ille: + Ille rogat fratri medicum proferre salutem: + Debilis ille domi mansit vetitus abire; + Carnem digessit nunquam miser porculus ille; + 'Eheu!' ter repetens, 'eheu!' perporculus, 'eheu!' + Vires exiguas luget plorante susurro." + +[131] On account of its medicinal constituents the herb has +been deservedly extolled as a specific remedy for tubercular +consumption of the lungs. Haller says: "We have seen patients in +deep declines cured by living almost entirely on this plant;" and it +forms the chief ingredient of the _Sirop Antiscorbutique _given so +successfully by the French faculty in scrofula and other allied +diseases. Its active principles are at their best when the plant is in +flower; and the amount of essential oil increases according to the +quantity of sunlight which the leaves obtain, the proportion of iron +being determined according to the quality of the water, and the +measure of phosphates by the supply of dressing afforded. The +leaves remain green when grown in the shade, but become of a +purple brown because of their iron when exposed to the sun. The +expressed juice, which contains the peculiar taste and pungency of +the herb, may be taken in doses of from one to two fluid ounces at +each of the three principal meals, and it should always be had +fresh. When combined with the juice of Scurvy grass and of +Seville oranges it makes the popular antiscorbutic medicine known +as "Spring juices." + +A Water-cress cataplasm applied cold in a single layer, and with a +pinch of salt sprinkled thereupon makes a most useful poultice to +heal foul scrofulous ulcers; and will also help to resolve glandular +swellings. + +Water-cresses squeezed and laid against warts were said by the +Saxon leeches to work a certain cure on these excrescences. In +France the Water-cress is dipped in oil and vinegar to be eaten at +table with chicken or a steak. The Englishman takes it at his +morning or evening meal, with bread and butter, or at dinner in a +salad. It loses some of its pungent flavour and of its curative +qualities [132] when cultivated; and therefore it is more appetising +and useful when freshly gathered from natural streams. But these +streams ought to be free from contamination by sewage matter, or +any drainage which might convey the germs of fever, or other +blood poison: for, as we are admonished, the Water-cress plant +acts as a brush in impure running brooks to detain around its stalks +and leaves any dirty disease-bringing flocculi. + +Some of our leading druggists now make for medicinal use a +liquid extract of the _Nasturtium officinale_, and a spirituous juice +(or _succus_) of the plant. These preparations are of marked +service in scorbutic cases, where weakness exists without wasting, +and often with spongy gums, or some skin eruption. They are best +when taken with lemon juice. + +The leaf of the unwholesome Water parsnep, or Fool's Cress, +resembles that of the Water-cress, and grows near it not infrequently: +but the leaves of the true Water-cress never embrace the stem +of the plant as do the leaf stalks of its injurious imitators. +Herrick the joyous poet of "dull Devonshire" dearly loved the +Water-cress, and its kindred herbs. He piously and pleasantly +made them the subject of a quaint grace before meat:-- + + "Lord, I confess too when I dine + The pulse is Thine: + And all those other bits that be + There placed by Thee: + The wurts, the perslane, and the mess + of Water-cress." + +The true _Nasturtium_ (_Tropoeolum majus_), or greater Indian +Cress grows and is cultivated in our flower gardens as a brilliant +ornamental creeper. It was brought from Peru to France in 1684, and +was called _La grande Capucine_, whilst the botanical title +_tropoeolum_, [133] a trophy, was conferred because of its +shield-like leaves, and its flowers resembling a golden helmet. +An old English name for the same plant was Yellow Lark's heels. + +Two years later it was introduced into England. This partakes of +the sensible and useful qualities of the other cresses. The fresh +plant and the dark yellow flowers have an odour like that of the +Water-cress, and its bruised leaves emit a pungent smell. An +infusion made with water will bring out the antiscorbutic virtues of +the plant which are specially aromatic, and cordial. The flowers +make a pretty and palatable addition to salads, and the nuts or +capsules (which resemble the "cheeses" of Mallow) are esteemed +as a pickle, or as a substitute for Capers. Invalids have often +preferred this plant to the Scurvy grass as an antiscorbutic remedy. +In the warm summer months the flowers have been observed about +the time of sunset to give out sparks, as of an electrical kind, +which were first noticed by a daughter of Linnoeus. + +The _Water-cress_ is justly popular with persons who drink freely +overnight, for its power of dissipating the fumes of the liquor, and +of clearing away lethargic inaptitude for work in the morning: also +for dispelling the tremors, and the foul taste induced by excessive +tobacco smoking. + +Closely allied thereto is another cruciferous plant, the Scurvy +grass (_Cochleare_), named also "Spoon-wort" from its leaves +resembling in shape the bowl of an old-fashioned spoon. This is +thought to be the famous _Herba Britannica_ of the ancients. Our +great navigators have borne testimony to its never failing use in +scurvy, and, though often growing many miles from the sea, yet +the taste of the herb is always [134] found to be salt. If eaten in +its fresh state, as a salad, it is the most effectual of all the +antiscorbutic plants, the leaves being admirable also to cure +swollen and spongy gums. It grows along the muddy banks of the +Avon, likewise in Wales, and is found in Cumberland, more +commonly near the coast; and again on the mountains of Scotland. +It may be readily cultivated in the garden for medicinal use. + +The Cuckoo flower, or "Ladies' Smock" (Cardamine) from _Cardia +damao_, "I strengthen the heart," is another wholesome Cress +with the same sensible properties as the Water-cress, only in +an inferior degree, while the strong pungency of its flavour +prevents it from being equally popular. This plant bears also the +names of "Lucy Locket," and "Smell Smocks." In Cornwall the +flowering tops have been employed for the cure of epilepsy +throughout several generations with singular success; though the +use of the leaves only for this purpose has caused disappointment. +From one to three drams of these flowering tops are to be taken +two or three times a day. + +By the Rev. Mr. Gregor (1793) and by his descendants this +remedy was given for inveterate epilepsy with much benefit. +Lady Holt, and her sister Lady Bracebridge, of Aston Hall, +Warwickshire, were long famous for curing severe cases of the +same infirmity by administering this herb. They gave the +powdered heads of the flowers when in full bloom-twelve grains +three times a day for many weeks together. + +Sir George Baker in 1767 read a paper before the London College +of Physicians on the value of these flowers in convulsive +disorders. He related five cures of St. Vitus' dance, spasmodic +convulsions, and spasmodic asthma. Formerly the flowers were +admitted into the [135] London Pharmacopoeia. The herb was +named Ladies' Smock in honour of the Virgin Mary, because it +comes first into flower about Lady Day, being abundant with its +delicate lilac blossoms in our moist meadows and marshes: + + "Lady Smocks all silver white + Do paint the meadows with delight." + +This plant is also named--"Milk Maids," "Bread and Milk," and +"Mayflower." Gerard says "it flowers in April and May when +the Cuckoo cloth begin to sing her pleasant notes without +stammering." One of his characters is made by the Poet Laureate +to-- + + "Steep for Danewulf leaves of Lady Smock, + For they keep strong the heart." + +"And so much," as says William Cole, herbalist, in his _Paradise +of Plants_, 1650, "for such Plants as cure the Scurvy." + + + +CUMIN. + +Cumin (_Cuminum cyminum_) is not half sufficiently known, or +esteemed as a domestic condiment of medicinal value, and +culinary uses; whilst withal of ready access as one of our +commonest importations from Malta and Sicily for flavouring +purposes, and veterinary preparations. It is an umbelliferous plant, +and large quantities of its seeds are brought every year to England. +The herb has been cultivated in the East from early days, being +called "Cuminum" by the Greeks in classic times. The seeds +possess a strong aromatic odour with a penetrating and bitter taste; +when distilled they yield a pungent powerful essential oil. The +older herbalists esteemed them superior in comforting carminative +[136] qualities to those of the fennel or caraway. They are +eminently useful to correct the flatulence of languid digestion, +serving also to relieve dyspeptic headache, to allay colic of the +bowels, and to promote the monthly flow of women. + +In Holland and Switzerland they are employed for flavouring +cheese; whilst in Germany they are added to bread as a condiment. + +Here the seeds are introduced in the making of curry powder, and +are compounded to form a stimulating liniment; likewise a +warming plaster for quickening the sluggish congestions of +indolent parts. The odorous volatile oil of the fruit contains the +hydro-carbons "Cymol," and "Cuminol," which are redolent of +lemon and caraway odours. A dose of the seeds is from fifteen to +thirty grains. Cumin symbolised cupidity among the Greeks: +wherefore Marcus Antoninus was so nick-named because of his +avarice; and misers were jocularly said to have eaten Cumin. + +The herb was thought to specially confer the gift of retention, +preventing the theft of any object which contained it, and holding +the thief in custody within the invaded house; also keeping fowls +and pigeons from straying, and lovers from proving fickle. If a +swain was going off as a soldier, or to work a long way from his +home, his sweetheart would give him a loaf seasoned with Cumin, +or a cup of wine in which some of the herb had been mixed. + +The ancients were acquainted with the power of Cumin to cause +the human countenance to become pallid; and as a medicine the +herb is well calculated to cure such pallor of the face when +occurring as an illness. Partridges and pigeons [137] are extremely +fond of the seeds: respecting the scriptural use of which in the +payment of taxes we are reminded (Luke xi. v. 42)--"ye pay tithe +of mint, and anise, and cummin." It has been discovered by Grisar +that Cumin oil exercises a special action which gives it importance +as a medicine. This is to signally depress nervous reflex +excitability when administered in full doses, as of from two to +eight drops of the oil on sugar. And when the aim is to stimulate +such reflex sensibility as impaired by disease, small diluted doses +of the oil serve admirably to promote this purpose. + + + +CURRANTS. + +The original Currants in times past were small grapes, grown in +Greece at Zante, near Corinth, and termed Corinthians; then they +became Corantes, and eventually Currants. But, as an old Roman +proverb pertinently said: _Non cuivis homini contingit adire +Corinthum_, "It was not for everyone to visit fashionable +Corinth." And therefore the name of Currants became transferred +in the Epirus to certain small fruit of the Gooseberry order which +closely resembled the grapes of Zante, but were identical rather +with the Currants of our modern kitchen gardens, such as we now +use for making puddings, pies, jams, and jellies. The bushes which +produce this fruit grow wild in the Northern part, of Great Britain, +and belong to the Saxifrage order of plants. The wild Red Currant +bears small berries which are intensely acid. In modern Italy +basketsful are gathered in the woods of the Apennines, and the +Alps. + +Currants are not mentioned in former Greek or Roman literature, +nor do they seem to have been cultivated by the Anglo-Saxons, or +the Normans. Our several sorts [138] of Currants afford a striking +illustration of the mode which their parent bushes have learnt to +adopt so as to attract by their highly coloured fruits the birds +which shall disperse their seeds. These colours are not developed +until the seed is ripe for germination; because if birds devoured +them prematurely the seed would fall inert. But simultaneously +come the ripeness and the soft sweet pulp, and the rich colouring, +so that the birds may be attracted to eat the fruit, and spread the +seed in their droppings. Zeuxis, a famous Sicilian painter four +hundred years before Christ, depicted currants and grapes with +such fidelity that birds came and tried to peck them out from his +canvas. + +White Currants are the most simple in kind; and the Red are a step +in advance. If equal parts of either fruit and of sugar are put over +the fire, the liquid which separates spontaneously will make a very +agreeable jelly because of the "pectin" with which it is chemically +furnished. Nitric acid will convert this pectin into oxalic acid, or +salts of sorrel. The juice of Red Currants also contains malic and +citric acids, which are cooling and wholesome. In the Northern +counties this red Currant is called Wineberry, or Garnetberry, from +its rich ruddy colour, and transparency. Its sweetened juice is a +favourable drink in Paris, being preferred there to the syrup of +_orgeat _(almonds). When made into a jelly with sugar the juice of +red Currants is excellent in fevers, and acts as an anti-putrescent; +as likewise if taken at table with venison, or hare, or other "high" +meats. This fruit especially suits persons of sanguine temperament. +Both red and white Currants are without doubt trustworthy +remedies in most forms of obstinate visceral obstruction, and they +correct impurities of the blood, being certainly antiseptic. + +[139] The black Currant is found growing wild in England, for the +most part by the edges of brooks, and in moist grounds, from +mid-Scotland southwards. Throughout Sussex and Kent the shrub is +called "Gazles" as corrupted from the French _Groseilles_ +(Gooseberries). The fruit is cooling, laxative, and anodyne. Its +thickened juice concocted over the fire, with, or without sugar, +formed a "rob" of Old English times. The black Currant is often +named by our peasantry "Squinancy," or "Quinsyberry," because a +jelly prepared therefrom has been long employed for sore throat +and quinsy. The leaf glands of its young leaves secrete from their +under surface a fragrant odorous fluid. Therefore if newly +gathered, and infused for a moment in very hot water and then +dried, the leaves make an excellent substitute for tea; also these +fresh leaves when applied to a gouty part will assuage pain, and +inflammation. They are used to impart the flavour of brandy to +common spirit. Bergius called the leaf, _mundans, pellens, et +diuretica_. Botanically the black Currant, _Ribes nigrum_, belongs +to the Saxifrage tribe, this generic term Ribes being applied to all +fresh currants, as of Arabian origin, and signifying acidity. +Grocers' currants come from the Morea, being small grapes dried +in the sun, and put in heaps to cake together. Then they are dug out +with a crow-bar, and trodden into casks for exportation. Our +national plum pudding can no more be made without these currants +than "little Tom Tucker who for his supper, could cut his +bread without any knife or could find himself married without any +wife." Former cooks made an odd use of grocers' currants, +according to King, a poet of the middle ages, who says:-- + + "They buttered currants on fat veal bestowed, + And rumps of beef with virgin honey strewed." + +[140] On the kitchen Currant a riddling rhyme was long ago to be +found in the _Children's Book of Conundrums_:-- + + "Higgledy-piggledy, here I lie + Picked and plucked, and put in a pie; + My first is snapping, snarling, growling; + My second noisy, ramping, prowling." + +Eccles cakes are delicious Currant sandwiches which are very +popular in Manchester. + +Black Currant jelly should not be made with too much sugar, else +its medicinal-virtues will be impaired. A teaspoonful of this jelly +may be given three or four times in the day to a child with thrush. +In Russia the leaves of the black Currant are employed to fabricate +brandy made with a coarse spirit. These leaves and the fruit are +often combined by our herbalists with the seeds of the wild carrot +for stimulating the kidneys in passive dropsy. A medicinal wine is +also brewed from the fruit together with honey. In this country we +use a decoction of the leaf, or of the bark as a gargle. In Siberia +black Currants grow as large as hazel nuts. Both the black and the +red Currants afford a pleasant home-made wine. _Ex eo optimum +vinum fieri potest non deterius vinis vetioribus viteis_, wrote +Haller in 1750. White Currants, however, yield the best wine, and +this may be improved by keeping, even for twenty years. Dr. +Thornton says: "I have used old wine of white Currants for +calculous affections, and it has surpassed all expectation." + +A delicate jelly is made from the red Currant at Bas-le-duc; and a +well-known nursery rhyme tells of the tempting qualities of +"cherry pie, and currant wine." A rob of black Currant jam is taken +in Scotland with whiskey toddy. Shakespeare in the _Winter's +Tale_ makes Antolycus, the shrewd "picker-up of unconsidered +[141] trifles" talk of buying for the sheep-shearing feast "three +pounds of sugar, five pounds of currants, and rice." In France a +cordial called _Liqueur de cassis_ is made from black Currants; +and a refreshing drink, _Eau de groseilles_, from the red. + +Some forty years ago, at the time of the Crimean war a patriotic +song in praise of the French flag was most popular in our streets, +and had for its refrain, "Hurrah for the Red, White, and Blue!" So +valuable for food and physics are our tricoloured Currants that the +same argot may be justly paraphrased in their favour, with a +well-merited eulogium of "Hurrah for the White, Red, Black!" + + + +DAFFODIL. + +The yellow Daffodil, which is such a favourite flower of our early +Spring because of its large size, and showy yellow color, grows +commonly in English woods, fields, and orchards. Its popular +names, Daffodowndilly, Daffodily, and Affodily, bear reference to +the Asphodel, with which blossom of the ancient Greeks this is +identical. It further owns the botanical name of Narcissus +(pseudo-narcissus)--not after the classical youth who met with his +death through vainly trying to embrace his image reflected in a clear +stream because of its exquisite beauty, and who is fabled to have +been therefore changed into flower--but by reason of the narcotic +properties which the plant possesses, as signified by the Greek +word, _Narkao_, "to benumb." Pliny described it as a _Narce +narcisswm dictum, non a fabuloso puero_. An extract of the bulbs +when applied to open wounds has produced staggering, numbness +of the whole nervous system, and paralysis of the heart. Socrates +called this plant the "Chaplet of the Infernal Gods," because of its +[142] narcotic effects. Nevertheless, the roots of the asphodel were +thought by the ancient Greeks to be edible, and they were +therefore laid in tombs as food for the dead. Lucian tells us that +Charon, the ferryman who rowed the souls of the departed over the +river Styx, said: "I know why Mercury keeps us waiting here so +long. Down in these regions there is nothing to be had but, +asphodel, and oblations, in the midst of mist and darkness; +whereas up in heaven he finds it all bright and clear, with +ambrosia there, and nectar in plenty." + +In the Middle Ages the roots of the Daffodil were called _Cibi +regis_, "food for a king,"; but his Majesty must have had a +disturbed night after partaking thereof, as they are highly +stimulating to the kidneys: indeed, there is strong reason for +supposing that these roots have a prior claim to those of the +dandelion for lectimingous fame, (_lectus_, "the bed"; _mingo_, to +"irrigate"). + +The brilliant yellow blossom of the Daffodil possesses, as is well +known, a bell-shaped crown in the midst of its petals, which is +strikingly characteristic. The flower-stalk is hollow, bearing on its +summit a membranous sheath, which envelops a single flower of +an unpleasant odour. But the Jonquil, which is a cultivated variety +of the Daffodil, having white petals with a yellow crown, yields a +delicious perfume, which modern chemistry can closely imitate by +a hydrocarbon compound. If "naphthalin," a product of coal tar oil, +has but the smallest particle of its scent diffused in a room, the +special aroma of jonquil and narcissus is at once perceived. + +When the flowers of the Daffodil are dried in the sun, if a +decoction of them is made, from fifteen to thirty grains will prove +emetic like that of Ipecacuanha. From five to six ounces of boiling +water should be poured on this quantity of the dried [143] flowers, +and should stand for twenty minutes. It will then serve most +usefully for relieving the congestive bronchial catarrh of children, +being sweetened, and given one third at a time every ten or fifteen +minutes until it provokes vomiting. It is also beneficial in this way, +but when given less often, for epidemic dysentery. + +The chemical principles of the Daffodil have not been investigated; +but a yellow volatile oil of disagreeable odour, and a brown +colouring matter, have been got from the flowers. + +Arabians commended this oil to be applied for curing baldness, +and for stimulating the sexual organs. + +Herrick alludes in his _Hesperides_ to the Daffodil as death:-- + + "When a Daffodil I see + Hanging down its head towards me, + Guess I may what I must be-- + First I shall decline my head; + Secondly I shall be dead; + Lastly, safely buried." + +Daffodils, popularly known in this country as Lent Lilies, are +called by the French _Pauvres filles de Sainte Clare_. The name +_Junquillo_ is the Spanish diminutive of _Junco_, "the rush," and +is given to the jonquil because of its slender rush-like stem. From +its fragrant flowers a sweet-smelling yellow oil is obtained. + +The medicinal influence of the daffodil on the nervous System has +led to giving its flowers and its bulb for Hysterical affections, and +even epilepsy, with benefit. + + + +DAISY. + +Our English Daisy is a composite flower which is called in the +glossaries "gowan," or Yellow flower. Botanically [144] it is +named _Bellis perennis_, probably from _bellis_, "in fields of +battle," because of its fame in healing the wounds of soldiers; and +perennis as implying that though "the rose has but a summer reign, +the daisy never dies," The flower is likewise known as "Bainwort," +"beloved by children," and "the lesser Consound." The whole plant +has been carefully and exhaustively proved for curative purposes; +and a medicinal tincture (H.) is now made from it with spirit of +wine. Gerard says: "Daisies do mitigate all kinds of pain, +especially in the joints, and gout proceeding from a hot humour, if +stamped with new butter and applied upon the pained place." And, +"The leaves of Daisies used among pot herbs do make the belly +soluble." Pliny tells us the Daisy was used in his time with +Mugwort as a resolvent to scrofulous tumours. + +The leaves are acrid and pungent, being ungrateful to cattle, and +even rejected by geese. These and the flowers, when chewed +experimentally, have provoked giddiness and pains in the arms as +if from coming boils: also a development of boils, "dark, fiery, and +very sore," on the back of the neck, and outside the jaws. For +preventing, or aborting these same distressing formations when +they begin to occur spontaneously, the tincture of Daisies should +be taken in doses of five drops three times a day in water. +Likewise this medicine should be given curatively on the principle +of affinity between it and the symptoms induced in provers who +have taken the same in material toxic doses, "when the brain is +muddled, the sight dim, the spirits soon depressed, the temper +irritable, the skin pimply, the heart apt to flutter, and the whole +aspect careworn; as if from early excesses." Then the infusion of +the plant in tablespoonful doses, or the diluted tincture, will +answer admirably [145] to renovate and re-establish the health and +strength of the sufferer. + +The flowers and leaves are found to afford a considerable quantity +of oil and of ammoniacal salts. The root was named _Consolida +minima _by older physicians. Fabricius speaks of its efficacy in +curing wounds and contusions. A decoction of the leaves and +flowers was given internally, and the bruised herb blended with +lard was applied outside. "The leaves stamped do take away +bruises and swellings, whereupon, it was called in old time +Bruisewort." If eaten as a spring salad, or boiled like spinach, the +leaves are pungent, and slightly laxative. + +Being a diminutive plant with roots to correspond, the Daisy, on +the doctrine of signatures, was formerly thought to arrest the +bodily growth if taken with this view. Therefore its roots boiled in +broth were given to young puppies so as to keep them of a small +size. For the same reason the fairy Milkah fed her foster child on +this plant, "that his height might not exceed that of a pigmy":-- + + "She robbed dwarf elders of their fragrant fruit, + And fed him early with the daisy-root, + Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran, + And formed the beauteous miniature of man." + +"Daisy-roots and cream" were prescribed by the fairy godmothers +of our childhood to stay the stature of those gawky youngsters +who were shooting up into an ungainly development like "ill +weeds growing apace." + +Daisies were said of old to be under the dominion of Venus, and +later on they were dedicated to St. Margaret of Cortona. Therefore +they were reputed good for the special-illnesses of females. It is +remarkable there is no [146] Greek word for this plant, or flower. +Ossian the Gaelic poet feigns that the Daisy, whose white +investments figure innocence, was first "sown above a baby's +grave by the dimpled hands of infantine angels." + +During mediaeval times the Daisy was worn by knights at a +tournament as an emblem of fidelity. In his poem the _Flower and +the Leaf_, Chaucer, who was ever loud in his praises of the "Eye +of Day"--"empresse and floure of floures all," thus pursues his +theme:-- + + "And at the laste there began anon + A lady for to sing right womanly + A bargaret in praising the Daisie: + For--as methought among her notes sweet, + She said, '_Si doucet est la Margarete_.'" + +The French name _Marguerite _is derived from a supposed resemblance +of the Daisy to a pearl; and in Germany this flower is known +as the Meadow Pearl. Likewise the Greek word for a pearl is +_Margaritos_. + +A saying goes that it is not Spring until a person can put his foot +on twelve of these flowers. In the cultivated red Daisies used for +bordering our gardens, the yellow central boss of each compound +flower has given place to strap-shaped florets like the outer rays, +and without pollen, so that the entire flower consists of this purple +inflorescence. But such aristocratic culture has made the blossom +unproductive of seed. Like many a proud and belted Earl, each of +the pampered and richly coloured Daisies pays the penalty of its +privileged luxuriance by a disability from perpetuating its species. + +The Moon Daisy, or Oxeye Daisy (_Leucanthemum Orysanthemum_), +St. John's flower, belonging to the same tribe of plants, +grows commonly with an erect stem about two feet high, in +dry pastures and roads, bearing large solitary flowers which are +balsamic and make a [147] useful infusion for relieving chronic +coughs, and for bronchial catarrhs. Boiled with some of the leaves +and stalks they form, if sweetened with honey, or barley sugar, an +excellent posset drink for the same purpose. In America the root is +employed successfully for checking the night sweats of pulmonary +consumption, a fluid extract thereof being made for this object, the +dose of which is from fifteen to sixty drops in water. + +The Moon Daisy is named Maudlin-wort from St. Mary Magdalene, +and bears its lunar name from the Grecian goddess of the +moon, Artemis, who particularly governed the female health. +Similarly, our bright little Daisy, "the constellated flower that +never sets," owns the name Herb Margaret. The Moon Daisy is +also called Bull Daisy, Gipsies' Daisy, Goldings, Midsummer +Daisy, Mace Flinwort, and Espilawn. Its young leaves are +sometimes used as a flavouring in soups and stews. The flower +was compared to the representation of a full moon, and was +formerly dedicated to the Isis of the Egyptians. Tom Hood wrote +of a traveller estranged far from his native shores, and walking +despondently in a distant land:-- + + "When lo! he starts with glad surprise, + Home thoughts come rushing o'er him, + For, modest, wee, and crimson-tipped + A flower he sees before him. + With eager haste he stoops him down, + His eyes with moisture hazy; + And as he plucks the simple bloom + He murmurs, 'Lawk, a Daisy'"! + + + +DANDELION. + +Owing to long years of particular evolutionary sagacity in +developing winged seeds to be wafted from the silky pappus of its +ripe flowerheads over wide areas of land, [148] the Dandelion +exhibits its handsome golden flowers in every field and on every +ground plot throughout the whole of our country. They are to be +distinguished from the numerous hawkweeds, by having the +outermost leaves of their exterior cup bent downwards whilst the +stalk is coloured and shining. The plant-leaves have jagged edges +which resemble the angular jaw of a lion fully supplied with teeth; +or, some writers say, the herb has been named from the heraldic +lion which is vividly yellow, with teeth of gold-in fact, a dandy +lion! Again, the flower closely resembles the sun, which a lion +represents. It is called by some Blowball, Time Table, and Milk +"Gowan" (or golden). + + "How like a prodigal does Nature seem, + When thou with all thy gold so common art." + +In some of our provinces the herb is known as Wiggers, and +Swinesnout; whilst again in Devon and Cornwall it is called the +Dashelflower. Botanically it belongs to the composite order, and is +named _Taraxacum Leontodon_, or eatable, and lion-toothed. This +latter when Latinised is _dens leonis_, and in French _dent de +lion_. The title Taraxacum is an Arabian corruption of the Greek +_trogimon_, "edible"; or it may have been derived from the Greek +_taraxos_, "disorder," and _akos_, "remedy." It once happened +that a plague of insects destroyed the harvest in the island of +Minorca, so that the inhabitants had to eat the wild produce of the +country; and many of them then subsisted for some while entirely +on this plant. The Dandelion, which is a wild sort of Succory, was +known to Arabian physicians, since Avicenna of the eleventh +century mentions it as _taraxacon_. It is found throughout Europe, +Asia, and North America; possessing a root which abounds with +milky juice, and [149] this varying in character according to the +time of year in which the plant is gathered. + +During the winter the sap is thick, sweet, and albuminous; but in +summer time it is bitter and acrid. Frost causes the bitterness to +diminish, and sweetness to take its place; but after the frost this +bitterness returns, and is intensified. The root is at its best for +yielding juice about November. Chemically the active ingredients +of the herb are taraxacin, and taraxacerine, with inulin (a sort of +sugar), gluten, gum, albumen, potash, and an odorous resin, which +is commonly supposed to stimulate the liver, and the biliary +organs. Probably this reputed virtue was assigned at first to the +plant largely on the doctrine of signatures, because of its bright +yellow flowers of a bilious hue. But skilled medical provers who +have experimentally tested the toxical effects of the Dandelion +plant have found it to produce, when taken in excess, troublesome +indigestion, characterized by a tongue coated with a white skin +which peels off in patches, leaving a raw surface, whilst the +kidneys become unusually active, with profuse night sweats and +an itching nettle rash. For these several symptoms when occurring +of themselves, a combination of the decoction, and the medicinal +tincture will be invariably curative. + +To make a decoction of the root, one part of this dried, and sliced, +should be gently boiled for fifteen minutes in twenty parts of +water, and strained off when cool. It may be sweetened with +brown sugar, or honey, if unpalatable when taken alone, several +teacupfuls being given during the day. Dandelion roots as +collected for the market are often adulterated with those of the +common Hawkbit (_Leontodon hispidus_); but these are more +tough and do not give out any milky juice. + +[150] The tops of the roots dug out of the ground, with the tufts of +the leaves remaining thereon, and blanched by being covered in +the earth as they grow, if gathered in the spring, are justly +esteemed as an excellent vernal salad. It was with this homely fare +the good wise Hecate entertained Theseus, as we read in Evelyn's +_Acetaria_. Bergius says he has seen intractable cases of liver +congestion cured, after many other remedies had failed, by the +patients taking daily for some months, a broth made from +Dandelion roots stewed in boiling water, with leaves of Sorrel, and +the yelk of an egg; though (he adds) they swallowed at the same +time cream of tartar to keep their bodies open. + +Incidentally with respect to the yelk of an egg, as prescribed here, +it is an established fact that patients have been cured of obstinate +jaundice by taking a raw egg on one or more mornings while +fasting. Dr. Paris tells us a special oil is to be extracted from the +yelks (only) of hard boiled eggs, roasted in pieces in a frying pan +until the oil begins to exude, and then pressed hard. Fifty eggs well +fried will yield about five ounces of this oil, which is acrid, and so +enduringly liquid that watch-makers use it for lubricating the axles +and pivots of their most delicate wheels. Old eggs furnish the oil +most abundantly, and it certainly acts as a very useful medicine for +an obstructed liver. Furthermore the shell, when finely triturated, +has served by its potentialised lime to cure some forms of cancer. +Sweet are the uses of adversity! even such as befell the egg +symbolised by Humpty-Dumpty:-- + + "Humptius in muro requievit Dumptius alto, + Humptius e muro Dumptius--heu! cecidit! + Sed non Regis equi, Reginae exercitus omnis + Humpti, te, Dumpti, restituere loco." + +[151] The medicinal tincture of Dandelion is made from the entire +plant, gathered in summer, employing proof spirit which dissolves +also the resinous parts not soluble in water. From ten to fifteen +drops of this tincture may be taken with a spoonful of water three +times in the day. + +Of the freshly prepared juice, which should not be kept long as it +quickly ferments, from two to three teaspoonfuls are a proper +dose. The leaves when tender and white in the spring are taken on +the Continent in salads or they are blanched, and eaten with bread +and butter. Parkinson says: "Whoso is drawing towards a +consumption, or ready to fall into a cachexy, shall find a +wonderful help from the use thereof, for some time together." +Officially, according to the London College, are prepared from the +fresh dried roots collected in the autumn, a decoction (one ounce +to a pint of boiling water), a juice, a fresh extract, and an +inspissated liquid extract. + +Because of its tendency to provoke involuntary urination at night, +the Dandelion has acquired a vulgar suggestive appellation which +expresses this fact in most homey terms: _quasi herba lectiminga, +et urinaria dicitur_: and this not only in our vernacular, but in most +of the European tongues: _quia plus lotii in vesicam derivat quam +puerulis retineatur proesertim inter dormiendum, eoque tunc +imprudentes et inviti stragula permingunt_. + +At Gottingen, the roots are roasted and used instead of coffee by +the poorer folk; and in Derbyshire the juice of the stalk is applied +to remove warts. The flower of the Dandelion when fully blown is +named Priest's Crown (_Caput monachi_), from the resemblance +of its naked receptacle after the winged seeds have been all blown +away, to the smooth shorn head of a Roman [152] cleric. So +Hurdis sings in his poem _The Village Curate_:-- + + "The Dandelion this: + A college youth that flashes for a day + All gold: anon he doffs his gaudy suit, + Touched by the magic hand of Bishop grave, + And all at once by commutation strange + Becomes a reverend priest: and then how sleek! + How full of grace! with silvery wig at first + So nicely trimmed, which presently grows bald. + But let me tell you, in the pompous globe + Which rounds the Dandelion's head is fitly couched + Divinity most rare." + +Boys gather the flower when ripe, and blow away the hall of its +silky seed vessels at the crown, to learn the time of day, thus +sportively making:-- + + "Dandelion with globe of down + The school-boy's clock in every town." + + + +DATE. + +Dates are the most wholesome and nourishing of all our imported +fruits. Children especially appreciate their luscious sweetness, as +afforded by an abundant sugar which is easily digested, and which +quickly repairs waste of heat and fat. With such a view, likewise, +doctors now advise dates for consumptive patients; also because +they soothe an irritable chest, and promote expectoration; whilst, +furthermore, they prevent costiveness. Dates are the fruit of the +Date palm (_Phoenix dactylifera_), or, Tree of Life. + +In old English Bibles of the sixteenth century, the name Date-tree +is constantly given to the Palm, and the fruit thereof was the first +found by the Israelites when wandering in the Wilderness. + +Oriental writers have attributed to this tree a certain semi-human +consciousness. The name _Phoenix_ was [153] bestowed on the +Date palm because a young shoot springs always from the withered +stump of an old decayed Date tree, taking the place of the +dead parent; and the specific term _Dactylifera_ refers to a fancied +resemblance between clusters of the fruit and the human fingers. + +The Date palm is remarkably fond of water, and will not thrive +unless growing near it, so that the Arabs say: "In order to flourish, +its feet must be in the water, and its head in the fire (of a hot sun)." +Travellers across the desert, when seeing palm Dates in the +horizon, know that wells of water will be found near at hand: at +the same time they sustain themselves with Date jam. + +In some parts of the East this Date palm is thought been the tree of +the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It is mystically +represented as the tree of life in the sculptured foliage of early +French churches, and on the primitive mosaics found in the apses +of Roman Basilicas. Branches of this tree are carried about in +Catholic countries on Palm Sunday. Formerly Dates were sent to +England and elsewhere packed in mats from the Persian gulf; but +now they arrive in clean boxes, neatly laid, and free from duty; so +that a wholesome, sustaining, and palatable meal may be had for +one penny, if they are eaten with bread. + +The Egyptian Dates are superior, being succulent and luscious +when new, but apt to become somewhat hard after Christmas. + +The Dates, however, which surpass all others in their general +excellence, are grown with great care at Tafilat, two or three +hundred miles inland from Morocco, a region to which Europeans +seldom penetrate. + +These Dates travel in small packages by camel, rail, and steamer, +being of the best quality, and highly valued. Their exportation is +prohibited by the African [154] authorities at Tafilat, unless the +fruit crop has been large enough to allow thereof after gathering +the harvest with much religious ceremony. + +Dates of a second quality are brought from Tunis, being intermixed +with fragments of stalk and branch; whilst the inferior sorts +come in the form of a cake, or paste (_adjoue!_), being pressed +into baskets. In this shape they were tolerably common with us +in Tudor times, and were then used for medicinal purposes. Strutt +mentions a grocer's bill delivered in 1581, in which occurs +the item of six pounds of dates supplied at a funeral for +two shillings; and we read that in 1821 the best kind of dates +cost five shillings a pound. + +If taken as a portable refection by jurymen and others who may be +kept from their customary food Dates will prevent exhaustion, and +will serve to keep active the energies of mind and body. The fruit +should be selected when large and soft, being moist, and of a +reddish yellow colour outside, and not much wrinkled, whilst +having within a white membrane between the flesh and the stone. + +Beads for rosaries are made in Barbary from Date stones turned in +a lathe; or when soaked in water for a couple of days the stones +may be given to cattle as a nutritious food, being first ground in a +mill. The fodder being astringent will serve by its tannin, which is +abundant, to cure or prevent looseness. + +In a clever parody on Bret Harte's "Heathen Chinee," an undergraduate +is detected in having primed himself before examination thus:-- + + "Inscribed on his cuffs were the Furies, and Fates, + With a delicate map of the Dorian States: + Whilst they found in his palms, which were hollow, + What are common in Palms--namely, Dates." + +[155] Again, a conserve is prepared by the Egyptians from unripe +Dates whole with sugar. The soft stones are edible: and this jam, +though tasteless, is very nourishing. The Arabs say that Adam +when driven out of Paradise took with him three things--the Date, +chief of all fruits, Myrtle, and an ear of Wheat. + +Another Palm--the _Sagus_, or, _Cycus revolute_,--which grows +naturally in Japan and the East Indian Islands, being also +cultivated in English hot-houses, yields by its gummy pith our +highly nutritious sago. This when cooked is one of the best and +most sustaining foods for children and infirm old persons. The +Indians reserve their finest sago for the aged and afflicted. A +fecula is washed from the abundant pith, which is chemically a +starch, very demulcent, and more digestible than that of rice. It +never ferments in the stomach, and is very suitable for hectic +persons. By the Arabs the pith of the Date-bearing Palm is eaten in +like manner. The simple wholesome virtues of this domestic +substance have been told of from childhood in the well-known +nursery rhyme, which has been playfully rendered into Latin and +French:-- + + "There was an old man of Iago + Whom they kept upon nothing but sago; + Oh! how he did jump when the doctor said plump: + 'To a roast leg of mutton you may go.'" + + "Jamdudum senior quidam de rure Tobagus + Invito mad das carpserat ore dapes; + Sed medicus tandem non injucunda locutus: + 'Assoe' dixit 'oves sunt tibi coena, senex.'" + + "J'ai entendu parler d'un veillard de Tobag + Qui ne mangea longtemps que du ris et du sague; + Mais enfin le medecin lui dit ces mots: + 'Allez vous en, mon ami, au gigot.'" + + + +[156] DILL. + +Cordial waters distilled from the fragrant herb called Dill are, as +every mother and monthly nurse well know, a sovereign remedy +for wind in the infant; whilst they serve equally well to correct +flatulence in the grown up "gourmet." This highly scented plant +(_Anethum graveolens_) is of Asiatic origin, growing wild also in +some parts of England, and commonly cultivated in our gardens +for kitchen or medicinal uses. + +It "hath a little stalk of a cubit high, round, and joyned, whereupon +do grow leaves very finely cut, like to those of Fennel, but much +smaller." The herb is of the umbelliferous order, and its fruit +chemically furnishes "anethol," a volatile empyreumatic oil similar +to that contained in the Anise, and Caraway. Virgil speaks of the +Dill in his _Second Eclogue _as the _bene olens anethum_, "a +pleasant and fragrant plant." Its seeds were formerly directed to be +used by the _Pharmacopoeias_ of London and Edinburgh. Forestus +extols them for allaying sickness and hiccough. Gerard says: +"Dill stayeth the yeox, or hicquet, as Dioscorides has taught." + +The name _Anethum _was a radical Greek term (_aitho_--to +burn), and the herb is still called Anet in some of our country +districts. The pungent essential oil which it yields consists of a +hydrocarbon, "carvene," together with an oxygenated oil; It is a +"gallant expeller of the wind, and provoker of the terms." "Limbs +that are swollen and cold if rubbed with the oil of Dill are much +eased; if not cured thereby." + +A dose of the essential oil if given for flatulent indigestion should +be from two to four drops, on sugar, or with a tablespoonful of +milk. Of the distilled water sweetened, one or two teaspoonfuls +may be given to an infant. + +[157] The name Dill is derived from the Saxon verb _dilla_, to +lull, because of its tranquillizing properties, and its causing +children to sleep. This word occurs in the vocabulary of Oelfric, +Archbishop of Canterbury, tenth century. Dioscorides gave the oil +got from the flowers for rheumatic pains, and sciatica; also a +carminative water distilled from the fruit, for increasing the milk +of wet nurses, and for appeasing the windy belly-aches of babies. +He teaches that a teaspoonful of the bruised seeds if boiled in +water and taken hot with bread soaked therein, wonderfully helps +such as are languishing from hardened excrements, even though +they may have vomited up their faeces. + +The plant is largely grown in the East Indies, where is known as +_Soyah_. Its fruit and leaves are used for flavouring pickles, and +its water is given to parturient women. + +Drayton speaks of the Dill as a magic ingredient in Love potions; +and the weird gipsy, Meg Merrilies, crooned a cradle song at the +birth of Harry Bertram in it was said:-- + + "Trefoil, vervain, John's wort, _Dill_, + Hinder witches of their will." + + + +DOCK. + +The term Dock is botanically a noun of multitude, meaning originally +a bundle of hemp, and corresponding to a similar word signifying a +flock. It became in early times applied to a wide-spread tribe of +broad-leaved wayside weeds. They all belong to the botanical order +of _Polygonaceoe_, or "many kneed" plants, because, like the wife +of Yankee Doodle, famous in song, they are "double-jointed;" +though he, poor man! expecting to find Mistress Doodle doubly +active in her household [158] duties, was, as the rhyme says, +"disappointed." The name "Dock" was first applied to the _Arctium +Lappa_, or Bur-dock, so called because of its seed-vessels +becoming frequently entangled by their small hooked spines +in the wool of sheep passing along by the hedge-rows. Then +the title got to include other broad-leaved herbs, all of the Sorrel +kind, and used in pottage, or in medicine. + +Of the Docks which are here recognized, some are cultivated, such +as Garden Rhubarb, and the Monk's Rhubarb, or herb Patience, an +excellent pot herb; whilst others grow wild in meadows, and by +river sides, such as the round-leafed Dock (_Rumex obtusifolius_), +the sharp-pointed Dock (_Rumex acutus_), the sour Dock (_Rumex +acetosus_), the great water Dock (_Rumex hydrolapathum_), +and the bloody-veined Dock (_Rumex sanguineus_). + +All these resemble our garden rhubarb more or less in their general +characteristics, and in possessing much tannin. Most of them +chemically furnish "rumicin," or crysophanic acid, which is highly +useful in several chronic diseases of the skin among scrofulous +patients. The generic name of several Docks is _rumex_, from the +Hebrew _rumach_, a "spear"; others arc called _lapathum_, from +the Greek verb _lapazein_, to cleanse, because they act medicinally +as purgatives. + +The common wayside Dock (_Rumex obtusifolius_) is the most +ordinary of all the Docks, being large and spreading, and so coarse +that cattle refuse to eat it. The leaves are often applied as a rustic +remedy to burns and scalds, and are used for dressing blisters. +Likewise a popular cure for nettle stings is to rub them with a +Dock leaf, saying at the same time:-- + + "Out nettle: in Dock; + Dock shall have a new smock." + +[159] or: + + "Nettle out: Dock in; + Dock remove the nettle sting." + +A tea made from the root was formerly given for the cure of boils, +and the plant is frequently called Butterdock, because its leaves +are put into use for wrapping up butter. This Dock will not thrive +in poor worthless soil; but its broad foliage serves to lodge the +destructive turnip fly. The root when dried maybe added to tooth +powder. + +It was under the broad leaf of a roadside Dock that Hop o' My +Thumb, famous in nursery lore, sought refuge from a storm, and +was unfortunately swallowed whilst still beneath the leaf by a +passing hungry cow. + +The herb Patience, or Monk's Rhubarb (_Rumex alpinus_), a +Griselda among herbs, may be given with admirable effect in +pottage, as a domestic aperient, "loosening the belly, helping the +jaundice, and dispersing the tympany." This grows wild in some +parts, by roadsides, and near cottages, but is not common except as +a cultivated herb ill the kitchen-garden, known as "Patience-dock." +It is a remarkable fact that the toughest flesh-meat, if boiled with +the herb, or with other kindred docks, will become quite tender. +The name Patience, or Passions, was probably from the Italian +_Lapazio_, a corruption of _Lapathum_, which was mistaken for +_la passio_, the passion of Christ. + +Our _Garden Rhubarb_ is a true Dock, and belongs to the "many-kneed," +buckwheat order of plants. Its brilliant colouring is due to +varying states of its natural pigment (_chlorophyll_), in +combination with oxygen. For culinary purposes the stalk, or +petiole of the broad leaf, is used. Its chief nutrient property is +glucose, which is identical with grape-sugar. The agreeable taste +and odour of the [160] plant are not brought out until the leaf +stalks are cooked. It came originally from the Volga, and has been +grown in this country since 1573. The sour taste of the stalks is +due to oxalic acid, or rather to the acid oxalate of potash. This +combines with the lime elaborated in the system of a gouty person +(having an "oxalic acid" disposition), and makes insoluble and +injurious products which have to be thrown off by the kidneys as +oxalate crystals, with much attendant irritation of the general +system. Sorrel (_Rumex acetosus_) acts with such a person in just +the same way, because of the acid oxalate of potash which it +contains. + +Garden Rhubarb also possesses albumen, gum, and mineral matters, +with a small quantity of some volatile essence. The proportion +of nutritive substance to the water and vegetable fibre is +very small. As an article of food it is objectionable for gouty +persons liable to the passage of highly coloured urine, which +deposits lithates and urates as crystals after it has cooled; and this +especially holds good if hard water, which contains lime, is drunk +at the same time. + +The round-leaved Dock, and the sharp-pointed Dock, together +with the bloody-veined Dock (which is very conspicuous because +of its veins and petioles abounding in a blood-coloured juice), +make respectively with their astringent roots a useful infusion +against bleedings and fluxes; also with their leaves a decoction +curative of several chronic skin diseases. + +The _Rumex acetosus_ (Sour Dock, or Sorrel), though likely to +disagree with gouty persons, nevertheless supplies its leaves as the +chief constituent of the _Soupe aux herbes_, which a French lady +will order for herself after a long and tiring journey. Its title is +derived as some think, from struma, because curative [161] +thereof. This Dock further bears the names of Sour sabs, Sour +grabs, Soursuds, Soursauce, Cuckoo sorrow, and Greensauce. +Because of their acidity the leaves make a capital dressing with +stewed lamb, veal, or sweetbread. Country people beat the herb to +a mash, and take it mixed with vinegar and sugar as a green sauce +with cold meat. When boiled by itself without water it serves as an +excellent accompaniment to roast goose or pork instead of apple +sauce. The root of Sorrel when dried has the singular property of +imparting a fine red colour to boiling water, and it is therefore +used by the French for making barley water look like red wine +when they wish to avoid giving anything of a vinous character to +the sick. In Ireland Sorrel leaves are eaten with fish, and with other +alkalescent foods. Because corrective of scrofulous deposits, +Sorrel is specially beneficial towards the cure of scurvy. Applied +externally the bruised leaves will purify foul ulcers. Says John +Evelyn in his noted _Acetaria _(1720), "Sorrel sharpens the +appetite, assuages heat, cools the liver and strengthens the heart; it +is an antiscorbutic, resisting putrefaction, and in the making of +sallets imparts a grateful quickness to the rest as supplying the +want of oranges and lemons. Together with salt it gives both the +name and the relish to sallets from the sapidity which renders not +plants and herbs only, but men themselves, and their conversations +pleasant and agreeable. But of this enough, and perhaps too much! +lest while I write of salts and sallets I appear myself insipid." + +The Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis acetosella_) is a distinct plant from the +Dock Sorrel, and is not one of the _Polygonaceoe_, but a +geranium, having a triple leaf which is often employed to +symbolise the Trinity. Painters of old [162] placed it in the +foreground of their pictures when representing the crucifixion. The +leaves are sharply acid through oxalate of potash, commonly +called "Salts of Lemon," which is quite a misleading name in its +apparent innocence as applied to so strong a poison. The petals are +bluish coloured, veined with purple. Formerly, on account of its +grateful acidity, a conserve was ordered by the London College to +be made from the leaves and petals of Wood Sorrel, with sugar +and orange peel, and it was called _Conserva lujuoe_. + +The Burdock (_Arctium lappa_) grows very commonly in our +waste places, with wavy leaves, and round heads of purple +flowers, and hooked scales. From the seeds a medicinal tincture +(H.) is made, and a fluid extract, of which from ten to thirty drops, +given three times a day, with two tablespoonfuls of cold water, +will materially benefit certain chronic skin diseases (such as +psoriasis), if taken steadily for several weeks, or months. Dr. +Reiter of Pittsburg, U.S.A., says the Burdock feed has proved in +his hands almost a specific for psoriasis and for obstinate syphilis. +The tincture is of special curative value for treating that depressed +state of the general health which is associated with milky +phosphates in the urine, and much nervous debility. Eight or ten +drops of the reduced tincture should be given in water three times +a day. + +The root in decoction is an excellent remedy for other skin +diseases of the scaly, itching, vesicular, pimply and ulcerative +characters. Many persons think it superior to Sarsaparilla. The +burs of this Dock are sometimes called "Cocklebuttons," or +"Cucklebuttons," and "Beggarsbuttons." Its Anglo-Saxon name +was "Fox's clote." + +Boys throw them into the air at dusk to catch bats, which dart at +the Bur in mistake for a moth or fly; [163] then becoming +entangled with the thorny spines they fall helplessly to the ground. +Of the botanical names, _Arctium_ derived from _arktos_, a bear, in +allusion to the roughness of the burs; and _Lappa_ is from +_labein_, to seize. Other appellations of the herb are Clot-bur +(from sticking to clouts, or clothes), Clithe, Hurbur, and Hardock. +The leaves when applied externally are highly resolvent for +tumours, bruises, and gouty swellings. In the _Philadelphia +Recorder_ for January, 1893, a striking case is given of a fallen +womb cured after twenty years' duration by a decoction of +Burdock roots. The liquid extract acts as an admirable remedy in +some forms (strumous) of longstanding indigestion. The roots +contain starch; and the ashes of the plant burnt when green yield +carbonate of potash abundantly, with nitre, and inulin. + +The Yellow Curled Dock (_Rumex crispus_), so called because its +leaves are crisped at their edges, grows freely in our roadside +ditches, and waste places, as a common plant; and a medicinal +tincture which is very useful (H.) is made from it before it flowers. +This is of particular service for giving relief to an irritable +tickling cough of the upper air-tubes, and the throat, when these +passages are rough and sore, and sensitive to the cold atmosphere, +with a dry cough occurring in paroxysms. It is likewise excellent for +dispelling any obstinate itching of the skin, in which respect it was +singularly beneficial against the contagious army-itch which +prevailed during the last American war. It acts like Sarsaparilla +chiefly, for curing scrofulous skin affections and glandular +swellings. To be applied externally an ointment may be made by +boiling the root in vinegar until the fibre is softened, and by then +mixing the pulp with lard (to which some sulphur is [164] added at +times). In all such cases of a scrofulous sort from five to ten drops +of the tincture should be given two or three times a day with a +spoonful of cold water. + +Rumicin is the active principle of the Yellow Curled Dock; and +from the root, containing chrysarobin, a dried extract is prepared +officinally, of which from one to four grains may be given for a +dose in a pill. This is useful for relieving a congested liver, as +well as for scrofulous skin diseases. + +"Huds," or the great Water Dock (_Rumex hydrolapathum_) is of +frequent growth on our river banks, bearing numerous green +flowers in leafless whorls, and being identical with the famous +_Herba Britannica_ of Pliny. This name does not denote British +origin, but is derived from three Teuton words, _brit_, to tighten: +_tan_, a tooth; and _ica_, loose; thus expressing its power of +bracing up loose teeth and spongy gums. Swedish ladies employ +the powdered root as a dentifrice; and gargles prepared therefrom +are excellent for sore throat and relaxed uvula. The fresh root must +be used, as it quickly turns yellow and brown in the air. The green +leaves make a capital application for ulcers of the legs. They +possess considerable acidity, and are laxative. Horace was aware +of this fact, as we learn by his _Sermonum, Libr_. ii., _Satir_ 4:-- + + "Si dura morabitur alvus, + Mytulus, et viles pellent, obstantia conchae, + Et Lapathi brevis herba, sed albo non sine Coo." + + + +ELDER. + +"'Arn,' or the common Elder," says Gerard, "groweth everywhere; +and it is planted about cony burrows, for the shadow of the +conies." Formerly it was much [165] cultivated near our English +cottages, because supposed to afford protection against witches. +Hence it is that the Elder tree may be so often seen immediately +near old village houses. It acquired its name from the Saxon word +_eller_ or _kindler_, because its hollow branches were made into +tubes to blow through for brightening up a dull fire. By the Greeks +it was called _Aktee_. The botanical name of the Elder is +_Sambucus nigra_, from _sambukee_, a sackbut, because the +young branches, with their pith removed, were brought into +requisition for making the pipes of this, and other musical +instruments. + +It was probably introduced as a medicinal plant at the time of the +Monasteries. The adjective term _nigra_ refers to the colour of the +berries. These are without odour, rather acid, and sweetish to the +taste. The French put layers of the flowers among apples, to which +they impart, an agreeable odour and flavour like muscatel. A tract +on _Elder and Juniper Berries, showing how useful they may be in +our Coffee Houses_, is published with the _Natural History of +Coffee_, 1682. Elder flowers are fatal to turkeys. + +Hippocrates gave the bark as a purgative; and from his time the +whole tree has possessed a medicinal celebrity, whilst its fame in +the hands of the herbalist is immemorial. German writers have +declared it contains within itself a magazine of physic, and a +complete chest of medicaments. + +The leaves when bruised, if worn in the hat, or rubbed on the face, +will prevent flies from settling on the person. Likewise turnips, +cabbages, fruit trees, or corn, if whipped with the branches and +green leaves of Elder, will gain an immunity from all depredations +of blight; but moths are fond of the blossom. + +Dried Elder flowers have a dull yellow colour, being [166] +shrivelled, and possessing a sweet faint smell, unlike the repulsive +odour of the fresh leaves and bark. They have a somewhat bitter, +gummy taste, and are sold in entire cymes, with the stalks. An +open space now seen in Malvern Chase was formerly called +Eldersfield, from the abundance of Elder trees which grew there. +"The flowers were noted," says Mr. Symonds, "for eye ointments, +and the berries for honey rob and black pigments. Mary of +Eldersfield, the daughter of Bolingbroke, was famous for her +knowledge of herb pharmacy, and for the efficacy of her nostrums." + +Chemically the flowers contain a yellow, odorous, buttery oil, with +tannin, and malates of potash and lime, whilst the berries furnish +viburnic acid. On expression they yield a fine purple juice, which +proves a useful laxative, and a resolvent in recent colds. Anointed +on the hair they make it black. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the fresh inner bark of the +young branches. This, when given in toxical quantities, will induce +profuse sweating, and will cause asthmatic symptoms to present +themselves. When used in a diluted form it is highly beneficial for +relieving the same symptoms, if they come on as an attack of +illness, particularly for the spurious croup of children, which +wakes them at night with a suffocative cough and wheezing. A +dose of four or five drops, if given at once, and perhaps repeated +in fifteen minutes, will straightway prove of singular service. + +Sir Thomas Browne said that in his day the Elder had become a +famous medicine for quinsies, sore throats, and strangulations. + +The inspissated juice or "rob" extracted from the crushed berries, +and simmered with white sugar, is cordial, aperient, and diuretic. +This has long been a [167] popular English remedy, taken hot at +bed-time, when a cold is caught. One or two tablespoonfuls +are mixed with a tumblerful of very hot water. It promotes +perspiration, and is demulcent to the chest. Five pounds of the +fresh berries are to be used with one pound of loaf sugar, and the +juice should be evaporated to the thickness of honey. + +"The recent rob of the Elder spread thick upon a slice of bread and +eaten before other dishes," says Dr. Blochwich, 1760, "is our +wives' domestic medicine, which they use likewise in their infants +and children whose bellies are stop't longer than ordinary; for this +juice is most pleasant and familiar to children; or to loosen the +belly drink a draught of the wine at your breakfast, or use the +conserve of the buds." + +Also a capital wine, which may well pass for Frontignac, is +commonly made from the fresh berries, with raisins, sugar, and +spices. When well brewed, and three years' old, it constitutes +English port. "A cup of mulled Elder wine, served with nutmeg +and sippets of toast, just before going to bed on a cold wintry +night, is a thing," as Cobbet said, "to be run for." The juice of +Elder root, if taken in a dose of one or two tablespoonfuls when +fasting, acts as a strong aperient, being "the most excellent purger +of watery humours in the world, and very singular against dropsy, +if taken once in the week." + +John Evelyn, in his _Sylva_ (1729), said of the Elder: "If the +medicinal properties of its leaves, bark, and berries, were fully +known, I cannot tell what our countrymen could ail, for which he +might not fetch a remedy from every hedge, either for sickness or +wounds." "The buds boiled in water gruel have effected wonders in a +fever," "and an extract composed [168] of the berries greatly +assists longevity. Indeed,"--so famous is the story of Neander-- +"this is a catholicum against all infirmities whatever." "The leaves, +though somewhat rank of smell, are otherwise, as indeed is the +entire shrub, of a very sovereign virtue. The springbuds are +excellently wholesome in pottage; and small ale, in which Elder +flowers have been infused, are esteemed by many so salubrious, +that this is to be had in most of the eating houses about our town." + +"It were likewise profitable for the scabby if they made a sallet of +those young buds, who in the beginning of the spring doe bud +forth together with those outbreakings and pustules of the skin, +which by the singular favour of nature is contemporaneous; these +being sometimes macerated a little in hot water, together with +oyle, salt, and vinegar, and sometimes eaten. It purgeth the belly, +and freeth the blood from salt and serous humours" (1760). +Further, "there be nothing more excellent to ease the pains of the +haemorrhoids than a fomentation made of the flowers of the Elder +and _Verbusie_, or Honeysuckle, in water or milk, for in a short +time it easeth the greatest pain." + +If the green leaves are warmed between two hot tiles, and applied +to the forehead, they will promptly relieve nervous headache. In +Germany the Elder is regarded with much respect. From its leaves +a fever drink is made; from its berries a sour preserve, and a +wonder-working electuary; whilst the moon-shaped clusters of its +aromatic flowers, being somewhat narcotic, are of service in +baking small cakes. + +The Romans made use of the black Elder juice as a hair dye. From +the flowers a fragrant water is now distilled as a perfume; and a +gently stimulating ointment is prepared with lard for dressing +burns and [169] scalds. Another ointment, concocted from the +green berries, with camphor and lard, is ordered by the London +College as curative of piles. "The leaves of Elder boiled soft, and +with a little linseed oil added thereto, if then laid upon a piece of +scarlet or red cloth, and applied to piles as hot as this can be +suffered, being removed when cold, and replaced by one such +cloth after another upon the diseased part by the space of an hour, +and in the end some bound to the place, and the patient put warm +to bed. This hath not yet failed at the first dressing to cure the +disease, but if the patient be dressed twice, it must needs cure them +if the first fail." The Elder was named _Eldrun_ and _Burtre_ by +the Anglo-Saxons. It is now called _Bourtree_ in Scotland, from +the central pith in the younger branches which children bore out so +as to make pop guns:-- + + "Bour tree--Bour tree: crooked rung, + Never straight, and never strong; + Ever bush, and never tree + Since our Lord was nailed on thee." + +The Elder is specially abundant in Kent around Folkestone. By the +Gauls it was called "Scovies," and by the Britons "Iscaw." + +This is the tree upon which the legend represents Judas as having +hanged himself, or of which the cross was made at the crucifixion. +In _Pier's Plowman's Vision_ it is said:-- + + "Judas he japed with Jewen silver, + And sithen an eller hanged hymselve." + +Gerard says "the gelly of the Elder, otherwise called Jew's ear, +taketh away inflammations of the mouth and throat if they be +washed therewith, and doth in like Manner help the uvula." He +refers here to a fungus [170] which grows often from the trunk of +the Elder, and the shape of which resembles the human ear. +Alluding to this fungus, and to the supposed fact that the berries of +the Elder are poisonous to peacocks, a quaint old rhyme runs +thus:-- + + "For the coughe take Judas' eare, + With the paring of a peare, + And drynke them without feare + If you will have remedy." + + "Three syppes for the hycocke, + And six more for the chycocke: + Thus will my pretty pycocke + Recover bye and bye." + +Various superstitions have attached themselves in England to the +Elder bush. The Tree-Mother has been thought to inhabit it; and it +has been long believed that refuge may be safely taken under an +Elder tree in a thunderstorm, because the cross was made +therefrom, and so the lightning never strikes it. Elder was formerly +buried with a corpse to protect it from witches, and even now at a +funeral the driver of the hearse commonly has his whip handle +made of Elder wood. Lord Bacon commended the rubbing of warts +with a green Elder stick, and then burying the stick to rot in +the mud. Brand says it is thought in some parts that beating with +an Elder rod will check the growth of boys. A cross made of the +wood if affixed to cow-houses and stables was supposed to protect +cattle from all possible harm. + +Belonging to the order of _Caprifoliaceous_ (with leaves eaten by +goats) plants, the Elder bush grows to the size of a small tree, +bearing many white flowers in large flat umbels at the ends of the +branches. It gives off an unpleasant soporific smell, which is said +to prove harmful to those that sleep under its shade. Our summer +is [171] not here until the Elder is fully in flower, and it ends when +the berries are ripe. When taken together with the berries of Herb +Paris (four-leaved Paris) they have been found very useful in +epilepsy. "Mark by the way," says _Anatomie of the Elder_ +(1760), "the berries of Herb Paris, called by some Bear, or Wolfe +Grapes, is held by certain matrons as a great secret against +epilepsie; and they give them ever in an unequal number, as three, +five, seven, or nine, in the water of Linden tree flowers. Others also +do hang a cross made of the Elder and Sallow, mutually inwrapping +one another, about the children's neck as anti-epileptick." +"I learned the certainty of this experiment (Dr. Blochwich) +from a friend in Leipsick, who no sooner erred in diet but +he was seized on by this disease; yet after he used the Elder +wood as an amulet cut into little pieces, and sewn in a knot against +him, he was free." Sheep suffering from the foot-rot, if able to get +at the bark and young shoots of an Elder tree, will thereby cure +themselves of this affection. The great Boerhaave always took off +his hat when passing an Elder bush. Douglas Jerrold once, at a +well-known tavern, ordered a bottle of port wine, which should be +"old, but not _Elder_." + +The _Dwarf Elder_ (_Sambucus ebulus_) is quite a different +shrub, which grows not infrequently in hedges and bushy places, +with a herbaceous stem from two to three feet high. It possesses a +smell which is less aromatic than that of the true Elder, and it +seldom brings its fruit to ripeness. A rob made therefrom is +actively purgative; one tablespoonful for a dose. The root, which +has a nauseous bitter taste, was formerly used in dropsies. A +decoction made from it, as well as from the inner bark, purges, and +promotes free urination. + +[172] The leaves made into a poultice will resolve swellings and +relieve contusions. The odour of the green leaves will drive away +mice from granaries. To the Dwarf Elder have been given the +names Danewort, Danesweed, and Danesblood, probably because +it brings about a loss of blood called the "Danes," or perhaps as a +corruption of its stated use _contra quotidianam_. The plant is also +known as Walewort, from _wal_--slanghter. It grows in great +plenty about Slaughterford, Wilts, where there was a noted +fight with the Danes; and a patch of it thrives on ground in +Worcestershire, where the first blood was drawn in the civil war +between the Parliament and the Royalists. Rumour says it will +only prosper where blood has been shed either in battle, or in +murder. + + + +ELECAMPANE. + +"Elecampane," writes William Coles, "is one of the plants whereof +England may boast as much as any, for there grows none better in +the world than in England, let apothecaries and druggists say what +they will." It is a tall, stout, downy plant, from three to five feet +high, of the Composite order, with broad leaves, and bright, +yellow flowers. Campania is the original source of the plant +(_Enula campana_), which is called also Elf-wort, and Elf-dock. +Its botanical title is _Helenium inula_, to commemorate Helen of +Troy, from whose tears the herb was thought to have sprung, or +whose hands were full of the leaves when Paris carried her off +from Menelaus. This title has become corrupted in some districts +to Horse-heal, or Horse-hele, or Horse-heel, through a double, +blunder, the word _inula_ being misunderstood for _hinnula_, a +colt; and the term _Hellenium_ being thought to have something +to do with healing, or [173] heels; and solely on this account the +Elecampane has been employed by farriers to cure horses of scabs +and sore heels. Though found wild only seldom, and as a local +production in our copses and meadows, it is cultivated in our +gardens as a medicinal and culinary herb. The name _inula_ is +only a corruption of the Greek _elenium_; and the herb is of +ancient repute, having been described by Dioscorides. An old +Latin distich thus celebrates its virtues: _Enula campana reddit +proecordia sana_--"Elecampane will the spirits sustain." "Julia +Augusta," said Pliny, "let no day pass without eating some of the +roots of _Enula_ condired, to help digestion, and cause mirth." + +The _inula_ was noticed by Horace, _Satire_ viii., 51:-- + + "Erucos virides inulas ego primus amaras + Monstravi incoquere." + +Also the _Enula campana_ has been identified with the herb Moly +(of Homer), "_apo tou moleuein_, from its mitigating pain." + +Prior to the Norman Conquest, and during the Middle Ages, the +root of Elecampane was much employed in Great Britain as a +medicine; and likewise it was candied and eaten as a sweetmeat. +Some fifty years ago the candy was sold commonly in London, as +flat, round cakes, being composed largely of sugar, and coloured +with cochineal. A piece was eaten each night and morning for +asthmatical complaints, whilst it was customary when travelling +by a river to suck a bit of the root against poisonous exhalations +and bad air. The candy may be still had from our confectioners, +but now containing no more of the plant Elecampane than there is +of barley in barley sugar. + +Gerard says: "The flowers of this herb are in all [174] their +bravery during June and July; the roots should be gathered in the +autumn. The plant is good for an old cough, and for such as cannot +breathe freely unless they hold their necks upright; also it is of +great value when given in a loch, which is a medicine to be licked +on. It voids out thick clammy humors, which stick in the chest and +lungs." Galen says further: "It is good for passions of the +huckle-bones, called sciatica." The root is thick and substantial, +having, when sliced, a fragrant aromatic odour. + +Chemically, it contains a crystalline principle, resembling +camphor, and called "helenin"; also a starch, named "inulin," +which is peculiar as not being soluble in water, alcohol, or ether; +and conjointly a volatile oil, a resin, albumen, and acetic acid. +Inulin is allied to starch, and its crystallized camphor is separable +into true helenin, and alantin camphor. The former is a powerful +antiseptic to arrest putrefaction. In Spain it is much used as a +surgical dressing, and is said to be more destructive than any other +agent to the bacillus of cholera. Helenin is very useful in +ulceration within the nose (_ozoena_), and in chronic bronchitis to +lessen the expectoration. The dose is from a third of a grain to two +grains. + +Furthermore, Elecampane counteracts the acidity of gouty +indigestion, and regulates the monthly illnesses of women. The +French use it in the distillation of absinthe, and term it _l'aulnee, +d'un lieu planté d'aulnes ou elle se plait_. To make a decoction, +half-an-ounce of the root should be gently boiled for ten minutes +in a pint of water, and then allowed to cool. From one to two +ounces of this may be taken three times in the day. Of the +powdered root, from half to one teaspoonful may be given for a +dose. + +[175] A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared from the root, of +which thirty or forty drops may be taken for a dose, with two +tablespoonfuls of cold water; but too large a dose will induce +sickness. Elecampane is specifically curative of a sharp pain +affecting the right elbow joint, and recurring daily; also of a +congestive headache coming on through costiveness of the lowest +bowel. Moreover, at the present time, when there is so much talk +about the inoculative treatment of pulmonary consumption by the +cultivated virus of its special microbe, it is highly interesting to +know that the helenin of Elecampane is said to be peculiarly +destructive to the bacillus of tubercular disease. + +In classic times the poet Horace told how Fundanius first taught +the making of a delicate sauce, by boiling in it the bitter _Inula_ +(Elecampane); and how the Roman stomach, when surfeited with +an excess of rich viands, pined for turnips, and the appetising +_Enulas acidas_ from frugal Campania:-- + + "Quum rapula plenus + Atque acidas mavult inulas." + + + +EYEBRIGHT. + +Found in abundance in summer time on our heaths, and on mountains +near the sea, this delicate little plant, the _Euphrasia +officinalis_, has been famous from earliest times for restoring and +preserving the eyesight. The Greeks named the herb originally +from the linnet, which first made use of the leaf for clearing its +vision, and which passed on the knowledge to mankind. The +Greek word, _euphrosunee_, signifies joy and gladness. The elegant +little herb grows from two to six inches high, with deeply-cut +leaves, and numerous white or [176] purplish tiny flowers +variegated with yellow; being partially a parasite, and preying on +the roots of other plants. It belongs to the order of scrofula-curing +plants; and, as proved by positive experiment (H.), the Eyebright +has been recently found to possess a distinct sphere of curative +operation, within which it manifests virtues which are as +unvarying as they are truly potential. It acts specifically on the +mucous lining of the eyes and nose, and the uppermost throat to +the top of the windpipe, causing, when given so largely as to be +injurious, a profuse secretion from these parts; and, if given of +reduced strength, it cures the same troublesome symptoms when +due to catarrh. + +An attack of cold in the head, with copious running from the eyes +and nose, may be aborted straightway by giving a dose of the +infusion (made with an ounce of the herb to a pint of boiling +water) every two hours; as, likewise, for hay fever. A medicinal +tincture (H.) is prepared from the whole plant with spirit of wine, +of which an admirably useful lotion may be made together with +rose water for simple inflammation of the eyes, with a bloodshot +condition of their outer coats. Thirty drops of the tincture should +be mixed with a wineglassful of rosewater for making this lotion, +which may be used several times in the day. + +What precise chemical constituents occur in the Eyebright beyond +tannin, mannite, and glucose, are not yet recorded. In Iceland its +expressed juice is put into requisition for most ailments of the +eyes. Likewise, in Scotland, the Highlanders infuse the herb in +milk, and employ this for bathing weak, or inflamed eyes. In +France, the plant is named _Casse lunettes_; and in Germany, +_Augen trost_, or, consolation of the eye. + +[177] Surely the same little herb must have been growing freely in +the hedge made famous by ancient nursery tradition:-- + + "Thessalus acer erat sapiens proe civibus unus + Qui medium insiluit spinets per horrida sepem. + Effoditque oculos sibi crudelissimus ambos. + Cum vero effosos orbes sine lumine vidit + Viribus enisum totis illum altera sepes + Accipit, et raptos oculos cito reddit egenti." + + "There was a man of Thessuly, and he was wondrous wise; + He jumped into a quick set hedge, and scratched out both his eyes; + Then, when he found his eyes were out, with all his might and main + He jumped into the quick set hedge, and scratched them in again." + +Old herbals pronounced it "cephalic, ophthalmic, and good for a +weak memory." Hildamus relates that it restored the sight of many +persons at the age of seventy or eighty years. "Eyebright made into +a powder, and then into an electuary with sugar, hath," says +Culpeper, "powerful effect to help and to restore the sight decayed +through years; and if the herb were but as much used as it is +neglected, it would have spoilt the trade of the maker." + +On the whole it is probable that the Eyebright will succeed best for +eyes weakened by long-continued straining, and for those which +are dim and watery from old age. Shenstone declared, "Famed +Euphrasy may not be left unsung, which grants dim eyes to +wander leagues around"; and Milton has told us in _Paradise +Lost_, Book XI:-- + + "To nobler sights + Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed, + Then purged with _Euphrasy_ and rue + The visual nerve, for he had much to see." + +[178] The Arabians I mew the herb Eyebright under the name +_Adhil_, It now makes an ingredient in British herbal tobacco, +which is smoked most usefully for chronic bronchial colds. +Some sceptics do not hesitate to say that the Eyebright owes its +reputation solely to the fact that the tiny flower bears in its centre +a yellow spot, which is darker towards the middle, and gives a close +resemblance to the human eye; wherefore, on the doctrine of +signatures, it was pronounced curative of ocular derangements. The +present Poet Laureate speaks of the herb as:-- + + "The Eyebright this. + Whereof when steeped in wine I now must eat + Because it strengthens mindfulness." + +Grandmother Cooper, a gipsy of note for skill in healing, practised +the cure of inflamed and scrofulous eyes, by anointing them with +clay, rubbed up with her spittle, which proved highly successful. +Outside was applied a piece of rag kept wet with water in which a +cabbage had been boiled. As confirmatory of this cure, we read +reverently in the _Gospel of St. John_ about the man "which was +blind from his birth," and for whose restoration to sight our Saviour +"spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the +eyes of the blind man with the clay." More than one eminent oculist +has similarly advised that weak, ailing eyes should be daily wetted +on waking with the fasting saliva. And it is well known that +"mothers' marks" of a superficial character, but even of a +considerable size, become dissipated by a daily licking with the +mother's tongue. Old Mizaldus taught that "the fasting spittle of a +whole and sound person both quite taketh away all scurviness, or +redness of the face, ringworms, tetters, and all kinds [179] of +pustules, by smearing or rubbing the infected place therewith; and +likewise it clean puts away thereby all painful swelling by the +means of any venomous thing as hornets, spiders, toads, and such +like." Healthy saliva is slightly alkaline, and contains sulphocyanate +of potassium. + + + +FENNEL. + +We all know the pleasant taste of Fennel sauce when eaten with +boiled mackerel. This culinary condiment is made with Sweet +Fennel, cultivated in our kitchen gardens, and which is a variety of +the wild Fennel growing commonly in England as the Finkel, +especially in Cornwall and Devon, on chalky cliffs near the sea. It is +then an aromatic plant of the umbelliferous order, but differing from +the rest of its tribe in producing bright yellow flowers. + +Botanically, it is the _Anethum foeniculum_, or "small fragrant +hay" of the Romans, and the _Marathron_ of the Greeks. The whole +plant has a warm carminative taste, and the old Greeks esteemed it +highly for promoting the secretion of milk in nursing mothers. +Macer alleged that the use of Fennel was first taught to man by +serpents. His classical lines on the subject when translated run +thus:-- + + "By eating herb of Fennel, for the eyes + A cure for blindness had the serpent wise; + Man tried the plant; and, trusting that his sight + Might thus be healed, rejoiced to find him right." + + "Hac mansâ serpens oculos caligine purgat; + Indeque compertum est humanis posse mederi + Illum hominibus: atque experiendo probatum est." + +Pliny also asserts that the ophidia, when they cast their skins, have +recourse to this plant for restoring their [180] sight. Others have +averred that serpents wax young again by eating of the herb; +"Wherefore the use of it is very meet for aged folk." + +Fennel powder may be employed for making an eyewash: half-a-teaspoonful +infused in a wineglassful of cold water, and decanted when +clear. A former physician to the Emperor of Germany saw a +monk cured by his tutor in nine days of a cataract by only applying +the roots of Fennel with the decoction to his eyes. + +In the Elizabethan age the herb was quoted as an emblem of flattery; +and Lily wrote, "Little things catch light minds; and fancie is a +worm that feedeth first upon Fennel." Again, Milton says, in +_Paradise Lost_, Book XI:-- + + "The savoury odour blown, + Grateful to appetite, more pleased my sense + Than smell of sweetest Fennel." + +Shakespeare makes the sister of Laertes say to the King, in +_Hamlet_, when wishing to prick the royal conscience, "There's +Fennel for you." And Falstaff commends Poins thus, in _Henry the +Fourth_, "He plays at quoits well, and eats conger, and Fennel." + +The Italians take blanched stalks of the cultivated Fennel (which +they call _Cartucci_) as a salad; and in Germany its seeds are added +to bread as a condiment, much as we put caraways in some of our +cakes. The leaves are eaten raw with pickled fish to correct its oily +indigestibility. Evelyn says the peeled stalks, soft and white, when +"dressed like salery," exercise a pleasant action conducive to sleep. +Roman bakers put the herb under their loaves in the oven to make +the bread taste agreeably. + +Chemically, the cultivated Fennel plant furnishes a volatile aromatic +oil, a fixed fatty principle, sugar, and some [181] in the root; also a +bitter resinous extract. It is an admirable corrective of flatulence; +and yields an essential oil, of which from two to four drops taken on +a lump of sugar will promptly relieve griping of the bowels with +distension. Likewise a hot infusion, made by pouring half-a-pint of +boiling water on a teaspoonful of the bruised seeds will comfort +belly ache in the infant, if given in teaspoonful doses sweetened +with sugar, and will prove an active remedy in promoting female +monthly regularity, if taken at the periodical times, in doses of a +wineglassful three times in the day. Gerard says, "The green leaves +of the Fennel eaten, or the seed made into a ptisan, and drunk, do fill +women's brestes with milk; also the seed if drunk asswageath the +wambling of the stomacke, and breaketh the winde." The essential +oil corresponds in composition to that of anise, but contains a +special camphoraceous body of its own; whilst its vapour will cause +the tears and the saliva to flow. A syrup prepared from the +expressed juice was formerly given for chronic coughs. + +W. Coles teaches in _Nature's Paradise_, that "both the leaves, +seeds, and roots, are much used in drinks and broths for those that +are grown fat, to abate their unwieldinesse, and make them more +gaunt and lank." The ancient Greek name of the herb, _Marathron_, +from _maraino_, to grow thin, probably embodied the same notion. +"In warm climates," said Matthiolus, "the stems are cut, and there +exudes a resinous liquid, which is collected under the name of +fennel gum." + +The Edinburgh _Pharmacopoeia_ orders "Sweet Fennel seeds, +combined with juniper berries and caraway seeds, for making with +spirit of wine, the 'compound spirit of juniper,' which is noted for +promoting a copious flow of urine in dropsy." The bruised plant, if +applied [182] externally, will speedily relieve toothache or earache. +This likewise proves of service as a poultice to resolve chronic +swellings. Powdered Fennel is an ingredient in the modern laxative +"compound liquorice powder" with senna. The flower, surrounded +by its four leaves, is called in the South of England, "Devil in a +bush." An old proverb of ours, which is still believed in New +England, says, that "Sowing Fennel is sowing sorrow." A modern +distilled water is now obtained from the cultivated plant, and +dispensed by the druggist. The whole herb has been supposed to +confer longevity, strength and courage. Longfellow wrote a poem +about it to this effect. + +The fine-leaved Hemlock Water Dropwort (_Oenanthe Phellandrium_), +is the Water Fennel. + + + +FERNS. + +Only some few of our native Ferns are known to possess medicinal +virtues, though they may all be happily pronounced devoid of +poisonous or deleterious properties. As curative simples, a brief +consideration will be given here to the common male and female +Ferns, the Royal Fern, the Hart's Tongue, the Maidenhair, the +common Polypody, the Spleenwort, and the Wall Rue. Generically, +the term "fern" has been referred to the word "feather," because of +the pinnate leaves, or to _farr_, a bullock, from the use of the plants +as litter for cattle. Ferns are termed _Filices_, from the Latin word +_filum_, a thread, because of their filamentary fronds. Each of those +now particularized owes its respective usefulness chiefly to its +tannin; while the few more specially endowed with healing powers +yield also a peculiar chemical acid "filicic," which is fatal to worms. +In an old charter, A.D. 855, the [183] right of pasturage on the +common Ferns was called "fearnleswe," or _Pascua procorum_, the +pasturage of swine (from _fearrh_, a pig). Matthiolus when writing +of the ferns, male and female, says, _Utriusque radice sues +pinguescunt_. In some parts of England Ferns at large are known as +"Devil's brushes"; and to bite off close to the ground the first Fern +which appears in the Spring, is said, in Cornwall, to cure toothache, +and to prevent its return during the remainder of the year. + +The common Male Fern (_Filix mas_) or Shield Fern, grows +abundantly in all parts of Great Britain, and has been known from +the times of Theophrastus and Dioscorides, as a specific remedy for +intestinal worms, particularly the tape worm. For medicinal +purposes, the green part of the rhizome is kept and dried; this is then +powdered, and its oleo-resin is extracted by ether. The green fixed +oil thus obtained; which is poisonous to worms, consists of the +glycerides of filocylic and filosmylic acids, with tannin, starch, +gum, and sugar. The English oil of Male Fern is more reliable than +that which is imported from the Continent. Twenty drops made into +an emulsion with mucilage should be given every half-hour on an +empty stomach, until sixty or eighty drops have been taken. It is +imprudent to administer the full quantity in a single dose. The +treatment should be thus pursued when the vigour of the parasite has +been first reduced by a low diet for a couple of days, and is lying +within the intestines free from alimentary matter; a purgative being +said to assist the action of the plant, though it is, independently, +quite efficacious. The knowledge of this remedy had become lost, +until it was repurchased for fifteen thousand francs, in 1775, by the +French king, under the advice of his principal physicians, from +Madame Nouffer, [184] a surgeon's widow in Switzerland, who +employed it as a secret mode of cure with infallible success. Her +method consisted in giving from one to three drams of the powdered +root, after using a clyster, and following the dose up with a purge of +scammony and calomel. The rhizome should not be used medicinally +if more than a year old. A medicinal tincture (H.) is now +prepared from the root-stock with proof spirit, in the autumn +when the fronds are dying. + +The young shoots and curled leaves of the Male Fern, which is +distinguished by having one main rib, are sometimes eaten like +asparagus; whilst the fronds make an excellent litter for horses and +cattle. The seed of this and some other species of Fern is so minute +(one frond producing more than a million) as not to be visible to the +naked eye. Hence, on the doctrine of signatures, the plant--like the +ring of Gyges, found in a brazen horse--has been thought to confer +invisibility. Thus Shakespeare says, _Henry IV_., Act II., Scene 1, +"We have the receipt of Fern seed; we walk invisible." + +Bracken or Brakes, which grows more freely than any other of the +Fern tribe throughout England, is the _Filix foemina_, or common +Female Fern. The fronds of this are branched, whilst the male plant +having only one main rib, is more powerful as an astringent, and +antiseptic; "the powder thereof freely beaten healeth the galled +necks of oxen and other cattell." Bracken is also named botanically, +_Pteris aquilina_, because the figure which appears in its succulent +stem when cut obliquely across at the base, has been thought to +resemble a spread eagle; and, therefore, Linnaeus termed the Fern +_Aquilina_. Some call it, for the same reason, "King Charles in the +oak tree"; and in Scotland the symbol is said to be an impression of +the Devil's foot. [185] Again, witches are reputed to detest this Fern, +since it bears on its cut root the Greek letter X, which is the initial +of _Christos_. + +In Ireland it is called the Fern of God, because of the belief that if +the stem be cut into three sections, on the first of these will be seen +the letter G; on the second O; and on the third D. + +An old popular proverb says about this Bracken:-- + + "When the Fern is as high as a spoon + You may sleep an hour at noon, + When the Fern is as high as a ladle + You may sleep as long as you're able, + When the Fern is looking red + Milk is good with faire brown bread." + +The Bracken grows almost exclusively on waste places and +uncultivated ground; or, as Horace testified in Roman days, +_Neglectis urenda filix innascitur agris_. It contains much potash; +and its ashes were formerly employed in the manufacture of soap. +The young tops of the plant are boiled in Hampshire for hogs' food, +and the peculiar flavour of Hampshire bacon has been attributed to +this custom. The root affords much starch, and is used medicinally. +"For thigh aches" [sciatica], says an old writer, "smoke the legs +thoroughly with Fern braken." + +During the Seventeenth Century it was customary to set growing +Brakes on fire with the belief that this would produce rain. A like +custom of "firing the Bracken" still prevails to-day on the +Devonshire moors. By an official letter the Earl of Pembroke +admonished the High Sheriff of Stafford to forbear the burning of +Ferns during a visit of Charles I., as "His Majesty desired that the +country and himself may enjoy fair weather as long as he should +remain in those parts." + +In northern climates a coarse kind of bread is made [186] from the +roots of the Brake Fern; whilst in the south the young shoots are +often sold in bundles as a salad. (Some writers give the name of +Lady Fern, not to the Bracken, but to the _Asplenium filix +foemina_, because of its delicate and graceful foliage.) The Bracken +has branched riblets, and is more viscid, mucilaginous, and diuretic, +than the Male Fern. + +Its ashes when burnt contain much vegetable alkali which has been +used freely in making glass. + +It was customary to "watch the Fern" on Midsummer eve, when the +plant put forth at dusk a blue flower, and a wonderful seed at +midnight, which was carefully collected, and known as "wish seed." +This gave the power to discover hidden treasures, whilst to drink the +sap conferred perpetual youth. + +The Royal Fern (_Osmunda regalis_), grows abundantly in many +parts of Great Britain, and is the stateliest of Ferns in its favourite +watery haunts. It heeds a soil of bog earth, and is incorrectly styled +"the flowering Fern," from its handsome spikes of fructification. +One of its old English names is "Osmund, the Waterman"; and the +white centre of its root has been called the heart of Osmund. This +middle part boiled in some kind of liquor was supposed good for +persons wounded, dry-beaten, and bruised, or that have fallen from +some high place. The name "Osmund" is thought to be derived from +_os_, the mouth, or _os_, bone, and _mundare_, to cleanse, or from +_gross mond kraut_, the Greater Moonwort; but others refer it to +Saint Osmund wading a river, whilst bearing the Christ on his +shoulders. The root or rhizome has a mucilaginous slightly bitter +taste. The tender sprigs of the plant at their first coming are "good +to be put into balmes, oyles, and healing plasters." Dodonoeus says, +"the harte of the root of [187] Osmonde is good against squattes, +and bruises, heavie and grievous falles, and whatever hurte or +dislocation soever it be." "A conserve of these buds," said Dr. Short +of Sheffield, 1746, "is a specific in the rickets; and the roots +stamped in water or gin till the liquor becometh a stiff mucilage, has +cured many most deplorable pains of the back, that have confined +the distracted sufferers close to bed for several weeks." This +mucilage was to be rubbed over the vertebrae of the back each night +and morning for five or six days together. Also for rickets, "take of +the powdered roots with the whitest sugar, and sprinkle some +thereof on the child's pap, and on all his liquid foods." "It maketh a +noble remedy," said Dr. Bowles, "without any other medicine." The +actual curative virtues of this Fern are most probably due to the salts +of lime, potash, and other earths, which it derives in solution from +the bog soil, and from the water in which it grows. On July 25th it is +specially dedicated to St. Christopher, its patron saint. + +The Hart's Tongue or Hind's Tongue, is a Fern of common English +growth in shady copses on moist banks, it being the _Lingua cervina_ +of the apothecaries, and its name expressing the shape of its fronds. +This, the _Scolopendrium vulgare_, is also named "Button-hole," +"Horse tongue;" and in the Channel Islands "Godshair." The older +physicians esteemed it as a very valuable medicine; and Galen gave +it for diarrhoea or dysentery. By reason of its tannin it will restrain +bleedings, "being commended," says Gerard, "against the bloody +flux." People in rural districts make an ointment from its leaves for +burns and scalds. It was formerly, in company with the common +Maidenhair Fern, one of the five great capillary herbs. Dr. Tuthill +Massy advises the drinking, in Bright's disease, of as much as three +[188] half-pints daily of an infusion of this Fern, whilst always +taking care to gather the young shoots. Also, in combination (H.) +with the American Golden Seal (_Hydrastis canadensis_). the Hart's +Tongue has served in not a few authenticated cases to arrest the +progress of that formidable disease, diabetes mellitus. Its distilled +water will quiet any palpitations of the heart, and will stay the +hiccough; it will likewise help the falling of the palate (relaxed +throat), or stop bleeding of the gums if the mouth be gargled +therewith. + +From the _Ophioglossum vulgatum_, "'Adder's tongue,' or 'Christ's +Spear,' when boiled in olive oil is produced a most excellent greene +oyle. Or rather a balsam for greene wounds, comparable to oyle of +St. John's Wort; if it doth not far surpasse it." A preparation from +this plant known as the "green oil of charity," is still in request as +a vulnerary, and remedy for wounds. + +The true Maidenhair Fern (_Adiantum capillus veneris_), of +exquisite foliage, and of a dark crimson colour, is a stranger in +England, except in the West country. But we have in greater +abundance the common Maidenhair (_Asplenium trichomanes_), +which grows on old walls, and which will act as a laxative +medicine; whilst idiots are said to have taken it remedially, so as to +recover their senses. The true Maidenhair is named _Adiantum_, +from the Greek: _Quod denso imbre cadente destillans foliis tenuis +non insidet humor_, "Because the leaves are not wetted even by a +heavily falling shower of rain." "In vain," saith Pliny, "do you plunge +the Adiantum into water, it always remains dry." This veracious +plant doth "strengthen and embellish the hair." It, occurs but rarely +with us; on damp rocks, and walls near the sea. The Maidenhair is +called _Polytrichon_ because it brings forth a multitude of hairs; +[189] _Calitrichon_ because it produces black and faire hair; +_Capillus veneris_ because it fosters grace and love. + +From its fine hairlike stems, and perhaps from its attributed virtues +in toilet use, this Fern has acquired the name of "Our Lady's Hair" +and "Maria's Fern." "The true Maidenhair," says Gerard, "maketh +the hair of the head and beard to grow that is fallen and pulled off." +From this graceful Fern a famous elegant syrup is made in France +called _Capillaire_; which is given as a favourite medicine in +pulmonary catarrh. It is flavoured with orange flowers, and acts as a +demulcent with slightly stimulating effects. One part of the plant is +gently boiled with ten parts of water, and with nineteen parts of +white sugar. Dr. Johnson says Boswell used to put _Capillaire_ into +his port wine. Sir John Hill instructed us that (as we cannot get the +true Maidenhair fresh in England) the fine syrup made in France +from their Fern in perfection, concocted with pure Narbonne honey, +is not by any means to be thought a trifle, because barley water, +sweetened with this, is one of the very best remedies for a violent +cold. But a tea brewed from our more common Maidenhair will +answer the same purpose for tedious coughs. Its leaves are sweet, +mucilaginous, and expectorant, being, therefore, highly useful in +many pulmonary disorders. + +The common Polypody Fern, or "rheum-purging Polypody" grows plentifully +in this country on old walls and stumps of trees, in shady places. +In Hampshire it is called "Adder's Tongue," as derived from the +word _attor_, poison; also Wall-fern, and formerly in Anglo-Saxon +Ever-fern, or Boar-fern. In Germany it is said to have sprung +from the Virgin's milk, and is named _Marie bregue_. The fresh root +has been used successfully in decoction, or powdered, for +melancholia; [190] also of late for general rheumatic swelling of the +joints. By the ancients it was employed as a purgative. Six drachms +by weight of the root should be infused for two hours in a pint of +boiling water, and given in two doses. This is the Oak Fern of the +herbalists; not that of modern botanists (_Polypodium dryopteris_); +it being held that such Fern plants as grew upon the roots of an oak +tree were of special medicinal powers, _Quod nascit super radices +quercûs est efficacius_. The true Oak Fern (_Dryopteris_) grows +chiefly in mountainous districts among the mossy roots of old oak +trees, and sometimes in marshy places. If its root is bruised and +applied to the skin of any hairy part, whilst the person is sweating, +this will cause the hair to come away. Dioscorides said, "The root of +Polypody is very good for chaps between the fingers." "It serveth," +writes Gerard, "to make the belly soluble, being boiled in the broth +of an old cock, with beets or mallows, or other like things, that +move to the stool by their slipperiness." Parkinson says: "A dram or +two, it need be, of the powdered dry roots taken fasting, in a cupful +of honeyed water, worketh gently as a purge, being a safe medicine, +fit for all persons and seasons, which daily experience confirmeth." +"Applied also to the nose it cureth the disease called polypus, which +by time and sufferance stoppeth the nostrils." The leaves of the +Polypody when burnt furnish a large proportion of carbonate of +Potash. + +The Spleenwort (_Asplenium ceterach_--an Arabian term), or Scaly +Fern, or Finger Fern, grows on old walls, and in the clefts of moist +rocks. It is also called "Miltwaste," because supposed to cure +disorders of the milt, or spleen:-- + + "The Finger Fern, which being given to swine, + It makes their milt to melt away in fine." + +[191] Very probably this reputed virtue has mainly become attributed +to the plant, because the lobular milt-like shape of its leaf +resembles the form of the spleen. "No herbe maie be compared +therewith," says one of the oldest Herbals, "for his singular virtue to +help the sicknesse or grief of the splene." Pliny ordered: "It should +not be given to women, because it bringeth barrenness." Vitruvius +alleged that in Crete the flocks and herds were found to be without +spleens, because they browsed on this fern. The plant was supposed +when given medicinally to diminish the size of the enlarged spleen +or "ague-cake." + +The Wall Rue (_Ruta muraria_) is a white Maidenhair Fern, and is +named by some _Salvia vitoe_. It is a small herb, somewhat nearly +of the colour of Garden Rue, and is likewise good for them that +have a cough, or are shortwinded, or be troubled with stitches in the +sides. It stayeth the falling or shedding of the hair, and causeth them +to grow thick, fair, and well coloured. This plant is held by those of +judgment and experience, to be as effectual a capillary herb as any +whatever. Also, it helpeth ruptures in children. Matthiolus "hath +known of divers holpen therein by taking the powder of the herb in +drink for forty days together." Its leaves are like those of Rue, and +the Fern has been called Tentwort from its use as a specific or +sovereign remedy for the cure of rickets, a disease once known as +"the taint." + +The generic appellations of the several species of Ferns are derived +thus: _Aspidium_, from _aspis_, a shield, because the spores are +enclosed in bosses; _Pteris_, from _pteerux_, a wing, having doubly +pinnate fronds; or from _pteron_, a feather, having feathery fronds; +_Scolopendrium_, because the fructification is supposed to +resemble the feet of _Scoltpendra_, a genus of mydrapods; and +_Polypody_, many footed, by reason of the pectinate fronds. + +[192] There grows in Tartary a singular polypody Fern, of which the +hairy foot is easily made to simulate in form a small sheep. It rises +above the ground with excrescences resembling a head and tail, +whilst having four leg-like fronds. Fabulous stories are told about +this remarkable Fern root; and in China its hairy down is so highly +valued as a styptic for fresh bleeding cuts and wounds, that few +families will be without it. Dr. Darwin, in his _Loves of the Plants_, +says about this curious natural production, the _Polypodium +Barometz_:-- + + "Cradled in snow, and fanned by Arctic air + Shines, gentle Barometz, thy golden hair; + Rooted in earth each cloven hoof descends, + And found and round her flexile neck she bends: + Crops the green coral moss, and hoary thyme, + Or laps with rosy tongue the melting rime; + Eyes with mute tenderness her distant dam, + Or seems to bleat--a vegetable Lamb." + + + +FEVERFEW. + +The Feverfew is one of the wild Chamomiles (_Pyrethrum Parthenium_), +or _Matricaria_, so called because especially useful for +motherhood. Its botanical names come from the Latin _febrifugus_, +putting fever to flight, and _parthenos_, a virgin. The herb +is a Composite plant, and grows in every hedgerow, with numerous +small heads of yellow flowers, having outermost white rays, +but with an upright stem; whereas that of the true garden +Chamomile is procumbent. The whole plant has a pungent odour, +and is particularly disliked by bees. A double variety is cultivated +in gardens for ornamental purposes. + +The herb Feverfew is strengthening to the stomach, preventing +hysteria and promoting the monthly functions of women. It is much +used by country mediciners, though insufficiently esteemed by the +doctors of to-day. + +[193] In Devonshire the plant is known as "Bachelor's buttons," and +at Torquay as "Flirtwort," being also sometimes spoken of as +"Feathyfew," or "Featherfull." + +Gerard says it may be used both in drinks, and bound on the wrists, +as of singular virtue against the ague. + +As "Feverfue," it was ordered, by the Magi of old, "to be pulled +from the ground with the left hand, and the fevered patient's name +must be spoken forth, and the herbarist must not look behind him." +Country persons have long been accustomed to make curative uses +of this herb very commonly, which grows abundantly throughout +England. Its leaves are feathery and of a delicate green colour, being +conspicuous even in mid-winter. Chemically, the Feverfew +furnishes a blue volatile oil; containing a camphoraceous stearopten, +and a liquid hydrocarbon, together with some tannin, and a bitter +mucilage. + +The essential oil is medicinally useful for correcting female +irregularities, as well as for obviating cold indigestion. The herb is +also known as "Maydeweed," because useful against hysterical +distempers, to which young women are subject. Taken generally it +is a positive tonic to the digestive and nervous systems. Out +chemists make a medicinal tincture of Feverfew, the dose of which +is from ten to twenty drops, with a spoonful of water, three times a +day. This tincture, if dabbed oil the parts with a small sponge, will +immediately relieve the pain and swelling caused by bites of insects +or vermin. In the official guide to Switzerland directions are given +to take "a little powder of the plant called _Pyrethrum roseum_ and +make it into a paste with a few drops of spirit, then apply this to the +hands and face, or any exposed part of the body, and let it [194] dry: +no mosquito or fly will then touch you." Or if two teaspoonfuls of +the tincture are mixed with half a pint of cold water, and if all parts +of the body likely to be exposed to the bites of insects are freely +sponged therewith they will remain unassailed. Feverfew is +manifestly the progenitor of the true Chamomilla (_Anthemis +nobilis_), from which the highly useful Camomile "blows," so +commonly employed in domestic medicine, are obtained, and its +flowers, when dried, may be applied to the same purposes. An +infusion of them made with boiling water and allowed to become +cold, will allay any distressing sensitiveness to pain in a highly +nervous subject, and will afford relief to the faceache or earache of a +dyspeptic or rheumatic person. This Feverfew (_Chrysanthemum +parthenium_), is best calculated to pacify those who are liable to +sudden, spiteful, rude irascibility, of which they are conscious, but +say they cannot help it, and to soothe fretful children. "Better is a +dinner or such herbs, where love is; than a stalled ox, and hatred +therewith." + + + +FIGS. + +"In the name of the Prophet 'Figs'" was the pompous utterance +ascribed to Dr. Johnson, whose solemn magniloquent style was +simulated as Eastern cant applied to common business in _Rejected +Addresses_, by the clever humorists, Horace and James Smith, +1812. The tree which produces this fruit belongs to the history of +mankind. In Paradise Adam partook of figs, and covered his +nakedness with the leaves. + +Though indigenous to Western Asia, Figs have been cultivated in +most countries from a remote period, and will ripen in England +during a warm summer if screened from north-east winds. The fig +tree flourishes best with [195] us on our sea coasts, bathed by the +English Channel, by reason of the salt-laden atmosphere. Near +Gosport, and at Fig Valleys, in the neighbourhood of Worthing, +there are orchards of figtrees; but they remain barren in this country +as far as affording seed to be raised anew from the ripened fruit. The +first figtrees introduced into England are still alive and productive +in the gardens of the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth, having +been planted there by Cardinal Pole in the time of Henry the Eighth. +We call the Sunday before Easter "Fig Sunday," probably because +of our Saviour's quest of the fruit when going from Bethany the next +day. + +By the Jews a want of blossom on the Fig tree was considered a +grievous calamity. On the Saturday preceding Palm Sunday (says +Miss Baker), the market at Northampton is abundantly supplied +with figs, and more of the fruit is purchased at this time than +throughout the rest of the year. Even charity children are regaled in +some parts with figs on the said Sunday; whilst in Lancashire fig +pies made of dried figs with sugar and treacle are eaten beforehand +in Lent. + +In order to become fertilised, figs (of which the sexual apparatus lies +within the fruit) must have their outer skin perforated by certain +gnats of the Cynips tribe, which then penetrate to the interior whilst +carrying with them the fertilising pollen; but these gnats are not +found in this country. Producers of the fruit abroad bearing the said +fact in view tie some of the wild fruit when tenanted by the Culex +fly to the young cultivated figs. + +Foreign figs are dried in the oven so as to destroy the larvae of the +Cynips insect, and are then compressed into small boxes. They +consist in this state almost exclusively of mucilage and sugar. + +[196] Only one kind of Fig comes to ripeness with us in England, +the great blue Fig, as large as a Catherine pear. "It should be +grown," says Gerard, "under a hot wall, and eaten when newly +gathered, with bread, pepper, and salt; or it is excellent in tarts." +This fruit is soft, easily digested, and corrective of strumous +disease. Dried Turkey Figs, as imported, contain glucose (sugar), +starch, fat, pectose, gum, albumen, mineral matter, collulose, and +water. They are used by our druggists as an ingredient in confection +of senna for a gentle laxative effect. When split open, and applied +as hot as they can be borne against gumboils, and similar suppurative +gatherings, they afford ease, and promote maturation of the abscess; +and likewise they will help raw, unhealthy sores to heal. The first +poultice of Figs on record is that employed by King Hezekiah 260 +years before Christ, at the instance of the prophet Isaiah, who +ordered to "take a lump of Figs; and they took it, and laid it on the +boil, and the King recovered" (2 Kings xx. 7). + +The Fig is said to have been the first fruit, eaten as food by man. +Among the Greeks it formed part of the ordinary Spartan fare, and +the Athenians forbade exportation of the best Figs, which were +highly valued at table. Informers against those who offended in this +respect were called _Suko phantai_, or Fig discoverers--our +_Sycophants_. + +Bacchus was thought to have acquired his vigour and corpulency +from eating Figs, such as the Romans gave to professed wrestlers +and champions for strength and good sustenance. + +Dodonoeus said concerning Figs, _Alimentum amplius quam coeteri +proebent_; and Pliny spoke of them as the best restorative +for those brought low by languishing [197] disease, with loss of +their colour. It was under the Perpul tree (_Ficus religiosa_) Buddha +attained Nirvada. + +The botanical name _ficus_ has been derived from the Greek verb +_phuo_ to generate, and the husbandry of Figs was called by the +Latins "caprification." The little fig-bird of the Roman Campagna +pays a yearly visit in September to the fig orchards on our Sussex +coast. + +When eaten raw, dried Figs prove somewhat aperient, and they are +apt to make the mouth sore whilst masticating them. Their seeds +operate mechanically against constipation, though sometimes +irritating the lining membrane of the stomach and bowels. Grocers +prepare from the pulp of these foreign dried figs, when mixed with +honey, a jam called "figuine," which is wholesome, and will prevent +costiveness if eaten at breakfast with bread. + +The pulp of Turkey Figs is mucilaginous, and has been long +esteemed as a pectoral emollient for coughs: also when stewed and, +added to ptisans, for catarrhal troubles of the air passages, and of +other mucous canals. + +In its fresh green state the fruit secretes a mildly acrid juice, which +will destroy warts; this afterwards becomes saccharine and oily. The +dried Figs of the shops give no idea of the fresh fruit as enjoyed in +Italy at breakfast, which then seem indeed a fruit of paradise, and +which contain a considerable quantity of grape sugar. In the +_Regimen of the School of Salerno_ (eleventh century) we read:-- + + "Scrofa, tumor, glandes, ficus cataplasma sedet, + Swines' evil, swellings, kernels, a plaster of figs will heal." + +Barley water boiled with dried Figs (split open), liquorice root, and +raisins, forms the compound decoction of barley prescribed by +doctors as a capital demulcent; [198] and an admirable gargle for +inflamed sore throat may be made by boiling two ounces of the Figs +in half-a-pint of water, which is to be strained when cool. Figs +cooked in milk make an excellent drink for costive persons. + +In the French codex a favourite pectoral medicine is composed of +Figs, stoned dates, raisins, and jujubes. + +Formerly the poisoned Fig was used in Spain as a secret means for +getting rid of an enemy. The fruit was so common there that to say +"a fig for you!" and "I give you the fig" became proverbial +expressions of contempt. _In fiocchi_ (in gala costome), is an Italian +phrase which we now render as "in full fig." + +The _Water Figwort_, a common English plant which grows by the +sides of ditches, and belongs to the scrofula-curing order, has +acquired its name because supposed to heal sores in the fundament +when applied like figs as a poultice. It further bears the name of +_Water Betony_ (_page_ 50), under which title its curative +excellence against piles, and for scrofulous glands in the neck has +been already described. The whole plant, yielding its juice, may be +blended with lard to be used as an ointment; and an infusion of the +roots, made with boiling water, an ounce to a pint, may be taken as a +medicine--a wineglassful three times in the day. + +In Ireland it is known as "Rose noble," also as Kernelwort, because +the kernels, or tubers attached to the roots have been thought to +resemble scrofulous glands in the neck. "Divers do rashly teach that +if it be hanged about the necke, or else carried about one it keepeth a +man in health." In France the sobriquet _herbe du seige_, given to +this plant, is said to have been derived from its famous use in +healing all sorts of wounds during the long siege of Rochelle under +Louis XIII. + +[199] The Water Figwort may be readily known by the winged +corners of its stems, which, though hollow and succulent, are rigid +when dead, and prove very troublesome to anglers. The flowers are +much frequented by wasps: and the leaves are employed to correct +the taste of senna. + + + +FLAG (Common). + +Our English water Flags are true whigs of the old school, and get +their generic name because hanging out their banners respectively of +dark blue and yellow. + +Each is also called Iris, as resembling the rainbow in beauty of +colour. The land Flag (_Iris versicolor_) is well known as growing +in swamps and moist meadows, with sword-shaped leaves, and large +purple heads of flowers, bearing petals chiefly dark blue, and veined +with green, yellow, or white. The water Flag (_Iris pseudacorus_) is +similar of growth, and equally well known by its brilliant heads of +yellow flowers, with blade-like leaves, being found in wet places +and water courses. The root of the Blue Flag, "Dragon Flower," or +"Dagger Flower," contains chemically an "oleo-resin," which is +purgative to the liver in material doses, and specially alleviative +against bilious sickness when taken of much reduced strength by reason +of its acting as a similar. The official dose of this "iridin" is +from one to three grains. A liability to the formation of gall stones +may be remedied by giving one grain of the oleoresin (iridin) every +night for twelve nights. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is made which holds this Iris in solution; +and if three or four drops are taken immediately, with a spoonful of +water, and the same dose is repeated in half-an-hour if still +necessary, an attack of bilious vomiting, with sick headache, and a +[200] film before the eyes, will be prevented, or cut short. The +remedy is, under such circumstances, a trustworthy substitute for +calomel, or blue pill. Orris powder, which is so popular in the +nursery, and for the toilet table with ladies, on account of its fresh +"violet" scent, is made from the root of this Iris, being named from +the genitive _ireos_. + +Louis VII. of France chose this Blue Flag as his heraldic emblem, +and hence its name, _fleur de lys_, has been subsequently borne on +the arms of France. The flower was said to have been figured on a +shield sent down from heaven to King Louis at Clovis, when +fighting against the Saracens. Fleur de Louis has become corrupted +to _fleur de lys_, or _fleur de lis_. + +The Purple Flag was formerly dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A +certain knight more devout than learned could never remember +more than two words of the Latin prayer addressed to the Holy +Mother; these were _Ave Maria_, which the good old man repeated +day and night until he died. Then a plant of the blue Iris sprang up +over his grave, displaying on every flower in golden letters these +words, _Ave Maria_. When the monks opened the tomb they found +the root of the plant resting on the lips of the holy knight whose +body lay buried below. + +The Yellow Flag, or Water Flag, is called in the north, "Seggs." Its +flowers afford a beautiful yellow dye; and, its seeds, when roasted, +can be used instead of coffee. The juice of the root is very acrid +when sniffed up the nostrils, and causes a copious flow of water +therefrom, thus giving marked relief for obstinate congestive +headache of a dull, passive sort. The root is very astringent, and will +check diarrhoea by its infusion; also it is of service for making ink. +In the [201] south of England the plant is named "Levers." It +contains much tannin. + +The "Stinking Flag," or "Gladdon," or "Roast Beef," because having +the odour of this viand, is another British species of Flag, abundant +in southern England, where it grows in woods and, shady places. Its +leaves, when bruised, emit a strong smell like that of carrion, which +is very loathsome. The plant bears the appellations, _Iris +foetidissima_, _Spatual foetida_, and "Spurgewort," having long, +narrow leaves, which stink when rubbed. Country folk in Somersetshire +purge themselves to good purpose with a decoction made from +the root. The term "glad," or "smooth," refers to the surface +of the leaves, or to their sword-like shape, from _gladiolus_ +(a small sword), and the plant bears flowers of a dull, livid purple, +smaller than those of the other flags. + +Lastly, there is the Sweet Flag (_Acorus calamus_), though this is +not an Iris, but belongs botanically to the family of _Arums_. It +grows on the edges of lakes and streams allover Europe, as a highly +aromatic, reedy plant, with an erect flowering stem of yellowish +green colour. Its name comes from the Greek, _koree_, or "pupil of +the eye," because of its being used in ailments of that organ. + +_Calamus_ was the Roman term for a reed; and formerly this sweet +Flag, by reason of its pleasant odour like that of violets, was freely +strewn on the floor of a cathedral at times of church festivals, and in +many private houses instead of rushes. The root is a powerful cordial +against flatulence, and passive indigestion, with headache. It contains +a volatile oil, and a bitter principle, "acorin;" so that a fluid +extract is made by the chemists, of which from thirty to forty drops +may be given as a dose, with a [202] tablespoonful, of water, every +half-hour for several consecutive times. The candied root is much +employed for like uses in Turkey and India. It is sold as a favourite +medicine in every Indian Bazaar; and Ainslie says it is reckoned so +valuable in the bowel complaints of children, that there is a penalty +incurred by every druggist who will not open his door in the middle +of the night to sell it if demanded. + +The root stocks are brought to this country from Germany, being +used by mastication to cleat the urine when it is thick and loaded +with dyspeptic products; also for flavouring beer, and scenting +snuff. + +Their ash contains potash, soda, zinc, phosphoric Acid, silica, and +peroxide of iron. In the _Times_ April 24th, 1856, Dr. Graves wrote +commending for the soldiers when landing at Galipoli, and notable +to obtain costly quinine, the Sweet Flag--_acorus calamas_--as their +sheet anchor against ague and allied maladies arising from _marsh +miasmata_. The infusion of the root should be given, or the +powdered root in doses of from ten to sixty grains. (_See_ RUSHES.) + + + +FLAX (LINSEED). + +The common Flax plant, from which we get our Linseed, is of great +antiquity, dating from the twenty-third century before Christ, and +having been cultivated in all countries down to the present time. But +it is exhausting to the soil in England, and therefore not favoured in +home growth for commercial uses. The seeds come to us chiefly +from the Baltic. Nevertheless, the plant (_Linum usitatissimum_) is +by no means uncommon in our cornfields, flowering in June, and +ripening its seed in September. Provincially it is called "Lint" and +"Lyne." A rustic proverb says "if put in the shoes it preserves [203] +from poverty"; wherever found it is probably an escape from +cultivation. + +The word "flax" is derived from _filare_, to spin, or, _filum_, a +thread; and the botanical title, _linum_, is got from the Celtic _lin_ +also signifying thread. The fibres of the bark are separated from the +woody matter by soaking it in water, and they then form tow, which +is afterwards spun into yarn, and woven into cloth. This water +becomes poisonous, so that Henry the Eighth prohibited the +washing of flax in any running stream. + +The seeds ate very rich in linseed oil, after expressing which, the +refuse is oil-cake, a well-known fattening food for cattle. The oil +exists chiefly in the outer skins of the seeds, and is easily extracted +by boiling water, as in the making a linseed poultice. These seeds +contain gum, acetic acid, acetate and muriate of potash, and other +salts, with twenty-two parts per cent. of the oil. They were taken as +food by the ancient Greeks and Romans, whilst Hippocrates knew +the demulcent properties of linseed. An infusion of the seeds has +long been given as Linseed tea for soothing a sore chest or throat in +severe catarrh, or pulmonary complaints; also the crushed seed is +used for making poultices. Linseed oil has laxative properties, and +forms, when mixed with lime water, or with spirit of turpentine, a +capital external application to recent burns or scalds. + +Tumours of a simple nature, and sprains, may be usefully rubbed +with Linseed oil; and another principal service to which the oil is +put is for mixing the paints of artists. To make Linseed tea, wash +two ounces of Linseed by putting them into a small strainer, and +pouring cold water through it; then pare off as thinly as possible the +yellow rind of half a lemon; to the Linseed and lemon rind add a +quart of cold water, [204] and allow them to simmer over the fire for +an hour-and-a-half; strain away the seeds, and to each half-pint of +the tea add a teaspoonful of sugar, or sugar candy, with some lemon +juice, in the proportion of the juice of one lemon to each pint of tea. + +The seeds afford but little actual nourishment, and are difficult of +digestion; they provoke troublesome flatulence, though sometimes +used fraudulently for adulterating pepper. Flax seed has been mixed +with corn for making bread, but it proved indigestible and hurtful to +the stomach. In the sixteenth century during a scarcity of wheat, the +inhabitants of Middleburgh had recourse to Linseed for making +cakes, but the death of many citizens was caused thereby, it bringing +about in those who partook of the cakes dreadful swellings on the +body and face. There is an Act of Parliament still in force which +forbids the steeping of Flax in rivers, or any waters which cattle are +accustomed to drink, as it is found to communicate a poison +destructive to cattle and to the fish inhabiting such waters. In +Dundee a hank of yarn is worn round the loins as a cure for +lumbago, and girls may be seen with a single thread of yarn round +the head as an infallible specific for tic douloureux. + +The Purging Flax (_Linum catharticum_), or Mill Mountain +(_Kamailinon_), or Ground Flax, is a variety of the Flax common +on our heaths and pastures, being called also Fairy Flax from its +delicacy, and Dwarf Flax. It contains a resinous, purgative principle, +and is known to country folk as a safe, active purge. They infuse the +herb in water, which they afterwards take medicinally. Also a +tincture is made (H.) from the entire fresh plant, which may be +given curatively for frequent, wattery, painless diarrhoea, two or +three [205] drops for a dose with water every hour or two until the +flux is stayed. + + + +FOXGLOVE. + +The purple Foxglove (_Digitalis purpurea_) which every one knows +and admires for its long graceful spikes of elegant bell-shaped +brilliant blossoms seen in our woods and hedges, is also called the +Thimble Flower, or the Finger Flower, from the resemblance of +these blossoms to a thimble or to the fingers of a glove. The word +digitalis refers likewise to the digits, or fingers of a gauntlet. In +France the title is _Gants de Notre Dame_, the gloves of our Lady +the Virgin. Some writers give Folks' Glove, or Fairies' Glove as the +proper English orthography, but this is wrong. Our name of the +plant comes really from the Anglo-Saxon, Foxesglew or Fox music, +in allusion to an ancient musical instrument composed of bells +which were hanging from an arched support, _a tintinnabulum_, +which this plant with its pendent bell-shaped flowers so exactly +represents. + +In Ireland the Foxglove is known as the Great Herb, and Lusmore, +also the Fairy Cap; and in Wales it is the Goblin's Gloves; whilst in +the North of Scotland it is the Dead men's Bells. We read in the +_Lady of the Lake_ there grew by Loch Katrine:-- + + "Night shade and Foxglove side by side, + Emblems of punishment and pride." + +In Devonshire the plant is termed Poppy, because when one of the +bell-shaped flowers is inflated by the breath whilst the top edges are +held firmly together; the wind bag thus formed, if struck smartly +against the other hand, goes off with a sounding pop. The peasantry +also call it "Flop a dock." Strangely enough, the Foxglove, so +handsome and striking in a landscape, is not [206] mentioned by +Shakespeare, or by either of the old English poets. The "long +purples" of Shakespeare refers to the _orchis mascula_. + +Chemically, the Foxglove contains a dangerous, active, medicinal +principle _digitalin_, which acts powerfully on the heart, and on the +kidneys, but this should never be given in any preparation of the +plant except under medical guidance, and then only with much +caution. Parkinson speaks highly of the bruised herb, or of its +expressed juice, for scrofulous swellings when applied outwardly in +the form of an ointment. An officinal tincture is made from the +plants collected in the spring, when two years old; also, in some +villages the infusion is employed as a homely remedy to cure a cold, +the herb being known as "Throttle Wort;" but this is not a safe thing +to do, for medical experience shows that the watery infusion of +Foxglove acts much more powerfully than the spirituous tincture, +which is eight times stronger, and from this fact it may fairly be +inferred that the presence of alcohol, as in the tincture, directly +opposes the specific action of the plant. This herb bears further in +some districts the names "Flop Top," "Cow Flop," and "Flabby +Dock." It was stated in the _Times Telescope_, 1822, "the women +of the poorer class in Derbyshire used to indulge in copious +draughts of Foxglove tea, as a cheap means of obtaining the +pleasures of intoxication. This was found to produce a great +exhilaration of the spirits, with other singular effects on the +system." So true is the maxim, _ubi virus, ibi virtus_. + +No animal will touch the plant, which is biennial, and will only +develop its active principle _digitalin_, when getting some sunshine, +but remains inert when grown altogether in the shade. Therefore its +source of production for medicinal purposes is very important. + + + +[207] FUMITORY. + +The common Fumitory (_Fumaria officinalis_) is a small grey-green +plant, bearing well known little flowers, rose coloured, and tipped +with purple, whilst standing erect in every cornfield, vineyard, or +such-like manured place throughout Great Britain. It is so named +from the Latin _fumus terroe_, earth smoke, which refers either to +the appearance of its pretty glaucous foliage on a dewy summer +morning, or to the belief that it was produced not from seed but +from vapours rising out of the earth. The plant continues to flower +throughout the year, and was formerly much favoured for making +cosmetic washes to purify the skin of rustic maidens in the spring +time:-- + + "Whose red and purpled mottled flowers + Are cropped by maids in weeding hours + To boil in water, milk, or whey, + For washes on a holiday; + To make their beauty fair and sleek, + And scare the tan from summer's cheek." + +In many parts of Kent the Fumitory bears the name of "Wax Dolls," +because its rose coloured flowers, with their little, dark, purple +heads, are by no means unlike the small waxen toys given as +nurslings to children. + +Dioscorides affirmed: "The juice of Fumitory, of that which +groweth among barley, with gum arabic, doth take away unprofitable +hairs that prick, being first plucked away, for it will not +suffer others to grow in their places." "It helpeth," says Gerard, "in +the summer time those that are troubled with scabs." + +Pliny said it is named because causing the eyes to water as smoke +does. In Shakespeare the name is written Fumiter. It continues to +flower throughout the year, and its presence is thought to indicate +good deep rich land. There is also a "ramping" Fumitory [208] +(_capreolata_) which climbs; being found likewise in fields and +waste places, but its infusion produces purgative effects. + +The whole plant has a saline, bitter, and somewhat acrid taste. It +contains "fumaric acid," and the alkaloid "fumarina," which are +specially useful for scrofulous diseases of the skin. A decoction of +the herb makes a curative lotion for the milk-crust which disfigures +the scalp of an infant, and for grown up persons troubled with +chronic eruptions on the face, or freckles. + +The fresh juice may be given as a medicine; or an infusion made +with an ounce of the plant to a pint of boiling water, one +wineglassful for a dose twice or three times in the day. + +By the ancients Fumitory was named _Capnos_, smoke: Pliny wrote +"_Claritatem facit inunctis oculis delachrymationemque, ceu fumus, +unde nomen_." They esteemed the herb specially useful for +dispelling dimness of the sight, and for curing other infirmities of +the eyes. + +The leaves, which have no particular odour, throw up crystals of +nitre on their surface when cool. The juice may be mixed with +whey, and taken as a common drink, or as a medicinal beverage for +curing obstinate skin eruptions, and for overcoming obstructions of +the liver and digestive organs. Dr. Cullen found it most useful in +leprous skin disease. The juice from the fresh herb may be given +two ounces in the day, but the virtues remain equally in the dried +plant. Its smoke was said by the ancient exorcists to have the power +of expelling evil spirits. The famous physician, John of Milan, +extolled Fumitory as a sovereign remedy against malarious fever. + +It is a remarkable fact, that the colour of the hair and the complexion +seem to determine the liability, or [209] otherwise, of a European to +West Coast fever in Africa. A man with harsh, bright-coloured red +hair, such as is common in Scotland, has a complete immunity, +though running the same risks as another mall, dark and with a dry +skin, who seems absolutely doomed. A red-haired European will, as +a rule, keep his health where even the natives are attacked. Old +negresses have secret methods of cure which can, undoubtedly, save +life even in cases which have become hopeless to European medical +science. + + + +GARLIC, LEEK, and ONION. + +Seeming at first sight out of place among the lilies of the field, yet +Garlic, the Leek, and the Onion are true members of that noble +order, and may be correctly classified together with the favoured +tribe, "Clothed more grandly than Solomon in all his glory." They +possess alike the same properties and characteristics, though in +varying degrees, and they severally belong to the genus _Allium_, +each containing "allyl," which is a radical rich in sulphur. + +The homely Onion may be taken first as the best illustration of the +family. This is named technically _Allium cepa_, from _cep_, a +head (of bunched florets which it bears). Lucilius called it _Flebile +coepe_, because the pungency of its odour will provoke a flow of +tears from the eyes. As Shakespeare says, in _Taming of the +Shrew_:-- + + "Mine eyes smell onions; + I shall weep anon." + +The Egyptians were devoted to Onions, which they ate more than +two thousand years before the time of Christ. They were given to +swear by the Onion and [210] Garlic in their gardens. Herodotus +tells us that during the building of the pyramids nine tons of gold +were spent in buying onions for the workmen. But it is to be noted +that in Egypt the Onion is sweet and soft; whereas, in other +countries it grows hard, and nauseous, and strong. + +By the Greeks this bulb was called Krommuon, "_apo tau Meuein +tas koras_," because of shutting the eyes when eating it. In Latin its +name _unio_, signified a single root without offsets. + +Raw Onions contain an acrid volatile oil, sulphur, phosphorus, +alkaline earthy salts, phosphoric and acetic acids, with phosphate +and citrate of lime, starch, free uncrystallized sugar, and lignine. +The fresh juice is colourless, but by exposure to the air becomes red. +A syrup made from the juice with honey is an excellent medicine +for old phlegmatic persons in cold weather, when their lungs are +stuffed, and the breathing is hindered. + +Raw Onions increase the flow of urine, and promote perspiration, +insomuch, that a diet of them, with bread, has many a time cured +dropsy coming on through a chill at first, or from exposure to cold. +They contain the volatile principle, "sulphide of allyl," which is +acrid and stimulating. If taken in small quantities, Onions quicken +the circulation, and assist digestion; but when eaten more prodigally +they disagree. + +In making curative Simples, the Onion (and Garlic) should not be +boiled, else the volatile essential oil, on which its virtues chiefly +depend, will escape during the process. + +The principal internal effects of the Onion, the Leek, and Garlic, are +stimulation and warmth, so that they are of more salutary use when +the subject is of a cold [211] temperament, and when the vital +powers are feeble, than when the body is feverish, and the +constitution ardently excitable. "They be naught," says Gerard, "for +those that be cholericke; but good for such as are replete with raw +and phlegmatick humors." _Vous tous qui etes gros, et gras, et +lymphatiques, avec l'estomac paresseux, mangez l'oignon cru; c'est +pour vous que le bon Dieu l'a fait_. + +Onions, when eaten at night by those who are not feverish, will +promote sleep, and induce perspiration. The late Frank Buckland +confirmed this statement. He said, "I am sure the essential oil of +Onions has soporific powers. In my own case it never fails. If I am +much pressed with work, and feel that I am not disposed to sleep, I +eat two or three small Onions, and the effect is magical." The Onion +has a very sensitive organism, and absorbs all morbid matter that +comes in its way. During our last epidemic of cholera it puzzled the +sanitary inspectors of a northern town why the tenants of one +cottage in an infected row were not touched by the plague. At last +some one noticed a net of onions hanging in the fortunate house, +and on examination all these proved to have become diseased. But +whilst welcoming this protective quality, the danger must be +remembered of eating an onion which shows signs of decay, for it +cannot be told what may have caused this distemper. + +When sliced, and applied externally, the raw Onion serves by its +pungent and essential oil to quicken the circulation, and to redden +the skin of the particular surface treated in this way; very usefully +so in the case of an unbroken chilblain, or to counteract neuralgic +pain; but in its crude state the bulb is not emollient or demulcent. If +employed as a poultice for ear-ache, or broken chilblains, the Onion +should be roasted, so as to [212] modify its acrid oil. When there is +a constant arid painful discharge of fetid matter from the ear, or +where an abscess is threatened, with pain, heat, and swelling, a hot +poultice of roasted Onions will be found very useful, and will +mitigate the pain. The juice of a sliced raw Onion is alkaline, and +will quickly relieve the acid venom of a sting from a wasp, or bee, if +applied immediately to the part. + +A tincture is made (H.) from large, red, strong Onions for medicinal +purposes. As a warming expectorant in chronic bronchitis, or +asthma, or for a cold which is not of a feverish character, from half +to one teaspoonful of this tincture may be given with benefit three +or four times in the day in a wineglassful of hot water, or hot milk. +Likewise, a jorum (_i.e._, an earthen bowl) of hot Onion broth taken +at bedtime, serves admirably to soothe the air passages, and to +promote perspiration; after the first feverish stage of catarrh or +influenza has passed by. To make this, peel a large Spanish Onion, +and divide it into four parts; then put them into a saucepan, with half +a saltspoonful of salt, and two ounces of butter, and a pint of cold +water; let them simmer gently until quite tender; next pour all into a +bowl which has been made hot, dredging a little pepper over; and let +the porridge be eaten as hot as it can be taken. + +The allyl and sulphur in the bulbs, together with their mucilaginous +parts, relieve the sore mucous membranes, and quicken perspiration, +whilst other medicinal virtues are exercised at the same time on the +animal economy. + +By eating a few raw parsley sprigs immediately afterwards, the +strong smell which onions communicates to the breath may be +removed and dispelled. Lord [213] Bacon averred "the rose will be +sweeter if planted in a bed of onions." So nutritious does the +Highlander find this vegetable, that, if having a few raw bulbs in his +pocket, with oat-cake, or a crust of bread, he can travel for two or +three days together without any other food. Dean Swift said:-- + + "This is every cook's opinion, + No savoury dish without an onion, + But lest your kissing should be spoiled, + Your onions must be fully boiled." + +Provings have been made by medical experts of the ordinary red +Onion in order to ascertain what its toxical effects are when pushed +to an excessive degree, and it has been found that Onions, Leeks, +or Garlic, when taken immoderately, induce melancholy and +depression, with severe catarrh. They dispose to sopor, lethargy, and +even insanity. The immediate symptoms are extreme watering of the +eyes after frequent sneezing, confusion of the head, and heavy +defluxion from the nose, with pains in the throat extending to the +ears; in a word, all the accompaniments of a bad cold, sneezings, +lacrymation, pains in the forehead, and a hoarse, hacking cough. +These being the effects of taking Onions in a harmful quantity, it is +easy to understand that when the like morbid symptoms have arisen +spontaneously from other causes, as from a sharp catarrh of the head +and chest, then modified forms of the Onion are calculated to +counteract them on the law of similars, so that a cure is promptly +produced. On which principle the Onion porridge is a scientific +remedy, as food, and as Physic, during the first progress of a +catarrhal attack, and _pari passu_ the medicinal tincture of the red +Onion may be likewise curatively given. + +[214] Spanish Onions, which are imported into this country in the +winter, are sweet and mucilaginous. A peasant in Spain will munch +an onion just as an English labourer eats an apple. + +At the present day Egyptians take onions, roasted, and each cut into +four pieces, with small bits of baked meat, and slices of an acid +apple, which the Turks call kebobs. With this sweet and savoury dish +they are so delighted, that they trust to enjoy it in paradise. The +Israelites were willing to return to slavery and brick-making for +their love of the Onion; and we read that Hecamedes presented +some of the bulbs to Patrochus, in _Homer_, as a regala. These are +supplied liberally to the antelopes and giraffes in our Zoological +Gardens, which animals dote on the Onion. + +A clever paraprase of the word Onion may be read in the lines:-- + + "Charge! Stanley, charge! On! Stanley, on! + Were the last words of Marmion. + If _I_ had been in Stanley's place + When Marmion urged him to the chase, + In me you quickly would descry + What draws a tear from many an eye." + +For chilblains apply onions with salt pounded together, and for +inflamed or protruding piles, raw Onion pulp, made by bruising the +bulb, if kept bound to the parts by a compress, and renewed as +needed, will afford certain relief. + +The Garlic (_Allium sativum_), Skorodon of the Greeks, which was +first cultivated in English gardens in 1540, takes its name, from +_gar_, a spear; and _leac_, a plant, either because of its sharp +tapering leaves, or perhaps as "the war plant," by reason of its +nutritive and stimulating qualities for those who do battle. It is +known also [215] to many as "Poor-man's Treacle," or "Churls +Treacle," from being regarded by rustics as a treacle, or antidote to +the bite of any venomous reptile. + +The bulb, consisting of several combined cloves, is stimulating, +antispasmodic, expectorant, and diuretic. Its active properties +depend on an essential oil which may be readily obtained by +distillation. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) with spirit of wine, of +which from ten to twenty drops may be taken in water several times +a day. Garlic proves useful in asthma, whooping-cough, and other +spasmodic affections of the chest. For all adult, one or more cloves +may be eaten at a time. The odour of the bulb is very diffusible, +even when it is applied to the soles of the feet its odour is exhaled +by the lungs. + +When bruised and mixed with lard, it makes a most useful opbdeldoc +to be rubbed in for irritable spines of indolent scrofulous +tumours or gout, until the skin surface becomes red and glowing. If +employed thus over the chest (back and front) of a child with +whooping-cough, it proves eminently helpful. + +Raw Garlic, when applied to the skin, reddens it, and the odour +sniffed into the nostrils will revive an hysterical sufferer. It formed +the principal ingredient in the "Four thieves' vinegar," which was +adopted so successfully at Marseilles for protection against the +plague, when prevailing there. This originated with four thieves, +who confessed that, whilst protected by the liberal use of aromatic +vinegar during the plague, they plundered the dead bodies of its +victims with complete security. Or, according to another +explanation of the name, an old tract, printed in 1749, testifies that +one, Richard Forthave, who lived in Bishopsgate Street, invented +and sold a vinegar which had such a run that [216] he soon grew +famous, and that his surname became thus corrupted in the course of +time. + +But long before the plague at Marseilles (1722) vinegar was +employed as a disinfectant. With Cardinal Wolsey it was a constant +custom to carry in his hand an orange emptied of its pulp, and +containing a sponge soaked in vinegar made aromatic with spices, +so as to protect himself from infection when passing through the +crowds which his splendour and his office attracted. + +It is related that during a former outbreak of infectious fever in +Somer's Town and St. Giles's, the French priests, who constantly used +Garlic in all their dishes, visited the worst cases in the dirtiest +hovels with impunity, while the English clergy, who were similarly +engaged, but who did not eat onions in like fashion, caught the +infection in many instances, and fell victims to the disease. + +For toothache and earache, a clove of Garlic stripped of its skin, and +cut in the form of a suppository, if thrust in the ear of the aching +side, will soon assuage the pain. If introduced into the lower bowel, +it will help to destroy thread worms, and when swallowed it +abolishes round worms. + +As a condiment, Garlic undoubtedly aids digestion by stimulating +the circulation, with a consequent increase of saliva and gastric +juice. The juice from the bulbs can be employed for cementing +broken glass or china, by means of its mucilage. + +Dr. Bowles, a noted English physician of former times, made use of +Garlic with much success as a secret remedy for asthma. He +concocted a preserve from the boiled cloves with vinegar and sugar, +to be kept in an earthen jar. The dose was a bulb or two with some +of the syrup, each morning when fasting. [217] The pain of +rheumatic parts may be much relieved by simply rubbing them with +cut Garlic. + +Garlic emits the most acrimonious smell of all the onion tribe. +When leprosy prevailed in this country, Garlic was a prime specific +for its relief, and as the victims had to "pil," or peel their own +garlic, they were nicknamed "Pil Garlics," and hence it came about that +anyone shunned like a leper had this epithet applied to him. Stow +says, concerning a man growing old: "He will soon be a peeled +garlic like myself." + +The strong penetrating odour and taste of this plant, though +offensive to most English palates, are much relished by Russians, +Poles, and Spaniards, and especially by the Jews. But the Greeks +detested Garlic. It is true the Attic husbandmen ate it from remote +times, probably in part to drive away by its odour venomous +creatures from assailing them; but persons who partook of it were +not allowed to enter the temples of Cybele, says Athenaeus; and so +hated was garlic, that to have to eat it was a punishment for those +that had committed the most horrid crimes; Horace, among the +Romans, was made ill by eating garlic at the table of Maecenas; and +afterwards (in his third _Epode_) he reviled the plant as, _Cicutis +allium nocentius_, "Garlic more poisonous than hemlock." Sir +Theodore Martin has thus spiritedly translated the passage:-- + + "If his old father's throat any impious sinner, + Has cut with unnatural hand to the bone: + Give him garlick--more noxious than hemlock--at dinner; + Ye gods! what strong stomachs the reapers must own!" + +The singular property is attributed to Garlic, that if a morsel of the +bulb is chewed by a man running a race, it will prevent his +competitors from getting ahead of him. Hungarian jockeys sometimes +fasten a clove of [218] garlic to the bits of their racers; and +it is said that the horses which run against those thus baited, fall +back the moment they smell the offensive odour. If a leg of mutton, +before being roasted, has a small clove of Garlic inserted into the +knuckle, and the joint is afterwards served with haricot beans +(soaked for twenty-four hours before being boiled), it is rendered +doubly delicious. In Greece snails dressed with Garlic are now a +favourite dish. + +A well known _chef_ is said to have chewed a small clove of Garlic +when he wished to impart its delicate flavour to a choice _plât_, +over which he then breathed lightly. Dumas relates that the whole +atmosphere of Provence is impregnated with the perfume of Garlic, +and is exceedingly wholesome to inhale. + +As an instance of lunar influences (which undoubtedly affect our +bodily welfare), it is remarkable that if Garlic is planted when the +moon is in the full, the bulb will be round like an onion, instead of +being composed, as it usually is, of several distinct cloves. + +Homer says it was to the virtues of the Yellow Garlic (Moly?) +Ulysses owed his escape from being changed by Circe into a pig, +like each of his companions. + +The Crow Garlic, _vineale_, and the purple striped, _oleraceum_, +grow wild in this country. When the former of these is eaten by +birds it so stupefies them that they may be taken with the hand. + +Concerning the cure of nervous headache by Garlic (and its kindred +medicinal herb _Asafoetida_), an old charm reads thus:-- + + "Give onyons to Saynt Cutlake, + And Garlycke to Saynt Cyryake; + If ye will shun the headake, + Ye shall have them at Queenhyth." + +The Asafoetida (_Ferula Asafoetida_) grows in Western Thibet, and +exudes a gum which is used medicinally, coming as a milky juice +from the incised root and soon coagulating; it is then exported, +having a very powerful odour of garlic which may be perceived a +long distance away. Phosphorus and sulphur are among its +constituent elements, and, because of the latter, says Dr. Garrod +after much observation, he regards Asafoetida as one of the most +valuable remedies known to the physician. From three to five grains +of the gum in a pill, or half-a-teaspoonful of the tincture, with a +small wineglassful of warm milk, may be given for a dose. + +Some of the older writers esteemed it highly as an aromatic +flavouring spice, and termed it _cibus deorum_, food of the gods. +John Evelyn says (in his _Acetaria_) "the ancient Silphium thought +by many to be none other than the fetid asa, was so highly prized for +its taste and virtues, that it was dedicated to Apollo at Delphi, and +stamped upon African coins as a sacred plant." + +Aristophanes extolled its juice as a restorer of masculine vigour, and +the Indians at this day sauce their viands with it. Nor are some of +our skilful cooks ignorant how to condite it, with the applause of +those who are unaware of the secret. The Silphium, or _laserpitium_ +of the Romans, yielded what was a famous restorative, the +"Cyrenaic juice." Pareira tells us he was assured by a noted gourmet +that the finest relish which a beef steak can possess, may be +communicated to it by rubbing the gridiron on which the steak is to +be cooked, with Asafoetida. + +The gum when given in moderate doses, acts on all parts of the +body as a wholesome stimulant, leading among other good results, +to improvement of the vision, [220] and enlivening the spirits. But +its use is apt to produce eructations smacking of garlic, which may +persist for several hours; and, if it be given in over doses, the +effects are headache and giddiness. When suitably administered, it +quickens the appetite and improves the digestion, chiefly with those +of a cold temperament, and languid habit. Smollet says the Romans +stuffed their fowls for the table with Asafoetida. In Germany, +Sweden, and Italy, it is known as "Devil's Dung." + +The Leek (_Allium porrium_) bears an Anglo-Saxon name corrupted +from Porleac, and it is also called the Porret, having been +the Prason of the Greeks. It was first made use of in England during +1562. This was a food of the poor in ancient Egypt, as is shown by +an inscription on one of the Pyramids, whence was derived the +phrase, "to eat the Leek"; and its loss was bewailed by the Israelites +in their journey through the Desert. It was said by the Romans to be +prolific of virtue, because Latona, the mother of Apollo, longed +after leeks. The Welsh, who take them much, are observed to be +very fruitful. They dedicate these plants to St. David, on whose day, +March 1st, in 640, the Britons (who were known to each other by +displaying in their caps, at the inspiration of St. David, some leeks, +"the fairest emblym that is worne," plucked in a garden near the +field of action) gained a complete victory over the Saxons. + +The bulb contains some sulphur, and is, in its raw state, a +stimulating expectorant. Its juice acts energetically on the kidneys, +and dissolves the calculous formations of earthy phosphates which +frequently form in the bladder. + +For chilblains, chapped hands, and sore eyes, the juice of a leek +squeezed out, and mixed with cream, [221] has been found curative. +Old Tusser tells us, in his _Husbandry for March_:-- + + "Now leeks are in season, for pottage full good, + That spareth the milch cow, and purgeth the blood," + +and a trite proverb of former times bids us:-- + + "Eat leeks in Lide [March] and ramsons in May, + Then all the year after physicians can play." + +Ramsons, or the Wild Garlic (_Allium ursinum_), is broad leaved, +and grows abundantly on our moist meadow banks, with a strong smell +of onions when crushed or bruised. It is perennial, having egg-shaped +or lance-like leaves, whilst bearing large, pearly-white +blossoms with acute petals. The name is the plural of "Ramse," or +"Ram," which signifies strong-smelling, or rank. And the plant is +also called "Buck Rams," or "Buck Rampe," in allusion to its spadix +or spathe. "The leaves of Ramsons," says Gerard, "are stamped and +eaten with fish, even as we do eat greene sauce made with sorrell." +This is "Bear's Garlic," and the Star Flower of florists. + +Leeks were so highly esteemed by the Emperor Nero, that his +subjects gave him the sobriquet of "Porrophagus." He took them +with oil for several days in each month to clear his voice, eating +no bread on those days. _Un remede d'Empereur (Neron) pour se +debarrasser d'un rhume,--et de commère pour attendre le meme but-- +fut envelopper un oignon dans une feuille de chou et le faire cuire +sous la cendre; puis l'ecrasser, le reduire en pulpe, le mettre dans +une tasse de lait, ou une decoction chaude de redisse; se coucher; et +se tenir chaudement, au besoin recidiver matin et soir_. + +The Scotch leek is more hardy and pungent than that [222] grown in +England. It was formerly a favourite ingredient in the Cock-a-Leekie +soup of Caledonia, which is so graphically described by Sir +Walter Scott, in the _Fortunes of Nigel_. + +A "Herby" pie, peculiar to Cornwall, is made of leeks and pilchards, +or of nettles, pepper cress, parsley, mustard, and spinach, with thin +slices of pork. At the bottom of the Squab pie mentioned before was +a Squab, or young Cormorant, "which diffused," says Charles +Kingsley, "through the pie, and through the ambient air, a delicate +odour of mingled guano and polecat." That "lovers live by love, as +larks by leeks," is an old saying; and in the classic story of Pyramus +and Thisbe, reference is made to the beautiful emerald green which +the leaves of the leek exhibit. "His eyes were as green as leeks." +Among the Welsh farmers, it is a neighbourly custom to attend on a +certain day and plough the land of a poor proprietor whose means +are limited--each bringing with him one or more leeks for making the +soup or broth. + +The _Schalot_, or _Eschalotte_, is another variety of the onion tribe, +which was introduced into England by the Crusaders, who found it +growing at Ascalon. And Chives (_Allium schoenoprasum_) are an +ever green perennial herb of the onion tribe, having only a mild, +alliaceous flavour. Epicures consider the Schalot to be the best +seasoning for beef steaks, either by taking the actual bulb, or by +rubbing the plates therewith. + +Again, as a most common plant in all our hedgerows, is found the +Poor Man's Garlic, or Sauce-alone (_Erisymum alliaria_), from +_eruo_, to cure, a somewhat coarse and most ordinary member of +the onion tribe, which goes also by the names of "Jack by the +hedge" and "Garlick-wort," and belongs to the cruciferous order +[223] of plants. When bruised, it gives out a strong smell of garlic, +and when eaten by cows it makes their milk taste powerfully of +onions. The Ancients, says John Evelyn, used "Jack by the hedge" +as a succedaneum to their Scordium, or cultivated Garlic. + +This herb grows luxuriantly, bearing green, shining, heart-shaped +leaves, and headpieces of small, white-flowering bunches. It was +named "Saucealone," from being eaten in the Springtime with meat, +whilst having so strong a flavour of onions, that it served alone of +itself for sauce. Perhaps (says Dr. Prior) the title "Jack by the +hedge" is derived from "jack," or "jakes," an old English word +denoting a privy, or house of office, and this in allusion to +the fetid smell of the plant, and the usual place of its growth. + +When gathered and eaten with boiled mutton, after having been first +separately boiled, it makes an excellent vegetable, if picked as it +approaches the flowering state. Formerly this herb was highly +valued as an antiscorbutic, and was thought a most desirable pot +herb. + +(The _Erysimum officinale_ (Hedge Mustard) and the _Vervain_ +(Verbena) make Count Mattaei's empirical nostrum _Febrifugo_: but +this _Erysimum_ is not the same plant as the Jack by the hedge.) + + + +GOOSEBERRY. + +The Gooseberry (_Ribes grossularia_) gets its name from _krüsbar_, +which signifies a cross, in allusion to the triple spine of the fruit +or berry, which is commonly cruciform. This is a relic of its first +floral days, preserved like the apron of the blacksmith at Persia, +when he came to the throne. The term _grossularia_ implies a +resemblance of the fruit to _grossuli_, small unripe figs. + +[224] Frequently the shrub, which belongs to the same natural order +as the Currant (_Ribes_), grows wild in the hedges and thickets of +our Eastern counties, bearing then only a small, poor berry, and not +supposed to be of native origin. + +In East Anglia it is named Fabe, Feap, Thape, or Theab berry, +probably by reason of a mistake which arose through an incorrect +picture. The Melon, in a well-known book of Tabernaemontanus, +was figured to look like a large gooseberry, and was headed, +_Pfebe_. And this name was supposed by some wiseacre to be that +of the gooseberry, and thus became attached to the said fruit. +Loudon thinks it signifies Feverberry, because of the cooling +properties possessed by the gooseberry, which is scarcely probable. + +In Norfolk, the green, unripe fruit is called Thape, and the +schoolboys in that county well know Thape pie, made from green +Gooseberries. The French call the fruit _Groseille_, and the Scotch, +Grosert. It contains, chemically, citric acid, pectose, gum, sugar, +cellulose, albumen, mineral matter, and water. The quantity of +flesh-forming constituents is insignificant. Its pectose, under +heat, makes a capital jelly. + +In this country, the Gooseberry was first cultivated at the time of the +Reformation, and it grows better in Great Britain than elsewhere, +because of the moist climate. The original fruit occurred of the hairy +sort, like Esau, as the _Uva crispa_ of Fuschius, in Henry the +Eighth's reign; and there are now red, white, and yellow cultivated +varieties of the berry. + +When green and unripe, Gooseberries are employed in a sauce, +together with bechamel, and aromatic spices, this being taken with +mackerel and other rich fish, as an acid corrective condiment. Also, +from the juice of the [225] green fruit, "which cureth all +inflammations," may be concocted an excellent vinegar. + +Gooseberry-fool, which comes to our tables so acceptably in early +summer, consists of the unripe fruit _foulé_ (that is, crushed or +beaten up) with cream and milk. Similarly the French have a _foulé +des pommes_, and a_ foulé des raisins_. To "play old Gooseberry" +with another man's property is conjectured to mean smashing it up, +and reducing it, as it were, to Gooseberry-fool. + +The young and tender leaves of the shrub, if eaten raw in a salad; +drive forth the gravel. And from the red Gooseberry may be +prepared an excellent light jelly, which is beneficial for sedentary, +plethoric, and bilious subjects. This variety of the fruit, whether +hairy or smooth, is grown largely in Scotland, but in France it is +little cared for. + +The yellow Gooseberry is richer and more vinous of taste, suiting +admirably, when of the smooth sort, for making Gooseberry wine; +which is choice, sparkling, and wholesome, such as that wherewith +Goldsmith's popular _Vicar of Wakefield_ used to regale Farmer +Flamborough and the blind piper, having "lost neither the recipe nor +the reputation." They were soothed in return by the touching ballads +of _Johnny Armstrong's Last Good Night_, and _Cruel Barbara +Allen_. + +Gooseberry Shows are held annually in Lancashire, and excite keen +competition; but after exhibition, the successful berries are "topped +and tailed," so as to disqualify them from being shown elsewhere. +Southey, in _The Doctor_, speaks about an obituary notice in a +former Manchester newspaper, of a man who "bore a severe illness +with Christian fortitude, and was much esteemed among Gooseberry +growers." Prizes are given for the [226] biggest and heaviest berries, +which are produced with immense pains as to manuring, and the +growth of cool chickweed around the roots of the bushes. At the +same time each promising berry is kept submerged in a shallow +vessel of water placed beneath it so as to compel absorption of +moisture, and thus to enlarge its size. Whimsical names, such as +"Golden Lion," "The Jolly Angler," and "Crown Bob," etc., are +bestowed on the prize fruit. Cuttings from the parent plant of a prize +Gooseberry become in great request; and thus the pedigree scions of +a single bush have been known to yield as much as thirty-two +pounds sterling to their possessor. The _Gooseberry Book_ is a +regular Manchester annual. + +A berry weighing as heavy as thirty-seven penny-weight has been +exhibited; and a story is told of a Middleton weaver, who, when a +thunder-storm was gathering, lay awake as if for his life, and at the +first patter of rain against the window panes, rushed to the rescue of +his Gooseberry bushes with his bed quilt. Green Gooseberries will +help to abate the strange longings which sometimes beset pregnant +women. + +In Devon the rustics call Gooseberries "Deberries," and in Sussex +they are familiarly known to village lads as Goosegogs. + +An Irish cure for warts is to prick them with a Gooseberry thorn +passed through a wedding ring. + +By some subtle bodily action wrought through a suggestion made to +the mind, warts undoubtedly disappear as the result of this and +many another equally trivial proceeding; which being so, why not +the more serious skin affections, and larger morbid growths? + +The poet Southey wrote a _Pindaric Ode upon a Gooseberry_ [227] +Pie, beginning "Gooseberry Pie is best," with the refrain:-- + + "And didst thou scratch thy tender arms, + Oh, Jane I that I should dine"? + + + +GOOSEFOOT. + +Among Curative Simples, the Goosefoot, or Chenopod order of +British plants, contributes two useful herbs, the _Chenopodium +bonus Henricus_ (Good King Henry), and the _Chenopodium +vulvaria_ (Stinking Goosefoot). + +This tribe derives its distinctive title from the Greek words, +_cheen_, a goose, and _pous_, a foot, in allusion to the resemblance +borne by its leaves to the webbed members of that waddling bird +which raw recruits are wont to bless for their irksome drill of the +goose-step. Incidentally, it may be said that goosegrease, got from +the roasted bird, is highly emollient, and very useful in clysters; +it also proves easily emetic. + +The Goosefoot herbs are common weeds in most temperate climates, +and grow chiefly in salt marshes, or on the sea-shore. Other plants +of this tribe are esculent vegetables, as the Spinach, Beet, +and Orach. They all afford "soda" in abundance. + +The _Good King Henry_ (Goosefoot) grows abundantly in waste +places near villages, being a dark green, succulent plant, about a +foot high, with thickish arrow-shaped leaves, which are cooked as +spinach, especially in Lincolnshire. It is sometimes called Blite, +from the Greek _bliton_, insipid; and, as Evelyn says, in his +_Acetaria_, "it is well named, being insipid enough." + +Why the said Goosefoot has been named "Good King Henry," or, +"Good King Harry," is a disputed point. A French writer declares +"this humble plant which grows on our plains without culture will +confer a more lasting [228] duration on the memory of _Henri +Quatre_ than the statue of bronze placed on the Pont Neuf, though +fenced with iron, and guarded by soldiers." Dodoeus says the +appellation was given to distinguish the plant from another, a +poisonous one, called _Malus Henricus_, "Bad Henry." Other +authors have referred it to our Harry the Eighth, and his sore legs, +for which the leaves were applied as a remedy; but this idea does +not seem of probable correctness. Frowde tells us "the constant +irritation of his festering legs made his terrible temper still more +dreadful. Warned of his approaching dissolution; and consumed +with the death-thirst, he called for a cup of white wine, and, turning +to one of his attendants; cried, 'All is lost!'--and these were his +last words." The substantive title, _Henricus_, is more likely derived +from "heinrich," an elf or goblin, as indicating certain magical +virtues in the herb. + +It is further known as English Marquery, or Mercury, and _Tota bona_; +or, Allgood, the latter from a conceit of the rustics that it will +cure all hurts; "wherefore the leaves are now a constant plaster +among them for every green wound." It bears small flowers of +sepals only, and is grown by cottagers as a pot herb. The young +shoots peeled and boiled may be eaten as asparagus, and are gently +laxative. The leaves are often made into broth, being applied also +externally by country folk to heal old ulcers; and the roots are given +to sheep having a cough. + +Both here and in Germany this Goosefoot is used for feeding +poultry, and it has hence acquired the sobriquet of Fat-hen. + +The term, English Mercury, has been given because of its excellent +remedial qualities against indigestion, and bears out the proverb: +"Be thou sick or whole, put [229] Mercury in thy koole." Poultices +made from the herb are applied to cleanse and heal chronic sores, +which, as Gerard teaches, "they do scour and mundify." Certain +writers associate it with our _good_ King Henry the Sixth. There is +made in America, from an allied plant, the oak-leaved Goosefoot +(_Chenopodium glaucum_), or from the aphis which infests it, a +medicinal tincture used for expelling round worms. + +The Stinking Goosefoot, called therefore, _Vulvaria_, and _Garosmus_, +grows often on roadsides in England, and is known as Dog's +Orach. It is of a dull, glaucous, or greyish-green aspect, and +invested with a greasy mealiness which when touched exhales a +very odious and enduring smell like that of stale salt fish, this being +particularly attractive to dogs, though swine refuse the plant. It has +been found very useful in hysteria, the leaves being made into a +conserve with sugar; or Dr. Fuller's famous _Electuarium +hystericum_ may be compounded by adding forty-eight drops of oil +of amber (_Oleum succini_) to four ounces of the conserve. Then a +piece of the size of a chestnut should be taken when needed, and +repeated more or less often as required. It further promotes the +monthly flow of women. But the herb is possessed _odoris virosi +intolerabilis_, of a stink which remains long on the hands after +touching it. The whole plant is sprinkled over with the white, +pellucid meal, and contains much "trimethylamine," together with +osmazome, and nitrate of potash; also it gives off free ammonia. +The title, Orach, given to the Stinking Goosefoot, a simple of a +"most ancient, fish-like smell," and to others of the same tribe, is a +corruption of _aurum_, gold, because their seeds were supposed to +cure the ailment known popularly as the "yellow jaundice." These +plants afford no nutriment, [230] and, therefore, each bears the +name, _atriplex_, not, _trephein_, to nourish:-- + + "Atriplicem tritum cum nitro, melle, et aceto + Dicunt appositum calidum sedare podagram + _Ictericis_ dicitque Galenus tollere morbum + Illius semen cum vino saepius haustum." + + "With vinegar, honey, and salt, the Orach + Made hot, and applied, cures a gouty attack; + Whilst its seeds for the jaundice, if mingled with wine, + --As Galen has said--are a remedy fine." + +"Orach is cooling," writes Evelyn, "and allays the pituit humors." +"Being set over the fire, neither this nor the lettuce needs any other +water than their own moisture to boil them in." The Orach hails +from Tartary, and is much esteemed in France. It was introduced +about 1548. + + + +GOOSEGRASS. + +"Goosey, goosey, gander, whither do ye wander?" says an old +nursery rhyme by way of warning to the silly waddling birds not to +venture into hedgerows, else will they become helplessly fettered by +the tough, straggling coils of the Clivers, Goosegrass, or, +Hedgeheriff, growing so freely there, and a sad despoiler of +feathers. + +The medicinal Goosegrass (_Galium aparine_), which is a highly +useful curative Simple, springs up luxuriantly about fields and waste +places in most English districts. It belongs to the Rubiaceous order +of plants, all of which have a root like madder, affording a red dye. +This hardy Goosegrass climbs courageously by its slender, hairy +stems through the dense vegetation of our hedges into open +daylight, having sharp, serrated leaves, and producing small white +flowers, "pearking on the tops of the sprigs." It is one of the +Bedstraw tribe, and bears [231] a number of popular titles, such as +Cleavers, Clithers, Robin run in the grass, Burweed, Loveman, +Gooseherriff, Mutton chops, Clite, Clide, Clitheren, and Goosebill, +from the sharp, serrated leaves, like the rough-edged mandibles of a +goose. + +Its stalks and leaves are covered with little hooked bristles, which +attach themselves to passing objects, and by which it fastens itself in +a ladder-like manner to adjacent shrubs, so as to push its way +upwards in the hedgerows. + +Goosegrass has obtained the sobriquet of Beggar's lice, from +clinging closely to the garments of passers by, as well as because +the small burs resemble these disgusting vermin; again it is known +to some as Harriff, or, Erriff, from the Anglo-Saxon "hedge rife," a +taxgather, or robber, because it plucks the wool from the sheep as +they pass through a hedge; also Grip-grass, Catchweed, and +Scratchweed. Furthermore, this Bedstraw has been called Goose-grease, +from a mistaken belief that obstructive ailments of geese can +be cured therewith. It is really a fact that goslings are extremely +fond of the herb. + +The botanical name, _Aparine_, bears the same meaning, being +derived from the Greek verb, _apairo_, to lay hold of. The generic +term, _Galium_, comes from the Greek word _gala_, milk, which +the herb was formerly employed to curdle, instead of rennet. + +The flowers of this Bedstraw bloom towards August, about the time +of the Feast of the Annunciation, and a legend says they first burst +into blossom at the birth of our Saviour. Bedstraw is, according to +some, a corruption of Beadstraw. It is certain that Irish peasant girls +often repeat their "aves" from the round seeds of the Bedstraw, +using them for beads in the absence of a rosary; [232] and hence, +perhaps, has been derived the name Our Lady's Be(a)dstraw. But +straw (so called from the Latin _sterno_, to strew, or, scatter about) +was formerly employed as bedding, even by ladies of rank: whence +came the expression of a woman recently confined being "in the +straw." Children style the _Galium Aparine_ Whip tongue, and +Tongue-bleed, making use of it in play to draw blood from their +tongues. + +This herb has a special curative reputation with reference to +cancerous growths and allied tumours. For open cancers an +ointment is made from the leaves and stems wherewith to dress the +ulcerated parts, and at the same time the expressed juice of the plant +is given internally. Dr. Tuthill Massy avers that it often produces a +cure in from six to twelve months, and advises that the decoction +shall be drank regularly afterwards in the Springtime. + +Dr. Quinlan, at St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, successfully +employed poultices made with the fresh juice, and applied three +times in the day, to heal chronic ulcers on the legs. Its effects, he +says, in the most unlikely cases, were decisive and plain to all. He +gave directions that whilst a bundle of ten or twelve stalks is +grasped with the left hand, this bundle should be cut into pieces of +about half-an-inch long, by a pair of scissors held in the right hand. +The segments are then to be bruised thoroughly in a mortar, and +applied in the mass as a poultice beneath a bandage. + +Dr. Thornton, in his excellent _Herbal_ (1810), says: "After some +eminent surgeons had failed, he ordered the juice of Cleavers, mixed +with linseed, to be applied to the breast, in cases of supposed cancer +of that part, with a teaspoonful of the juice to be taken every night +and morning whilst fasting; by which plan, after a short [233] time, +he dispersed very frightful tumours in the breast." + +The herb is found, on analysis, to contain three distinct acids--the +tannic acid (of galls), the citric acid (of lemons), and the special +rubichloric acid of the plant. + +"In cancer," says Dr. Boyce, "five fluid ounces of the fresh juice of +the plant are to be taken twice a day, whilst constantly applying the +bruised leaves, or their ointment, to the sore." + +Some of our leading druggists now furnish curative preparations +made from the fresh herb. These include the _succus_, or juice, to +be swallowed; the decoction, to be applied as a lotion; and the +ointment, for curative external use. Both in England and elsewhere +the juice of this Goosegrass constitutes one of the Spring juices +taken by country people for scorbutic complaints. And not only for +cancerous disease, but for many other foul, illconditioned ulcers, +whether scrofulous or of the scurvy nature, this Goosegrass has +proved itself of the utmost service, its external application being at +all times greatly assisted by the internal use of the juice, or of a +decoction made from the whole herb. + +By reason of its acid nature; this Galium is astringent, and therefore +of service in some bleedings, as well as in diarrhoea, and for +obesity. + +Gerard writes: "The herb, stamped with swine's grease, wasteth +away the kernels by the throat; and women do usually make pottage +of Cleavers with a little mutton and oatmeal, to cause leanness, and +to keep them from fatness." Dioscorides reported that: "Shepherds +do use the herb to take hairs out of the milk, if any remain therein." + +Considered generally, the _Galium aparine_ exercises acid, astringent, +and diuretic effects, whilst it is of [234] special value +against epilepsy, and cancerous sores, as already declared; +being curative likewise of psoriasis, eczema, lepra, and other +cutaneous diseases. The dose of the authorised officinal juice +is from one to two teaspoonfuls, and from five to twenty grains of +the prepared extract. + +The title _Galium_ borne by Bedstraws has been derived from the +Greek _gala_, milk, because they all possess to some extent the +power of curdling milk when added to it. Similarly the appellation +"Cheese rennet," or, Cheese running (from _gerinnen_, to +coagulate), is given to these plants. Highlanders make special use of +the common Yellow Bedstraw for this purpose, and to colour their +cheese. + +From the Yellow Bedstraw (_Galium verum_), which is abundant +on dry banks chiefly near the sea, and which may be known by its +diminutive, puffy stems, and its small golden flowers, closely +clustered together in dense panicles, "an ointment," says Gerard, "is +prepared, which is good for anointing the weary traveller." + +Because of its bright yellow blossoms, this herb is also named +"Maid's hair," resembling the loose, unsnooded, golden hair of +maidens. In Henry VIII's reign "maydens did wear silken callis to +keep in order their hayre made yellow with dye." For a like reason +the Yellow Bedstraw has become known as "Petty mugget," from +the French _petit muguet_, a little dandy, as applied in ridicule to +effeminate young men, the _Jemmy Jessamies_, or "mashers" of the +period. Old herbalists affirmed that the root of this same Bedstraw, +if drunk in wine, stimulates amorous desires, and that the flowers, if +long smelt at, will produce a similar effect. + +This is, _par excellence_, the Bedstraw of _our Lady_, who [235] +gave birth to her son, says the legend, in a stable, with nothing but +wild flowers for the bedding. + +Thus, in the old Latin hymn, she sings right sweetly:-- + + "Lectum stravi tibi soli: dormi, nate bellule! + Stravi lectum foeno molli: dormi, mi animule! + Ne quid desit sternam rosis: sternam foenum violis, + Pavimentum hyacinthis; et praesepe liliis." + + "Sleep, sweet little babe, on the bed I have spread thee; + Sleep, fond little life, on the straw scattered o'er! + 'Mid the petals of roses, and pansies I've laid thee, + In crib of white lilies; blue bells on the floor." + + + +GOUTWEED. + +A passing word should certainly be given to the Goutweed, or, +Goatweed, among Herbal Simples. It is, though but little regarded, +nevertheless, a common and troublesome garden weed, of the +Umbelliferous tribe, and thought to possess certain curative virtues. +Botanically it is the _OEgopodium podagraria_, signifying, by the +first of these names, Goatsfoot, and by the second, a specific power +against gout. The plant is also known as Herb Gerard, because +dedicated to St. Gerard, who was formerly invoked to cure gout, +against which this herb was employed. Also it has been named Ashweed, +wild Master-wort, and Gout-wort. The herb grows about a foot high, +with white flowers in umbels, having large, thrice-ternate, +aromatic leaves, and a creeping root. These leaves are sometimes +boiled, and eaten, but they possess a strong, disagreeable +flavour. Culpeper says: "It is not to be supposed that Goutweed hath +its name for nothing; but upon experiment to heal the gout, and +sciatica; as also joint aches, and other cold griefs; _the very bearing +it about one_ [236] _easeth the pains of the gout, and defends him +that bears it from disease_." Hill recommends the root and fresh +buds of the leaves as excellent in fomentations and poultices for +pains; and the leaves, when boiled soft, together with the roots, for +application about the hip in sciatica. + +No chemical analysis of the Goutweed is yet on record. + +"Herbe Gerard groweth of itself in gardens without setting, or +sowing; and is so fruitful in his increase that where once it hath +taken root, it will hardly be gotten out again, spoiling and getting +every yeere more ground--to the annoying of better herbes." + + + +GRAPES (see also VINE). + +Grapes, the luscious and refreshing fruit of the Vine, possess certain +medicinal properties and virtues which give them a proper place +among Herbal Simples. The name Vine comes from _viere_, to +twist, being applied with reference to the twining habits of the +parent stock; as likewise to "with," and "withy." + +The fruit consists of pulp, stones, and skin. Within the pulp is +contained the grape sugar, which differs in some respects +chemically from cane sugar, and which is taken up straightway into +our circulation when eaten, without having to be changed slowly by +the saliva, as is the case with cane sugar. Therefore it happens that +the grape sugar warms and fattens speedily, with a quick repair of +waste, when the strength and the structures are consumed by fever, +Grapes then being most grateful to the sufferer. But they do not suit +inflammatory subjects at other times, or gouty persons at any time, +as well as cane sugar, which has to undergo slower chemical +conversion before it furnishes heat and [237] sustenance. And in this +respect, grape sugar closely resembles the glucose, or sweet +principle of honey. + +The fruit also contains a certain quantity of "fruit sugar," which is +chemically identical with cane sugar; and, because of the special +syrupy juice of its pulp, the Grape adapts itself to quick alcoholic +fermentation. + +The important ingredients of Grapes are sugar (grape and fruit), gum, +tannin, bitartrate of potash, sulphate of potash, tartrate of lime, +magnesia, alum, iron, chlorides of potassium and sodium, tartaric, +citric, racemic, and malic acids, some albumen, and azotized +matters, with water. + +But the wine grower is glad to see his _must_ deposit the greater +part of these chemical ingredients in the "tartar," a product much +disliked, and therefore named _Sal Tartari_, or Hell Salt; and +_Cremor Tartari_, Hell Scum (Cream of Tartar). + +In Italy, the vine furnishes oil as well as wine, this being extracted +from the grape stones, and reckoned superior to any other sort, +whether for the table or for purposes of lighting. It has no odour, +and burns without smoke. The stones also yield volatile essences, +which are developed by crushing, and which give bouquet to the +several wines, whilst the skin affords colouring matter and tannin, +of more or less astringency. + +Grapes supply but little actual nutritious matter for building up the +solid structures of the body; they act as gentle laxatives; though +their stones, and the leaves of the vine, are astringent. These latter +were formerly employed to stop bleedings, and when dried and +powdered, for arresting dysentery in cattle. + +In Egypt the leaves are used, when young and tender, for enveloping +balls of hashed meat, at good tables. The [238] sap of the vine, +named _lacryma_, "a tear," is an excellent application to weak eyes, +and for specs of the cornea. The juice of the unripe fruit, which is +verjuice (as well as that of the wild crabapple), was much esteemed +by the ancients, and is still in good repute for applying to bruises +and sprains. + +When taken in any quantity, Grapes act freely on the kidneys, and +promote a flow of urine. The vegetable acids of the fruit become +used up as such, and are neutralised in the system by combining +with the earthy salts found therein, and they pass off in the urine as +alkaline carbonates. With full-blooded, excitable persons, grapes in +any quantity are apt to produce palpitation, and to quicken the +circulation for a time. Also with persons of slow and feeble +energies, having a languid digestion (and especially if predisposed +to acid fermentation in the stomach), Grapes are apt to disagree. +They send their glucose straightway into the circulation combined +with acids found in the stomach, and create considerable distress of +heartburn and dyspepsia. "Thus," says Dr. King Chambers, "is +generated acidity of the stomach, parent of gout, and of all its +hideous crew." Likewise wine, especially if sweet, new, or +full-bodied, when taken by such persons at a meal, is absorbed but +slowly by the stomach, and much of the sugar, with some alcohol, +becomes converted by fermentation into acetic acid, which further +causes the oily ingredients in the food which has been swallowed to +turn rancid. "Things sweet to taste prove to digestion sour." But +otherwise, with a person in good health, and not given to gout or +rheumatism, Grapes are an excellent food for supplying warmth as +combustion material, by their ready-made sugar; whilst the essential +flavours of the fruit are cordial, and [239] whilst a surplus of the +glucose serves to form fat for storage. + +What is known as the _Grape-cure_, is pursued in the Tyrol, in +Bavaria, on the banks of the Rhine, and elsewhere--the sick person +being ordered to eat from three to six pounds of grapes a day. But +the relative proportions of the sugar and acids in the various kinds +of grapes have important practical bearings on the results obtained, +determining whether wholesome purgation shall follow, or whether +tonic and fattening effects shall be produced. In the former case, +sufferers from sluggish liver and torpid biliary functions, with +passive local congestions, will benefit most by taking the grapes not +fully ripe, and not completely sweet; whilst in the latter instance, +those invalids will gain special help from ripe and sweet grapes, +who require quick supplies of animal heat and support to resist rapid +waste of tissue, as in chronic catarrh of the lungs, or mucous catarrh +of the bowels. + +The most important constituent to be determined is the quantity of +grape sugar, which varies according to the greater or less warmth of +the climate. Tokay Grapes are the sweetest; next are those of +southern France; then of Moselle, Bohemia, and Heidelberg; whilst +the fruit of the Vine in Spain, Italy, and Madeira, is not commended +for curative purposes. The Grapes are eaten three, four, or five times +a day, during the promenade; those which are not sweet produce a +diuretic and laxative effect; seeing, moreover, that their reaction is +alkaline, the "cure" thereby is particularly suitable for persons +troubled with gravel and acid gout. + +After losses of blood, and in allied states of exhaustion, the +restorative powers of the grape-cure are often [240] strikingly +exhibited. Formerly, the German doctors kept their patients, when +under this mode of treatment, almost entirely without other food. +But it is now found that light, wholesome nourishment, properly +chosen, and taken at regular times, even with some moderate +allowance of Bordeaux wine, may be permitted in useful conjunction +with the grapes. Children do not, as a rule, bear the grape-cure +well. One sort of grape, the Bourdelas, or Verjus, being +intensely sour when green, is never allowed to ripen, but its large +berries are made to yield their acid liquor for use instead of vinegar +or lemon juice, in sauces, drinks, and medicinal preparations. + +A vinegar poultice, applied cold, is an effectual remedy for sprains +and bruises, and will arrest the progress of scrofulous enlargements +of bones. It may be made with vinegar and oatmeal, or with the +addition of bread crumb."--_Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica_, 1794. + +"Other fruits may please the palate equally well, but it is the +proud prerogative of the kingly grape to minister also to the mind." +This served to provide one of the earliest offerings to the Deity, +seeing that "Bread and wine were brought forth to Abraham by +Melchisedec, the Priest of the Most High God." + +The Vine (_Vitis vinifera_) was almost always to the front in the +designs drawn by the ancients. Thus, miniatures and dainty little +pictures were originally encircled with representations of its foliage, +and we still name such small exquisite illustrations, "vignettes," +from the French word, _vigne_. + +The large family of Muscat grapes get their distinctive title not +because of any flavour of musk attached to them, but because the +sweet berries are particularly attractive to flies (muscre), a reason +which [241] induced the Romans to name this variety, Vitis apiaria. +"_On attrape plus de mouches avec le miel qu' avec le vinaigre_"-- +say the French. + +In Portugal, grape juice is boiled down with quinces into a sort of +jam--the progenitor of all marmalades. The original grape vine is +supposed to have been indigenous to the shores of the Caspian Sea. + +If eaten to excess, especially by young persons, grapes will make +the tongue and the lining membrane of the mouth sore, just as honey +often acts. For this reason, both grapes and honey do good to the +affection known as thrush, with sore raw mouth, and tongue in +ulcerative white patches, coming on as a derangement of the health. + + + +GRASSES. + +Our abundant English grasses furnish nutritious herbage and +farinaceous seeds, whilst their stems and leaves prove useful for +textile purposes. Furthermore, some few of them possess distinctive +medicinal virtues, with mucilaginous roots, and may be properly +classed among Herbal Simples. + +The Sweet-scented Vernal Grass (Anthoxanthum, with Yellow +Anthers) gives its delightfully characteristic odour to newly mown +meadow hay, and has a pleasant aroma of Woodruff. But it is +specially provocative of hay fever and hay asthma with persons +liable to suffer from these distressing ailments. Accordingly, a +medicinal tincture is made (H.) from this grass with spirit of wine, +and if some of the same is poured into the open hand-palms for the +volatile aroma to be sniffed well into the nose and throat, immediate +relief is afforded during an attack. At the same time three or four +drops of the tincture should be taken as a dose with water, and [242] +repeated at intervals of twenty or thirty minutes, as needed. + +The flowers contain "coumarin," and their volatile pollen +impregnates the atmosphere in early summer. The sweet perfume is +due chiefly to benzoic acid, such as is used for making scented +pastilles, or Ribbon of Bruges for fumigation. + +Again, the Couch Grass, Dog Grass, or Quilch (_Triticum repens_) +found freely in road-sides, fields, and waste places, has been +employed from remote times as a vulnerary, and to relieve +difficulties of urination. Our English wheat has been evolved +therefrom. + +In modern days its infusion--of the root--is generally regarded as a +soothing diuretic, helpful to the bladder and kidneys. Formerly, this +was a popular drink to purify the blood in the Spring. But no special +constituents have been discovered in the root besides a peculiar +sugar, a gum-like principle, _triticin_, and some lactic acid. The +decoction may be made from the whole fresh plant, or from the +dried root sliced, two to four ounces being put in a quart of water, +reduced to a pint by boiling. A wineglassful of this may be given for +a dose. It certainly palliates irritation of the urinary passages, and +helps to relieve against gravel. A liquid extract is also dispensed by +the druggists, of which from one to two teaspoonfuls are given in +water. + +The French specially value this grass for its stimulating fragrancy of +vanilla and rose perfumes in the decoction. They use the Cocksfoot +Grass (_Dactylis_), or _pied de poule_, in a similar way, and for the +same purposes. + +Also the "bearded Darnel," _Lolium temulentum_ ("intoxicated"), a +common grass-weed in English cornfields, will produce medicinally +all the symptoms of drunkenness. The French call it _Ivraie_ for this +reason, and [243] with us it is known as Ray Grass, or in some +provincial districts as "Cheat." The old Sages supposed it to cause +blindness, hence with the Romans, _lolio victitare_, to live on +Darnel, was a phrase applied to a dim-sighted person. Gerard says, +"the new bread wherein Darnell is eaten hot, causeth drunkenness." + +From _lolium_ the term Lollard given in reproach to the Waldenses, +and the followers of Wickliffe, indicated that they were pernicious +weeds choking and destroying the pure wheat of the gospel. Milne +says the expression in Matthew xiii. v. 25, would have been better +translated "darnel" than "tares." + +A general trembling, followed by inability to walk, hindered speech, +and presently profound sleep, with subsequent headache and +vomiting, are the symptoms produced by Darnel when taken in a +harmful quantity. So that medicinally a tincture of the plant may be +expected, if given in small diluted doses, to quickly dispel +intoxication from alcoholic drinks; also to prove useful for +analogous congestion of the brain coming on as an illness, and for +dimness of vision. Chemically, it contains an acrid fixed oil, and a +yellow glucoside. + +There is some reason to suspect that the old custom of using Darnel +to adulterate malt and distilled liquors has not been wholly +abandoned. Farmers in Devonshire are fond of the Ray Grass, which +they call "Eaver" or "Iver"; and "Devon-ever" is noted likewise in +Somersetshire. + + + +GROUNDSEL. + +Common Groundsel is so well known throughout Great Britain, that +it needs scarcely any description. It is very prolific, and found in +every sort of cultivated ground, being a small plant of the Daisy +tribe, but without any [244] outer white rays to its yellow +flower-heads. These are compact little bundles, at first of a dull +yellow colour, until presently the florets fall off and leave the +white woolly pappus of the seeds collected together, somewhat +resembling the hoary hairs of age. They have suggested the name +of the genus "senecio," from the Latin _senex_, an old man:-- + + "Quod canis simili videatur flore capillis; + Cura facit canos quamvis vir non habet annos." + + "With venerable locks the Groundsel grows; + Hard care more quick than years white head-gear shows." + +In the fifteenth century this herb went by the name of Grondeswyle, +from _grund_, ground, and _swelgun_, to swallow, and to this day it +is called in Scotland Grundy Swallow, or Ground Glutton. + +Not being attractive to insects or visited by them the Groundsel is +fertilized by the wind. It flowers throughout the whole year, and is +the favourite food of many small birds, being thus given to canaries, +and to other domesticated songsters. + +The weed, named at first "Ascension," is called in the Eastern +counties by corruption "Senshon" and "Simson." Its leaves are fleshy, +with a bitter saline taste, whilst the juice is slightly acrid, but +emollient. In this country farriers give it to horses for bot-worms, +and in Germany it is employed as a vermifuge for children. A weak +infusion of the whole plant with boiling water makes a simple and +easy purgative dose, but a strong infusion will act as an emetic. For +the former purpose two drachms by weight of the fresh plant should +be boiled in four fluid ounces of water, and the same decoction +serves as a useful gargle for a [245] sore throat from catarrh. +Chemically it contains senecin and seniocine. + +In the hands of Simplers the Groundsel formerly held high rank as a +herb of power. Au old herbal prescribes against toothache to "dig up +Groundsel with a tool that hath no iron in it, and touch the tooth five +times with the plant, then spit thrice after each touch, and the cure +will be complete." Hill says "the fresh roots if smelled when first +taken out of the ground, are an immediate cure for many forms of +headache." To apply the bruised leaves will serve for preventing +boils, and the plant, if taken as a sallet with vinegar, is good for +sadness of the heart. Gerard says "Women troubled with the mother +(womb) are much eased by baths made of the leaves, and flowers of +this, and the kindred Ragworts." + +A decoction of Groundsel serves as a famous application for healing +chapped hands. In Cornwall if the herb is to be used as an emetic +they strip it upwards, if for a purgative downwards. "Lay by your +learned receipts," writes Culpeper, "this herb alone shall do the deed +for you in all hot diseases, first safely, second speedily." + + + +HAWTHORN (Whitethorn). + +The Hawthorn, or Whitethorn, is so welcome year by year as a +harbinger of Summer, by showing its wealth of sweet-scented, +milk-white blossoms, in our English hedgerows, that everyone rejoices +when the Mayflower comes into bloom. Its brilliant haws, or fruit, +later on are a botanical advance on the blackberry and wild +raspberry, which belong to the same natural order. It has promoted +itself to the possession of a single carpel or seed-vessel to each +blossom, producing a [246] separate fruit, this being a stony apple in +miniature. + +But the word "haw" is misapplied, because it really means a +"hedge," and not a fruit; whilst "hips," which are popularly +connected with "haws," are the fruit-capsules of the wild Dog-rose. +Haws, when dried, make an infusion which will act on the kidneys; +they are astringent, and serve, as well as the flowers, in decoction, +to cure a sore throat. + +The Hawthorn bush was chosen by Henry the Seventh for his +device, because a small crown from the helmet of Richard the Third +was discovered hanging thereon. Hence arose the legend "Cleve to +thy crown though it hangs on a bush." In some districts it is called +Hazels, Gazels, and Halves; and in many country places the +villagers believe that the blossom of the Hawthorn still bears the +smell of the great plague of London. It was formerly thought to be +scathless--a tree too sacred to be touched. + +Botanically, the Hawthorn is called _Cratoegus oxyacantha_, these +names signifying _kratos_, strength or hardness (of the wood); and +_oxus_, sharp--_akantha_, a thorn. It is the German _Hage-dorn_ or +Hedge thorn, showing that from a very early period in the history of +the Germanic races, their land was divided into plots by means of +hedges. + +The Hawthorn is also named Whitethorn, from the whiteness of its +rind; and Quickset from its growing in a hedge as a "quick" or living +shrub, when contrasted with a paling of dead wood. An old English +name for the buds of the Hawthorn when just expanding, was +Ladies' Meat; and in Sussex it is called the Bread and Cheese tree. + +In many parts of England charms or incantations are [247] +employed to prevent a thorn from festering in the flesh, as:-- + + "Happy the man that Christ was born, + He was crowned with a thorn, + He was pierced through the skin + For to let the poison in; + But His five wounds, so they say, + Closed before He passed away; + In with healing, out with thorn! + Happy man that Christ was born." + +The flowers are fertilised for the most part by carrion insects, and a +certain undertone of decomposition may be detected (says Grant +Allen) by keen nostrils in the scent of the Mayflower. It is this +curious element, in what seems otherwise a pure and delicious +perfume, which attracts the meat-eating insects, or rather those +insects which lay their eggs and hatch out their larvae in decaying +animal matter. The meat-fly comes first abroad just at the time when +the Mayblossom breaks into bloom. + +A Greek bride was sometimes decked with a sprig of Hawthorn, as +emblematic of a flowery future, with thorns intermingled. It is +supposed that "the Jewes maden," for our Saviour, "a croune of the +branches of Albespyne, that is, Whitethorn, that grew in the same +garden, and therefore hath the Whitethorn many vertues" being +called in France _l'epine noble_. + +The shadows in the moon are popularly thought to represent a man +laden with a bundle of thorns in punishment of theft:-- + + "Rusticus in lunâ quem sarcina deprimit una, + Monstrat per spinas nulli prodesse rapinas." + + "A thievish clown by cruel thorns opprest + Shows in the moon that honesty pays best." + + + +[248] HEMLOCK and HENBANE. + +The Spotted Hemlock (_Conium maculatum_), and the Sickly-smelling +Henbane (_Hyoscyamus niger_), are plants of common wild growth +throughout England, especially the former, and are well known +to everyone familiar with our Herbal Simples. But each is so +highly narcotic as a medicine, and yet withal so safely useful +externally to allay pain, as well as to promote healing, that their +outward remedial forms of application must not be overlooked +among our serviceable herbs. Nevertheless, for internal +administration, these herbs lie altogether beyond the pale of +domestic uses, except in the hands of a doctor. + +The Hemlock is an umbelliferous plant of frequent growth in our +hedges and roadsides, with tall, hollow stalks, powdered blue at the +bottom, whilst smooth and splashed about with spotty streaks of a +reddish purple. It possesses foliage resembling that of the garden +carrot, but feathery and more delicately divided. + +The name has been got from _healm_, or _haulm_, straw, and _leac_, +a plant, because of the dry hollow stalks which remain after +flowering is done. In Kent and Essex, the Hemlock is called +Kecksies, and the stalks are spoken of as Hollow Kecksies. + +Keckis, or Kickes, of Humblelockis are mentioned by our oldest +herbalists. In a book about herbs, of the fourteenth century, two +sorts of Hemlock are specified--one being the Grete Homeloc, +which is called "Kex," or "Wode Whistle," being of no use except +for poor men's fuel, and children's play. + +Botanically, it bears the name of _Conium maculatum_ (spotted), +the first of these words coming from the Greek, _konos_, a top, and +having reference to the giddiness which the juice of hemlock causes +toxically in the [249] human brain. The unripe fruit of this plant +possesses its peculiar medicinal properties in a greater degree than +any other part, and the juice expressed therefrom is more reliably +medicinal than the tincture made with spirit of wine, from the whole +plant. + +Soil, situation, and the time of year, materially affect the potency of +Hemlock. Being a biennial plant, it is not poisonous in this country +to cattle during the first year, if they eat its leaves. + +The herb is always uncertain of action unless gathered of the true +"maculatum" sort, when beginning to flower. Its juice should be +thickened in a water bath, or the leaves carefully dried, and kept in a +well-stoppered bottle, not exposed to the light. Cole says, "if asses +chance to feed on Hemlock, they will fall so fast asleep that they +seem to be dead, insomuch that some, thinking them to be dead +indeed, have flayed off their skins; yet after the Hemlock had done +operating they had stirred and wakened out of their sleep." + +The dried leaves of the plant, if put into a small bag, and steeped in +boiling water for a few minutes, and then applied hot to a gouty +part, will quickly relieve the pain; also, they will help to soften the +hard concretions which form about gouty joints. If the fresh juice of +the Hemlock is evaporated to a thick syrup, and mixed with lanoline +(the fat of sheep's wool), to make an ointment, it will afford +wonderful relief to severe itching within and around the fundament; +but it must be thoroughly applied. For a poultice some of this +thickened juice may be added to linseed meal and boiling water, +previously mixed well together. + +Conium plasters were formerly employed to dry up the breast milk, +and are now found of service to subdue palpitations of the heart. + +[250] An extract of Hemlock, blended with potash, is kept by the +chemists, to be mixed with boiling water, for inhalation to ease a +troublesome spasmodic cough, or an asthmatic attack. In Russia and +the Crimea, this plant is so inert as to be edible; whereas in the +South of Europe it is highly poisonous. + +Chemically, the toxic action of Hemlock depends on its alkaloids, +"coniine," and "methyl-coniine." + +Vinegar has proved useful in neutralising the poisonous effects of +Hemlock, and it is said if the plant is macerated or boiled in vinegar +it becomes altogether inert. + +For inhalation to subdue whooping-cough, three or four grains of +the extract should be mixed with a pint of boiling water in a suitable +inhaler, so that the medicated vapour may be inspired through the +mouth and nostrils. + +To make a Hemlock poultice, when the fresh plant cannot be +procured, mix an ounce of powdered hemlock leaves (from the +druggist) with three ounces of linseed meal; then gradually add half +a pint of boiling water whilst constantly stirring. + +Herb gatherers sometimes mistake the wild Cicely (_Myrrhis +odorata_) for the Hemlock; but this Cicely has a furrowed stem +without spots, and is hairy, with a highly aromatic flavour. The +bracts of Hemlock, at the base of the umbels, go only half way +round the stem. The rough Chervil is also spotted, but hairy, and its +stem is swollen below each joint. Under proper medical advice, the +extract and the juice of Hemlock may be most beneficially given +internally in cancer, and as a nervine sedative. + +The Hemlock was esteemed of old as _Herba Benedicta_, a blessed +herb, because "where the root is in the house [251] the devil can do +no harm, and if anyone should carry the plant about on his person +no venomous beast can harm him." The Eleusinian priests who were +required to remain chaste all their lives, had the wisdom to rub +themselves with Hemlock. + +Poultices may be made exclusively with the fresh leaves (which +should be gathered in June) or with the dried leaflets when +powdered, for easing and healing cancerous sores. Baron Stoerck +first brought the plant into repute (1760) as a medicine of +extraordinary efficacy for curing inveterate scirrhus, cancer, and +ulcers, such as were hitherto deemed irremediable. + +Likewise the _Cicuta virosa_, or Water Hemlock, has proved +curative to many similar glandular swellings. This is also an +umbelliferous plant, which grows commonly on the margins of +ditches and rivers in many parts of England. It gets its name from +_cicuta_ (a shepherd's pipe made from a reed), because of its hollow +stems. Being hurtful to cows it has acquired the title of Cowbane. + +The root when incised secretes from its wounded bark a yellow +juice of a narcotic odour and acrid taste. This has been applied +externally with benefit for scirrhous cancer, and to ease the pain of +nervous gout. But when taken internally it is dangerous, being likely +to provoke convulsions, or to produce serious narcotic effects. +Nevertheless, goats eat the herb with impunity:-- + + "Nam videre licet pinguescere soepe cicutam, + Barbigeras pecudes; hominique est acre venenum." + +The leaves smell like celery or parsley, these being most toxical in +summer, and the root in spring. The potency of the plant depends on +its cicutoxin, a principle derived from the resinous constituents, and +[252] which powerfully affects the organic functions through the +spinal cord. It was either this or the Spotted Hemlock, which was +used as the State poison of the Greeks for causing the death of +Socrates. + +For a fomentation with the Water Hemlock half-a-pound of the fresh +leaves, or three ounces of the dried leaves should be boiled in three +pints of water down to a quart; and this will be found very helpful +for soothing and healing painful cancerous, or scrofulous sores. +Also the juice of the herb mixed with hot lard, and strained, will +serve a like useful purpose. + +For pills of the herb take of its inspissated juice half-an-ounce, and +of the finely powdered plant enough when mixed together to make +from forty to sixty pills. Then for curing cancer, severe scrofula, +or syphilitic sores, give from one to twenty of these pills in +twenty-four hours (_Pharmacopeia Chirurgica_, 1794). + +An infusion of the plant will serve when carefully used, to relieve +nervous and sick headache. If the fresh, young, tender leaves are +worn under the soles of the feet, next the skin, and are renewed once +during the day, they will similarly assuage the discomfort of a +nervous headache. The oil with which the herb abounds is not +poisonous. + +The _Black Henbane_ grew almost everywhere about England, in +Gerard's day, by highways, in the borders of fields, on dunghills, +and in untoiled places. But now it has become much less common as +a rustic herb in this country. We find it occasionally in railway +cuttings, and in rubbish on waste places, chiefly on chalky ground, +and particularly near the sea. The plant is biennial, rather large, +and dull of aspect, with woolly sea-green leaves, and bearing +bell-shaped flowers of a lurid, creamy colour, streaked and spotted +with purple. It [253] is one of the Night-shade tribe, having a heavy, +oppressive, sub-fetid odour, and being rather clammy to the touch. +This herb is also called Hogsbean, and its botanical name, +_Hyoscyamus_, signifies "the bean of the hog," which animal eats it +with impunity, though to mankind it is a poisonous plant. It has +been noticed in Sherwood Forest, that directly the turf is pared +Henbane springs up. + +"To wash the feet," said Gerard, "in a decoction of Henbane, as also +the often smelling to the flowers, causeth sleep." Similarly famous +anodyne necklaces were made from the root, and were hung about +the necks of children to prevent fits, and to cause an easy breeding +of the teeth. From the leaves again was prepared a famous sorcerer's +ointment. "These, the seeds, and the juice," says Gerard, "when +taken internally, cause an unquiet sleep, like unto the sleep of +drunkenness, which continueth long, and is deadly to the patient." + +The herb was known to the ancients, being described by Dioscorides +and Celsus. Internally, it should only be prescribed by a physician, +and is then of special service for relieving irritation of the bladder, +and to allay maniacal excitement, as well as to subdue spasm. + +The fresh leaves crushed, and applied as a poultice, will quickly +relieve local pains, as of gout or neuralgia. In France the plant is +called _Jusquiame_, and in Germany it is nicknamed Devil's-eye. + +The chemical constituents of Henbane are "hyoscyamine," a volatile +alkaloid, with a bitter principle, "hyoscypricin" (especially just +before flowering), also nitrate of potash, which causes the leaves, +when burnt, to sparkle with a deflagration, and other inorganic salts. +The seeds contain a whitish, oily albumen. + +The leaves and viscid stem are produced only in [254] each second +year. The juice when dropped into the eye will dilate the pupil. + +Druggists prepare this juice of the herb, and an extract; also, they +dispense a compound liniment of Henbane, which, when applied to +the skin-surface on piline, is of great service for relieving obstinate +rheumatic pains. + +In some rural districts the cottony leaves of Henbane are smoked for +toothache, like tobacco, but this practice is not free from risk of +provoking convulsions, and even of causing insanity. + +Gerard writes, with regard to the use of the seed of Henbane by +mountebanks, for obstinate toothache: "Drawers of teeth who run +about the country and pretend they cause worms to come forth from +the teeth by burning the seed in a chafing dish of coals, the party +holding his mouth over the fume thereof, do have some crafty +companions who convey small lute strings into the water, +persuading the patient that those little creepers came out of his +mouth, or other parts which it was intended to ease." Forestus says: +"These pretended worms are no more than an appearance of worms +which is always seen in the smoak of Henbane seed." + + "Sic dentes serva; porrorum collige grana: + No careas thure; cum _hyoscyamo_ ure: + Sic que per embotum fumun cape dente remotum." + _Regimen sanitatis salernitanum_ (Translated 1607). + + "If in your teeth you happen to be tormented, + By means some little worms therein do brede, + Which pain (if need be tane) may be prevented + By keeping cleane your teeth when as ye fead. + Burn Frankonsence (a gum not evil scented), + Put Henbane into this, and onyon seed, + And with a tunnel to the tooth that's hollow, + Convey the smoke thereof, and ease shall follow." + +[255] By older writers, the Henbane was called Henbell and +Symphonica, as implying its resemblance to a ring of bells +(_Symphonia_), which is struck with a hammer. It has also been +named _Faba Jovis_ (Jupiter's bean). Only within recent times has +the suffix "bell" given place to "bane," because the seeds are fatal to +poultry and fish. In some districts horsedealers mix the seed of +Henbane with their oats, in order to fatten the animals. + +An instance is narrated where the roots of Henbane were cooked by +mistake at a monastery for the supper of its inmates, and produced +most strange results. One monk would insist on ringing the large +bell at midnight, to the alarm of the neighbourhood; whilst of those +who came to prayers at the summons, several could not read at all, +and others read anything but what was contained in their breviaries. + +Some authors suppose that this is the noxious herb intended by +Shakespeare, in the play of _Hamlet_, when the ghost of the +murdered king makes plaint, that: + + "Sleeping within mine orchard, + My custom always of the afternoon, + Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, + With juice of cursed _hebenon_ in a vial, + And in the porches of mine ear did pour + The leprous distilment." + +But others argue more correctly that the name used here is a varied +form of that by which the yew is known in at least five of the Gothic +languages, and which appears in Marlow and other Elizabethan +writers, as "hebon." "This tree," says Lyte, "is altogether venomous +and against man's nature; such as do but only sleepe under the +shadow thereof, become sicke, and sometimes they die." + + + +[256] HONEY. + +Being essentially of floral origin, and a vegetable product endowed +with curative properties, Honey may be fairly ranked among Herbal +Simples. Indeed, it is the nectar of flowers, partaking closely of +their flavours and odours, whilst varying in taste, colour, scent, +and medicinal attributes, according to the species of the plant from +which it is produced. + +The name Honey has been derived from a Hebrew word _ghoneg_, +which means literally "delight." Historically, this substance dates +from the oldest times of the known world. We read in the book of +Genesis, that the land of Canaan where Abraham dwelt, was +flowing with milk and honey; and in the Mosaic law were statutes +regulating the ownership of bees. + +Among the ancients Honey was used for embalming the dead, and it +is still found contained in their preserved coffins. + +Aristoeus, a pupil of Chiron, first gathered Honey from the comb, +and it was the basis of the seasoning of Apicius: whilst Pythagoras, +who lived to be ninety, took latterly only bread and Honey. +"Whoever wishes," said an old classic maxim, "to preserve his +health, should eat every morning before breakfast young onions +with honey." + +Tacitus informs us that our German ancestors gave credit for their +great strength and their long lives to the Mead, or Honey-beer, on +which they regaled themselves. Pliny tells of Rumilius Pollio, who +enjoyed marvellous health arid vitality, when over a hundred years +old. On being presented to the Emperor Augustus, who enquired +what was the secret of his wondrous longevity, Pollio answered, +"_Interus melle, exterus oleo_, the eating of Honey, and anointing +with oil." + +[257] At the feasts of the gods, described by Ovid, the delicious +Honey-cakes were never wanting, these being made of meal, Honey, +and oil, whilst corresponding in number to the years of the devout +offerer. + +Pure Honey contains chemically about seventy per cent. of glucose +(analogous to grape sugar) or the crystallizable part which sinks +to the bottom of the jar, whilst the other portion above, which is +non-crystallizable, is levulose, or fruit sugar, almost identical with +the brown syrup of the sugar cane, but less easy of digestion. Hence, +the proverb has arisen "of oil the top, of wine the middle, of Honey +the bottom." + +The odour of Honey is due to a volatile oil associated with a yellow +colouring matter _melichroin_, which is separated by the floral +nectaries, and becomes bleached on exposure to the sunlight. A +minute quantity of an animal acid lends additional curative value for +sore throat, and some other ailments. + +Honey has certain claims as a food which cane sugar does not +possess. It is a heat former, and a producer of vital energy, both in +the human subject, and in the industrious little insect which collects +the luscious fodder. Moreover, it is all ready for absorption +straightway into the blood after being eaten, whereas cane sugar +must be first masticated with the saliva, or spittle, and converted +somewhat slowly into honey sugar before it can be utilised for the +wants of the body. In this way the superiority of Honey over cane +sugar is manifested, and it may be readily understood why grapes, +the equivalent of Honey in the matter of their sugar, have an +immediate effect in relieving fatigue by straightway contributing +power and caloric. + +Aged persons who are toothless may be supported almost exclusively +on sugar. The great Duke of [258] Beaufort, whose teeth were +white and sound at seventy, whilst his general health was likewise +excellent, had for forty years before his death a pound of sugar +daily in his wine, chocolate, and sweetmeats. A relish for sugar +lessens the inclination for alcohol, and seldom accompanies the +love of strong drink. + +With young children, cane sugar is apt to form acids in the stomach, +chiefly acetic, by a process of fermentation which causes pain, and +flatulence, so that milk sugar should be given instead to those of +tender years who are delicate, as this produces only lactic acid, +which is the main constituent of digestive gastric juice. + +When examined under a microscope Honey exhibits in addition to +its crystals (representing glucose, or grape sugar), pollen-granules of +various forms, often so perfect that they may be referred to the +particular plants from which the nectar has been gathered. + +As good Honey contains sugar in a form suitable for such quick +assimilation, it should be taken generally in some combination less +easily absorbed, otherwise the digestion may be upset by too speedy +a glut of heat production, and of energy. Therefore the bread and +Honey of time-honoured memory is a sound form of sustenance, as +likewise, the proverbial milk and Honey of the Old Testament. This +may be prepared by taking a bowl of new milk, and breaking into it +some light wheaten bread, together with some fresh white +Honeycomb. The mixture will be found both pleasant and easy of +digestion. + +Our forefathers concocted from Honey boiled with water and +exposed to the sun (after adding chopped raisins, lemon peel, and +other matters) a famous fermented drink, called mead, and this was +termed metheglin (_methu_, wine, and _aglaion_, splendid) when +the finer [261] Honey was used, and certain herbs were added so as +to confer special flavours. + + "Who drank very hard the whole night through + Cups of strong mead, made from honey when new, + Metheglin they called it, a mighty strong brew, + Their whistles to wet for the morrow." + +Likewise, the old Teutons prepared a Honey wine, (hydromel), and +made it the practice to drink this for the first thirty days after +marriage; from which custom has been derived the familiar +Honeymoon, or the month after a wedding. + +Queen Elizabeth was particularly fond of mead, and had it made +every year according to a special recipe of her own, which included +the leaves of sweet briar, with rosemary, cloves, and mace. + +Honey derived from cruciferous plants, such as rape, ladies' smock, +and the wallflower, crystallizes quickly, often, indeed, within the +comb before it is removed from the hive; whilst Honey from labiate +plants, and from fruit trees in general, remains unchanged for +several months after being extracted from the comb. + +As a heat producer, if taken by way of food, one pound of Honey is +equal to two pounds of butter; and when cod liver oil is indicated, +but cannot be tolerated by the patient, Honey may sometimes be +most beneficially substituted. + +In former times it was employed largely as a medicine, and applied +externally for the healing of wounds. When mixed with flour, and +spread on linen, or leather, it has long been a simple remedy for +bringing boils to maturity. In coughs and colds it makes a +serviceable adjunct to expectorant medicines, whilst acting at the +same time as sufficiently laxative. For sore throats it may be used in +gargles with remarkable benefit; and [260] when mixed with +vinegar it forms the old-fashioned oxymel, always popular against +colds of the chest and throat. + +"Honeywater" distilled from Honey, incorporated with sand, is an +excellent wash for promoting the growth of the hair, either by itself, +or when mixed with spirit of rosemary. Rose Honey (_rhodomel_) +made from the expressed juice of rose petals with Honey, was +formerly held in high esteem for the sick. + +Bee propolis, or the glutinous resin manufactured by bees for fixing +the foundations of their combs, will afford relief to the asthmatic by +its fumes when burnt. It consists largely of resin, and yields benzoic +acid. + +Basilicon, kingly ointment, or resin ointment, is composed of bees +wax, olive oil, resin, Burgundy pitch, and turpentine. This is said to +be identical with the famous "Holloway's Ointment," and is highly +useful when the stimulation of indolent sores is desired. + +A medicinal tincture of superlative worth is prepared by +Homoeopathic practitioners from the sting of the Honey bee. This +makes a most valuable and approved medicine for obviating +erysipelas, especially of the head and face; likewise, for a puffy sore +throat with much swelling about the tonsils; also for dropsy of the +limbs which has followed a chill, or is connected with passive +inactivity of the kidneys. Ten drops of the diluted tincture, first +decimal strength, should be given three or four times in the day, +with a tablespoonful of cold water. This remedy is known as the +tincture of _Apis mellifica_. For making it the bees are seized when +emerging from the hive, and they thus become irritated, being ready +to sting. They are put to death with a few drops of chloroform, and +then have their Honey-bags severed. These are bruised in a mortar +[261] with glycerine, and bottled in spirit of wine, shaking them for +several days, and lastly filtering the tincture. + +Boiling water poured on bees (workers) when newly killed makes +bee-tea, which may be taken to relieve strangury, and a difficult +passage of urine, as likewise for dropsy of the heart and kidneys. +Also of such bees when dried and powdered, thirty grains will act as +a dose to promote a free flow of the urine. + +Honey, especially if old, will cause indigestion when eaten by some +persons, through an excessive production of lactic acid in the +stomach; and a superficial ulceration of the mouth and tongue, +resembling thrush, will ensue; it being at the same time a known +popular fact, that Honey by itself, or when mixed with powdered +borax (which is alkaline) will speedily cure a similar sore state +within the mouth arising through deranged health. + +As long ago as when Soranus lived, the contemporary of Galen (160 +A.D.) Honey was declared to be "an easy remedy for the thrush of +children," but he gravely attributed its virtues in this respect to the +circumstance that bees collected the Honey from flowers growing +over the tomb of Hippocrates, in the vale of Tempe. + +The sting venom of bees has been found helpful for relieving +rheumatic gout in the hands, and elsewhere through toxicating the +tender and swollen limbs by means of lively bees placed over the +parts in an inverted tumbler, and then irritating the insects so as to +make them sting. A custom prevails in Malta of inoculation by +frequent bee stinging, so as to impart at length a protective +immunity against rheumatism, this being confirmatory of the fact +known to beekeepers elsewhere, that after exposure to attacks from +bees, often repeated [262] throughout a length of time, most persons +will acquire a convenient freedom from all future disagreeable +effects. An Austrian physician has based on these methods an +infallible cure for acute rheumatism. + +In Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_, Sir Toby Belch asks to have a +"song for sixpence," the third verse of which has been thought to +run thus:-- + + "The King was in his counting house + Counting out his money, + The Queen was in the parlour + Eating bread and Honey." + + "Mel mandit, panemque, morans regina culinâ, + Dulcia plebeiâ non comedenda nuru." + +A plain cake, currant or seed, made with Honey in place of sugar is +a pleasant addition to the tea-table and a capital preventive of +constipation. + +"All kinds of precious stones cast into Honey become more brilliant +thereby," says St. Francis de Sales in _The Devout Life_, 1708, +"and all persons become more acceptable when they join devotion +to their graces." + + + +HOP. + +The Hop (_Humulus lupulus_) belongs to the Nettle tribe (_Cannabineoe_) +of plants, and grows wild in our English hedges and copses; but +then it bears only male flowers. When cultivated it produces +the female catkins, or strobiles which are so well known as +Hops, and are so largely used for brewing purposes. + +The plant gets its first name _Humulus_ from _humus_, the rich +moist ground in which it chooses to grow, and its affix _lupulus_ +from the Latin _lupus_ a wolf, because (as Pliny explained), when +produced among osiers, it [263] strangles them by its light climbing +embraces as the wolf does a sheep. + +The word Hop comes from the Anglo-saxon _hoppan_ to climb. +The leaves and the flowers afford a fine brown dye, and paper has +been made from the bine, or stalk, which sprouts in May, and soon +grows luxuriantly; as said old Tusser (1557):-- + + "Get into thy Hop-yard, for now it is time + To teach Robin Hop on his pole how to climb." + +The Hop, says Cockayne, was known to the Saxons, and they called +it the _Hymele_, a name enquired-for in vain among Hop growers +in Worcestershire and Kent. + +Hops were first brought to this country from Flanders, in 1524:-- + + "Turkeys, Carp, Hops, Pickerel, and Beer, + Came into England all in one year." + +So writes old Izaak Walton! Before Hops were used for improving +and preserving beer our Saxon ancestors drank a beverage made +from malt, but clarified in a measure with Ground Ivy which is +hence named Ale-hoof. This was a thick liquor about which it was +said:-- + + "Nil spissius est dum bibitur; nil clarius dum mingitur, + Unde constat multas faeces in ventre relinqui." + +The Picts made beer from heather, but the secret of its manufacture +was lost when they became exterminated, since it had never been +divulged to strangers. Kenneth offered to spare the life of a father, +whose son had been just slain, if he would reveal the method; but, +though pardoned, he refused persistently. The inhabitants of Tola, +Jura, and other outlying districts, now brew a potable beer by +mixing two-thirds of heath tops with one of malt. Highlanders think +it very lucky to [264] find the white heather, which is the badge of +the Captain of Clan Ronald. + +At first Hops were unpopular, and were supposed to engender +melancholy. Therefore Henry the Eighth issued an injunction to +brewers not to use them. "Hops," says John Evelyn in his +_Pomona_, 1670, "transmuted our wholesome ale into beer, which +doubtless much altered our constitutions. This one ingredient, by +some suspected not unworthily, preserves the drink indeed, but +repays the pleasure with tormenting diseases, and a shorter life." + +Hops, such as come into the market, are the chaffy capsules of the +seeds, and turn brown early in the autumn. They possess a heavy +fragrant aromatic odour, and a very bitter pungent taste. The yellow +glands at the base of the scales afford a volatile strong-smelling oil, +and an abundant yellow powder which possesses most of the virtues +of the plant. Our druggists prepare a tincture from the strobiles with +spirit of wine, and likewise a thickened extract. + +Again, a decoction of the root is esteemed by some as of equal +benefit with Sarsaparilla. + +The lassitude felt in hot weather at its first access, or in early +spring, may be well met by an infusion of the leaves, strobiles and +stalks as Hop tea, taken by the wineglassful two or three times in +the day, whilst sluggish derangements of the liver and spleen may be +benefited thereby. + +_Lupulin_, the golden dust from the scales (but not the pollen of the +anthers, as some erroneously suppose), is given in powder, and acts +as a gentle sedative if taken at bedtime. This is specific against +sexual irritability and its attendant train of morbid symptoms, with +mental depression and vital exhaustion. It contains [265] "lupulite," +a volatile oil, and a peculiar resin, which is somewhat acrid, and +penetrating of taste. + +Each of the Simples got from the Hop will allay pain and conduce to +sleep; they increase the firmness of the pulse, and reduce its +frequency. + +Also if applied externally, Hops as a poultice, or when steeped in a +bag, in very hot water as a stupe, will relieve muscular rheumatism, +spasm, and bruises. + +Hop tea, when made from the flowers only, is to be brewed by +pouring a pint of boiling water on an ounce of the Hops, and letting +it stand until cool. This is an excellent drink in delirium tremens, +and will give prompt ease to an irritable bladder. Sherry in which +some Hops have been steeped makes a capital stomachic cordial. A +pillow, _Pulvinar Humuli_, stuffed with newly dried Hops was +successfully prescribed by Dr. Willis for George the Third, when +sedative medicines had failed to give him sleep; and again for our +Prince of Wales at the time of his severe typhoid fever, 1871, in +conjunction then with a most grateful draught of ale which had been +heretofore withheld. The crackling of dry Hop flowers when put +into a pillow may be prevented by first sprinkling them with a little +alcohol. + +Persons have fallen into a deep slumber after remaining for some +time in a storehouse full of hops; and in certain northern districts a +watery extract from the flowers is given instead of opium. It is +useful to know that for sound reasons a moderate supper of bread +and butter, with crisp fresh lettuces, and light home-brewed ale +which contains Hops, is admirably calculated to promote sleep, +except in a full-blooded plethoric person. _Lupulin_, the glandular +powder from the dried strobiles, will induce sleep without causing +constipation, or headache. The dose is from two to four grains at +bedtime [266] on a small piece of bread and butter, or mixed with a +spoonful of milk. + +The year 1855 produced a larger crop of cultivated Hops than has +been known before or since. When Hop poles are shaken by the +wind there is a distant electrical murmur like thunder. + +Hop tea in the leaf is now sold by grocers, made from a mixture of +the Kentish and Indian plants, so as to combine in its infusion, the +refreshment of the one herb with the sleep-inducing virtues of the +other. The hops are brought direct from the farmers, just as they are +picked. They are then laid for a few hours to wither, after which +they are put under a rolling apparatus, which ill half-an-hour makes +them look like tea leaves, both in shape and colour. They are finally +mixed with Indian and Ceylon teas. + +The young tops of the Hop plant if gathered in the spring and +boiled, may be eaten as asparagus, and make a good pot-herb: they +were formerly brought to market tied up in small bundles for table +use. + +A popular notion has, in some places, associated the Hop and the +Nightingale together as frequenting the same districts. + +Medicinally the Hop is tonic, stomachic, and diuretic, with +antiseptic effects; it prevents worms, and allays the disquietude of +nervous indigestion. The popular nostrum "Hop Bitters" is thus +made: Buchu leaves, two ounces; Hops, half-a-pound; boil in five +quarts of water, in an iron vessel, for an hour; when lukewarm add +essence of Winter-green (_Pyrola_), two ounces, and one pint of +alcohol. Take one tablespoonful three times in the day, before +eating. White Bryony root is likewise used in making the Bitters. + + + +[267] HOREHOUND (White and Black). + +The herb Horehound occurs of two sorts, white and black, in our +hedge-rows, and on the sides of banks, each getting its generic +name, which was originally Harehune, from _hara_, hoary, and +_hune_, honey; or, possibly, the name Horehound may be a +corruption of the Latin _Urinaria_, since the herb has been found +efficacious in cases of strangury, or difficult making of water. + +The White Horehound (_Marrubium_) is a common square-stemmed +herb of the Labiate order, growing in waste places, and of +popular use for coughs and colds, whether in a medicinal form, or as +a candied sweetmeat. Its botanical title is of Hebrew derivation, +from _marrob_, a bitter juice. The plant is distinguished by the +white woolly down on its stems, by its wrinkled leaves, and small +white flowers. + +It has a musky odour, and a bitter taste, being a much esteemed +Herbal Simple, but very often spuriously imitated. It affords +chemically a fragrant volatile oil, a bitter extractive "marrubin," +and gallic acid. + +As a homely remedy it is especially given for coughs accompanied +with abundant thick expectoration, and for chronic asthma. In +Norfolk scarcely a cottage garden can be found without its +Horehound corner; and Horehound beer is much drunk there by the +natives. Horehound tea may be made by pouring boiling water on +the fresh leaves, an ounce to a pint, and sweetening this with honey: +then a wineglassful should be taken three or four times in the day. +Or from two to three teaspoonfuls of the expressed juice of the herb +may be given for a dose. + +Candied Horehound is best made from the fresh plant by boiling it +down until the juice is extracted, [268] and then adding sugar before +boiling this again until it has become thick enough of consistence to +pour into a paper case, and to be cut into squares when cool. Gerard +said: "Syrup made from the greene fresh leaves and sugar is a most +singular remedy against the cough and wheezing of the lungs. It +doth wonderfully, and above credit, ease such as have been long +sicke of any consumption of the lungs; as hath been often proved by +the learned physicians of our London College." + +When given in full doses, an infusion of the herb is laxative. If the +plant be put in new milk and set in a place pestered with flies, it +will speedily kill them all. And according to Columella, the Horehound +is a serviceable remedy against the Cankerworm in trees: _Profuit et +plantis latices infundere amaros marrubii_. + +The Marrubium was called by the Egyptian Priests the "Seed of +Horus" or "the Bull's Blood" and "the Eye of the Star." It was a +principal remedy in the Negro Caesar's Antidote for vegetable +poisons. + +The Black Horehound (_Ballota nigra_), so called from its dark +purple-coloured flowers, is likewise of common growth about our +roadsides and waste places. Its botanical title comes from the Greek +_ballo_, to reject, because of its disagreeable odour, particularly +when burnt. The herb is sometimes known as Madwort, being +supposed to act as an antidote to the bite of a mad dog. In Beaumont +and Fletcher's _Faithful Shepherdess_, we read of:-- + + "Black Horehound, good + For Sheep, or Shepherd bitten by a wood-dog's venomed tooth." + +If its leaves are applied externally as a poultice, they will relieve +the pain of gout, and will mollify angry [269] boils. In Gotha the +plant is valued for curing chronic skin diseases, particularly of a +fungoid character, such as ringworm; also for diseases of cattle. +"This," says Meyrick "is one of those neglected English herbs which are +possessed of great virtues, though they are but little known, and still +less regarded. It is superior to most things as a remedy in hysteria, +and for low spirits." Drayton said (_Polybion_, 1613):-- + + "For comforting the spleen and liver--get for juice, + Pale Horehound." + +The Water Horehound (_Lycopus_), or Gipsy wort, which grows +frequently in our damp meadows and on the sides of streams, yields +a black dye used for wool, or silk, and with which gipsies stain their +skins, as well as with Walnut juice. "This is called Gipsy Wort," +says Lyte, "because the rogues and runagates, which name +themselves Egyptians, do colour themselves black with this herbe." +Each of the Horehounds is a labiate plant; and this, the water +variety, bears flesh coloured flowers, whilst containing a volatile +oil, a resin, a bitter principle, and tannin. Its medicinal action is +astringent, with a reduced frequency of the pulse, and some gentle +sedative effects, so that any tendency to coughing, etc., will be +allayed. Half-an-ounce of the plant to a pint of boiling water will +make the infusion. + + + +HORSE RADISH (_Radix_, a Root). + +The Horse Radish of our gardens is a cultivated cruciferous plant of +which the fresh root is eaten, when scraped, as a condiment to +correct the richness of our national roast beef. This plant grows wild +in many parts of the country, particularly about rubbish, and the +sides of ditches; yet it is probably an introduction, [270] and not a +native. Its botanical name, _Cochlearia armoracia_, implies a +resemblance between its leaves and an old-fashioned spoon, +_cochleare_; also that the most common place of its growth is _ar_, +near, _mor_, the sea. + +Our English vernacular styles the plant "a coarse root," or a "Horse +radish," as distinguished from the eatable radish (root), the +_Raphanus sativus_. Formerly it was named Mountain Radish, and +Great Raifort. This is said to be one of the five bitter herbs ordered +to be eaten by the Jews during the Feast of the Passover, the other +four being Coriander, Horehound, Lettuce, and Nettle. + +Not a few fatal cases have occurred of persons being poisoned by +taking Aconite root in mistake for a stick of Horse radish, and eating +it when scraped. But the two roots differ materially in shape, colour, +and taste, so as to be easily discriminated: furthermore the leaves of +the Aconite--supposing them to be attached to the root--are not to be +mistaken for those of any other plant, being completely divided to +their base into five wedge-shaped lobes, which are again sub-divided +into three. Squire says it seems incredible that the Aconite +Root should be mistaken for Horse Radish unless we remember that +country folk are in the habit of putting back again into the ground +Horse Radish which has been scraped, until there remain only the +crown and a remnant of the root vanishing to a point, these bearing +resemblance to the tap root of Aconite. + +The fresh root of the Horse radish is a powerful stimulant by reason +of its ardent and pungent volatile principle, whether it be taken as a +medicament, or be applied externally to any part of the body. When +scraped it exhales a nose-provoking odour, and possesses [271] a +hot biting taste, combined with a certain sweetness: but on exposure +to the air it quickly turns colour, and loses its volatile strength; +likewise, it becomes vapid, and inert by being boiled. The root is +expectorant, antiscorbutic, and, if taken at all freely, emetic. It +contains a somewhat large proportion of sulphur, as shown by the +black colour assumed by metals with which it comes into touch. +Hence it promises to be of signal use for relieving chronic +rheumatism, and for remedying scurvy. + +Taken in sauce with oily fish or rich fatty viands, scraped Horse +radish acts as a corrective spur to complete digestion, and at the +same time it will benefit a relaxed sore throat, by contact during the +swallowing. In facial neuralgia scraped Horse radish applied as a +poultice, proves usefully beneficial: and for the same purpose some +of the fresh scrapings may be profitably held in the hand of the +affected side, which hand will become in a short time bloodlessly +benumbed, and white. + +When sliced across with a knife the root of the Horse radish will +exude some drops of a sweet juice which may be rubbed with +advantage on rheumatic, or palsied limbs. Also an infusion of the +sliced root in milk, almost boiling, and allowed to cool, makes an +excellent and safe cosmetic; or the root may be infused for a longer +time in cold milk, if preferred, for use with a like purpose in view. +Towards the end of the last century Horse radish was known in +England as Red cole, and in the previous century it was eaten +habitually at table, sliced, with vinegar. + +Infused in wine the root stimulates the whole nervous system, and +promotes perspiration, whilst acting likewise as a diuretic. For +rheumatic neuralgia [272] it is almost a specific, and for palsy it has +often proved of service. Our druggists prepare a "compound spirit of +Horse radish," made with the sliced fresh root, orange peel, nutmeg, +and spirit of wine. This proves of effective use in strengthless, +languid indigestion, as well as for chronic rheumatism; it stimulates +the stomach, and promotes the digestive secretions. From one to two +teaspoonfuls may be taken two or three times in the day, with half a +wineglassful of water, at the end of a principal meal, or a few +minutes after the meal. An infusion of the root made with boiling +water and taken hot readily proves a stimulating emetic. Until cut or +bruised the root is inodorous; but fermentation then begins, and +develops from the essential oil an ammoniacal odour and a pungent +hot bitter taste which were not pre-existing. + +Chemically the Horse radish contains a volatile oil, identical with +that of mustard, being highly diffusible and pungent by reason of its +"myrosin." One drop of this volatile oil will suffice to odorise the +atmosphere of a whole room, and, if swallowed with any freedom, it +excites vomiting. Other constituents of the root are a bitter resin, +sugar, starch, gum, albumen, and acetates. + +A mixture of the fresh juice, with vinegar, if applied externally, +will prove generally of service for removing freckles. + +Bergius alleges that by cutting the root into very small pieces +without bruising it, and then swallowing a tablespoonful of these +fragments every morning without chewing them, for a month, a cure +has been effected in chronic rheumatism, which had seemed +otherwise intractable. + +For loss of the voice and relaxed sore throat the [273] infusion of +Horse radish makes an excellent gargle; or it may be concentrated in +the form of a syrup, and mixed for the same use--a teaspoonful, with +a wine-glassful of cold water. + +Gerard said of the root: "If bruised and laid to the part grieved with +the sciatica, gout, joyntache, or the hard swellings of the spleen and +liver, it doth wonderfully help them all." If the scraped root be +macerated in vinegar, it will form a mixture (which may be +sweetened with glycerine to the taste) very effective against +whooping cough. In pimply acne of the skin, to touch each papula +with some of the Compound Spirit of Horse Radish now and again +will soon effect a general cure of the ailment. + + + +HOUSE LEEK (Crassulaceoe). + +The House Leek (_Sempervivum tectorum_), or "never dying" +flower of our cottage roofs, which is commonly known also as +Stone-crop, grows plentifully on walls and the tops of small +buildings throughout Great Britain, in all country districts. It is +distinguished by its compact rose-shaped arrangement of seagreen +succulent leaves lying sessile in a somewhat flattened manner, and +by its popularity among country folk on account of these bland juicy +leaves, and its reputed protective virtues. It possesses a remarkable +tenacity of life, _quem sempervivam dicunt quoniam omni tempore +viret_, this being in allusion to its prolonged vitality; for which +reason it is likewise called Ayegreen, and Sengreen (_semper_, +green). + +History relates that a botanist tried hard for eighteen months to dry a +plant of the House Leek for his herbarium, but failed in this object. +He afterwards restored it to its first site when it grew again as if +nothing had interfered with its ordinary life. + +[274] The plant was dedicated of old to Thor, or Jupiter, and +sometimes to the Devil. It bore the titles of Thor's beard, Jupiter's +eye, Joubarb, and Jupiter's beard, from its massive inflorescence +which resembles the sculptured beard of Jove; though a more recent +designation is St. George's beard. + + "Quem sempervivam dicunt quoniam viret omni + Tempore--'Barba Jovis' vulgari more vocatur, + Esse refert similem predictoe Plinius istam." + _Macer_. + +The Romans took great pleasure in the House Leek, and grew it in +vases set before the windows of their houses. They termed it +_Buphthalmon_, _Zoophthalmon_, and _Stergethron_, as one of the +love medicines; it being further called _Hypogeson_, from growing +under the eaves; likewise _Ambrosia_ and _Ameramnos_. The plant +is indigenous to the Greek Islands, being sometimes spoken of as +"Imbreke" and "Home Wort." + +It has been largely planted about the roofs of small houses +throughout the country, particularly in Scotland, because supposed +to guard against lightning and thunderstorms; likewise as protective +against the enchantments of sorcerers; and, in a more utilitarian +spirit, as preservative against decay. Hence the House Leek +is known as Thunderbeard, and in Germany _Donnersbart_ or +_Donderbloem_, from "Jupiter the thunderer." + +The English name House Leek denotes _leac_ (Anglo-Saxon) a +plant growing on the house; and another appellation of its genus, +sedum, comes from the Latin _sedare_, to soothe, and subdue +inflammations, etc. + +The thick leaves contain an abundant acidulous astringent juice, +which is mucilaginous, and affords malic acid, identical with that of +the Apple. This juice, in a dose of from one to three drams, has +proved [275] useful in dysentery, and in some convulsive diseases. +Galen extolled it as a capital application for erysipelas and shingles. +Dioscorides praised it for weak and inflamed eyes, but in large +doses it is emetic and purgative. + +In rural districts the bruised leaves of the fresh plant or its juice +are often applied to burns, scalds, contusions, and sore legs, or to +scrofulous ulcers; as likewise for chronic skin diseases, and +enlarged or cancerous lymphatic glands. By the Dutch the leaves are +cultivated with a dietetic purpose for mixing in their salads. + +With honey the juice assuages the soreness and ulcerated condition +within the mouth in thrush. Gerard says: "The juice being gently +rubbed on any place stung by nettles, or bees, or bitten by any +venomous creature, doth presently take away the pain. Being +applied to the temples and forehead it easeth also the headache and +distempered heat of the brain through want of sleep." + +The juice, moreover, is excellently helpful for curing corns and +warts, if applied from day to day after they have been scraped. As +Parkinson teaches, "the juice takes away cornes from the toes and +feet if they be bathed therewith every day, and at night emplastered +as it were with the skin of the same House Leek." + +The plant may be readily made to cover all the roof of a building by +sticking on the offsets with a little moist earth, or cowdung. It bears +purple flowers, and its leaves are fringed at their edges, being +succulent and pulpy. Thus the erect gay-looking blossoms, in +contrast to the light green foliage arranged in the form of full blown +double roses, lend a picturesque appearance to the roof of even a +cow-byre, or a hovel. + +[276] The House Leek (_Sedum majus_), and the Persicaria Water-pepper +(Arsmart), if their juices be boiled together, will cure a +diarrhoea, however obstinate, or inveterate. The famous empirical +_anti-Canceroso nostrum_ of Count Mattaei is authoritatively said to +consist of the _Sedum acre_ (Betony stone-crop), the _Sempervivum +tectorum_ (House Leek), _Sedum telephium_ (Livelong), the +_Matricaria_ (Feverfew), and the _Nasturtium Sisymbrium_ (Water-cress). + +The _Sedum Telephium_ (Livelong, or Orpine), called also +Roseroot and Midsummer Men, is the largest British species of +Stone-crop. Being a plant of augury its leaves are laid out in pairs +on St. John's Eve, these being named after courting couples. When +the leaves are freshly assorted those which keep together promise +well for their namesakes, and those which fall apart, the reverse. + +The special virtues of this _Sedum_ are supposed to have been +discovered by Telephus, the son of Hercules. Napoleon, at St. +Helena, was aware of its anti-cancerous reputation, which was +firmly believed in Corsica. The plant contains lime, sulphur, +ammonia, and (perhaps) mercury. It remains long alive when hung +up in a room. The designation Orpine has become perversely +applied to this plant which bears pink blossoms, the word having +been derived from _Orpin_, gold pigment, a yellow sulphuret of the +metal arsenic, and it should appertain exclusively to yellow flowers. +The Livelong _Sedum_ was formerly named Life Everlasting. It +serves to keep away moths. + +Doctors have found that the expulsive vomiting provoked by doses +of the _Sedum acre_ (Betony stone-crop), will serve in diphtheria to +remove such false membrane clinging in patches to the throat and +tonsils, [277] as threatens suffocation: and after this release +afforded by copious vomiting, the diphtheritic foci are prevented +from forming again. + +The _Sedum Acre_ (or Biting Stone-crop) is also named Pepper +crop, being a cyme, or head of flowers, which furnishes a pungent +taste like that of pepper. This further bears the names of Ginger (in +Norfolk), Jack of the Buttery, Gold Dust, Creeping Tom, Wall +Pepper, Pricket or Prick Madam, Gold Chain, and Biting Mouse +Tail. It was formerly said "the savages of Caledonia use this plant +for removing the sloughs of cancer." + +The herb serves admirably to make a gargle for scurvy of the gums, +and a lotion for scrofulous, or syphilitic ulcers. The leaves are thick +and very acrid, being crowded together. This and the _Sedums +album_ and _reflexum_ were ingredients in a famous worm-expelling +medicine, or _theriac_ (treacle), which conferred the title +"Jack of the Buttery," as a corruption of "_Bot. theriaque_." + +The several Stone-crops are so named from _crop_, a top, or bunch +of flowers, these plants being found chiefly in tufts upon walls or +roofs. From their close growth originally on their native rocks they +have acquired the generic title of _Sedum_, from _sedere_ (to sit). + + + +HYSSOP. + +The cultivated Hyssop, now of frequent occurrence in the herb-bed, +and a favourite plant there because of its fragrance, belongs to the +labiate order, and possesses cordial qualities which give it rank as a +Simple. It has pleasantly odorous striped leaves which vary in +colour, and possess a camphoraceous odour, with a warm aromatic +bitter taste. This is of comparatively recent introduction into our +gardens, not having been [278] cultivated until Gerard's time, about +1568, and not being a native English herb. + +The _Ussopos_ of Dioscorides, was named from _azob_, a holy +herb, because used for cleansing sacred places. Hence it is alluded +to in this sense scripturally: "Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be +clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm li. 7). +Solomon wrote "of all trees, from the Cedar in Lebanon to the +Hyssop that springeth out of the wall." The healing virtues of the +plant are due to a particular volatile oil which admirably promotes +expectoration in bronchial catarrh and asthma. Hyssop tea is a +grateful drink well adapted to improve the tone of a feeble stomach, +being brewed with the green tops of the herb. The same parts of the +plant are sometimes boiled in soup to be given for asthma. The +leaves and flowers are of a warm pungent taste, and of an agreeable +aromatic smell; therefore if the tops and blossoms are reduced to a +powder and added to cold salad herbs they give a comforting cordial +virtue. + +There was formerly made a distilled water of Hyssop, which may +still be had from some druggists, it being deemed a good pectoral +medicine. In America an infusion of the leaves is used externally for +the relief of muscular rheumatism, as also for bruises and +discoloured contusions. The herb was sometimes called Rosemary +in the East, and was hung up to afford protection from the evil eye, +as well as to guard against witches. + +To make Hyssop tea, one drachm of the herb should be infused in a +pint of boiling water, and allowed to become cool. Then a +wineglassful is to be given as a dose two or three times in the day. + +Of the essential oil of Hyssop, from one to two drops [279] should +be the dose. Pliny said: "Hyssop mixed with figs, purges; with +honey, vomits." If the herb be steeped in boiling water and applied +hot to the part, it will quickly remove the blackness consequent +upon a bruise or blow, especially in the case of "black" or +blood-shot eyes. + +Parkinson says that in his day "the golden hyssop was of so pleasant +a colour that it provoked every gentlewoman to wear them in their +heads, and on their arms with as much delight as many fine flowers +can give." The leaves are striped conspicuously with white or +yellow; for which reason, and because of their fragrance, the herb is +often chosen to be planted on graves. The green herb, bruised and +applied, will heal cuts promptly. Its tea will assist in promoting the +monthly courses for women. Hyssop grows wild in middle and +southern Europe. + +The Hedge Hyssop (_Gratiola officinalis_), or Water Hyssop, is +quite a different plant from the garden pot-herb, and belongs to the +scrofula-curing order, with far more active medicinal properties than +the Hyssop proper. The commonly recognized Hedge Hyssop bears +a pale yellow, or a pale purple flower, like that of the Foxglove; and +the whole plant has a very bitter taste. A medicinal tincture (H.) is +made from the entire herb, of which from eight to ten drops may be +taken with a tablespoonful of cold water three times in the day. It +will afford relief against nervous weakness and shakiness, such as +occur after an excessive use of coffee or tobacco. The title +"gratiola," is from _dei gratiâ_, "by the grace of God." + +The juice of the plant purges briskly, and may be usefully employed +in some forms of dropsy. Its decoction is milder of action, and +proves beneficial [280] in cases of jaundice. In France the plant is +cultivated as a perfume, and it is said to be an active ingredient in +the famous _Eau médicinale_ for gout. + +Of the dried leaves from five to twenty-five grains will act as a +drastic vermifuge to expel worms. The root resembles ipecacuanha +in its effects, and in moderate quantities, as a powder or decoction, +helps to stay bloody fluxes and purgings. The flowers are sometimes +of a blood-red hue, and the whole plant contains a special essential +oil. + +"Whoso taketh," says Parkinson, "but one scruple of _Gratiola_ +(Hedge Hyssop) bruised, shall perceive evidently his effectual +operation and virtue in purging mightily, and that in great +abundance, watery, gross, and slimy tumours." _Caveat qui +sumpserit_. On the principle of affinities, small diluted doses of the +tincture, or decoction, or of the dried leaves, prove curative in cases +of fluxes from the lower bowels, where irritation within the +fundament is frequent, and where there is considerable nervous +exhaustion, especially in chronic cases of this sort. + + + +IVY, Common (_Araliaceoe_). + +The clergyman of fiction in the sixth chapter of Dickens' memorable +_Pickwick_, sings certain verses which he styles "indifferent" (the +only verse, by the way, to be found in all that great writer's +stories), and which relate to the Ivy, beginning thus:-- + + "Oh! a dainty plant is the Ivy green, + That creepeth o'er ruins old." + +The well known common Ivy (_Hedera helix_), which clothes the +trunks of trees and the walls of old buildings so picturesquely +throughout Great Britain, gets its botanical name most probably +from the Celtic word _hoedra _[281] "a cord," or from the Greek +_hedra_ "a seat," because sitting close, and its vernacular title from +_iw_ "green," which is also the parent of "yew." In Latin it is termed +_abiga_, easily corrupted to "iva"; and the Danes knew it as +Winter-grunt, or Winter-green, to which appellation it may still lay a +rightful claim, being so conspicuously green at the coldest times of +the year when trees are of themselves bare and brown. + +By the ancients the Ivy was dedicated to Bacchus, whose statues +were crowned with a wreath of the plant, under the name Kissos, +and whose worshippers decorated themselves with its garlands. The +leaves have a peculiar faintly nauseous odour, whilst they are +somewhat bitter, and rough of taste. The fresh berries are rather +acid, and become bitter when dried. They are much eaten by our +woodland birds in the spring. + +A crown of Ivy was likewise given to the classic poets of +distinction, and the Greek priests presented a wreath of the same to +newly married persons. The custom of decorating houses and +churches with Ivy at Christmastide, was forbidden by one of the +early councils on account of its Pagan associations. Prynne wrote +with reference to this decree:-- + + "At Christmas men do always Ivy get, + And in each corner of the house it set, + But why make use then of that Bacchus weed? + Because they purpose Bacchus-like to feed." + +The Ivy, though sending out innumerable small rootlets, like +suckers, in every direction (which are really for support) is not a +parasite. The plant is rooted in the soil and gets its sustenance +therefrom. + +Chemically, its medicinal principles depend on the special balsamic +resin contained in the leaves and stems, as well as constituting the +aromatic gum. + +[282] Ivy flowers have little or no scent, but their yield of nectar is +particularly abundant. + +When the bark of the main stems is wounded, a gum will exude, and +may be collected: it possesses astringent and mildly aperient +properties. This was at one time included as a medicine in the +Edinburgh _Pharmacopoeia_, but it has now fallen out of such +authoritative use. Its chemical principle is "hederin." The gum is +anti-spasmodic, and promotes the monthly flow of women. + +An infusion of the berries will relieve rheumatism, and a decoction +of the leaves applied externally will destroy vermin in the heads of +children. + +Fresh Ivy leaves will afford signal relief to corns when they shoot, +and are painful. Good John Wesley, who dabbled in "domestic +medicine," and with much sagacity of observation, taught that +having bathed the feet, and cut the corns, and having mashed some +fresh Ivy leaves, these are to be applied: then by repeating the +remedial process for fifteen days the corns will be cured. + +During the Great Plague of London, Ivy berries were given with +some success as possessing antiseptic virtues, and to induce +perspiration, thus effecting a remission of the symptoms. Cups made +from Ivywood have been employed from which to drink for disorders +of the spleen, and for whooping cough, their method of use +being to be kept refilled from time to time with water (cold or +hot), which the patient is to constantly sip. + +Ivy gum dissolved in vinegar is a good filling for a hollow tooth +which is causing neuralgic toothache: and an infusion of the leaves +made with cold water, will, after standing for twenty-four hours, +relieve sore and smarting eyes if used rather frequently as a lotion. +A decoction of the leaves and berries will mitigate a [283] severe +headache, such as that which follows hard drinking over night. And +it may have come about that from some rude acquaintance with this +fact the bacchanals adopted goblets carved out of Ivywood. + +This plant is especially hardy, and suffers but little from the smoke +and the vitiated air of a manufacturing town. Chemically, such +medicinal principles as the Ivy possesses depend on the special +balsamic resin contained in its leaves and stems; as well as on its +particular gum. Bibulous old Bacchus was always represented in +classic sculpture with a wreath of Ivy round his laughing brows; and +it has been said that if the foreheads of those whose potations run +deep were bound with frontlets of Ivy the nemesis of headache +would be prevented thereby. But legendary lore teaches rather that +the infant Bacchus was an object of vengeance to Juno, and that the +nymphs of Nisa concealed him from her wrath, with trails of Ivy as +he lay in his cradle. + +At one time our taverns bore over their doors the sign of an Ivybush, +to indicate the excellence of the liquor supplied within. From which +fact arose the saying that "good wine needs no bush," "_Vinum +vendibile hederâ non est opus_." And of this text Rosalind cleverly +avails herself in _As You Like It_, "If it be true" says she, "that +good wine needs no bush,"--"'tis true that a good play needs no +epilogue." + + + +IVY (Ground). + +This common, and very familiar little herb, with its small Ivy-like +aromatic leaves, and its striking whorls of dark blue blossoms +conspicuous in early spring time, comes into flower pretty +punctually about the third or fourth of April, however late or early +the season may be. Its name is attributed to the resemblance borne +[284] by its foliage to that of the true Ivy (_Hedera helix_). The +whole plant possesses a balsamic odour, and an aromatic taste, due +to its particular volatile oil, and its characteristic resin, as a +fragrant labiate herb. It remaineth green not only in summer, but +also in winter, at all times of the year. + +From the earliest days it has been thought endowed with singular +curative virtues chiefly against nervous headaches, and for the relief +of chronic bronchitis. Ray tells of a remarkable instance in the +person of a Mr. Oldacre who was cured of an obstinate chronic +headache by using the juice or the powdered leaves of the Ground +Ivy as snuff: _Succus hujus plantoe naribus attractus cephalalgiam +etiam vehementissimam et inveteratam non lenit tantum, sed et +penitus aufert_; and he adds in further praise of the herb: +_Medicamentum hoc non satis potest laudari; si res ex usu +oestimarentur, auro oequiparandum_. An infusion of the fresh herb, +or, if made in winter, from its dried leaves, and drank under the +name of Gill tea, is a favourite remedy with the poor for coughs of +long standing, accompanied with much phlegm. One ounce of the +herb should be infused in a pint of boiling water, and a wineglassful +of this when cool is to be taken three or four times in the day. The +botanical name of the plant is _Nepeta glechoma_, from _Nepet_, in +Tuscany, and the Greek _gleechon_, a mint. + +Resembling Ivy in miniature, the leaves have been used in weaving +chaplets for the dead, as well as for adorning the Alestake erected as +a sign at taverns. For this reason, and because formerly in vogue for +clearing the ale drank by our Saxon ancestors, the herb acquired the +names of Ale hoof, and Tun hoof ("tun" signifying a garden, and +"hoof" or "hufe" a coronal or chaplet), [285] or Hove, "because," +says Parkinson, "it spreadeth as a garland upon the ground." Other +titles which have a like meaning are borne by the herb, such as "Gill +go by the ground," and Haymaids, or Hedgemaids; the word "gill" +not only relating to the fermentation of beer, but meaning also a +maid. This is shown in the saying, "Every Jack should have his Gill, +or Jill"; and the same notion was conveyed by the sobriquet +"haymaids." Again in some districts the Ground Ivy is called "Lizzy +run up the hedge," "Cat's-foot" (from the soft flower heads), "Devil's +candlesticks," "Aller," and in Germltny "Thundervine," also in the +old English manuscripts "Hayhouse," "Halehouse," and "Horshone." +The whole plant was employed by our Saxon progenitors to clarify +their so-called beer, before hops had been introduced for this +purpose; and the place of refreshment where the beverage was sold +bore the name of a "Gill house." + +In _A Thousand Notable Things_, it is stated, "The juice of Ground +Ivy sniffed up into the nostrils out of a spoon, or a saucer, purgeth +the head marvellously, and taketh away the greatest and oldest pain +thereof that is: the medicine is worth gold, though it is very cheap." + +Small hairy tumours may often be seen in the autumn on the leaves +of the Ground Ivy occasioned (says Miss Pratt) by the punctures of +the _cynips glechomoe_ from which these galls spring. They have a +strong flavour of the plant, and are sometimes eaten by the +peasantry of France. The volatile oil on which the special virtues of +the Ground Ivy depend exudes from small glandular dots on the +under surface of the leaves. This is the active ingredient of Gill tea +made by country persons, and sweetened with honey, sugar, or +liquorice. Also the expressed juice of the herb is [286] equally +effectual, being diaphoretic, diuretic, and somewhat astringent +against bleedings. + +Gerard says that in his day "the Ground Ivy was commended against +the humming sound, and ringing noises of the ears by being put into +them, and for those that are hard of hearing. Also boiled in mutton +broth it helpeth weak and aching backs." Dr. Thornton tells us in his +_Herbal _(1810) that "Ground Ivy was at one time amongst the +'cries' of London, for making a tea to purify the blood," and Dr. +Pitcairn extolled this plant before all other vegetable medicines for +the cure of consumption. Perhaps the name Ground Ivy was +transferred at first to the _Nepeta_ from the Periwinkle, about which +we read in an old distich of Stockholm:-- + + "Parvenke is an erbe green of colour, + In time of May he bereth blo flour, + His stalkes are so feynt and feye + That nevermore groweth he heye: + On the grounde he rynneth and growe + As doth the erbe that _hyth tunhowe_; + The lef is thicke, schinende and styf + As is the grene Ivy leef: + Uniche brod, and nerhand rownde; + Men call it the _Ivy of the grounde_." + +In the _Organic Materia Medica_ of Detroit, U.S.A., 1890, it is +stated, "Painters use the Ground Ivy (_Nepeta glechoma_) as a +remedy for, and a preventive of lead colic." An infusion is given +(the ounce to a pint of boiling water)--one wineglassful for a dose +repeatedly. In the relief which it affords as a snuff made from the +dried leaves to congestive headache of a passive continued sort, this +benefit is most probably due partly to the special titillating aroma of +the plant, and partly to the copious defluxion of mucus and tears +from the nasal passages, and the eyes. + + + +[287] JOHN'S WORT. + +The wild Saint John's Wort (_Hypericum peiforatum_) is a frequent +plant in our woods and hedgebanks, having leaves studded with +minute translucent vesicles, which seem to perforate their structure, +and which contain a terebinthinate oil of fragrant medicinal virtues. + +The name _Hypericum_ is derived from the two Greek words, +_huper eikon_, "over an apparition," because of its supposed power +to exorcise evil spirits, or influences; whence it was also formerly +called _Fuga doemoniorum_, "the Devil's Scourge," "the Grace of +God," "the Lord God's Wonder Plant." and some other names of a +like import, probably too, because found to be of curative use +against insanity. Again, it used to be entitled _Hexenkraut_, and +"Witch's Herb," on account of its reputed magical powers. +Matthiolus said, _Scripsere quidam Hypericum adeo odisse +doemones, ut ejus suffitu statim avolent_, "Certain writers have said +that the St. John's Wort is so detested by evil spirits that they fly +off at a whiff of its odour." + +Further names of the herb are "Amber," "Hundred Holes," and _Sol +terrestris_, the "Terrestrial Sun," because it was believed that all +the spirits of darkness vanish in its presence, as at the rising of +the sun. + +For children troubled with incontinence of urine at night, and who +wet their beds, an infusion, or tea, of the St. John's Wort is an +admirable preventive medicine, which will stop this untoward +infirmity. + +The title St. John's Wort is given, either because the plant blossoms +about St. John's day, June 24th, or because the red-coloured sap +which it furnishes was thought to resemble and signalise the blood +of St. John the Baptist. Ancient writers certainly attributed a host of +virtues to this plant, especially for the cure of hypochondriasis, and +insanity. The red juice, or "red [288] oil," of _Hypericum_ made +effective by hanging for some months in a glass vessel exposed to +the sun, is esteemed as one of the most popular and curative +applications in Europe for excoriations, wounds, and bruises. + +The flowers also when rubbed together between the fingers yield a +red juice, so that the plant has obtained the title of _Sanguis +hominis_, human blood. Furthermore, this herb is _Medicamentum +in mansâ intus sumptum_, "to be chewed for its curative effects." + +And for making a medicinal infusion, an ounce of the herb should +be used to a pint of boiling water. This may be given beneficially +for chronic catarrhs of the lungs, the bowels, or the urinary +passages, Dr. Tuthill Massy considered the St. John's Wort, by virtue +of its healing properties for injuries of the spinal cord, and its +dependencies, the vulnerary "arnica" of the organic nervous system. +On the doctrine of signatures, because of its perforated leaves, and +because of the blood-red juice contained in the capsules which it +bears, this plant was formerly deemed a most excellent specific for +healing wounds, and for stopping a flow of blood:-- + + "Hypericon was there--the herb of war, + Pierced through with wounds, and seamed with many a scar." + +For lacerated nerves, and injuries by violence to the spinal cord, a +warm lotion should be employed, made with one part of the tincture +to twenty parts of water, comfortably hot. A salve compounded +from the flowers, and known as St. John's Wort Salve, is still much +used and valued in English villages. And in several countries the +dew which has fallen on vegetation before daybreak on St. John's +morning, is gathered with great care. It is thought to protect the eyes +from all harm throughout the ensuing year, and the Venetians [289] +say it renews the roots of the hair on the baldest of heads. Peasants +in the Isle of Man, are wont to think that if anyone treads on the St. +John's Wort after sunset, a fairy horse will arise from the earth, and +will carry him about all night, leaving him at sunrise wherever he +may chance to be. + +The plant has a somewhat aromatic odour; and from the leaves and +flowers, when crushed, a lemon-like scent is exhaled, whilst their +taste is bitter and astringent. The flowers furnish for fabrics of silk +or wool a dye of deep yellow. Those parts of the plant were alone +ordered by the London _Pharmacopoeia_ to be used for supplying +in chief the medicinal, oily, resinous extractive of the plant. + +The juice gives a red colour to the spirit of wine with which it is +mixed, and to expressed oils, being then known as the _Hypericum_ +"red oil" mentioned above. The flowers contain tannin, and +"_Hypericum_ red." + +Moreover, this _Hypericum_ oil made from the tops is highly useful +for healing bed sores, and is commended as excellent for ulcers. A +medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared with spirit of wine from the +entire fresh plant, collected when flowering, or in seed, and this +proves of capital service for remedying injuries to the spinal cord, +both by being given internally, and by its external use. It has been +employed in like manner with benefit for lock-jaw. The dose of the +tincture is from five to eight drops with a spoonful of water two or +three times a day. + +This plant may be readily distinguished from others of the +Hypericaceous order by its decidedly two edged stem. Sprigs of it +are stuck at the present time in Wales over every outer door on the +eve of St. John's day; [290] and in Scotland, milking is done on the +herb to dispel the malignant enchantments which cause ropy milk. + +Among the Christian saints St. John represents light; and the flowers +of this plant were taken as a reminder of the beneficent sun. + +Tutsan is a large flowered variety (_Hypericum androsoemum_) of +the St. John's Wort, named from the French _toute saine_, or "heal +all," because of its many curative virtues; and is common in Devon +and Cornwall. It possesses the same properties as the perforate sort, +but yields a stronger and more camphoraceous odour when the +flowers and the seed vessels are bruised. A tincture made from this +plant, as well as that made from the perforate St. John's Wort, has +been used with success to cure melancholia, and its allied forms of +insanity. The seed-capsules of the Tutsan are glossy and berry-like; +the leaves retain their strong resinous odour after being dried. + +Tutsan is called also provincially "Woman's Tongue," once set +g(r)owing it never stops; and by country folk in Ireland the "Rose of +Sharon." Its botanical name Androsoemum, _andros aima_, man's +blood, derived from the red juice and oil, probably suggested the +popular title of Tutsan, "heal all," often corrupted to "Touchen leaf." + +Gerard gives a receipt, as a great secret, for making a compound oil +of _Hypericum_, "than which," he says, "I know that in the world +there is no better; no, not the natural balsam itself." "The plant," he +adds, "is a singular remedy for the sciatica, provided that the patient +drink water for a day or two after purging." "The leaves laid upon +broken shins and scabbed legs do heal them." + +The whole plant is of a special value for healing [291] punctured +wounds; and its leaves are diuretic. It is handsome and shrubby, +growing to a height of two or three feet. + + + +JUNIPER. + +The Juniper shrub (Arkenthos of the ancients), which is widely +distributed about the world, grows not uncommonly in England as a +stiff evergreen conifer on heathy ground, and bears bluish purple +berries. These have a sweet, juicy, and, presently, bitter, brown +pulp, containing three seeds, and they do not ripen until the second +year. The flowers blossom in May and June. Probably the shrub gets +its name from the Celtic _jeneprus_, "rude or rough." Gerard notes +that "it grows most commonly very low, like unto our ground +furzes." Gum Sandarach, or Pounce, is the product of this tree. + +Medicinally, the berries and the fragrant tops are employed. They +contain "juniperin," sugar, resins, wax, fat, formic and acetic acids, +and malates. The fresh tops have a balsamic odour, and a +carminative, bitterish taste. The berries afford a yellow aromatic oil, +which acts on the kidneys, and gives cordial warmth to the stomach. +Forty berries should yield an ounce of the oil. Steeped in alcohol the +berries make a capital _ratafia_; they are used in several +confections, as well as for flavouring gin, being put into a spirit +more common than the true geneva of Holland. The French obtain +from these berries the _Genièvre_ (_Anglice_ "geneva"), from +which we have taken our English word "gin." In France, Savoy, and +Italy, the berries are largely collected, and are sometimes eaten as +such, fifteen or twenty at a time, to stimulate the kidneys; or they +are taken in powder for the same [292] purpose. Being fragrant of +smell, they have a warm, sweet, pungent flavour, which becomes +bitter on further mastication. + +Our British _Pharmacopoeia_ orders a spirit of Juniper to be made +for producing the like diuretic action in some forms of dropsy, so as +to carry off the effused fluid by the kidneys. A teaspoonful of this +spirit may be taken, well diluted with water, several times in the +day. Of the essential oil the dose is from two to three drops on +sugar, or with a tablespoonful of milk. These remedies are of service +also in catarrh of the urinary passages; and if applied externally to +painful local swellings, whether rheumatic, or neuralgic, the bruised +berries afford prompt and lasting relief. + +An infusion or decoction of the Juniper wood is sometimes given +for the same affections, but less usefully, because the volatile oil +becomes dissipated by the boiling heat. A "rob," or inspissated juice +of the berries, is likewise often employed. Gerard said: "A decoction +thereof is singular against an old cough." Gin is an ordinary malt +spirit distilled a second time, with the addition of some Juniper +berries. Formerly these berries were added to the malt in grinding, +so that the spirit obtained therefrom was flavoured with the berries +from the first, and surpassed all that could be made by any other +method. At present gin is cheaply manufactured by leaving out the +berries altogether, and giving the spirit a flavour by distilling it +with a proportion of oil of turpentine, which resembles the Juniper +berries in taste; and as this sophistication is less practised in +Holland than elsewhere, it is best to order "Hollands," with water, +as a drink for dropsical persons. By the use of Juniper berries Dr. +Mayern cured some patients who were deplorably ill with [293] epilepsy +when all other remedies had failed. "Let the patient carry a bag of +these berries about with him, and eat from ten to twenty every +morning for a month or more, whilst fasting. Similarly for flatulent +indigestion the berries may be most usefully given; on the first day, +four berries; on the second, five; on the third, six; on the fourth, +seven; and so on until twelve days, and fifteen berries are reached; +after this the daily dose should be reduced by one berry until only +five are taken in the day; which makes an admirable 'berry-cure.'" +The berries are to be well masticated, and the husks may be +afterwards either rejected or swallowed. + +Juniper oil, used officinally, is distilled from the full-grown, +unripe, green fruit. The Laplanders almost adore the tree, and they +make a decoction of its ripe berries, when dried, to be drunk as tea, +or coffee; whilst the Swedish peasantry prepare from the fresh berries +a fermented beverage, which they drink cold, and an extract, which +they eat with their bread for breakfast as we do butter. + +Simon Pauli assures us these berries have performed wonders in +curing the stone, he having personally treated cases thus, with +incredible success. Schroder knew a nobleman of Germany, who +freed himself from the intolerable symptoms of stone, by a constant +use of these berries. Evelyn called them the "Forester's Panacea," +"one of the most universal remedies in the world to our crazy +Forester." Astrological botanists advise to pull the berries when the +sun is in Virgo. + +We read in an old tract (London, 1682) on _The use of Juniper and +Elder berries in our Publick Houses_: "The simple decoction of +these berries, sweetened with a little sugar candy, will afford liquors +so pleasant to the eye, so grateful to the palate, and so beneficial to +the [294] body, that the wonder is they have not been courted and +ushered into our Publick Houses, so great are the extraordinary +beauty and vertues of these berries." "One ounce, well cleansed, +bruised, and mashed, will be enough for almost a pint of water. +When they are boiled together the vessel must be carefully stopt, +and after the boiling is over one tablespoonful of sugar candy must +be put in." + +From rifts which occur spontaneously in the bark of the shrubs in +warm countries issues a gum resembling frankincense. This gum, as +Gerard teaches, "drieth ulcers which are hollow, and filleth them +with flesh if they be cast thereon." "Being mixed with oil of roses, it +healeth chaps of the hands and feet." Bergius said "the lignum +(wood) of Juniper is _diureticum, sudorificum, mundificans_; the +_bacca_ (berry), _diuretica, nutriens, diaphoretica_." In Germany +the berries are added to _sauerkraut_ for flavouring it. + +Virgil thought the odour exhaled by the Juniper tree noxious, and he +speaks of the _Juniperis gravis umbra_:-- + + "Surgamus! solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra; + Juniperis gravis umbra; nocent et frugibus umbrae." + _Eclog. X. v._ 75. + +But it is more scientific to suppose that the growth of Juniper trees +should be encouraged near dwellings, because of the balsamic and +antiseptic odours which they constantly exhale. The smoke of the +leaves and wood was formerly believed to drive away "all infection +and corruption of the aire which bringeth the plague, and such like +contagious diseases." + +Sprays of Juniper are frequently strewn over floors of apartments, so +as to give out when trodden down, their agreeable odour which is +supposed to promote [295] sleep. Queen Elizabeth's bedchamber +was sweetened with their fumes. In the French hospitals it is +customary to burn Juniper berries with Rosemary for correcting +vitiated air, and to prevent infection. + +On the Continent the Juniper is regarded with much veneration, +because it is thought to have saved the life of the Madonna, and of +the infant Jesus, whom she hid under a Juniper bush when flying +into Egypt from the assassins of Herod. + +Virgil alludes to the Juniper as Cedar:-- + + "Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum." + _Georgic_. + + "But learn to burn within your sheltering rooms + Sweet Juniper." + +Its powerful odour is thought to defeat the keen scent of the hound; +and a hunted hare when put to extremities will seek a safe retreat +under cover of its branches. Elijah was sheltered from the +persecutions of King Ahab by the Juniper tree; since which time it +has been always regarded as an asylum, and a symbol of succour. + +From the wood of the _Juniperus oxycoedrus_; an empyreumatic oil +resembling liquid pitch, is obtained by dry distillation, this being +named officinally, _Huile de cade_, or _Oleum cadinum_, otherwise +"Juniper tar." It is found to be most useful as an external stimulant +for curing psoriasis and chronic eczema of the skin. A recognised +ointment is made with this and yellow wax, _Unguentum olei +cadini_. + +In Italy stables are popularly thought to be protected by a sprig of +Juniper from demons and thunderbolts, just as we suppose the +magic horseshoe to be protective to our houses and offices. + + + +[296] KNAPWEED (The Lesser). + +Black Knapweed, the _Centaurea nigra_, is a common tough-stemmed +composite weed growing in our meadows and cornfields, being +well known by its heads of dull purple flowers, with brown, +or almost black scales of the outer floral encasement. It is popularly +called Hard heads, Loggerheads, Iron heads, Horse knob, and Bull +weed. + +Dr. Withering relates that a decoction made from these hard heads +has afforded at least a temporary relief in cases of diabetes mellitus, +"by diminishing the quantity of urine, and dispelling the sweetness." + +Its chief chemical constituent _enicin_, is identical with that of the +Blessed thistle, and the Blue bottle, and closely resembles that of the +Dandelion. It has been found useful in strengthless indigestion, +especially when this is complicated with sluggish torpor of the liver. +From half to one ounce of the herb may be boiled in eight fluid +ounces of water, and a small wineglassful be taken for a dose twice +or three times a day. In Bucks young women make use of this +Knapweed for love divination:-- + + "They pull the little blossom threads + From out the Knotweed's button beads, + And put the husk with many a smile + In their white bosoms for a while; + Then, if they guess aright, the swain + Their love's sweet fancies try to gain, + 'Tis said that ere it lies an hour + 'Twill blossom with a second flower." + + + +LAVENDER. + +The Lavender of our gardens, called also Lavender Spike, is a +well-known sweet-smelling shrub, of the Labiate order. It grows wild +in Spain, Piedmont, and [297] the south of France, on waysides, +mountains, and in barren places. The plant was propagated by slips, +or cuttings, and has been cultivated in England since about 1568. +It is produced largely for commercial purposes in Surrey, +Hertfordshire, and Lincoln. The shrub is set in long rows occupying +fields, and yields a profitable fragrant essential oil from the +flowering tops, about one ounce of the oil from sixty terminal +flowering spikes. From these tops also the popular cosmetic +lavender water is distilled. They contain tannin, and a resinous +camphire, which is common to most of the mints affording essential +oils. If a hank of cotton is steeped in the oil of Lavender, and +drained off so as to be hung dry about the neck, it will prevent bugs +and other noxious insects from attacking that part. When mixed with +three-fourths of spirit of turpentine, or spirit of wine, this oil +makes the famous _Oleum spicoe_, formerly much celebrated for curing +old sprains and stiff joints. Lavender oil is likewise of service when +rubbed in externally, for stimulating paralysed limbs--preferring the +sort distilled from the flowering tops to that which is obtained from +the stalks. Internally, the essential oil, or a spirit of Lavender made +therefrom, proves admirably restorative and tonic against faintness, +palpitations of a nervous sort, weak giddiness, spasms, and colic. It +is agreeable to the taste and smell, provokes appetite, raises the +spirits, and dispels flatulence; but the infusion of Lavender tops, if +taken too freely, will cause griping, and colic. In hysteria, palsy, and +similar disorders of debility, and lack of nerve power, the spirit of +Lavender will act as a powerful stimulant; and fomentations with +Lavender in bags, applied hot, will speedily relieve local pains. "It +profiteth them much," says Gerard, "that have the palsy if they be +washed with the distilled water [298] from the Lavender flowers; or +are anointed with the oil made from the flowers and olive oil, in +such manner as oil of roses is used." A dose of the oil is from one to +four drops on sugar, or on a small piece of bread crumb, or in a +spoonful or two of milk. And of the spirit, from half to one +teaspoonful may be taken with two tablespoonfuls of water, hot or +cold, or of milk. The spirit of Lavender is made with one part of the +essential oil to forty-nine parts of spirit of wine. For preparing +distilled Lavender water, the addition of a small quantity of musk +does much to develop the strength of the Lavender's odour and +fragrance. The essential oil of _Lavandula latifolia_, admirably +promotes the growth of the hair when weakly, or falling off. + +By the Greeks the name Nardus is given to Lavender, from Naarda, +a city of Syria, near the Euphrates; and many persons call the plant +"Nard." St. Mark mentions this as Spikenard, a thing of great value +The woman who came to Christ having an alabaster box of ointment +of Spikenard, very precious "brake the box, and poured it on His +head." In Pliny's time blossoms of the nardus sold for a hundred +Roman denarii (or £3 2s. 6d.) the pound. This Lavender or +_Nardus_, was likewise called Asarum by the Romans, because not +used in garlands or chaplets. It was formerly believed that the asp, a +dangerous kind of viper, made Lavender its habitual place of abode, +so that the plant had to be approached with great caution. + +Conserves of Lavender were much used in the time of Gerard, and +desserts may be most pleasantly brought to the table on a service of +Lavender spikes. It is said, on good authority, that the lions and +tigers in our Zoological gardens, are powerfully affected by the +smell of Lavender-water and become docile under its influence. + +[299] The Lavender shrub takes its name from the Latin _lavare_, +"to wash," because the ancients employed it as a perfume. Lavender +tops, when dried, and placed with linen, will preserve it from moths +and other insects. + +The whole plant was at one time considered indispensable in Africa, +_ubi lavandis corporibus Lybes eâ utuntur; nec nisi decocto ejus +abluti mane domo egrediuntur_, "where the Libyans make use of it +for washing their bodies, nor ever leave their houses of a morning +until purified by a decoction of the plant." + +In this country the sweet-smelling herb is often introduced for +scenting newly washed linen when it is put by; from which custom +has arisen the expression, "To be laid up in Lavender." During the +twelfth century a washerwoman was called "Lavender," in the North +of England. + +A tea brewed from the flowers is an excellent remedy for headache +from fatigue, or weakness. But Lavender oil is, in too large a dose, a +narcotic poison, and causes death by convulsions. The tincture of +red Lavender is a popular medicinal cordial; and is composed of the +oils of Lavender and rosemary, with cinnamon bark, nutmeg, and +red sandal wood, macerated in spirit of wine for seven days; then a +teaspoonful may be given for a dose in a little water, with excellent +effect, after an indigestible meal, taking the dose immediately when +feeling uneasy, and repeating it after half-an-hour if needed. An old +form of this compound tincture was formerly famous as "Palsy +Drops," it being made from the Lavender, with rosemary, cinnamon, +nutmeg, red sandal wood, and spirit. In some cases of mental +depression and delusions the oil of Lavender proves of real service; +and a few drops of it rubbed on the temples will cure nervous +headache. + +[300] Shakespeare makes Perdita (_Winter's Tale_) class Lavender +among the flowers denoting middle age: + + "Here's flowers for you, + Hot Lavender: Mints: Savory: Marjoram; + The Marigold that goes to bed with the sun, + And with him rises, weeping: these are the flowers + Of middle summer, and I think they are given + To men of middle age." + +There is a broad-leaved variety of the Lavender shrub in France, +which yields three times as much of the essential oil as can be got +from our narrow-leaved plant, but of a second rate quality. + +The Sea Lavender, or Thrift (_Statice limonium_) grows near the +sea, or in salt marshes. It gets its name Statice from the Greek word +_isteemi_ (to stop, or stay), because of its medicinal power to arrest +bleeding. This is the marsh Rosemary, or Ink Root, which contains +(if the root be dried in the air) from fourteen to fifteen per cent. of +tannin. Therefore, its infusion or tincture will prove highly useful to +control bleeding from the lungs or kidneys, as also against +dysentery; and when made into a gargle, for curing an ulcerated sore +throat. + + + +LEMON. + +The Lemon (_Citrus Limonum_) is so common of use in admixing +refreshing drinks, and for its fragrancy of peel, whether for culinary +flavour, or as a delightful perfume, that it may well find a place +among the Simples of a sagacious housewife. Moreover, the +imported fruit, which abounds in our markets, as if to the manner +born, is endowed with valuable medicinal properties which +additionally qualify it for the domestic _Herbarium_. The Lemons +brought to England come chiefly from Sicily, [301] through +Messina and Palermo. Flowers may be found on the lemon tree all +the year round. + +In making lemonade it is a mistake to pour boiling water upon +sliced Lemons, because thus brewing an infusion of the peel, which +is medicinal. The juice should be squeezed into cold water +(previously boiled), adding to a quart of the same the juice of three +lemons, a few crushed strawberries, and the cut up rind of one +Lemon. + +This fruit grows specially at Mentone, in the south of France; and a +legend runs that Eve carried two or three Lemons with her away +from Paradise, wandering about until she came to Mentone, which +she found to be so like the Garden of Eden that she settled there, and +planted her fruit. + +The special dietetic value of Lemons consists in their potash +salts, the citrate, malate, and tartrate, which are respectively +antiscorbutic, and of assistance in promoting biliary digestion. +Each fluid ounce of the fresh juice contains about forty-four +grains of citric acid, with gum, sugar, and a residuum, which yields, +when incinerated, potash, lime, and phosphoric acid. But the +citric acid of the shops is not nearly so preventive or curative +of scurvy as the juice itself. + +The exterior rind furnishes a grateful aromatic bitter; and our word +"zest" signifies really a chip of lemon peel or orange peel used for +giving flavour to liquor. It comes from the Greek verb, "_skizein_," +to divide, or cut up. + +The juice has certain sedative properties whereby it allays hysterical +palpitation of the heart, and alleviates pain caused by cancerous +ulceration of the tongue. Dr. Brandini, of Florence, discovered this +latter property of fresh Lemon juice, through a patient who, when +suffering [302] grievously from that dire disease, found marvellous +relief to the part by casually sucking a lemon to slake his feverish +thirst. But it is a remarkable fact that the acid of Lemons is harmful +and obnoxious to cats, rabbits, and other small animals, because it +lowers the heart's action in these creatures, and liquifies the blood; +whereas, in man it does not diminish the coagulability of the blood, +but proves more useful than any other agent in correcting that thin +impoverished liquidity thereof which constitutes scurvy. Rapin +extols lemons, or citrons, for discomfort of the heart:-- + + "Into an oval form the citrons rolled + Beneath thick coats their juicy pulp unfold: + From some the palate feels a poignant smart, + Which, though they wound the tongue, _yet heal the heart_." + +Throughout Italy, and at Rome, a decoction of fresh Lemons is +extolled as a specific against intermittent fever; for which purpose a +fresh unpeeled Lemon is cut into thin slices, and put into an +earthenware jar with three breakfastcupfuls of cold water, and +boiled down to one cupful, which is strained, the lemon being +squeezed, and the decoction being given shortly before the access of +fever is expected. + +For a restless person of ardent temperament and active plethoric +circulation, a Lemon squash (unsweetened) of not more than half a +tumblerful is a capital sedative; or, a whole lemon may be made hot +on the oven top, being turned from time to time, and being put +presently when soft and moist into a teacup, then by stabbing it +about the juice will be made to escape, and should be drunk hot. If +bruised together with a sufficient quantity of sugar the pips of a +fresh Lemon or Orange will serve admirably against worms in [303] +children. Cut in slices and put into the morning bath, a Lemon +makes it fragrant and doubly refreshing. + +Professor Wilhelm Schmole, a German doctor, has published a work +of some note, in which he advances the theory that fresh Lemon +juice is a kind of _elixir vitae_; and that if a sufficient number of +Lemons be taken daily, life may be indefinitely prolonged. Lemon +juice is decidedly beneficial against jaundice from passive +sluggishness of the biliary functions; it will often serve to stay +bleedings, when ice and astringent styptics have failed; it will prove +useful when swallowed freely against immoderately active monthly +fluxes in women; and when applied externally it signally relieves +cutaneous itching, especially of the genitals. + +Prize-fighters refresh themselves with a fresh cut Lemon between +the rounds when competing in the Ring. Hence has arisen the +common saying, "Take a suck of the Lemon, and at him again." + +For a relaxed sore throat, Lemon juice will help to make a +serviceable gargle. By the heat of the sun it may be reduced to a +solid state. For a cold in the head, if the juice of a ripe Lemon be +squeezed into the palm of the hand, and strongly sniffed into the +nostrils at two or three separate times, a cure will be promoted. +Roast fillet of veal, with stuffing and lemon juice, was beloved by +Oliver Cromwell. + +For heartburn which comes on without having eaten sweet things, it +is helpful to suck a thin slice of fresh Lemon dipped in salt just +after each meal. + +The Chinese practice of rubbing parts severely neuralgic with the +wet surface of a cut Lemon is highly useful. This fruit has been sold +within present recollection at half-a-crown each, and during the +American war at five shillings. + +[304] The hands may be made white, soft, and supple by daily +sponging them with fresh Lemon juice, which further keeps the +nails in good order; and the same may be usefully applied to the +roots of the hair for removing dandriff from the scalp. + +The Candied Peel which we employ as a confection is got from one of +the citrons (a variety of the lemon); whilst another of this tribe is +esteemed for religious purposes in Jewish synagogues. These citrons +are imported into England from the East; and for unblemished +specimens of the latter which reach London, high prices are paid. +One pound sterling is a common sum, and not infrequently as much +as seventy shillings are given for a single "Citron of Law." The fruit +is used at the Feast of Tabernacles according to a command given in +the Book of the Law; it is not of an edible nature, but is handed +round and smelt by the worshippers as they go out, when they +"thank God for all good things, and for the sweet odours He has +given to men." This citron is considered to be almost miraculously +restorative, especially by those who regard it as the "tappnach," +intended in the text, "Comfort me with apples." Ladies of the Orient, +even now, carry a piece of its rind about them in a vinaigrette. + +The citron which furnishes Candied Peel resembles a large juicy +lemon, but without a nipple. + +Virgil said of the fruit generally:-- + + "Media fert tristes succos, tardumque saporem + Felicis mali." + +Fresh Lemon juice will not keep because of its mucilage, which +soon ferments. + +Sidney Smith, in writing about Foston, his remote Country Cure in +Yorkshire, said it is "twelve miles from a Lemon." + + + +[305] LENTIL. + +Among the leguminous plants which supply food for the invalid, +and are endowed with certain qualifications for correcting the +health, may be justly placed the Lentil, though we have to import it +because our moist, cold climate is not favourable for its growth. +Nevertheless, it closely resembles the small purple vetch of our +summer hedgerows at home. In France its pulse is much eaten +during Lent--which season takes its name, as some authors suppose, +from this penitential plant. Men become under its subduing dietary +influence, "_lenti et lenes_." The plant is cultivated freely in Egypt +for the sake of the seeds, which are flat on both sides, growing in +numerous pods. + +The botanical name is _Ervum lens_; and about the year 1840 a Mr. +Wharton sold the flour of Lentils under the name of Ervalenta, this +being then of a primrose colour. He failed in his enterprise, and Du +Barry took up the business, but substituting the red Arabian Lentil +for the yellow German pulse. + +Joseph's mess of pottage which he sold to Esau for his birthright +was a preparation of the red Lentil: and the same food was the bread +of Ezekiel. + +The legumin contained in this vegetable is very light and sustaining, +but it is apt to form unwholesome combinations with any earthy +salts taken in other articles of food, or in the water used in cooking; +therefore Lemon juice or vinegar is a desirable addition to Lentils at +table. This is because of the phosphates contained so abundantly, +and liable to become deposited in the urine. "Lentils," says Gerard, +"are singular good to stay the menses." They are traditionally +regarded as funeral plants, and formerly they were forbidden at +sacrifices and feasts. + +[306] Parkinson said, "The country people sow it in the fields as +food for their cattle, and call it 'tills', leaving out the 'lent', as +thinking that word agreeth not with the matter." "_Ita sus +Minervam_." In Hampshire the plant is known as "tils," and in +Oxfordshire as "dills." The Romans supposed it made people +indolent and torpid, therefore they named the plant from _lentus_, +slow. + +Allied to the Lentil as likewise a leguminous plant is the LUPINE, +grown now only as an ornament to our flower beds, but formerly +cultivated by the Romans as an article of food, and still capable of +usefulness in this capacity for the invalid. Pliny said, "No kind of +fodder is more wholesome and light of digestion than the white +Lupine when eaten dry." If taken commonly at meals it will +contribute a fresh colour and a cheerful countenance. When thus +formerly used neither trouble nor expense was needed in sowing the +seed, since it had merely to be scattered over the ground without +ploughing or digging. But Virgil designated it _tristis Lupinus_, "the +sad Lupine," probably because when the pulse of this plant was +eaten without being first cooked in any way so as to modify its bitter +taste, it had a tendency to contract the muscles of the face, and to +give a sorrowful appearance to the countenance. It was said the +Lupine was cursed by the Virgin Mary, because when she fled with +the child Christ from the assassins of Herod, plants of this species +by the noise they made attracted the attention of the soldiers. + +The Lupine was originally named from _lupus_, a wolf, because of +its voracious nature. The seeds were used as pieces of money by +Roman actors in their plays and comedies, whence came the saying, +"_nummus lupinus_," "a spurious bit of money." + + + +[307] LETTUCE. + +Our garden Lettuce is a cultivated variety of the wild, or +strong-scented Lettuce (_Lactuca virosa_), which grows, with prickly +leaves, on banks and waysides in chalky districts throughout +England and Wales. It belongs to the Composite order of plants, and +contains the medicinal properties of the plant more actively than +does the Lettuce produced for the kitchen. An older form of the +name is _Lettouce_, which is still retained in Scotland. + +Chemically the wild Lettuce contains lactucin, lactucopricin, +asparagin, mannite, albumen, gum, and resin, together with oxalic, +malic, and citric acids; thus possessing virtues for easing pain, and +inducing sleep. The cultivated Lettuce which comes to our tables +retains these same properties, but in a very modified degree, since +the formidable principles have become as completely toned down +and guileless in the garden product as were the child-like manners +and the pensive smile of Bret Harte's Heathen Chinee. + +Each plant derives its name, _lactuca_, from its milky juice; in Latin +_lactis_; and in Greek, _galaktos_ (taking the genitive case). This +juice, when withdrawn from the cut or incised stalks and stems of +the wild Lettuce, is milky at first, and afterwards becomes brown, +like opium, being then known (when dried into a kind of gum) as +_lactucarium_. From three to eight grains of this gum, if taken at +bedtime, will allay the wakefulness which follows over-excitement +of brain. A similar _lactucarium_, got from the dried milk of the +cultivated garden Lettuce, is so mild a sedative as to be suitable for +restless infants; and two grains thereof may be safely given to a +young child for soothing it to sleep. + +The wild Lettuce is rather laxative; with which view a decoction of +the leaves is sometimes taken as a drink [308] to remedy +constipation, and intestinal difficulties, as also to allay feverish +pains. The plant was mentioned as acting thus in an epigram by +Martial (_Libr. VI., Sq_.). + + "Prima tibi dabitur ventro lactuca movendo + Utilis, et porris fila resecta suis." + +Gerard said: "Being in some degree laxative and aperient, the +cultivated Lettuce is very proper for hot bilious dispositions;" and +Parkinson adds (1640): "Lettuce eaten raw or boyled, helpeth to +loosen the belly, and the boyled more than the raw." It was known +as the "Milk Plant" to Dioscorides and Theophrastus, and was much +esteemed by the Romans to be eaten after a debauch of wine, or as a +sedative for inducing sleep. But a prejudice against it was +entertained for a time as _venerem enervans_, and therefore +_mortuorum cibi_, "food for the dead." + +Apuleius says, that when the eagle desires to fly to a great height, +and to get a clear view of the extensive prospect below him, he first +plucks a leaf of the wild Lettuce and touches his eyes with the juice +thereof, by which means he obtains the widest perspicuity of vision. +"Dicunt aquilam quum in altum volare voluerit ut prospiciat rerum +naturas lactucoe sylvaticoe folium evellere et succo ejus sibi oculos +tangere, et maximam inde claritudinem accipere." + +After the death of Adonis, Venus is related to have thrown herself +on a bed of lettuces to assuage her grief. "In lactucâ occultatum a +Venere Adonin--cecinit Callimachus--quod allegoricé interpretatus +Athenoeus illuc referendum putat quod in venerem hebetiores fiunt +lactucas vescentes assidue." + +The Pythagoreans called this plant "the Eunuch"; and there is a +saying in Surrey, "O'er much Lettuce in [309] the garden will stop a +young wife's bearing." During the middle ages it was thought an evil +spirit lurked among the Lettuces adverse to mothers, and causing +grievous ills to new-born infants. + +The Romans, in the reign of Domitian, had the lettuce prepared with +eggs, and served with the last course at their tables, so as to +stimulate their appetites afresh. Martial wonders that it had since +then become customary to take it rather at the beginning of the +meal:-- + + "Claudere quae caenas lactuca solebat avorum + Dic mihi cur nostras inchoat illa dapes." + +Antoninus Musa cured Caesar Augustus of hypochondriasis by +means of this plant. + +The most common variety of the wild Lettuce, improved by +frequent cultivation, is the Cabbage Lettuce, or Roman, "which is +the best to boil, stew, or put into hodge-podge." Different sorts of +the Cos Lettuce follow next onwards. The _Lactuca sylvatica_ is a +variety of the wild Lettuce producing similar effects. From this a +medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared, and an extract from the +flowering herb is given in doses of from five to fifteen grains. No +attempt was made to cultivate the Lettuce in this country until the +fourth year of Elizabeth's reign. + +When bleached by gardeners the lettuce becomes tender, sweet, and +succulent, being easily digested, even by dyspeptic persons, as to its +crisp, leafy parts, but not its hard stalk. It now contains but little +nutriment of any sort, but supplies some mineral salts, especially +nitre. In the stem there still lingers a small quantity of the +sleep-inducing principle, "lactucarin," particularly when the plant is +flowering. Galen, when sleepless from [310] advanced age and +infirmities, with hard study, took decoction of the Lettuce at night; +and Pope says, with reference to our garden sort:-- + + "If you want rest, + Lettuce, and cowslip wine:--'probatum est.'" + +But if Lettuces are taken at supper with this view of promoting +sleep, they should be had without any vinegar, which neutralises +their soporific qualities. "Sleep," said Sir Thomas Brown, "is so like +death that I dare not trust it without my prayers." + +Some persons suppose that when artificially blanched the plant is +less wholesome than if left to grow naturally in the garden, +especially if its ready digestibility by those of sensitive stomachs be +correctly attributed to the slightly narcotic principle. It was taken +uncooked by the Hebrews with the Paschal lamb. + +John Evelyn writes enthusiastically about it in his _Book of +Sallets_: "So harmless is it that it may safely be eaten raw in fevers; +it allays heat, bridles choler, extinguishes thirst, excites appetite, +kindly nourishes, and, above all, represses vapours, conciliates +sleep, and mitigates pain, besides the effect it has upon the morals-- +temperance and chastity." + +"Galen (whose beloved sallet it was) says it breeds the most +laudable blood. No marvel, then, that Lettuces were by the ancients +called _sanoe_ by way of eminency, and were so highly valued by +the great Augustus that, attributing to them his recovery from a +dangerous sickness, it is reported he erected a statue and built an +altar to this noble plant." Likewise, "Tacitus, spending almost +nothing at his frugal table in other dainties, was yet so great a +friend to the Lettuce that he used to say of his prodigality in its +purchase, _Summi se mercari_ [311] _illas sumitus effusione_." +Probably the Lettuce of Greece was more active than our indigenous, +or cultivated plant. + +By way of admonition as to care in preparing the Lettuce for table, +Dr. King Chambers has said (_Diet in Health and Disease_), "The +consumption of Lettuce by the working man with his tea is an +increasing habit worthy of all encouragement. But the said working +man must be warned of the importance of washing the material of +his meal. This hint is given in view of the frequent occurrence of the +large round worm in the labouring population of some agricultural +counties, Oxfordshire for instance, where unwashed Lettuce is +largely eaten." Young Lettuces may be raised in forty-eight-hours +by first steeping the seed in brandy and then sowing it in a +hot-house. + +The seeds of the garden Lettuce are emollient, and when rubbed up +with water make a pleasant emulsion, which contains nothing of the +milky, laxative bitterness furnished by the leaves and stalk. This +emulsion resembles that of almonds, but is even more cooling, and +therefore a better medicine in disorders arising from acrimony and +irritation. + +From the _Lactuca virosa_, or strong-scented wild Lettuce, a +medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared, using the whole plant. On the +principle of treating with this tincture, when diluted, such toxic +effects as too large doses of the juice would bring about, a slow +pulse, with a disposition to stupor, and sleepy weakness, are +successfully met by its use. Also a medicinal extract is made by +druggists from the wild Lettuce, and given in doses of from three to +ten grains for the medicinal purposes which have been particularised, +and to remove a dull, heavy headache. + +"The garden Lettuce is good," as Pliny said, "for [312] burnings and +scaldings if the leaves be laid thereon, with salt (_sic_), before the +blisters do appear." "By reason," concludes Evelyn, "too, of its +soporiferous quality, the Lettuce ever was, and still continues, the +principal foundation of the universal tribe of Sallets, which cools +and refreshes, besides its other properties, and therefore was held in +such high esteem by the ancients, that divers of the Valerian family +dignified and ennobled their name with that of _Lactucinii_." It is +botanically distinguished as the _Lactuca sativa_, "from the plenty +of milk," says "Adam in Eden" (W. Coles), "that it hath, and +_causeth_." + +Lambs' Lettuce, or Corn Salad, is a distinct plant, one of the +Valerian tribe, which was formerly classed as a Lettuce, by name, +_Lactuca agnina_, either because it appears about the time when +lambs (_agni_) are dropped, or because it is a favourite food of +lambs. + +The French call this _salade de Prètre_, "monks' salad," and in +reference thereto an old writer has said: "It certainly deserves a +place among the _penitential_ herbs, for the stomach that admits it +is apt to cry _peccavi_." + +The same plant is also known by the title of the White Pot Herb, in +contrast to the _Olus atrum_, or Black Pot Herb. It grows wild in the +banks of hedges and waste cornfields, and is cultivated in our +kitchen gardens as a salad herb, the Milk Grass, being called +botanically the _Valerianella olitoria_, and having been in request as +a spring medicine among country folk in former days. By genus it is +a _Fedia_, and bears diminutive white flowers resembling glass. +Gerard says: "We know the Lambs' Lettuce as _Loblollie_; and it +serves in winter as a salad herb, among others none of the worst." In +France it goes by the names _manche_ and _broussette_. A +medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the fresh root. + +[313] The black pot-herb--so called from the dark colour of its +fruit--is an umbelliferous plant, (_Smyrnium olusatrum_) or Alexanders, +often found in the vicinity of abbeys, and probably therefore held in +former repute by the Monks. Its names are derived from _Smyrna_, +myrrh, in allusion to the odour of the plant; and from _Macedonicum_, +or the parsley of Macedon, Alexander's country. The herb +was also known as Stanmarch. It grows on waste places by +rivers near the sea, having been formerly cultivated like celery, +which has now supplanted it. When boiled it is eaten with avidity by +sailors returning from long voyages, who happen to land at the +South Western corner of Anglesea. + + + +LILY OF THE VALLEY. + +The Lily of the Valley grows wild in many of our English woods, +and possesses special curative virtues, which give it, according to +modern knowledge, a just place among Herbal Simples of repute. +This is the parent flower of our graceful, sweet-scented scape of +pendent, milk-white little floral bells, enshrined within two broad +leafy blades of dark green, and finding general favour for the +_jardinière_, or the button-hole. + +Its name _Convallaria majalis_ is derived from _convallis_, "a +valley," and _majalis_, "belonging to the month of May," when this +Lily comes into flower. + +Rustics corrupt the double title to "Liry Confancy," and provincially +the plant is known as "Wood Lily," "May Lily," and "May +Blossom." Also it bears the name of Mugget, and is said to have +grown up after the bloody combat of St. Leonard with the Dragon. +The French call it _Muguet_, or "little musk." The taste of the +flowers is acrid and bitter; they have been [314] employed with +benefit, when dried and powdered, as snuff, for headache, and +giddiness arising from weakness. A tincture of the plant is made, +and can be procured from any leading druggist. The active +medicinal principle is "convallarin," which slows the disturbed +action of a weak, irritable heart, whilst at the same time increasing +its power. Happily the remedy is a perfectly safe one, and no harm +has been known to occur from taking it experimentally in full and +frequent doses; so that, in this respect, it is far preferable to the +Fox Glove, which is apt to accumulate in the blood with poisonous +results. To make the tincture of _Convallaria_, one part of the +flowers is treated with eight parts of spirit of wine (proof); and the +dose is from five to fifteen drops, with a tablespoonful of water, +three times in the twenty-four hours. + +Also an infusion may be made with boiling water poured over the +whole plant-root, stems, and flowers; and this infusion may be given +continuously for from five to ten days; but it should be left off for a +time as soon as the irritability of the heart is subdued, and the pulse +steady and stronger. If taken during an attack of palpitation and +laboured breathing from a weak heart, the benefit of the infusion in +tablespoonful doses is felt at once. + +Ten grains of the dried flowers may be infused in six ounces of +boiling water; and a tablespoonful of this be given three times a day +with perfect safety, and with a most soothing effect for a weak, +sensitive, palpitating heart; but it does not suit a fatty heart +equally well. Nevertheless, even for insufficiency of the valves, when +dangerous, or distressing symptoms of heart disease have set in, an +infusion of the flowers has proved very helpful. The _rhizome_, +root, exhales a pleasant odour, [315] different from that of the +flowers; it tastes sweet at first but afterwards bitter. + +A fluid extract is further prepared, and may be mixed in doses of +from five to twenty drops with water. The Russian peasants have +long employed the Lily of the Valley for certain forms of dropsy, +when proceeding from a faulty heart. + +In the summer, when the flowers are in bloom, two drachms, by +weight, of the leaves should be steeped in a pint of water, either cold +or boiling; and the whole of this may be taken, if needed, during the +twenty-four hours. It will promote a free flow of urine. Culpeper +commended the Lily of the Valley for weak memory, loss of speech, +and apoplexy; whilst Gerard advised it for gout. In Devonshire it is +thought unlucky to plant a bed of these Lilies, as the person who +does so will probably die within the next twelve months. + +In the _Apocrypha_, Canticles ii, I, "I am the Lily of the Valley," +this flower is apparently brought under notice, but some other plant +must be intended here, because the Lily Convally does not grow in +Palestine. The word Lily is used in Oriental languages for a flower +in general. + +Distilled water from the flowers was formerly in great repute against +nervous affections, and for many troubles of the head, insomuch +that it was treasured in vessels of gold and silver. Matthiolus named +it _Aqua aurea_, "golden water"; and Etmuller said of the virtues of +the plant, _Quod specifice armabit impotentes maritos ad bellum +veneris_. + +A spirit made from the petals is excellent as an outward +embrocation for rheumatism and sprains; and in some parts of +Germany, a wine is prepared from the flowers mixed with raisins. +Old Gerard adopted an [316] unaccountable method for extracting +these virtues of the Lilies. He ordered that, "The flowers being close +stopped up in a glass vessel, should be put into an ant hill, and taken +away again a month after, when ye shall find a liquor in the glass +which, being outwardly applied, will help the cure of the gout." + +After the blossom has fallen off a berry is formed, which assumes in +the autumn a bright scarlet colour, and proves attractive to birds. + + + +LIME TREE, Flowers of (_Tiliaceoe_). + +Though not a native of Great Britain, yet, because of its common +growth in our roadways and along the front of terraced houses, and +in suburban avenues, the Lime Tree has become almost indigenous. + +In the old _Herbals_ it is called Lyne or Line, Tillet, Till tree, and +Tilia, each of these names bearing reference to the bast or inner bark +of the tree, which is used in the North for cordage. Others say the +name is an alteration of Telia, from _telum_, a dart, alluding to the +use of the wood. Tilia is more probably derived from _ptilon_, a +feather, because of the feathery appearance of the floral leaves. + +Shakespeare says:-- + + "Now, tell me thy name, good fellow," said he, + "Under the leaves of lyne." + +The "n" in later writers has been changed into "m." + +Its sweet-smelling and highly fragrant flowers blossom in May, and +are much sought after by bees, because abounding with honied +nectar. A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from them with spirit of +wine; and when given in doses of from five to ten drops with water, +three times in the day, it serves to relieve sick [317] bilious +giddiness, with depression of spirits, and a tendency to loose +bowels, with nervous headache. The sap of the Lime Tree (_Tilia +Europoea_) abounds in mucilage, from which sugar can be elaborated. +A tea made from the blossoms and leaves with boiling water, +is admirable for promoting perspiration. It is because of a +long established reputation for giving relief in chronic epilepsy or +the falling sickness, and of curing epileptiform headaches, whilst +proving of indisputable usefulness in allied nervous disorders, that +the flowers and leaves of the Lime or Linden Tree occupy a true +place among modern medicinal Simples. Gilbert White made some +Lime-blossom tea, and pronounced it a very soft, well-flavoured, +pleasant saccharine julep, much resembling the juice of liquorice. +This tea has been found efficacious for quieting hard coughs and for +relieving hoarseness. + +The flowers easily ferment, and being so fragrant may be used for +making wine: likewise a fine flavoured brandy has been distilled +from them. The fruit contains an oily substance, and has been +proposed, when roasted, as a domestic substitute for chocolate. The +sap may be procured by making incisions in the trunk, and branches. +The flowers are sedative, and anti-spasmodic. Fenelon decorates his +enchanted Isle of Calypso with flowering Lime trees. Hoffman says +_Tilioe ad mille usus petendoe_. + +The inner bark furnishes a soft mucilage, which may be applied +externally with healing effect to burns, scalds, and inflammatory +swellings. Gerard taught, "that the flowers are commended by divers +persons against pain of the head proceeding from a cold cause; +against dizziness, apoplexy, and the falling sickness; and not only +the flowers, but the distilled water thereof." [318] Hoffman knew a +case of chronic epilepsy recovered by a use of the flowers in infusion +drunk as tea. Such, indeed, was the former exalted anti-epileptic +reputation of the Lime Tree, that epileptic persons sitting +under its shade were reported to be cured. + +A famous "Lind" or Lime Tree, which grew in his ancestral place, +gave to the celebrated Linnaeus his significant name. The well-known +street, _unter den Lïnden_ in Berlin, is a favourite resort, +because of its pleasant, balmy shade; and when Heine lay beneath +the Lindens, he "thought his own sweet nothing-at-all thoughts." +The wood of the Lime Tree is preferred before every other wood fur +masterly carving. Grinling Gibbons executed his best and most +noted work in this material; and the finely-cut details still remain +sharp, delicate, and beautiful. + +Chemically, the Linden flowers contain a particular light, fragrant, +volatile oil, which is soluble in alcohol. They are used in warm +baths with much success to allay nervous irritability; or a strong +infusion of them is administered by enema for the same purpose. + + + +LIQUORICE, English (_Leguminous_). + +The common Liquorice plant, a native of the warmer European +countries, was first cultivated in Britain about 1562, in Turner's +time. It has been chiefly grown at Pontefract (Pomfret) in Yorkshire, +Worksop in Nottinghamshire, and Godalming in Surrey; whilst at +the present time it is produced abundantly at Mitcham, near London, +and the roots are dug up after a three years' growth, to be supplied to +the shops. The use of the Liquorice plant was first learnt by the +Hellenes from the Scythians; and the root was named _adipson_, +being thought from the time of Theophrastus to [319] powerfully +extinguish thirst. But Dr. Cullen says his experience has not +confirmed this as a true effect of chewing the root. When lightly +boiled in a little water it yields all its sweetness, together with +some mucilage. + +A favourite pastime of school boys at the beginning of the present +century, was to carry in the pocket a small phial of water containing +bits of this "Spanish juice," and to shake it continually so as to make +a solution, valued the more the darker and thicker it became. + +The juice is commonly employed as a pectoral in coughs or +hoarseness, when thickened to the consistence of a lozenge, or to +that of a solid mass, which hardens in the form of a stick. It is also +added to nauseous medicines, for masking their taste. Towards +obtaining this juice the underground stem or root of the plant is the +part employed. + +The search of Diogenes for an honest man was scarcely more +difficult than would be that of an average person for genuine +Liquorice; since the juice is adulterated to any extent, and there is +no definite standard of purity for this article so commonly used. +Potato starch, miller's sweepings mixed with sugar, and any kind of +rubbish are added to it. + +In China, the roots of _Glycyrrhiza echinata _and _Glycyrrhiza +glabra_, are used in a variety of medicinal preparations as +possessing tonic, alterative, and expectorant properties, and as a +mild aperient. Thereto are attributed rejuvenating and highly +nutritive qualities. English Liquorice root occurs in pieces three or +four inches long, and about as thick as a finger. + +The extract of Liquorice must be prepared from the _dried_ root, +else it cannot be strained bright, and would be liable to +fermentation. Chemically, the root [320] contains a special kind of +sugar, glycyrrhizine, a demulcent starch, asparagin, phosphate and +malate of lime and magnesia, a resinous oil, albumen, and woody +fibre. Old Fuller says concerning Nottingham, "This county +affordeth the first and best Liquorice in England: great is the use +thereof in physick. A stick of the same is commonly the spoon +prescribed to patients to use in any Loaches. If (as the men of +oeneas were forced to eat their own trenchers), these chance to eat +their spoons, their danger is none at all." The Loach, or Lingence, +from _ekleigma_, a substance licked-up, has become our modern +lozenge. Extract of Liquorice is largely imported as "Spanish" or +"Italian" juice, the Solazzi juice being most esteemed, which comes +in cylindrical or flattened rolls, enveloped in bay leaves; but the +pipe Liquorice of the sweetstuff shops is adulterated. Pontefract +lozenges are made of refined Liquorice, and are justly popular. The +sugar of Liquorice may be safely taken by diabetic patients. + +Officinally, the root and stolons (underground stems) of the +_Glycyrrhiza glabra_ (smooth) are variously employed; for making +an extract, for mixing with linseed in a tea, for combination with +powdered senna, sugar, and fennel, to form a favourite mild laxative +medicine, known as "Compound Liquorice Powder," and for other +uses. The solid juice is put into porter and stout, because giving +sweetness, thickness, and blackness to those beverages, without +making them fermentative; but Liquorice, like gum, supplies +scant aliment to the body. Black Liquorice is employed in the +manufacture of tobacco, for smoking and chewing. + +The Rest Harrow (_Ononis arvensis_), a troublesome weed, very +common in our ploughed fields, has a root [321] which affords a +sweet viscid juice, and hence it is popularly known as "Wild +Liquorice." + +This is a leguminous plant, called also "Ground Furze," which is a +favourite food of the donkey, and therefore gets its botanical title +from the Greek word _onos_, an ass. Its long and thickly matted +roots will arrest the progress of the harrow, or plough. Medicinally, +the plant has been given with success to subdue delirium. It is +obnoxious to snakes, and they will not come near it. + +Other appellations of the herb are Cammock, Stinking Tommy, +_Arréte boeuf_, _Remora aratri_, _Resta bovis_, and Land Whin +(which from the Latin _guindolum_, signifies a kind of cherry). The +plant was formerly much extolled for obviating stone in the bladder. +It is seen to be covered with spines; and a tradition exists that it +was the Rest harrow which furnished the crown of thorns plaited by +the Roman soldiers at the crucifixion of our Saviour. This plant has +been long-used as a culinary vegetable, its young shoots being +boiled, or taken in salad, or pickled. + +The French know it as _Bugrane_, beloved by goats, and the chief +delight of donkeys, who rejoice to roll themselves amid its prickles. +Simon Pauli _ne connait pas de meilleur remède contre le calcul des +reins, et de la vessie_. "_Anjourdhui l'arr éte boeuf est à peu pres +abandonné_." "_On y reviendra!_" The plant contains "ononin," a +chemical glucoside, which is demulcent to the urinary organs. + +Its botanical name of _Glycyrrhiza_ comes from the Greek words, +_glukus_, "sweet," and _riza_, "a root." English Liquorice root, +when dried, is commercially used in two forms, the peeled and the +unpeeled. By far and away the best lozenges are those of our [322] +boyhood, still attributed to one "Smith," in the Borough of London. + + + +MALLOWS. + +All the Mallows (_Malvaceoe_) to the number of a thousand, agree +in containing mucilage freely, and in possessing no unwholesome +properties. + +Their family name "Mallow" is derived from the Greek _malassein_, +"to soften," as alluding to the demulcent qualities of these +mucilaginous plants. The Common Mallow is a well-known roadside +plant, with large downy leaves, and streaked trumpet-shaped +purple flowers, which later on furnish round button-like +seeds, known to the rustics as "pickcheeses" in Norfolk and +elsewhere, whilst beloved by schoolboys, because of their nutty +flavour, and called by them "Bread and Cheese." + +Clare tells playfully of the fairies, borne by mice at a gallop:-- + + "In chariots lolling at their ease, + Made of whate'er their fancies please, + With wheels at hand of Mallow seeds, + Which childish sport had strung as beads." + +And recalls the time when he sat as a boy:-- + + "Picking from Mallows, sport to please, + The crumpled seed we called a cheese." + +Both this plant and its twin sister, the Marsh Mallow (_Althoea +hibiscus_, from _altho_, to cure), possess medicinal virtues, which +entitle them to take rank as curative Herbal Simples. The Sussex +peasant knows the Common Mallow as "Maller," so that "aller and +maller" means with him Alehoof (Ground Ivy) and Mallow. Pliny +said: "Whosoever shall take a spoonful of the [323] Mallows shall +that day be free from all diseases that may come to him." + +This plant is often named "Round Dock," and was formerly called +"Hock Herb": our Hollyhock being of the Mallow tribe, and first +brought to us from China. Pythagoras held _Malvoe folium +sanctissimum_; and we read of Epimenides in _Plato_, "at his +Mallows and Asphodels." The Romans esteemed the plant _in deliciis_ +among their dainties, and placed it of old as the first dish at +their tables. The laxative properties of the Mallow, both as regards +its emollient leaves, and its _radix altheoe efficacior_, were told of +by Cicero and Horace. + +The _Marsh Mallow_ grows wild abundantly in many parts of England, +especially in marshes near the sea coast. It gets its generic +name _althoea_, from the Greek _althos_, "a remedy," because +exercising so many curative virtues. Its old appellations were +_Vismalva_, _Bismalva_, _Malvaviscus_, being twice as medicinally +efficacious as the ordinary Mallow (_Sylvestris_). + +Virgil in one of his eclogues teaches how to coax goats with the +Marsh Mallow:-- + + "Haedorumque gregem viridi compellere hibisco." + +The root is sweet and very mucilaginous when chewed, containing +more than half its weight of saccharine viscous mucilage. It is, +therefore, emollient, demulcent, pain-soothing, and lubricating; +serving to subdue heat and irritation, whilst, if applied externally, +diminishing the painful soreness of inflamed parts. It is, for these +reasons, much employed in domestic poultices, and in decoction as +a medicine for pulmonary catarrhs, hoarseness, and irritative +diarrhoea or dysentery. Also the decoction acts well as a bland +soothing collyrium for [324] bathing inflamed eyes. Gerard says: +"The leaves be with good effect mixed with fomentations and +poultices against pains of the sides, of the stone, and of the bladder; +also in a bath they serve to take away any manner of pain." + +The mucilaginous matter with which the Marsh Mallow abounds is +the medicinal part of the plant; the roots of the Common Mallow +being useless to yield it for such purposes, whilst those of the Marsh +Mallow are of singular efficacy. A decoction of Marsh Mallow is +made by adding five pints of water to a quarter-of-a-pound of the +dried root, then boiling down to three pints, and straining through +calico. Also Marsh Mallow ointment is a popular remedy, especially +for mollifying heat, and hence it was thought invaluable by those +who had to undergo the ordeal of holding red hot iron in their hands, +to rapidly test their moral integrity. The sap of the Marsh Mallow +was combined together with seeds of Fleabane, and the white of an +hen's egg, to make a paste which was so adhesive that the hands +when coated with it were safe from harm through holding for a few +moments the glowing iron. + +French druggists prepare a famous medicinal sweet-meat, known as +_Pate de gimauve_ from the root of the Marsh Mallow. In Palestine, +the plant is employed by the poor to eke out their food; thus we read +in the book of Job (chap. xxx. ver. 4), "Who cut up Mallows by the +bushes, and juniper roots for their meat." + +In France, the young tops and tender leaves of the Marsh Mallow +are added to spring salads, as stimulating the kidneys healthily, for +which purpose is likewise prepared a syrup of Marsh Mallows +(_Syrupus Althoeus_) from the roots with cold water, to which the +[325] sugar is afterwards added. The leaves, flowers, and roots, are +employed for making ptisans. In Devonshire, this plant is termed by +the farmers, "Meshmellish," also "Drunkards," because growing +close by the water; and in the West of England, "Bulls-eyes"; whilst +being known in Somerset as "Bull Flowers" (pool flowers). The root +of the Marsh Mallow contains starch, mucilage, pectin, oil, sugar, +asparagin, phosphate of lime, glutinous matter and cellulose. An +infusion made with cold water takes up the mucilage, sugar, and +asparagin, then the hot water dissolves the starch. + +The flowers were used formerly on May-day by country people for +strewing before their doors, and weaving into garlands. + +The Geranium is said to have been originally a Mallow. Mahomet +having washed his shirt while on a journey, hung it on a Mallow to +dry, and the plant became therefore promoted to be a Geranium. + +Most probably, the modern French _Pate de gimauve_ contains +actually nothing of the plant or its constituents; but the root is +given in France to infants, on which they may try their teeth +during dentition, much as Orris root is used elsewhere. + +The laxative quality of the common Mallow was mentioned by +Martial:-- + + "Exoneraturas ventrem mihi villica malvas + Attulit, et varias quas habet hortus opes." + +The Musk Mallow (_Malva moschata_) is another common variety +of this plant, which emits from its leaves a faint musky odour, +especially in warm weather, or when they are drawn lightly through +the hand. Its virtues are similar in kind, but less powerful in +degree, to those of the Marsh Mallow. + + + +[326] MARIGOLD. + +In the _Grete Herball_ this plant was called Mary Gowles. Three +varieties of the Marigold exercise medicinal virtues which constitute +them Herbal Simples of a useful nature--the Corn Marigold +(_Chrysanthemum segetum_), found in our cornfields; the cultivated +garden Marigold (_Calendula officinalis_); and the Marsh +Marigold (_Caltha palustris_), growing in moist grass lands, and +popularly known as "Mareblobs." + +The Corn Marigold, a Composite flower, called also Bigold, and the +Yellow Oxeye, grows freely, though locally, in English cornfields, +its brilliant yellow flowers contrasting handsomely with adjacent +Scarlet-hued Poppies and Bluebottles (_Centaurea cyanus_). It is +also named Buddle or Boodle, from _buidel_, a purse, because it +bears _gools_ or _goldins_, representing gold coins, in the form of +the flat, round, brightly yellow blossoms, which were formerly +known, too, as _Ruddes_ (red flowers). The botanical title of the +species, _Chrysanthemum segetum_, signifies "golden flower." + +Hill named this Marigold, "the husbandman's dyall." In common +with the larger Oxeye Daisy (_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_) it +has proved of late very successful in checking the night sweats of +pulmonary consumption. A tincture and an infusion of the herb have +been made; from five to ten drops of the former being given for a +dose, and from two to three tablespoonfuls of the latter. + +The garden Marigold, often called African Marigold, came +originally from Southern France, and has been cultivated in England +since 1570. It is a Composite plant, and bears the name _Calendula_ +from the Latin _calendoe_, the first days of each month, because it +flowers all the year round. Whittier styles it "the grateful and [327] +obsequious Marigold." The leaves are somewhat thick and sapid; +when chewed, they communicate straightway a viscid sweetness, +which is followed by a sharp, penetrating taste, very persistent in the +mouth, and not of the warm, aromatic kind, but of an acrid, saline +nature. This Marigold has always been grown, chiefly for its +flowers, which were esteemed of old as a cordial to cheer the spirits, +and when dried were put into broths as a condiment: Charles Lamb +(Elia) says, in his _Essay on Christ's Hospital_: "In lieu of our +half-pickled Sundays, or quite fresh boiled beef on Tuesdays (strong as +_caro equina_), with detestable Marigolds floating in the pail to +poison the broth." The strap-like florets of the rays are the parts of +the flowers used for such a purpose. They should be gathered on a +fine day when the blossoms are fully expanded, which having been +divested of their outer green leaves, should be next spread on a cloth +in an airy room to become dry. After having been turned frequently +for a few days, they may be put by in paper bags or in drawers. + +Gerard says: "The yellow leaves of the flowers are dried and kept +throughout Dutch-land against winter, to put into broths and +physical potions, and for divers other purposes, in such quantity that +the stores of some grocers or spice-sellers contain barrels filled with +them, and to be retailed by the penny, more or less; insomuch, that +no broths are well made without dried Marigolds"; and, "The herb +drank after the coming forth from the bath of them that hath the +yellow jaundice doth in short time make them well coloured." (This +is probably conjectured on the doctrine of signatures.) + +A decoction of the flowers is employed by country people as a +posset drink in measles and small-pox; and the expressed fresh juice +proves a useful remedy against [328] costiveness, as well as for +jaundice and suppression of the monthly flow--from one to two +tablespoonfuls being taken as a dose. + +The plant has been considered also of service for scrofulous +children, when given to them as a salad. One of the flowers if +rubbed on any part recently stung by a bee or wasp, will quickly +relieve it. + +Buttercups and Marigolds, when growing close to each other, are +called in Devonshire, "publicans and sinners." The active, bitter +principle of the Marigold is "callendulin," which is yellow and +tasteless, whilst swelling in water into a transparent jelly. Druggists +now make a medicinal tincture (H.) of the common Marigold, using +four ounces of the dried florets to a pint of proof spirit, the dose +being from half a teaspoonful to two teaspoonfuls in water, twice or +three times in the day. It is advised as a sudorific stimulant in low +fevers, and to relieve spasms. Also, the Marigold has been +employed both as a medicine and externally in treating cancer, +being thought to "dispose cancerous sores to heal." A saturated +tincture of the flowers when mixed with water, promotes the cure of +contusions, wounds, and simple sores or ulcers; also the extract will +allay chronic vomiting, if given in doses of two grains, several times +a day. One drop of the tincture with two grains of powdered borax +when sprayed into the ear, is very useful if a discharge has become +established therefrom. + +The plant, especially its flowers, was used on a large scale by the +American surgeons, to treat wounds and injuries sustained during +the last civil war; and obtained their warmest commendation. It +quite prevented all exhausting suppurative discharges and drainings. +_Succus Calenduloe_ (the fresh juice) is the best form--say +American surgeons--in which the _Calendula_ [329] is obtainable +for ready practice. Just sufficient alcohol should be added to the +juice as will prevent fermentation. For these purposes as a +vulnerary, the _Calendula_ owes its introduction and first use +altogether to homoeopathic methods, as signally valuable for +healing wounds, ulcers, burns, and other breaches of the skin +surface. Dr. Hughes (Brighton) says: "The Marigold is a precious +vulnerary. You will find it invaluable in surgical practice." + +On exposure to the sun the yellow colour of the garden Marigold +becomes bleached. Some writers spell the name "Marygold," as if it, +and its synonyms bore reference to the Virgin Mary; but this is a +mistake, though there is a fancied resemblance of the disc's florets +to rays of glory. It comes into blossom about March 25th (the +Annunciation of the Virgin Mary). + + "What flower is this which bears the Virgin's name, + And richest metal joined with the same?" + +In the chancel of Burynarbon Church, Devonshire, is an epitaph +containing a quaint allusion to this old idea respecting the +Marigold:--"To the pretious memory of Mary, ye dear, and only +daughter of George Westwood. January 31st, 1648." + + "This Mary Gold, lo! here doth show + Mari's worth gold lies here below; + The Marigold in sunshine spread, + When cloudie closed doth bow the head." + +Margaret of Orleans had for her device a Marigold turning towards +the sun, with the motto, "_je ne veux suivre que lui seul_." + +Dairy women used to churn the petals of the Marigold with their +cream for giving to their butter a yellow colour. + +The Marsh Marigold (_Caltha poetarum_) or the Marsh [330] +Horsegowl of old writers, grows commonly in our wet meadows, +and resembles a gigantic buttercup, being of the same order of +plants (_Ranunculaceoe_). The term, Marsh Marigold, is a +pleonasm for Marigold, which means of itself the Marsh Gowl or +Marsh Golden Flower, being an abbreviation of the old Saxon +_mear-gealla_. So that the term "Marsh" has become prefixed +unnecessarily. Presently, the name "Marigold," "Marsh Gowl," was +passed on to the _Calendula_ of the corn fields of Southern Europe, +and to the garden Marigold. Furthermore, the botanical title, Caltha, +of the Mare Blob, is got from _calathus_, a small round basket of +twigs or osiers made two thousand years and more ago, which the +concave golden bowl of the Marsh Marigold was thought to +resemble. Persephone was collecting wild flowers in a _Calathus_ +when carried off by the admiring Pluto. The earliest use of the floral +name _Caltha_ occurs in Virgil's second Pastoral, "_Mollia luteolâ +pingit vaccinia Calthâ_." The title Mare Blob comes from the +Anglo-Saxon, "_mere_" (a marsh), and "_bleb_" or "_blob_" (a +bladder). These flowers were the _flaventia lumina Calthoe_ of +Columella, described by Shakespeare in the _Winter's Tale_. They +are also known as "Bublicans," "Meadowbrights," "Crazies," +"Christ's Eyes," "Bull's Eyes," "May Blobs," "Drunkards," "Water +Caltrops," and wild "Batchelor's Buttons." A tincture is made (H.) +from the whole plant when in flower, and may be given with +success for that form of bloodlessness with great impairment of the +whole health, known as pernicious anaemia. In toxic quantities the +marsh Marigold has produced in its provers, a pallid, yellow, +swollen state of the face, constant headache and giddiness, a +thickly-coated tongue, diarrhoea, a small rapid pulse sometimes +intermittent, heaviness of the limbs, and an [331] unhealthy, +eruptive state of the skin; so that the tincture of the plant in small, +well-diluted doses will slowly overcome this totality of symptoms, +and serve to establish a sound state of restored health. Five drops of +the tincture diluted to the third strength should be given three times +a day with water. Dr. Withering tells that on a large quantity of the +flowers being put in the bed-room of a girl subject to fits, the +attacks ceased; and an infusion of the flowers has been since given +with success for similar fits. + +The Marsh Marigold has been called _Verrucaria_, because +efficacious in curing warts; also _Solsequia_, or _Solsequium_; and +Sponsa Solis, since the flower opens at the rising, and shuts at the +setting of the sun. + + + +MARJORAM. + +The common Marjoram (_Origanum_) grows frequently as a wild +labiate plant on dry, bushy places, especially in chalky districts +throughout Britain, the whole herb being fragrantly aromatic, and +bearing flowers of a deep red colour. When cultivated in our kitchen +gardens it becomes a favourite pot herb, as "Sweet Marjoram," with +thin compact spikes, and more elliptical leaves than the wild +Marjoram. Its generic title, _Origanum_, means in Greek, the joy of +the mountains (_oros-ganos_) on which it grows. + +This plant and the Pennyroyal are often called "Organ." Its dried +leaves are put as a pleasant condiment into soups and stuffings, +being also sometimes substituted for tea. Together with the +flowering tops they contain an essential volatile fragrant oil, which +is carminative, warming, and tonic. An infusion made from the fresh +plant will excellently relieve nervous headaches by virtue of the +camphoraceous principle [332] contained in the oil; and externally +the herb may be applied with benefit in bags as a hot fomentation to +painful swellings and rheumatism, as likewise for colic. "Organy," +says Gerard, "is very good against the wambling of the stomacke, +and stayeth the desire to vomit, especially at sea. It may be used to +good purpose for such as cannot brooke their meate." + +The sweet Marjoram has also been successfully employed externally +for healing scirrhous tumours of the breast. Murray says: "Tumores +mammarum dolentes scirrhosos herba recens, viridis, per tempus +applicata feliciter dissipavit." The essential oil, when long kept, +assumes a solid form, and was at one time much esteemed for being +rubbed into stiff joints. The Greeks and Romans crowned young +couples with Marjoram, which is in some countries the symbol of +honour. Probably the name was originally, "Majoram," in Latin, +_Majorana_. Our forefathers scoured their furniture with its odorous +juice. In the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, Act v, Scene 5, we read:-- + + "The several chairs of order look you scour + With juice of balm, and every precious flower." + + + +MERCURY-DOG'S (_Euphorbiaceoe_). + +The _Mercuriallis perennis_ (Dog's Mercury) grows commonly in +our hedges and ditches, occurring in large patches, with egg-shaped +pointed leaves, square stems, and light green flowers, developed in +spikes. The old herbalists called it Smerewort, and gave it for agues, +as well as to cure melancholy humours. It has been eaten in mistake +for Good King Henry, which is sometimes called Mercury Goosefoot; +but it is decidedly poisonous, even when cooked. Some persons +style it "Kentish Balsam." + +[333] The name Dog's Mercury or Dog's Cole was given either +because of its supposed worthlessness, or to distinguish it from the +Mercury Goosefoot aforesaid. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) +from the whole plant freshly collected when in flower and fruit, +with spirit of wine; and the dose of this in a diluted form is from +five to ten drops, of the third decimal strength, two or three times a +day, with a spoonful of water. The condition which indicates its +medicinal use, is that of a severe catarrh, with chilliness, a heavy +head, sneezing, a dry mouth, and general aching, lassitude, with +stupor, and heat of face. Its chemical constituents have not been +ascertained. In the Isle of Skye it is used for causing salivation, as +a vegetable mercury; and _per contra_ for curing a sore mouth. + +Such virtues as the herb possesses were thought to have been taught +by the god Mercury. The Greeks called it Mercury's Grass (_Ermou +poa_). When boiled and eaten with fried bacon in error for the +English spinach, Good King Henry, it has produced sickness, +drowsiness, and convulsive twitchings. The root affords both a blue +and a crimson colour for dyeing. + + + +MINTS. (Pennyroyal, Peppermint, and Spearmint). + +Several kinds of the Mints have been used medicinally from the +earliest times, such as Balm, Basil, Ground Ivy, Horehound, +Marjoram, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, +Spearmint, and Thyme, some being esteemed rather as pot herbs, +than as exercising positive medicinal effects. The most useful as +Herbal Simples which have yet to be considered are Pennyroyal, +Peppermint, and Spearmint. The Cat Mint (_Nepeta cataria_) and +Horse Mint are of minor importance. + +[334] All the Mints are severally provided with leaves of a familiar +fragrant character, it having been observed that this aromatic +vegetation is a feature of deserts, and of other hot, dry places, +allover the world. Tyndall showed the power exercised by a spray of +perfume when diffused through a room to cool it, or in other words +to exclude the passage of the heat rays; and it has been suggested +that the presence of essential oils in the leaves of these plants +serves to protect them against the intense dry heat of a desert sun +all effectively as if they were partly under shelter. Nevertheless +Mints, with the exception of "Arvensis," are the inhabitants of wet +and marshy wastes. + +They have acquired their common name _Mentha_ from Minthes +(according to Ovid) who was changed into a plant of this sort by +Proserpina, the wife of Pluto, in a fit of jealousy. Their flowering +tops are all found to contain a certain portion of camphor. Pliny +said: "As for the garden Mint, the very smell of it alone recovers +and refreshes the spirits, as the taste stirs up the appetite for meat, +which is the reason that it is so general in our acid sauces, wherein +we are accustomed to dip our meat." The Mints for paying tithes, +with respect to which the Pharisees were condemned for their +extravagance by our Saviour, included the Horse Mint (_Sylvestris_), +the round-leaved Mint, the hairy Mint (_Aquatica_), the Corn +Mint (_Arvensis_), the Bergamot Mint, and some others, besides +the "Mint, Rue, and Anise," specially mentioned. "Woe unto +you Pharisees; for ye tithe Mint and Rue, and all manner of herbs. +Ye pay tithe of Mint, and Anise, and Cummin." + +The Mint Pennyroyal (_Mentha Pulegium_) gets its name from the +Latin _puleium regium_, because of its royal efficacy in destroying +fleas (_pulices_). The French call [335] this similarly, _Pouliot_. It +grows on moist heaths and pastures, and by the margins of brooks, +being cultivated further in our herb gardens, for kitchen and market +uses. Also, it is produced largely about Mitcham, and is mostly sold +in a dry state. The herb was formerly named Pudding Grass, from its +being used to make the stuffing for meat, in days when this was +termed a pudding. Thus we read in an old play, _The Ordinary_:-- + + "Let the corporal + Come sweating under a breast of mutton stuffed with + [pudding]." + +The Pennyroyal was named by the Greeks _Bleekon_ and _Gleekon_, +being often used by them as a condiment for seasoning different +viands. Formerly it was known in England as "Lurk in ditch," +and "Run by the ground," from its creeping nature, arid love +of a damp soil. Its first titles were "Puliall Royall," and "Hop +Marjoram." A chaplet of Pennyroyal was considered admirable for +clearing the brain. Treadwell says, the Pennyroyal was especially +put into hog's puddings, which were made of flour, currants, and +spice, and stuffed into the entrail of a hog. + +The oil of Pennyroyal is used commercially in France and Germany. +Its distilled water is carminative and anti-spasmodic; whilst the +whole plant is essentially stimulating. The fresh herb yields about +one per cent. of a volatile oil containing oxygen, but of which the +exact composition has not been ascertained. From two to eight drops +may be given as a dose in suitable cases, but not where feverish or +inflammatory symptoms are present. + +If added to an ordinary embrocation the oil of [336] Pennyroyal +increases the reddening and the benumbing (anodyne) effects, acting +in the same way as, menthol (oil of Peppermint) for promptly +dispelling severe neuralgic pain. With respect to the Pennyroyal, +folk speak in Devonshire of "Organs," "Organ Tea," and "Organ +Broth." An essence is made of the oil, mixed and diluted with spirit +of wine. The Pennyroyal has proved useful in whooping cough; but +the chief purpose to which it has long been devoted, is that of +promoting, the monthly flow with women. Haller says he never +knew an infusion of the herb in white wine, with steel, to fail of +success; _Quod me nunquam fefellit_. It is certain that in some parts +of England preparations of Pennyroyal are in considerable demand, +and a great number of women ascribe _emmenagogue_ properties to +it, that is, the power of inducing the periodical monthly flux. Many +married women of intelligence and close observation, assert as a +positive fact, that Pennyroyal will bring on the periodical flow when +suppressed; and yet the eminent jurisprudist, Dr. Taylor, was +explicit in declaring that Pennyroyal has no such properties. He +stated that it has no more effect on the womb than peppermint or +camphor water. So there is difficulty in collecting evidence as +regards the real action of Pennyroyal in such respect. Chemists +supply the medicine in the full belief of this eminent opinion just +quoted: at the same time they know it is not wanted for "catarrh of +the chest," as alleged. The purchaser keeps her secret to herself, and +does not communicate her experience to anyone. Dr. Taylor +evidently supposed Peppermint water and Camphor water to be +almost inert, especially as exercising any toxical effect on the +womb. The medicinal basis of the latter is certainly a powerful +agent, and its stimulating volatile principles [337] are found to exist +in most of the aromatic herbs; in fact, Camphor is a concrete volatile +vegetable oil, and camphoraceous properties signalise all the +essences derived from carminative Herbal Simples. + +The Camphor of commerce is secreted by trees of the laurel sort +native to China and Japan, whilst coming also from the West Indies. +Everyone knows by sight and smell the white crystalline granular +semi-translucent gum, strongly odorous, and having a warm +pungent characteristic taste. Branches, leaves, and chips of the trees +are soaked in water until it is saturated with the extract, which is +then turned out into an earthen basin to coagulate. This is +completely soluble in spirit of wine, but scarcely at all in water; +nevertheless, if a lump of the Camphor be kept in a bottle of fresh +water, to be drawn off from time to time as required, it will +constitute Camphor julep. A wineglassful of it serves to relieve +nervous headache and hysterical depression. + +The domestic uses of Camphor are multiple, and within moderate +limits perfectly safe; but a measure of caution should be exercised, +as was shown a while ago by the school-boy, whom his mother +furnished affectionately after the holidays with a bottle of +supersaturated pilules to be taken one or two at a time against any +incipient catarrh or cold. The whole bottleful was devoured at once +as a sweetmeat, and the lad's life was rescued with difficulty +because of intense nervous shock occasioned thereby. + +An old Latin adage declares that _Camphora per nares emasculat +mares_, "Camphor in excess makes men eunuchs," even when +imbibed only through the air as a continuous practice. And, +therefore, as a "similar" the odorous gum, in small repeated doses, is +an excellent sexual restorative. Likewise, persons who have taken +poisonous, or large [338] probative quantities of Camphor found +themselves quickly affected by exhausting choleraic diarrhoea; and +Hahnemann therefore advised, with much success, to give (in doses +of from one to three or four drops on sugar), repeatedly for cholera, +a tincture of Camphor (Rubini's) made with spirit of wine above +proof. This absorbs as much as is possibly soluble of the drug. + +Physiologically Camphor acts by reducing reflex nervous irritability. +Externally its spirit makes an admirable warming liniment, +either by itself, or when conjoined with other rubefacients. +In persons poisoned by the drug, all the superficial blood vessels of +the bodily skin have been found immensely dilated; acting on a +knowledge of which fact anyone wishing to produce copious +general sweating, may do so by sitting over a plate on which +Camphor is heated, whilst a blanket envelops the body loosely, and +is pinned round the neck so that the fumes do not get down the +throat. + +In medical books of the last century this substance was called +"Camphire." To a certain extent its effluvium is noxious to insects, +and it may therefore be employed for preserving specimens, as well +as for protecting fabrics against moths. But its volatile odours +swiftly evaporate, and become even offensively diffused about the +room. In a moderate measure Camphor is antiseptic, and lessens +urinary irritation. Recently a dose of ninety-six grains, taken +toxically, produced giddiness, then epileptic convulsions, with +dilated pupils, and stertor of breathing. + +The Peppermint (_Mentha piperita_), or "Brandy Mint," so called +because having a pungent smell, and taste of a peppery (_piper_) +nature, is a labiate plant, found not uncommonly in moist places +throughout Britain, and occurring of several varieties. Both it and +the Spearmint [390] probably escaped from cultivation at first, and +then became our wild plants. Its leaves and stems exhale a powerful, +refreshing, characteristic aroma, and give a taste which, whilst +delicate at first, is quickly followed by a sense of numbness and +coldness, increased by inspiring strongly. Preparations of +Peppermint, when swallowed, diffuse warmth in the stomach and +mouth, acting as a stimulating carminative, with some amount of +anodyne power to allay the pain of colic, flatulence, spasm, or +indigestion. This is through the powerful volatile oil, of which the +herb yields one per cent. + +Its bruised fresh leaves, if applied, will relieve local pains and +headache. A hot infusion, taken as tea, soothes stomach ache, allays +sickness, and stays colicky diarrhoea. This will also subdue +menstrual colic in the female. The essential oil owes its virtues to +the menthol, or mint camphor, which it contains. + +The Peppermint is largely grown at Mitcham, and is distilled on the +ground at a low temperature, the water which comes away with the +oil not being re-distilled, but allowed for the most part to run off. + +Chinese oil of Peppermint (_Po Ho Yo_) yields menthol in a solid +crystalline form, which, when rubbed over the surface of a painful +neuralgic part, will afford speedy and marked relief, as also for +neuralgic tooth-ache, tic douloureux, and the like grievous troubles. +It is sold in diminutive bottles and cases labelled with Chinese +characters. An ethereal tincture of menthol is made officinally with +one part of menthol to eight parts of pure ether. If some of this is +inhaled by vaporisation from a mouthpiece inhaler, or is sprayed +into the nostrils and hindermost throat, it will relieve acute +affections thereof, and of the nose, by making the blood vessels +contract, and by arresting the flow of mucous discharge, [340] +thus diminishing the congestion, and quieting the pain. This +camphoraceous oil was formerly applied by the Romans to the +temples for the cure of headache. In local rheumatic affections the +skin may be painted beneficially with oil of Peppermint. For internal +use, from one to three drops of the oil may be given as a dose on +sugar, or in a spoonful of milk; but the diluted essence, made from +some of the oil admixed with spirit of wine, is to be preferred. Put +on cotton wool into the hollow of a carious tooth, a drop or two of +the essential oil will often ease the pain speedily. The fresh plant, +bruised, and applied against the pit of the stomach over the navel, +will allay sickness, and is useful to stay the diarrhoeic purging of +young children. From half to one teaspoonful of the spirituous +essence of Peppermint may be given for a dose with two tablespoonfuls +of hot water; or, if Peppermint water be chosen, the dose +of this should be from half to one wineglassful. Distilled +Peppermint water should be preferred to that prepared by adding the +essence to common water. Lozenges made of the oil, or the essence, +are admirable for affording ease in colic, flatulence, and nausea. +They will also prevent or relieve sea-sickness. + +When Tom Hood lay a dying he turned his eyes feebly towards the +window on hearing it rattle in the night, whereupon his wife, who +was watching him, said softly. "It's only the wind, dear"; to which +he replied, with a sense of humour indomitable to the last, "Then put +a Peppermint lozenge on the sill." + +Two sorts of this herb are cultivated for the market--black and white +Peppermint, the first of which furnishes the most, but not the best +oil. The former has purple stems, and the latter green. As an +antiseptic, and destroyer of disease germs, this oil is signally +efficacious, [341] on which important account it is now used for +inhalation by consumptive patients as a volatile vapour to reach +remote diseased parts of the lung passages, and to heal by +destroying the morbid germs which are keeping up mischief therein. +Towards proving this preservative power exercised by the oil of +Peppermint, pieces of meat, and of fat, wrapped in several layers of +gauze medicated with the oil have been kept for seven months +sweet, and free from putrescent changes. A simple respirator for +inhaling the oil is made from a piece of thin perforated zinc plate +adapted to the shape of the mouth and nostrils like a small open +funnel, within the narrow end of which is fitted a pledget of cotton +wool saturated with twenty drops of the oil, or from twenty to thirty +drops of the spirituous essence. This should be renewed each night +and morning, whilst the apparatus is to be worn nearly all day. At +the same time the oil is agreeable of odour, and is altogether +harmless. It may be serviceably admixed with liniments for use to +rheumatic parts. + +"Peppermint," says Dr. Hughes (Brighton), "should be more largely +employed than it is in coughs, especially in a dry cough, however +caused, when it seems to act specifically as a cure, just as arnica +does for injuries, or aconite for febrile inflammation. It will relieve +even the irritative hectic cough of consumptive patients. Eight or ten +drops of the essence should be given for this purpose as a dose with +a tablespoonful of water. In France continuous inhalations of +Peppermint oil combined with creasote and glycerine, have become +used most successfully, even when cavities exist in the lungs, with +copious bacillary expectoration. The cough, the night sweats, and +the heavy phlegm have been arrested, whilst the nutrition and the +weight have steadily increased." + +[342] A solution of menthol one grain, spirit of wine fifty drops, and +oil of cloves ten drops, if painted over the seat of pain, will relieve +neuralgia of the face, or sciatica promptly. Unhealthy sores may be +cleansed, and their healing promoted, by being dressed with strips +of soft rag dipped in sweet oil, to each ounce of which one or two +drops of the oil of Peppermint has been added. For diphtheria, +Peppermint oil has been of marked use when applied freely twice or +three times in the day to the ulcerated parts of the throat. This oil, +or the essence, can be used of any strength, in any quantity, without +the least harm to the patient. It checks suppuration when applied to a +sore or wound, whilst exercising an independent antiseptic +influence. "Altogether," says Dr. Braddon, "the oil of Peppermint +forms the best, safest, and most agreeable of known antiseptics." +Pliny tells that the Greeks and Romans crowned themselves with the +Peppermint at their feasts, and adorned their _al fresco_ tables with +its sprays. The "chefs" introduced this herb into all their sauces, and +scented their wines with its essence. The Roman housewives made a +paste of the Peppermint with honey, which they esteemed highly, +partaking of it to sweeten their breath, and to conceal their passion +for wine at a time when the law punished with death every woman +convicted of quaffing the ruby seductive liquor. Seneca perished in +a bath scented with woolly mint. + +The Spearmint (_Mentha viridis_) is found growing apparently wild +in England, but is probably not an indigenous herb. It occurs in +watery places, and on the banks of rivers, such as the Thames, and +the Exe. If used externally, its strong decoction will heal chaps and +indolent eruptions. + +It possesses a warm, aromatic odour and taste, much [343] +resembling those of Peppermint, but not so pungent. Its volatile oil, +and its essence, made with spirit of wine, contain a similar +stimulating principle, but are less intense, and therefore better +adapted for children's maladies. + +The Spearmint is called "Mackerel Mint," and in Germany "Lady's +Mint," with a pun on the word munze. Its name, Spear, or Spire, +indicates the spiry form of its floral blossoming. When the leaves of +the herb are macerated in milk, this curdles much less quickly than +it otherwise would; and therefore the essence is to be commended +for use with milk diets by delicate persons, or for young children of +feeble digestive powers, though not when feverishness is present. +"Spearmint," says John Evelyn, "is friendly to the weak stomach, +and powerful against all nervous crudities." "This is the Spearmint +that steadies giddiness," writes Alfred Austin, Poet Laureate. + +Our cooks employ it with vinegar for making the mint sauce which +we eat with roast lamb, because of its condimentary virtues as a +spice to the immature meat, whilst the acetic acid of the vinegar +serves to help dissolve the crude albuminous fibre. + +The oil is less used than that of Peppermint. From two to five drops +may be given on sugar; or from half to one teaspoonful of the spirit +of Spearmint with two tablespoonfuls of water. Also a distilled +water of Spearmint is made, which will relieve hiccough, and +flatulence, as well as the giddiness of indigestion. The tincture +prepared from the dried herb looks of a bright dark green by day, +but of a deep red colour by night. Martial called the Spearmint +_Rutctatrix mentha_. "_Nec deest ructatrix mentha_." + +The Calamint, or Basil Thyme, grows frequently in [344] our +waysides and hedges, a labiate plant, with downy stems and leaves, +whilst bearing light purple flowers. The whole herb has a sweet, +aromatic odour, and makes a pleasant cordial tea. It is named from +the Greek kalos, "excellent," because thought useful against +serpents; "There is made hereof," said Galen, "An antidote +marvellous good for young women that want their courses." + +The stem of this pretty slender herb is seldom more than five or six +inches high, and its blossoms are so inconspicuous as to be often +overlooked. The flowers droop gracefully before expansion. In +country places it is often called Mill Mountain, and its infusion is an +old remedy for rheumatism. If bruised, and applied externally, it +reddens the skin, and will sometimes even blister it. In this way it +acts well when judiciously used for lumbago, and rheumatic pains. +The Calamint contains a camphoraceous, volatile, stimulating oil, in +common with the other mints; this is distilled by water, but its +virtues are better extracted by rectified spirit. The lesser Calamint +is a variety of the herb possessing almost superior virtues, with a +stronger odour resembling that of Pennyroyal. "Apple Mint" is the +"_Mentha rotundifolia_." + +"Many robust men and women among our peasantry," says Dr. +George Moore, "from notions of their own, use infusions of Balm, +Sage, or even a little Rue, or wild Thyme, as a common drink, with +satisfaction to their stomachs, and advantage to their health, instead +of infusing the Chinese herb." The Calamint is a favourite herb with +such persons. About the Cat mint there is an old saying, "If you set +it the cats will eat it: if you sow it the cats won't know it." This, +the _Nepeta cataria_, or _herbe aux chats_, is as much beloved by cats +as _Valerian_, [345] and the common _Marum_, for which herbs +they have a frenzied passion. They roll themselves over the plants, +which they lick, tear with their teeth, and bathe with their urine. But +the Cat mint is the detestation of rats, insomuch that with its leaves +a small barricade may be constructed which the vermin will never +pass however hungry they may be. It is sometimes called "Nep," as +contracted from _Nepeta_. Hoffman said, "The root of the Cat +mint, if chewed, will make the most gentle person fierce and +quarrelsome"; and there is a legend of a certain hangman who could +never find courage to exercise his gruesome task until he had +masticated some of this aromatic root. + + + +MISTLETOE. + +The Mistletoe, which we all associate so happily with the festivities +of Christmas, is an evergreen parasite, growing on the branches of +deciduous trees, and penetrating with simple roots through the bark +into the wood. It belongs to the _Loranthaceoe_, and has the +botanical name of _Viscum_, or "sticky," because of its glutinous +juices. The Mistletoe contains mucilage, sugar, a fixed oil, resin, an +odorous principle, some tannin, and various salts. Its most +interesting constituent is the "viscin," or bird glue, which is mainly +developed by fermentation, and becomes a yellowish, sticky, +resinous mass, such as can be used with success as a bird-lime. + +The dried young twigs, and the leaves, are chiefly the medicinal +parts, though young children have been attacked with convulsions +after eating freely of the berries. + +The name (in Anglo-Saxon, _Mistiltan_) is derived, says Dr. Prior, +from _mistil_, "different," and _tan_, "a twig," [346] because so +unlike the tree it grows upon; or, perhaps, _mist_ may refer to +excrement, and the adjective, _viscum_, bear some collateral +reference to viscera, "entrails." Probably our _viscum_ plant differs +from that of the Latin writers in their accounts of the Druids, which +would be the _Loranthus_ growing on the _Quercus pubescens_ (an +oak indigenous to the south of France). They knew it by a name +answering to "all-heal." It is of a larger and thicker sort than our +common Mistletoe, which, however, possesses the same virtues in a +lesser degree. The Germans call the plant _Vogellein_, and the +French _Gui_, which is probably Celtic. + +The plant is given powdered, or as an infusion, or made into a +tincture (H.) with spirit of wine. From ten to sixty grains of the +powder may be taken for a dose, or a decoction may be made by +boiling two ounces of the bruised plant with half-a-pint of water, +and giving one tablespoonful for a dose several times in the day; or +from five to ten drops of the tincture (which is prepared almost +exclusively by the homoeopathic chemists) are a dose, with one or +two tablespoonfuls of cold water. + +Sir John Colebatch published in 1720 a pamphlet, on _The +Treatment of Epilepsy by Mistletoe_, regarding it, and with much +justice, as a specific. He procured the parasite from the lime trees at +Hampton Court. The powdered leaves were ordered to be given (in +black cherry water), as much of these as will lie on a sixpence every +morning. + +Sir John says, "This beautiful plant must have been designed by the +Almighty for further and more noble purposes than barely to feed +thrushes, or to be hung up superstitiously in houses to drive away +evil spirits." His treatise was entitled, _A Dissertation concerning +the Misseltoe--A most wonderful Specifick Remedy for the Cure of +Convulsive Distempers_. The physiological effect of the [347] plant +is that of lessening, and temporarily benumbing such nervous action +as is reflected to distant organs of the body from some central organ +which is the actual seat of trouble. In this way the spasms of +epilepsy and of other convulsive distempers, are allayed. Large +doses of the plant, or of its berries, would, on the contrary, +aggravate these convulsive disorders. + +In a French "_Recueil de Remedes domestiques_," 1682, _Avec +privilege du Roy_, we read, de l'epilepsie: "Il est certain que contre +ce deplorable mal le veritable Guy de Chêne (Mistletoe) est un +remede excellent, curatif, preservatif, et qui soulage beaucoup dans +l'accident. Il le faut secher au four apres qu'on aura tiré le pain: le +mettre en poudre fort subtile; passer cette poudre par un tamis de +foye, et la conserver pour le besoin. Il faut prendre les poids dun ecu +d'or de cette poudre chaque matin dans vin blanc tous les trois +derniers jours de la lune vieille. Il est encore bon que la personne +affligée de ce mal porte toujours un morceau de Guy de Chêne +pendu à son col; mais ce morceau doit etre toujours frais, et sans +avoir ete mis au four." The active part of the plant is its resin +(_viscin_), which is yielded to spirit of wine in making a tincture. +This is prepared (H.) with proof spirit from the leaves and ripe +berries of our Mistletoe in equal quantities, but it is difficult of +manufacture owing to the viscidity of the sap. A special process is +employed of passing the material twice through a sausage machine, +and then mixing the mass with powdered glass before its percolation +with the spirit. A trituration made from the leaves, berries, and +tender twigs, is given for epilepsy, in doses of twenty grains, twice +or three times a day. + +Nowadays the berries are taken by country people when finding +themselves troubled with severe stitches, [348] and they obtain +almost instantaneous relief. In accordance with which experience +Johnson says it was creditably reported to him, "That a few of the +berries of the Misseltoe, bruised and strained into oyle and drunken, +hath presently and forthwith rid a grievous and sore stitch." The +tincture, moreover, is put to a modern use as a heart tonic in place of +the foxglove. It lessens reflex irritability, and strengthens the +heart's beat, whilst raising the frequency of a slow pulse. Dr. J. +Wilde has shown that the Mistletoe possesses a high repute in rural +Hampshire for the cure of St. Vitus's dance, and similar spasmodic +nervous complaints. In the United States the leaves have been +successfully employed as an infusion to check female fluxes, and +haemorrhages, also to hasten childbirth by stimulating the womb when +labour is protracted to the exhaustion of the mother. In Scotland +the plant is almost unknown, and is restricted to one locality only. + +The Druids regarded the Mistletoe as the soul of their sacred tree-- +the oak; and they taught the people to believe that oaks on which it +was seen growing were to be respected, because of the wonderful +cures which the priests were then able to effect with it, particularly +of the falling sickness. The parasite was cut from the tree with a +golden sickle at a high and solemn festival, using much ceremonial +display, it being then credited with a special power of "giving +fertility to all animals." Ovid said, "Ad viscum cantare Druidoe +solebant." + +Shakespeare calls it "The baleful Mistletoe," in allusion to the +Scandinavian legend, that Balder, the god of peace, was slain with +an arrow made of Mistletoe. He was restored to life at the request of +the other gods and goddesses. The mistletoe was afterwards given to +[349] be kept by the goddess of love; and it was ordained in +Olympus that everyone who passed under it should receive a kiss, to +show that the branch was the emblem of love, and not of death. + +Persons in Sweden afflicted with epilepsy carry with them a +knife having a handle of oak mistletoe, which plant they call +Thunder-besom, connecting it with lightning and fire. The thrush is +the great disseminator of the parasite. He devours the berries +eagerly, and soils, or "missels" his feet with their viscid seeds, +conveying them thus from tree to tree, and getting thence the name +of missel thrush. + +In Brittany the plant is named _Herbe de la croix_, and, because the +crucifix was made from its wood when a tree, it is thought to have +become degraded to a parasite. + +When Norwood, in Surrey, was really a forest the Mistletoe grew +there on the oak, and, being held as medicinal, it was abstracted for +apothecaries in London. But the men who meddled with it were said +to become lame, or to fall blind with an eye, and a rash fellow who +ventured to cut down the oak itself broke his leg very shortly +afterwards. One teaspoonful of the dried leaves, in powder, from the +appletree Mistletoe, taken in acidulated water twice a day, will cure +chronic giddiness. Sculptured sprays and berries, with leaves of +Mistletoe, fill the spandrils of the tomb of one of the Berkeleys in +Bristol Cathedral--a very rare adornment, because for some +unknown reason the parasite has been always excluded from the +decorations of churches. In some districts it is called Devil's-fuge, +also the Spectre's Wand, from a belief that with due incantations a +branch held in the hand will compel the appearance of a spectre, and +require it to speak. + + + +[350] MOUNTAIN ASH. + +A somewhat common, and handsomely conspicuous tree in many +parts of England, especially about high lands, is the Rowan, or +Mountain Ash. In May and June it attracts attention by its bright +green feathery foliage set off by cream-coloured bloom, whilst in +September it bears a brilliant fruitage of berries, richly orange in +colour at first, but presently of a clear ripe vermilion. Popularly +this abundant fruit is supposed to be poisonous, but such is far from +being the case. A most excellent and wholesome jelly may be +prepared therefrom, which is slightly tonic by its salutary bitterness, +and is an admirable antiseptic accompaniment to certain roast meats, +such as venison and mutton. To make this jelly, boil the berries in +water (cold at first) in an enamelled preserving pan; when the fruit +has become sufficiently soft, run the contents of the pan through a +flannel bag without pressure; tie the bag between two chairs, with a +basin below, and let the juice strain leisurely through so as to come +out clear. Then to each pint of the juice add a pound of sugar, and +boil this from ten to twenty minutes; pour off into warm dry jars, +and cover them securely when cool. After the juice has dripped off +the fruit a pleasant refreshing drink may be made for children by +pouring a kettleful of boiling water through the flannel bag. Some +persons mix with the fruit an equal quantity of green apples when +making the jelly. Birds, especially field fares, eat the berries with +avidity; and a botanical designation of the tree is _aucuparia_, as +signifying fruit used by the _auceps_, or bird catcher, with which to +bait his snares. + +"There is," says an old writer, "in every berry the exhilaration of +wine, and the satisfying of old mead; and whosoever shall eat three +berries of them, if he has [351] completed a hundred years, he will +return to the age of thirty years." + +At the same time it must be noted that the _leaves_ of the Mountain +Ash are of a poisonous quality, and contain prussic acid like those +of the laurel. But, as already shown, the berries, when ripe, may be +eaten freely without fear. Chemically they contain tartaric acid when +unripe, and both malic and citric acids when ripe. They also furnish +sorbin, and parasorbic acid. The unripe fruit and the bark are +extremely astringent, being useful in decoction, or infusion, to +check diarrhoea; and externally in poultices or lotions, to constringe +such relaxed parts as the throat, and lower bowel. + +The title Rowan tree has affixed itself to the Mountain Ash, as +derived from the Norse, _Runa_ (a charm), because it is supposed to +have the power of averting the evil eye. + + "Rowan tree and red thread + Hold the witches a' in dread." + +"Ruma" was really a magician, or whisperer, from _ru_, to murmur, +and in olden times runes, or mystical secrets, were carved +exclusively on the Mountain Ash tree in Scandinavia and the British +Isles. + +Crosses made of the twigs, and tied with red thread were sewn by +Highlandmen into their clothes. Dame Sludge fastened a piece of +the wood into Flibbertigibbet's collar as a protection against +Wayland Smith's sorceries.--(Kenilworth). Other folk-names of the +tree are Quicken tree, Quick Beam, Wiggen, and Witcher. + +The Mountain Ash is botanically a connecting link between the dog +rose of our hedges and the apple tree of our orchards. Its flowers +exactly resemble apple blossoms, and its thickly-clustered red +berries are only small crabs dwarfed by the love of the tree for +mountain [352] heights and bleak windy situations. In the harsh cold +regions of the north it is only a stunted shrub with leaves split up +into many small leaflets, so as to suffer less by any breadth of +resistance to the sharp driving blasts of icy winds. + +Confusion has been often made between this tree and the Service +tree (_Sorbus_, or _Pyrus domestica_), which is quite distinct, being +more correctly called Servise tree, from _Cerevisia_, fermented +beer. Formerly this Servise, or Checker-tree, was employed for +making an intoxicating drink. Virgil says:-- + + "Et pocula lae + Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea _sorbis_." + + "With acid juices from the Service Ash, + And humming ale, they make their Lemon Squash." + +The fruit of the Service tree (or Witten Pear-tree) resembles a small +pear, and is considered in France very useful for dysentery because +of its tannin; but this _Pyrus domestica_ is a rare tree in England. +Sometimes mistaken for it is the wild Service tree (the _Pyrus +torminalis_), much more common in our south country hedges. Its +fruit is threaded on long strings, and carried in procession at village +feasts in Northamptonshire, but is worthless. Evelyn says, "Ale and +beer brewed from the berries, when ripe, of the true Service tree is +an incomparable drink." + + + +MUGWORT and WORMWOOD. + +The herb Mugwort (_Artemisia vulgaris_), a Composite plant, is +frequent about hedgerows and waste ground throughout Britain; and +it chiefly merits a place among Herbal Simples because of a special +medicinal use in certain female derangements. Its name Mugwort +has [353] been attributed to "moughte," a moth, or maggot, this title +being given to the plant because Dioscorides commended it for +keeping off moths. Its Anglo-Saxon synonym is _Wyrmwyrt_. +Mugwort is named from Artemis the Greek goddess of the moon, +and is also called Maidenwort or Motherwort (womb wort), being +a plant beneficial to the womb. + +Macer says, terming it by mistake "Mother of Worts": + + "Herbarum matrem justum puto ponere primo + Praepue morbis mulieribus illa medetur." + +A decoction of the fresh tops acts famously to correct female +irregularities when employed as a bath. _Uterina est, adeoque usus +est creberrimus mulierculis quoe eam adhibent externe, atque +interne ut vix balnea et lotiones parent in quibus artemisia non +contineatur_. Thus writes Ray, quoting from Schroder. Or it may be +that the term Mugwort became popularly applied because this herb +was in demand for helping to preserve ale. The plant was formerly +known as _Cingulum Sancti Johannis_, since a crown made from its +sprays was worn on St. John's Eve, to gain security from evil +possession; also as _Zona divi Johannis_, it being believed that John +the Baptist bore a girdle of it in the wilderness. In Germany and +Holland it has received the name of St. John's Plant, because, if +gathered on St. John's Eve, it is thought protective against diseases +and misfortunes. The Mugwort is also styled "Felon wort," or +"Felon herb." If placed in the shoes, it will prevent weariness. A +dram of the powdered leaves taken four times a day has cured +chronic hysterical fits, which were otherwise intractable. +"Mugwort," says Gerard, "cureth the shakings of the joynts inclining +to the palsie." + +The mermaid of the Clyde is said to have exclaimed, [354] when +she beheld the funeral of a young maiden who had died from +consumption and decline:-- + + "If they wad drink nettles in March, + And eat muggins [Mugwort] in May, + Sae mony braw young maidens + Wad na' be gang to clay." + +Portions of old dead roots are found at the base of the herb, which +go by the name of "coals," and are thought to be preventive of +epilepsy when taken internally, or worn around the neck as an +amulet. Parkinson says: "Mugwort is of wonderful help to women in +risings of the mother, or hysteria." It is also useful against gout by +boiling the tender parts of the roots in weak broth, and taking this +frequently; whilst at the same time the affected limbs should be +bathed and fomented with a hot decoction of the herb. The plant, +without doubt, is decidedly anti-epileptic, its remedial effects being +straightway followed by profuse and fetid perspirations. It is +similarly useful against the convulsions of children in teething. For +preventing disorders, as well as for curing rheumatism, the +Japanese, young and old, rich and poor, indiscriminately, are said to +be singed with a "moxa" made from the Mugwort. Its dried leaves +are rubbed in the hands until the downy part becomes separated, and +can be moulded into little cones. One of these having been placed +over the site of the disease, is ignited and burnt down to the skin +surface, which it blackens and scorches in a dark circular patch. +This process is repeated until a small ulcer is formed when treating +chronic diseases of the joints, which sore is kept open by issue peas +retained within it so that they may constantly exercise a derivative +effect. + +The flesh of geese is declared to be more savoury when [355] +stuffed with this herb, which contains "absinthin" as its active +principle, and other chemical constituents in common with +Wormwood; but the odour of Mugwort is not fragrant or aromatic, +because it does not possess a volatile essential oil like that of the +_Artemisia absinthium_ (Wormwood). + +This Wormwood is also a Composite plant of the same tribe and +character, but with an intensely bitter taste; and hence its name, +_Absinthium_, has been derived from the Greek privative, _a_, and +_psinthos_, "delight," because the flavour is so bitterly distasteful. +It is a bushy plant, which abounds in our rural districts, having silky +stems and leaves, with small heads of dull yellow flowers, the whole +plant being _amara et aromatica_. + +The Mugwort, as an allied Wormwood of the same genus, is taller +and more slender than the Absinthium, and is distinguished by being +scentless, its leaves being green above, and white below. The bitter +taste of the true Wormwood is also due to "absinthin," and each +kind contains nitrate of potash, tannin, and resin, with succinic, +malic, and acetic acids. + +Old Tusser says:-- + + "Where chamber is swept, and wormwood is strown, + No flea for his life dare abide to be known." + +And again:-- + + "What savour is better, if physic be true, + For places infected, than wormwood and rue." + +The infusion of Wormwood makes a useful fomentation for inflammatory +pains, and, combined with chamomile flowers and bay leaves, +it formed the anodyne fomentation of the earlier dispensatories. +This infusion, with a few drops of the essential oil of Wormwood, +will serve [356] as an astringent wash to prevent the hair +from falling off when it is weak and thin. + +Both Mugwort and Wormwood have been highly esteemed for overcoming +epilepsy in persons of a feeble constitution, and of a sensitive +nervous temperament, especially in young females. Mugwort tea, +and a decoction of Wormwood, may be confidently given for the +purposes just named, also to correct female irregularities. + +For promoting the monthly flow, Chinese women make a confection +of the leaves of Mugwort mixed with rice and sugar, which, when +needed to overcome arrested monthly fluxes, or hysteria, they +_instar bellaria ingerunt_, "eat as a sweetmeat." + +A drachm of the powdered leaves of the Mugwort, taken four times +a day, has cured chronic hysterical fits otherwise irrepressible. The +true Wormwood (_Artemisia absinthium_) is used for preparing +absinthe, a seductive liqueur, which, when taken to excess, induces +epileptic attacks. Any habitual use of alcohol flavoured with this +herb singularly impairs the mental and physical powers. + +"An ointment," says Meyrick, "made of the juice of Mugwort with +hogs' lard, disperses hard knots and kernels about the neck and +throat." + + + +MULBERRY. + +The Mulberry tree (_Morus nigra_) has been cultivated in England +since the middle of the sixteenth century, being first planted at Sion +house in 1548. It is now grown commonly in the garden, orchard, or +paddock, where its well-known rich syrupy fruit ripens in +September. This fruit, abounding with a luscious juice of regal hue, +is used in some districts, particularly in Devonshire, for mixing with +cider during [357] fermentation, giving to the beverage a pleasant +taste, and a deep red colour. The juice, made into syrup, is curative +of sore throats, especially of the putrid sort, if it be used in +gargles; also of thrush in the mouth, if applied thereto; and the +ripe fruit is gently laxative. + +Horace recommends that Mulberries be gathered before sunset:-- + + "AEstatis peraget qui nigris prandia moris + Finiet ante gravem quae legerit arbore solem." + +The generic name, _Morus_, is derived from the Celtic _mor_, +"black." In Germany (at Iserlohn), mothers, in order to deter their +children from eating Mulberries, tell them the devil requires the +juicy berries for the purpose of blacking his boots. This fruit was +fabled to have become changed from white to a deep red through +absorbing the blood of Pyramus and Thisbe, who were slain beneath +its shade. + +It is thought by some that "morus" has been derived from the Latin +word _mora_, delay, as shown in a tardy expansion of the buds. +Because cautious not to burst into leaf until the last frost of spring +is over, the Mulberry tree, as the wisest of its fellows, was dedicated +by the ancients to Minerva, and the story of Pyramus and Thisbe +owed its origin to the white and black fruited varieties:-- + + "The Mulberry found its former whiteness fled, + And, ripening, saddened into dusky red." + +Shakespeare's famous Mulberry tree, planted in 1609, was of the black +species. It was recklessly cut down at New Place, Stratford-on-Avon, +in 1759. Ten years afterwards, when the freedom of the city +was presented to Garrick, the document was enclosed in a +casket made from the wood of this tree. Likewise a cup was [358] +wrought therefrom, and at the Shakespeare Jubilee, Garrick, holding +the cup aloft, recited the following lines, composed by himself for +the occasion:-- + + "Behold this fair goblet: 'twas carved from the tree + Which, oh, my sweet Shakespeare, was planted by thee! + As a relic I kiss it, and bow at thy shrine, + What comes from thy hand must be ever divine." + + "All shall yield to the Mulberry tree; + Bend to the blest Mulberry: + Matchless was he who planted thee, + And thou, like him, immortal shall be." + +A slip of it was grown by Garrick in his garden at Hampton Court. +The leaves of the Mulberry tree are known to furnish excellent food +for silk worms. + +Botanically, each fruit is a collection of berries on a common pulpy +receptacle, being, like the Strawberry, especially wholesome for +those who are liable to heartburn, because it does not undergo +acetous fermentation in the stomach. In France Mulberries are +served at the beginning of a meal. Among the Romans the fruit was +famous for maladies of the throat and windpipe. + +The tree does not bear until it is somewhat advanced in age. It +contains in every part a milky juice, which will coagulate into a sort +of Indian rubber, and this has been thought to give tenacity to the +filament spun by the silkworm. + +The juice of Mulberries contains malic and citric acids, with +glucose, pectin, and gum. The bark of the root has been given to +expel tapeworm; and the fruit is remarkable for its large quantity of +sugar, being excelled in this respect only by the fig, the grape, and +the cherry. + +We are told in _Ivanhoe_ that the Saxons made a favourite drink, +"Morat," from the juice of Mulberries [359] with honey. During the +thirteenth century these berries were sometimes called "pynes." + +In the memorable narrative of the Old Testament, 2 _Samuel_, v., +24, "When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the +Mulberry trees," the word used (_bekhaim_) has been mistranslated, +really intending the Aspen (_Populus tremula_). + + + +MULLEIN. + +The great Mullein (_Verbascum thapsus_) grows freely in England +on dry banks and waste places, but somewhat sparingly in Scotland. +It belongs to the scrofula-curing order of plants, having a thick +stalk, from eighteen inches to four feet high, with large woolly +mucilaginous leaves, and with a long flower-spike bearing plain +yellow flowers, which are nearly sessile on the stem. The name +"Molayne" is derived from the Latin, _mollis_, soft. + +In most parts of Ireland, besides growing wild, it is carefully +cultivated in gardens, because of a steady demand for the plant by +sufferers from pulmonary consumption. Constantly in Irish +newspapers there are advertisements offering it for sale, and it can +be had from all the leading local druggists. The leaves are best when +gathered in the late summer, just before the plant flowers. The old +Irish method of administering Mullein is to put an ounce of the +dried leaves, or a corresponding quantity of the fresh ones, in a pint +of milk, which is boiled for ten minutes, and then strained. This is +afterwards given warm to the patient twice a day, with or without +sugar. The taste of the decoction is bland, mucilaginous, and +cordial. Dr. Quinlan, of Dublin, treated many cases of tubercular +lung disease, even when some were far advanced in pulmonary +consumption, with the Mullein, [360] and with signal success as +regards palliating the cough, staying the expectoration, and +increasing the weight. + +Mullein leaves have a weak, sleepy sort of smell, and rather a bitter +taste. In Queen Elizabeth's time they were carried about the person +to prevent the falling sickness; and distilled water from the flowers +was said to be curative of gout. + +The leaves and flowers contain mucilage, with a yellowish volatile +oil, a fatty substance, and sugar, together with some colouring +matter. Fish will become stupefied by eating the seeds. Gerard says +"Figs do not putrifie at all that are wrapped in the leaves of Mullein. +If worn under the feet day and night in the manner of a sock they +bring down in young maidens their desired sicknesse." + +The plant bears also the name of Hedge Taper, and used to be called +Torch, because the stalks were dipped in suet, and burnt for giving +light at funerals and other gatherings. "It is a plant," says the +_Grete Herball_, "whereof is made a manner of lynke if it be tallowed." + +According to Dodoeus the Mullein was called "Candela." _Folia +siquidem habet mollia hirsuta ad lucernarum funiculos apta_. "It +was named of the Latines, _Candela Regia_ and _Candelaria_." The +modern Romans style it the "Plant of the Lord," Other popular +English names of the plant are "Adam's flannel," "Blanket," +"Shepherd's club," "Aaron's rod," "Cuddie's lungs"; and in +Anglo-Saxon, "Feldwode." Gower says of Medea:-- + + "Tho' toke she feldwode, and verveine, + Of herbes ben nought better tweine." + +The name _Verbascum_ is an altered form of the Latin _barbascum_, +from _barba_, "a beard," in allusion to the dense woolly +hairs on both sides of the leaves; and the [361] appellation, +Mullein, is got from the French _molène_, signifying the "scab" in +cattle, and for curing which disease the plant is famous. It has also +been termed Cow's Lung Wort, Hare's Beard, Jupiter's Staff, Ladies' +Foxglove, and Velvet Dock from its large soft leaves. The Mullein +bears the title "Bullock's lung wort," because of its supposed +curative powers in lung diseases of this animal, on the doctrine of +signatures, because its leaf resembles a dewlap; and the term +"Malandre" was formerly applied to the lung maladies of cattle. +Also the "Malanders" meant leprosy, whence it came about that the +epithet "Malandrin" was attached to a brigand, who, like the leper, +was driven from society and forced to lead a lawless life. + +An infusion of the flowers was used by the Roman ladies to tinge +their tresses of the golden colour once so much admired in Italy; and +now in Germany, a hair wash made from the Mullein is valued as +highly restorative. A decoction of the root is good for cramps and +against the megrims of bilious subjects, which especially beset them +in the dark winter months. The dried leaves of the Mullein plant, if +smoked in an ordinary tobacco pipe, will completely control the +hacking cough of consumption; and they can be employed with +equal benefit, when made into cigarettes, for asthma, and for +spasmodic coughs in general. + +By our leading English druggists are now dispensed a _succus +verbasci_ (Mullein juice), of which the dose is from half to one +teaspoonful; a tincture of _Verbascum_ (Mullein), the dose of +which is from half-a-teaspoonful to two teaspoonfuls; and an +infusion of Mullein, in doses of from one to four tablespoonfuls. +Also a tincture (H.) is made from the fresh herb with spirit of wine, +which has been proved beneficial for migraine (sick head-ache) of +long [362] standing, with oppression of the ears. From eight to ten +drops of this tincture are to be given as a dose, with cold water, and +repeated pretty frequently whilst needed. + +Mullein oil is a most valuable destroyer of disease germs. If fresh +flowers of the plant be steeped for twenty-one days in olive oil +whilst exposed to the sunlight, this makes an admirable bactericide; +also by simply instilling a few drops two or three times a day into +the ear, all pain therein, or discharges therefrom, and consequent +deafness, will be effectually cured, as well as any itching eczema of +the external ear and its canal. A conserve of the flowers is employed +on the Continent against ringworm. Some of the most brilliant +results have been obtained in suppurative inflammation of the inner +ear by a single application of Mullein oil. In acute or chronic cases +of this otorrhoea, two or three drops of the oil should be made fall +into the ear twice or thrice in the day. And the same oil is an +admirable remedy for children who "wet the bed" at night. Five +drops should be put into a small tumblerful of cold water; and a +teaspoonful of the mixture, first stirred, should be taken four times +in the day. + +Flowers of Mullein in olive oil, when kept near the fire for several +days in a corked bottle, form a remedy popular in Germany for +frost-bites, bruises, and piles. Also a poultice made with the leaves +is a good application to these last named troublesome evils. For the +cure of piles, sit for five minutes on a chamber vessel containing +live coals, with crisp dry Mullein leaves over them, and some finely +powdered resin. + + + +MUSHROOMS. + +Without giving descriptive attention to those Mushrooms (_Agarics_, +_Boleti_, and others) which are edible, and [363] of which +over a hundred may be enumerated, as beyond our purpose when +treating of curative Herbal Simples, notice will be bestowed +here on two productions of the Mushroom nature--the Puff Ball and +the Fly Agaric,--because of their medicinal qualities. + +It may be first briefly stated that the _Agaricus campestris_, or field +Mushroom, is the kind most commonly eaten in England, being +highly nitrogenous, and containing much fat. This may be readily +distinguished from any harmful fungus by the pink colour of its +gills, the solidity of its stem, the fragrant anise-like odour which it +possesses, and the separability of its outer skin. Other edible +Mushrooms which grow with us, and are even of a better quality +than the above, are the _Agaricus augustus_ and the _Agaricus +elvensis_, not to mention the _Chanatrelle_, said to be unapproachable +for excellence. + +The Greeks were aware of edible fungi, and knew of injurious sorts +which produced a sense of choking, whilst subsequent wasting of +the body occurred. Athenaeus quotes an author who said: "You will +be choked like those who waste after eating mushrooms." The +Romans also esteemed some fungi as of so exquisite a flavour that +these would be stolen sooner than silver or gold by anyone entrusted +with their delivery:-- + + "Argentum, atque aurum facile est laenamque togamque. + Mittere, boletos mittere difficile est." + +Mushrooms were styled by Porphry _deorum filii_, and "without +seed, as produced by the midwifery of autumnal thunderstorms, and +portending the mischief which these cause." "They are generally +reported to have something noxious in them, and not without +reason; but they were exalted to the second course of the Caesarean +tables with the noble title 'bromatheon,' [364] a dainty fit for the +gods, to whom they sent the Emperor Claudius, as they have many +since to the other world." "So true it is he who eats Mushrooms +many times, _nil amplius edit_, eats no more of anything." + +The poisonous kinds may be commonly recognised by their possessing +permanently white gills which do not touch the stem; and +a thin ring, or frill, is borne by the stem at some distance from +the top, whilst the bottom of the stem is surrounded by a loose +sheath, or volva. If "phalline" is the active poisonous principle, this +is not rendered inert by heat in cooking; but the helvellic acid of +other sorts disappears during the process, and its fungi are thus +made non-poisonous. There is a popular belief that Mushrooms +which grow near iron, copper, or other metals, are deadly; the same +idea obtaining in the custom of putting a coin in the water used for +boiling Mushrooms in order that it may attract and detach any +poison, and so serve to make them wholesome. + +In Essex there is an old saying:-- + + "When the moon is at the full, + Mushrooms you may freely pull; + But when the moon is on the wane, + Wait till you think to pluck again." + +Even the most poisonous species may be eaten with impunity after +repeated maceration in salt and water, or vinegar and water--which +custom is generally adopted in the South of Europe, where the diet +of the poorer classes largely includes the fungi which they gather; +but when so treated the several Mushrooms lose much of their soluble +nutritive qualities as well as their flavour. For the most part, +_Agarics_ with salmon-coloured spores are injurious, likewise fungi +having a rancid or fetid odour, and an acrid, pungent, peppery taste. +Celsus said: "If anyone shall have eaten [365] noxious fungi, let him +take radishes with vinegar and water, or with salt and vinegar." + +Wholesome Mushrooms afford nourishment which is a capital +substitute for butchers' meat, and almost equally sustaining. If a +poisonous fungus has been eaten, its ill-effects may nowadays be +promptly met by antidotes injected beneath the skin, and by taking +small doses of strychnia in coffee. + +Gerard says: "I give my advice to those that love such strange and +new fangled meats to beware of licking honey among thorns, lest +the sweetness of the one do not countervail the sharpness and +pricking of the other." With regard to Mushrooms generally, Horace +said:-- + + "Pratensibus optima fungis + Natura est; aliis male creditur." + + "The meadow Mushrooms are in kind the best; + 'Tis ill to trust in any of the rest." + +The St. George's Mushroom, an early one, takes, perhaps, the +highest place as an agaric for the table. Blewits (formerly sold in +Covent Garden market for Catsup), and Blue Caps, each all +autumnal species, are savoury fungi to be fried. They may be served +with bacon on toast. + +A very old test as to the safety of Mushrooms is to stew with them +in the saucepan a small carefully-peeled onion. If after boiling for a +few minutes this comes out White, and clean-looking, the +Mushrooms may all be confidently eaten: but if it has turned blue, +or black, there are dangerous ones among them, and all should be +rejected. + +The Puff Ball (_Lycoperdon giganteum bovista_) grows usually on +the borders of fields, in orchards, or meadows, also on dry downs, +and occasionally in gardens. It [366] should be collected as a Simple +in August and September. This Puff Ball is smooth, globose, and +yellowish-white when young, becoming afterwards brown. It +contains, when ripe, a large quantity of extremely fine brown black +powder, which is a capital application for stopping bleeding from +slight wounds and cuts. This also makes a good drying powder for +dusting on weeping eruptive sores between parts which approximate +to one another, as the fingers, toes, and armpits. The powder is very +inflammable, and when propelled in a hollow cone against lighted +spirit of wine on tow at the other end by a sudden jerk, its flash +serves to imitate lightning for stage purposes. It was formerly used +as tinder for lighting fires with the flint and steel. + +When the fungus is burnt, its fumes exercise a narcotic property, +and will stupify bees, so that their honey may be removed. It has +been suggested that these fumes may take the place of chloroform +for minor surgical operations. The gas given off during combustion +is carbonic oxide. + +Puff Balls vary in size from that of a moderately large turnip to the +bigness of a man's head. Their form is oval, depressed a little at the +top, and the colour is a pure white both without and within. The +surface is smooth at first, but at length cracking, and as the fungus +ripens it becomes discoloured and dry; then the interior is resolved +into a yellow mass of delicate threads, mixed with a powder of +minute spores, about the month of September. + +When young and pulpy the Puff Ball is excellent to be eaten, and is +especially esteemed in Italy; but it deteriorates very rapidly after +being gathered, and should not be used at table if it has become +stained with yellow marks. When purely white it may be cut into +thick [367] slices of a quarter-of-an-inch, and fried in fresh butter, +with pepper, salt; and pounded herbs, and each slice should be first +dipped in the yolk of an egg; the Puff Ball will also make an +excellent omelette. Small Puff Balls are common on lawns, heaths, +and pastures. These are harmless, and eatable as long as their flesh +remains quite white. The Society of Amateur Botanists, 1863, had +its origin (as described by the president, Mr. M. C. Cooke), "over a +cup of tea and fried Puff Balls," in Great Turnstile. + +Pieces of its dried inner woolly substance, with a profusion of +minute snuff-coloured spores, have been long kept by the wise old +women of villages for use to staunch wounds and incisions; whilst a +ready surgical appliance to a deep cut is to bind a piece of Puff Ball +over it, and leave it until healing has taken place. In Norfolk large +Puff Balls found at the margins of cornfields are known as Bulfers, +or Bulfists, and are regarded with aversion. + +In medicine a trituration (H.) is made of this fungus, and its spores, +rubbed up with inert sugar of milk powdered, and it proves an +effective remedy against dull, stupid, sleepy headache, with passive +itchy pimples about the skin. From five to ten grains of the +trituration, diluted to the third decimal strength, should be given +twice a day, with a little water, for two or three weeks. + +Sir B. Richardson found that even by smelling at a strong tincture of +the fungus great heaviness of the head was produced; and he has +successfully employed the same tincture for relieving an analogous +condition when coming on of its own accord. But the Puff Ball, +whether in tincture (H.) or in trituration, is chiefly of service for +curing the itchy pimply skin of "tettery" subjects, especially if this +is aggravated by washing. Likewise the remedy is of essential use in +some forms [368] of eczema, especially in what is known as bakers', +or grocers' itch. Five drops of the diluted tincture may be given with +a spoonful of water three times in the day; and the affected parts +should be sponged equally often with a lotion made of one part of +the stronger tincture to four parts of water, or thin strained gruel. +Sometimes when a full meal of the Puff Ball fried in butter, or +stewed in milk, has been taken, undoubted evidences of its narcotic +effects have shown themselves. + +Gerard said: "In divers parts of England, where people dwell far +from neighbours, they carry the Puff Balls kindled with fire, which +lasteth long." In Latin they were named _Lupi crepitum_, or Wolfs' +Fists. "The powder of them is fitly applied to merigals, kibed heels, +and such like; the dust or powder thereof is very dangerous for the +eyes, for it bath been observed that divers have been poreblind even +after when some small quantity thereof hath been blown into their +eyes." This fungus has been called Molly Puff, from its resemblance +to a powder puff; also Devil's Snuff Box, Fuss Balls, and Puck Fists +(from _feist, crepitus ani_, and _Puck_, the impish king of the +fairies). In Scotland the Puff Ball is the blind man's e'en, because +it has been believed that its dust will cause blindness; and in +Wales it is the "bag of smoke." + +The Fly Agaric, or Bug Agaric (_Agaricus muscarius_) gives the +name of Mushroom to all the tribe of Fungi as used for the +destruction of flies (_mousches_). Albertus Magnus describes it as +_Vocatus fungus muscarum eo quidem lacte pulverisatus interficit +muscas_: and this seems to be the real source of the word, which +has by caprice become transmitted from a poisonous sort to the +wholesome kinds exclusively. The pileus of the Fly Agaric is broad, +convex, and of a rich orange scarlet [369] colour, with a striate +margin and white gills. It gets its name, as also that of Flybane, +from being used in milk to kill flies; and it is called Bug Agaric +from having been formerly employed to smear over bedsteads so as +to destroy bugs. It inhabits dry places, especially birchwoods, and +pinewoods, having a bright red upper surface studded with brown +warts; and when taken as a poisonous agent it causes intoxication, +delirium, and death through narcotism. It is more common in +Scotland than in England. This Mushroom is highly poisonous, and +therefore the remedial preparations are only to be given in a diluted +form. For medicinal purposes a tincture is made (H.) from the fresh +fungus: and a trituration of the dried fungus powdered and mixed +with inert sugar of milk also powdered. These preparations are kept +specially by the homoeopathic chemists: and the use of the Fly +Agaric has been adopted by the school which they represent for +curatively treating an irritable spinal cord, with soreness, twitching +of the limbs, dragging of the legs, unsteadiness of the head, +neuralgic pains in the arms and legs (as if caused by sharp ice), +some giddiness, a coating of yellow fur on the lining mucous +membranes, together with a crawling, or burning, and eruptive skin. +In fact for a lamentably depraved condition of all the bodily health, +such as characterises advanced locomotor ataxy, and allied spinal +degradations leading to general physical failure. Just such a totality +of symptoms has been recorded by provers after taking the fungus +for some length of time in toxical quantities. The tincture should be +used of the third decimal strength, five drops for a dose twice or +three times a day with a spoonful of water; or the trituration of the +third decimal strength, for each dose as much of the powder as will +lie on the flat surface of [370] a sixpence. Chilblains may be +mitigated by taking the tincture of this Agaric, and by applying +some of the stronger tincture on cotton wool over the swollen and +itching parts alt night. + +"Muscarin" is the leading active principle of the Fly Agaric, in +conjunction with agaricin, mycose, and mannite. It stimulates, when +swallowed in strong doses, certain nerves which tend to retard the +action of the heart. Both our Fly Agaric and the White Agaric of the +United States serve to relieve the night sweats of advanced +pulmonary consumption, and they have severally proved of supreme +palliative use against the cough, the sleeplessness, and the other +worst symptoms of this, wasting disease, as also for drying up the +milk in weaning. Each of these fungi when taken by mistake will +salivate profusely, and provoke both immoderate, and untimely +laughter. When the action of the heart is laboured and feeble +through lack of nervous power, muscarin, or the tincture of Fly +Agaric, in a much diluted potency will relieve this trouble. The dose +of Muscarin, or Agaricin, is from a sixth to half a grain in a pill. +These medicines increase the secretion of tears, saliva, bile, and +sweating, but they materially lessen the quantity of urine. +Belladonna is found to be the best antidote. From the Oak Agaric, +"touchwood," or "spunk,"--when cut into thin slices and beaten with +a hammer until soft,--is made "Amadou," or German tinder. This is +then soaked in a solution of nitre and dried; it afterwards forms an +excellent elastic astringent application for staying bleedings and for +bed sores. The Larch Agaric is powdered, and given in Germany as +a purgative, its dose being from twenty to sixty grains. + +In Belgium the _Polyporus Officinalis_ is used medicinally [371] as +an aperient, and to check profuse sweating. By the Malays the +_Polyporus Sanguineus_ is used outwardly for leprosy. + +Truffles (_Tuber cibarium_) may receive a passing notice whilst +treating of fungi, though they are really subterranean tubers of an +edible sort found in the earth, especially beneath beech trees, and +uprooted by dogs trained for the purpose. They somewhat resemble +our English "earth nuts," which swine discover by their scent. The +ancients called the Truffle _lycoperdon_, because supposing it to +spring from the dung of wolves. In Athens the children of Cherips +had the rights of citizenship granted them because their father had +invented a choice ragout concocted of Truffles. But delicate and +weak stomachs find them difficult to digest. Pliny said, "Those +kinds which remain hard after cooking are injurious; whilst others, +naturally harmful if they admit of being cooked thoroughly well, +and if eaten with saltpetre, or, still better, dressed with meat, or +with pear stalks, are safe and innocent." + +In Italy these tubers are fried in oil and dusted with pepper. For +epicures they are mixed with the liver of fattened geese in _paté de +foie gras_. Also, greedy swine are taught to discover and root them +out, "being of a chestnut colour and heavy rank hercline smell, and +found not seldom in England." Black Truffles are chiefly used: but +there are also red and white varieties, the best tubers being light of +weight in proportion to their size, with an agreeable odour, and +elastic to the touch. + +They are stimulating and heating, insomuch, that for delicate +children who are atrophied, and require a _multum in parvo_ of +fatty and nitrogenous food in a compact but light form, which is +fairly easy of digestion, [372] the _paté de foie gras_ on bread is a +capital prescription. Truffles grow in clusters several inches below +the soil, being found commonly on the downs of Wiltshire, +Hampshire and Kent; also in oak and chestnut forests. Dogs have +been trained to discriminate their scent below the surface of the soil, +and to assist in digging them out. There is a Garlic Truffle of a small +inferior sort which is put into stews; and the best Truffles are +frequently found full of perforations. The presence of the tubers +beneath the ground is denoted by the appearance above of a +beautiful little fly having a violet colour--this insect being never +seen except in the neighbourhood of Truffles. They are subject to +the depredations of certain animalcules, which excavate the tubers +so that they soon become riddled with worms. These, after passing +through a chrysalis state, develop into the violet flies. Gerard called +Truffles "Spanish fussebals." They were not known to English +epicures in Queen Elizabeth's day. Another appellation borne by +them formerly was "Swines' bread," and they were supposed to be +engendered by thunderbolts. In Northern France they were first +popularised four hundred and fifty years ago, by John, Duke of +Berry, a reprobate gambler, third son of John the Good. The +Perigord Truffle has a dark skin, and smells of violets. Piedmontese +truffles suggest garlic: those of Burgundy are a little resinous: the +Neapolitan specimens are redolent of sulphur: and in the Gard +Department (France) they have an odour of musk. The English +truffle is white, and best used in salads. Dr. Warton, Poet Laureate, +1750, said "Happy the grotto'ed hermit with his pulse, who wants no +truffles." A Girton girl under examination described the tuber as a +"sort of sea-anemone on land." When once dug up truffles soon +[373] lose their perfume and aroma, so they are imported bedded in +the very earth which produced them. + +The Earth Nut (_Bunium flexuosum_) is also catted Hog Nut, Pig +Nut, Jur Nut, St. Anthony's Nut, Earth Chesnut, and Kipper Nut. +Caliban says, in the Tempest, "I with my long nails-will dig thee Pig +Nuts." They are an excellent diuretic, serving to stimulate the +kidneys. + +Pliny talked of fungi in general as a great delicacy to be eaten with +amber knives and a service of silver. But Seneca called them +_voluptuaria venena_. The Russians take some which we think to be +deleterious; but they first soak these in vinegar, which (adds Pliny), +"being contrary to them neutralizes their dangerous qualities; also +they are rendered still more safe if cooked with pear stalks; indeed it +is good to eat pears immediately after all fungi." Almost every +species except the common Mushroom is characterized by the +majority of our countrymen as a toadstool; but this title really +appertains to the large group bearing the subgeneric name of +_Tricholoma_, which probably does not contain a single unwholesome +species. Other rustic names given to this group are "Puckstools" +and "Puckfists." They are further known as "Toad skeps" (toad's cap) +in the Eastern counties. + +Puck, the mischievous king of the fairies, has been commonly +identified with _pogge_, the toad, which was believed to sit upon most +of the unwholesome fungi; and the _Champignon_ (or Paddock Stool) +was said to owe its growth to "those wanton elves whose pastime is +to make midnight mushrooms." One of the "toad stoo's" (the +_Clathrus cancellatus_) is said to produce cancerous sores if +handled too freely. It has an abominably disgusting odour, and is +therefore named the "lattice stinkhorn." The toad was popularly +thought to [374] impersonate the devil; and the toad-stool, pixie +stool, or paddock stool was believed to spring from the devil's +droppings. + +The word Mushroom may have been derived from the French _Moucheron_, +or _Mousseron_, because of its growing among moss. The chief +chemical constituents of wholesome Mushrooms are albuminoids, +carbo-hydrates, fat, mineral matters, and water. When salted +they yield what is known as catsup, or ketchup (from the +Japanese _kitchap_). The second most edible fungus of this +nature is the Parasol Mushroom (_Lepcota procera_). + +Edible Mushrooms, if kept uncooked, become dangerous: they cannot +be sent to table too soon. In Rome our favourite _Pratiola_ is +held in very small esteem, and the worst wish an Italian can express +against his foe is "that he may die of a _Pratiola_." If this species +were exposed for sale in the Roman markets it would be certainly +condemned by the inspector of fungi. + +Fairy rings are produced by the spawn, or mycelium, beginning to +germinate where dropped by a bird or a beast, and exhausting the +soil of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, from the centre +continuously outwards; whilst immediately within the enlarging ring +there is constantly a band of coarse rank grass fed by the manure of +the penultimate dead spawn. The innermost starved ground remains +poor and barren. In this duplicate way the rings grow larger and +larger. + +Our edible Mushroom is a _Pratella_ of the subgenus _Psalliota_, +and the _Agaricus campestris_ of English botanists. In common +with the esculent Mushrooms of France it contains phosphate of +potassium--a cell salt essentially reparative of exhausted nerve +tissue and energy. + +The old practice of testing Mushrooms with a silver [375] spoon, +which is supposed to become tarnished only when the juices are of +an injurious quality (i.e., when sulphur is developed therein under +decomposition) is not to be trusted. In cases of poisoning by +injurious fungi after the most violent symptoms may have been +relieved, and the patient rescued from immediate danger, yet great +emaciation will often follow from the subsequent effects of the +poison: and the skin may exhibit an abundant outbreak of a +vesicular eruption, whilst the health will remain perhaps +permanently injured. Strong alcoholic drinks should never be taken +together with, or immediately after eating Mushrooms, or other +innocent fungi. Experienced fungus eaters (mycophagists) have +found themselves suffering from severe pains, and some swellings +through taking whiskey and water shortly after the meal: whereas +precisely the same fungus, minus the whiskey, could be eaten with +impunity by these identical experimentalists. + + + +MUSTARD. + +The wild Mustard (_Brassica Sinapistrum_), a Cruciferous herb +commonly called Chedlock, from _leac_, a weed, and _kiede_, to +annoy, grows abundantly as a product of waste places, and in newly +disturbed ground. + +The Field Mustard (_Arvensis_) is Charlock, or Brassock; its +botanical term, _Sinapis_, being referable to the Celtic _nap_, as a +general name for plants of the rape kind. Mustard was formerly +known as "senvie" in English. It has been long cultivated and +improved, especially in Darham. + +Now we have for commercial and officinal purposes two varieties of +the cultivated plant, the black Mustard (_Sinapis nigra_), and the +white Mustard (_Brassica_, or _Sinapis alba_). There is also a plain +plant of the hedges, [376] Hedge Mustard (_Sisymbrium officinale_) +which is a mere rustic Simple. It is the black Mustard which +yields by its seeds the condiment of our tables, and the +pungent yellow flour which we employ for the familiar stimulating +poultice, or sinapism. This black Mustard is a tall smooth plant, +having entire leaves, and smooth seed pods, being now grown for +the market on rich alluvial soil chiefly in Lincolnshire and +Yorkshire. In common with its kindred plants it gets its name from +_mustum_, the "must," or newly fermented grape juice, and +_ardens_, burning, because as a condiment, Mustard flour was +formerly mixed with home-made wine and sugar. The virtues of +black Mustard depend on the acrid volatile oil contained in its seeds. +These when unbruised and macerated in boiling water yield only a +tasteless mucilage which resides in their skin. But when bruised +they develop a very active, pungent, and highly stimulative principle +with a powerful penetrating odour which makes the eyes water. +From thence is perhaps derived the generic name of the herb +_Sinapis_ (_Para tou sinesthai tous hopous_, "because it irritates the +eyes"). This active principle contains sulphur abundantly, as is +proved by the discoloration of a silver spoon when left in the +mustard-pot, the black sulphuret of silver being formed. The +chemical basis of black Mustard is "sinnigrin" and its acid myronic. +The acridity of its oil is modified in the seeds by combination with +another fixed oil of a bland nature which can be readily separated by +pressure, then the cake left after the expression of this fixed oil is +far more pungent than the seeds. The bland oil expressed from the hulls +of the black seeds after the flour has been sifted away, promotes the +growth of the hair, and may be used with benefit externally for +[377] rheumatism. Whitehead's noted Essence of Mustard is made +with spirits of turpentine and rosemary, with which camphor and the +farina of black Mustard seed are mixed. This oil is very little +affected by frost or the atmosphere; and it is therefore specially +prized by clock makers, and for instruments of precision. + +A Mustard poultice from the farina of black Mustard made into a +paste with, or without wheaten flour commingled, constitutes one of +the most powerful external stimulating applications we can employ. +It quickly induces a sharp burning pain, and it excites a destructive +outward inflammation which enters much more into the true skin +than that which is caused by an old fashioned blister of Spanish fly. +This has therefore superseded the latter as more promptly and +reliably effective for the speedy relief of all active internal +congestions. If the application of Mustard has caused sores, these +may be best soothed and healed by lime-water liniment. + +Mustard flour is an infallible antiseptic and sterilising agent. It is +a capital deodoriser; and if rubbed thoroughly into the bands and nails +will take away all offensive stink when corrupt or dead tissues have +been manipulated. + +If a tablespoonful of Mustard flour is added to a pint of tepid water, +and taken at a draught it operates briskly as a stimulating and sure +emetic. Hot water poured on bruised seeds of black Mustard makes +a good stimulating footbath for helping to throw off a cold, or to +dispel a headache; and meantime the volatile oil given out as an +aroma, if not too strong, proves soporific. This oil contains erucic, +and sinapoleic acids. When properly mixed with spirit of wine, +twenty-four drops of the oil to an ounce of spirit, the essential oil +forms, [378] by reason of its stimulating properties and its contained +sulphur, a capital liniment for use in rheumatism, or for determining +blood to the surface from deeper parts. Caution should be used not +to apply a plaster made altogether of Mustard flour to the delicate +skin of young children, or females, because ulcers difficult to heal +may be the result, or even gangrenous destruction of the deeper skin +may follow. The effects of a Mustard bath, at about ninety degrees, +are singular; decided chills are felt at first throughout the whole +body, with some twitchings at times of the limbs; and later on, even +after the skin surface has become generally red, this sense of +coldness persists, until the person leaves the water, when reaction +becomes quickly established, with a glowing heat and redness of the +whole skin. + +For obstinate hiccough a teacupful of boiling water should be +poured on a teaspoonful of Mustard flour, and taken when sufficiently +cool, half at first, and the other half in ten minutes if still +needed. For congestive headache a small roll of Mustard paper or +Mustard leaf may be introduced into one or both nostrils, and left +there for a minute or more. It will relieve the headache promptly, +and may perhaps induce some nose bleeding. + +Admixture with vinegar checks the development of the pungent +principles of Mustard. This used to be practised for the table in +England, but is now discontinued, though some housewives add a +little salt to their made Mustard. + +Claims for the introduction of Mustard at Durham in 1720, have +been raised in favour of a Mrs. Clements, but they cannot be +substantiated. Shakespeare in the _Taming of the Shrew_ makes +Grumio ask Katherine "What say you to a piece of beef and +Mustard?" and speaks, in _Henry IV_., of Poins' wit being "as thick +[379] as Tewkesbury Mustard"; whilst Fuller in his _Worthies of +England_, written only a very few years after Shakespeare's death, +says "the best Mustard in England is made at Tewkesbury in the +county of Gloucester." Coles observes (1657), "in Gloucestershire +about Teuxbury they grind Mustard seed and make it up into balls, +which are brought to London and other remote places as being the +best that the world affords." George the First restored the popularity +of Mustard by his approval of it. Prior to 1720 no such condiment as +Mustard in its present form was used at table in this country. It +is not improbable that the Romans, who were great eaters of +Mustard-seed pounded and steeped in new wine, brought the condiment +with them to our shores, and taught the ancient Britons how to prepare +it. At Dijon in France where the best mixed continental Mustard is +made, the condiment is seasoned with various spices and savouries, +such as Anchovies, Capers, Tarragon, Catsup of Walnuts, or +Mushrooms, and the liquors of other pickles. Philip the Bold +granted armorial ensigns (1382) to Dijon, with the motto _moult me +tarde_ (I wish for ardently). The merchants of Sinapi copied this on +their wares, the middle word of the motto being accidentally +effaced. A well-known couplet of lines supposed to occur in +_Hudibras_ (but not to be found there), has long baffled the research +of quotation hunters: + + "Sympathy without relief + Is like to Mustard without beef." + +Mustard flour moistened with a little water into a paste has the +singular property of dispelling the odours of musk, camphor, and +the fetid gum resins. For deodorising vessels which have contained +the essences of turpentine, creasote, assafetida, or other such drugs, +it [380] will answer to introduce some bruised Mustard-seed, and +then a little water, shaking the vessel well for a minute or more, and +afterwards rinsing it out with plenty of water. + +The white Mustard grows when uncultivated on waste ground with +large yellow flowers, and does not yield under any circumstances a +pungent oil like the black Mustard. It is a hirsute plant, with stalked +leaves and hairy seed pods; and when produced in our gardens its +young leaves are eaten as a salad, or as "Mustard, with Cress." + +"When in the leaf," says John Evelyn in his _Acetaria_, "Mustard, +especially in young seedling plants, is of incomparable effect to +quicken and revive the spirits, strengthening the memory, expelling +heaviness, preventing the vertiginous palsy, and a laudable cephalic, +besides being an approved antiscorbutic." He tells further that the +Italians, in making Mustard as a condiment, mingle lemon and +orange peel with the (black) seeds. "In the composition of a sallet +the Mustard (a noble ingredient) should be of the best Tewkesbury +or else of the soundest and weightiest Yorkshire seed, tempered a +little by the fire to the consistence of a pap with vinegar, in which +some shavings of the horseradish have been steeped. Then, cutting +an onion, and putting it into a small earthen gally-pot, pour the +Mustard over it and close it very well with a cork. _Note_.--The +seeds should have been pounded in a mortar, or bruised with a +polished cannon bullet in a large wooden bowl dish." + +The active principle of white Mustard is "Sinapin," and the seed +germinates so rapidly that it has been said a salad of this may be +grown while the joint of meat is being roasted for dinner. Seeds of +the white Mustard have been employed medicinally from early +times. [381] Hippocrates advised their use both internally, and as a +counter-irritating poultice made with vinegar. When swallowed +whole in teaspoonful doses three or four times a day, they exercise a +laxative effect mechanically, and are voided without undergoing any +perceptible change, only the outer skin being a little softened and +mucilaginous. An infusion of the seed taken medicinally will relieve +chronic bronchitis, and confirmed rheumatism: also for a relaxed +sore throat a gargle of Mustard seed tea will be found of service. + +A French expression for trifling one's time away is _s'amuser à la +moutarde_. The essential oil is an admirable deodorant and +disinfectant, especially on an emergency. + +But the "grain of Mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds" (_Mark +_iv., 31), "which when it is grown up is the greatest among herbs," +was a tree of the East, very different from our Mustard, and bearing +branches of real wood. + +The Hedge Mustard (_Sisymbrium_, or _Erisymum_) grows by our +roadsides, and on waste grounds, where it seems to possess a +peculiar aptitude for collecting and retaining dust. The pods are +downy, close pressed to the stem, and the leaves hairy with their +points turned backwards. It is named by the French "St. Barbara's +Hedge Mustard," and the Singer's Plant, "_herbe au chantre_," or +"_herbe au chanteur_." Up to the time of Louis XIV, it was +considered an infallible remedy for loss of the voice. Racine writing +to Boileau recommended the syrup of _Erysimum_ to him when +visiting the waters of Bourbonne in order to be cured of +voicelessness. "Si les eaux de Bourbonne ne vous guerissent pas de +votre extinction de voix, le sirop d'Erysimum vous guerirait +infalliblement. Ne l'oubliez pas, et à l'occasion vingt grammes par +litre d'eau en tisane [382] matin et soir." It used to be called Flix, +or Flux weed from being given with benefit in dysentery, a disease +formerly known as the Flix. This herb has been commended for +chronic coughs and hoarseness, using the juice mixed with an equal +quantity of honey, or sugar. It has been designated "the most +excellent of all remedies for diseases of the throat, especially in +ulcerated sore throats, which it will serve to cure when all the advice +of physicians and surgeons has proved ineffectual." A strong +infusion of the herb is excellent in asthmas, and it may be made +with sugar into a syrup which will keep all the year round. The +Hedge Mustard contains chemically a soft resin, and a sulphuretted +volatile oil. This herb with the vervain is supposed to form Count +Mattaei's noted nostrum _Febrifugo_. + + + +NETTLE. + +No plant is more commonplace and plentiful in our fields and +hedges throughout an English summer than the familiar stinging +Nettle. And yet most persons unknowingly include under this single +appellation several distinct herbs. Actually as Nettles are to be +found: the annual _Urtica dioica_, or true Stinging Nettle; the +perennial _Urtica urens_ (burning); the White Dead Nettle; the +Archangel, or Yellow Weasel Snout, and the Purple Hedge Nettle. +This title "Urtica" comes _ab urendo_, "from burning." + +The plant which stings has a round hairy stalk, and carries only a +dull colourless bloom, whereas the others are labiate herbs with +square stems, and conspicuous lipped flowers. As Simples only the +great Stinging Nettle, the lesser Stinging Nettle, and the white Dead +Nettle call for observation. Also another variety of our Stinging +Nettle is the _Urtica pilulifera_, called by [383] corruption the +Roman Nettle, really because found abundantly at Romney in Kent. +But a legend obtains belief with some that Roman soldiers first +brought with them to England the seeds of this plant, and sowed it +about for their personal uses. They heard before coming that the +climate here was so cold that it might not be endured without some +friction to warm the blood, and to stir up the natural heat; and they +therefore bethought them to provide Nettles wherewith to chafe +their limbs when "stiffe and much benummed." Or, again, Lyte says, +"They do call al such strange herbes as be unknown of the common +people Romish, or Romayne herbes, although the same be brought +direct from Sweden or Norweigh." The cure for Nettle stings has +been from early times to rub the part with a dock leaf. The dead +Nettles are so named as having no sting, but possessing nettle-like +leaves. The stinging effect of the true Nettle is caused by an acrid +secretion contained in minute vesicles at the base of each of the stiff +hairs; and _urtication_, or flogging, with Nettles, is an old external +remedy, which was long practised for chronic rheumatism, and loss +of muscular power. _Tacta quod exurat digitos urtica tenentis_. +--Macer. Tea made from the young tops is a Devonshire cure for +Nettle-rash. Gerard says, "the Nettle is a good medicine for them +that cannot breathe unless they hold their necks upright: and being +eaten boiled with periwinkles it makes the body soluble." + +The word Nettle is derived from _net_, meaning something spun, or +sewn; and it indicates the thread made from the hairs of the plant, +and formerly used among Scandinavian nations. This was likewise +employed by Scotch weavers in the seventeenth century. Westmacott, +the historian, says, "Scotch cloth is only the [384] housewifery +of the Nettle." And the poet Campbell writes in one of his +letters, "I have slept in Nettle sheets, and dined off a Nettle table +cloth: and I have heard my mother say she thought Nettle cloth +more durable than any other linen." Goldsmith has recorded the +"rubbing of a cock's heart with stinging Nettles to make it hatch +hen's eggs." Some think the word "Nettle" an alteration of the +Anglo-Saxon "Needl," with reference to the needle-like stings. Spun +silk is now made in England from "Ramie" the decorticated fibre of +Nettles after washing away the glutinous juice from under their +bark. + +The seeds (_dioica_) contain a fine oil, and powerfully stimulate the +sexual functions. + +In Russia, as a recent mode of treatment, _urtication_ is now +enthusiastically commended, that is, slapping, or pricking with a +bundle of fresh Nettle twigs for one or more minutes, once, or +several times in the day. It is a superlative method of cure because +harmless (neither irritating the kidneys nor disfiguring the skin), +cleanly, simple in application, rapid in its effects, and cheap, though +perhaps somewhat rude. For sciatica, for incipient wasting, for the +difficult breathing of some heart troubles (where such stimulation +along the backbone affords more prompt and complete relief than +any other treatment), for some coughs palsy, suppression of the +monthly flow in women, rheumatism, and for lack of muscular +energy, this urtication is said to be an invaluable resuscitating +measure which has been successfully resorted to by the peasantry of +Russia from time immemorial. It will sometimes produce a crop of +small harmless blisters. + +The analysis of the fresh Nettle shows a presence of formic acid (the +irritating principle of the stinging hairs), with mucilage, salts, +ammonia, carbonic acid, and [385] water. A strong decoction of +Nettles drunk too freely by mistake has produced severe burning +over the whole body, with general redness, and a sense of being +stung. The features became swollen, and minute vesicles appeared +on the skin, which burst, and discharged a limpid fluid. No fever +accompanied the attack, and after five or six days the eruption dried +up. A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the entire plant with +spirit of wine: and this, as taught by the principle of similars, may +be confidently given in small diluted doses to mitigate such a +totality of symptoms as now described, whether coming on as an +attack of severe Nettle rash, or assuming some more pronounced +eruptive aspect, such as chicken pox. The same tincture also acts +admirably in cases of burns, when the deep skin is not destructively +involved. And again for relieving the itching of the fundament +caused by the presence of threadworms. + +"Burns," says Lucomsky, "may be rapidly cured by applying over +them linen cloths well wetted with an alcoholic tincture of the +Stinging Nettle prepared from the fresh plant, this being diluted with +an equal, or a double quantity of cold water. The cloths should be +frequently re-wetted, but without removing them, so as to prevent +pain from exposure." Dr. Burnett has shown conclusively that Nettle +tea, and Nettle tincture (ten drops for a dose in water), are curative +of feverish gout, as well as of intermittent fever and ague. Either +remedy will promote a speedy extrication of gravel through the +kidneys. Again the Nettle was a favourite old English remedy for +consumption, as already mentioned (see _Mugwort_), with reference +to the mermaid of the Clyde, when she beheld with regret the +untimely funeral of a young Glasgow maiden. + +[386] Fresh Nettle juice given in doses of from one to two +tablespoonfuls is a most serviceable remedy for all sorts of bleeding, +whether from the nose, the lungs, or some internal organ. Also the +decoction of the leaves and stalks taken in moderate quantities is +capital for many of the minor skin maladies. + +An alcoholic extract is made officinally from the entire young plant +gathered in the spring, and some of this if applied on cotton wool +will arrest bleeding from the nose, or after the extraction of a tooth, +when persistent. If a leaf of the plant be put upon the tongue and +pressed against the roof of the mouth, it will stop a bleeding from +the nose. Taken as a fresh young vegetable in the spring, or early +summer, Nettle tops make a very wholesome and succulent dish of +greens, which is slightly laxative; but during Autumn they are +hurtful. In Italy where herb soups are in high favour, "herb knodel" +(or round balls made like a dumpling in size and consistency) of +Nettles are esteemed as nourishing and medicinal. The greater +Nettle (_Urtica dioica_), and the lesser Nettle (_Urtica urens_) +possess stinging properties in common. + +A crystalline alkaloid which is fatal to frogs in a dose of one +centigramme, has been isolated from the common Stinging Nettle. +The watery extract has but little effect on mammals: but in the frog +it causes paralysis, beginning in the great nervous centres and +finally stopping the action of the heart. If planted in the +neighbourhood of beehives, the Nettle will serve to drive away +frogs. + +The expressed seeds yield an oil which may be used for burning in +lamps. Nettle leaves, rubbed into wooden vessels, such as tubs, &c., +will prevent their leaking. The juice of the leaves coagulates, and +fills up the [387] interstices of the wood. When dried the leaves will +often relieve asthma and similar bronchial troubles by inhalation, +although other means have failed. Eight or ten grains should be +burnt, and the fumes inspired at bedtime. + +The _Lamium album_ (white dead Nettle), a labiate plant, though +not of the stinging Nettle order, is likewise of special use for +arresting haemorrhage, as in spitting of blood, dysentery, and female +fluxes. Its name _Lamium_ is got from the Greek _laimos_, the +throat, because of the shape of its corollae. If the plant be macerated +in alcohol for a week, then cotton wool dipped in the liquid is as +efficacious for staying bleeding, when applied to the spot, as the +strongly astringent muriate of iron. Also, a tincture of the flowers is +made (H.) for internal use in similar cases. From five to ten drops of +this tincture should be given for a dose with a tablespoonful of cold +water. The Red Nettle, another _Lamium_, is also called Archangel, +because it blossoms on St. Michael's day, May 8th. If made into a +tea and sweetened with honey, it promotes perspiration, and acts on +the kidneys. The white dead Nettle is a degenerate form of this +purple herb as shown by still possessing on its petals the same +brown markings. Nevertheless, having disobeyed the laws of its growth, +it has lost its original colour, and, like the Lady of Shalott, it +is fain to complain "the curse has come upon me." Count Mattaei's +nostrum _Pettorale_ is thought to be got from the _Galeopsis_ +(hemp Nettle), another of the labiate herbs, with Nettle-like leaves, +but no stinging hairs, named from _galee_, a cat, or weazel, and +_opsis_, a countenance, because supposed to have a blossom +resembling the face of the animal specified. + + + +[388] NIGHT SHADE, DEADLY (_Belladonna_). + +This is a Solanaceous plant found native in Great Britain, and +growing generally on chalky soil under hedges, or about waste +grounds. It bears the botanical name of _Atropa_, being so called +from one of the classic Fates,--she who held the shears to cut the +thread of human life:-- + + "Clotho velum retinet, Lachesis net, et atropos occit." + +Its second title, _Belladonna_, was bestowed because the Spanish +ladies made use of the plant to dilate the pupils of their brilliant +black eyes. In this way their orbs appeared more attractively +lustrous: and the _donna_ became _bella_ (beautiful). The plant is +distinguished by a large leaf growing beside a small one about its +stems, whilst the solitary flowers, which droop, have a dark full +purple border, being paler downwards, and without scent. The +berries (in size like small cherries) are of a rich purplish black hue, +and possess most dangerously narcotic properties. They are +medicinally useful, but so deadly that only the skilled hands of the +apothecary should attempt to manipulate them; and they should not +be prescribed for a patient except by the competent physician. When +taken by accident their mischievous effects may be prevented by +swallowing as soon as possible a large glass of warm vinegar. + +A tincture of allied berries was used of old by ladies of fashion in +the land of the Pharaohs, as discovered among the mummy graves +by Professor Baeyer, of Munich. This had the property of imparting +a verdant sheen to the human iris; and, perhaps by the quaint +colour-effect it produced on the transparent cornea of some wily +Egyptian belle, it gave rise to the saying, "Do you see any +green in the white of my eye?" + +[389] At one time _Belladonna_ leaves were held to be curative of +cancer when applied externally as a poultice, either fresh, or dried, +and powdered. It is remarkable that sheep, rabbits, goats, and swine +can eat these leaves with impunity, though (as Boerhaave tells) a +single berry has been known to prove fatal to the human subject; +and a gardener was once hanged for neglecting to remove plants of +the deadly Night Shade from certain grounds which he knew. A +peculiar symptom in those poisoned by _Belladonna_ berries is the +complete loss of voice, together with frequent bending forward of +the trunk, and continual movements of the hands and fingers. +The Scotch under Macbeth sent bread and wine treacherously +impregnated with this poison to the troops of Sweno. + +The plant bears other titles, as "Dwale" (death's herb), "Great +Morel," and "Naughty Man's Cherry." The term "Morel" is applied +to the plant as a diminutive of _mora_, a Moor, on account of the +black-skinned berries. The _Belladonna_ grows especially near the +ruins of monasteries, and is so abundant around Furness Abbey that +this locality has been styled the "Vale of Night Shade." + +Hahnemann taught that, acting on the law of similars, Belladonna +given in very small doses of its tincture will protect from the +infection of scarlet fever. He confirmed this fact by experiments on +one hundred and sixty children. When taken by provers in actual +toxic doses the tincture, or the fresh juice, has induced sore throat, +feverishness, and a dry, red, hot skin, just as if symptomatic of +scarlet fever. The plant yields atropine and hyoscyamine from all its +parts. As a drug it specially affects the brain and the bladder. The +berries are known in Buckinghamshire as "Devil's cherries." + + + +[390] NUTMEG, CINNAMON, GINGER, and CLOVES. + +The spice box is such a constant source of ready domestic comforts +of a medicinal sort in every household that the more important, and +best known of its contents may well receive some consideration +when treating of Herbal Simples; though it will, of course, be +understood these spices are of foreign growth, and not indigenous +products. + +Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, and Cloves, claim particular notice in +this respect. + + "Sinament, Ginger, Nutmeg, and Cloves, + And that gave me my jolly red nose." + _Beaumont and Fletcher_. + +Cinnamon possesses positive medicinal as well as aromatic virtues. +What we employ as this spice consists of the inner bark of shoots +from the stocks of a Ceylon tree, first cultivated here in 1768. + +Such bark chemically contains cinnamic acid, tannin, a resin, and +sugar, so that its continued use will induce constipation. The +aromatic and stimulating effects of Cinnamon have been long +known. It was freely given in England during the epidemic scourges +of the early and middle centuries, nearly every monastery keeping a +store of the cordial for ready use. The monks administered it in +fever, dysentery, and contagious diseases. And recent discovery in +the laboratory of M. Pasteur, the noted French bacteriologist, has +shown that Cinnamon possesses the power of absolutely destroying +all disease germs. Our ancestors, it would appear, had hit upon a +valuable preservative against microbes, when they infused +Cinnamon with other spices in their mulled drinks. Mr. Chamberland +says, "no disease germ can long resist the antiseptic powder +of essence of Cinnamon, [391] which is as effective to destroy +microbes as corrosive sublimate." + +By its warming astringency, it exercises cordial properties which are +most useful in arresting passive diarrhoea, and in relieving flatulent +indigestion. + +Its volatile oil is procured from the bark, and likewise a tincture, +as well as an aromatic water of Cinnamon. For a sick qualmish +stomach either preparation is an excellent remedy, as the virtue of +the bark rests in this essential volatile oil. When obtained from the +_fruit_ it is extremely fragrant, of thick consistence, and sometimes +made into candles at Ceylon, for the sole use of the king. The doses +are of the powdered bark from ten to twenty grains; of the oil from +one to five drops; of the tincture from half to one teaspoonful, and +of the distilled water from one to two tablespoonfuls. Our Queen is +known to be partial to the use of Cinnamon. Keats, the poet, wrote +of "lucent syrups tinct. with Cinnamon." And Saint Francis of Sales +says in his _Devout Life_: "With respect to the labour of teaching, it +refreshes and revives the heart by the sweetness it brings to those +who are engaged in it, as the Cinnamon does in _Arabia Felix_ to +them who are laden with it." In toxic quantities of an injurious +amount, Cinnamon bark has produced haemorrhage from the bowels, +and nose bleeding. Therefore small doses of the diluted tincture +are well calculated to obviate these symptoms when presenting +themselves through illness. + +The bark was formerly thought to stimulate the functions of the +womb, and of late it has come again into medical use for this +purpose. To check fluxes from that organ a teaspoonful of the +bruised bark should be infused in half a pint of boiling water, and a +tablespoonful given frequently when cool. Lozenges made [392] +with the essential oil are also medicinally available for the speedy +relief of sickness, and as highly useful against influenza. It is well +known that persons who live in Cinnamon districts have an +immunity from malaria. + +Ginger (_Zingiberis radix_) is the root-stock of a plant grown in the +East and West Indies, and is scraped before importation. Its odour is +due to an essential oil, and its pungent hot taste to a resin. It was +known in Queen Elizabeth's reign, having been introduced by the +Dutch about 1566. "Grene Gynger of almondes" is mentioned in the +Paston Letters, 1444. "When condited," says Gerard, "it provoketh +venerie." + +This Green Ginger, which consists of the young shoots of the +rhizome, when boiled in syrup makes an excellent preserve. +Officinally from the dried and scraped _rhizome_ are prepared a +tincture, and a syrup. If a piece of the root is chewed it causes a +considerable flow of saliva, and an application of powdered Ginger, +made with water into paste, against the skin will produce intense +tingling and heat. To which end it may be spread on paper and +applied to the forehead as a means for relieving a headache from +passive fulness. In India, Europeans who suffer from languid +indigestion drink an infusion of Ginger as a substitute for tea. For +gouty dyspepsia the root may be powdered in a mortar: and a +heaped teaspoonful of it should be then infused in boiling milk; to +be taken when sufficiently cool, for supper or at breakfast. + +The dose of the powder is from ten to twenty grains; of the tincture +from a third of a teaspoonful to a teaspoonful, in water hot or cold; +of the syrup from one to two teaspoonfuls in water. Either +preparation is of service to correct diarrhoea, and to relieve weakly +chronic bronchitis. Also as admirably corrective of [393] chronic +constipation through general intestinal sluggishness, a vespertine +slice of good, old-fashioned Gingerbread made with brown treacle +and grated ginger may be eaten with zest, and reliance. There is a +street in Hull called "The land of Ginger." + +The habitat of the tree from which our Nutmeg comes is the +Molucca Islands, and the part of the nut which constitutes the Spice +is the kernel. This is called generically _Nux moschata_, or Mugget +(French _Musqué_) a diminutive of musk, from its aromatic odour, +and properties. The Nutmeg is oval, or nearly round, of a brown +wrinkled aspect, with an aromatic smell, and a bitter fragrant taste. +Officinally the tree is named _Myristica officinalis_, and the oil +distilled from the Nutmeg in Britain is much superior to foreign oil. + +Ordinarily as a condiment of a warming character the Nutmeg is +employed to correct cold indigestible food, or as a cordial addition +to negus: and medicinally for languid digestion, with giddiness and +flatulence, causing oppressed breathing. Its activity depends on the +volatile oil, contained in the proportion of six per cent. in the nut. +This when given at all largely is essentially narcotic. Four Nutmegs +have been known to completely paralyse all nervous sensibility, and +have produced a sort of wakeful unconsciousness for three entire +days, with loss of memory afterwards, and with more or less +paralysis until after eight days. + +The Banda, or Nutmeg Islands in the Indian Ocean, are twelve in +number, and the strength of the Nutmeg in its season is said to +overcome birds of Paradise so that they fall helplessly intoxicated. + +When taken to any excess, whether as a spice, or as a medicine, the +Nutmeg and its preparations are apt to cause giddiness, oppression +of the chest, stupor, and [394] delirium. A moderate dose of the +powdered Nutmeg is from five to twenty grains, but persons with a +tendency to apoplexy should abstain from any free use of this spice. +From two to six drops of the essential oil may be taken on sugar to +relieve flatulent oppression and dyspepsia, or from half to one +teaspoonful of the spirit of Nutmeg made by mixing one part of the +oil with forty parts of spirit of wine; this dose being had with one +or two tablespoonfuls of hot water, sweetened if desired. + +A medicinal tincture is prepared (H.) from the kernel with spirit of +wine (not using the oil, nor the essence). This in small diluted doses +is highly useful for drowsiness connected with flatulent indigestion, +and a disposition to faintness: also for gout retrocedent to the +stomach. The dose is from five to ten drops with a spoonful of water +every half hour, or every hour until the symptoms are adequately +relieved. Against diarrhoea Nutmeg grated into warm water is very +helpful, and will prove an efficient substitute for opium in mild +cases. Externally the spirit of Nutmeg is a capital application to be +rubbed in for chronic rheumatism, and for paralysed limbs. The +"butter of Nutmegs," or their concrete oil, is used in making plasters +of a warming, and stimulating kind. A drink that was concocted by +our grandmothers was Nutmeg tea. One Nutmeg would make a pint +of this tea, two or three cupfuls of which would produce a sleep of +many hours' duration. The worthy old ladies were wont to carry a +silver grater and Nutmeg case suspended from the waist on their +chatelaines. But in any large quantity the Nutmeg may produce +sleep of such a profundity as to prove really dangerous. Two +drachms of the powder have brought on a comatose sleep with some +delirium. + +[395] The Nutmeg contains starch, protein, and other simple +constituents, in addition to its stimulating principles. Mace is the +aromatic envelope of the Nutmeg, and possesses the same qualities +in a minor degree. Its infusion is a good warming medicine against +chronic cough, and moist bronchial asthma in an old person. Mace +is a membranaceous structure enveloping the Nutmeg, having a +fleshy texture, and being of a light yellowish-brown colour. It +supplies an allied essential volatile principle, which is fragrant and +cordial. If given three or four times during the twenty-four hours, in +a dose of from eight to twelve grains, crushed, or powdered Mace +will prove serviceable against long-continued looseness of the +bowels; but this dose should not be exceeded for fear of inducing +narcotism. + +Cloves (from _clavus_, a nail), also found in the kitchen spice box, +and owning certain medicinal resources of a cordial sort, which are +quickly available, belong to the Myrtle family of plants, and are the +unexpanded flower buds of an aromatic tree (_Caryophyllus_), +cultivated at Penang and elsewhere. They contain a volatile oil +which, like that of Chamomile, although cordial, lowers nervous +sensibility, or irritability: also tannin, a gum resin, and woody +fibre. This volatile oil consists principally of "eugenin" with a +camphor, "caryophyllin." The "eugenic acid," with a strong odour of +cloves, is powerfully antiseptic and anti-putrescent. It reduces the +sensibility of the skin: and therefore the oil with lanolin is a +useful application for eczema. + +Dr Burnett has lately taught (1895) that a too free use of Cloves will +bring on albuminuria; and that when this disease has supervened +from other causes, the dilute tincture of Cloves, third decimal +strength, will frequently do much to lessen the quantity of albumen +[396] excreted by the kidneys. From five to ten drops of this tincture +should be given with water three times a day. + +Used in small quantities as a spice the Clove stimulates digestion, +but when taken more freely it deadens the susceptibility of the +stomach, lessens the appetite, and induces constipation. An infusion +of Cloves, made with half an ounce to a pint of water, and drank in +doses of a small wineglassful, will relieve the nausea and coldness +of flatulent indigestion. The oil put on cotton wool into the hollow +of a decayed tooth is a useful means for giving ease to toothache. +The dose of the oil is from one to five drops, on sugar, or in a +spoonful of milk. The odour of Cloves is aromatic, and the taste +pleasantly hot, but acrid. Half a tumbler of quite hot water poured +over half a dozen Cloves (which are to brew for a few minutes on +the hob, and then to be taken out), will often secure a good night to +a restless dyspeptic patient, if taken just before getting into bed. Or +if given cold before breakfast this dose will obviate constipation. In +Holland the oil of Cloves is prescribed with cinchona bark for ague. +Arthur Cecil's German medico in the Play advises his patient to "rub +your pelly mit a Clove." + +All-Spice (_Pimento_) is another common occupant of the domestic +spice box. It is popular as a warming cordial, of a sweet odour, and +a grateful aromatic taste; but being a native of South America, +grows with us only as a stove plant. The leaves and bark are full of +inflammable particles, whilst walks between Pimento trees are +odorous with a delicious scent. The name All-Spice is given because +the berries afford in smell and taste a combination of Cloves, +Juniper berries, Cinnamon and Pepper. The special qualities of the +Pimento reside in the rind of these berries; and this tree is the +_Bromelia ananas_, [397] named in Brazil Nana. An extract made +from the crushed berries by boiling them down to a thick liquor, is, +when spread on linen, a capital stimulating plaster for neuralgic or +rheumatic parts. About the physician in "les Francais" it was said +admiringly "c'est lui qui a inventé la salade d'Ananas." The essential +oil, as well as the spirit and the distilled water of Pimento, are +useful against flatulent indigestion and for hysterical paroxysms. This +Spice was formerly added to our syrup of buckthorn to prevent it +from griping. The berries are put into curry powder, and added to +mulled wines. + + + +OAT. + +The Oat is a native of Britain in its wild and uncultivated form, and +is distinguished by the spikelets of its ears hanging on slender +pedicels. This is the _Avena fatua_, found in our cornfields, but not +indigenous in Scotland. When cultivated it is named _Avena +sativa_. As it needs less sunshine and solar warmth to ripen the +grain than wheat, it furnishes the principal grain food of cold +Northern Europe. With the addition of some fat this grain is capable +of supporting life for an indefinite period. Physicians formerly +recommended highly a diet-drink made from Oats, about which +Hoffman wrote a treatise at the end of the seventeenth century; and +Johannis de St. Catherine, who introduced the drink, lived by its use +to a hundred years free from any disease. Nevertheless the Oat did +not enjoy a good reputation among the old Romans; and Pliny said +"Primum omnis frumenti vitium avena est." + +American doctors have taken of late to extol the Oat (_Avena +sativa_) when made into a strong medicinal tincture with spirit of +wine, as a remarkable nervine stimulant and restorative: this being +"especially valuable in [398] all cases where there is a deficiency of +nervous power, for instance, among over-worked lawyers, public +speakers, and writers." + +The tincture is ordered to be given in a dose of from ten to twenty +drops, once or twice during the day, in hot water to act speedily; and +a somewhat increased dose in cold water at bedtime so as to produce +its beneficial effects more slowly then. It proves an admirable +remedy for sleeplessness from nervous exhaustion, and as prepared +in New York may be procured from any good druggist in England. +Oatmeal contains two per cent. of protein compounds, the largest +portion of which is avenin. A yeast poultice made by stirring +Oatmeal into the grounds of strong beer is a capital cleansing and +healing application to languid sloughing sores. + +Oatmeal supplies very little saccharine matter ready formed. It +cannot be made into light bread, and is therefore prepared when +baked in cakes; or, its more popular form for eating is that of +porridge, where the ground meal becomes thoroughly soft by +boiling, and is improved in taste by the addition of milk and salt. +"The halesome parritch, chief of Scotia's food," said Burns, with +fervid eloquence. Scotch people actually revel in their parritch and +bannocks. "We defy your wheaten bread," says one of their +favourite writers, "your home-made bread, your bakers' bread, your +baps, rolls, scones, muffins, crumpets, and cookies, your bath buns, +and your sally luns, your tea cakes, and slim cakes, your saffron +cakes, and girdle cakes, your shortbread, and singing hinnies: we +swear by the Oat cake, and the parritch, the bannock, and the brose." +Scotch beef brose is made by boiling Oatmeal in meat liquor, and +kail brose by cooking Oatmeal in cabbage-water. [399] Crushed +Oatmeal, from which the husk has been removed, is known as +"groats," and is employed for making gruel. At the latter end of the +seventeenth century this was a drink asked-for eagerly by the public +at London taverns. "Grantham gruel," says quaint old Fuller, in his +_History of the Worthies of England_, "consists of nine grits and a +gallon of water." When "thus made, it is wash rather, which one will +have little heart to eat, and yet as little heart by eating." But the +better gruel concocted elsewhere was "a wholesome Spoon meat, +though homely; physic for the sick, and food for persons in health; +grits the form thereof: and giving the being thereunto." In the border +forays of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries all the provision +carried by the Scotch was simply a bag of Oatmeal. But as a food it +is apt to undergo some fermentation in the stomach, and to provoke +sour eructations. Furthermore, it is somewhat laxative, because +containing a certain proportion of bran which mechanically +stimulates the intestinal membranes: and this insoluble bran is rather +apt to accumulate. Oatmeal gruel may be made by boiling from one +to two ounces of the meal with three pints of water down to two +pints, then straining the decoction, and pouring off the supernatant +liquid when cool. Its flavour may be improved by adding raisins +towards the end of boiling, or by means of sugar and nutmeg. +Because animals of speed use up, by the lungs, much heat-forming +material, Oats (which abound in carbonaceous constituents) are +specially suitable as food for the horse. + + + +ONION (_see_ Garlic, _page 209_). + + + +ORANGE. + +Though not of native British growth, except by way of a luxury in +the gardens of the wealthy, yet the Orange [400] is of such common +use amongst all classes of our people as a dietetic fruit, when of the +sweet China sort, and for tonic medicinal purposes when of the +bitter Seville kind, that some consideration may be fairly accorded +to it as a Curative Simple in these pages. + +The _Citrus aurantium_, or popular Orange, came originally from +India, and got its distinctive title of _Aurantium_, either (_ab aureo +colore corticis_) from the golden colour of its peel, or (_ab oppido +Achoeioe Arantium_) from Arantium, a town of Achaia. It now +comes to us chiefly from Portugal and Spain. This fruit is essentially +a product of cultivation extending over many years. It began in +Hindustan as a small bitter berry with seeds; then about the eighth +century it was imported into Persia, though held somewhat +accursed. During the tenth century it bore the name "Bigarade," and +became better known. But not until the sixteenth century was it +freely grown by the Spaniards, and brought into Mexico. Even at +that time the legend still prevailed that whoever partook of the +luscious juice was compelled to embrace the faith of the prophet. +Spenser and Milton tell of the orange as the veritable golden apple +presented by Jupiter to Juno on the day of their nuptials: and hence +perhaps arose its more modern association with marriage rites. + +Of the varieties the China Orange is the most juicy, being now +grown in the South of Europe; whilst the St. Michael Orange (a +descendant of the China sort, first produced in Syria), is now got +abundantly from the Azores, whence it derives its name. + +John Evelyn says the first China Orange which appeared in Europe, +was sent as a present to the old Condé Mellor; then Prime Minister +to the King of Portugal, when only one plant escaped sound and useful +[401] of the whole case which reached Lisbon, and this became the +parent of all the Orange trees cultivated by our gardeners, though +not without greatly degenerating. + +The Seville Orange is that which contains the medicinal properties, +more especially in its leaves, flowers, and fruit, though the China +sort possesses the same virtues in a minor degree. The leaves and +the flowers have been esteemed as beneficial against epilepsy, and +other convulsive disorders; and a tea is infused from the former +for hysterical sufferers. + +Two delicious perfumes are distilled from the flowers--oil of neroli, +and napha water,--of which the chemical hydro-carbon "hesperidin," is +mainly the active principle. This is secreted also as an aromatic +attribute of the leaves through their minute glands, causing them to +emit a fragrant odour when bruised. A scented water is largely prepared +in France from the flowers, _l'eau de fleur d'oranger_, which is +frequently taken by ladies as a gentle sedative at night, when +sufficiently diluted with sugared water. Thousands of gallons are +drunk in this way every year. As a pleasant and safely effective help +towards wooing sleep, from one to two teaspoonfuls of the French +_Eau de fleur d'oranger_, if taken at bedtime in a teacupful of hot +water, are to be highly commended for a nervous, or excitably +wakeful person. + +Orange buds are picked green from the trees in the gardens of +the Riviera, and when dried they retain the sweet smell of +the flowers. A teaspoonful of these buds is ordered to be infused +in a teacupful of quite hot water, and the liquid to be drunk shortly, +before going to bed. The effect is to induce a refreshing sleep, +without any subsequent headache or nausea. The dried berries may +be had from an English druggist. + +[402] A peeled Orange contains, some citric acid, with citrate of +potash; also albumen, cellulose, water, and about eight per cent. of +sugar. The white lining pith of the peel possesses likewise the +crystalline principle "hesperidin." Dr. Cullen showed that the acid +juice of oranges, by uniting with the bile, diminishes the bitterness +of that secretion; and hence it is that this fruit is of particular +service in illnesses which arise from a redundancy of bile, chiefly in +dark persons of a fibrous, or bilious temperament. But if the acids of +the Orange are greater in quantity than can be properly corrected by +the bile (as in persons with a small liver, and feeble digestive +powers), they seem, by some prejudicial union with that liquid, to +acquire a purgative quality, and to provoke diarrhoea, with colicky +pains. + +The rind or peel of the Seville Orange is darker in colour, and more +bitter of taste than that of the sweet China fruit. It affords a +considerable quantity of fragrant, aromatic oil, which partakes of the +characters exercised by the leaves and the flowers as affecting the +nervous system. Pereira records the death of a child which resulted +from eating the rind of a sweet China Orange. + +The small green fruits (windfalls) from the Orange trees of each +sort, which become blown off, or shaken down during the heats of +the summer, are collected and dried, forming the "orange berries" of +the shops. They are used for flavouring curacoa, and for making +issue peas. These berries furnish a fragrant oil, the _essence de petit +grain_, and contain citrates, and malates of lime and potash, with +"hesperidin," sulphur, and mineral salts. The Orange flowers yield a +volatile, odorous oil, acetic acid, and acetate of lime. The juice of +the Orange consists of citric and malic acids, with sugar; [403] +citrate of lime, and water. The peel furnishes hesperidin, a volatile +oil, gallic acid, and a bitter principle. + +By druggists, a confection of bitter orange peel is sold; also a syrup +of this orange peel, and a tincture of the same, made with spirit of +wine, to be given in doses of from one to two teaspoonfuls with +water, as an agreeable stomachic bitter. _Eau de Cologne_ contains +oil of neroli, oil of citron, and oil of orange. + +The fresh juice of Oranges is antiseptic, and will prevent scurvy if +taken in moderation daily. Common Oranges cut through the middle +while green, and dried in the air, being afterwards steeped for forty +days in oil, are used by the Arabs for preparing an essence famous +among their old women because it will restore a fresh dark, or +black colour to grey hair. The custom of a bride wearing Orange +blossoms, is probably due to the fact that flowers and fruit appear +together on the tree, in token of a wish that the bride may retain the +graces of maidenhood amid the cares of married life. This custom +has been derived from the Saracens, and was originally suggested +also by the fertility of the Orange tree. + +The rind of the Seville Orange has proved curative of ague, and +powerfully remedial to restrain the monthly flux of women when in +excess. Its infusion is of service also against flatulency. A drachm +of the powdered leaves may be given for a dose in nervous and +hysterical ailments. Finally, "the Orange," adds John Evelyn, +"sharpens appetite, exceedingly refreshes, and resists putrefaction." + +With respect to the fruit, it is said that workpeople engaged in the +orange trade enjoy a special immunity from influenza, whilst a free +partaking of the juice given largely, has been found preventive of +[404] pneumonia as complicating this epidemic. The benefit is said +to occur through lessening the fibrin of the blood. + +In the time of Shakespeare, it was the fashion to carry "pomanders," +these being oranges from which all the pulp had been scooped out, +whilst a circular hole was made at the top. Then after the peel had +become dry, the fruit was filled with spices, so as to make a sort of +scent-box. Orange lilies, Orangemen, and William of Orange, are all +more or less associated with this fruit. The Dutch Government had +no love for the House of Orange: and many a grave burgomaster +went so far as to banish from his garden the Orange lily, and +Marigold; also the sale of Oranges and Carrots was prohibited in the +markets on account of their aristocratic colour. + +There exists at Brighton a curious custom of bowling or throwing +Oranges along the high road on Boxing day. He whose Orange is hit +by that of another, forfeits the fruit to the successful hitter. + +In Henry the Eighth's reign Oranges were made into pies, or the +juice was squeezed out, and mixed with wine. This fruit when +peeled, and torn into sections, after removing the white pith, and the +pips, and sprinkling over it two or three spoonfuls of powdered loaf +sugar, makes a most wholesome salad. A few candied orange-flower +petals will impart a fine flavour to tea when infused with it. + + + +ORCHIDS. + +Our common English Orchids are the "Early Purple," which is +abundant in our woods and pastures; the "Meadow Orchis"; and the +"Spotted Orchis" of our heaths and commons. Less frequent are the +"Bee Orchis," the "Butterfly Orchis," "Lady's Tresses," and the +"Tway blade." + +[405] Two roundish tubers form the root of an Orchid, and give its +name to the plant from the Greek _orchis_, testicle. A nutritive +starchy product named Salep, or Saloop, is prepared from the roots +of the common Male Orchis, and its infusion or decoction was taken +generally in this country as a beverage before the introduction of tea +and coffee. Sassafras chips were sometimes added for giving the +drink a flavour. Salep obtained from the tubers of foreign Orchids +was specially esteemed; and even now that sold in Indian bazaars is +so highly valued for its fine qualities that most extravagant prices +are paid for it by wealthy Orientals. Also in Persia and Turkey it is +in great repute for recruiting the exhausted vitality of aged, and +enervated persons. In this country it may be purchased as a powder, +but not readily miscible with water, so that many persons fail in +making the decoction. The powder should be first stirred with a +little spirit of wine: then the water should be added suddenly, and +the mixture boiled. One dram by weight of the salep powder in a +fluid dram and a half of the spirit, to half-a-pint of water, are the +proper proportions. Sometimes amber, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger +are added. + +Dr. Lind, in the middle of the last century, strongly advised that +ships, and soldiers on long marches, should be provided with Salep +made into a paste or cake. This (with a little portable soup added) +will allay hunger and thirst if made liquid. An ounce in two quarts +of boiling water will sufficiently sustain a man for one day, being a +combination of animal and vegetable foods. Among the early +Romans the Orchis was often called "Satyrion," because it was +thought to be the food of the Satyrs, exciting them to their sexual +orgies. Hence the Orchis root became famous as all aphrodisiac +[406] medicine, and has been so described by all herbalists from the +time of Dioscorides. + +A tradition is ascribed to the English Orchis Mascula (early Purple), +of which the leaves are usually marked with purple spots. It is said +that these are stains of the precious blood which flowed from our +Lord's body on the cross at Calvary, where this species of Orchis is +reputed to have grown. Similarly in Cheshire, the plant bears the +name of Gethsemane. This early Orchis is the "long Purples," +mentioned by Shakespeare in Hamlet: and it is sometimes named +"Dead men's fingers," from the pale colour, and the hand-like shape +of its tubers. + + "That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, + But our cold maids do 'dead men's fingers' call them." + +It is further styled "Cain and Abel" and "Rams' horns," the odour +being offensive, especially in the evening. It thrives wherever the +wild hyacinth flourishes, and is believed by some to grow best +where the earth below is rich in metal. Country people in Yorkshire +call it "Crake feet," and in Kent "Keat legs," or "Neat legs." The +roots of this Orchis abound with a glutinous sweetish juice, of +which a Salep may be made which is quite equal to any brought +from the Levant. The new root should be washed in hot water, and +its thin brown skin rubbed off with a linen cloth. Having thus +prepared a sufficient number of roots, the operator should spread +them on a tin plate in a hot oven for eight or ten minutes, until they +get to look horny, but without shrinking in size: and being then +withdrawn, they may be dried with more gentle heat, or by exposure +to the air. Their concocted juice can be employed with the same +intentions and in the same complaints as gum arabic,--about which +we read that [407] not only has it served to sustain whole negro +towns during a scarcity of other provisions, but the Arabs who +collect it by the river Niger have nothing else to live upon for +months together. + +Salep is a most useful article of diet for those who suffer from +chronic diarrhoea. + + + +PARSLEY. + +Parsely is found in this country only as a cultivated plant, having +been introduced into England from Sardinia in the sixteenth century. +It is an umbelliferous herb, which has been long of garden growth +for kitchen uses. The name was formerly spelt "Percely," and the +herb was known as March, or Merich (in Anglo-Saxon, Merici). Its +adjective title, _Petroselinum_, signifies "growing on a rock." The +Greeks held Parsley in high esteem, making therewith the victor's +crown of dried and withered Parsley, at their Isthmian games, and +the wreath for adorning the tombs of their dead. Hence the proverb, +_Deeisthai selinon_ (to need only Parsley) was applied to persons +dangerously ill, and not expected to live. The herb was never +brought to table of old, being held sacred to oblivion and the +defunct. + +It is reputed to have sprung from the blood of a Greek hero, +Archemorus, the fore-runner of death; and Homer relates that +chariot horses were fed by warriors with this herb. Greek gardens +were often bordered with Parsley and Rue: and hence arose the +saying when an undertaking was in contemplation but not yet +commenced, "Oh! we are only at the Parsley and Rue." + +Garden Parsley was not cultivated in England until the second year +of Edward the Sixth's reign, 1548. In our modern times the domestic +herb is associated rather with those who come into the world than +with those [408] who go out of it. Proverbially the Parsley-bed is +propounded to our little people who ask awkward questions, as the +fruitful source of new-born brothers and sisters when suddenly +appearing within the limits of the family circle. In Suffolk there is +an old belief that to ensure the herb coming up "double," Parsley +seed must be sown on Good Friday. + +The root is faintly aromatic, and has a sweetish taste. It contains a +chemical principle, "apiin," sugar, starch, and a volatile oil. +Likewise the fruit furnishes the same volatile oil in larger +abundance, this oil comprising parsley-camphor, and "apiol," the +true essential oil of parsley, which may be now had from all leading +druggists. Apiol exercises all the virtues of the entire plant, and is +especially beneficial for women who are irregular as to their +monthly courses because of ovarian debility. From three to six drops +should be given on sugar, or in milk (or as a prepared capsule) twice +or three times in the day for some days together, at the times +indicated, beginning early at the expected date of each period. If too +large a dose of apiol be taken it will cause headache, giddiness, +staggering, and deafness; and if going still further, it will induce +epileptiform convulsions. For which reason, in small diluted doses, +the same medicament will curatively meet this train of symptoms +when occurring as a morbid state. And it is most likely on such +account Parsley has been popularly said to be "poison to men, and +salvation to women." Apiol was first obtained in 1849, by Drs. Joret +and Homolle, of Brittany, and proved an excellent remedy there for +a prevailing ague. It exercises a singular influence on the great +nervous centres within the head and spine. Bruised Parsley seeds +make a decoction which is likewise beneficial against [409] ague +and intermittent fever. They have gained a reputation in America as +having a special tendency to regulate the reproductive functions in +either sex. Country folk in many places think it unlucky to sow +Parsley, or to move its roots; and a rustic adage runs thus: "Fried +parsley brings a man to his saddle, and a Woman to her grave." +Taking Parsley in excess at table will impair the eyesight, especially +the tall Parsley; for which reason it was forbidden by Chrysippus +and Dionysius. + +The root acts more readily on the kidneys than other parts of the +herb; therefore its decoction is useful when the urine becomes +difficult through a chill, or because of gravel. The bruised leaves +applied externally will serve to soften hard breasts early in +lactation, and to resolve the glands in nursing, when they become +knotty and painful, with a threatened abscess. Sheep are fond of +the plant, which protects them from foot-rot; but it acts as a +deadly poison to parrots. + +In France a rustic application to scrofulous swellings is successfully +used, which consists of Parsley and snails pounded together in a +mortar to the thickness of an ointment. This is spread on coarse +linen and applied freely every day. Also on the Continent, and in +some parts of England, snails as well as slugs are thought to be +efficacious medicinally in consumption of the lungs, even more so +than cod-liver oil. The _Helix pomatia_ (or Apple Snail) is specially +used in France, being kept for the purpose in a snaillery, or +boarded-in space of which the floor is covered half-a-foot deep +with herbs. + +The Romans were very partial to these Apple Snails, and fattened +them for the table with bran soaked in wine until the creatures +attained almost a fabulous size. Even in this country shells of Apple +Snails have been [410] found which would hold a pound's worth of +silver. The large Snail was brought to England in the sixteenth +century, to the South downs of Surrey, and Sussex, and to Box Hill +by an Earl of Arundel for his Countess, who had them dressed, and +ate them because of her consumptive disease. Likewise in Pliny's +time Snails beaten up with warm water were commended for the +cure of coughs. Gipsies are great Snail eaters, but they first starve +the creatures, which are given to devour the deadly Night Shade, +and other poisonous plants. It is certain, that Snails retain the +flavour and odour of the vegetables which they consume. + +The chalky downs of the South of England are literally covered with +small snails, and many persons suppose that the superior flavour of +South Down mutton is due to the thousands of these snails which +the sheep consume together with the pasture on which they feed. In +1854 a medical writer set forth the curative virtues of _Helicin_, a +glutinous constituent principle derived from the Snail, and to be +given in broth as a remedy for pulmonary consumption. In France +the Apple Snail is known as the "great Escargot"; and the Snail +gardens in which the gasteropods are fattened, and reared, go by the +name of "Escargotoires." Throughout the winter the creatures +hybernate, shutting themselves up by their operculum whilst lying +among dead leaves, or having fixed themselves by their glutinous +secretion to a wall or tree. They are only taken for use whilst in this +state. According to a gipsy, the common English Snail is quite as +good to be eaten, and quite as beneficial as an Apple Snail, but there +is less of him. In Wiltshire, when collected whilst hybernating, +snails are soaked in salted water, and then grilled on the bars of the +grate. About France the Escargots are dried, and prepared as a +lozenge [411] for coughs. Our common garden Snail is the Helix +aspersa. On the Continent for many years past the large Apple Snail, +together with a reddish-brown slug, the Arion Rufus, has been +employed in medicine for colds, sore throats, and a tendency to +consumption of the lungs. These contain "limacine," and eight per +cent. of emollient mucilage, together with "helicin," and uric acid +just under the shell. Many quarts of cooked garden snails are sold +every week to the labouring classes in Bristol; and an annual Feast +of Snails is held in the neighbourhood of Newcastle. Mrs. Delaney +in 1708, recommended that "two or three snails should be boiled in +the barley-water which Mary takes who coughs at night. She must +know nothing of it; they give no manner of taste. Six or eight boiled +in water, and strained off, and put in a bottle would be a good way +of adding a spoonful of the same to every liquid thing she takes. +They must be fresh done every two or three days, otherwise they +grow too thick." The _London Gazette_, of March 23rd, 1739, tells +that Mrs. Joanna Stephens received from the Government five +thousand pounds for revealing the secret of her famous cure against +stone in the bladder, and gravel. This consisted chiefly of eggshells, +and snails, mixed with soap, honey and herbs. It was given in +powders, decoctions, and pills. To help weak eyes in South +Hampshire, snails and bread crust are made into a poultice. + +A moderate dose of Parsley oil when taken in health, induces a +sense of warmth at the pit of the stomach, and of general well-being. +The powdered seeds may be taken in doses of from ten to fifteen +grains. The bruised leaves have successfully resolved tumours of +hard (scirrhous) cancer when cicuta, and mercury had failed. + +Though used so commonly at table, facts have proved [412] that the +herb, especially when uncooked, may bring on epilepsy in certain +constitutions, or at least aggravate the fits in those who are subject +to them. Alston says: "I have observed after eating plentifully of raw +Parsley, a fulness of the vessels about the head, and a tenderness of +the eyes (somewhat inflamed) and face, as if the cravat were too +tight." + +The victors at the old Grecian games were crowned with chaplets of +Parsley leaves; and it is more than probable our present custom of +encircling a joint, and garnishing a dish with the herb had its origin +in this practice. The Romans named Parsley _Apium_, either +because their bee (_apis_) was specially fond of the herb, or from +_apex_, the head of a conqueror, who was crowned with it. The +tincture has a decided action on the lining membrane of the urinary +passages, and may be given usefully when this is inflamed, or +congested through catarrh, in doses of from five to ten drops three +times in the day with a spoonful or two of cold water. + +Wild Parsley is probably identical with our garden herb. It is called +in the Western counties Eltrot, perhaps because associated with the +gambols of the elves. + +The Fool's Parsley (_oethusa cynapium_) is a very common wayside +weed, and grows wild in our gardens. It differs botanically from all +other parsleys in having no bracts, but three narrow leaves at the +base of each umbel. This is a more or less poisonous herb, +producing, when eaten in a harmful quantity, convulsive and +epileptic symptoms; also an inflamed state of the eyelids, just such +as is seen in the scrofulous ophthalmia of children, the condition +being accompanied with swelling of glands and eruptions on the +skin. Therefore the tincture which is made (H.) of Fool's Parsley, +when given in small doses, and diluted, proves [413] very useful for +such ophthalmia, and for obviating the convulsive attacks of young +children, especially if connected with derangement of the digestive +organs. Also as a medicine it has done much good in some cases of +mental imbecility. And this tincture will correct the Summer +diarrhoea of infants, when the stools are watery, greenish, and +without smell. From three to ten drops of the tincture diluted to the +third decimal strength, should be given as a dose, and repeated at +intervals, for the symptoms just recited. + +This variety is named oethusa, because of its acridity, from the +Greek verb _aitho_ (to burn). "It has faculties," says Gerard, +"answerable to the common Hemlock," the poisonous effects being +inflamed stomach and bowels, giddiness, delirium, convulsions, and +insensibility. It is called also "Dog's Parsley" and "Kicks." + +The leaves of the Fool's Parsley are glossy beneath, with lanceolate +lobes, whereas the leaflets of other parsleys are woolly below. +Gerard calls it Dog's Parsley, and says: "The whole plant is of a +naughty smell." It contains a peculiar alkaloid "cynapina." The +tincture, third decimal strength, in half-drop doses, with a +teaspoonful of water, will prevent an infant from vomiting the breast +milk in thick curds. + +Another variety which grows in chalky districts, the Stone Parsley, +_Sison_, or breakstone, was formerly known as the "Hone-wort," +from curing a "hone," or boil, on the cheek. It was believed at one +time to break a glass goblet or tumbler if rubbed against this article. + + + +PARSNIP. + +The Wild Parsnip (_Pastinaca sativa_) grows on the borders of +ploughed fields and about hedgerows, being generally hairy, whilst +the Garden Parsnip is smooth, [414] with taller stems, and leaves of +a yellowish-green colour. This cultivated Parsnip has been produced +as a vegetable since Roman times. The roots furnish a good deal of +starch, and are very nutritious for warming and fattening, but when +long in the ground they are called in some places "Madnip," and are +said to cause insanity. + +Chemically, they contain also albumen, sugar, pectose, dextrin, fat, +cellulose, mineral matters, and water, but less sugar than turnips or +carrots. The volatile oil with which the cultivated root is furnished +causes it to disagree with persons of delicate stomach; otherwise it +is highly nutritive, and makes a capital supplement to salt fish, in +Lent. The seeds of the wild Parsnip (quite a common plant) are +aromatic, and are kept by druggists. They have been found curative +in ague, and for intermittent fever, by their volatile oil, or by its +essence given as a medicine. But the seeds of the garden Parsnip, +which are easier to get, though not nearly so efficacious, are often +substituted at the shops. A decoction of the wild root is good for a +sluggish liver, and in passive jaundice. + +In Gerard's time, Parsnips were known as Mypes. Marmalade made +with the roots, and a small quantity of sugar, will improve the +appetite, and serve as a restorative to invalids. + +From the mashed roots of the wild Parsnip in some parts of Ireland, +when boiled with hops, the peasants brew a beer. In Scotland a good +dish is prepared from Parsnips and potatoes, cooked and beaten +together, with butter. Parsnip wine, when properly concocted, is +particularly exhilarating and refreshing. + +The Water Parsnip (spelt also in old _Herbals_, Pasnep, and Pastnip, +and called Sium) is an umbelliferous plant, [415] common by the +sides of rivers, lakes, and ditches, with tender leaves which are "a +sovereign remedy against gravel in the kidney, and stone in the +bladder." It is known also as _Apium nodiflorum_, from _apon_, +water, and contains "pastinacina," in common with the wild Parsnip. +This is a volatile alkaloid which is not poisonous, and is thought to +be almost identical with ammonia. The fresh juice, in doses of one, +two, or three tablespoonfuls, twice a day, is of curative effect for +scrofulous eruptions on the face, neck, and other parts of children. +Dr. Withering tells of a child, aged six years, who was thus cured of +an obstinate and otherwise intractable skin disease. The juice may +be readily mixed with milk, and does not disagree in any way. + + + +PEA AND BEAN. + +Typical of leguminous plants (so called because they furnish +legumin, or vegetable cheese), whilst furthermore possessing certain +medicinal properties, the Bean and the Pea have a claim to be +classed with Herbal Simples. + +The common Kidney Bean (_Phaseolus vulgaris_) is a native of the +Indies, but widely cultivated all over Europe, and so well known as +not to need any detailed description as a plant. Because of the seed's +close resemblance to the kidney, as well as to the male testis, the +Egyptians made it an object of sacred worship, and would not +partake of it as food. They feared lest by so doing they should eat +what was human remaining after death in the Bean, or should +consume a soul. The Romans celebrated feasts (Lemuria) in honour +of their departed, when Beans were cast into the fire on the altar; +and the people threw black Beans on the graves of the deceased, +because the smell was thought disagreeable to any hostile Manes. In +Italy at the present day it is [416] customary to eat Beans, and to +distribute them among the poor, on the anniversary of a death. +Because of its decided tendency to cause sleepiness the Jewish High +Priest was forbidden to partake of Beans on the day of Atonement; +and there is now a common saying in Leicestershire that for bad +dreams, or to be driven crazy, one has only to sleep all night in a +Bean field. The philosopher, Pythagoras, warned his pupils against +eating Beans, the black spot thereon being typical of death; and the +disciples were ever mindful: "_Jurare in verba magistri_." When +bruised and boiled with garlic, Beans have been known to cure +coughs which were past other remedies. But the roots of the Kidney +Bean have proved themselves dangerously narcotic. + +The Pea (_Pisum sativum_) is a native of England, first taking its +botanical name from Pisa, a town of Elis, where Peas grew in +plenty. The English appellation was formerly Peason, or Pease, and +the plant has been cultivated in this country from time immemorial; +though not commonly, even in Elizabeth's day, when (as Fuller +informs us) "Peas were brought from Holland, and were fit dainties +for ladies, they came so far, and cost so dear." In Germany Peas are +thought good for many complaints, especially for wounds and +bruises; children affected with measles are washed there +systematically with water in which peas have been boiled. These, +together with Beans and lentils, etc., are included under the general +name of pulse, about which Cowper wrote thus:-- + + "Daniel ate pulse by choice: example rare! + Heaven blest the youth, and made him fresh and fair." + +Grey Peas were provided in the pits of the Greek and Roman +theatres, as we supply oranges and a bill of the Play. + +[417] "Hot Grey Pease and a suck of bacon" (tied to a string of +which the stall-keeper held the other end), was a popular street cry +in the London of James the First. + +Peas and Beans contain sulphur, and are richer in mineral salts, such +as potash and lime, than wheat, barley, or oats; but their constituents +are apt to provoke indigestion, whilst engendering flatulence +through sulphuretted hydrogen. They best suit persons who take +plenty of out-door exercise, but not those of sedentary habits. The +skins of parched Peas remain undigested when eaten cooked, and +are found in the excrements. These leguminous plants are less easily +assimilated than light animal food by persons who are not robust, or +laboriously employed, though vegetarians assert to the contrary. +Lord Tennyson wrote to such effect as the result of his personal +experience (in his dedication of _Tiresias_ to E. Fitzgerald):-- + + "Who live on meal, and milk, and grass:-- + And once for ten long weeks I tried + Your table of Pythagoras, + And seem'd at first 'a thing enskied' + (As Shakespeare has it)--airylight, + To float above the ways of men: + Then fell from that half spiritual height, + Until I tasted flesh again. + One night when earth was winter black, + And all the heavens were flashed in frost, + And on me--half asleep--came back + That wholesome heat the blood had lost." + +But none the less does a simple diet foster spirituality of mind. "In +milk"--says one of the oldest Vedas--"the finer part of the curds, +when shaken, rises and becomes butter. Just so, my child, the finer +part of food rises when it is eaten, and becomes mind." + +Old Fuller relates "In a general dearth all over [418] England +(1555), plenty of Pease did grow on the seashore, near Dunwich +(Suffolk), never set or sown by human industry; which being +gathered in full ripeness much abated the high prices in the markets, +and preserved many hungry families from famishing." "They do not +grow", says he, "among the bare stones, neither did they owe their +original to shipwrecks, or Pease cast out of ships." The Sea-side Pea +(_pisum maritimum_) is a rare plant. + + + +PEACH. + +The Peach (_Amygdabus Persica_), the apple of Persia, began to be +cultivated in England about 1562, or perhaps before then. Columella +tells of this fatal gift conveyed treacherously to Egypt in the first +century:-- + + "Apples, which most barbarous Persia sent, + With native poison armed." + +The Peach tree is so well known by its general characteristics as not +to need any particular description. Its young branches, flowers, and +seeds, after maceration in water, yield a volatile oil which is +chemically identical with that of the bitter almond. The flowers are +laxative, and have been used instead of manna. When distilled, they +furnish a white liquor which communicates a flavour resembling the +kernels of fruits. An infusion made from one drachm of the dried +flowers, or from half an ounce of the fresh flowers, has a purgative +effect. The fruit is wholesome, and seldom disagrees if eaten when +ripe and sound. Its quantity of sugar is only small, but the skin is +indigestible. + +The leaves possess the power of expelling worms if applied outside +a child's belly as a poultice, but in any medicinal form they must be +used with caution, as they contain some of the properties of prussic +acid, as found [419] also in the leaves of the laurel. A syrup +of Peach flowers was formerly a preparation recognised by +apothecaries. The leaves infused in white brandy, sweetened with +barley sugar, make a fine cordial similar to noyeau. Soyer says the +old Romans gave as much for their peaches as eighteen or nineteen +shillings each. + +Peach pie, owing to the abundance of the fruit, is as common fare in +an American farm-house, as apple pie in an English homestead. Our +English King John died at Swinestead Abbey from a surfeit of +peaches, and new ale. + +A tincture made from the flowers will allay the pain of colic caused +by gravel; but the kernels of the fruit, which yield an oil identical +with that of bitter almonds, have produced poisonous effects with +children. + +Gerard teaches "that a syrup or strong infusion of Peach flowers +doth singularly well purge the belly, and yet without grief or +trouble." Two tablespoonfuls of the infusion for a dose. + +In Sicily there is a belief that anyone afflicted with goitre, who eats +a Peach on the night of St. John, or the Ascension, will be cured, +provided only that the Peach tree dies at the same time. In Italy +Peach leaves are applied to a wart, and then buried, so that they and +the wart may perish simultaneously. + +Thackeray one day at dessert was taken to task by his colleague on +the _Punch_ staff, Angus B. Reach, whom he addressed as Mr. +Reach, instead of as Mr. (_Scotticé_) Reach. With ready +promptitude, Thackeray replied: "Be good enough Mr. Re-ack to +pass me a pe-ack." + + + +PEAR. + +The Pear, also called Pyrrie, belongs to the same natural order of +plants (the _Rosacoe_) as the Apple. It is [420] sometimes called +the Pyerie, and when wild is so hard and austere as to bear the name +of Choke-pear. It grows wild in Britain, and abundantly in France +and Germany. The Barland Pear, which was chiefly cultivated in the +seventeenth century, still retains its health and vigour, "the +identical trees in Herefordshire which then supplied excellent +liquor, continuing to do so in this, the nineteenth century." + +This fruit caused the death of Drusus, a son of the Roman Emperor +Claudius, who caught in his mouth a Pear thrown into the air, and +by mischance attempted to swallow it, but the Pear was so +extremely hard that it stuck in his throat, and choked him. + +Pears gathered from gardens near old monasteries were formerly +held in the highest repute for flavour, and it was noted that the trees +which bore them continued fruitful for a great number of years. The +secret cause seems to have been, not the holy water with which the +trees were formally christened, but the fact that the sagacious monks +had planted them upon a layer of stones so as to prevent the roots +from penetrating deep into the ground, and so as thus to ensure their +proper drainage. + +The cellular tissue of which a Pear is composed differs from that of +the apple in containing minute stony concretions which make it, in +many varieties of the fruit, bite short and crisp; and its specific +gravity is therefore greater than that of the apple, so much so that by +taking a cube of each of equal size, that of the Pear will sink when +thrown into a vessel of water, while that of the apple will float. The +wood of the wild Pear is strong, and readily stained black, so as to +look like ebony. It is much employed by wood-engravers. Gerard +says "it serveth to be cut [421] up into many kinds of moulds; not +only such fruits as those seen in my Herbal are made of, but also +many sorts of pretty toies for coifes, breast plates, and such like; +used among our English gentlewomen." + +The good old black Pear of Worcester is represented in the civic +arms, or rather in the second of the two shields belonging to the +faithful city; Argent, a fesse between three Pears, sable. The date of +this shield coincides with that of the visit of Queen Elizabeth to +Worcester. + +Virgil names three kinds of Pears which he received as a present +from Cato:-- + + "Nec surculus idem, + Crustaneis, Syriisque pyris, gravibusque volemis." + +The two first of these were Bergamots and Pounder Pears, whilst the +last-named was called _a volemus_, because large enough to fill the +hollow of the hand, (_vola_). + +Mural paintings which have been disclosed at Pompeii represent the +Pear tree and its fruit. In Pliny's time there were "proud" Pears, so +called because they ripened early, and would not keep; and "winter" +pears for baking, etc. Again, in the time of Henry the Eighth, a +"warden" Pear, so named (Anglo-Saxon "wearden") from its +property of long keeping, was commonly cultivated. + + "Her cheek was like the Catherine Pear, + The side that's next the sun," + +says one of our old poets concerning a small fruit seen often +now-a-days in our London streets, handsome, but hard, and +ill-flavoured. + +The special taste of Pears is chemically due for the most part to their +containing amylacetate; and a [422] solution of this substance in +spirit is artificially prepared for making essence of Jargonelle Pears, +as used for flavouring Pear drops and other sweetmeats. The acetate +amyl is a compound ether got from vinegar and potato oil. Pears +contain also malic acid, pectose, gum, sugar, and albumen, with +mineral matter, cellulose, and water. Gerard says wine made of +the juice of Pears, called in English, Perry, "purgeth those that +are not accustomed to drinke thereof, especially when it is new; +notwithstanding, it is as wholesome a drink (being taken in small +quantity) as wine; it comforteth and warmeth the stomacke, and +causeth good digestion." + +Perry contains about one per cent. alcohol over cider, and a slightly +larger proportion of malic acid, so that it is rather more stimulating, +and somewhat better calculated to produce the healthful effects of +vegetable acids in the economy. How eminently beneficial fruits of +such sort are when ripe and sound, even to persons out of health, is +but little understood, though happily the British public is growing +wiser to-day in this respect. For instance, it has been lately +discovered that there is present in the juice of the Pine-apple a +vegetable digestive ferment, which, in its action, imitates almost +identically the gastric juices of the stomach; and a demand for +Bananas is developing rapidly in London since their wholesome +virtues have become generally recognised. It is a remarkable fact +that the epidemics of yellow fever in New Orleans have declined in +virulence almost incredibly since the Banana began to be eaten there +in considerable quantities. If a paste of its ripe pulp dried in the +sun be made with spice, and sugar, this will keep well for years. + +At Godstone, as is related in Bray's Survey, the water [423] from a +well sunk close to a wild Pear tree (which bore fruit as hard as iron) +proved so curative of gout, that large quantities of it were sent to +London and sold there at the rate of sixpence a quart. Pears were +deemed by the Romans an antidote to poisonous fungi; and for this +reason, which subsequent experience has confirmed, Perry is still +reckoned the best thing to be taken after eating freely of +mushrooms, as also Pear stalks cooked therewith. + +There is an old Continental saying: _Pome, pere, ed noce guastano +la voce_--"Apples, pears, and nuts spoil the voice," And an ancient +rhymed distich says:-- + + "For the cough take Judas eare, + With the parynge of a pear; + And drynke them without feare, + If ye will have remedy." + +All Pears are cold, and have a binding quality, with an earthy +substance in their composition. + +It should be noted that Pears dried in the oven, and kept without +syrup, will remain quite good, and eatable for a year or more. + +Most Pears depend on birds for the dispersion of their seeds, but one +striking variety prefers to attract bees, and the larger insects for +cross-fertilization, and it has therefore assumed brilliant crimson +petals of a broadly expanded sort, instead of bearing a succulent +edible fruit, This is the highly ornamental _Pyrus Japonica_, which +may so often be seen trained on the sunny walls of cottages. + + + +PELLITORY. + +A plant belonging to the order of Nettles, the Pellitory of the Wall, +or Paritory--_Parietaria_, from the Latin _parietes_, walls--is a +favourite Herbal Simple in many [424] rural districts. It grows +commonly on dry walls, and is in flower all the summer. The leaves +are narrow, hairy, and reddish; the stems are brittle, and the small +blossoms hairy, in clusters. Their filaments are so elastic that if +touched before the flower has expanded, they suddenly spring from +their in curved position, and scatter the pollen broadcast. + +An infusion of the plant is a popular medicine to stimulate the +kidneys, and promote a large flow of watery urine. The juice of the +herb acts in the same way when made into a thin syrup with sugar, +and given in doses of two tablespoonfuls three times in the day. +Dropsical effusions caused by an obstructed liver, or by a weak +dilated heart, may be thus carried off with marked relief. The +decoction of _Parietaria_, says Gerard, "helpeth such as are troubled +with an old cough." All parts of the plant contain nitre abundantly. +The leaves may be usefully applied as poultices. + +But another Pellitory, which is more widely used because of its +pungent efficacy in relieving toothache, and in provoking a free +flow of saliva, is a distinct plant, the _Pyrethrum_, or Spanish +Chamomile of the shops, and not a native of Great Britain, though +sometimes cultivated in our gardens. The title "Purethron" is from +_pur_, fire, because of its burning ardent taste. Its root is +scentless, but when chewed causes a pricking sensation (with heat, +and some numbness) in the mouth and tongue. Then an abundant flow of +saliva, and of mucus within the cheeks quickly ensues. These effects +are due to "pyrethrin" contained in the plant, which is an acid fixed +resin; also there are present a second resin, and a yellow, acrid oil, +whilst the root contains inulin, tannin, and other substances. When +sliced and applied to the skin it induces heat, [425] tingling, and +redness. A patient seeking relief from rheumatic or neuralgic +affections of the head and face, or for palsy of the tongue, should +chew the root of this _Pyrethrum_ for several minutes. + +The "Pelleter of Spain" (_Pyrethrum Anacyclus_), was so styled, +not because of being brought from Spain; but because it is grown +there. + +A gargle of _Pyrethrum_ infusion is prescribed for relaxed uvula, +and for a partial paralysis of the tongue and lips. The tincture made +from the dried root may be most helpfully applied on cotton wool to +the interior of a decayed tooth which is aching, or the milder +tincture of the wall Pellitory may be employed for the same +purpose. To make a gargle, two or three teaspoonfuls of the +tincture of _Pyrethrum_, which can be had from any druggist, +should be mixed with a pint of cold water, and sweetened with +honey, if desired. The powdered root forms a good snuff to cure +chronic catarrh of the head and nostrils, and to clear the brain by +exciting a free flow of nasal mucus and tears--_Purgatur cerebrum +mansâ radice Pyrethri_. + +Incidentally, as a quaint but effective remedy for carious toothache, +may be mentioned the common lady bird insect, Coccinella, which +when captured secretes from its legs a yellow acrid fluid having a +disagreeable odour. This fluid will serve to ease the most violent +toothache, if the creature be placed alive in the cavity of the hollow +tooth. + +Gerard says this _Pyrethrurn_ (Pellitory of Spain, or Pelletor) "is +most singular for the surgeons of the hospitals to put into their +unctions _contra Neapolitanum morbum_, and such other diseases +that are cousin germanes thereunto." The _Parietaria_, or Pellitory +of the wall, is named Lichwort, from growing on stones. + +[426] Sir William Roberts, of Manchester, has advised jujubes, +made of gum arabic and pyrethrum, to be slowly masticated by +persons who suffer from acid fermentation in the stomach, a copious +flow of alkaline saliva being stimulated thereby in the mouth, which +is repeatedly swallowed during the sucking of one or more of the +jujubes, and which serves to neutralise the acid generated within the +stomach. Distressing heartburn is thus effectively relieved without +taking injurious alkalies, such as potash and soda. + + + +PENNYROYAL, _see_ MINT. + + + +PERIWINKLE. + +There are two British Periwinkles growing wild; the one _Vinca +major_, or greater, a doubtful native, and found only in the +neighbourhood of dwelling-houses; the other _Vinca minor_ lesser, +abounding in English woods, particularly in the Western counties, +and often entirely covering the ground with its prostrate evergreen +leaves. The common name of each is derived from _vincio_, to bind, +as it were by its stems resembling cord; or because bound in olden +times into festive garlands and funeral chaplets. Their title used also +to be Pervinca, and Pervinkle, Pervenkle, and Pucellage (or virgin +flower). + +This generic name has been derived either from _pervincire_, to +bind closely, or from _pervincere_, to overcome. Lord Bacon +observes that it was common in his time for persons to wear bands +of green Periwinkle about the calf of the leg to prevent cramp. +Now-a-days we use for the same purpose a garter of small new corks +strung on worsted. In Germany this plant is the emblem of +immortality. It bears the name [427] "Pennywinkles" in Hampshire, +probably by an inland confusion with the shell fish "winkles." + +Each of the two kinds possesses acrid astringent properties, but the +lesser Periwinkle, _Vinca minor_ or Winter-green, is the Herbal +Simple best known of the pair, for its medicinal virtues in domestic +use. The Periwinkle order is called _Apocynaceoe_, from the Greek +_apo_, against, and _kunos_, a dog; or dog's bane. + +The flowers of the greater Periwinkle are gently purgative, but lose +their effect by drying. If gathered in the Spring, and made into a +syrup, they will impart all their virtues, and this is excellent to +keep the bowels of children gently open, as well as to overcome +habitual constipation in grown persons. But the leaves are astringent, +contracting and strengthening the genitals if applied thereto either as +a decoction, or as the bruised leaves themselves. An infusion of the +greater Periwinkle, one part of the fresh plant to ten of water, may +be used for staying female fluxes, by giving a wine-glassful thereof +when cool, frequently; or of the liquid extract, half a teaspoonful for +a dose in water. On account of its striking colour, and its use for +magical purposes, the plant, when in bloom, has been named the +Sorcerer's Violet, and in some parts of Devon the flowers are known +as Cut Finger or Blue Buttons. The Italians use it in making +garlands for their dead infants, and so call it Death's flower. + +Simon Fraser, whose father was a faithful adherent of Sir William +Wallace, when on his way to be executed (in 1306) was crowned in +mockery with the Periwinkle, as he passed through the City +of London, with his legs tied under the horse's belly. In +Gloucestershire, the flowers of the greater Periwinkle are called +Cockles. + +The lesser Periwinkle is perennial, and is sometimes [428] +cultivated in gardens, where it has acquired variegated leaves. It has +no odour, but gives a bitterish taste which lasts in the mouth. Its +leaves are strongly astringent, and therefore very useful to be +applied for staying bleedings. If bruised and put into the nostrils, +they will arrest fluxes from the nose, and a decoction made from +them is of service for the diarrhoea of a weak subject, as well as for +chronic looseness of the bowels; likewise for bleeding piles, by +being applied externally, and by being taken internally. Again, the +decoction makes a capital gargle for relaxed sore throat, and for +sponginess of the mouth, of the tonsils, and the gums. + +This plant was also a noted Simple for increasing the milk of wet +nurses, and was advised for such purpose by physicians of repute. +Culpeper gravely says: "The leaves of the lesser Periwinkle, if eaten +by man and wife together, will cause love between them." + +A tincture is made (H.) from the said plant, the _Vinca minor_, with +spirit of wine. It is given medicinally for the milk-crust of infants, +as well as for internal haemorrhages, the dose being from two to ten +drops three or four times in the day, with a spoonful of water. + + + +PIMPERNEL. + +The "Poor Man's Weather Glass" or "Shepherd's Dial," is a very +well-known and favourite little flower, of brilliant scarlet hue, +expanding only in bright weather, and closing its petals at two +o'clock in the day. It occurs quite commonly in gardens and open +fields, being the scarlet Pimpernel, or _Anagallis arvensis_, and +belonging to the Primrose tribe of plants. Old authors called it +Burnet; which is quite a distinct herb, cultivated now for kitchen +use, the _Pimpinella Saxifraga_, of so cheery and exhilarating a +quality, and so generally commended, [429] that its excellence has +passed into a proverb, "_l'insolata non buon, ne betta ove non é +Pimpinella_." But this Burnet Pimpinella is of a different +(Umbelliferous) order, though similarly styled because its leaves are +likewise bipennate. + +The Scarlet Pimpernel is named _Anagallis_, from the Greek +_anagelao_, to laugh; either because, as Pliny says, the plant +removes obstructions of the liver, and spleen, which would +engender sadness, or because of the graceful beauty of its flowers:-- + + "No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell + The virtues of the Pimpernell." + +The little plant has no odour, but possesses a bitter taste, which is +rather astringent. Doctors used to consider the herb remedial in +melancholy, and in the allied forms of mental disease, the decoction, +or a tincture being employed. It was also prescribed for +hydrophobia, and linen cloths saturated with a decoction were kept +applied to the bitten part. + +Narcotic effects were certainly produced in animals by giving +considerable doses of an extract made from the herb. The flowers +have been found useful in epilepsy, twenty grains dried being given +four times a day. A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared with spirit of +wine. It is of approved utility for irritability of the main urinary +passage, with genital congestion, erotism, and dragging of the loins, +this tincture being then ordered of the third decimal strength, in +doses of from five to ten drops every three or four hours, with a +spoonful of water. + +A decoction of the plant is held in esteem by countryfolk as +checking pulmonary consumption in its early stages. Hill says there +are many authenticated cases of this dire disease being absolutely +cured by the herb, [430] The infusion is best made by pouring +boiling water on the fresh plant. It contains "saponin," such as the +Soapwort also specially furnishes. + +In France the Pimpernel (_Anagallis_) is thought to be a noxious +plant of drastic narcotico-acrid properties, and called _Mouron--qui +tue les petits oiseaux, et est un violent drastique pour l'homme, et +les grands animaux; à dose tres elevée le mouron peut meme leur +donner la mort_. In California a fluid extract of the herb is given for +rheumatism, in doses of one teaspoonful with water three times a +day. + +The _Burnet Pimpinella_ is more correctly the Burnet Saxifrage, +getting its first name because the leaves are brown, and the second +because supposed to break up stone in the bladder. It grows +abundantly in our dry chalky pastures, bearing terminal umbels of +white flowers. It contains an essential oil and a bitter resin, which +are useful as warmly carminative to relieve flatulent indigestion, and +to promote the monthly flow in women. An infusion of the herb is +made, and given in two tablespoonfuls for a dose. Cows which feed +on this plant have their flow of milk increased thereby. Small +bunches of the leaves and shoots when tied together and suspended +in a cask of beer impart to it an agreeable aromatic flavour, and are +thought to correct tart, or spoiled wines. The root, when fresh, +has a hot pungent bitterish taste, and may be usefully chewed for +tooth-ache, or to obviate paralysis of the tongue. In Germany a variety +of this Burnet yields a blue essential oil which is used for colouring +brandy. Again the herb is allied to the Anise (_Pimpinella +Anisum_). The term Burnet was formerly applied to a brown cloth. +Smaller than this Common Burnet is the Salad Burnet, _Poterium +sanguisorba, quod sanguineos fluxus sistat_, a useful [431] styptic, +which is also cordial, and promotes perspiration. It has the smell of +cucumber, and is, therefore, an ingredient of the salad bowl, or often +put into a cool tankard, whereto, says Gerard, "it gives a grace in the +drynkynge." Another larger sort of the Burnet Pimpinella +(_Magna_), which has broad upper leaves less divided, grows in our +woods and shady places. + +A bright blue variety of the true Scarlet Pimpernel (_Anagallis_) is +less frequent, and is thought by many to be a distinct species. +Gerard says, "the Pimpernel with the blue flower helpeth the +fundament that is fallen down: and, contrariwise, red Pimpernel +being applied bringeth it down." + +The Water Pimpernel (_Anagallis aquatica_) is more commonly +known as Brooklime, or Beccabunga, and belongs to a different +order of plants, the _Scrophulariaceoe_ (healers of scrofula). + +It grows quite commonly in brooks and ditches, as a succulent plant +with smooth leaves, and small flowers of bright blue, being found in +situations favourable to the growth of the watercress. It is the _brok +lempe_ of old writers, _Veronica beccabunga_, the syllable _bec_ +signifying a beck or brook; or perhaps the whole title comes from +the Flemish _beck pungen_, mouth-smart, in allusion to the pungent +taste of the plant. + +"It is eaten," says Gerard, "in salads, as watercresses are, and is +good against that _malum_ of such as dwell near the German seas, +which we term the scurvie, or skirby, being used after the same +manner that watercress and scurvy-grass is used, yet is it not of so +great operation and virtue." The leaves and stem are slightly acid +and astringent, with a somewhat bitter taste, and frequently +the former are mixed by sellers of water-cresses with their +stock-in-trade. + +[432] A full dose of the juice of fresh Brooklime is an easy purge; +and the plant has always been a popular Simple for scrofulous +affections, especially of the skin. Chemically, this Water Pimpernel +contains some tannin, and a special bitter principle; whilst, in +common with most of the Cruciferous plants, it is endowed with a +pungent volatile oil, and some sulphur. The bruised plant has been +applied externally for healing ulcers, burns, whitlows, and for the +mitigation of swollen piles. + +The Bog Pimpernel (_Anagallis tenella_), is common in boggy +ground, having erect rose-coloured leaves larger than those of the +Poor Man's Weather Glass. + + + +PINK. + +The Clove Pink, or Carnation of our gardens, though found +apparently wild on old castle walls in England, is a naturalised +flower in this country. It is, botanically, the _Dianthus +Caryophyllus_, being so named as _anthos_, the flower, _dios_, of +Jupiter: whilst redolent of _Caryophylli_, Cloves. The term Carnation +has been assigned to the Pink, either because the blossom has the +colour, _carnis_, of flesh: or, as more correctly spelt by our older +writers, Coronation, from the flowers being employed in making +chaplets, _coronoe_. Thus Spenser says:-- + + "Bring Coronations, and Sops in Wine, + Worn of paramours."--_Shepherd's Kalendar_. + +This second title, Sops in Wine, was given to the plant because the +flowers were infused in wine for the sake of their spicy flavour; +especially in that presented to brides after the marriage ceremony. +Further, this Pink is the Clove Gilly (or _July_) flower, and gives its +specific name to the natural order _Caryophyllaceoe_. The word +Pink is a corruption of the Greek Pentecost [433] (fiftieth), which +has now come to signify a festival of the Church. In former days the +blossoms were commended as highly cordial: their odour is sweet +and aromatic, so that an agreeable syrup may be made therefrom. +The dried petals, if powdered, and kept in a stoppered bottle, are of +service against heartburn and flatulence, being given in a dose of +from twenty to sixty grains. Gerard says, "a conserve made of the +flowers with sugar is exceeding cordiall, and wonderfully above +measure doth comfort the heart, being eaten now and then. A water +distilled from Pinks has been commended as excellent for curing +epilepsy, and if a conserve be composed of them, this is the life and +delight of the human race." The flower was at one time called +_ocellus_, from the eye-shaped markings of its corolla. It is nervine +and antispasmodic. By a mistake Turner designated the Pink +Incarnation. + + + +PLANTAIN. + +The Plantains (_Plantaginacecoe_), from _planta_, the sole of the +foot, are humble plants, well known as weeds in fields and by +roadsides, having ribbed leaves and spikes of flowers conspicuous +by their long stamens. As Herbal Simples, the Greater Plantain, the +Ribwort Plantain, and the Water Plantain, are to be specially +considered. + +The Greater Plantain of the waysides affords spikes of seeds which +are a favourite food of Canaries, and which, in common with the +seeds of other sorts, yield a tasteless mucilage, answering well as a +substitute for linseed. The leaves of the Plantains have a bitter +taste, and are somewhat astringent. + +The generic name _Plantago_ is probably derived from the Latin +_planta_, the sole of the foot, in allusion to the [434] broad, flat +leaves lying close on the ground, and ago, the old synonym for wort, +a cultivated plant. + +This greater Plantain (_Plantago major_) is also termed Waybred, +Waybread, or Waybroad, "spread on the way," and has followed our +colonists to all parts of the globe, being therefore styled "The +Englishman's Foot" and "Whiteman's Foot." The shape of the leaf in +the larger species resembles a footprint. The root has a sweet taste, +and gives the saliva a reddish tinge. + +Dioscorides advised that it should be applied externally for sores of +every kind, and taken internally against haemorrhages. In the +_Romeo and Juliet_ of Shakespeare, Romeo says, "Your Plantain +leaf is excellent for broken shin." Country persons apply these +leaves to open sores and wounds, or make a poultice of them, or +give fomentations with a hot decoction of the same, or prepare a +gargle from the decoction when cold. + +The expressed juice of the greater Plantain has proved of curative +effect in tubercular consumption, with spitting of blood. This herb is +said to furnish a cure for the venomous bite of the rattlesnake, as +discovered by the negro Caesar in South Carolina. + +It is of excellent curative use against the intermittent fevers of +Spring, but for counteracting autumnal (septic) fevers it is of no +avail. + +The virtues of the greater Plantain as an application to wounds and +sores were known of old. It possesses a widespread repute in +Switzerland as a local remedy for toothache, the root or leaves being +applied against the ear of the affected side. Those persons who +proved the plant by taking it experimentally in various doses, +suffered much pain in the teeth and jaws. Accordingly, Dr. Hale +found that, of all his remedies [435] for the toothache, none could +compare with the _Plantago major_. + +It gives rise to an active flow of urine when taken in considerable +doses, and when administered in small doses of the diluted tincture, +it has proved curative of bed wetting in young children. Gerard tells +that "Plantain leaves stuped stayeth the inordinate flux of the terms, +though it hath continued many years." For inflamed protruding +piles, a broad-leaved Plantain reduced to a pulp, and kept bound to +the parts by a compress, will give sure and speedy relief. +Highlanders call it _Slanlus_, the healing plant. + +The Ribwort Plantain (_Plantago lanceolata_), Ribgrass, Soldiers, or +Cocks and Hens, is named from the strong parallel veins in its +leaves. The flower stalks are termed Kemps, from _campa_, a +warrior. The leaves are astringent, and useful for healing sores when +applied thereto, and for dressing wounds. This Plantain is also +named Hardheads, Fighting Cocks, and in Germany, Devil's Head, +being used in divination. Children challenge one another to a game +of striking off the heads. + +Toads are thought to cure themselves of their ailments by eating its +leaves. In Sussex, it is known as Lamb's Tongue. The powdered root +of the Ribwort Plantain is of use for curing vernal ague, a +dessertspoonful being given for a dose, two or three times in a day. + +The Water Plantain (_Alisma Plantago_), belonging to a different +natural order, is common on the margins of our rivers and ditches, +getting its name from the Celtic _alos_, water, and being called also +the greater Thrumwort, from thrum, the warp end of a weaver's web. +The root and leaves contain an acrid juice, dispersed by heat, which +is of service for irritability of the bladder. After [436] the root is +boiled so as to dissipate this medicinal juice it makes an edible +starchy vegetable. + +This plant is commonly classed with the Plantains because its leaves +resemble theirs; but in general characteristics and qualities it more +properly belongs to the _Ranunculaceoe_. + +Its fresh leaves applied to the skin will raise a blister, and may be +used for such a purpose, especially to relieve the swollen legs of +dropsical subjects when the vesicles should be punctured and the +serum drawn off. They contain a pungent butyraceous volatile oil. +The seeds dislodged from the dry, ripe plant, by striking it smartly +on a table, are good in decoction against bleedings, and are +employed by country people for curing piles. About the Russian +Empire the Water Plantain is still regarded as efficacious against +hydrophobia. Dr. George Johnston says: "In the Government of +Isola it has never failed of a cure for the last twenty-five years." +Reduced to powder it is spread over bread and butter, and is eaten. +Likewise, cures of rabid dogs by this plant are reported; and in +America it is renowned as a remedy against the bite of the +rattlesnake. The tubers contain a nutritious substance, and are eaten +by the Tartars. + +_Apropos_ of this "Water Plantain" a Teesdale proverb says: "He's +nar a good weaver that leaves lang _thrums_." + +The small seeds of a Plantain grass which grows commonly in +Southern Europe, the Fleawort, or _Plantago Psyllium_, have been +known from time immemorial as an easy and popular aperient. In +France these Psyllium seeds, given in a dessertspoonful dose, are +widely prescribed as a laxative in lieu of mineral aperient waters, +or the morning Seidlitz. They act after being soaked for some hours +in cold water, by their mucilage, and [437] when swallowed, by +virtue of a laxative oil set free within the intestines. The grass is +well known in some parts as "Clammy Plantain," and it has leafless +heads with toothed leaves. These seeds are dispensed by the London +druggists who supply French medicines. + + + +POPPY. + +The Scarlet Poppy of our cornfields (_Papaver Rhoeas_) is one of +the most brilliant and familiar of English wild flowers, being +strikingly conspicuous as a weed by its blossoms rich in scarlet +petals, which are black at the base. The title _Papaver_ has been +derived from pap, a soft food given to young infants, in which it was +at one time customary to boil Poppy seeds for the purpose of +inducing sleep. Provincially this plant bears the titles of "Cop Rose" +(from its rose-like flowers, and the button-like form of its cop, or +capsule) and "Canker Rose," from its detriment to wheat crops. + +The generic term _Rhoeas_ comes from _reo_, to fall, because the +scarlet petals have so fragile a hold on their receptacles; and the +plant has been endowed with the sobriquet, "John Silver Pin, fair +without and foul within." In the Eastern counties of England any +article of finery brought out only occasionally, and worn with +ostentation by a person otherwise a slattern, is called "Joan Silver +Pin." After this sense the appellation has been applied to the Scarlet +Poppy. Its showy flower is so attractive to the eye, whilst its inner +juice is noxious, and stains the hands of those who thoughtlessly +crush it with their fingers. + + "And Poppies a sanguine mantle spread, + For the blood of the dragon St. Margaret shed." + +Robert Turner naively says, "The Red Poppy Flower (_Papaver +erraticum_) resembleth at its bottom the settling [438] of the 'Blood +in pleurisie'"; and, he adds, "how excellent is that flower in diseases +of the pleurisie with similar surfeits hath been sufficiently +experienced." + +It is further called Blindy Buff, Blind Eyes, Headwarke, and +Headache, from the stupefying effects of smelling it. Apothecaries +make a syrup of a splendid deep colour from its vividly red petals; +but this does not exercise any soporific action like that concocted +from the white Poppy, which is a sort of modified opiate, suitable +for infants under certain conditions, when sanctioned by a doctor. +Otherwise, all sedatives of a narcotic sort are to be strongly +condemned for use by mothers, or nurses:-- + + "But a child that bids the world 'Good-night' + In downright earnest, and cuts it quite, + (A cherub no art can copy), + 'Tis a perfect picture to see him lie, + As if he had supped on dormouse pie, + An ancient classical dish, by-the-bye, + With a sauce of syrup of Poppy." + +Petronius, in the time of Nero, A.D. 80, "delivered an odd receipt +for dressing dormouse sausages, and serving them up with Poppies +and honey, which must have been a very soporiferous dainty, and as +good as owl pye to such as want a nap after dinner." + +The white Poppy is specially cultivated in Britain for the sake of its +seed capsules, which possess attributes similar to opium, +but of a weaker strength. These capsules are commonly known as +Poppyheads, obtained from the druggist for use in domestic +fomentations to allay pain. Also from the capsules, without their +seeds, is made the customary syrup of White Poppies, which is so +familiar as a sedative for childhood; but it should be always +remembered that infants of tender years are highly susceptible to the +influence even of this mild form [439] of opium. The true gum +opium, and laudanum, which is its tincture, are derived from Eastern +Poppies (_Papaver somniferum_) by incisions made in the capsules +at a proper season of the year. The cultivated Poppy of the garden +will afford English opium in a like manner, but it is seldom used for +this purpose. A milky juice exudes when the capsules of these +cultivated flowers are cut, or bruised. They are familiar to most +children as drumsticks, plucked in the garden after the gaudy petals +of the flowers have fallen off. The leaves and stems likewise afford +some of the same juice, which, when inspissated, is known as +English opium. The seeds of the white Poppy yield by expression a +bland nutritive oil, which may be substituted for that of olives, or +sweet almonds, in cooking, and for similar uses. Dried Poppy-heads, +formerly in constant request for making hot soothing stupes, or for +application directly to a part in pain, are now superseded for the +most part by the many modern liquid preparations of opium handy +for the purpose, to be mixed with hot water, or applied in poultices. + +For outward use laudanum may be safely added to stupes, hot or +cold, a teaspoonful being usually sufficient for the purpose, or +perhaps two, if the pain is severe; and powdered opium may be +incorporated with one or another ointment for a similar object. If a +decoction of Poppy capsules is still preferred, it should be made by +adding to a quarter-of-a-pound of white Poppy heads (free from +seeds, and broken up in a mortar) three pints of boiling water; then +boil for ten or fifteen minutes, and strain off the decoction, which +should measure about two pints. + +Dr. Herbert Snow, resident physician at the Brompton Cancer +Hospital, says (1895) he has found: "after a [440] long experience, +Opium exhibits a strong inhibitive influence on the cancer elements, +retarding and checking the cell growth, which is a main feature of +the disease. Even when no surgical operation has been performed, +Opium is the only drug which markedly checks cancer growth: and +the early employment of this medicine will usually add years of +comfortable life to the otherwise shortened space of the sufferer's +existence." Opium gets its name from the Greek _apos_, juice. + +The seeds of the white Poppy are known us mawseed, or balewort, +and are given as food to singing birds. In old Egypt these seeds were +mixed with flour and honey, and made into cakes. + +Pliny says: "The rustical peasants of Greece glazed the upper crust +of their loaves with yolks of eggs, and then bestrewed them with +Poppy seeds," thus showing that the seeds were then considered free +from narcotic properties. And in Queen Elizabeth's time these seeds +were strewn over confectionery, whilst the oil expressed from them +was "delightful to be eaten when taken with bread." + +White Poppy capsules, when dried, furnish papaverine and +narcotine, with some mucilage, and a little waxy matter. The seeds +contained within the capsules yield Poppy seed oil, with a fixed oil, +and a very small quantity of morphia--about five grains in a pound +of white Poppy seeds. In some parts of Russia the seeds are put into +soups. + +The Poppy was cultivated by the Greeks before the time of +Hippocrates. It has long been a symbol of death, because sending +persons to sleep. Ovid says, concerning the Cave of Somnus:-- + + "Around whose entry nodding Poppies grow, + And all cool Simples that sweet rest bestow." + +[441] The common scarlet Poppy was called by the Anglo-Saxons +"Chesebolle," "Chebole," or "Chybolle," from the ripe capsule +resembling a round cheese. + +There is a Welsh Poppy, with yellow flowers; and a horned Poppy, +named after Glaucus, common on our sea coasts, with sea-green +leaves, and large blossoms of golden yellow. Glaucus, a fisherman +of Boeotia, observed that all the fishes which he caught received +fresh vigour when laid on the ground, and were immediately able to +leap back into the sea. He attributed these effects to some herb +growing in the grass, and upon tasting the leaves of the Sea Poppy +he found himself suddenly moved with an intense desire to live in +the sea; wherefore he was made a sea-god by Oceanus and Tethys. +Borlase says: "That in the Scilly Islands the root of the Sea Poppy is +so much valued for removing all pains in the breast, stomach, and +intestines, as well as so good for disordered lungs, whilst so much +better there than in other places, that the apothecaries of Cornwall +send thither for it; and some persons plant these roots in their +gardens in Cornwall, and will not part with them under sixpence a +root." The scarlet petals of the wild Poppy, very abundant in English +cornfields, when treated with sulphuric acid make a splendid red +dye. With gorgeous tapestry cut from these crimson petals, the +clever "drapery bee" (_Apis papaveris_) upholsters the walls of her +solitary cell. Bruised leaves of the wild, or the garden Poppy, if +applied to a part which has been stung by a bee or a wasp, will give +prompt relief. + + + +POTATO. + +Our invaluable Potato, which enters so largely into the dietary of all +classes, belongs to the Nightshade tribe of [442] dangerous plants, +though termed "solanaceous" as a natural order because of the +sedative properties which its several genera exercise to lull pain. + +This Potato, the _Solanum tuberosum_, is so universally known as a +plant that it needs no particular description. It is a native of Peru, +and was imported in 1586 by Thomas Heriot, mathematician and +colonist, being afterwards taken to Ireland from Virginia by Sir +Walter Raleigh, and passing from thence over into Lancashire. He +knew so little of its use that he tried to eat the fruit, or poisonous +berries, of the plant. These of course proved noxious, and he ordered +the new comers to be rooted out. The gardener obeyed, and in doing +so first learnt the value of their underground wholesome tubers. But +not until the middle of the eighteenth century, were they common in +this country as an edible vegetable. "During 1629," says Parkinson, +"the Potato from Virginia was roasted under the embers, peeled and +sliced: the tubers were put into sack with a little sugar, or were +baked with cream, marrow, sugar, spice, etc., in pies, or preserved +and candied by the comfit makers." But he most probably refers +here to the Batatas, or sweet Potato, a Convolvulus, which was a +popular esculent vegetable at that date, of tropical origin, and to +which our Potato has since been thought to bear a resemblance. + +This Batatas, or sweet Potato, had the reputation, like Eringo root, +of being able to restore decayed vigour, and so Falstaff is made by +Shakespeare to say: "Let the sky rain potatoes, hail kissing comfits, +and snow eringoes." For a considerable while after their +introduction the Potato tubers were grown only by men of fortune as +a delicacy; and the general cultivation of this vegetable was strongly +opposed by the public, [443] chiefly by the Puritans, because no +mention of it could be found in the Bible. + +Also in France great opposition was offered to the recognised use of +Potatoes: and it is said that Louis the Fifteenth, in order to bring +the plant into favour, wore a bunch of its flowers in the button hole +of his coat on a high festival. Later on during the Revolution quite a +mania prevailed for Potatoes. Crowds perambulated the streets of +Paris shouting for "la liberté, et des Batatas"; and when Louis the +Sixteenth had been dethroned the gardens of the Tuileries were +planted with Potatoes. Cobbett, in this country, exclaimed virulently +against the tuber as "hogs' food," and hated it as fiercely as he hated +tea. The stalks, leaves, and green berries of the plant share the +narcotic and poisonous attributes of the nightshades to which it +belongs; and the part which we eat, though often thought to be a +root, is really only an underground stem, which has not been acted +on by light so as to develop any poisonous tendencies, and in which +starch is stored up for the future use of the plant. + +The stalks, leaves, and unripe fruit yield an active principle +apparently very powerful, which has not yet been fully investigated. +There are two sorts of tubers, the red and the white. A roasted +Potato takes two hours to digest; a boiled one three hours and a half. +"After the Potato," says an old proverb, "cheese." + +Chemically the Potato contains citric acid, like that of the lemon, +which is admirable against scurvy: also potash, which is equally +antiscorbutic, and phosphoric acid, yielding phosphorus in a +quantity less only than that afforded by the apple, and by wheat. It is +of the first importance that the potash salts should be retained by the +potato during cooking: and the [444] tubers should therefore be +steamed with their coats on; else if peeled, and then steamed, they +lose respectively seven and five per cent. of potash, and phosphoric +acid. + +If boiled after peeling they lose as much as thirty-three per cent. of +potash, and twenty-three per cent. of phosphoric acid. "The roots," +says Gerard, "were forbidden in Burgundy, for that they were +persuaded the too frequent use of them causeth the leprosie." +Nevertheless it is now believed that the Potato has had much to do +with expelling leprosy from England. The affliction has become +confined to countries where the Potato is not grown. + +Boiled or steamed Potatoes should turn out floury, or mealy, by +reason of the starch granules swelling up and filling the cellular +tissue, whilst absorbing the albuminous contents of its cells. Then +the albumen coagulates, and forms irregular fibres between the +starch grains. The most active part of the tuber lies just beneath the +skin, as may be shown by pouring some tincture of guaiacum over +the cut surface of a Potato, when a ring of blue forms close to the +skin, and is darkest there while extending over the whole cut +surface. Abroad there is a belief the Potato thrives best if planted on +Maundy Thursday. Rustic names for it are: Taiders, Taities, Leather +Coats, Leather Jackets, Lapstones, Pinks, No Eyes, Flukes, Blue +Eyes, Red Eyes, and Murphies; in Lancashire Potatoes are called +Spruds, and small Potatoes, Sprots. + +The peel or rind of the tuber contains a poisonous substance called +"solanin," which is dissipated and rendered inert when the whole +Potato is boiled, or steamed. Stupes of hot Potato water are very +serviceable in some forms of rheumatism. To make the [445] +decoction for this purpose, boil one pound of Potatoes (not peeled, +and divided into quarters.) in two pints of water slowly down to one +pint; then foment the swollen and painful parts with this as hot as it +can be borne. Similarly some of the fresh stalks of the plant, and its +unripe berries, as well as the unpeeled tubers cut up as described, if +infused for some hours in cold water, will make a liquor in which +the folded linen of a compress may be loosely rung out, and applied +most serviceably under waterproof tissue, or a double layer of dry +flannel. The carriage of a small raw Potato in the trousers' pocket +has been often found preventive of rheumatism in a person +predisposed thereto, probably by reason of the sulphur, and the +narcotic principles contained in the peel. Ladies in former times had +their dresses supplied with special bags, or pockets, in which to +carry one or more small raw Potatoes about their person for +avoiding rheumatism. + +If peeled and pounded in a mortar, uncooked Potatoes applied cold +make a very soothing cataplasm to parts that have been scalded, or +burnt. In Derbyshire a hot boiled Potato is used against corns; and +for frost-bites the mealy flour of baked potatoes, when mixed with +sweet oil and applied, is very healing. + +The skin of the tuber contains corky wood which swells in boiling +with the jackets on, and which thus serves to keep in all the juices so +that the digestibility of the Potato is increased; at the same time +water is prevented from entering and spoiling the flavour of the +vegetable. The proportion of muscle-forming food (nitrogen) in the +Potato is very small, and it takes ten and a half pounds of the tubers +to equal one pound of butcher's meat in nutritive value. + +The Potato is composed mainly of starch, which [446] affords +animal heat and promotes fatness, The Irish think that these tubers +foster fertility; they prefer them with the jackets on, and somewhat +hard in the middle--"with the bones in." A potato pie is believed to +invigorate the sexual functions. + +New Potatoes contain as yet no citric acid, and are hard of digestion, +like sour crude apples; their nutriment, as Gerard says, "is sadly +windy," the starch being immature, and not readily acted on by the +saliva during mastication. "The longer I live," said shrewd Sidney +Smith, "the more I am convinced that half the unhappiness in the +world proceeds from a vexed stomach, or vicious bile: from small +stoppages, or from food pressing in the wrong place. Old +friendships may be destroyed by toasted cheese; and tough salted +meat has led a man not infrequently to suicide." + +A mature Potato yields enough citric acid even for commercial +purposes; and there is no better cleaner of silks, cottons, and +woollens, than ripe Potato juice. But even of ripe Potatoes those that +break into a watery meal in the boiling are always found to prove +greatly diuretic, and to much increase the quantity of urine. + +By fermentation mature Potatoes, through their starch and sugar, +yield a wine from which may be distilled a Potato spirit, and from it +a volatile oil can be extracted, called by the Germans, _Fuselöl_. +This is nauseous, and causes a heavy headache, with indigestion, +and biliary disorders together with nervous tremors. Chemically it is +amylic ether. + +Also when boiled with weak sulphuric acid, the Potato starch is +changed into glucose, or grape sugar, which by fermentation yields +alcohol: and this spirit is often sold under the name of British +brandy. + +A luminosity strong enough to enable a bystander to [447] read by +its light issues from the common Potato when in a state of +putrefaction. In Cumberland, to have "taities and point to dinner," is +a figurative expression which implies scanty fare. At a time when +the duty on salt made the condiment so dear that it was scarce in a +household, the persons at table were fain to point their Potatoes at +the salt cellar, and thus to cheat their imaginations. Carlyle asks in +_Sartor Resartus_ about "an unknown condiment named 'point,' into +the meaning of which I have vainly enquired; the victuals _potato +and point_ not appearing in any European cookery book whatever." + +German ladies, at their five o'clock tea, indulge in Potato talk +(_Kartoffel gesprach_) about table dainties, and the methods of +cooking them. Men likewise, from the four quarters of the globe, in +the days of our childhood, were given to hold similar domestic +conclaves, when:-- + + "Mr. East made a feast, + Mr. North laid the cloth, + Mr. West brought his best, + Mr. South burnt his mouth + Eating a cold Potato." + +With pleasant skill of poetic alliteration, Sidney Smith wrote in +ordering how to mix a sallet:-- + + "Two large Potatoes passed through kitchen sieve, + Unwonted softness to a salad give." + +And Sir Thomas Overbury wittily said about a dolt who took credit +for the merits of his ancestors: "Like the Potato, all that was good +about him was underground." + + + +PRIMROSE. + +The Common Primrose (_Primula veris_) is the most widely known +of our English wild flowers, and appears in the Spring as its earliest +herald. + +[448] It gets its name from the Latin _primus_, first, being named in +old books and M.S. _Pryme rolles_, and in the _Grete Herball_, +Primet, as shortened from Primprint. + +In North Devon it is styled the Butter Rose, and in the Eastern +counties it is named (in common with the Cowslip) Paigle, Peagle, +Pegyll, and Palsy plant. + +Medicinally also it possesses similar curative attributes, though in a +lesser degree, to those of the Cowslip. Both the root and the flowers +contain a volatile oil, and "primulin" which is identical with +mannite: whilst the acrid principle is "saponin." Alfred Austin, Poet +Laureate, teaches to "make healing salve with early Primroses." + +Pliny speaks of the Primrose as almost a panacea: _In aquâ potam +omnibus morbis mederi tradunt_. An infusion of the flowers has +been always thought excellent against nervous disorders of the +hysterical sort. It should be made with from five to ten parts of the +petals to one hundred of water. "Primrose tea" says Gerard, "drunk +in the month of May, is famous for curing the phrensie." + +The whole plant is sedative and antispasmodic, being of service by +its preparations to relieve sleeplessness, nervous headache, and +muscular rheumatism. The juice if sniffed up into the nostrils will +provoke violent sneezing, and will induce a free flow of water from +the lining membranes of the nostrils for the mitigation of passive +headaches: though this should not be tried by a person of full habit +with a determination of blood to the head. A teaspoonful of +powdered dry Primrose root will act as an emetic. The whole herb is +somewhat expectorant. + +When the petals are collected and dried they become of a greenish +colour: whilst fresh they have a honey-like odour, and a sweetish +taste. + +[449] Within the last few years a political significance and +popularity have attached themselves to the Primrose beyond every +other British wild flower. It arouses the patriotism of the large +Conservative party, and enlists the favour of many others who +thoughtlessly follow an attractive fashion, and who love the first +fruits of early Spring. Botanically the Primrose has two varieties of +floral structure: one "pin-eyed," with a tall pistil, and short +stamens; the other "thrum-eyed," showing a rosette of tall stamens, +whilst the short pistil must be looked for, like the great Panjandrum +himself, "with a little round button at the top," half way down the +tube. Darwin was the first to explain that this diversity of structure +ensures cross fertilisation by bees and allied insects. Through +advanced cultivation at the hands of the horticulturist the Primula +acquires in some instances a noxious character. For instance, the +_Primula biconica_, which is often grown in dwelling rooms as a +window plant, and commonly sold as such, will provoke an +crysipelatous vesicular eruption of a very troublesome and inflamed +character on the hands and face of some persons who come in +contact with the plant by manipulating it to take cuttings, or in other +ways. A knowledge of this fact should suggest the probable +usefulness of the said Primula, when made into a tincture, and given +in small diluted doses thereof, to act curatively for such an eruption +if attacking the sufferer from idiopathic causes. + +The Latins named the Ligustrum (our Privet) Primrose. Coles says +concerning it (17th century): "This herbe is called Primrose; it is +good to 'Potage.'" They also applied the epithet, "Prime rose" to a +lady. + +The Evening Primrose (_OEnothera biennis_, or _odorata_) is found +in this country on sand banks in the West of England and Cornwall; +but it is then most probably a [450] garden scape, and an alien, its +native habitat being in Canada and the United States of America. +We cultivate it freely in our parterres as a brilliant, yellow, showy +flower. It belongs to the natural order, _Onagraceoe_, so called +because the food of wild asses; and was the "vini venator" of +Theophrastus, 350 B.C. The name signifies having the odour of +wine, _oinos_ and _theera_. Pliny said: "It is an herbe good as wine +to make the heart merrie. It groweth with leaves resembling those of +the almond tree, and beareth flowers like unto roses. Of such virtue +is this herbe that if it be given to drink to the wildest beast that +is, it will tame the same and make it gentle." The best variety of this +plant is the _OEnothera macrocarpa_. + +The bark of the Evening Primrose is mucilaginous, and a decoction +made therefrom is of service for bathing the skin eruptions of +infants and young children. To answer such purpose a decoction +should be made from the small twigs, and from the bark of the +larger branches, retaining the leaves. This has been found further of +use for diarrhoea associated with an irritable stomach, and asthma. +The infusion, or the liquid extract, acts as a mild but efficient +sedative in nervous indigestion, from twenty to thirty drops of the +latter being given for a dose. The ascertained chemical principle of +the plant, _OEnotherin_, is a compound body. Its flowers open in +the evening, and last only until the next noon; therefore this plant is +called the "Evening Primrose," or "Evening Star." + +Another of the Primrose tribe, the Cyclamen, or Sow-bread (_Panis +porcinus_), is often grown in our gardens, and for ornamenting our +rooms as a pot plant. Its name means (Greek) "a circle," and refers +to the reflected corolla, or to the spiral fruit-stalks; and again, +[451] from the tuber being the food of wild swine. Gerard said it was +reported in his day to grow wild on the Welsh mountains, and on the +Lincolnshire hills: but he failed to find it. Nevertheless it is now +almost naturalised in some parts of the South, and East of England. +As the petals die, the stalks roll up and carry the capsular berries +down to the surface of the ground. A medicinal tincture is made +(H.) from the fresh root when flowering. The ivy-leaved variety is +found in England, with nodding fresh-coloured blossoms, and a +brown intensely acrid root. Besides starch, gum, and pectin, it yields +chemically, "cyclamin," or "arthanatin," with an action like +"saponin," whilst the juice is poisonous to fish. When applied +externally as a liniment over the bowels, it causes them to be +purged. Gerard quaintly and suggestively declares "It is not good +for women with childe to touch, or take this herbe, or to come neere +unto it, or to stride over the same where it groweth: for the natural +attractive vertue therein contained is such that, without controversie, +they that attempt it in manner above said, shall be delivered before +their time; which danger and inconvenience to avoid, I have +fastened sticks in the ground about the place in my garden where it +groweth, and some other sticks also crosswaies over them, lest any +woman should by lamentable experiment find my words to be true +by stepping over the same. Again, the root hanged about women in +their extreme travail with childe, causeth them to be delivered +incontinent: and the leaves put into the place hath the like effect." +Inferentially a tincture of the plant should be good for falling and +displacement of the womb. "Furthermore, Sowbread, being beaten, +and made into little flat cakes, is reputed to be a good amorous +medicine, to make one in love." + +[452] In France, another Primula, the wild Pimpernel, occurs as a +noxious herb, and is therefore named Mouron. + + + +QUINCE. + +The Quince (_Cydonia_) is cultivated sparingly in our orchards for +the sake of its highly fragrant, and strong-smelling fruit, which +as an adjunct to apples is much esteemed for table uses. + +It may well be included among remedial Herbal Simples because of +the virtues possessed by the seeds within the fruit. The tree is a +native of Persia and Crete; bearing a pear-shaped fruit, golden +yellow when gathered, and with five cells in it, each containing +twelve closely packed seeds. These are mucilaginous when +unbroken, and afford the taste of bitter almonds. + +When immersed in water they swell up considerably, and the +mucilage will yield salts of lime with albumen. + +_Bandoline_ is the mucilage of Quince seeds to which some Eau de +Cologne is added: and this mixture is employed for keeping the hair +fixed when dressed by the _Coiffeur_. + +The mucilage of Quince seeds is soothing and protective to an +irritated or inflamed skin; it may also be given internally for +soreness of the lining mucous membranes of the stomach and +bowels, as in gastric catarrh, and for cough with a dry sore throat. +One dram of the seeds boiled slowly in half-a-pint of fresh water +until the liquor becomes thick, makes an excellent mucilage as a +basis for gargles and injections; or, one part of the seeds to fifty +parts of rosewater, shaken together for half-an-hour. + +From growing at first in Cydon, now Candia, the tree got its name +_Cydonia_: its old English title was Melicotone; and in ancient +Rome it was regarded as a sacred fruit, [453] being hung upon +statues in the houses of the great. Now we banish the tree, because +of its strong penetrating odour, to a corner of the garden. +Lord Bacon commended "quiddemy," a preserve of Quinces, for +strengthening the stomach; and old Fuller said of this fruit, "being +not more pleasant to the palate than restorative to the health, they +are accounted a great cordiall." Jam made from the Quince (_Malmelo_) +first took the name of Marmalade, which has since passed on +to other fruit conserves, particularly to that of the Seville +Orange. In France the Quince is made into a _compôte_ which is +highly praised for increasing the digestive powers of weakly +persons. According to Plutarch Solon made a law that the Quince +should form the invariable feast of the bridegroom (and some add +likewise of the bride) before retiring to the nuptial couch. Columella +said: "Quinces yield not only pleasure but health." The Greeks +named the Quince "Chrysomelon," or the Golden Apple; so it is +asserted that the golden fruit of the Hesperides were Quinces, and +that these tempted Hercules to attack their guardian dragon. +Shakespeare makes Lady Capulet when ordering the wedding feast, + + "Call for dates, and Quinces in the pastry." + +In Persia the fruit ripens, and is eaten there as a dessert delicacy +which is much prized. If there be but a single Quince in a caravan, +no one who accompanies it can remain unconscious of its presence. +In Sussex at one time a popular wine was made of Quinces. They +are astringent to stay diarrhoea; and a syrup may be concocted from +their juice to answer this purpose. For thrush and for excoriations +within the mouth and upper throat, one drachm of the seeds should +[459] be boiled in eight fluid ounces of water until it acquires a +proper demulcent mucilaginous consistence. "Simon Sethi writeth," +says Gerard: "that the woman with child that eateth many Quinces +during the time of her breeding, shall bring forth wise children, and +of good understanding." Gerard says again: "The marmalad, or +Cotiniat made of Quinces and sugar is good and profitable to +strengthen the stomach that it may retain and keep the meat therein +until it be perfectly digested. It also stayeth all kinds of fluxes +both of the belly, and of other parts, and also of blood. Which +cotiniat is made in this manner. Take four Quinces, pare them, cut them +in pieces, and cast away the core: then put into every pound of Quinces +a pound of sugar, and to every pound of sugar a pint of water. These +must be boiled together over a still fire till they be very soft: next +let it be strained, or rather rubbed through a strainer, or a hairy +sieve, which is better. And then set it over the fire to boil again +until it be stiff: and so box it up: and as it cooleth, put thereto +a little rose water, and a few grains of musk mingled together, +which will give a goodly taste to the cotiniat. This is the way +to make marmalad." + +"The seed of Quinces tempered with water doth make a mucilage, or +a thing like jelly which, being held in the mouth is marvellous good +to take away the roughness of the tongue in hot burning fevers." +Lady Lisle sent some cotiniat of Quinces to Henry the Eighth by her +daughter Katharine. They were reputed a sexual stimulant. After +being boiled and preserved in syrup, Quinces give a well known +pleasant flavour to apple pie. As the fruit is free from acid, or +almost so; its marmalade may be eaten by the goutily disposed with more +impunity than that made with the Seville orange. An after taste +suggestive of [455] garlic is left on the palate by masticating Quince +marmalade. + +In the modern treatment of chronic dysentery the value of certain +kinds of fresh fruit has come to be medically recognised. Of these +may be specified strawberries, grapes, fresh figs, and tomatoes, all +of which are seed fruits as distinguished from stone fruit. It is +essential that they shall be absolutely sound, and in good condition. +Dr. Saumaurez Lacy, of Guernsey, has successfully practised this +treatment for many years, and it has been recently employed by +others for chronic dysentery, and diarrhoea, with most happy +results. + + + +RADISH. + +The common garden Radish (_Raphanus sativus_) is a Cruciferous +plant, and a cultivated variety of the Horse Radish. It came +originally from China, but has been grown allover Europe from time +immemorial. Radishes were celebrated by Dioscorides and Pliny as +above all roots whatsoever, insomuch, that in the Delphic temple +there was a Radish of solid gold, _raphanus ex auro dicatus_: and +Moschinus wrote a whole volume in their praise; but Hippocrates +condemned them as _vitiosas, innatantes, acoegre concoctiles._ + +Among the oblations offered to Apollo in his temple at Delphi, +turnips were dedicated in lead, beet in silver, and radishes in +wrought gold. The wild Radish is _Raphanus raphanistrum_. The +garden Radish was not grown in England before 1548. + +Later on John Evelyn wrote in his _Acetaria_: "And indeed (besides +that they decay the teeth) experience tells us that, as the Prince of +Physicians writes, it is hard of digestion, inimicous to the stomach, +causing nauseous eructations, and sometimes vomiting, though +[456] otherwise diuretic, and thought to repel the vapours of wine +when the wits were at their genial club." "The Radish," says Gerard, +"provoketh urine, and dissolveth cluttered sand." + +The roots, which are the edible part, consist of a watery fibrous +pulp, which is comparatively bland, and of an external skin +furnished with a pungent volatile aromatic oil which acts as a +condiment to the phlegmatic pulp. "Radishes are eaten with salt +alone as carrying their pepper in them." The oil contained in the +roots, and likewise in the seeds, is sulphuretted, and disagrees with +persons of weak digestion. A young Radish, which is quickly grown +and tender, will suit most stomachs, especially if some of the leaves +are masticated together with the root; but a Radish which is tough, +strong, and hollow, "_fait penser à l'ile d'Elbe: il revient_." + +The pulp is chemically composed chiefly of nitrogenous substance, +being fibrous and tough unless when the roots are young and +quickly grown. On this account they should not be eaten when at all +old and hard by persons of slow digestion, because apt to lodge in +the intestines, and to become entangled in their caecal pouch, or in +its appendix. But boiled Radishes are almost equal to asparagus +when served at table, provided they have been cooked long enough +to become tender, that is, for almost an hour. The syrup of radishes +is excellent for hoarseness, bronchial difficulty of breathing, +whooping cough, and other complaints of the chest. + +For the cure of corns, if after the feet have been bathed, and the +corns cut, a drop or two of juice be squeezed over the corn from the +fresh pulp of a radish on several consecutive days, this will wither +and [457] disappear. Also Radish roots sliced when fresh, and +applied to a carbuncle will promote its healing. An old Saxon +remedy against a woman's chatter was to "taste at night a root of +Radish when fasting, and the chatter will not be able to harm him." +In some places the Radish is called Rabone. + +From the fresh plant, choosing a large Spanish Radish, with a +turnip-shaped root, and a black outer skin, and collected in the +autumn, a medicinal tincture (H.) is made with spirit of wine. This +tincture has proved beneficial in cases of bilious diarrhoea, with +eructations, and mental depression, when a chronic cough is also +liable to be present. Four or five drops should be given with a +tablespoonful of cold water, twice or three times in the day. The +Black Radish is found useful against whooping cough, and is +employed for this purpose in Germany, by cutting off the top, and +then making a hole in the root. This is filled with treacle, or honey, +and allowed to stand for a day or two; then a teaspoonful of the +medicinal liquid is given two or three times in the day. Roman +physicians advised that Radishes should be eaten raw, with bread +and salt in the morning before any other food. And our poet +Thomson describes as an evening repast:-- + + "A Roman meal + Such as the mistress of the world once found + Delicious, when her patriots of high note, + Perhaps by moonlight at their humble doors, + Under an ancient Oak's domestic shade, + Enjoy'd spare feast, a RADISH AND AN EGG." + + + +RAGWORT. + +The Ragwort (_Senecio Jacoboea_) is a very common plant in our +meadows, and moist places, closely allied to the [458] Groundsel, +and well known by its daisy-like flowers, but of a golden yellow +colour, with rays in a circle surrounding the central receptacle, and +with a strong smell of honey. This plant goes popularly by the name +of St. James's wort, or Canker wort, or (near Liverpool) Fleawort, +and in Yorkshire, Seggrum; also Jacoby and Yellow Top. The term +Ragwort, or Ragweed, is a corruption of Ragewort, as expressing its +supposed stimulating effects on the sexual organs. For the same +reason the _pommes d'amour_ (Love Apples, or Tomatoes) are +sometimes caned Rage apples. The Ragwort was formerly thought +to cure the staggers in horses, and was hence named Stagger wort, +or because, says Dr. Prior, it was applied to heal freshly cut young +bulls, known as Seggs, or Staggs. So also it was called St. James's +wort, either because that great warrior and saint was the patron of +horses, or because it blossoms on his day, July 25th: sometimes also +the plant has been styled Stammer wort. Furthermore it possesses a +distinct reputation for the cure of cancer, and is known as +Cankerwort, being applied when bruised, either by itself, or +combined with Goosegrass. + +Probably the lime which the whole plant contains in a highly +elaborated state of subdivision has fairly credited it with +anti-cancerous powers. For just such a reason Sir Spencer Wens +commended powdered egg shells and powdered oyster shells as +efficacious in curing certain cases under his immediate observation +of long-standing cancer, when steadily given for some considerable +time. + +A poultice made of the fresh leaves, and applied externally two or +three times in succession "will cure, if ever so violent, the old ache +in the hucklebone known as sciatica." Chemically the active +principle of the [459] Ragwort is "senecin," a dark resinous +substance, of which two grains may be given twice or three times in +the day. + +Also the tincture, made with one part of the plant to ten parts of +spirit of wine (tenuior), may be taken in doses of from five to fifteen +drops, with a spoonful of water three times in the day. + +Either form of medicine will correct monthly irregularities of +women where the period is delayed, or difficult, or arrested by cold. +It must be given steadily three times a day for ten days or a fortnight +before the period becomes re-established. In suitable cases the +Senecio not only anticipates the period, but also increases the +quantity: and where the monthly time has never been established the +Ragwort is generally found useful. + +This herb--like its congener, the common Groundsel--has lancinated, +juicy leaves, which possess a bitter saline taste, and yield +earthy potash salts abundantly. Each plant is named "Senecio" +because of the grey woolly pappus of its seeds, which resemble the +silvered hair of old age. In Ireland the Ragwort is dedicated to the +fairies, and is known as the Fairies' Horse, on the golden blossoms +of which the good little people are thought to gallop about at +midnight. + + + +RASPBERRY. + +The Raspberry (_Rubus Idoeus_) occurs wild plentifully in the +woods of Scotland, where children gather the fruit early in summer. +It is also found growing freely in some parts of England--as in the +Sussex woods--and bearing berries of as good a quality as that of +the cultivated Raspberry, though not so large in size. + +Another name for the fruit is _Framboise_, which is [460] a French +corruption of the Dutch word _brambezie_, or brambleberry. + +Again, the Respis, or Raspberry, was at one time commonly known +in this country as Hindberry, or the gentler berry, as distinguished +from one of a harsher and coarser sort, the Hartberry. "Respberry" +signifies in the Eastern Counties of England a shoot, or sucker, this +name being probably applied because the fruit grows on the young +shoots of the previous year. Raspberry fruit is fragrant and cooling, +but sugar improves its flavour. Like the strawberry, if eaten without +sugar and cream, it does not undergo any acetous fermentation in +the stomach, even with gouty or strumous persons. When combined +with vinegar and sugar it makes a liqueur which, if diluted with +water, is most useful in febrile disorders, and which is all excellent +addition to sea stores as preventive of scurvy. + +The Latins named this shrub "the bramble of Ida," because it grew +in abundance on that classic mountain where the shepherd Paris +adjudged to Venus the prize for beauty--a golden apple--on which +was divinely inscribed the words, _Detur pulchriori_--"Let this be +awarded to the fairest of womankind." + +The fresh leaves of the Raspberry are the favourite food of kids. +There are red, white, yellow, and purple varieties of this fruit. Heat +develops the richness of its flavour; and Raspberry jam is the prince +of preserves. + +Again, a wine can be brewed from the fermented juice, which is +excellent against scurvy because of its salts of potash--the citrate +and malate. + +Raspberry vinegar, made by pouring vinegar repeatedly over +successive quantities of the fresh fruit, is a capital remedy for sore +throat from cold, or of the [461] relaxed kind; and when mixed with +water it furnishes a most refreshing drink in fevers. But the berries +should be used immediately after being gathered, as they quickly +spoil, and their fine flavour is very evanescent. The vinegar can be +extemporised by diluting Raspberry jelly with hot vinegar, or by +mixing syrup of the fruit with vinegar. + +In Germany a conserve of Raspberries which has astringent effects +is concocted with two parts of sugar to one of juice expressed from +the fruit. Besides containing citric and malic acids, the Raspberry +affords a volatile oil of aromatic flavour, with crystallisable sugar, +pectin, colouring matter, mucus, some mineral salts, and water. + +Gerard says: "The fruit is good to be given to them that have weake, +and queasie stomackes." + +A playful example of the declension of a Latin substantive is given +thus:-- + + _Musa, Musoe_, + The Gods were at tea: + _Musoe, Musam_, + Eating Raspberry jam: + _Musa, Musah_, + Made by Cupid's mamma. + + + +RHUBARB (Garden). _see_ Dock, _page_ 159. + + + +RICE. + +Rice, or Ryse, the grain of _Oryza sativa_, a native cereal of India, +is considered here scarcely as a Herbal Simple, but rather as a +common article of some medicinal resource in the store cupboard of +every English house-hold, and therefore always at band as a +vegetable remedy. + +Among the Arabs Rice is considered a sacred food: [462] and their +tradition runs that it first sprang from a drop of Mahomet's +perspiration in Paradise. + +Being composed almost exclusively of starch, and poorer in +nitrogen, as well as in phosphoric acid, than other cereals, it is less +laxative, and is of value as a demulcent to palliate irritative +diarrhoea, and to allay intestinal distress. + +A mucilage of Rice made by boiling the well-washed grain for some +time in water, and straining, contains starch and phosphate of lime +in solution, and is therefore a serviceable emollient. But when +needed for food the grain should be steamed, because in boiling it +loses the little nitrogen, and the greater part of the lime phosphate +which it has scantily contained. + +Rice bread and Rice cakes, simply made, are very light and easy of +digestion. The gluten confers the property of rising on dough or +paste made of Rice flour. But as an article of sustenance Rice is not +well suited for persons of fermentative tendencies during the +digestion of their food, because its starch is liable to undergo this +chemical change in the stomach. + +Dr. Tytler reported in the _Lancet_ (1833), cases resembling +malignant cholera from what he termed the _morbus oryzoeus_, as +provoked by the free and continued use of Rice as food. And +Boutins, in 1769, published an account of the diseases common to +the East Indies, in which he stated that when Rice is eaten more or +less exclusively, the vision becomes impaired. But neither of these +allegations seems to have been afterwards authoritatively confirmed. + +Chemically, Rice consists of starch, fat, fibrin, mineral matter such +as phosphate of lime, cellulose, and water. + +A spirituous liquor is made in China from the grain of Rice, and +bears the name "arrack." + +[463] Rice cannot be properly substituted in place of succulent +green vegetables dietetically for any length of time, or it would +induce scurvy. The Indians take stewed Rice to cure dysentery, and +a decoction of the grain for the purpose of subduing inflammatory +disorders. + +Paddy, or Paddee, is Rice from which the husk has not been +removed before crushing. It has been said by some that the +cultivation of Rice lowers vitality, and shortens life. + +In Java a special Rice-pudding is made by first putting some raw +Rice in a conical earthen pot wide at the top, and perforated in its +body with holes. This is placed inside another earthen pot of a +similar shape but not perforated, and containing boiling water. The +swollen Rice soon stops up the holes of the inner pot, and the Rice +within becomes of a firm consistence, like pudding, and is eaten +with butter, sugar, and spices. + +An ordinary Rice-pudding is much improved by adding some +rosewater to it before it is baked. + +This grain has been long considered of a pectoral nature, and useful +for persons troubled with lung disease, and spitting of blood, as in +pulmonary consumption. The custom of throwing a shower of Rice +after and over a newly married couple is very old, though wheat was +at first the chosen grain as an augury of plenty. The bride wore a +garland of ears of corn in the time of Henry the Eighth. + + + +ROSES. + +Certain curative properties are possessed both by the Briar, or wild +Dog Rose of our country hedges, and by the cultivated varieties of +this queen of flowers in our Roseries. The word Rose means red, +from the Greek [464] _rodon_, connected also with _rota_, a wheel, +which resembles the outline of a Rose. The name Briar is from the +Latin _bruarium_, the waste land on which it grows. The first Rose +of a dark red colour, is held to have sprung from the blood of +Adonis. The fruit of the wild Rose, which is so familiar to every +admirer of our hedgerows in the summer, and which is the common +progenitor of all Roses, is named Hips. "Heps maketh," says Gerard, +"most pleasant meats or banquetting dishes, as tarts and such like, +the concoction whereof I commit to the cunning cook, and teeth to +eat them in the rich man's mouth." + +Hips, derived from the old Saxon, _hiupa, jupe_, signifies the Briar +rather than its fruit. They are called in some parts, "choops," or +"hoops." The woolly down which surrounds the seeds within the +Hips serves admirably for dispelling round worms, on which it acts +mechanically without irritating the mucous membrane which lines +the bowels. + +When fully ripe and softened by frost, the Hips, after removal of +their hard seeds, and when plenty of sugar is added, make a very +nice confection, which the Swiss and Germans eat at dessert, and +which forms an agreeable substitute for tomato sauce. Apothecaries +employ this conserve in the preparing of electuaries, and as a basis +for pills. They also officinally use the petals of the Cabbage Rose +(_Centifolia_) for making Rose water, and the petals of the Red +Rose (_Gallica_) for a cooling infusion, the brilliant colour of which +is much improved by adding some diluted sulphuric acid; and of +these petals they further direct a syrup to be concocted. + +Next in development to the Dog Rose, or Hound's Rose, comes the +Sweetbriar (Eglantine), with a delicate perfume contained under its +glandular leaves. [465] "_Fragrantia ejus olei omnia alia odoramenta +superest_." This (_Rosa rubiginosa_) grows chiefly on chalk as a +bushy shrub. Its poetic title, Eglantine, is a corruption of the Latin +_aculeius_, prickly. A legend tells that Christ's crown of thorns was +made from the Rose-briar, about which it has been beautifully +said:-- + + "Men sow the thorns on Jesus' brow, + But Angels saw the Roses." + +Pliny tells a remarkable story of a soldier of the Praetorian guard, +who was cured of hydrophobia, against all hope, by taking an +extract of the root of the _Kunoroddon_, Dog Rose, in obedience to +the prayer of his mother, to whom the remedy was revealed in a +dream; and he says further, that it likewise restored whoever tried +it afterwards. Hence came the title _Canina_. "_Parceque elle a +longtemps été en vogue pour guerir de la rage_." + +But the term, Dog Rose, is generally thought to merely signify a +flower of lower quality than the nobler Roses of garden culture. + +The five graceful fringed leaflets which form the special beauty of +the Eglantine flower and bud, have given rise to the following Latin +enigma (translated):-- + + "Of us five brothers at the same time born, + Two from our birthday always beards have worn: + On other two none ever have appeared, + While our fifth brother wears but half a beard." + +From Roses the Romans prepared wine and confections, also subtle +scents, sweet-smelling oil, and medicines. The petals of the crimson +French Rose, which is grown freely in our gardens, have been +esteemed of signal efficacy in consumption of the lungs [466] since +the time of Avicenna, A.D. 1020, who states that he cured many +patients by prescribing as much of the conserve as they could +manage to swallow daily. It was combined with milk, or with some +other light nutriment; and generally from thirty to forty pounds of +this medicine had to be consumed before the cure was complete. +Julius Caesar hid his baldness at the age of thirty with Roman Roses. + +"Take," says an old MS. recipe of Lady Somerset's, "Red Rose buds, +and clyp of the tops, and put them in a mortar with ye waight of +double refined sugar; beat them very small together, then put it up; +must rest three full months, stirring onces a day. This is good +against the falling sickness." + +It is remarkable that while the blossoms of the Rose Order present +various shades of yellow, white, and red, blue is altogether foreign +to them, and unknown among them. + +As the Thistle is symbolical of Scotland, the Leek of Wales, and the +Shamrock of Ireland: so the sweet, pure, simple, honest Rose of our +woods is the apt-chosen emblem of Saint George, and the frank, +bonny, blushing badge of Merrie England. + +The petals of the Cabbage Rose (_Centifolia_), which are closely +folded over each other like the leaves of a cabbage, have a slight +laxative action, and are used for making Rose-water by distillation, +whether when fresh, or after being preserved by admixture with +common salt. This perfumed water has long enjoyed a reputation for +the cure of inflamed eyes, more commonly when combined with +zinc, or with sugar of lead. Hahnemann quotes the same established +practice as a tacit avowal that there exists in the leaves of the Rose +some healing power for certain diseased conditions of [567] the +eyes, which virtue is really founded on the homoeopathic property +possessed by the Rose, of exciting a species of ophthalmia in +healthy persons; as was observed by Echtius, Ledelius, and Rau. + +It is recorded also in his _Organon of Medicine_, that persons are +sometimes found to faint at the smell of Roses (or, as Pope puts it, +to "die of a rose in aromatic pain"); whereas the Princess Maria, +cured her brother, the Emperor Alexius, who suffered from +faintings, by sprinkling him with Rose-water, in the presence of his +aunt Eudoxia. + +The wealthy Greeks and Romans strewed Roses on the tombs of +departed friends, whilst poorer persona could only afford a tablet +at the grave bearing the prayer: + + "Sparge, precor, rosas super mea busta, viator." + + "Scatter Roses, I beseech you, over my ashes, O pitiful passer-by." + +But nowadays many persons have an aversion to throwing a Rose +into a grave, or even letting one fall in. + +Roses and reticence of speech have been linked together since the +time of Harpocrates, whom Cupid bribed to silence by the gift of a +golden Rose-bud; and therefore it became customary at Roman +feasts to suspend over the table a flower of this kind as a hint that +the convivial sayings which were then interchanged wore not to be +talked of outside. What was spoken "sub vino" was not to be +published "sub divo": + + "Est rosa flos veneris, cujus quo facta laterent + Harpocrati, matris dona, dicavit amor: + Inde rosam mensis hospes suspendid amicis, + Conviva ut sub eâ dicta tacenda sciat." + +[468] For the same reason the Rose is found sculptured on the +ceilings of banqueting rooms; and in 1526 it began to be placed over +Confessionals. Thus it has come about that the Rose is held to be the +symbol of secrecy, as well as the flower of love, and the emblem of +beauty: so that the significant phrase "sub rosa,"--under the Rose,-- +conveys a recognised meaning, understood, and respected by +everyone. The bed of Roses is not altogether a poetic fiction. In old +days the Sybarites slept upon mattresses which were stuffed with +Rose petals: and the like are now made for persons of rank on the +Nile. + +A memorial brass over the tomb of Abbot Kirton, in Westminster +Abbey, bears testimony to the high value he attached during life to +Roses curatively:-- + + "Sis, Rosa, flos florum, morbis medicina meoium." + +Many country persons believe, that if Roses and Violets are +plentiful in the autumn, some epidemic may be expected presently. +But this conclusion must be founded like that which says, "a green +winter makes a fat churchyard," on the fact that humid warmth +continued on late in the year tends to engender putrid ferments, and +to weaken the bodily vigour. + +Attar of Roses is a costly product, because consisting of the +comparatively few oil globules found floating on the surface of a +considerable volume of Rose water thrice distilled. It takes five +hundredweight of Rose petals to produce one drachm by weight of +the finest Attar, which is preserved in small bottles made of rock +crystal. The scent of the minutest particle of the genuine essence is +very powerful and enduring:-- + + "You may break, you may ruin, the vase if you will, + But the scent of the Roses will hang round it still." + +The inscription, _Rosamundi, non Rosa munda,_ was graven on the +tomb of fair Rosamund, the inamorata of Henry the Seventh:-- + + "Hic jacet in tombâ Rosa Mundi, non Rosa munda; + Non redolet, sed olet quae redolere solet." + + "Here Rose the graced, not Rose the chaste, reposes; + The smell that rises is no smell of Roses." + +In Sussex, the peculiar excrescence which is often found on the +Briar, as caused by the puncture of an insect, and which is known as +the canker, or "robin redbreast's cushion," is frequently worn round +the neck as a protective amulet against whooping cough. This was +called in the old Pharmacopeias "Bedeguar," and was famous for its +astringent properties. Hans Andersen names it the "Rose King's +beard." + +The Rosary was introduced by St. Dominick to commemorate his +having been shown a chaplet of Roses by the Blessed Virgin. It +consisted formerly of a string of beads made of Rose leaves tightly +pressed into round moulds and strung together, when real Roses +could not be had. The use of a chaplet of beads for recording the +number of prayers recited is of Eastern origin from the time of the +Egyptian Anchorites. + +The Rock Rose (a _Cistus_), grows commonly in our hilly pastures on +a soil of chalk, or gravel, bearing clusters of large, bright, yellow +flowers, from a small branching shrub. These flowers expand only +in the sunshine, and have stamens which, if lightly touched, spread +out, and lie down on the petals. The plant proves medicinally useful, +particularly if grown in a soil containing magnesia. A tincture is +prepared (H.) from the whole plant, English or Canadian, which is +useful for curing shingles, on the principle of its producing, when +taken by healthy provers in doses of various [470] potencies, a +cutaneous outbreak on the trunk of the body closely resembling the +characteristic symptoms of shingles, whilst attended with nervous +distress, and with much burning of the affected skin. The plant has +likewise a popular reputation for healing scrofula, and its tincture is +beneficial for reducing enlarged glands, as of the neck and throat; +also for strumous swelling of the knee joint, as well as of other +joints. It is a "helianthemum" of the Sunflower tribe. + +The Canadian Rock Rose is called Frostwort and Frostweed, +because crystals of ice shoot from the cracked bark below the stem +during freezing weather in the autumn. + +A decoction of our plant has proved useful in prurigo (itching), and +as a gargle for the sore throat of scarlet fever. For shingles, from +five to ten drops of the tincture, third decimal strength, should be +given with a spoonful of water three times a day. + + + +ROSEMARY. + +The Rosemary is a well-known, sweet-scented shrub, cultivated in +our gardens, and herb beds on account of its fragrancy and its +aromatic virtues. It came originally from the South of Europe and +the Levant, and was introduced into England before the Norman +Conquest. The shrub (_Rosmarinus_) takes its compound name +from _ros_, dew, _marinus_, belonging to the sea; in allusion to the +grey, glistening appearance of the plant, and its natural locality, as +well as its odour, like that of the sea. It is ever green, and bears +small, pale, blue flowers. + +Rosemary was thought by the ancients to refresh the memory and +comfort the brain. Being a cordial herb it was often mentioned in the +lays, or amorous ballads, of the Troubadours; and was called +"Coronaria" [471] because women were accustomed to make +crowns and garlands thereof. + + "What flower is that which regal honour craves? + Adjoin the Virgin: and 'tis strewn o'er graves." + +In some parts of England Rosemary is put with the corpse into the +coffin, and sprigs of it are distributed among the mourners at a +funeral, to be thrown into the grave, Gay alludes to this practice +when describing the burial of a country lass who had met with an +untimely death:-- + + "To show their love, the neighbours far and near + Followed, with wistful looks, the damsel's bier; + Sprigged Rosemary the lads and lasses bore, + While dismally the Parson walked before; + Upon her grave the Rosemary they threw, + The Daisy, Butter flower, and Endive blue," + +In _Romeo and Juliet_, Father Lawrence says:-- + + "Dry up your tears, and stick your Rosemary + On this fair corse." + +The herb has a pleasant scent and a bitter, pungent taste, whilst +much of its volatile, active principle resides in the calices of the +flowers; therefore, in storing or using the plant these parts must be +retained. It yields its virtues partially to water, and entirely to +rectified spirit of wine. + +In early times Rosemary was grown largely in kitchen gardens, and +it came to signify the strong influence of the matron who dwelt +there:-- + + "Where Rosemary flourishes the woman rules," + +The leaves and tops afford an essential volatile oil, but not so much +as the flowers. + +A spirit made from this essential oil with spirit of wine will help to +renovate the vitality of paralyzed limbs, if rubbed in with brisk +friction. The volatile oil [472] includes a special camphor similar to +that possessed by the myrtle. The plant also contains some tannin, +with a resin and a bitter principle. By old writers it was said to +increase the flow of milk. + +The oil is used officinally for making a spirit of Rosemary, and is +added to the compound tincture of Lavender, as well as to Soap +liniment. By common consent it is agreed that the volatile oil (or the +spirit) when mixed in washes will specially stimulate growth of the +hair. The famous Hungary water, first concocted for a Queen of +Hungary who, by its continual use, became effectually cured of +paralysis, was prepared by putting a pound and a half of the fresh +tops of Rosemary, when in full flower, into a gallon of proof spirit, +which had to stand for four days, and was then distilled. + +Hungary water (_l'eau de la reine d'Hongrie_) was formerly very +famous for gout in the hands and feet. Hoyes says, the formula for +composing this water, written by Queen Elizabeth's own hand in +golden characters, is still preserved in the Imperial Library at +Vienna. + +An ounce of the dried leaves and flowers treated with a pint of +boiling water, and allowed to stand until cold, makes one of the best +hair washes known. It has the singular power of preventing the hair +from uncurling when exposed to a damp atmosphere. The herb is +used in the preparation of _Eau de Cologne_. + +Rosemary wine, taken in small quantities, acts as a quieting cordial +to a heart of which the action is excitable or palpitating, and it +relieves ally accompanying dropsy by stimulating the kidneys. This +wine may be made by chopping up sprigs of Rosemary, and pouring +on them some sound white wine, which after two or [473] three +days, may be strained off and used. By stimulating the nervous +system it proves useful against the headaches of weak circulation +and of languid health. "If a garlande of the tree be put around the +heade it is a remedy for the stuffing of the head that cometh from +coldness." + +The green-leaved variety of Rosemary is the sort to be used +medicinally. There are also silver and gold-leaved diversities. Sprigs +of the herb were formerly stuck into beef whilst roasting as an +excellent relish. A writer of 1707 tells of "Rosemary-preserve to +dress your beef." + +The toilet of the Ancients was never considered complete without +an infusion, or spirit of Rosemary; and in olden times Rosemary +was entwined in the wreath worn by the bride at the altar, being first +dipped in scented water. Anne of Cleves, one of Henry the Eighth's +wives, wore such a wreath at her wedding; and when people could +afford it, the Rosemary branch presented to each guest was richly +gilded. + +The custom which prevailed in olden times of carrying a sprig of +Rosemary in the hand at a funeral, took its rise from the notion of an +alexipharmick or preservative powder in this herb against +pestilential disorders; and hence it was thought that the smelling +thereof was a powerful defence against any morbid effluvia from the +corpse. + +For the same reason it was usual to burn Rosemary in the chambers +of the sick, just as was formerly done with frankincense, which gave +the Greeks occasion to call the Rosemary _Libanotis_. In the French +language of flowers this herb represents the power of rekindling lost +energy. "The flowers of Rosemary," says an old author, "made up +into plates (lozenges), with sugar, [474] and eaten, comfort the +heart, and make it merry, quicken the spirits, and make them more +lively." "There's Rosemary for you--that's for remembrance! Pray +you, love, remember!" says Ophelia in _Hamlet_. The spirit of +Rosemary is kept by all druggists, and may be safely taken in doses +of from twenty to thirty drops with a spoonful or two of water. +Rosemary tea will soon relieve hysterical depression. Some persons +drink it as a restorative at breakfast. It will help to regulate the +monthly flow of women. An infusion of the herb mixed with poplar +bark, and used every night, will make the hair soft, glossy, and +strong. + +In Northern Ireland is found the Wild Rosemary, or Marsh Tea +(_Ledum palustre_), which has admirable curative uses, and from +which, therefore, though it is not a common plant in England, a +medicinal tincture (H.) is made with spirit of wine. + +The herb belongs to the Rock Rose tribe, and contains citric acid, +leditannic acid, resin, wax, and a volatile principle called +"ericinol." + +This plant is of singular use as a remedy for chilblains, as well as to +subdue the painful effects of a sting from a wasp or bee; also to +relieve gouty pains, which attack severely, but do not cause swelling +of the part, especially as regards the fingers and toes. Four or five +drops of the tincture should be taken for a dose with a tablespoonful +of cold water, three or four times in the day; and linen rags soaked +in a lotion made with a teaspoonful of the tincture added to half a +tumblerful of cold water, should be kept applied over the affected +part. + +It equally relieves whitlows; and will heal punctured wounds, if +arnica, or the Marigold, or St. John's Wort is not indicated, or of +use. When tested by provers in large doses, it has caused a +widespread eruption of [475] eczema, with itching and tingling of +the whole skin, extending into the mouth and air passages, and +occasioning a violent spasmodic cough. Hence, one may fairly +assume (and this has been found to hold good), that a gouty, +spasmodic cough of the bronchial tubes, attended with gouty +eczema, and with pains in the smaller joints, will be generally cured +by tincture or infusion of the Wild Rosemary in small doses of a +diluted strength, given several times a day, the diet at the same time +being properly regulated. Formerly this herb was used in Germany +for making beer heady; but it is now forbidden by law. + + + +RUE. + +The wild Rue is found on the hills of Lancashire and Yorkshire, +being more vehement in smell and in operation than the garden Rue. +This latter, _Ruta graveolens,_ (powerfully redolent), the common +cultivated Rue of our kitchen gardens, is a shrub with a pungent +aromatic odour, and a bitter, hot, penetrating taste, having leaves of +a bluish-green colour, and remaining verdant all the year round. It is +first mentioned as cultivated in England by Turner, in his _Herbal_, +1562, and has since become one of the best known and most widely +grown Simples for medicinal and homely uses. The name _Ruta_ is +from the Greek _reuo_, to set free, because this herb is so efficacious +in various diseases. The Greeks regarded Rue as an anti-magical +herb, since it served to remedy the nervous indigestion and +flatulence from which they suffered when eating before strangers: +which infirmity they attributed to witchcraft. This herb was further +termed of old "Serving men's joy," because of the multiplicity of +common ailments which it was warranted to cure. It constituted a +chief ingredient of the famous antidote of Mithridates to poisons, +the formula of which [476] was found by Pompey in the satchel of +the conquered King. The leaves are so acrid, that if they be much +handled they inflame the skin; and the wild plant possesses this +acridity still more strongly. + +Water serves to extract the virtues of the cultivated shrub better than +spirit of wine is able to do. The juice of Rue is of great efficacy in +some forms of epilepsy, operating for the most part insensibly, +though sometimes causing vomiting or purging. + +Piperno, a Neapolitan physician, in 1625, commended Rue as a +specific against epilepsy and vertigo. For the former malady at one +time some of this herb was suspended round the neck of the +sufferer, whilst "forsaking the devil with all his works, and invoking +the Lord Jesus." Goat's Rue, _Galega_, is likewise of service in +epilepsy and convulsions. + +If a leaf or two of Rue be chewed, a refreshing aromatic flavour will +pervade the mouth, and any nervous headache, giddiness, hysterical +spasm, or palpitation, will be quickly relieved. Two drachms of +powdered Rue, if taken every day regularly as a dose for a long +while together, will often do wonders. It was much used by the +ancients, and Hippocrates commended it. The herb is strongly +stimulating and anti-spasmodic; its most important constituent being +the volatile oil, which contains caprinic, pelargonic, caprylic, and +oenanthylic acids. The oxygenated portion is caprinic aldehyde. In +too full doses the oil causes aching of the loins, frequent urination, +dulness and weight of mind, flushes of heat, unsteadiness of gait, +and increased frequency of the pulse, but with diminished force. +Similar symptoms are produced during an attack of the modern +epidemical influenza; as like-wise by oil of wormwood, and some +other essential oils. + +[477] Externally, Rue is an active irritant to the skin, the bruised +leaves blistering the hands, and causing a pustular eruption. Gerard +says, "The wild Rue venometh the hands that touch it, and will also +infect the face; therefore it is not to be admitted to meat, or +medicine." It stimulates the monthly function in women, but must +be used with caution. + +The decoction and infusion are to be made from the fresh plant, or +(when this plant cannot be got), the oil may be given in a dose of +from one to five drops. Externally, compresses saturated with a +strong decoction of the plant when applied to the chest, have been +used beneficially for chronic bronchitis. + +Rue is best adapted to those of phlegmatic habit, and of languid +constitutional energies. It is often employed in the form of tea. The +_Schola Salernitana_ says about this plant:-- + + "Ruta viris minuit venerem, mulieribus addit + Ruta facit castum, dat lumen, et ingerit astum + Coctaque ruta facit de pulicibus loca tuta." + + "Rue maketh chaste: and eke preserveth sight; + Infuseth wit, and putteth fleas to flight." + +The leaves promote the menses, being given in doses of from fifteen +to twenty grains. "Pliny," says John Evelyn, "reports Rue to be of +such effect for the preservation of sight that the painters of his time +used to devour a great quantity of it; and the herb is still eaten by +the Italians frequently mingled amongst their salads." With respect to +its use in epilepsy, Julius Caesar Baricellus said: "I gave to my own +children two scruples of the juice of Rue, and a small matter of +gold; and, by the blessing of God, they were freed from their fits." +The essential oil of Rue may be used for the same purpose, and in +like manner. + +[478] Formerly this plant was thought to bestow second sight; and +so sacred a regard was at one time felt for it in our islands, that the +missionaries sprinkled their holy water from brushes made of the +Rue; for which cause it was named "Herb of Grace." + +Gerard tells us: "The garden Rue, which is better than the wild Rue +for physic's use, grows most profitably (as Dioscorides said) under a +fig tree." Country people boil its leaves with treacle, thus making a +conserve of them. These leaves are curative of croup in poultry. + +In the early part of the present century it was customary for judges, +sitting at Assize, to have sprigs of Rue placed on the bench of the +dock, as defensive against the pestilential infection brought into +court from gaol by the prisoners. The herb was supposed to afford +powerful protection from contagion. + +At the present time the medicinal tincture (H.) is used for the +treatment of rheumatism when developed in the membranes which +invest the bones. If bruised and applied, the leaves will ease the +severe pain of sciatica. The expressed juice taken in small quantities +is a noted remedy for nervous nightmare. A quaint old rhyme says +of the plant:-- + + "Nobilis est ruta quia lumina reddit acuta." + + "Noble is Rue! it makes the sight of eyes both sharp and clear; + With help of Rue, oh! blear-eyed man I thou shalt see far and + near." + +This is essentially the case when the vision has become dim through +over exertion of the eyes. It was with "Euphrasy and Rue" the visual +nerve of Adam was purged by Milton's Angel. + +As a preserver of chastity Ophelia was made by Shakespeare to give +Rue to Hamlet's mother, the Queen of Denmark. + + + +[479] RUSHES. + +The true Rushes (_Juncaceoe_) include the Soft Rush (_effusus_); +the Hard Rush (_glaucus_); and the Common Rush (_conglomeratus_). +The Bulrush (Pool Rush) is a Sedge; the Club Rush is a Typha; +and the flowering Rush, a Butomus. "Rish" was the old method +of spelling the name. + +A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the fresh root of the _juncus +effusus_. It will be found helpful against spinal irritability, with +some crampy tightness felt in the arms and legs, together with +headache and flatulent indigestion. Four or five drops should be +given for a dose, with a spoonful of water, three or four times in the +day. + +This, the Soft Rush, is commonly used for tying the bines of hops to +the poles; and, as these bines grow larger in size, the rushes wither, +setting the bines free in a timely fashion. To find a green-topped +Seave, or Rush, and a four-leaved Clover, is, in rural estimation, +equally lucky. + +The generic title, _Juncus_, has been applied because Rushes are _in +conjunction_ when planted together for making cordage. + +The common Rush is found by roadsides in damp pastures, and is +readily known by its long, slender, round, naked stem, containing +pith, and showing about the middle of July a dense globular bead of +brown flowers. Rushes of this sort were employed by our remote +ancestors for strewing, when fresh and green, about the floor of the +hall after discontinuing its big fire at Eastertide. Shakespeare says +in _Romeo and Juliet:_-- + + "Wantons, light of heart, + Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels." + +[480] In obedience to a bequest (1494); Rushes are still +strewn about the pavement of Redcliff Church at Bristol every +Whit-Sunday. The common phrase, "not worth a Rush," took its origin +from this general practice. Distinguished guests were honoured in +mediaeval times with clean fresh Rushes; but those of inferior rank +had either the Rushes left by their superiors, or none at all. + +The sweet-scented "Flag," or Rush (_Acorus calamus_), was always +used by preference where it could be procured. It is a native of this +country, growing on watery banks, and very plentiful in the river's +of Norfolk, from whence the London market is supplied. The roots +have a warm, bitter taste, and the essential oil is highly aromatic, +this being used for preparing aromatic vinegar. In Norfolk the +powdered dry rhizome is given for ague. With sugar it makes an +agreeable cordial conserve. (See _Flag (Sweet)_, _page_ 201 ). For +preserving the aromatic qualities within the dried rhizome; or root, it +should be kept in stock unpeeled. This contains "oleum calami," and +the bitter principle "acorin." Some of the root may be habitually +chewed for the relief of chronic indigestion. The odorous delights of +a pastoral time passed near these sweetly-fragrant plants have been +happily alluded to in the well-known lines of idyllic verse:-- + + "Green grow the Rushes, oh! + Green grow the Rushes, oh! + The sweetest hours that e'er I spent + Were spent among the lasses, oh!" + + "Virent junci fluviales, + Junci prope lymphas: + Ah! quain ridet quoe me videt + Hora inter Nymphas!" + +[481] The old saying, "As fit as Tib's Rush for Tom's fore-finger," +alludes to an ancient custom of making spurious marriages with a +ring constructed from a Rush. Tom and Tib were vulgar epithets +applied in Shakespeare's time to the rogue, and the wanton. + +The Bulrush (_Scirpus lacustris_) is a tall, aquatic plant, which +belongs to the Sedge tribe. It name was formerly spelt "Pole Rush," +and was given because this grows in pools of water, and not like +other Rushes, in mire. Bottoms of chairs are frequently made with +its stems. Its seed is prepared medicinally, being astringent and +somewhat sedative; "So soporiferous," says Gerard, "that care must +be had in the administration thereof, lest in provoking sleep you +induce a drowsiness, or dead sleep." Street hawkers, in Autumn, +offer as Bulrushes the tall, round spikes of the Great Reed Mace, +which is not a true Rush. Artists are responsible in the first instance +for the mistake--notably Paul De la Roche, in his famous picture of +"The Finding of Moses." The future great leader of the Israelites is +there depicted in an ark amid a forest of Great Cat's-tail Reeds. + +The flowering Rush, or water gladiole, which grows by the banks of +rivers is called botanically "butomus," from the Greek, _bous_, an +ox, and _temno_, to cut, because the sharp edges of the erect +three-cornered leaf-blades wound the cattle which come in contact with +them, or try to eat them. Its root is highly esteemed in Russia for the +cure of hydrophobia, being regarded by the doctors as a specific for +that disease. Its flowers are large, and of a splendid rose colour. The +seeds promote the monthly flow in women, act on disordered +kidneys, prove astringent against fluxes, and serve to woo sleep in +nervous wakefulness. Gerard tells that "the seed [482] of Rushes +drieth the overmuch flowing of women's termes." + +The Reed Mace, or Cat's-tail, is often incorrectly called Bulrush, +though it is a typha (_tuphos_, marsh) plant. + +The Bog Asphodel (_Narthecium ossifragum_) grows in bogs, and +bears a spike of yellow, star-like flowers. Its second nominative was +given to signify its causing the bones of cattle which feed thereon +to become soft; but probably this morbid state is incurred rather +through the exhalations arising from the bogs where the cattle are +pastured. To the same plant has been given also the name "Mayden +heere," because young damsels formerly used it for making their +hair yellow. + +The Great Cat's-tail (_Typha palustris_), or Great Reed Mace, a +perennial reed common in Great Britain, affords by the tender white +part of its stalks when peeled near the root, a crisp, cooling, +pleasant article of food. This is eaten raw with avidity by the +Cossacks. Aristophanes makes mention of the Mace in his comedy of +frogs who were glad to have spent their day skipping about _inter +Cyperum et Phleum_, among Galingale and Cat's-tail. Sacred +pictures which represent our Saviour wearing the crown of thorns, +place this reed in His hands as given Him in mockery for a kingly +Mace. The same _Typha_ has been further called "Dunse-down," +from making persons "dunch," or deaf, if its soft spikes accidentally +run into the ears. "_Ejus enim paniculoe flos si aures intraverit, +exsurdat_." It is reasonable to suppose that, on the principle of +similars, a preparation of this plant, if applied topically within the +ear, as well as taken medicinally, will be curative of a like deafness. +Most probably the injury to the hearing caused by the spikes at first +is toxic as well as of the nature of an injury. The Poet Laureate sings +of "Sleepy breath made sweet [483] with Galingale" (_Cyperus +longus_). Other names again are, "Chimney-sweeper's brush"; +"Blackheads" until ripe, then "Whiteheads"; and "Water torch," +because its panicles, if soaked in oil, will burn like a torch. + + + +SAFFRON (Meadow and Cultivated). + +The Meadow Saffron (_Colchicum autumnale_) is a common wild +Crocus found in English meadows, especially about the Midland +districts. The flower appears in the autumn before the leaves and +fruit, which are not produced until the following spring. Its corollae +resemble those of the true Saffron, a native of the East, but long +cultivated in Great Britain, where it is sometimes found apparently +wild. They are plants of the Iris order. + +From the Meadow Saffron is obtained a corm or bulb, dug up in the +spring, of which the well-known tincture of colchicum, a specific +for rheumatism, is made; and from the true Saffron flowers are +taken the familiar orange red stigmata, which furnish the fragrant +colouring matter used by confectioners in cakes, and by the +apothecary for his syrup of Saffron, etc. + +The flower of the Meadow Saffron rises bare from the earth, and is, +therefore, called "Upstart" and "Naked Lady." This plant owes its +botanical name _Colchicum_, to Colchis, in Natalia, which +abounded in poisonous vegetables, and gave rise to the fiction about +the enchantress Medea. She renewed the vitality of her aged father, +AEneas, by drawing blood out of his veins and refilling them with +the juices of certain herbs. The fabled origin of the Saffron plant ran +thus. A certain young man named Crocus went to play at quoits in a +field with Mercurie, when the quoit of his companion happened by +misfortune to hit him on the head, whereby, before long, he died, to +the great sorrow of [484] his friends. Finally, in the place where he +had bled, Saffron was found to be growing: whereupon, the people, +seeing the colour of the chine as it stood, adjusted it to come of the +blood of Crocus, and therefore they gave it his name. The medicinal +properties of Colchicum have been known from a very early period. +In the reign of James the First (1615), Sir Theodore Mayerne +administered the bulb to his majesty together with the powder of +unburied skulls. In France, it has always been a favourite specific +for gout; and during the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, it became very +fashionable under the name of _Eau Medicinale_; but the remedy is +somewhat dangerous, and should never be incautiously used. +Instances are on record where fatal results have followed too large a +medicinal dose, even on the following day, after taking sixty drops +of the wine of Colchicum overnight; and when given in much +smaller doses it sometimes acts as a powerfully irritating purgative, +or as an emetic. The medicine should not be employed except by a +doctor; its habitual use is very harmful. + +The acrimony of the bulb may be modified in a measure if it, or its +seeds, are steeped in vinegar before being taken as a medicine. + +The French designate the roots of the Meadow Saffron (_Colchicum_) +as "_Tue-chien_"; "_morte aux chiens_," "death to dogs." + +Alexander of Tralles, a Greek physician of the sixth century, was +the first to advise Colchicum (_Hermodactylon_) for gout, with the +effect that patients, immediately after its exhibition, found +themselves able to walk. "But," said he, and with shrewd truth, "it +has this bad property, that it disposes those who take it curatively +for gout or rheumatism, to be afterwards more frequently attacked +with the disease than before." + +[485] Our druggists supply an officinal tincture of Colchicum +(Meadow Saffron) made from the seeds, the dose of which is from +ten to thirty drops, with a spoonful of water; also a wine infused +from the bulb, of which the dose is the same as that of the tincture, +twice or three times a day; and an acetous extract prepared from the +thickened juice of the crushed bulbs, of which from half to two +grains may be given in a pilule, or dissolved in water, twice or three +times a day, until the active symptoms are subdued, and then less +often for another day or two afterwards. The most important +chemical constituent of the bulb, flowers, and seeds, is "Colchicin." +Besides this there are contained starch, gum, sugar, tannin, and +some fatty resinous matter. There is also a fixed oil in the seeds. + +_Crocus vernus_, the True Saffron, grows wild about Halifax, and +in the neighbourhood of Derby; but for commercial uses the supply +of stigmata is had from Greece, and Asia Minor. This plant was +cultivated in England as far back as during the reign of Edward the +Third. It is said that a pilgrim then brought from the Levant to +England the first root of Saffron, concealed in a hollow staff, doing +the same thing at the peril of his life, and planting such root at +Saffron Walden, in Essex, whence the place has derived its name. + +The stigmata are picked out, then dried in a kiln, over a hair cloth, +and pressed afterwards into cakes, of which the aromatic quality is +very volatile. The plant was formerly cultivated at Saffron Walden, +where it was presented in silver cups by the Corporation to some of +our sovereigns, who visited Walden for the ceremony. Five guineas +were paid by the Corporation for the pound of Saffron which they +purchased for Queen Elizabeth; and to constitute this quantity forty +[486] thousand flowers were required. The City Arms of Walden +bears three Saffron plants, as given by a Charter of Edward the +Sixth. Saffron Hill, in Holborn, London, belonged formerly to Ely +House, and got its name from the crops of saffron which were +grown there: "_Occult? Spolia hi Croceo de colle ferebant_" (Comic +Latin Grammar). + +In our rural districts there is a popular custom of giving Saffron tea +in measles, on the doctrine of colour analogy; to which notion may +likewise be referred the practice of adding Saffron to the drinking +water of canaries when they are moulting. + +In England, it was fashionable during the seventh century to make +use of starch stained yellow with Saffron; and in an old cookery +book of that period, it is directed that "Saffron must be put into all +Lenten soups, sauces, and dishes; also that without Saffron we +cannot have well-cooled peas." Confectioners were wont to make +their pastry attractive with Saffron. So the Clown says in +Shakespeare's _Winter's Tale_, "I must have Saffron to colour the +warden pies." We read of a Saffron-tub in the kitchen of Bishop +Swinfield, 1296. During the fourteenth century Saffron was +cultivated in the herbarium of the manor-house, and the castle. +Throughout Devonshire this product is quoted to signify anything +costly. + +Henry the Eighth forbade persons to colour with Saffron the long +locks of hair worn then, and called Glibbes. Lord Bacon said, "the +English are rendered sprightly by a liberal use of Saffron in +sweetmeats and broth": also, "Saffron conveys medicine to the +heart, cures its palpitation, removes melancholy and uneasiness, +revives the brain, renders the mind cheerful, and generates +boldness." The restorative plant has been termed "_Cor hominis_;" +"_Anima_ [487] _pulmonum_," "the Heart of Man"; and there is an +old saying alluding to one of a merry temper, "_Dormivit in sacco +Croci_," "he has slept in a sack of Saffron." It was called by the +ancients "_Aurum philosophorum_," contracted to "_Aroph_." Also, +_Sanguis Herculis_, and _Rex Vegetabilium_, "being given with +good success to procure bodily lust." The English word Saffron +comes from the Arabian--_Zahafram_--whilst the name Crocus of +this golden plant is taken from the Greek_ krokee_--a thread-- +signifying the dry thin stigmata of the flower. Old Fuller wrote "the +Crocodile's tears are never true save when he is forced where +Saffron groweth (whence he hath his name of _Croco-deilos_, or the +Saffron-fearer), knowing himself to be all poison, and it all +antidote." Frequently Marigold stigmata are cheaply used for +adulterating the true Saffron. + +Homer introduces Saffron as one of the flowers which formed the +nuptial couch of Jupiter: and Solomon mentioned it as growing in +his garden: "Spikenard and saffron: calamus, and cinnamon" +(_Canticles_ iv., 14). Pliny states that wine in which Saffron was +macerated gave a fragrant odour to theatres about which it was +sprinkled. The Cilician doctors advised Cleopatra to take Saffron for +clearing her complexion. + +The medicinal use of Saffron has always obtained amongst the +Orientals. According to a treatise, _Croco-logia_ (1670), by +Hartodt, it was then employed as a medicine, as a pigment, and for +seasoning various kinds of food. The colouring matter of Saffron is +a substance called polychroite, or crocin; and its slightly stimulating +properties depend upon a volatile oil. + +Boerhaave said that Saffron possesses the power of liquefying the +blood; hence, "Women who use it too freely suffer from immoderate +menses." A tincture is [488] made (H.) from the Saffron of +commerce, which is of essential use for controlling female +haemorrhages. Four or five drops of the tincture may be given with a +spoonful of water every three or four hours for this purpose. The +same tincture is good for impaired vision, when there is a sense of +gauze before the eyes, which the person tries to wink, or wipe away. +Smelling strongly and frequently at the Hay Saffron of commerce +(obtained from Spain and France), will cause headache, stupor, and +heavy sleep; whilst, during its internal use, the urine becomes of a +deep yellow colour. + +Of the syrup of Saffron, which is a slightly stimulating exhilarant, +and which possesses a rich colour, from one to two teaspoonfuls +may be given for a dose, with two tablespoonfuls of cold water. It +serves to energise the organs within the middle trunk of both males +and females; also to recruit an exhausted brain. + +In Devonshire, Saffron used to be regarded as a most valuable +remedy to restore consumptive patients, even when far advanced in +the disease, and it was, therefore, esteemed of great worth:-- + + "Nec poteris croci dotes numerare, nec usus." + +Saffron is such a special remedy for those that have consumption of +the lungs, and are--as we term it--at death's door, and almost past +breathing, "that it bringeth breath again, and prolongeth life for +certain days, if ten, or twenty grains at most, be given in new, or +sweet wine. It presently, and in a moment, removeth away difficulty +of breathing, which most dangerously and suddenly happeneth." + +In Westphalia, an apple mixed with Saffron, on the doctrine of +signatures, is given on Easter Monday, against jaundice. Evelyn +tells us: "The German [489] housewives have a way of forming +Saffron into balls; by mingling it with a little honey, which, when +thoroughly dried, they reduce to powder, and sprinkle it over their +sallets for a noble cordial." Those of Spain and Italy, we know, +generally make use of this flower, mingling its golden tincture with +almost everything they eat. But, an excessive use of Saffron proves +harmful. It will produce an intense pain in the head, and imperil the +reason. Half-a-scruple, _i.e._, ten grains, should be the largest dose. +In fuller doses this tincture will provoke a determination of blood to +the head, with bleeding from the nose, and sometimes with a +disposition to immoderate laughter. Small doses, therefore, of the +diluted tincture, ought to relieve these symptoms when they occur as +spontaneous illness. The inhabitants of Eastern countries regard +Saffron as a fine restorative, and nuptial invitations are often +powdered by them with this medicament. + +In Ireland women dye their sheets with Saffron to preserve them +from vermin, and to strengthen their own limbs. + + "Green herbs, red pepper, mussels, _Saffron_, + Soles, onions, garlic, roach and dace; + All these you eat at Ferre's tavern + In that one dish of bouillabaisse." + --_Thackeray_. + + + +SAGE. + +Our garden Sage, a familiar occupant of the English herb bed, was +formerly celebrated as a medicine of great virtue. This was the +_Elalisphakos_ of the Greeks, so called from its dry and withered +looking leaves. It grows wild in the South of Europe, but is a +cultivated Simple in England, France, and Germany. Like other +labiate herbs [490] it is aromatic and fragrant, because containing a +volatile, camphoraceous, essential oil. + +All parts of the plant have a strong-scented odour, and a warm, +bitter, astringent taste. The Latin name, _Salvia_, has become +corrupted through _Sauja_, _sauge_, to Sage, and is derived from +_salvere_, "to be sound," in reference to the medicinally curative +properties of the plant. + +A well-known monkish line about it ran to this effect: _Cur moriatur +homo cui Salvia crescit in horto_? "Why should a man die whilst +Sage grows in his garden?" And even at this time, in many parts of +England, the following piece of advice is carefully adopted every +year:-- + + "He that would live for aye + Must eat Sage in May." + +During the time of Charlemagne, the school of Salerno thought so +highly of Sage that they originated the dictum quoted above of +Saracenic old pharmacy, but they wisely added a second line:-- + + "Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis." + +The essential oil of the herb may be more readily dissolved in a +spirituous than in a watery vehicle. Of this, the active principle is +"salviol," which confers the power of resisting putrefaction on +animal substances; whilst the bitterness and condimentary pungency +of the herb enable the stomach to digest rich, luscious meats and +gravies, if it be eaten therewith. + +Hence has arisen the custom of stuffing ducks for the table, and +geese, with the conventional Sage and onions. Or there is no better +way of taking Sage as a stomachic wholesome herb than by eating it +with bread and butter. In Buckinghamshire a tradition maintains +[491] that the wife rules where Sage grows vigorously in the garden: +and it is believed that this plant will thrive or wither, just as the +owner's business prospers or fails. George Whitfield, when at +Oxford (1733), took only Sage-tea, with sugar, and coarse bread. + +Old sayings tell of the herb, as _Salvia salvatrix; naturoe +conciliatrix_; and the line runs:-- + + "Salvia cum rutâ faciunt tibi pocula tuta." + +recommending to plant Rue among the Sage so as to keep away +noxious toads. + +The Chinese are as fond of Sage as we are of their fragrant teas; +and the Dutch once carried on a profitable trade with them, by +exchanging a pound of Sage leaves for each three-pound parcel of +tea. + +It was formerly thought that Sage, if used in the making of cheese, +improved its flavour. + + "Marbled with Sage the hardening cheese she pressed." + --_Gay_. + +"Sage," says Gerard, "is singular good for the head and brain; it +quickeneth the senses and memory; strengtheneth the sinews; +restoreth health to those that hath the palsy; and takes away shaky +trembling of the members." Agrippa called it "the holy herb," +because women with child, if they be likely to come before their +time, "do eat thereof to their great good." + +Pepys, in his well-known Diary says, "between Gosport and +Southampton we observed a little churchyard where it is customary +to sow all the graves with Sage." In _Franche Comte_ the herb is +supposed to mitigate grief, mental and bodily. + + "Salvia comfortat nervos, manuumque tremorem + Tollit; et ejus ope febris acuta fugit." + + "Sage helps the nerves, and by its powerful might + Palsy is cured, and fever put to flight." + +[492] But if Sage be smelt for some time it will cause a sort of +intoxication, and giddiness. The leaves, when dried and smoked in a +pipe as tobacco, will lighten the brain. + +In Sussex, a peasant will munch Sage leaves on nine consecutive +mornings, whilst fasting, to cure ague. + +A strong infusion of the herb has been used with success to dry up +the breast milk for weaning; and as a gargle Sage leaf tea, when +sweetened with honey, serves admirably. This decoction, when +made strong, is an excellent lotion for ulcers, and to heal raw +abrasions of the skin. The herb may be applied externally ill bags as +a hot fomentation. Some persons value the Wormwood Sage more +highly than either of the other varieties. + +In the Sage flower the stamens swing round their loosely-connected +anther cells against the back of any blundering bee who is in search +of honey, just as in olden days the bag of sand caught the shoulders +of a clumsy youth when tilting at the Quintin. + +Wild Meadow Sage (_Salvia verbenaca_), or Meadow Clary, grows +in our dry pastures, but somewhat rarely, though it is better known +as a cultivated herb in our kitchen gardens. The leaves and flowers +afford a volatile oil, which is fragrant and aromatic. + +Some have attributed the name _Salvia sclarea_, Clary (Clear eye) +to the fact of the seeds being so mucilaginous, that when the eye is +invaded by any small foreign body, their decoction will remove the +same by acting as an emulsion to lubricate it away. The leaves and +flowers may be usefully given in an infusion for hysterical colic and +similar troubles connected with nervous weakness. Also they make +a pleasant fermented wine. The Wood Sage is the Wood Germander, +[493] _Teucrium scorodinia_, a woodland plant with sage-like +leaves, containing a volatile oil, some tannin, and a bitter principle. +This plant has been used as a substitute for hops. It was called "hind +heal" from curing the hind when sick, or wounded, and was +probably the same herb as _Elaphoboscum_, the Dittany, taken by +harts in Crete. A snuff has been made from its powder to cure nasal +polypi: also the infusion (freshly prepared), should be given +medicinally, two tablespoonfuls for a dose: or, of the powder, from +thirty to forty grains. The name "Germander" is a corruption from +Chamoedrys, _chamai_, ground, and _drus_, oak, because the +leaves are like those of the oak. + + + +SAINT JOHN'S WORT (_see page_ 287) + + + +SAVIN. + +Savin, the Juniper Savin (_Sabina_), or Saffern, is a herb which +grows freely in our bed of garden Simples, if properly cared for, and +which possesses medicinal virtues of a potential nature. The shrub is +a native of southern Europe, being a small evergreen plant, the twigs +of which are densely covered with little leaves in four rows, having +a strong, peculiar, unpleasant odour of turpentine, with a bitter, +acrid, resinous taste. The young branchlets are collected for +medicinal use. They contain tannin, resin, a special volatile oil, and +extractive matters. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the fresh leaves, and the +points of the shoots of the cultivated Savin. But this is a powerful +medicine, and must be used with caution. In small doses of two or +three drops with a tablespoonful of cold water it is of singular +efficacy for arresting an active florid flux from the [494] womb at +the monthly times of women when occurring too profusely, the +remedy being given every two, three, or four hours. Or from one to +four grains of powdered Savin may be taken instead of each dose of +the tincture. + +The stimulating virtues of Savin befit it for cleansing carbuncles, +and for benefiting baldness. When mixed with honey it has removed +freckles with success; the leaves, dried and powdered, serve, when +applied, to dispel obstinate warty excrescences about the genitals. + +Rubbed together with cerate, or lard, powdered Savin is used for +maintaining the sores of blisters, and of issues, open when it is +desired to keep up their derivative action. + +The essential oil will stimulate the womb to functional activity +when it is passively congested and torpid. As to its elementary +composition this oil closely resembles the spirit of turpentine; and +when given in small well diluted doses as a tincture (made of the oil +mixed with spirit of wine), such medicine does good service in +relieving rheumatic pains and swellings connected with impaired +health of the womb. For these purposes the ordinary tincture (H.) of +Savin should be mixed, one part thereof with nine parts of spirit of +wine, and given in doses of from six to ten drops with a +tablespoonful of water. Dr. Pereira says about the herb: "According +to my own observation, Savin is the most certain and powerful +stimulator of the monthly courses in the whole of our _Materia +Medica_; and I never saw any ill effects result from its +administration." The essential oil may be preferred in a dose of from +one to four drops on sugar, or in milk, when this functional activity +is sought. + +Savin was known of old as the "Devil's Tree," and the "Magician's +Cypress," because much affected by witches and sorcerers when +working their spells. + + + +[495] SCURVY GRASS. + +One of the roost useful, but not best known, of the Cruciferous wild +plants which are specifics against Scrofula is our English Scurvy +Grass. + +It grows by choice near the sea shore, or in mountainous places; and +even when found many miles from the sea its taste is Salt. It occurs +along the muddy banks of the Avon; also in Wales, and in +Cumberland, more commonly near the coast, and likewise on the +mountains of Scotland; again it may be readily cultivated in the +garden for medicinal uses. If eaten as a salad in its fresh state it +is the most effectual of all the antiscorbutic plants. + +The herb is produced with an angular smooth shilling stem, twelve +or fourteen inches high, having narrow green leaves, and +terminating in thick clusters of white flowers. Its leaves are good +and wholesome when eaten in spring with bread and butter. The +juice, when diluted with water, makes a good mouth-wash for +spongy gums. + +The whole plant contains tannin, and a bitter principle, which is +butyl-mustard oil, and on which the medicinal properties depend. +This oil is of great volatility and penetrating power; one drop +instilled on sugar, or dissolved in spirit, communicates to a quart of +wine the taste and smell of Scurvy Grass. + +The fresh plant taken as such, or the expressed fresh juice, confers +the benefits of the herb in by far the most effectual way. A distilled +water, and a conserve prepared with the leaves, were formerly +dispensed by druggists; and the fresh juice mixed with that of +Seville oranges went by the name of "spring drinks," or "juices." + +The plant is found in large quantities at Lymington [496] (Hants), +on low banks almost dipping into the sea. Its expressed juice was +formerly taken in beer, or boiled in milk as a decoction, flavoured +with pepper, aniseed, etc. + +This Scurvy Grass has the botanical name _Cochlearia_, or, in +English, Spoonwort, so named from its leaves resembling in shape +the bowl of an old-fashioned spoon. It is supposed to be the famous +_Herba Britannica_ of the ancients. Our great navigators have borne +unanimous testimony to its never-failing value in scurvy; and it has +been justly noticed that the plant grows most plentifully in altitudes +where scurvy is specially troublesome and frequent. The green herb +bruised may be applied as a poultice. + +For making a decoction of the plant as a blood purifier, and against +scurvy, put two ounces of the whole plant and its roots into a quart +jug, and fill up with boiling water, taking care to keep this well +covered. When it is cold take a wineglassful thereof three, or four +times in the day. + +Another name for the plant is Scruby grass. The fresh herb has a +strong pungent odour when bruised, and a warm bitter taste. Its +beneficial uses in scurvy, are due to the potash salts which it +contains. Externally, the juice will cleanse and heal foul ulcers, +and ill-favoured eruptions. + + + +SEA PLANTS and SEA WEEDS. + +Of marine plants commonly found, the Samphire and the Sea Holly +have certain domestic and medicinal uses which give them +a position as Simples; and of the more ordinary Sea Weeds +(cryptogamous, or flowerless plants) some few are edible, though +sparingly nutritious, whilst curative and medicinal virtues are +attributed to several others, as Irish Moss, Scotch Dulse, Sea Tang, +and the [497] Bladderwrack. It may be stated broadly that the Sea +Weeds employed as remedial Simples owe their powers to the +bromine, iodine, and sulphate of soda which they contain. Pliny and +Dioscorides in their days extolled the qualities of various Sea +Weeds; and practitioners of medicine on our sea coasts are now +unanimous in pronouncing Sea Weed liniments, and poultices, as of +undoubted value in reducing glandular swellings, and in curing +obstinate sprains; whilst they administer the Bladderwrack, etc., +internally for alterative purposes with no little success. Bits of Sea +Weed, called Ladies' trees, are still to be seen as chimney ornaments +in many a Cornish cottage, being fixed on small stands, and +supposed to protect the dwelling from fire, or other mishaps. + +Samphire, of the true sort, is a herb difficult to be gathered, because +it grows only out of the crevices of lofty perpendicular rocks which +cannot be easily scaled. This genuine Samphire (_Crithmum +maritimum_) is a small plant, bearing yellow flowers in circular +umbels on the tops of the stalks, which flowers are followed by +seeds like those of the Fennel, but larger. + +The leaves are juicy, with a warm aromatic taste, and may be put +into sauce; or they make a good appetising condimentary pickle, +which is wholesome for scrofulous subjects. Persons living by the +coast cook this plant as a pot herb. Formerly, it was regularly cried +in the London streets, and was then called Crest Marine. + +Shakespeare alludes in well-known lines to the hazardous +proceedings of the Samphire gatherer's "dreadful trade":-- + + "How fearful + And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low! + The crows and choughs that wing the midway air + Show scarce so gross as beetles: half-way down + _Hangs one that gathers Samphire_: dreadful trade! + Methinks he seems to bigger than his head."--_King Lear_. + +[498] And Evelyn has praised the plant for excellence of flavour, as +well as for aromatic virtues against the spleen. Pliny says Samphire +is the very herb that the good country wife Hecate prepared for +Theseus when going against the Bull of Marathon. + +Its botanic name is from the Greek _crithe_, "barley," because the +seeds are thought to resemble that grain. The title Samphire is +derived from the French _Herbe de St. Pierre_, because the roots +strike deep in the crevices of rocks. St. Peter's Wort has become +corrupted to Sampetre, Sampier, and Samphire. + +A spurious Samphire, the _Inula crithmoides_, or Golden Samphire, +is often supplied in lieu of the real plant, though it has a different +flavour, and few of the proper virtues. This grows more abundantly +on low rocks, and on ground washed by salt water. Also a Salicornia, +or jointed Glasswort, or Saltwort, or Crabgrass, is sold as +Samphire for a pickle, in the Italian oil shops. + +Gerard says of Samphire: "It is the pleasantest sauce, most familiar, +and best agreeing with man's body." "Preferable," adds Evelyn, "for +cleansing the passages, and sharpening appetite, to most of our +hotter herbs, and salad ingredients." + +The Sea Holly (_Eryngium maritimum_), or Sea Hulver, is a +well-known prickly sea-green plant, growing in the sand on many parts +of our coasts, or on stony ground, with stiff leaves, and roots which +run to a great length among the sand, whilst charged with a sweetish +juice. + +A manufactory for making candied roots of the Sea Holly was +established at Colchester, by Robert Burton, an apothecary, in the +seventeenth century, as they were considered both antiscorbutic, and +excellent for health. + +[499] Gerard says: "The roots, if eaten, are good for those that be +liver sick; and they ease cramps, convulsions, and the falling +sickness. If condited, or preserved with sugar, they are exceeding +good to be given to old and aged people that are consumed and +withered with age, and which want natural moisture." He goes on to +give an elaborate receipt how to condite the roots of Sea Holly, or +Eringos (which title is, according to Liddell and Scott, the +diminutive of _eerungos_, "the beard of a goat." Or, Eryngo has +been derived from the Greek _eruggarein_, to eructate, because the +plant is, according to herbalists, a specific against belching). With +healthy provers, who have taken the Sea Holly experimentally in +toxical doses of varying strength the sexual energies and instincts +became always depressed. This accounts for the fact that during the +Elizabethan era, the roots of the plant used _in moderation_ were +highly valued for renovating masculine vigour, such as Falstaff +invoked, and which classic writers have extolled:-- + + "Non male turn graiis florens eryngus in hortis + Quaeritur; hunc gremio portet si nupta virentem + Nunquam inconcessos conjux meditabitur ignes." + --_Rapinus_. + +These Eryngo roots, prepared with sugar, were then called "Kissing +Comfits." Lord Bacon when recommending the yolks of eggs for +giving strength if taken with Malmsey, or sweet wine, says: "You +shall doe well to put in some few slices of Eringium roots, and a +little Ambergrice: for by this means, besides the immediate facultie +of nourishment, such drinke will strengthen the back." + +Plutarch writes: "They report of the Sea Holly, if one goat taketh it +into her mouth, it causeth her first to stand still, and afterwards the +whole flock, until such [500] time as the shepherd takes it from her." +Boerhaave thought the root "a principal aperient." + +Irish Moss, or _Carraigeen_, is abundant on our rocky coasts, and is +collected on the north western shores of Ireland, while some of it +comes to us from Hamburg. Its chief constituent is a kind of +mucilage, which dissolves to a stiff paste in boiling water, this +containing some iodine, and much sulphur. But before being boiled +in water or milk, the Moss should be soaked for an hour or more in +cold water. Officinally, a decoction is ordered to be made with an +ounce of the Moss to a pint of water: of which from one to four fluid +ounces may be taken for a dose. + +This Lichen contains starchy, heat-giving nourishment, about six +parts of the same to one of flesh-forming food; therefore its jelly is +found to be specially sustaining to persons suffering from +pulmonary consumption, with an excessive waste of the bodily heat. +At one time the Irish Moss fetched as high a price as half-a-crown +for the pound. It bears the botanical name of _Chondrus crispus_, +and varies much in size and colour. When growing in small pools, it +is shallow, pale, and stunted; whilst when found at the bottom of a +deep pool, or in the shadow of a great rock, it occurs in dense +masses of rich ruddy purple, with reddish green thick fronds. + +Iceland Moss contains the form of starch called "lichenin." It is a +British lichen found especially in Wales and Scotland. Most +probably the Icelanders were the first to learn its helpful properties. +In two kinds of pulmonary consumption this lichen best promotes a +cure-that with active bleeding from the lungs, and that with profuse +purulent expectoration. The Icelanders boil the Moss in broth, or dry +it in cakes used as bread. They likewise make gruel of it mixed +[501] with milk: but the first decoction of it in water, being +purgative, is always thrown away. An ounce of the Iceland Moss +boiled for a quarter-of-an-hour in a pint of milk, or water, will yield +seven ounces of thick mucilage. This has been found particularly +useful in dysentery. Also contained in the Moss are cetrarin, +uncrystallizable sugar, gum, and green wax; with potash, and +phosphate of lime. It affords help in diabetes, and for general +atrophy; being given also in powder, or syrup, or mixed with +chocolate. Francatelli directs for making _Iceland Moss Jelly_. Boil +four ounces of the Moss in one quart of water: then add the juice of +two lemons, and a bit of the rind, with four ounces of sugar (and +perhaps a gill of sherry?). Boil up and remove the scum from the +surface. Strain the jelly through a muslin bag into a basin, and set it +aside to become cold. It may be eaten thus, but it is more efficacious +when taken warm. A Sea-Moss, the _Lichen marinum_, is "a singular +remedy to strengthen the weakness of the back." It is called +"Oister-green." + +In New England the generic term "Moss" is a cant word signifying +money: perhaps as a contraction of Mopuses, or as a play on the +proverb, "a rolling stone gathers no moss." + +The Dulse is used in Scotland and Ireland both as food and +medicine. Botanically it bears the name of _Iridea edulis_, or +_Rhodymenia palmata_ (the sugar _Fucus_ of Iceland). + +There is a saying in Scotland: "He who eats of the Dulse of Guerdie, +and drinks of the wells Kindingie, will escape all maladies except +black death." This marine weed contains within its cellular structure +much iodine, which makes it a specific remedy for scrofulous +glandular enlargements, or morbid deposits. + +[502] In Ireland the Dulse is first well washed in fresh water, and +exposed in the air to dry, when it gives out a white powdery +substance, which is sweet and palatable, covering the whole plant. +The weed is presently packed in cases, and protected from the air, so +that being thus preserved, it may either be eaten as it is, or boiled +in milk, and mixed with flour of rye. The powdery substance is +"mannite," which is abundant likewise on many of our Sea Weeds. + +Cattle and sheep are very fond of Dulse, for which reason in +Norway it is known as Soudsell, or Sheep's Weed. This _Iridea +edulis_ is pinched with hot irons by the fishermen in the south west +of England, So as to make it taste like an oyster. In Scotland it is +roasted in the frying-pan. + +The Maritime Sea Tang (_Laminaria digitata_) was belauded in the +_Proverbial Philosophy_ of Martin Tupper:-- + + "Health is in the freshness of its savour; and it cumbereth the + beach with wealth; + Comforting the tossings of pain with its violet tinctured Essence." + +Tang signifies Anglo-Saxon "thatch," from Sea Weed having been +formerly used instead of straw to cover the roofs of houses. When +bruised and applied by way of a poultice to scrofulous swellings and +glandular tumours, the Sea Tang has been found very valuable. The +famous John Hunter was accustomed to employ a poultice of sea-water +and oatmeal. + +This weed is of common marine growth, consisting of a wide +smooth-brown frond, with a thick round stem, and broad brown +ribbons like a flag at the end of it. It is familiarly known as +Seagirdles, Tangle, Sea Staff, Sea Wand, and Cows' Tails. Fisher +boys cut up the stems as handles for knives, or hooks, because, after +the haft of [503] the blade is inserted within the stem, this dries, +and contracts on the iron staple, becoming densely hard and firm. + +The absorbent stem power of the _Laminaria_ for taking up iodine +is very large; and this element is afterwards brought out by fire in +the kelp kilns of Ireland and Scotland. Sea Tang acts most +beneficially against the various forms of scrofulous disease; and +signally relieves some rheumatic affections. It is also used largely +in the making of glass. + +Likewise for scrofula, seawater, being rich in chlorides and iodides, +has proved both curative and preventive. Dr. Sena, of Valencia, +gave bread made with sea-water in the Misericordia Hospital for +cases of scrofulous disease, and other states of defective nutrition, +with singular success. + +Another Laminaria (_Saccharina_), with a single olive yellow +semi-transparent frond, yields an abundance of sweet "mannit" when +boiled and evaporated. + +The Bladderwrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_), Kelpware, or Our Lady's +Wrack, is found on most of our sea coasts in heavy brown masses of +coarse-looking Sea Weed, which cover, and shelter many small +algae. Kelp is an impure carbonate of soda containing sulphate, and +chloride of sodium, with a little charcoal. + +By its characteristic bladders, or vesicles studded about the blades +of the branched narrowish fronds, this Sea Weed may be easily +known. + +These bladders are full of a glutinous substance, which makes the +weed valuable both as a remedy for the glandular troubles of +scrofula, and, when bottled in rum, as an embrocation, such as is +specially useful for strengthening the limbs of rickety, or +bandy-legged children. Against glandular swellings also the weed is +[504] taken internally as a medicine, when burnt to a black powder. +An analysis of the Bladderwrack has shown it to contain an +empyreumatic oil, sulphur, earthy salts, some iron, and iodine +freely. Thus it is very rich in anti-scrofulous elements. + +The fluid extract of this Sea Weed has the long standing reputation +of safely diminishing an excess of personal fat. It is given for such +a purpose three times a day, shortly after meals, in doses of +from one to four teaspoonfuls. The remedy should be continued +perseveringly, whilst cutting down the supplies of fat, starchy foods, +sugar, and malt liquors. When thus taken (as likewise in the +concentrated form of a pill, if preferred) the Bladderwrack will +especially relieve rheumatic pains; and the sea pod liniment +dispensed by many druggists at our chief marine health resorts, +proves signally efficacious towards the same end. Furthermore, they +prepare a sea-pod essence for applying on a wet compress beneath +waterproof tissue to strumous tumours, goitre, and bronchocele; also +for old strains and bruises. + +This Sea Weed should not be obtained when too fully matured, as it +quickly undergoes decomposition. + +Wrack is Sea Weed thrown ashore, from _Vrage_, to reject. Wrack +Grass (_Zostera Marina_), is a marine plant with long grass-like +leaves. + +There are four common Fuci on our coasts--the _Nodosus_ (Knobbed +Wrack), the _Vesiculosus_ (Bladder Wrack), the _Serratus_ +(Saw-edged Sea Weed), and the _Caniculatus_ (Channeled Sea Weed). + +It is by reason of its contained bromine and iodine as safe medicinal +elements, the _Fucus vesiculosus_ acts in reducing fatness; these +elements stimulating all the absorbent glands of the body to +increased activity. [505] In common with the other Fuci it furnishes +mannite, an odorous oil, a bitter principle, mucilage, and ash, this +last constituent abounding in the bromine and iodine. + +For internal use, a decoction may be made with from two to four +drachms of the weed to a pint of water, boiled together for a few +minutes; and for external application to enlarged or hardened +glands, the bruised weed may be applied as a cold poultice. + +This Bladder Wrack is reputed to be the _Anti-polyscarcique_ +nostrum of Count Mattaei. + +Although diminishing fat it does no harm by inducing any atrophied +wasting of the breast glands, or of the testicles. + +The Bladderwrack yields a rich produce to the seaside agriculturist +highly useful as manure for the potato field and for other crops: and +it is gathered for this purpose all along the British coast. In Jersey +and Guernsey it is called _vraic_. Among the Hebrides, cheeses, +whilst drying, are covered with the ashes of this weed which +abounds in salt. Patients who have previously suffered much from +rheumatism about the body and limbs have found themselves +entirely free from any such pains or trouble whilst taking the extract +of _Fucus Vesiculosus_ (Bladderwrack). This Sea Weed is in +perfection only during early and middle summer. For fresh sprains +and bruises a hot decoction of the Bladderwrack should be used at +first as a fomentation; and, afterwards, a cold essence of the weed +should be rubbed in, or applied on wet lint beneath light thin +waterproof tissue, or oiled silk, as a compress: this to be changed as +often as hot or dry. + +Laver is the popular name given to some edible Sea Weeds--the +_Porphyra lanciniata_, and the _Ulva latissima_. The same title was +formerly bestowed by Pliny on an [506] aquatic plant now +unknown, and called also Sloke, or Sloken. + +_Porphyra_, from a Greek word meaning "purple," is the true Laver, +or Sloke. It is slimy, or semi-gelatinous of consistence when served +at table, having been stewed for several hours until quite tender, and +then being eaten with butter, vinegar, and pepper. At the London +Reform Club Laver is provided every day in a silver saucepan at +dinner, garnished with lemons, to flank the roast leg of mutton. +Others prefer it cooked with leeks and onions, or pickled, and eaten +with oil and lemon juice. The Englishman calls this Sea Weed, +Laver; the Irishman, Sloke; the Scotchman, Slack; and the student, +_Porphyra_. It varies in size and colour between tidemarks, being +sometimes long and ribbon-like, of a violet or purple hue; +sometimes long and broad, whilst changing to a reddish purple, or +yellow. + +It is very wholesome, and preventive of scurvy, being therefore +valuable on sea voyages, as it will keep good for a long time in +closed tin vessels. + +The _Ulva latissima_ is a deep-green Sea Weed, called by the +fishermen Oyster Green, because employed to cover over oysters. +This is likewise known as Laver, because sometimes substituted by +epicures for the true Laver (_Porphyra_) when the latter cannot be +got; but it is not by any means as good. The name _Ulva_ is from +_ul_, meaning "water." + +Sea Spinach (_Satsolacea--Spirolobea_) is a Saltwort found growing +on the shore in Hampshire and other parts of England, the best of all +wild vegetables for the table, having succulent leaves shaped like +worms, and being esteemed as an excellent antiscorbutic. + +The Sea Beet--a Chenopod--which grows plentifully on our shores, +gave origin to the cultivated Beetroot of [507] our gardens. Its name +was derived from a fancied resemblance borne by its seed vessels +when swollen with seed to the Greek letter B (_beta_). + + "Nomine cum Graio cui litera proxima primoe + Pangitur in cerâ doeti mucrone magistri." + + "The Greeks gave its name to the Beet from their alphabet's + second letter, + As an Attic teacher wrote it on wax with a sharp stiletto." + +By the Grecians the Beet was offered on silver to Apollo in his +temple at Delphi. A pleasant wine may be made from its roots, and +its juice when applied with a brush is an excellent cosmetic. The +Mangel Wurzel, also a variety of Beet, means literally, "scarcity +root." + +Another Sea Weed, the Bladderlocks (_Alaria esculenta_), +"henware," "honeyware," "murlins," is edible, the thick rib which +runs through the frond being the part chosen. This abounds on the +Northern coasts of England and Scotland, being of a clear olive +yellow colour, with a stem as thick as a small goosequill, varying in +length, with its fronds, from three to twenty feet. The fruit appears +as if partially covered with a brown crust consisting of transparent +spore cases set on a stalk in a cruciform manner. + +Common Coraline (_Corallina Anglica_), a Sea Weed of a whitish +colour, tinged with purple and green, and of a firm substance, is +famous for curing Worms. + +The presence of gold in sea water, even as surrounding our own +islands, has been sufficiently proved; though, as yet, its extraction +is a costly and uncertain process. One analyst has estimated that the +amount of gold contained in the oceans of the globe must be ten +million tons, without counting the possible quantity locked up in +floating icebergs about the Poles. + +Professor Liveredge, of the Sydney University, [508] examined sea +water collected off the Australian coast, as also some from Northern +shores, and obtained gold, from five-tenths to eight-tenths of a grain +per ton of the sea water. It occurs as the chloride, and the bromide of +gold; which salts, as recently shown by Dr. Compton Burnett, when +administered in doses almost infinitesimally small, are of supreme +value for the cure of epilepsy, secondary syphilis, sexual debility, +and some disorders of the heart. + +Dr. Russell wrote on the uses of sea water in diseases of the glands. +He found the soapy mucus within the vesicles of the Bladderwrack +an excellent resolvent, and most useful in dispersing scrofulous +swellings. He advises rubbing the tumour with these vesicles +bruised in the hand, and afterwards washing the part with sea water. + + + +SELFHEAL. + +Several Herbal Simples go by the name of Selfheal among our wild +hedge plants, more especially the Sanicle, the common Prunella, +and the Bugle. + +The first of these is an umbelliferous herb, growing frequently in +woods, having dull white flowers, in panicled heads, which are +succeeded by roundish seeds covered with hooked prickles: the +Wood Sanicle (_Europoea_). + +It gets its name Sanicle, perhaps, from the Latin verb _sanare_, "to +heal, or make sound;" or, possibly, as a corruption of St. Nicholas, +called in German St. Nickel, who, in the _Tale of a Tub_, is said to +have interceded with God in favour of two children whom an +innkeeper had murdered and pickled in a pork tub; and he obtained +their restoration to life. + +Anyhow, the name Sanicle was supposed in the middle ages to +mean "curative," whatever its origin: [509] thus, _Qui a la Bugle, et +la Sanicle fait aux chirurgiens la nicle_--"He who uses Sanicle and +Bugle need have no dealings with the doctor." Lyte and other +herbalists say concerning the Sanicle: "It makes whole and sound all +wounds and hurts, both inward and outward." + + "Celui qui Sanicle a + De plaie affaire il n'a." + + "Who the Sanicle hath + At the surgeon may laugh." + +The name Prunella (which belongs more rightly to another herb) has +been given to the Sanicle, perhaps, through its having been +originally known as Brunella, Brownwort, both because of the +brown colour of its spikes, and from its being supposed to cure the +disease called in Germany _die braune_, a kind of quinsy; on the +doctrine of signatures, because the corolla resembles a throat with +swollen glands. + +The Sanicle is popularly employed in Germany and France as a +remedy for profuse bleeding from the lungs, bowels, womb, and +urinary organs; also for the staying of dysenteric diarrhoea. The +fresh juice of the herb may be given in tablespoonful doses. + +As yet no analysis has been made of this plant; but evidence of +tannin in its several parts is afforded by the effects produced when +these are remedially applied. + +The _Prunella vulgaris_ is a distinct plant from the Self Heal, or +Sanicle, and belongs to the labiate order of herbs. It grows +commonly in waste places about England, and bears pink flowers, +being sometimes called Slough heal. This is incorrect, as the +surgical term "slough" was not used until long after the Prunella and +the Sanicle became named Self-heal. Each of these was applied as a +vulnerary, not to sloughing sores, but to fresh cut wounds. + +[510] The _Prunella Vulgaris_ has a flattened calyx, and whorls of +purplish blue flowers, which are collected in a head. It is also +known as Carpenter's Herb, perhaps, from its corolla, when seen in +profile, being shaped like a bill hook; and therefore, on the doctrine +of signatures, it was supposed to heal wounds inflicted by edge +tools; whence it was likewise termed Hook-heal and Sicklewort, +arid in Yorkshire, Black man. + +By virtue of its properties as a vulnerary it has also been called +_Consolida_; but the daisy is the true _Consolida minor_. + +"The decoction of Prunell," says Gerard, "made with wine and +water, doth join together and make whole and sound all wounds, +both inward and outward, even as Bugle doth. To be short, it serveth +for the same that the Bugle serveth; and in the world there are not +two better wound herbs, as bath been often proved." + +The Bugle, or middle Comfrey, is also a Sanicle, because of its +excellence for healing wounds, in common with the Prunella and the +true Sanicle. It grows in almost every wood, and copse, and moist +shadowy place, being constantly reckoned among the Consounds. + +This herb (_Ajuga reptans_) is of the labiate order, bearing dark +blue or purple flowers, whorled, and crowded into a spike. Its +decoction, "when drunk, healeth and maketh sound all wounds of +the body." "It is so singular good for all sorts of hurts that none who +know its usefulness will be ever without it. If the virtues of it make +you fall in love with it (as they will if you be wise), keep a syrup of +it, to take inwardly, and an ointment and plaister of it to use +outwardly, always by you." + +The chemical principles of the Prunella and the Bugle [511] +resemble those of other Labiate herbs, comprising a volatile +oil, some bitter principle, tannin, sugar, and cellulose. The +Ladies' Mantle, Alchemilla--a common inconspicuous weed, found +everywhere--is called Great Sanicle, also Parsley-breakstone, or +Piercestone, because supposed to be of great use against stone in the +bladder. It contains tannin abundantly, and is said to promote quiet +sleep if placed under the pillow at night. "_Endymionis somnum +dormire_." + + + +SHEPHERD'S PURSE. + +The small Shepherd's Purse (_Bursa Capsella Pastoris_) is one of +the most common of wayside English weeds. The name _Capsella_ +signifies a little box, in allusion to the seed pods. It is a +Cruciferous plant, made familiar by the diminutive pouches, or +flattened pods at the end of its branching stems. This herb is of +natural growth in most parts of the world, but varies in luxuriance +according to soil and situation, whilst thickly strewn over the +whole surface of the earth, facing alike the heat of the tropics, +and the rigours of the arctic regions; even, if trodden underfoot, +it rises again and again with ever enduring vitality, as if +designed to fulfil some special purpose in the far-seeing economy +of nature. It lacks the winged valves of the _Thlaspi_. + +Our old herbalists called it St. James's Wort, as a gift from that +Saint to the people for the cure of various diseases, St. Anthony's +Fire, and several skin eruptions. In France, too, the plant goes by +the title of _Fleur de Saint Jacques_. It flowers from early in +Spring until Autumn, and has, particularly in Summer, an acrid +bitter taste. Other names for the herb are, "Case weed," "Pick +pocket," and "Mother's heart," as called so by [512] children. +If a pod is picked they raise the cry, "You've plucked out +your mother's heart." Small birds are fond of the seeds. + +Bombelon, a French chemist, has reported most favourably about +this herb as of prompt use to arrest bleedings and floodings, when +given in the form of a fluid extract, one or two teaspoonfuls for a +dose. He explains that our hedge-row Simple contains a tannate, an +alkaloid "bursine," (which resembles sulphocyansinapine), and +bursinic acid, this last constituent being the active medicinal +principle. English chemists now prepare and dispense the fluid +extract of the herb. This is given for dropsy in the U. S. America as +a diuretic; from half to one teaspoonful in water for a dose. + +Dr. Von Ehrenwall relates a recent case of female flooding, which +had defied all the ordinary remedies, and for which, at the +suggestion of a neighbour, he tried an infusion of the Shepherd's +Purse weed, with the result that the bleeding stopped after the first +teacupful of the infusion had been taken a few minutes. Since then +he has used the plant in various forms of haemorrhage with such +success that he considers it the most reliable of our medicines for +staying fluxes of blood. "Shepherd's Purse stayeth bleeding in any +part of the body, whether the juice thereof be drunk, or whether it be +used poultice-like, or in bath, or any way else." + +Besides the ordinary constituents of herbs, it is found to contain six +per cent. of soft resin, together with a sulphuretted volatile oil, +which is identical with that of Mustard, as obtained likewise from +the bitter Candytuft, _Iberis amara_. + +Its medicinal infusion should be made with an ounce of the plant to +twelve ounces of water, reduced by [513] boiling to half-a-pint; then +a wineglassful may be given for a dose. + +The herb and its seeds were employed in former times to promote +the regular monthly flow in women. + +It bears, further, the name of Poor Man's Permacetty (or +Spermaceti), "the sovereignst remedy for bruises;"--"perhaps," says +Dr. Prior, "as a joke on the Latin name _Bursa pastoris_, or 'Purse,' +because to the poor man this is always his best remedy." And in +some parts of England the Shepherd's Purse is known as Clapper +Pouch, in allusion to the licensed begging of lepers at our crossways +in olden times with a bell and a clapper. They would call the +attention of passers-by with the bell, or with the clapper, and would +receive their alms in a cup, or a basin, at the end of a long pole. The +clapper was an instrument made of two or three boards, by rattling +which the wretched lepers incited people to relieve them. Thus they +obtained the name of Rattle Pouches, which appellation has been +extended to this small plant, in allusion to the little purses which it +hangs out by the wayside. Because of these miniature pockets the +herb is also named Toy Wort; and Pick Purse, through being +supposed to steal the goodness of the land from the farmer. In +Queen Elizabeth's time leper hospitals were common throughout +England; and many of the sufferers were banished to the Lizard, in +Cornwall. + +The Shepherd's Purse is now announced as the chief remedy of the +seven "marvellous medicines" prepared by Count Mattaei, of +Bologna, which are believed by his disciples to be curative of +diseases otherwise intractable, such as cancer, internal aneurism, +and destructive leprosy. + +Count Mattaei professed to extract certain vegetable [514] +electricities found stored up in this, and some other plants, and to +utilize them for curative purposes with almost miraculous success. +His other herbs, as revealed by a colleague, Count Manzetti, are the +Knotgrass, the Water Betony, the Cabbage, the Stonecrop, the +Houseleek, the Feverfew, and the Watercress. Lady Paget, when +interviewing Count Mattaei, gathered that Shepherd's Purse is the +herb which furnishes the so-called "blue electricity," of +extraordinary efficacy in controlling haemorrhages. Small birds are +fond of the seeds: and the young radical leaves are sold in +Philadelphia as greens in the Spring. + + + +SILVERWEED. + +Two _Potentillas_ occur among our common native plants, and +possess certain curative virtues (as popularly supposed), the +Silverweed and the Cinquefoil. They belong to the Rose tribe, and +grow abundantly on our roadsides, being useful as mild astringents. + + +The _Potentilla anserina_ (Silverweed) is found, as its adjective +suggests, where geese are put to feed. + +Country folk often call it Cramp Weed: but it is more generally +known as Goose Tansy, or Goose Gray, because it is a spurious +Tansy, fit only for a goose; or, perhaps, because eaten by geese. +Other names for the herb are Silvery Cinquefoil, and Moorgrass. It +occurs especially on clay soils, being recognised by its pinnate +white silvery leaves, and its conspicuous golden flowers. + +In Yorkshire the roots are known as "moors," which boys dig up and +eat in the winter; whilst swine will also devour them greedily. They +have then a sweet taste like parsnips. In Scotland, also, they are +eaten roasted, or boiled; and sometimes, in hard seasons, [515] +when other provisions were scanty, these roots have been known to +support the inhabitants of certain islands for months together. + +Both the roots and the leaves are mildly astringent; so that their +infusion helps to stay diarrhoea, and the fluxes of women; making +also with honey a useful gargle. The leaf is of an exquisitely +beautiful shape, and may be seen carved on the head of many an old +stall in Church, or Cathedral. By reason of its five leaflets, this +gives to the plant the title "five leaf," or five fingered grass, +_Pentedaktulon_. _Potentilla_ comes from the Latin _potens_, as +alluding to the medicinal virtues of the species. + +In former days the Cinquefoil was much affected as a heraldic +device through the number of the leaflets answering to the five +senses of man; whilst the right to bear Cinquefoil was considered an +honourable distinction to him who had worthily mastered his senses, +and conquered his passions. + +Silverweed tea is excellent to relieve cramps of the belly; and +compresses, wrung out of a hot decoction of the herb, may at the +same time be helpfully applied over the seat of the cramps. A potent +Anglo-Saxon charm against crampy bellyache was to wear a gold +ring with a Dolphin engraved on it, and bearing in Greek the mystic +words:--"Theos keleuei mee keneoon ponois," "_God forbids the +pains of colic_." This acted doubtless by mental suggestion, as in +the cure of warts. The knee-cap bone, or patella, of a sheep, known +locally as the "cramp-bone," is worn in Northamptonshire for a like +purpose; also the application of a gold wedding ring (first wetted +with saliva, an ingredient in the holy salve of the Saxons), to a stye +threatened in an eyelid is often found to disperse the swelling; but in +this case [516] it may be, that a sulphocyanide of gold is formed +with the spittle, which promotes the cure by absorption. + +A strong infusion, if used as a lotion, will check the bleeding of +piles, the ordinary infusion being meantime taken as a medicine. + +The good people of Leicestershire were accustomed in bygone days +to prevent pitting by small-pox with the use of Silverweed +fomentations. A distilled water of the herb takes away freckles, +spots, pimples in the face, and sunburnings; whilst all parts of the +plant are found to contain tannin. + +The Creeping Cinquefoil (_Potentilla replans_) grows also +abundantly on meadow banks, having astringent roots, which have +been used medicinally since the times of Hippocrates and +Dioscorides. + +They were found to cure intermittent fevers, such as used to prevail +in marshy or ill-drained lands much more commonly than now in +Great Britain; though country folk still use the infusion or decoction +for the same purpose in some districts; also for jaundice. + +Likewise, because of the tannin contained in the outer bark of the +roots, their decoction is useful against diarrhoea; and their infusion +as a gargle for relaxed sore throats. But, except in mild cases, other +more positively astringent herbs are to be preferred. The roots afford +a useful red dye. + + + +SKULLCAP. + +A useful medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the Skullcap +(_Scutellaria_), which is a Labiate plant of frequent growth on the +banks of our rivers and ponds, having bright blue flowers, with +a tube longer than the calyx. This is the greater variety +(_Galericulata_). There is a lesser variety (_Scutellaria minor_), +which is [517] infrequent, and grows in bogs about the West of +England, with flowers of a dull purple colour. Each kind gets its +name from the Latin _scutella_, "a little cap," which the calyx +resembles, and is therefore called Hood Wort, or Helmet flower. +The upper lip of the calyx bulges outward about its middle, and +finally closes down like a lid over the fruit. When the seed is ripe +it opens again. + +Provers of the tincture (H.) in toxic doses experienced giddiness, +stupor, and confusion of mind, twitchings of the limbs, intermission +of the pulse, and other symptoms indicative of the epileptiform +"petit mal"; for which morbid affection, and the disposition thereto, +the said tincture, of a diluted strength, in small doses, has been +successfully given. + +The greater Skullcap contains, in common with most other plants of +the same order, a volatile oil, tannin, fat, some bitter principle, +sugar, and cellulose. + +If a decoction of the plant is made with two ounces of the herb to +eight ounces of water, and is taken for some weeks continuously in +recent epilepsy, or when the disease has only functional causes, it +will often prove very beneficial. Likewise, this decoction, in +common with an extract of the herb, has been given curatively for +intermittent fever and ague, as well as for some depressed, and +disordered states of the nervous system. + +A dried extract of the lesser Skullcap (_Lateriflora_) is made by +chemists, and given in doses of from one to three grains as a pill to +relieve severe hiccough, and as a nervine stimulant; also for the +sleeplessness of an exhausted brain. + + + +SLOE. + +The parent tree which produces the Sloe is the Blackthorn, our +hardy, thorny hedgerow shrub (_Prunus_ [518] _spinosa_), Greek +_Prounee_, common everywhere, and starting into blossom of a +pinky white about the middle of March before a leaf appears, each +branchlet ending in a long thorn projecting beyond the flowers at +right angles to the stem. From the conspicuous blackness of its rind +at the time of flowering, the tree is named Blackthorn, and the spell +of harsh unkindly cold weather which prevails about then goes by +the name of "blackthorn winter." + +The term Sloe, or Sla, means not the fruit but the hard trunk, being +connected with a verb signifying to slay, or strike, probably because +the wood of this tree was used as a flail, and nowadays makes a +bludgeon. + +In the Autumn every branch becomes clustered with the oval +blue-black fruit presently covered with a fine purple bloom; and +until mellowed by the early frosts, this fruit is very harsh and +sour. + +The leaves, when they unfold late in the spring, are small and +narrow. If dried, they make a very fair substitute for tea, and when +high duties were placed on imported tea, it was usual to find the sloe +trees stripped of their marketable foliage. + +Furthermore, the dark ruby juice of Sloes enters largely into the +manufacture of British port wine, to which it communicates a +beautiful deep red colour, and a pleasant sub-acid roughness. Letters +marked upon linen fabric with this juice, when used fresh, will not +wash out. + +If obtained by expression from the unripe fruit, it is very useful as +an astringent medicine, and is a popular remedy for stopping a flow +of blood from the nose. It may be gently boiled to a thick +consistence, and will then keep throughout the year without losing +its virtues. Winter-picks is a provincial name for the Sloe fruit, +[519] and winter-pick wine takes the place of port in the rustic +cellar. The French call them Prunelles. + +Sloe-blossoms make a safe, harmless, laxative medicine. To use +these, "Boil them up, and drink a cup of the tea daily for three or +four days; it will act gently, painlessly, but thoroughly." The syrup +is especially useful for children. + +Country people bury the Sloes in jars to preserve them for winter +use; and the bush which bears this fruit is sometimes called, +provincially, Scroggs. + +Sloes may be gathered when ripe on a dry day, picked clean, and put +into jars or bottles, without any boiling or other process, and then +covered with loaf sugar; a tablespoonful of brandy should presently +be added, and the jar sealed. By Christmas, the syrup formed from +the juice, the sugar, and the spirit, will have covered and saturated +the fruit, and then a couple of tablespoonfuls will not only make an +agreeable dessert liqueur, but will act as an astringent cordial of a +very pleasant sort. + +In Somersetshire the Sloe is named Snag (as corrupted from "Slag," +i.e., Sloe). The juice is viscid, and when thickened to dryness, is the +German Gum Acacia. + +Those provers who have taken experimentally a tincture made from +the wood and bark and leaves of the Blackthorn, all had to complain +of sharp pains in the right eyeball and accordingly the diluted +tincture is found, when administered in small quantities, to give +signal relief for ciliary neuralgia, arising from a functional disorder +of the structures within the eyeball. Dr. Hughes says: "It not only +relieves such pains, but also checks the inflammation, and clears the +vision." The medicinal tincture is made (H.) with proof spirit of +wine from the flower buds collected in early spring [520] before +they expand. The Sloe has been employed as a styptic ever since the +time of Dioscorides. "From the effects," says Withering, "which I +have repeatedly observed to follow a wound from the thorns, I find +reason for believing that there is something poisonous in their +nature, particularly in the autumn." + +Next to the Sloe in order of development comes the Bullace +(_Prunus insititia_), a shrub with fewer thorns, and bearing its +flowers after the leaves have begun to unfold. + +The fruit is five times as big as the Sloe, but likewise of a delicate +bluish colour. It is named from the Latin plural bullas, meaning the +round bosses which the Romans put on their bridles. Lydgate (1440) +used the phrase, "As bright as Bullaces," in one of his poems. In +Lincolnshire the blossom is known as "Bully bloom," and the fruit +are "Bullies." After harvest the women and children go out +gathering them for Bullace-wine. Boys in France call Slot's +"_Sibarelles_," because it is impossible to whistle immediately after +eating them. Some writers say the signification of "Sloe" is "that +which sets the teeth on edge." + +Finally comes the true Wild Plum (_Prunus domestica_), which is +far less common than the two preceding sorts. Its flowers are large, +and in small clusters, whilst the leaves unfold with the blossom. The +fruit is a small brownish plum, intensely sharp and acrid to the taste, +and the tree is thorny. Only in this latter respect does it differ from +an inferior kind of garden plum of which the cultivation has been +neglected. + +The cultivated Plum has been developed from the Wild Plum, and +has been made to exhibit some fifty varieties of form and character. +The fruit of Damascus was formerly much valued, being now +known as Damascenes, (damsons), Damasin, or Damask prune. + +[521] All the Wild Plums develop thorns; but the cultivated kinds +have entirely cast them off. The Plum, as a fruit, was known to the +Romans in Cato's time, but not the tree. + +"Little Jack Horner," says the familiar nursery rhyme, "sat in a +corner, eating a Christmas pie; he put in his thumb, and he pulled +out a plum, and said 'What a good boy am I.'" + + "Inquit, et unum extraheus prunum, + Horner, quam fueris nobile pueris + Exemplar imitabile"! + +When ripe, cultivated Plums are cooling and slightly laxative, +especially the French fruit, which is dried and bottled for dessert. +They are useful for costive habits, and may be made into an +electuary; but, when unripe, Plums provoke choleraic diarrhoea. The +garden fruit contains less sugar than cherries, but a large amount of +gelatinising pectose. Dr. Johnson was specially fond of veal pie with +plums and sugar. He taunted Boswell about the need of gardeners to +produce in Scotland what grows wild in England. "Pray, Sir," said +he, "are you ever able to bring the Sloe to perfection there?" On +Change a hundred thousand pounds are whimsically known as "a +plum," and a million of money is "a marigold." Lately a Chicago +physician whilst officiating at a Reformatory found that the boys +behaved themselves much better when taking prunes in their diet +than at any other time. These act, he supposes, on certain organs +which are the seats, and centres of the passions. + +From France comes the Greengage, named in that country (out of +compliment to the Queen of Francis the First) _La Reine Claude_. It +was brought to England from [522] the Monastery of La Grande +Chartreuse, about the middle of the eighteenth century, by the Rev. +John Gage, brother to the owner of Hengrave Hall, near Coldham, +Suffolk; and taking his name this fruit soon became diffused +throughout England. + +French Prunes are conveyed to England in their dried state from +Marseilles. With their pulp, figs, tamarinds, and senna, the officinal +"lenitive electuary" is made; and apothecaries prepare a medicinal +tincture from the fresh flower-buds of the Blackthorn. + +Culpeper says: "All Plumbs are under Venus, and are like women-- +some better, some worse." + +In Sussex and some other counties, a superstitious fear attaches +itself to the Blackthorn in bloom, because of the apparent union of +life and death when the tree is clothed in early Spring with white +flowers, but is destitute of leaves; so that to carry, or wear a piece +of Blackthorn in blossom, is thought to signify bringing a death token. + + + +SOAPWORT. + +The Soapwort (_Saponaria officinalis_) grows commonly in +England near villages, on roadsides, and by the margins of woods, +in moist situations. It belongs to the _Caryophyllaceoe_, or Clove +and Pink tribe of plants; and a double flowered variety of it is met +with in gardens. This is Miss Mitford's "Spicer" in _Our Village_. It +is sometimes named "Bouncing Bet," and "Fuller's herb." + +The root has a sweetish bitter taste, but no odour. It contains resin +and mucilage, in addition to saponin, which is its leading principle, +and by virtue of which decoctions of the root produce a soapy froth. +Saponin is likewise found in the nuts of the Horse-chestnut tree, and +in the Scarlet Pimpernel. + +[523] A similar soapy quality is also observed in the leaves, so +much so that they have been used by mendicant monks as a +substitute for soap in washing their clothes. This "saponin" has +considerable medicinal efficacy, being especially useful for the +cure of inveterate syphilis without giving mercury. Several writers +of note aver that such cases have been cured by a decoction of +the plant; though perhaps the conclusion has been arrived at +through the resemblance between the roots of Soapwort and those of +Sarsaparilla. + +Gerard says: "Ludovicus Septalius, when treating of decoctions in +use against the French poxes, mentions the singular effect of the +Soapwort against that filthy disease"; but, he adds, "it is somewhat +of an ungrateful taste, and therefore must be reserved for the poorer +sort of patients." He employed it _soepe et soepius_. + +The _Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica_ of 1794, teaches: "A decoction of +this plant has been found useful for scrofulous, impetiginous, and +syphilitic affections. Boil down half a pound of the bruised fresh +herb in a gallon of distilled water to two quarts, and give from one +to three pints in the twenty-four hours." + +Formerly the herb was called Bruisewort, and was thought of +service for contusions. It will remove stains, or grease almost as +well as soap, but contains no starch. + +Saponin, when smelt, excites long-continued sneezing; if injected or +administered, it reduces the frequency and force of the heart's +pulsations, paralyzing the cardiac nerves, and acting speedily on the +vaso-motor centres, so as to arrest the movements of the heart, on +which principle, when given in a diluted form, and in doses short of +all toxic effects, it has proved of signal use in low typhoid +inflammation of the lungs, where restorative stimulation of the heart +is to be aimed at. + +[524] Also, likewise for passive suppression of the female monthly +flow, it will act beneficially as a stimulant of the womb to incite its +periodical function. + +In a patient who took a poisonous quantity of Saponin at Saint +Petersburg all the muscular contractile sensitiveness was completely +abolished; whilst, nevertheless, all the bodily functions were +normally performed. Per contra, this effect should be a curative +guide in the use of Soapwort as a Simple. + +Saponin is found again in the root and unripe seeds of the Corn +Cockle, and in all parts of the Nottingham Catch-fly except the +seeds; also in the wild Lychnis, and some others of the Pink tribe. + + + +SOLOMON'S SEAL. + +The Solomon's Seal (_Convallaria polygonatum_) is a handsome +woodland plant by no means uncommon throughout England, particularly +in Berkshire, Bucks, Rants, Kent, and Suffolk. + +It grows to the height of about two feet, bearing along its curved +drooping branches handsome bells of pure white, which hang down +all along the lower side of the gracefully weeping flower stalks. + +The oval leaves are ribbed, and grow alternately from the stem, for +which reason the plant is called Ladder-to-heaven; or, "more +probably," says Dr. Prior, "from a confusion of _Seal de notre +Dame_ (our Lady's Seal), with _Echelle de notre Dame_ (our Lady's +Ladder)." The round depressions resembling seal marks, which are +found on the root, or the characters which appear when it is cut +transversely, gave rise to the notion that Solomon, "who knew the +diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots," had set his seal upon +this in testimony of its value to man as a medicinal root. The +rhizome and [525] herb contain convallarin, asparagin, gum, sugar, +starch, and pectin. + +In Galen's time the distilled water was used by ladies as a cosmetic +for removing pimples and freckles from the skin, "leaving the place +fresh, fair, and lovely." During the reign of Elizabeth it had great +medical celebrity, so that, as we learn from a contemporary writer, +"The roots of Solomon's Seal, stamped whilst fresh and green, and +applied, taketh away, in one night, or two at the most, any bruise, +black or blue spots gotten by falls, or woman's wilfulness in +stumbling upon their hasty husband's fists, or such like," and "that +which might be trewly written of this herb as touching the knitting +of bones, would seem to some well nigh incredible; yea, although +they be but slenderly, and unhandsomely wrapped-up; but common +experience teacheth that in the worlde there is not to be found +another herbe comparable for the purpose aforesaid. It was given to +the patients in ale to drink--as well unto themselves as to their +cattle--and applied outwardly in the manner of a pultis." + +The name Lady's Seal was conferred on this plant by old writers, as +also St. Mary's Seal, _Sigillum sanctoe Marioe_. + +The Arabs understand by Solomon's Seal the figure of a six-pointed +star, formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting each other, as +frequently mentioned in Oriental tales. Gerard maintains that the +name, _Sigillum Solomunis_, was given to the root "partly because +it bears marks something like the stamp of a seal, but still more +because of the virtue the root hath in sealing or healing up green +wounds, broken bones, and such like, being stamp't and laid +thereon." + +The bottle of brass told of in the _Arabian Nights_ as fished up was +closed with a stopper of lead bearing the [526] "Seal of our Lord +Suleyman." This was a wonderful talisman which was said to have +come down from heaven with the great name of God engraved upon +it, being composed of brass for the good genii, and iron for the evil +jinn. + +The names _Convallaria polygonatum_ signify "growth in a valley," +and "many jointed." Other titles of the plant are Many Knees, +Jacob's Ladder, Lily of the Mountain, White wort, and Seal wort. + +The Turks eat the young shoots of this plant just as we eat +Asparagus. + + + +SORREL. +(_See_ "Dock," _page_ 157.) + + + +SOUTHERNWOOD. + +Southernwood, or Southern Wormwood, though it does not flower +in this country, is well known as grown in every cottage garden for +its aromatic fragrance. It is the _Artemisia Abrotanum_, a +Composite plant of the Wormwood tribe, commonly known as "Old +Man." Pliny explains that this title is borne because of the plant +being a sexual restorative to those in advanced years, as explained +by Macer:-- + +"Hoec etiam venerem pulvino subdita tantum Incitat." + +Pliny says further that this herb is potent against syphilis, and +_veneficia quibus coitus inhibeatur_. Its odour is lemon-like, and +depends on a volatile essential oil which consists chiefly of +absinthol, and is common to the other Wormwoods. "Abrotanum" is +a Greek term. Another appellation of this plant is "Lad's love," and +"Boy's love," from the making of an ointment with its [527] ashes, +to be used by youngsters for promoting the growth of the beard. +"Cinis Abrotani barbam segnius tardiusque enascentem cum aliquo +dictorum oleorum elicit." The plant is found in Spain and Italy as an +indigenous herb. Its leaves and tops have a strong aromatic odour, +and a penetrating warms bitterish taste which is rather nauseous. An +infusion, or tea, of the herb is agreeable: but a decoction is +distasteful, having lost much of the aroma. The plant was formerly +in great repute as a cordial against hysterics, and to strengthen the +stomach of a weakly person. It will expel both round worms and +thread worms, whilst its presence is hostile to moths; and hence has +been got one of its French names, "Garde robe." Externally it will +promote the growth of the hair. In Lincolnshire it is known as +"Motherwood." + + + +SOWBREAD, or CYCLAMEN. +(_See page_ 450, "Primrose.") + + + +SPEEDWELL. + +This little plant, with its exquisite flowers of celestial blue, grows +most familiarly in our hedgerows throughout the Spring, and early +Summer. Its brilliant, gemlike blossoms show a border of pale +purple, or delicate violet, marked with deeper veins or streaks. But +the lovely circlet of petals is most fragile, and falls off at a touch; +whence are derived the names Speedwell, Farewell, Good-bye, and +Forget-me-not. + +Speedwell is a Veronica (_fero_, "I bring," _nikee_, "victory"), +which tribe was believed to belong especially to birds. So the plant +bears the name "Birds' Eyes," as well as "Blue Eyes," "Strike Fires," +and "Mammy Die" (because of the belief that if the herb were +brought [528] into a family the mother would die within the year). +Turner calls the plant "Fluellin," or "Lluellin," a name "the +shentleman of Wales have given it because it saved her nose, which +a disease had almost gotten from her." Further, it is the Paul's +Betony, called after Paulus OEgineta. The plant belongs to the +Scroflua-curing order. + +It is related that a shepherd observed how a stag, whose +hind-quarters were covered with a scabby eruption brought about through +the bite of a wolf, cured itself by rolling on plants of the Speedwell, +and by eating its leaves. Thereupon he commended the plant to his +king, and thus promoted his majesty's restoration to health. + +In Germany it bears the title _Grundheele_, from having cured a +king of France who suffered from a leprosy for eight years, which +disease is named _grund_ in German. At one time the herb was held +in high esteem as a specific for gout in this country, but it became +adulterated, and its fame suffered a downfall. + +The only sensible quality of the Speedwell is the powerful +astringency of its leaves, and this property serves to protect it +from herbivorous foes. + +It has been long held famous among countryfolk as an excellent +plant for coughs, asthma, and pulmonary consumption. The leaves +are bitter, with a rough taste; and a decoction of the whole plant +stimulates the kidneys. The infusion promotes perspiration, and +reduces feverishness. The juice may be boiled into a syrup with +honey, for asthma and catarrhs. + +When applied outwardly, it is said to cure the itch; and by some it +has been asserted that a continued use of the infusion will overcome +sterility, if taken daily as a tea. The French still distinguish the +plant as the [529] _Thé d'Europe_; and a century ago it was used +commonly in Germany in substitution for tea. As a medicine, by +reason of its astringency, it became called _Polychresta herba +veronica_. + +"My freckles with the Speedwell's juices washed," says Alfred +Austin, our Poet Laureate. + +The Germans also name this plant _Ehren-preis_, or Prize of +Honour; which fact favours the supposition of its being the true +"Forget-me-not," or _souveigne vous de moy_, as legendary on +knightly collars of yore to commemorate a famous joust fought in +1465 between the most accomplished champions of England and +France. + +The present Forget-me-not is a _Myosotis_, or Mouse Ear, or +Scorpion Grass. + +In Somersetshire, the pretty little Germander Speedwell is known as +Cat's Eye: and because seeming to reflect by its azure colour the +beautiful blue firmament above, this pure-tinted blossom has got its +name of _veron eikon_, the "true image" (_Veronica_); just as the +napkin with which a compassionate maiden wiped the face of Christ +on the morning of His crucifixion, held imprinted for ever on its +fabric a miraculous portrait, which led to her being afterwards +canonised on this account as Saint Veronica. + +The Emperor Charles the Fifth of Spain is said to have derived +much relief to his gout from the use of this herb. It contains +tannin, and a particular bitter principle. + + + +SPINACH. + +Spinach (_Lapathum hortense_) is a Persian plant which has been +cultivated in our gardens for about two hundred years; and +considerably longer on the Continent. Some say the Spinach was +originally brought [530] from Spain. It was produced by monks in +France at the middle of the 14th century. + +This is a light vegetable, easily digested, and rather laxative, +besides having some wonderful properties ascribed to its use. Its +sub-order, the Saltworts (_Salsolaceoe_), are found growing in +marshes by the seashore, and as weeds by waste places, serving +some of them to expel worms. + +"Spinach," says John Evelyn, "if crude, the oft'ner kept out of +Sallets the better; but being boiled to a pulp; and without other +water than its own moisture, is a most excellent condiment with +butter, vinegar, or lemon, for almost all sorts of boiled flesh, and +may accompany a sick man's diet. 'Tis laxative and emollient, and +therefore profitable for the aged." Spinach is richer in iron than the +yolk of the egg, which contains more than beef. Its juice produced +in cooking the leaves without adding any water is a wholesome +drink, and improves the complexion. + +It was with a delicate offering of "gammon and spinach" in his +hands, Mr. Anthony Roley, of nursery fame, went so sadly a +wooing:-- + + "Ranula furtivos statuebat quaoerere amores: + Me miserum! tristi Rolius ore gemit. + Ranula furtivos statuebat quoerere amores, + Mater sive daret, sive negaret iter." + +A wild species of Spinach, the "Good King Henry," grows in +England, and is popular as a pot herb in Lincolnshire. + + + +SPINDLE TREE (Celastracoe). + +During the autumn, in our woody hedgerows a shrub becomes very +conspicuous by bearing numerous rose-coloured floral capsules, +strikingly brilliant, each with a [531] scarlet and orange-coloured +centre. This is the Spindle Tree (_Euonymus_), so called because it +furnishes wood for spindles, or skewers, whence it is also named +Prickwood, Skewerwood, and Gadrise, or Gad Rouge. The word +"gad" is used in our western counties for a stick pointed at both ends +to fasten down thatch. The Spindle Tree has a green bark, and +glossy leaves, producing only small greenish flowers: whilst the +pendulous ornaments so brilliantly borne in autumn are four-lobed +capsules of a pale red hue, which open out and disclose ruddy +orange-coloured seeds wrapped in a scarlet arillus. It is further +known as the Louseberry Tree, from the fruit being applied to +destroy lice in children's heads, whilst its powdered bark will kill +nits, and serve to remove scurf. Other popular titles owned by this +shrub are "gatter," "gatten," and "gatteridge." The ripe fruit, from +which a medicinal tincture is prepared, furnishes euonymin, a +golden resin, which is purgative and emetic. This acts specially on +the liver, and promotes a free flow of bile. The plant also yields +asparagin, and euonic acid. An ointment is made with the fruits: and +the powdered resin is given in doses of from half-a-grain to two +grains. + +In the United States of America, this tree is the Wahoo, or Burning +Bush. The green leaves of one species are eaten by the Arabs to +induce watchfulness. In allusion to the actively irritating properties +of the shrub, its name, _Euonymus_, is associated with that of +Euonyme, the Mother of the Furies. The bark is mildly aperient and +causes no nausea, whilst at the same time stimulating the liver +somewhat freely. To make its decoction add an ounce to a pint of +water, and boil together slowly. A small wineglassful may be given, +when cool, for a dose two or three times in the day. Of the +medicinal tincture made from the bark with spirit [532] of wine, a +dose of from five to ten drops may be taken with water in the same +way. French doctors call the shrub Fusain, or _bonnet de prètre_ +(birretta). They give the fruit, three or four for a dose, as a +purgative in rural districts: and employ the decoction, whilst +adding some vinegar, as a lotion against mange in horses and cattle. +Also, they make from the wood when slightly charred a delicate +crayon for artists. + + + +SPURGE. + +Conspicuous in Summer by their golden green leaves, and their +striking epergnes of bright emerald blossoms, the Wood Spurge, and +the Petty Spurge, adorn our woodlands and gardens commonly and +very remarkably. Together with many other allied plants, foreign +and indigenous, they yield from their severed stems a milky juice of +medicinal properties. The name _Euphorbioe _has been given to +this order from Euphorbus, the favourite physician of Juba, King of +Mauritania. All the Spurges possess the same poisonous principle, +which may, however, be readily dissipated by heat; and then, in +many instances, the root becomes a nourishing and palatable food. +For example, the Manioc, a South American Spurge, furnishes a +juice which has been known to kill in a few minutes. Nevertheless, +its root baked, after first draining away the juice, makes a +wholesome bread: and by washing the fresh pulp a starch is +produced which we know as Tapioca for our table. This is so +sustaining that half-a-pound a day is said to be sufficient of itself +to support a healthy man. The Indian rubber and Castor oil plants +belong also to this order of Euphorbioe. + +The Wood Spurge, seen so frequently during our country rambles, +suggests by its spreading aspect a [533] clever juggler balancing on +his upturned chin a widely-branched series of delicate green saucers +on fragile stems, which ramify below from a single rod. Each saucer +is the bearer again of sub-divided pedicels which stretch out to +support other brightly verdant little leafy dishes; so that the whole +system of well poised flowering perianths forms a specially +handsome candelabrum of emerald (cup-like) bloom. The botanical +title Spurge is derived from _expurgare_, to act as a purgative, +because of the acrid juice possessing this property. Gerard says "the +juice of the Wood Spurge, if given as physic, must be ministered +with discretion, and prepared with correctories by some honest +apothecary." Furthermore, this juice, "if mixed with honey causeth +hair to fall from that part which is anointed therewith, if it be done +in the sun." Therefore, what better place may there be than a +wooded English meadow on a sunny day for a clean and convenient +natural shave by those of the fair sex who, unhappily, own hirsute +facial appendages of which they would gladly be rid? _Euphorbia +Peplus_, the Petty Spurge, is equally common, and often called +"wart weed." It signifies, "Welcome to our house," and turns its +flowers towards the sun. The Irish Spurge (_Hiberna_), is so powerful +that a small bundle of its bruised plant will kill the fish for +several miles down a river. Yet another Spurge (_Lathyris_), a twin +brother, bears caper-like seeds which are sometimes dishonestly +pickled and sold as a (dangerous) substitute for the toothsome +flowerbuds taken in sauce with our boiled mutton. The whole tribe +of Spurges contains two hundred genera, and forms, what we call +now-a-days, "a large order." The roots of several common kinds are +used in making quack medicines, which are unsafe, [534] and +violent in action. Because of its milk-white sap the Wood Spurge +bears the name in Somersetshire of Virgin Mary's Nipple: and yet in +other parts, for the like reason, this plant is known as Devil's Milk. +Chemically, most of the Spurges contain caoutchouc, resin, gallic +acid, and their particular acrid principle which has not been fully +defined. In France the rustics sometimes purge themselves with a +dose of from six to twelve grains of the dried Wood Spurge: and its +juice is used in this country as an application to destroy warts; +also, to be rubbed in behind the ear for ear-ache, or face-ache. The +famous surgeon, Cheselden, employed a noted plaster made with the +resin of Spurge for relieving disease of the hip joint by +counterstimulation. But, to sum up, I would say with wise Gerard, +"these herbes by mine advice should not be received into the body, +considering there be so many other good and wholesome potions to +be made with other herbes that may be taken without peril." +Nevertheless, a tincture prepared (H.) from the Wood Spurge, with +spirit of wine, may be given admirably in much diluted doses for +curing the same severe symptoms which the plant produces when +taken to a toxical degree. Offensive diarrhoea, with prolapse of the +lowest bowel, will be certainly remedied by four or five drops of +this tincture, first decimal strength, with water, every two or three +hours: especially if, at the same time, there be a burning and +stinging soreness of the throat. Said young Rosamond Berew +(1460), in _Malvern Chase_, concerning "a tall gaunt figure," noted +for her knowledge of herbs, sometimes called the Witch, but +worshipped by the hinds and their children:--"There is Mary, of +Eldersfield; I expect she has been on Berthill after Nettles to make a +capon sit, or to gather Spurges for ointments." [535] + + + +STITCHWORT. + +The Stitchworts, greater and less (_Stellaria holostea_), grow very +abundantly as herbal weeds in all our dry hedges and woods, having +tough stems which run closely together, and small white star-like +(_stellaria_) blossoms. + +These plants are of the same order (Chickweed) as the Alsine and +the small Chickweed. Their second name, Holostea, signifies "all +bones," because the whole plant is very brittle from the flinty +elements which its structures contain. + +As its title declares, the great Stitchwort has a widespread reputation +for curing the stitch, or sharp muscular pain, which often attacks one +or other side of the body about the lower ribs. + +In the days of the old Saxon leechdoms it was customary against a +stitch to make the sign of the cross, and to sing three times over the +part:-- + + "Longinus miles lanceâ pinxit dominum: + Restet sanguis, et recedat dolor!" + + "The spear of Longinus, the soldier, pierced our Saviour's side: + May the blood, therefore, quicken: and the pain no longer abide!" + +Or some similar form of charm. + +Gerard said of folk, in his day: "They are wont to drink it in wine +(with the powder of acorns) against the pain in the side, stitches, and +such like." But according to Dr. Prior, the herb is named rather +because curing the sting (in German _stich_) of venomous reptiles. +In country places the Stitchwort is known as Adder's meat, and the +Satin Flower: also Miller's Star, Shirtbutton, and Milk Maid, in +Yorkshire: the early English name was Bird's Tongue. + +[536] About, Plymouth, it is dedicated to the Pixies; whilst the +lesser variety is called White Sunday, because of its delicate white +blossoms, with golden-dusted stamens. These were associated with +the new converts baptised in white garments on Low Sunday--the +first Sunday after Easter--named, therefore, White Sunday. + +But in some parts of Wales the Stitchwort bears the names of +Devil's-eyes and Devil's-corn. Boys in Devonshire nickname the +herb Snapjack, Snapcrackers, and Snappers. + +Parkinson tells us that in former days it was much commended by +some to clear the eyes of dimness by dropping the fresh juice into +them. Again, Galen said: "The seed is sharp and biting to him that +tastes it." + +As a modern curative Simple, the Stitchworts, greater and less, +stand related to silica, a powerfully remedial preparation of highly +pulverised flint. This is because of the exquisitely subdivided flint +found abundantly dispersed throughout the structures of Stitchwort +plants; which curative principle is eminently useful in chronic +diseases, such as cancer, rickets, and scrofula. It exercises a deep +and slow action, such as is remedially brought to bear by the +Bethesda waters of America, and the powdered oyster shells of Sir +Spencer Wells. + +The fresh infusion should be steadily taken, a tea-cupful three times +daily, for weeks or months together. It may be made with a pint of +boiling water to an ounce of the fresh herb. Likewise, the fresh plant +should be boiled and eaten as "greens," so as to secure medicinally +the insoluble parts of the silica. This further serves against albumen, +and sugar in the urine. + + + +[537] STONE CROP (_See House Leek, page 273_). + + + +STRAWBERRY. + +Properly, our familiar Strawberry plant is a native of cold climates, +and so hardy that it bears fruit freely in Lapland. When mixed with +reindeer cream, and dried in the form of a sausage, this constitutes +Kappatialmas, the plum pudding of the Polar regions. + +"Strawberry" is from the Anglo-Saxon _Strowberige_, of which the +first syllable refers to anything strewn. The wild woodland +Strawberry (_Fragaria vesca_) is the progenitor of our highly +cultivated and delicious fruit. This little hedgerow and sylvan plant +has a root which is very astringent, so that when held in the mouth it +will stay any flow of blood from the nostrils. Its berries are more +acid than the garden Strawberry, and make an excellent cleanser of +the teeth, the acid juice dissolving incrustations of tartar without +injuring the enamel. + +A medicinal tincture is ordered (H.) from the berries of this +Woodland Strawberry, which is of excellent service for nettle rash, +or allied erysipelas: also for a suffocative swelling of the +swallowing throat. "_Ipsa tuis manibus sylvestri nata sub umbrâa: +mollia fraga leges_," says Ovid. An infusion of the leaves is of +excellent service in Dysentery. + +It is incorrect to call the fruit a berry, because the edible, +succulent pulp is really a juicy cushion over which numerous small +seeds are plentifully dotted; whilst the name Strawberry is a +corruption of Strayberry, in allusion to the trailing runners, +which stray in all directions from the parent stock. + +Being of very ancient date, the Strawberry is found widely diffused +throughout most parts of the world. [538] Among the Greeks its +name _Komaros_, "a mouthful," indicated the compact size of the +fruit. By the Latins it was termed _Fragaria_, because of its delicate +perfume. + +Virgil ranked it with sweet-smelling flowers; Ovid gave it a tender +epithet; Pliny mentions the Strawberry as one of the native fruits of +Italy; Linnaeus declared he kept himself free from gout by eating +plentifully of the fruit; and Hoffman says he has known consumption +cured by the same means. + +From Shakespeare we learn that in his day the fruit was grown in +Holborn, now the centre of London. Gloster, when contemplating +the death of Hastings, wishes to get the Bishop of Ely temporarily +out of the way, and thus addresses him:-- + + "My Lord of Ely--when I was last in Holborn + I saw good Strawberries in your garden there; + I do beseech you send for some of them." + +In Elizabeth's time doctors made a tea from the leaves to act on the +kidneys, and used the roots as astringent. + +All former Herbalists agreed in pronouncing strawberries +wholesome and beneficial beyond every other English fruit. Their +smell is refreshing to the spirits; they abate fever, promote urine, +and are gently laxative. The leaves may be used in gargles for +quinsies and sore mouths, but, "if anyone suffering from a wound in +the head should partake of this fruit, it would certainly prove fatal," +in accordance with a widespread superstition. + +So wholesome are Strawberries, that if laid in a heap and left by +themselves to decompose, they will decay without undergoing any +acetous fermentation; nor can their kindly temperature be soured +even by exposure to the acids of the stomach. They are constituted +entirely of soluble matter, and leave no residuum to [539] hinder +digestion. It is probably for this reason, and because the fruit does +not contain any actual nutriment as food, that a custom has arisen of +combining rich clotted cream with it at table, whilst at the same time +the sharp juices are thus agreeably modified. + + "Mella que erunt epulis, et lacte fluentia fraga":-- + + "Then sit on a cushion, and sew up a seam; + And thou shalt have Strawberries, sugar, and cream." + +Cardinal Wolsey regaled off this delicate confection with the Lords +of the Star Chamber; and Charles Lamb is reported to have said, +"Doubtless, God Almighty could have made a better berry, but He +never did." + +Parkinson advised that water distilled from strawberries is good for +perturbation of the spirits, and maketh the heart merry. + +The fruit especially suits persons of a bilious temperament, being "a +surprising remedy for the jaundice of children, and particularly +helping the liver of pot companions, wetters, and drammers." "Some +also do use thereof to make a water for hot inflammations in the +eyes, and to take away any film that beginneth to grow over them. +Into a closed glass vessel they put so many strawberries as they +think meet for their purpose, and let this be set in a bed of hot horse +manure for twelve or fourteen days, being afterwards distilled +carefully, and the water kept for use." + +The chemical constituents of the Strawberry are--a peculiar volatile +aroma, sugar, mucilage, pectin, citric and malic acids in equal parts, +woody fibre, and water. + +The fruit is mucilaginous, somewhat tart and saccharine. It +stimulates perspiration, and imparts a violet scent to the urine. +When fermented for the purpose it yields an ardent spirit. If beaten +into a pulp [540] when ripe, and with water poured thereupon, it +makes a capital cooling drink which is purifying, and somewhat +laxative. + +Strawberries are especially suitable in inflammatory and putrid +fevers, and for catarrhal sore throats. French herbalists direct that +when fresh, and recently crushed, the fruit shall be applied on the +face at night for heat spots and freckles by the sun. From the juice, +with lemon, sugar, and water, they concoct a most agreeable drink, +_Bavaroise à la grecque_; also they employ the roots and leaves +against passive hemorrhages, and in chronic diarrhoea. + +In Germany, stewed strawberries, and strawberry jam are taken at +dinner with roasted meats, or with chicken. This jam promotes a +free flow of urine. + +It is to be noticed that though most commonly wholesome and +refreshing, yet with some persons, particularly those of a strumous +bodily habit, Strawberries will often disagree. The late Dr. +Armstrong held a very strong opinion that the seed grains which lie +sprinkled allover the outer surface of each pulpy berry are prone to +excite much intestinal irritation, and he advised his patients to suck +their Strawberries through muslin, in order to prevent these +diminutive seeds from being swallowed. + +German legends dedicate Strawberries to the Virgin, with whom +they are reputed to have been a favourite fruit. She went a berrying +with the children on St. John's morning; and therefore no mother +who has lost a young child, will taste the delicacy then. The +Strawberries symbolise little children who have died when young, +and the mothers suppose they ascend to heaven concealed in the +fragrant pulp. + +From the French, _fraise_, signifying the Strawberry [541] leaves +borne on the family shield, is derived in Scotland the name of the +Frazers. And eight of these (so called) leaves wrought in ornamental +gold form a part of the coronet which our English dukes claim as +one of their proud insignia, conferred by Henry the Fourth. Being +desirous of adding fresh splendour to the Coronation of a +Lancastrian Prince he introduced these leaves into the regal Crown. +An earl's coronet has eight leaves: that of a marquis four. + + + +SUCCORY. + +The Wild Succory (_Cichorium intybus_) is a common roadside +English plant, white or blue, belonging to the Composite order, and +called also Turnsole, because it always turns its flowers towards the +sun. + +It blows with a blue blossom somewhat paler than the Cornflower, +but "bearing a golden heart." + +Its fresh root is bitter, and a milky juice flows from the rind, which +is somewhat aperient and slightly sedative, so that this specially +suits persons troubled with bilious torpor, and jaundice combined +with melancholy. An infusion of the herb is useful for skin eruptions +connected with gout. If the root and leaves are taken freely, they +will produce a gentle diarrhoea, their virtue lying chiefly in the +milky juice; and on good authority the plant has been pronounced +useful against pulmonary consumption. In Germany it is called +Wegwort, or "waiting on the way." The Syrup of Succory is an +excellent laxative for children. + +The Succory or Cichorium was known to the Romans, and was +eaten by them as a vegetable, or in salads. Horace writes (_Ode_ +31): + + "Me pascunt olivae, + Me chicorea, levesque malvae." + +[542] And Virgil, in his first _Georgic_, speaks of _Amaris intuba +fibris_. When cultivated it becomes large, and constitutes Chicory, +of which the taproot is used extensively in France for blending with +coffee, being closely allied to the Endive and the Dandelion. + +This is the _Chicorée frisée_ when bleached, or the _Barbe de +Capucin_. The cortical part of the root yields a milky saponaceous +juice which is very bitter and slightly sedative. Some writers +suppose the Succory to be the Horehound of the Bible. In the +German story, _The Watcher of the Road_, a lovely princess, +abandoned for a rival, pines away, and asking only to die where she +can be constantly on the watch, becomes transformed into the +wayside Succory. + +This Succory plant bears also the name of _Rostrum porcinum_. Its +leaves, when bruised, make a good poultice for inflamed eyes, being +outwardly applied to the grieved place. Also the leaves when boiled +in pottage or broths for sick and feeble persons that have hot, weak, +and feeble stomachs, do strengthen the same. + +It is said that the roots, if put into heaps and dried, are liable to +spontaneous combustion. The taproot of the cultivated plant is +roasted in France, and mixed with coffee, to which, when infused, it +gives a bitterish taste and a dark colour. + +The chemical constituents of Succory and Chicory are--in addition +to those ordinarily appertaining to vegetables--inulin, and a special +bitter principle not named. + +Chicory, when taken too habitually or too freely, causes venous +passive congestion in the digestive organs within the abdomen, and +a fulness of blood in the head. Both it and Succory, if used in excess +as a medicine, will bring about amaurosis, or loss of visual power in +[543] the retina of the eyes. Therefore, when given in a much +diluted form they are remedial for these affections. + +The only benefit of quality which Chicory gives to coffee is by +increase of colour and body, with some bitterness, but not by +possessing any aroma, or fragrant oil, or stimulating virtue. French +writers say it is _contra-stimulante_, and serving to correct the +excitation caused by the active principles of coffee, and therefore it +suits sanguineo-bilious subjects who suffer from habitual tonic +constipation. But it is ill adapted for persons whose vital energy +soon flags; and for lymphatic, or bloodless people its use should be +altogether forbidden. + +The flowers of Succory used to rank among the four cordial flowers, +and a water was distilled from them to allay inflammation of the +eyes. The seeds contain abundantly a demulcent oil, whilst the +petals furnish a glucoside which is colourless unless treated with +alkalies, when it becomes of a golden yellow. + + + +SUNDEW. + +The Sundew (_Ros solis_, or _Drosera rotundifolia_) is a little plant +always eagerly recognised in marshy and heathy grounds by ardent +young botanists. In the sun its leaves seem tipped with dew +(_drosos_). It grows plentifully in Hampshire and the New Forest, +bearing a cluster of hairy leaves in a stellate form, at the top of a +slender stem. These leaves either from lack of other sustenance in so +barren a soil, or more probably as an advance in plant evolution to a +higher grade of development, excrete a sticky moisture or dew, +which entangles unwary flies settling on the plant, and which serves +to digest these victims therewith. Each of the long red [544] hairs on +the leaves is viscid, and possesses a small secreting gland at its top. + +Some writers say the word Sundew means "sin" ever, moist (dew). +The plant is also called Redrot, and Moor Grass, because the soil in +which it grows is unwholesome for sheep. + +It goes further by the additional names of Youthwort, and +Lustwort--_quia acrimonia sua sopitum veneris desiderium excitat_ +(Dodoeus). The fresh juice of the herb contains malic acid in a free +state, various salts, and a red colouring matter; also glucose, and a +peculiar crystallisable acid. Cattle of the female gender are said to +have their copulative instincts excited by eating even a small +quantity of the plant. Throughout Europe it has long been esteemed +a remedy of repute for chronic bronchitis and asthma; and more +recently, in the hands of homoeopathic practitioners, it has acquired +a fame for specifically curing whooping cough in its spasmodic +stages, after the first feverishness of this malady has become +subdued. It signally lessens the frequency and force of the +spasmodic attacks, besides diminishing the sickness. + +Provers who have pushed on themselves the administration of the +Sundew in toxical quantities, developed hoarseness, with +expectoration of yellow mucus from the throat and upper lungs, as +well as a hacking cough, and loss of flesh, this combination of +symptoms closely resembling the form of tubercular consumption +which begins in the throat, and extends mischievously to the lungs. +Regarded from such point the Sundew may be justly pronounced a +homoeopathic antidote to consumptive disease of the nature here +indicated, when attacking spontaneously from constitutional causes. + +[545] Moreover, country folk notice that sheep who eat the Sundew +in their pasturage have often a violent cough, and waste away. Dr. +Curie, of Paris, fed cats with this plant, and they died subsequently +with all the symptoms of lung consumption, their chest organs being +afterwards found studded with tubercular deposit though cats are not +ordinarily liable to tubercle. + +So the Sundew may fairly be accepted as a medicinal Simple for +laryngeal and pulmonary consumption in its early stages, as well as +for whooping-cough, after the manner already explained. A tincture +is made (H.) from the entire fresh plant, with spirit of wine, of +which a couple of drops may be given in water several times a day, +to a child of from four to eight years old, for confirmed +whooping-cough; and if this dose seems to aggravate the paroxysms, +or to provoke sickness, it must be reduced in strength, and dilution. + +Also from four to ten drops of the tincture may be administered with +a tablespoonful of cold water, two or three times a day, for several +consecutive weeks, to a consumptive adult, in the early stages of +this disease. Dr. Hughes (Brighton) has employed a diluted tincture +of the Sundew (one part of this tincture admixed with nine parts of +spirit of wine) in doses of from three to five drops with water, +to a child of from three to eight years of age, for spasmodic +whooping-cough, several times in the day, with marked success; whilst +a larger dose or the stronger tincture served only to increase the +cough in violence and frequency. The same results may perhaps follow +too strong or full a dose to a consumptive patient, so that it must be +regulated by the effects produced. Externally, the juice [546] of the +fresh Sundew has been used for destroying warts. + + + +SUNFLOWER. + +The Sunflower (_Helianthus annuus_) which is so popular and +brilliant an ornament of cottage gardens throughout England in +summer and autumn, is an importation of long standing, and has +been called the Marigold of Peru. + +Its general nature and appearance are so well known as scarcely to +need any description. The plant is of the Composite order, +indigenous to tropical America, but flourishing well in this country, +whilst bearing the name of _Heli-anthus_ (Sunflower), and smelling +of turpentine when the disc of the flower is broken across. + +The growing herb is highly useful for drying damp soils, because of +its remarkable power of absorbing water; for which reason several +acres of Sunflowers are now planted in the Thames Valley. Swampy +districts in Holland have been made habitable by an extensive +culture of the Sunflower, the malarial miasmata being absorbed and +nullified, whilst pure oxygen is emitted abundantly. + +An old rhyme declares, for some unknown reason:-- + + "The full Sunflower blew + And became a starre of Bartholomew." + +The name Sunflower has been given as most persons think because +the flowers follow the sun by day turning always towards its shining +face. But Gerard says, about this alleged fact, he never could +observe it to happen, though he spared no pains to observe the +matter; he rather thought the flower to have got its title because +resembling the radiant beams of the sun. Likewise, [547] some have +called it Corona Solis, and Sol Indianus, the Indian Sunne-floure: by +others it is termed Chrysanthemum Peruvianum. In Peru this flower +was much reverenced because of its resemblance to the radiant sun, +which luminary was worshipped there. In their Temples of the Sun +the priestesses were crowned with Sunflowers, and wore them in +their bosoms, and carried them in their hands. The early Spanish +invaders found in these temples numerous representations of the +Sunflower wrought in pure virgin gold, the workmanship of which +was so exquisite that it far out-valued the precious metal whereof +they were made. Some country folk call it "Lady eleven o'clock." + +If the buds of the Sunflower before expanding be boiled, and eaten +with butter, vinegar and pepper, after the manner of serving the +Jerusalem Artichoke, they are exceeding pleasant meat, surpassing +the artichoke moreover in provoking the _desiderium veneris_. The +Chinese make their finest yellow dye from the Sunflower, which +they worship because resembling the sun. + +All parts of the plant contain much carbonate of potash; and the +fruit, or seed, furnishes a fixed oil in abundance. The kernels of the +seeds contain helianthic acid, and the pith of the plant will yield +nine per cent. of carbonate of potash. The oil of the Sunflower may +be used as olive oil, and the cake after expressing away this oil +makes a good food for cattle. A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared +from the seed with rectified spirit of wine; also from the fresh juice +with diluted spirit. Each of these serves admirably against +intermittent fever and ague, instead of quinine. The Sunflower is +adored by the Chinese as the most useful of all vegetables. From its +seeds the best oil is [548] extracted, and an excellent soap is made. +This oil burns longer than any other vegetable oil, and Sunflower +cake is more fattening to cattle than linseed cake. + +The flowers furnish capital food for bees, and the leaves are of use +for blending with tobacco. The stalk yields a fine fibre employed in +weaving Chinese silk, and Evelyn tells of "The large Sunflower, ere +it comes to expand and show its golden face, being dressed as an +artichoke, and eaten as a dainty." + +The plant is closely allied in its species to the Globe Artichoke, and +the Jerusalom Artichoke (_girasole_), so named from turning _vers +le soleil_, or _au soleil_, this being corrupted to "Jerusalem," and +its soup by further perversion to "Palestine" soup. The original +Moorish name was Archichocke, or Earththorn. + +The Globe Artichoke (_Cinara maxima anglicana_) of our kitchen +gardens, when boiled and brought to table, has a middle pulp which +is eaten as well as the soft delicate pulp at the base of each prickly +floret. "This middle pulp," says Gerard, "when boiled with the broth +of fat flesh, and with pepper added, makes a dainty dish being +pleasant to the taste, and accounted good to procure bodily desire. +(It stayeth the involuntary course of the natural seed)." Evelyn tells +us: "This noble thistle brought from Italy was at first so rare in +England that they were commonly sold for crowns apiece." Pliny +says: "Carthage spent three thousand pounds sterling a year in +them." The plant is named Cinara, from _cinis_, "ashes," because +land should be manured with these. It contains phosphoric acid, and +is, therefore, stimulating. + +The leaves of the Globe Artichoke afford somewhat freely on +expression a juice which is bitter, and acts as [549] a brisk diuretic +in many dropsies. Such a constituent in the plant was known to the +Arabians for curdling milk. + +The Jerusalem Artichoke (_Helianthus tuberosus_) is of the +Sunflower genus, having been brought at first from Brazil, and +being now commonly cultivated in England for its edible tubers. +These are red outside, and white within; they contain sugar, and +albumen, with all aromatic volatile principle, and water. The tuber is +the _Topinambour_, and _Pois de terre_ of the French; having been +brought to Europe in 1617. It furnishes more sugar and less starch +than the Potato. + +In 1620 the Jerusalem Artichoke was quite common as a vegetable +in London: though, says Parkinson, when first introduced, it was "a +dainty for a queen." Formerly, it was baked in pies with beef +marrow, dates, ginger, raisins, and sack. The juice pressed out +before the plant blossoms was used by the ancients for restoring the +hair of the head, even when the person was quite bald. + +The Sunflower has been from time immemorial a popular remedy +for malarial fevers in Russia, Turkey, and Persia, being employed as +a tincture made by steeping the stems and leaves in brandy. It is +considered even preferable to quinine, sometimes succeeding when +this has failed, and being free from any of the inconveniences which +often arise from giving large doses of the drug: whilst the pleasant +taste of the plant is of no small advantage in the case of children. + +Cases in which both quinine and arsenic proved useless have been +completely cured by the tincture of Sunflower in a week or ten days. + +Golden Sunflowers are introduced at Rheims into the stained glass +of an Apse window in the church of St. Remi, with the Virgin and +St. John on either side of [550] the Cross, the head of each being +encircled with an aureole having a Sunflower inserted in its outer +circle. The flowers are turned towards the Saviour on the Cross as +towards their true Sun. + + +TAMARIND. + +The Tamarind pod, though of foreign growth, has been much valued +by our immediate ancestors as a household medicinal Simple; and a +well stocked jar of its useful curative pulp was always found in the +store cupboard of a prudent housewife. But of late years this +serviceable fruit has fallen into the background of remedial +resources, from which it may be now brought forward again with +advantage. The natives of India have a prejudice against sleeping +under the Tamarind; and the acid damp from the trees is known to +affect the cloth of tents pitched under them for any length of time. +So strong is this prejudice of the natives against the Tamarind tree +that it is difficult to prevent them from destroying it, as they +believe it hurtful to vegetation. The parent tree, Tamar Hindee, +"Indian date," is of East, or West Indian growth; but the sweet pulpy +jam containing shining stony seeds, and connected together by tough +stringy fibres, may be readily obtained at the present time from the +leading druggists, or the general provision merchant. It fulfils +medicinal purposes which entitle it to high esteem as a Simple for +use in the sick-room. Large quantities of this luscious date are +brought to our shores from the Levant and Persia, but before +importation the shell of the pod is removed; and the pulp ought not +to exhibit any presence of copper, as shown on a clean steel +knife-blade held within the same, though the fruit by nature possesses +traces of gold in its composition. Chemically, this pulp contains +citric, tartaric, [551] and malic acids, as compounds of potassium; +with gum, pectin and starch. Boiled syrup has been poured over it as +a preliminary. The fruit is sharply acid, and may be made into an +excellent cooling drink by infusion with boiling water, being +allowed to become cold, and then strained off as an agreeable tea, +which proves highly grateful to a fevered patient. + +The Arabians first taught the use of Tamarinds, which contain an +unusual proportion of acids to the sweet constituents. They are +anti-putrescent, and exert a laxative action corrective of bilious +sluggishness. A capital whey may be made by boiling two ounces of +the fruit with two pints of milk, and then straining. Gerard tells that +"travellers carry with them the pulp mixed with sugar throughout +the desert places of Africa." + +Tamarinds are an efficient laxative if enough (from one to two +ounces) can be taken at a time: but this quantity is inconvenient, and +apt to clog by its excess of sweetness. Therefore a compressed form +of the pulp is now in the market, known as Tamar Indien lozenges, +coated with chocolate. These are combined, however, with a +purgative of greater activity, most probably jalap. + +The fruit of the Tamarind is certainly antibilious, and by the virtue +of its potash salts it tends to heal any sore places within the mouth. +In India it is added as an ingredient to punch; but the tree is +superstitiously regarded as the messenger of the God of death. + +When acids are indicated, to counteract septic fever, and to cool the +blood, whilst in natural harmony with the digestive functions, the +Tamarind will be found exceptionally helpful; and towards +obviating [552] constipation a dessertspoonful, or more, of the pulp +may be taken with benefit as a compôte at table, together with +boiled rice, or sago. The name Tamarind is derived from _tamar_, +the date palm; and _indus_, of Indian origin. Formerly this fruit was +known as Oxyphoenica (sour date). Officinally apothecaries mix the +pulp with senna as an aperient confection. It is further used in +flavouring curries on account of its acid. + + + +TANSY. + +The Tansy (_Tanacetum vulgare_--"buttons,"--bed of Tansy), a +Composite plant very familiar in our hedgerows and waste places, +being conspicuous by its heads of brilliant yellow flowers, is often +naturalized in our gardens for ornamental cultivation. Its leaves +smell like camphor, and possess a bitter aromatic taste; whilst young +they were commonly used in times past, and are still employed, +when shredded, for flavouring cakes, puddings, and omelets. The +roots when preserved with honey, or sugar, are reputed to be of +special service against the gout, if a reasonable quantity thereof be +eaten fasting every day for a certain space. The fruit is destructive +to round worms. + +The seed also of the Tansy is a singular and appropriate medicine +against worms: for "in whatsoever sort taken it killeth and driveth +them forth." In Sussex a peasant will put Tansy leaves in his shoes +to cure ague; and the plant has a rural celebrity for correcting female +irregularities of the functional health. The name Tansy is +probably derived from the Greek word _athanasia_ which signifies +immortality, either, as, says Dodoeus, _quia non cito flos +inflorescit_, "because it lasts so long in flower," or, _quia ejus +succus, vel oleum extractum cadavera a putredine conservat_ (as +Ambrosius writes), "because it is so capital [558] for preserving +dead bodies from corruption." It was said to have been given to +Ganymede to make him immortal. The whole herb contains resin, +mucilage, sugar, a fixed oil, tannin, a colouring matter, malic or +tanacetic acid, and water. When the camphoraceous bitter oil is +taken in any excess it induces venous congestion of the abdominal +organs, and increases the flow of urine. + +If given in moderate doses the plant and its essential oil are +stomachic and cordial, whether the leaves, flowers, or seeds be +administered, serving to allay spasm, and helping to promote the +monthly flow of women; the seeds being also of particular use +against worms, and relieving the flatulent colic of hysteria. This +herb will drive away bugs from a bed in which it is placed. Meat +rubbed with the bitter Tansy will be protected from the visits of +carrion flies. + +Ten drops of the essential oil will produce much flushing of the +head and face, with giddiness, and with beat of stomach; whilst half +a drachm of the oil has been followed by a serious result. But from +one to four drops may be safely given for a dose according to the +symptoms it is desired to relieve. Cases of epilepsy (not inherited) +have been successfully treated with the liquid extract of Tansy in +doses of a drop with water four times in the day. The essential oil +will toxically produce epileptic seizures. + +The plant has been used externally with benefit for some eruptive +diseases of the skin; and a hot infusion of it to sprained, or +rheumatic parts will give relief from pain by way of a fomentation. +In Scotland the dried flowers are given for gout, from half to one +teaspoonful for a dose two or three times in the day; or an infusion +is drank prepared from the flowers and seeds. This has kept +inveterate gout at bay for years. + +[554] A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the fresh plant with +spirit of wine. From eight to ten drops of the same may be given +with a tablespoonful of cold water to an adult twice or three times in +the day. + +Formerly this was one of the native plants dedicated to the Virgin +Mary; and the "good wives" used to take a syrup of Tansy for +preventing miscarriage. "The Laplanders," says Linnoeus, "use +Tansy in their baths to facilitate parturition." + +At Easter also it was the custom, even, by the Archbishops, the +Bishops, and the clergy of some churches, to play at handball (so +say the old chroniclers), with men of their congregations, whilst a +Tansy cake was the reward of the victors, this being a confection +with which the bitter herb Tansy was mixed. Some such a corrective +was supposed to be of benefit after having eaten much fish during +Lent. + +The Tansy cake was made from the young leaves of the plant mixed +with eggs, and was thought to purify the humours of the body. "This +Balsamic plant" said Boerhaave, "will supply the place of nutmegs +and cinnamon." In Lyte's time the Tansy was sold in the shops +under the name of Athanasia. + + + +TARRAGON. + +The kitchen herb Tarragon (_Artemisia dracunculus_) is cultivated +in England, and more commonly in France, for uses in salads, and +other condimentary purposes. It is the "little Dragon Mugwort: in +French, _Herbe au Dragon_"; to which, as to other Dragon herbs, +was ascribed the faculty of curing the bites and stings of venomous +beasts, and of mad dogs. The plant does not fructify in France. + +It is of the Composite order, and closely related to [555] our +common Wormwood, and Southernwood, but its leaves are not +divided. This herb is a native of Siberia, but has been long grown +largely by French gardeners, and has since become widespread in +this country as a popular fruit, also for making a vinegar, and for +adding to salads. The word Tarragon is by corruption "a little +dragon." French cooks commonly mix their table mustard with the +vinegar of the herb. + +Many strange tales have been told about the origin of the plant, one +of which, scarce worth the noting, runs that the seed of flax put into +a radish root, or a sea onion, and being thus set doth bring forth this +herb Tarragon (so says Gerard). + +In Continental cookery the use of Tarragon is advised to temper the +coldness of other herbs in salads, like as a Rocket doth. "Neither," +say the authorities, "do we know what other use this herb hath." + +The volatile essential oil of Tarragon is chemically identical with +that of Anise, and it is found to be sexually stimulating. Probably by +virtue of its finely elaborated camphor it exercises its specific +effects, the fact being established that too much camphor acts in the +opposite direction. + +John Evelyn says of the plant "'Tis highly cordial and friendly to the +head, heart, and liver." + + + +THISTLES. + +Thistles are comprised in a large mixed genus of our English weeds, +and wild plants, several of them possessing attributed medicinal +virtues. Some of these are Thistles proper, as the _Carduus_, the +_Cnicus_, and the _Carlina_: others are Teasels, Eryngiums, and +Globe Thistles, etc. Consideration should be given here to the +_Carduus marianus_, or Lady's Thistle, the common [556] Carline +Thistle, the _Carduus benedictus_ (Blessed Thistle), the wild Teasel +(_Dipsacus_), and the Fuller's Teasel, as Herbal Simples; whilst +others of minor curative usefulness are to be incidentally mentioned. + +As a class Thistles have been held sacred to Thor, because, say the +old authors, receiving their bright colours from the lightning, and +because protecting those who cultivate them from its destructive +effects. + +In Devon and Cornwall Thistles are commonly known as Dazzels, +or Dashel flowers. As a rule they flourish best in hot dry climates. + +The _Carduus marianus_ (Lady's Thistle), Milk Thistle, or Holy +Thistle, grows abundantly in waste places, and near gardens +throughout the British Isles, but it is not a native plant. The term +_Carduus_, or Cardinal, refers to its spring leaves, and the +adjectives "Marianus," "Milk," and "Holy," have been assigned +through a tradition that some drops of the Virgin Mary's milk fell on +the herb, and became exhibited in the white veins of its leaves. By +some persons this Thistle is taken as the emblem of Scotland. + +Dioscorides told of the Milk Thistle, "the seeds being drunk are a +remedy for infants that have their sinews drawn together." He +further said: "The root if borne about one doth expel melancholy, +and remove all diseases connected therewith." Modern writers do +laugh at this: "Let them laugh that win! My opinion is that this is the +best remedy that grows against all melancholy diseases." + +The fruit of the _Carduus marianus_ contains an oily bitter seed: the +tender leaves in spring may be eaten as a salad; and the young +peeled stalks, after being soaked, are excellent boiled, or baked in +pies. The heads of this Thistle before the flowers open may be [557] +cooked like artichokes. The seeds were formerly thought to cure +hydrophobia. They act as a demulcent in catarrh and pleurisy, being +also a favourite food of Goldfinches. A decoction of the seeds when +applied externally is said to have proved beneficial in cases of +cancer. + +Thistle down was at one time gathered by poor persons and sold for +stuffing pillows. It is very prolific in germination, and an old saying +runs on this score:-- + + "Cut your Thistles before St. John, + Or you'll have two instead of one." + +This Milk Thistle (_Carduus marianus_) is said to be the empirical +nostrum, _anti-glaireux_, of Count Mattaei. + +"Disarmed of its prickles," writes John Evelyn, "and boiled, it is +worth esteem, and thought to be a great breeder of milk, and proper +diet for women who are nurses." + +In Germany it is very popular for curing jaundice and kindred +biliary derangements. When taken by healthy provers in varying +quantities to test its toxic effects the plant has caused distension of +the whole abdomen, especially on the right side, with tenderness on +pressure over the liver, and with a deficiency of bile in hard knotty +stools, the colouring matter of the faeces being found by chemical +tests present in the urine: so that a preparation of this Thistle +modified in strength, and considerably diluted in its doses proves +truly homoeopathic to simple obstructive jaundice through inaction +of the liver, and readily cures the disorder. A tincture is prepared +(H.) for medicinal use from equal parts of the root, and the seeds +(with the hull on) together with spirit of wine. + +The _Carduus benedictus_ (Blessed Thistle) was first [558] +cultivated by Gerard in 1597, and has since become a common +medicinal Simple. It was at one time considered to be almost a +panacea, and capable of curing even the plague by its antiseptic +virtues. + +This Thistle was a herb of Mars, and, as Gerard says: "It helpeth +giddiness of the head: also it is an excellent remedy against the +yellow jaundice. It strengthens the memory, cures deafness, and +helps the bitings of mad dogs and venomous beasts." It contains a +bitter principle "cnicin," resembling the similar tonic constituent of +the Dandelion, this being likewise useful for stimulating a sluggish +liver to more healthy action. + +The infusion should be made with cold water: when kept it forms a +salt on its surface like nitre. The herb does not yield its virtues to +spirit of wine as a tincture. Its taste is intensely bitter. + +The Carline Thistle (_Carlina vulgaris_) was formerly used in +magical incantations. It possesses medicinal qualities very like those +of Elecampane, being diaphoretic, and in larger doses purgative. +The herb contains some resin, and a volatile essential oil of a +camphoraceous nature, like that of Elecampane, and useful for +similar purposes, as cordial and antiseptic. This Thistle grows on +dry heaths especially near the sea, and is easily distinguished from +other Thistles by the straw-coloured glossy radiate long inner scales +of its outer floral cup. They rise up over the florets in wet weather. +The whole plant is very durable, like that of the "everlasting +flowers:" Cudweed (_Antennaria_). + +The name Carlina was given because the Thistle was used by +Charles the Great as a remedy against the plague. It was revealed to +him when praying for some means to stay this pestilence which was +destroying his army. In his sleep there appeared to him an angel +who shot [559] an arrow from a cross bow, telling him to mark the +plant upon which it fell: for that with such plant he might cure his +soldiers of the dire epidemic: which event really happened, the herb +thus indicated being the said thistle. In Anglo-Saxon it was the +ever-throat, or boar-throat. + +On the Continent a large white blossom of this species is nailed +upon cottage doors by way of a barometer to indicate the weather if +remaining open or closing. + +The wild Teasel (_Dipsacus sylvestris_) grows commonly in waste +places, having tall stems or stalks, at the bottom of which are leaves +(like bracts) united at their sides so as to form a cup, open upwards, +around the base of the stalk, and hence the term "_Dipsacus_," +thirsty. This cup serves to retain rain water, which is thought to +acquire curative properties, being used, for one purpose, to remove +warts. The cup is called Venus' basin, and its contents, says Ray, are +of service _ad verrucas abigendas_; also it is named Barber's Brush, +and Church Broom. + +The Fuller's Teasel, or Thistle (_Dipsacus fullonum_) is so termed +from its use in combing and dressing cloth,--_teasan_, to tease,-- +three Teaselheads being the arms of the Cloth Weavers' Company. +This is found in the neighbourhood of the cloth districts, but is not +considered to be a British plant. It is probably a cultivated variety of +the wild Teasel, but differs by having the bristles of its receptacles +hooked. + +The Sow Thistle (_Sonchus oleraceus_), named _sonchus_ because +of its soft spikes instead of prickles, grows commonly as a weed in +gardens, and having milky stalks which are reputed good for +wheezy and short-winded folk, whilst the milk may be used as a +wash for the face. It is named also "turn sole" because always facing +the sun, and Hare's Thistle (the hare's panacea, [560] says an old +writer, is the Sow Thistle), or Hare's Lettuce because "when fainting +with the heat she recruits her strength with the herb; or if a hare eat +of this herb in the summer when he is mad he shall become whole." +Another similar title of the herb is Hare's palace, since the creature +was thought to get shelter and courage from it. Some suppose that +the botanical term _Sonchus_ signifies _apo ton soon ekein_, from +its yielding a salubrious juice. + +The Sow thistle has been named also Milkweed. According to +tradition it sometimes conceals marvels, or treasures; and in Italian +stories the words, "Open Sow Thistle" are used as of like +significance with the magical invocation "Open sesame." Another +name is "Du Tistel" or Sprout Thistle; because the plant may be +used for its edible sprouts, which Evelyn says, were eaten by Galen +as a lettuce. And Matthiolus told of the Tuscans in his day "_Soncho +nostri utuntur hyeme in acetariis_." + +The Melancholy Thistle (_Carduus heterophyllus_) has been held +curative of melancholy. It grows most frequently in Scotland and +the North of England, and is a non-prickly plant. + + + +THYME. + +The Wild English thyme (_Thymus serpyllum_) belongs to the +Labiate plants, and takes its second title from a Greek verb +signifying "to creep," which has reference to the procumbent habit +of the plant. It bears the appellation "Brotherwort." + +Typically the _Thymus serpyllum_ flourishes abundantly on hills, +heaths, and grassy places, having woody stems, small fringed +leaves, and heads of purple flowers which diffuse a sweet perfume +into the surrounding air, [561] especially in hot weather. +Shakespeare's well known line alludes to this pleasant fact: "I know +a bank where the wild Thyme grows." + +The name Thyme is derived from the Greek _thumos_, as identical +with the Latin _fumus_, smoke, having reference to the ancient use +of Thyme in sacrifices, because of its fragrant odour; or, it may be, +as signifying courage (_thumos_), which its cordial qualities inspire. +With the Greeks Thyme was an emblem of bravery, and activity; +also the ladies of chivalrous days embroidered on the scarves which +they presented to their knights the device of a bee hovering about a +spray of Thyme, as teaching the union of the amiable and the active. + +Horace has said concerning Wild Thyme:-- + + "Impune tutum per nemus arbutos + Quaerunt latentes, et thyma deviae + Olentis uxores mariti." + +Wild Thyme is subject to variations in the size and colour of its +flowers, as well as in the habits of the varieties. + +This wild Thyme bears also the appellation, "Mother of Thyme," +which should be "Mother Thyme," in allusion to its medicinal +influence on the womb, an organ which the older writers always +termed the "Mother." Isidore tells that the wild Thyme was called +in Latin, _Matris animula, quod menstrua movet_. Platearius +says of it: _Serpyllum matricem comfortat et mundificat. Mulieres +Saliternitanoe hoc fomento multum utuntur_. + +Dr. Neovius writes enthusiastically in a Finnish Journal on the +virtues of common Thyme in combating whooping cough. He has +found that if given _fresh_, from an ounce and a half to six ounces a +day, mixed [562] with a little syrup, regularly for some weeks, it is +practically a specific. If taken from the first, the symptoms vanish in +two or three days, and in a fortnight the disease is expelled. The +simplicity, harmlessness, and cheapness of this remedy are great +supporters of its claims. + +Other titles of the herb are Pulial mountain, and creeping Thyme. It +is anti-spasmodic, and good for nervous or hysterical headaches, for +flatulence, and the headache which follows inebriation. The infusion +may be profitably applied for healing skin eruptions of various +characters. + +Virgil mentions (in _Eclogue_ xi., lines 10, 11) the restorative value +of Thyme against fatigue:-- + + "Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus oestu + Allia, Serpyllumque herbas contundit olentes." + +Or, + + "Thestlis for mowers tired with parching heat + Garlic and Thyme, strong smelling herbs, doth beat." + +Tournefort writes: "A conserve made from the flowers and leaves of +wild Thyme (_Serpyllum_) relieves those troubled with the falling +sickness, whilst the distilled oil promotes the monthly flow in +women." + +The delicious flavour of the noted honey of Hymettus was said to be +derived from the wild Thyme there visited by the bees. Likewise the +flesh of sheep fed on pasturage where the wild Thyme grows freely +has been said to gain a delicate flavour and taste from this source: +but herein a mistake is committed, because sheep are really averse +to such pasturage, and refuse it if they can get other food. + +An infusion of the leaves of Thyme, whether wild, or cultivated, +makes an excellent aromatic tea, the odour of which is sweet and +fragrant, whilst the taste of the [563] plant is bitter and +camphoraceous. There is in some districts an old superstition that to +bring wild Thyme into the house conveys severe illness, or death to +some member of the family. + +In Grecian days the Attic elegance of style was said to show an +odour of Thyme. Shenstone's schoolmistress had a garden:-- + + "Where herbs for use and physic not a few + Of grey renown within those borders grew, + The tufted Basil,--_pun provoking_ Thyme, + The lordly Gill that never dares to climb." + +Bacon in his _Essay on Gardens_ recommends to set whole alleys +of Thyme for the pleasure of its perfume when treading on the plant. +And Dioscorides said Thyme used in food helps dimness of sight. + +Gerard adds: "Wild Thyme boiled in wine and drunk is good against +the wamblings and gripings of the belly": whilst Culpeper describes +it as "a strengthener of the lungs, as notable a one as grows." "The +Thyme of Candy, Musk Thyme, or Garden Thyme is good against +the sciatica, and to be given to those that have the falling sickness, +to smell to." + +The volatile essential oil of Wild Thyme (as well as of Garden +Thyme) consists of two hydrocarbons, with thymol as the fatty base, +this thymol being readily soluble in fats and oils when heated, and +taking high modern rank as an antiseptic. It will arrest gastric +fermentation when given judiciously as a medicine, though an +overdose will bring on somnolence, with a ringing in the ears. +Officinally Thymol, the stearoptene obtained from the volatile oil of +_Thymus vulgaris_, is directed to be given in a dose of from half to +two grains. + +[564] Thymol is valued by some authorities more highly even than +carbolic acid for destroying the germs of disease, or for disinfecting +them. It is of equal service with tar for treating such skin affections +as psoriasis, and eczema. When inhaled thymol is most useful +against septic sore throat, especially during scarlet fever. At the +hospital for throat diseases the following formula is ordered: +Thymol twenty grains to rectified spirit of wine three drachms, and +carbonate of magnesia ten grains, with water to three ounces; a +teaspoonful to be used in a pint of water at 150° Fahrenheit for each +inhalation. + +Against ringworm an ointment made with one drachm of thymol to +an ounce of soft paraffin is found to be a sure specific. + +The spirit of thymol should consist of one part of thymol to ten parts +of spirit of wine; and this is a convenient form for use to medicate +the wool of antiseptic respirators. As a purifying and cleansing +lotion for wounds and sores, thymol should be mixed in the +proportion of five grains thereof to an ounce of spirit of wine, an +ounce of glycerine, and six ounces of water. + +The common Garden Thyme is an imported sort from the South of +Europe. Its odour and taste depend on an essential oil known +commercially as oil of origanum. + +Another variety of the Wild Thyme is Lemon Thyme (_Thymus +citriodorus_), distinguished by its parti-coloured leaves, and by its +lilac flowers. Small beds of this Thyme, together with mint, are +cultivated at Penzance, in which to rear millepedes, or hoglice, +administered as pills for several forms of scrofulous disease. The +woodlouse, sowpig, or hoglouse abounds with a nitrous salt which +has long found favour for curing scrofulous [565] disease, and +inveterate struma, as also against some kinds of stone in the bladder. + +The Hoglouse, or Millepede was the primitive medicinal pill. It is +found in dry gardens under stones, etc., and rolls itself up into a +ball when touched. These are also called Chiselbobs, and Cudworms. +From three to twelve were formerly given in Rhenish wine for a +hundred days together to cure all kinds of cancers; or they were +sometimes worn round the neck in a small bag (which was absurd!). +In the Eastern counties they are known as "Old Sows," or "St. +Anthony's Hogs." Their Latin name is _Porcellus Scaber_. The +Welsh call this small creature the "withered old woman of the +wood," "the little pig of the wood," and "the little grey hog," also +"Grammar Sows." Their word "gurach" like "grammar" means a +dried up old dame. + +Cat Thyme (_Teucrium marum verum_) was imported from Spain, +and is cultivated in our gardens as a cordial aromatic herb, useful in +nervous disorders. Its flowers are crimson, and its bark is astringent. +The dried leaves may be given in powder or used in snuff. A +tincture (H.) is made from the whole herb which is effectual against +small thread worms. Provers of the herb in material toxic quantities +have experienced troublesome itching and irritation of the +fundament. For similar conditions, and to expel thread worms, two +or three drops of the tincture diluted to its first decimal strength +should be given with a spoonful of water three or four times in the +day to a child of from four to six years. + + + +TOADFLAX. + +The Toadflax, or Flaxweed (_Linaria vulgaris_) belongs to the +scrofula-curing order of plants, getting its name from _linum_, flax, +and being termed "toad" by a [566] mistaken translation of its Latin +title _Bubonio_, this having been wrongly read _bufonio_,-- +belonging to a toad,--or because having a flower (as the +Snapdragon) like a toad's mouth: whereas "bubonio" means "useful +for the groins." + +It is an upright herbaceous plant most common in hedges, having +leaves like grass of a dull sea green aspect, and bearing dense +clusters of yellow flowers shaped like those of the garden +Snapdragon, with spurs at their base. It continues in flower until the +late autumn. The Russians cultivate the Snapdragon for the oil +yielded by its seeds. + +The Toadflax has a faint disagreeable smell, and a bitter saline taste. +It acts medicinally as a powerful purge, and promoter of urine, and +therefore it is employed for carrying off the water of dropsies, being +in this respect a well known rural Simple. Waller says: "Country +people boil the whole plant in ale, and drink the decoction; but the +expressed juice of the fresh plant acts still more powerfully." + +In many districts the herb is familiarly known as "butter and eggs;" +and in Germany though dedicated to the Virgin it is called "devil's +band." + +Again in Devonshire it goes by the names of "Rambling," or +"Wandering Sailor," "Pedler's Basket," "Mother of Millions" (the +ivy-leaved sort), "Lion's Mouth" and "Flaxweed." + +When used externally an infusion of the herb acts as an anodyne to +subdue irritation of the skin, and it may be taken as a medicine to +modify skin diseases. The fresh juice is attractive to flies, but at +the same time it serves to poison them: so if it be mixed with milk, +and placed where flies resort they will drink it and perish at the +first sip. + +[567] As promoting a free flow of urine, the herb has been named +"Urinalis," or sometimes "Ramsted." The flowers contain a yellow +colouring matter, mucilage, and sugar. In Germany they are given +with the rest of the plant for dropsy, jaundice, piles, and some +diseases of the skin. Gerard says: "The decoction openeth the +stoppings of the liver, and spleen: and is singular good against the +jaundice which is of long continuance." He advises an ointment +made from the plant stampt with lard for certain skin eruptions, and +a decoction made with four drachms of the herb in eight ounces of +boiling water. The bruised leaves are useful externally for curing +blotches on the face, and for piles. + +An old distich says of the Toadflax as compared with the +Larkspur:-- + + "Esula lactescit: sine lacte Linaria crescit;" + +or, + + "Larkspur with milk doth flow: + Toadflax without milk doth grow," + +(alluding to the dry nature of the toadflax). To which the Hereditary +Marshal of Hesse added the following line:-- + + "Esoula nil nobis, sed dat linaria _taurum_," + +implying that the herb was of old valued for its good effects when +applied externally to piles as an ointment, a fomentation, or a +poultice, each being made from the leaves and the flowers. The +originator of this ointment was a Dr. Wolph, physician to the +Landgrave of Hesse, who only divulged its formula on the prince +promising to give him _a fat ox_ annually for the discovery. + + + +TOMATO (or LOVE APPLE). + +Though only of recent introduction as a common vegetable in this +country, and though grown chiefly [568] under glass for the table in +England, yet the Tomato is so abundantly imported, and so +extensively used by all classes now-a-days throughout the British +Isles that it may fairly take consideration for whatever claims it can +advance as a curative Simple. Imported early in the present century +from South America it remained for a while an exclusive luxury +produced for the rich like pine apples and melons. But gradually +since then the Tomato has steadily acquired an increasing +popularity, and now large crops of the profitable fruit are brought +from Bordeaux and the Channel Islands, to meet the demands of our +English markets. Much of the favour which has become attached to +this ruddy, polished, attractive-looking fruit is due to a widespread +impression that it is good for the liver, and a preventive of +biliousness. Nevertheless, rumours have also gone abroad that +habitual Tomato-eaters are especially liable to cancerous disease in +this, or that organ. + +Belonging to the Solanums the Tomato (_Lycopersicum_) is a plant +of Mexican origin. Its brilliant fruit was first known as _Mala +oethiopica_, or the Apples of the Moors, and bearing the Italian +designation _Pomi dei Mori_. This name was presently corrupted in +the French to _Pommes d'amour_; and thence in English to the +epithet Love Apples, a perversion which shows by what curious +methods primary names may become incongruously changed. They +are also called Gold Apples from their bright yellow colour before +getting ripe. The term _Lycopersicum_ signifies a "wolf's peach," +because some parts of the plant are thought to excite animal +passions. + +The best fruit is supposed to grow within sight, or smell of the sea. +It needs plenty of sunlight and heat. The quicker it is produced the +fewer will be the seeds discoverable in its pulp. + +[568] Green when young, Tomatoes acquire a bright yellow hue +before reaching maturity, and when ripe they are smooth, shining, +furrowed, and of a handsome red. + +Chemically this Love Apple contains citric and malic acids: and it +further possesses oxalic acid, or oxalate of potash, in common with +the Sorrel of our fields, and the Rhubarb of our kitchen gardens. On +which account each of this vegetable triad is ill suited for gouty +constitutions disposed to the formation of irritating oxalate of lime +in the blood. With such persons a single indulgence in Tomatoes, +particularly when eaten raw, may provoke a sharp attack of gout. + +Otherwise there are special reasons for supposing the Tomato to be +a wholesome fruit of remarkable purifying value. + +Dr. King Chambers classifies it among remedies against scurvy, +telling us that Tomatoes mixed with brown bread make a capital +sauce for costive persons. And the fruit owns a singular property in +connection with diseases of plants, suggesting its probable worth as +protective against bacterial germs, and microbes of disease in our +bodies when it is taken as food, or medicinally. If a Tomato shrub +be uprooted at the end of the summer, and allowed to wither on the +bough of a fruit tree, or if it be burnt beneath the fruit tree, it +will not only kill any blight which may be present, but will also +preserve the tree against any future invasion by blight. The hostility +thus evinced by the plant to low organisms is due to the presence of +sulphur, which the Tomato shrub largely contains, and which is +rendered up in an active state by decay, or by burning. Now +remembering that digestion likewise splits up the Tomato into its +chemical constituents, and releases its sulphur within us, we may +fairly assume that persons [570] who eat Tomatoes habitually are +likely to have a particular immunity from bacterial and putrefactive +diseases. + +Wherefore it is altogether improbable that Tomatoes will engender +cancer, which is essentially a disease of vitiated blood, and of +degenerate cell tissue. Possibly the old exploded doctrine of +signatures may have suggested, or started this accusation against the +maligned, though unguarded Tomato: for it cannot be denied the +guileless fruit bears a nodulated tumour-like appearance, whilst +showing, when cut, an aspect of red raw morbid fleshy structure +strangely resembling cancerous disease. + +Vegetarians who eat Tomatoes constantly and freely claim that +cancer is a disease almost unknown among their ranks; but an +Italian doctor writing from Rome gives it as the experience of +himself and his medical brethren that cancer is as common in Italy +and Sicily among vegetarians as with mixed eaters. Most of our +American cousins, who are the enterprising fathers of this medicinal +fruit, persuade themselves that they are never in perfect health +except during the Tomato season. And with us the ruddy Solanum +has obtained a wide popularity not simply at table as a tasty cooling +sallet, or an appetising stew, but essentially as a supposed +antibilious purifier of the blood. When uncooked it contains a +notable quantity of Solanin, and it would be dangerous to let +animals drink water in which the plant had been boiled. The Staff of +the Cancer Hospital at Brompton have emphatically declared "they +see no ground whatever for supposing that the eating of Tomatoes +predisposes to cancer." + +Nevertheless some country people in the remote American States +attribute cancer to an excessively free use of the wild uncultivated +tomato as food. + +[571] The first mention of this fruit by the London Horticultural +Society occurred in 1818. + +Chemically in addition to the acids already named the Tomato +contains a volatile oil, a brown resinous extractive matter very +fragrant, a vegeto-mineral matter, muco-saccharin, some salts, and +in all probability an alkaloid. The whole plant smells unpleasantly, +and its juices when subjected to heat by the action of fire emit a +vapour so powerful as to provoke vertigo and vomiting. + +The specific principles furnished by the Tomato will, when +concentrated, produce, if taken medicinally, effects very similar +to those brought about by taking mercurial salts, viz., an +ulcerative-state of the mouth, with a profuse flow of saliva, and +with excessive stimulation of the liver: peevishness also on the +following day, with a depressing backache in men, suggesting +paralysis, and with a profuse fluor albus in women. When given +in moderation as food, or as physic, the fruit will remedy +this chain of symptoms. + +By reason of its efficacy in promoting an increased flow of bile if +judiciously taken, the Tomato bears the name in America of +Vegetable Mercury, and it has almost superseded calomel there as a +biliary medicinal provocative. Dr. Bennett declares the Tomato to +be the most useful and the least harmful of all known medicines for +correcting derangements of the liver. He prepares a chemical extract +of the fruit and plant which will, he feels assured, depose calomel +for the future. + +Across the Atlantic an officinal tincture is made from the Tomato +for curative purposes by treating the apples, and the bruised fresh +plant with alcohol, and letting this stand for eight days before it +is filtered and strained. + +A teaspoonful of the tincture is a sufficient dose with one or two +tablespoonfuls of cold water, three times in the day. + +[572] The fluid extract made from the plant is curative of any +ulcerative soreness within the mouth, such as nurses' sore mouth, or +canker. It should be given internally, and applied locally to the +sore parts. + +Spaniards and Italians eat Tomatoes with pepper and oil. We take +them as a salad, or stewed with butter, after slicing and stuffing +them with bread crumb, and a spice of garlic. + +The green Tomato makes a good pickle, and in its unripe state is +esteemed an excellent sauce with rich roast pork, or goose. The fruit +when cooked no longer exercises active medicinal effects, as its +volatile principles have now become dispelled through heat. + +By the late Mr. Shirley Hibberd, who was a good naturalist, it was +asserted with seeming veracity that the cannibal inhabitants of the +Fiji Islands hold in high repute a native Tomato which is named by +them the _Solanum anthropophagorutm_, and which they eat, _par +excellence_, with "Cold Missionary." Nearer home a worthy dame +has been known with pious aspirations to enquire at the stationer's +for "Foxe's book of To-Martyrs." + +"Chops and Tomato sauce" were ordered from Mrs. Bardell, in +Pickwick's famous letter. "Gentlemen!" says Serjeant Buzfuz, in his +address to the jury, "What does this mean?" But he missed a point in +not going on to add--"I need not tell you, gentlemen, the popular +name for the Tomato is _love apple_! Is it not manifest, therefore, +what the base deceiver intended?" + + "A cucumber in early spring + Might please a sated Caesar, + Rapture asparagus can bring, + And dearer still green peas are: + Oh! far and wide, where mushrooms hide, + I'll search, as wide and far too + For watercress; but all their pride + Must stoop to thee,--Tomato!" + + + +[573] TORMENTIL. + +The Tormentil (_Potentilla Tormentilla_) belongs to the tribe of +wild Roses, and is a common plant on our heaths, banks, and dry +pastures. It is closely allied to the _Potentilla_, but bears only four +petals on its flowers, which are of bright yellow. The woody roots +are medicinally useful because of their astringent properties. +Sometimes the stem is trailing, making this the _Tormentilla +Reptans_, but more commonly it ascends. The name comes from +_tormina_, which signifies such griping of the intestines as the herb +will serve to relieve, as likewise the twinges of toothache. The root +is employed both for tanning leather, and for dyeing it by the +thickened red juice. Furthermore through its astringency this root is +admirable for arresting bleedings. Vesalius considered it to be as +useful against syphilis as Guiacum, and Sarsaparilla. A decoction of +Tormentil makes a capital gargle, and will heal ulcers of the mouth +if used as a wash. If a piece of lint soaked therein be kept applied to +warts, they will wither and disappear. Chemically the herb contains +"_Tormentilla Red_," identical with that of the Horse Chestnut, also +tannic, and kinoric acids. The decoction should be made with four +drams to half-a-pint of water boiled together for ten minutes, adding +half a dram of Cinnamon stick at the end of boiling; one or two +tablespoonfuls will be the dose, or of the powdered root (dried) the +dose will be from five to thirty grains. + +"_In fluxu sanguinis, fluore albo, et mictu involuntario Tormentilla +valet_." Dr. Thornton (1810) tells of a labouring botanist who learnt +the powers of this root, and by its decoction, sweetened with honey, +cured intractable agues, severe diarrhoeas, and scorbutic ulcers +(which had been turned out of hospitals as inveterate), [578] also +many fluxes. Lord William Russell heard about this, and allowed +the poor man a piece of his park in which to cultivate the herb, +"_Non est vegetabile quod in fluxionibus alvi efficacius est_." The +root is so rich in tannin that it may be used instead of oak bark. + + + +TURNIP. + +The Turnip (_Brassica Rapa_) belongs to the Cruciferous Cabbage +tribe, being often found growing in waste places, though not truly +wild. In this state it is worth nothing to man or beast; but, by +cultivation, it becomes a most valuable food for cattle in the winter, +and a good vegetable for our domestic uses. It exercises some +aperient action, and the liquid in which turnips are boiled will +increase the flow of urine. It is called also "bagie," and was the +"gongyle" of the Greeks, so named from the roundness of the root. + +When mashed, and mixed with bread and milk, the Turnip makes an +excellent cleansing and stimulating poultice for indolent abscesses +or sores. + +The Scotch eat small, yellow-rooted Turnips as we do radishes. +"Tastes and Turnips proverbially differ." At Plymouth, and some +other places, when a girl rejects a suitor, she is said to "give him +turnips," probably with reference to his sickly pallor of +disappointment. + +The seventeenth of June--as the day of St. Botolph, the old turnip +man,--is distinguished by various uses of a Turnip, because in the +Saga, which figuratively represents the seasons, the seeds were +sown on that day. + +It is told that the King of Bithynia in some expedition against the +Scythians during the winter, and when at a great distance from the +sea, had a violent [575] longing for a small fish known as _aphy_--a +pilchard, or anchovy. His cook cut a Turnip to a perfect imitation of +its shape, which, when fried in oil, well salted, and powdered with +the seeds of a dozen black poppies, so deceived the king that he +praised the root at table as an excellent fish. + +Being likely to provoke flatulent distension of the bowels, Turnips +are not a proper vegetable for hysterical persons, or for pregnant +women. The rind is acrimonious, but the tops, when young and +tender, may be boiled for the table as a succulent source of potash, +and other mineral salts in the Spring. + +The fermented juice of Turnips will yield an ardent spirit. When +properly cooked they serve to sweeten the blood. An essential +volatile oil contained in the root, chiefly in the rind, disagrees, by +provoking flatulent distension. This root is sometimes cut up and +partly substituted for the peel and pulp of oranges in marmalade. + +If Turnips are properly grown in dry, lean, sandy earth, a +wholesome, agreeable sort of bread can be made from them, "of +which we have eaten at the greatest persons' tables, and which is +hardly to be distinguished from the best of wheat." Some persons +roast Turnips in paper under the embers, and serve them with butter +and sugar. The juice made into syrup is an old domestic remedy for +coughs and hoarseness. + +A nice wholesome dish of Piedmontese Turnips is thus prepared: +Half boil your Turnip, and cut it in slices like half-crowns; butter a +pie dish, and put in the slices, moisten them with a little milk and +weak broth, sprinkle over lightly with bread crumbs, adding pepper +and salt; then bake in the oven until the Turnips become of a light +golden colour. + +[576] The Turnip, a navew, or variety of Rape (_navus_), should +never be sown in a rich soil, wherein it would become degenerate +and lose its shape as well as its dry agreeable relish. Horace advised +field-grown Turnips as preferable at a banquet to those of garden +culture. They may be safely eaten when raw, having been at one +time much consumed in Russia by the upper classes. + +Turnips have been introduced into armorial bearings to represent a +person of liberal disposition who relieves the poor. + +Dr. Johnson's famous illustration of false logic ran thus:-- + + "If a man fresh Turnips cries: + But cries not when his father dies, + Is this a proof the man would rather + Possess fresh Turnips than a father?" + + + +TURPENTINE. + +From our English Pines, if their stems be wounded, the oleo-resin +known as Turpentine, can be procured. This is so truly a vegetable +product, and so readily available for medical uses in every +household, being withal so valuable for its remedial and curative +virtues that no apology is needed for giving it notice as a Herbal +Simple. The said oleo-resin which exudes on incising the bark +furnishes our oil, or so-called spirit of Turpentine. But larger +quantities, and of a richer resin, can be had from abroad than it is +practicable for England to provide, so that our Turpentine of +commerce is mainly got from American and French sources. + +The oleo-resin consists of a resinous base and a volatile essential +oil, which is usually termed the spirit. + +The _Pinus Picra_, or Silver Fir-tree, yields common [577] +Turpentine; and to sleep on a pillow made from its yellow shavings +is a capital American device for relieving asthma. Fir cones are +called "buntins," and "oysters." + +"Tears," or resin drops, which trickle out on the stems of the Pine, if +taken, five or six of these tears in a day, will benefit chronic +bronchitis, and will prove useful to lessen the cough of +consumption. + +When swallowed in a full dose, Turpentine gives a sensation of +warmth, and excites the secretion of urine, to which it imparts a +violet hue. It also promotes perspiration, and stimulates the +bronchial mucous membrane. From eight to twenty drops may be +given as a dose to produce these effects; but an immoderate dose +will purge, or intoxicate, and stupefy, causing strangury, and +congestion of the kidneys. + +For bleeding from the lungs, five drops may be given, and repeated +at intervals of not less than half-an-hour, whilst needed. The dose +may be taken in milk, or on sugar, or bread. + +With the object of meeting for a curative purpose such symptoms +occurring as disease which large doses of this particular drug will +produce, as if by poisoning, in a healthy person, quite small doses of +Turpentine oil will promptly relieve simple congestion of the +kidneys, when occurring as illness, it may be from exposure to cold, +and accompanied by some feverishness, with frequent urination, as +well as a dragging of the loins. On which principle three or four +drops of a diluted tincture of Turpentine (made with one part of +Turpentine to nine parts of spirit of wine), given in a spoonful of +milk every four hours, will speedily dispel the congestion, thus +acting as an infallible specific, and a similar dose of the same +tincture will quickly subdue rheumatic inflammation of the eyes. + +[578] A pleasant form in which to administer Turpentine, whether +for chronic bronchitis or for kidney congestion from cold, is a +confection. This may be made by rubbing up one part of oil of +turpentine, with one part of liquorice powder, and with two parts of +clarified honey. Combine the first two together, then add the honey. +If the Turpentine separates, pour it off, and add it again with plenty +of rubbing until it unites. From half to one teaspoonful of this +confection, when mixed with two tablespoonfuls of peppermint-water, +will be found palatable, and may be repeated two or three +times in the day. + +What is called Terebene, a most useful medicine for winter cough, +is produced by the action of sulphuric acid on Turpentine. From five +to ten drops may be taken on sugar three or four times in the day, +and its vapour acts by inhalation as a very useful antiseptic sedative +in consumptive disease of the lungs. + +Externally, Turpentine is stimulating and counter-irritating, and +derivative. When applied to the skin, unless properly diluted, +Turpentine will cause redness and smarting to a painful degree, with +an outbreak of small blisters. As an embrocation, the oil of +turpentine mixed with spirit of wine and camphor, together with +soap liniment, proves very efficacious for the relief of sciatica, and +for the chronic rheumatism of joints. Also, when compounded with +wax and resin, it makes an excellent healing ointment for indolent, +and unhealthy sores. + +In Dublin, Turpentine is commingled with peppermint water, and +used as an external stimulant for chronic bronchitis. + +The famous liniment of St. John Long consisted of oil of turpentine +one part, acetic acid one part, and liniment of camphor one part. +This was of admirable [579] service for rubbing along the spine to +relieve the irritability of the spinal nerves, and it has proved +effectual to modify or prevent epileptic attacks, by being thus +applied. In cases of colic attending obstinate constipation, with +strengthless distension of the bowels, Turpentine mixed with starch +or thin gruel, an ounce to the pint, and administered as a clyster, +makes one of the most reliable and safe evacuants. Also as a +remedy for round worms, six or eight drops (more or less according +to age) may be safely and effectively given to a child on one or +more nights in milk. + +Pills made from Chian Turpentine, which is got from Cyprus, were +extolled by Dr. Clay of Manchester, in 1880, as a cure for cancer of +the womb, and for some other forms of cancerous disease. From +five to ten grains were to be given in a pill, or mixed with mucilage +as an emulsion, so that in all daily, after food, and in divided doses, +one hundred and eighty grains of this Turpentine were swallowed; +and the quantity was gradually increased until five hundred grains a +day were taken. In many cases this method of treatment proved +undoubtedly useful. + +A small quantity of powdered sulphur was also incorporated by Dr. +Clay in his Chian pills. About the fourth day the pain was relieved, +and the cancerous growth would melt away in a period of from four +to thirteen weeks. The arrest of bleeding and the continued freedom +from glandular infection after a prolonged use of this Chian +Turpentine were highly important points in the improvement +produced. + +From the _Pinus Sylvestris_ an oil is distilled by steam, and of this +from ten drops to a teaspoonful may be given for a dose, in milk, for +chronic rheumatism or chronic bronchitis. + +[580] It is most useful in the treatment of diphtheria to burn in the +room, near the patient, a mixture of turpentine and tar in a pan or +deep dish. The fumes serve to dissolve the false membrane, and +have helped to effect a cure in desperate cases. + +This tree had the Anglo-Saxon name Pimm, from pen, or pin, a +sharp rock,--"_ab acumine foliorum_," or perhaps as a contraction +of _picinus_--pitchy. It furnishes from its leaves an extract, and the +volatile oil. Wool is saturated with the latter, and dried, being then +made into blankets, jackets, spencers, and stockings, for the use of +rheumatic sufferers. There are establishments in Germany where the +Pine Cure is pursued by the above means, together with medicated +baths. Pine cones were regarded of old by the Assyrians as sacred +symbols, and were employed as such in the decoration of their +temples. From the tops of the Norway Spruce fir a favourite +invigorating drink is brewed which is known in the north as spruce +beer. This has an excellent reputation for curing scurvy, chronic +rheumatism, and cutaneous maladies. Laplanders make a bread from +the inner bark of the Pine. + +Tar (_pix liquida_) is furnished abundantly by the _Pinus +Sylvestris_, or Scotch Fir, and is extracted by heat. The tree is cut +into pieces, which are enclosed in a large oven constructed for the +purpose: fire is applied, and the liquid tar runs out through an +opening at the bottom. It is properly an empyreumatic oil of +turpentine, and has been much used in medicine both externally and +internally. Tar water was extolled in 1744, by Bishop Berkley, +almost as a panacea. He gave it for scurvy, skin eruptions, ulcers, +asthma, and rheumatism. It evidently promotes the secretions, +especially the urine. + +[581] Tar yields pyroligneous acid, oil of tar, and pitch: as well as +guiacol and creasote. + +Syrup of tar is an officinal medicine in the United States of America +for chronic bronchitis, and winter cough. By this the expectoration +is made easier, and the sleep at night improved. From one to two +teaspoonfuls are given as a dose, with or without water. Also tar +pills are prepared of pitch and liquorice powder in equal parts, five +grains in the whole pill. Two or three of these may be taken twice or +three times in the day. + +Tar ointment is highly efficacious against some forms of skin +disease; but in eczema and allied maladies of the skin, no +preparation of tar should be employed as long as the skin is actively +inflamed, or any exudation of moisture is secreted by it. + +Dr. Cullen met with a singular practice respecting Tar. A leg of +mutton was put to roast, being basted during the whole process with +tar instead of butter. Whilst roasting, a sharp skewer was frequently +thrust into the substance of the meat to let the juices escape, and +with the mixture of tar and gravy found in the dripping pan, the +body of the patient was anointed all over for three or four nights +consecutively, throughout all this time the same body linen being +worn. The plan proved quite successful in curing obstinate lepra. + +A famous liquor called "mum" was concocted by the House of +Brunswick, some of which was sent to General Monk. It was chiefly +brewed from the rind and tops of firs, and was esteemed very +powerful against the formation of stone, and to cure all scorbutick +distempers. Various herbs, as best approved by the maker, were +infused with the mum in concocting it, such as betony, birch, burnet, +brooklime, elder-flowers, horse-radish, [582] marjoram, thyme, +water-cress, pennyroyal, etc., together with several eggs, "the shells +not cracked or broken"! The Germans, especially in Saxony, have so +great a veneration for mum that they fancy their bodies can never +decay as long as they are lined, and embalmed with so powerful a +preserver. The Swedes call the fir "the scorbutick tree" to this day. + +Tar is soluble in its own bulk of spirit of wine, rectified, but +separates when water is added. Inhaled, its vapour is very useful in +chronic bronchitis. + +Tar water should be made by stirring a pint of tar with half a gallon +of water for fifteen minutes, and then decanting it. From half-a-pint +to a pint may be taken daily, and it may be used as a wash. Or from +twenty to sixty drops of tar are to be swallowed for a dose several +times in the day, whether for chronic catarrhal affections, or for +irritable urinary passages. Tar ointment is prepared with five parts +of tar to two pounds of yellow wax. It is an excellent application for +scald head in a child. + +Juniper tar oil is known as "oil of Cade," and Birch tar is got from +the Butcher's Broom. A recognised plaster and an ointment are +made with Burgundy pitch (from the _Picus Picea_) and yellow +wax. + +Probably the modern employment of carbolic acid, and its various +combinations--all derived from tar--for neutralising the septic +elements of disease, and for acting as germicides, was unknowingly +forestalled by the sagacious Right Reverend Lord Bishop of Cloyne, +in his _Philosophical Reflections and Inquiries concerning the +virtues of Tar Water_, two centuries ago, when the cup which +"cheers but not inebriates" was first told of by him, long before +Cowper. Bishop Berkley said, "I do, verily, think there is not any +other medicine whatsoever [583] so effectual to restore a crazy +constitution and to cheer a dreary mind: or so likely to subvert that +gloomy empire of the spleen which tyranniseth over the better sort." + +In _Great Expectations_, by Charles Dickens, the wife of Joe +Gargery is described as possessed of great faith in the curative +virtues of Tar water. + + + +VALERIAN. + +The great Wild Valerian, or Heal-all (from _valere_, to be well), +grows abundantly throughout this country in moist woods, and on +the banks of streams. It is a Benedicta, or blessed herb, being +dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as preservative against poisons; and it +bears the name of Capon's tail, from its spreading flowers. + +When found among bushes, in high pastures, and on dry heaths, it is +smaller, with the leaves narrower, but the roots more aromatic, and +less nauseous. + +The Valerian family of plants is remarkable for producing aromatic +and scented genera, which are known as "Nards" (the Spikenard of +Scripture), and which are much favoured in Asiatic harems under +several varieties, according to the situation of growth. Judas valued +the box of ointment made from the Spikenard (_Valeriana +Jatamansi_), with which Mary anointed the feet of our Saviour at +two hundred denarii (£6: 9s: 2d.). + +We have also the small Marsh Valerian, which is wild, and the +cultivated Red Valerian, of our cottage gardens. + +The roots of our Wild Valerian exercise a strange fascination over +cats, causing an ecstasy of delight in these animals, who become +almost intoxicated when brought into contact with the Simple. And +rats strangely exhibit the same fondness for these roots [584] which +they grub up. It has been suggested that the Pied Piper of Hamelin +may have carried one of such roots in his wallet. + +They have been given from an early period with much success for +hysterical affections, and for epileptic attacks induced by strong +emotional excitement, as anger or fear: likewise, they serve as a safe +and effectual remedy against habitual constipation when active +purgatives have failed to overcome this difficulty. + +The plant is largely cultivated for the apothecary's uses about the +villages near Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. It is named Setwall in the +North of England; and, says Gerard, "No broths, pottage, or +physicall meats be worth anything if Setwall (a corruption from +Zedoar), be not there":-- + + "They that will have their heale, + Must put Setwall in their keale." + +The Greeks employed one kind of Valerian named _Phu_ for +hanging on doors and windows as a protective charm. But some +suppose this to have been a title of aversion, like our English +"faugh" against any thing which stinks. Dr. Uvedale introduced the +Valerian into his garden, at Eltham Palace, before 1722; and +Uvedale House still exists in Church Street, at Chelsea. +The herb is sometimes called Cut-heal, not because, as Gerard +thought, it is "useful for slight cuts and wounds," but from its +attributed efficacy in disorders of the womb (kutte cowth). Joined +with Manna, Valerian has proved most useful in epilepsy; and when +combined with Guiacum it has resolved scrofulous tumours. In +Germany imps are thought to be afraid of it. + +At Plymouth, the broad-leaved Red Valerian goes by the name of +Drunken Sailor, and Bovisand soldier, the [585] larger sort being +distinguished as Bouncing Bess, whilst the smaller, paler kind is +known as Delicate Bess throughout the West of Devon. + +An officinal tincture is made from the rhizome of Valerian with +spirit of wine, of which from one to two teaspoonfuls may be given +for a dose, with a little water. Also a tincture (ammoniated) is +prepared with aromatic spirit of ammonia on the rhizome, and this is +considerably stronger; from twenty to forty drops is a sufficient +dose with a spoonful or two of water. + +The essential oil of Valerian lessens the sensibility of the spinal +cord after primary stimulation of its nervous substance. A drop of +this oil in a spoonful of milk will be a proper dose: especially +in some forms of constipation. + +Used externally, by friction, the volatile oil of Valerian has proved +beneficial as a liniment for paralyzed limbs. The powdered root +mixed in snuff is of efficacy for weak eyes. + +The cultivated plant is less rich in the volatile oil than the wild +herb. On exposure to the air Valerian oil becomes oxidised, and forms +valerianic acid, which together with an alcohol, "borneol," +constitutes the active medicinal part of the plant. + +The root also contains malic, acetic, and formic acids, with a resin, +tannin, starch, and mucilage. It is by first arousing and then blunting +the reflex nervous activities of the spinal cord, that the oil of +Valerian overcomes chronic constipation. + +Preparations of Valerian act admirably for the relief of nervous +headache associated with flatulence, and in a person of sensitive +temperament. They likewise do good for infantine colic, and they +diminish the urea; when the urine contains it in excess. + +[586] The Greek Valerian is another British species, found growing +occasionally in the North of England and in Scotland, being known +as the blue Jacob's Ladder. It is also named "Make bate," because +said to set a married couple quarrelling if put in their bed. This must +be a play on its botanical name _Polemonium_, from the Greek +_polemos_, war. It is called Jacob's Ladder from its successive pairs +of leaflets. + + + +VERBENA. + +The Verbena, or Common Vervain, is a very familiar herb on waste +ground throughout England, limited to no soil, and growing at the +entrance into towns and villages, always within a quarter of a mile +of a house, and hence called formerly the Simpler's joy. Of old, +much credit for curative virtues attached itself to this plant, though +it is without odour, and has no taste other than that of slight +astringency. But a reputation clings to the vervain because it used to +be held sacred, as "Holy Herb," and was employed in sacrificial +rites, being worn also around the neck as an amulet. It was called +"Tears of Isis" "Tears of Juno" "Persephonion" and "Demetria." The +juice was given as a remedy for the plague. Vervain grew on +Calvary: and Gerard says "the devil did reveal it as a secret, and +divine medicine." + +It is a slender plant with but few leaves, and spikes of small lilac +flowers, when wild; but its cultivated varieties, developed by the +gardener, are showy plants, remarkable for their brilliant colours. + +The name Frogfoot has been applied to the Vervain because its leaf +somewhat resembles in outline the foot of that creature. Old writers +called the plant _Verbinaca_ and _Peristerium_:-- + + "Frossis fot men call it, + For his levys are like the frossy's fet." + +[587] The practice of wearing it round the neck became changed +from a religious observance to a medicinal proceeding, for which +reason it was ordered that the plant should be _bruised_ before +being appended to the person; and thus it gained a name for curing +inveterate headaches. Presently also it was applied to other parts as a +cataplasm. + +Nevertheless, the Vervain has fallen of late years into disfavour as a +British Herbal Simple, though a pamphlet has recently appeared, +written by a Mr. Morley, who strongly advises the revived use of +the herb for benefiting scrofulous disease. Therein it is ordered that +the root of Vervain shall be tied with a yard of white satin ribband +round the neck of the patient until he recovers. Also an infusion and +an ointment are to be prepared from the leaves of the plant. + +The expressed juice of Verbena will act as a febrifuge; and the +infusion by its astringency makes a good lotion for weak and +inflamed eyes, also for indolent ulcers, and as a gargle for a relaxed +sore throat. The Druids gathered it with as much reverence as they +paid to the Mistletoe. It was dedicated to Isis, the goddess of birth, +and formed a famous ingredient in love philtres. Pliny saith: "They +report that if the dining chamber be sprinkled with water in which +the herb Verbena has been steeped, the guests will be the merrier." + +Geoffrey St. Hilaire and Pasteur praise the Vervain highly as +beneficial against ailments of the hair, the fresh juice being +especially used. + +Other names of the plant are Juno's tears, Mercury's moist blood, +Pigeons' grass, and Columbine--the two latter being assigned +because pigeons show a partiality for the herb. + +Verbena plants were named _Sagmina_ of old, because [588] cut up +by the Praetor in the Capitol. When borne by an Ambassador +Verbena rendered his person inviolable. All herbs used in sacred +rites were probably known as Verbena. They were reported as of +singular force against the tertian and quartan agues; "but one must +observe Mother Bombie's rules--to take just so many knots, or +sprigs, and no more, lest it fallout that it do you no good, if you +catch no harm by it." + + + +VINE. + +The fruit of the Vine (_Vitis vinifera_) has already been treated of +here under the heading "Grapes," as employed medicinally whether +for the purgation of the bilious--being then taken crude, and scarcely +ripe,--or for imparting fat and bodily warmth in wasting disease by +eating the luscious and richly-saccharine berries. + +It should be added that the fumes exhaled from the wine-presses +whilst the juice is fermenting, prove highly beneficial as a +restorative for weakly and delicate young persons (an example +which might be followed perhaps at our home breweries). + +Consumptive patients are sent with this view to the Gironde, where +the vapour from the wine vats is more stimulating and curative than +in Burgundy. Young girls who suffer from atrophy are first made to +stand for some hours daily in the sheds when the wine pressing is +going forward. After a while, as they become less weak, they are +directed to jump into the wine press, where, with the vintagers and +labourers they skip about and inhale the fumes of the fermenting +juice, until they sometimes become intoxicated, and even senseless. +This effect passes off after one or two trials, and the girls return to +their labour with renewed strength and heightened colour, hopeful, +joyous, and robust. The [589] vats of the famous Chateau d'yquem +are the most celebrated of all for the wondrous cures they have +effected even in cases considered past human aid. + + + +VIOLET. + +The Wild violet or Pansy (_Viola tricolor_) is found commonly +throughout Great Britain on banks and in hilly pastures, from +whence it has come to be cultivated in our gardens. + +_Viola_, a corruption of "Ion," is a name extended by old writers to +several other different plants. But the true indigenous representative +of the Violet tribe is our Wild Pansy, or Paunce, or Pance, or Heart's +ease; called also "John of my Pink," "Gentleman John," "Meet her i' +th' entry; kiss her i' th' buttery" (the longest plant name in the +English language), and "Love in idleness." + + "A little Western flower, + Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound, + And maidens call it--'Love in idleness.'" + +From its coquettishly half hiding its face, as well as from some +fancied picture in the throat of the corolla it has received various +other amatory designations, such as "cuddle me to you," "tittle my +fancy," "jump up and kiss me," and "garden gate": also it is called +"Flamy," because its colours are seen in the flame of burning wood, +and Flame Flower. + +The term "heart's ease" has signified a cordial which is comforting +to the heart. But the fact is that Pansies, "pretty little Puritans," +produce anything but heart's ease if eaten, and their roots provoke +sickness so speedily that these are sometimes employed as an +emetic. + +Dr. Johnson derived the word Pansy from Panacea, [590] as curing +all diseases; but this was a mistake, The true derivation is from the +French _pensée_, "thoughts," as Shakespeare knew, when making +Ophelia say: "There is pansies--that's for thoughts." + +From its three colours it has been called the herb Trinity. A +medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the _Viola tricolor_ with spirit +of wine, using the entire plant. Hahnemann found that the Pansy +violet, when taken by provers, served to induce cutaneous eruptions, +or to aggravate them, and he reasoned out the curative action of the +plant in small diluted doses for the cure of these symptoms, when +occurring as disease. + +"For milk crust and scald head," says Dr. Hughes (Brighton)--the +plague of children, "I have rarely needed any other medicine than +this _Viola tricolor_; and I have more than once given it in recent +impetigo (pustular eczema) for adults, with very satisfactory +effects." For the first of these maladies the tincture should be given +in doses of from three to six drops, to a child of from two to six or +eight years, three times a day in water. + +Again, "for curing scalled (from _scall_, a shell) head in children, a +small handful of the fresh plant, or half a drachm of the dried herb, +boiled for two hours in milk, is to be taken each night and morning; +also a bread poultice made with this decoction should be applied to +the affected part. + +"During the first eight days the eruption increases, and the urine, +when the medicine succeeds, has a nauseous odour like that of the +cat, which presently passes off; then, as the use of the plant is +continued, the scabs disappear, and the skin recovers its natural +clean condition." + +The root of the _Viola tricolor_ has similar properties [591] to that +of Ipecacuanha, and is often used beneficially as a substitute by +country doctors. An infusion thereof is admirable for the dysentery +of young children. It loves a mixture of chalk in the soil where it +grows. + +The Pansy contains an active chemical principle, "violin," resin, +mucilage, sugar, and the other ordinary constituents of plants. When +bruised the plant, and especially its root, smells like peach kernels, +or prussic acid. It acts as a slight laxative: and "the distilled +water of the flowers" says Gerard--"cureth the French disease." + +The Germans style the Pansy _Stief-mutter_, because figuratively +the mother-in-law appears in the flower predominant in purple +velvet, and her own two daughters gay in purple and yellow, whilst +the two poor little Cinderellas, more soberly and scantily attired, are +squeezed in between. Again, another fable says, with respect to the +five petals and the five sepals of the Pansy, two of which petals are +plain in colour, whilst each has a single sepal, the three other petals +being gay of hue, one of these (the largest of all) having two sepals; +that the Pansy represents a family of husband, wife, and four +daughters, two of the latter being step-children of the wife. + +The plain petals are the step-children, with only one chair; the two +small gay petals are the daughters, with a chair each; and the large +gay petal is the wife, with two chairs. To find the father, one must +strip away the petals until the stamens and pistils are bare. These +then bear a fanciful resemblance to an old man with a flannel +wrapper about his neck, having his shoulders upraised, and his feet +in a bath tub. The French also call the Pansy "The Step-mother." + +The chemical principle, "violin," contained in the [592] flowering +Wild Pansy resembles emetin in action. If the dried plant is given +medicinally, from ten to sixty grains may be taken as a dose, in +infusion. + +The Sweet Violet (_Viola odorata_) is well known for its delicious +fragrance of perfume when growing in our woods, pastures, and +hedge banks. The odour of its petals is lost in drying, but a pleasant +syrup is made from the flowers which is a suitable laxative for +children. + +A conserve, called "violet sugar," prepared from the flowers, has +proved of excellent use in consumption. This conserve was made in +the time of Charles the Second, being named "Violet plate." Also, +the Sweet Violet is thought to possess admirable virtues as a +cosmetic. Lightfoot gives a translation from a Highland recipe in +Gaelic, for its use in this capacity, rendered thus: "Anoint thy face +with goat's milk in which violets have been infused, and there is not +a young prince upon earth who will not be charmed with thy +beauty." + +There is a legend that Mahomet once compared the excellence of +Violet perfume above all other sweet odours to himself above all the +rest of creation: it refreshes in summer by its coolness, and revives +in winter by its warmth. + +The Syrup of Sweet Violets should be made as follows: To one +pound of sweet violet flowers freshly picked, add two-and-a-half +pints of boiling water: infuse these for twenty-four hours in a glazed +china vessel, then pour off the liquid, and strain it gently through +muslin; afterwards add double its weight of the finest loaf sugar, +and make it into a syrup, but without letting it boil. + +Violets are cultivated largely at Stratford-on-Avon for the purpose +of making the syrup, which when mixed with almond oil, is a +capital laxative for children, [593] and will help to soothe irritative +coughs, or to relieve a sore throat. + +The flowers have been commended for the cure of epilepsy and +nervous disorders; they are laxative when eaten in a salad. The seeds +are diuretic, and will correct gravel. The Sweet Violet contains the +chemical principle "violin" in all its parts. A medicinal tincture (H.) +is made from the entire fresh plant with proof spirit. It acts usefully +for a spasmodic cough, with hard breathing; also for rheumatism of +the wrists especially the right one. + +This Violet is highly esteemed likewise in Syria, chiefly because of +its being chosen for making the violet sugar used in sherbet. That +which is drunk by the Grand Signior himself is compounded of +sweet violets, and sugar. + +From the flower may be pleasantly contrived a pretty miniature bird, +by carefully removing the calyx and corolla, leaving only the +stamens and pistil attached to the receptacle; then the stigma forms +the bead and neck, whilst the anthers make a golden breast, and their +tongues appear like a pair of green wings. + +Mademoiselle Clarion, a noted French actress, had a nosegay of +violets sent her every morning of the season for thirty years; and to +enhance the value of the gift, she stripped off the petals every +evening, being passionately devoted to the flower, and took them in +an infusion as tea. + +Pliny recommended a garland of sweet violets as a cure for +headache. The Romans made wine of the flowers; and Napoleon the +Great claimed the Violet as _par excellence_ his own, for which +reason he was often styled, _Le père du violette_. This floral +association took date from the time of his exile to Elba. The +Emperor's return was alluded to among his adherents by a pass +[594] word, "_Aimez vous la Violette? Eh, bien! reparaitra au +printemps_." + +The scentless Dog Violet (_Viola canina_) is likewise mildly +laxative, and possesses the virtues of the _Viola odorata_ in a lesser +degree. + +The Water Violet is "feather foil" (_Hottonia palustris_). + + + +VIPER'S BUGLOSS. + +The Simpler's passing consideration should be given to this tall +handsome English herb which grows frequently in gravel pits, and +on walls. It belongs to the Borage tribe (see page 60), and, in +common with the Lungwort (_Pulmonaria_), the Comfrey, and the +ordinary Bugloss, abounds in a soft mucilaginous saline juice. This +is demulcent to the chest, or to the urinary passages, being also +slightly laxative. Bees favour the said plants, which are rich in +honey. Each herb goes by the rustic name of "Abraham, Isaac, and +Jacob," because bearing spires of tricoloured flowers, blue, purple, +and red. The Viper's Bugloss is called botanically _Echium_, having +been formerly considered antidotal to the bite of (_Echis_) a viper: +and its seed was thought to resemble the reptile's head: wherefore +such a curative virtue became attributed to it after the doctrine of +signatures. "_In Echio, herba contra viperarum morsus celeberrima, +natura semen viperinis capitibus simile procreavit_." Similarly the +Lungwort (or Jerusalem Cowslip), because of its spotted leaves, was +held to be a remedy for diseased lungs. This rarely grows wild, but +it is of frequent cultivation in cottage gardens, bearing also the +rustic name, "Soldiers and Sailors," "To-day and to-morrow," and +"Virgin Mary." From either of these herbs a fomentation of the +flowers, or a decoction of the whole bruised plant, may be employed +with benefit locally to sore or raw surfaces: [595] whilst an infusion +made with three drams of the dried herb to a pint of boiling water +will be good in feverish pulmonary catarrh. By our ancestors viper +broth was thought to be highly invigorating: and vipers cooked like +eels were given to patients suffering from ulcers. The Sardinians +still take them in soup. Marvellous powers were supposed to be +acquired by the Druids through their possession of a viper's egg, laid +in the air, and caught before reaching the earth. All herbs of the +Borage order are indifferently "of force and virtue to drive away +sorrow and pensiveness of the mind: also to comfort and strengthen +the heart." With respect to the Comfrey (see page 120), quite +recently the President of the Irish College of Surgeons has reported +the gradual disappearance of a growth ("malignant, sarcomatous, +twice recurrent, and of a bad type"), since steadily applying +poultices of this root to the tumour. "I know nothing," says +Professor Thomson, "of the effects of Comfrey root: but the fact that +this growth has simply disappeared is one of the greatest surprises +and puzzles I have met with." + + + +WALLFLOWER. + +The Wallflower, or Handfiower (_Cheiranthus cheiri_), or +Wall-gilliflower, has been cultivated in this country almost from time +immemorial, for its fragrance and bright colouring. It is found wild +in France, Switzerland, and Spain, as the Keiri or Wallstock. +Formerly this flower was carried in the hand at classic festivals. +Herrick, in 1647, gave a more romantic origin to the name +Wallflower:-- + + "Why this flower is now called so + List, sweet maids, and you shall know: + Understand this wilding was + Once a bright and bonny lad + [596] Who a sprightly springal loved, + And to have it fully proved + Up she got upon a wall + Tempting to slide down withal: + But the silken twist untied, + So she fell: and, bruised, she died. + Love, in pity of the deed, + And such luckless eager speed, + Turned her to this plant we call + Now the 'Floweret of the Wall.'" + +It is the only British species belonging to the Cruciferous order of +plants, and flourishes best on the walls of old buildings, flowering +nearly all the summer, though scantily supplied with moisture. We +may presume it was one of the earliest cultivated flowers in English +gardens, as it is discovered on the most ancient houses. + +Turner, an early writer on Plants, calls it Wallgelouer, or +"Hartisease;" and by Spencer it was termed Cherisaunce, as +meaning a cordial to the heart, this being really the herb to which +the name Heart's-ease was originally given. By rustics it is known +also as the "Beeflower." + +But the common Stock likewise bore the appellation, "Gilliflower": +and the probability is, there was in old days, as Cotgrave suggests, a +popular medicine or food "for the passions of the heart," called +"gariofile," from the cloves which it contained, the Latin for a clove +being _caryophyllum_. Hence it came about that the Wallflower, the +Pansy, and the Stock, by virtue of their cordial qualities, were alike +called Gilliflowers, or Heart's-ease. + +There are two varieties of the cultivated Wallflower, the Yellow and +the Red; those of a deep colour growing on old rockeries and similar +places, are often termed [597] Bloody Warriors, and Bleeding Heart. +The double Wallflower has been produced for more than two +centuries. If the flowers are steeped in oil for some weeks, they +contribute thereto a stimulating warming property useful for friction +to limbs which are rheumatic, or neuralgic. Gerard suggests that the +"oyle of Wallflowers is good for use to annoint a paralyticke." An +infusion of the flowers, made with boiling water, will relieve the +headache of debility, and is cordial in nervous disorders, by taking a +small wine-glassful immediately, and repeating it every half-hour +whilst required. The aromatic volatile principles of the flowers are +_caryophyllin_ and _eugenol_. "This Wallflower," adds Gerard, +"and the Stock Gilliflower are used by certain empiricks and quack +salvers about love and lust,--matters which for modesty I omit." + + + +WALNUT. + +The Walnut tree is known of aspect to most persons throughout +Great Britain as of stately handsome culture, having many spreading +branches covered with a silvery grey bark, which is smooth when +young, though thick and cracked when old. + +The flowers occur in long, hanging, inconspicuous spikes or catkins, +of a brownish green colour. + +This tree is a native of Asia Minor, but is largely grown in England. +The Greeks called it "Karuon," and the Latins "Nux." Its botanical +title is _Juglans regia_, a corruption of _glans_, the acorn, _jovis_, +of Jupiter, or the "royal nut of Jupiter," food fit for the Gods! Its +fruit is also named Ban nut, or Ball nut, and Welsh nut, or Walnut-- +the word Wal, or Welsh, being Teutonic for "stranger." "As for the +timber," said Fuller, "it may be termed the English Shittim Wood." + +[598] The London Society of Apothecaries has directed that the +unripe fruit of the Walnut should be used pharmaceutically on +account of its worm-destroying virtues. + +It is remarkable that no insects will prey on the leaves of this tree. +In good seasons the produce of nuts is weighty enough to pay the rent +of the land occupied by the trees. + +The vinegar of the pickled fruit makes a very useful gargle for sore +throats, even when slightly ulcerated: and the green husks, or early +buds of the blossom, being dried to powder, serve in some places +for pepper. + +The kernel of the nut (or the part of the inside taken at dessert) +affords an oil which does not congeal by cold, and which painters +find very useful on such account. + +This oil has proved useful when applied externally for troublesome +skin diseases of the leprous type. Indeed, the Walnut has been justly +termed vegetable arsenic, because of its curative virtues in eczema, +and other obstinately diseased conditions of the skin. + +The tincture when made (H.) from the rind of the green fruit and the +fresh leaves, with spirit of wine, and given in material doses, will +determine in a sound person a burning itching eruption of the skin, +of an eczematous character, lasting a long time, and leaving the +parts which have been affected afterwards blue and swollen. +Reasoning from which it has been found that the tincture, in a +reduced form, and of a diminished strength, proves admirably +curative of eczema, impetigo, and ecthyma. + +The unripe fruit is laxative, and of beneficial use in thrush, and in +ulcerative sore throat. The leaves are said to be anti-syphilitic: +likewise the green husk, and unripe shell. Obstinate ulcers may be +cured with sugar well moistened in a strong decoction of the leaves. + +[599] Well kept, kiln-dried Walnuts, of some age, are better +digested than newer fruit; in contrast to old gherkins, about which +it has been humorously said, "avoid stale Q-cumbers: they will +W-up." In many parts of Germany the peasants literally subsist on +Walnuts for several months together; and a young farmer before he +marries has to own a certain number of flourishing Walnut trees. + +The bark or yellow skin which clothes the inner nut is a notable +remedy for colic, being given when dried and powdered, in a dose +of thirty or forty grains mixed with some carminative water; and the +same powder will help to expel worms. + +According to the Salernitan maxim, if the fruit of the Walnut be +eaten after fish, the digestion of the latter is promoted:-- + + Post pisces nux sit: post carnes case us esto. + +Or, + + "Take Welsh nuts after fish: take cheese after flesh meat." + +But with some persons coughing is excited by eating Walnuts. + +The roots, leaves, and rind yield a brown dye which is supposed to +contain iodine, and which gipsies employ for staining their skins. It +also serves to turn the hair black. A custom prevails (says a Latin +sentence) among certain country folk to thrash the nuts out of their +husks while still on the trees, so that they may grow more +abundantly the following year. In allusion to which practice the +lines run thus:-- + + "Nux, asinus, mulier, simili sunt lege ligata; + Haec trieo nil fructûs faciunt si verbera cessant." + + "A woman, a donkey, a walnut tree-- + The more you beat them, the better they be." + +[600] It is a fact, that by acting in this way, the barren ends of the +branches are knocked off, and fresh fruit-bearing twigs spring out at +each side in their stead. + +Walnut cake, after expressing out the oil from the kernels, is a good +food for cattle, these kernels being the crumpled cotyledons or seed +leaves. They contain oil, mucilage, albumen, mineral matter, +cellulose, and water. + +The rook has a most abiding affection for Walnuts. As soon as there +is any fruit on the trees worth eating, this bird finds it out, and +brings it to the ground, choosing only those nuts which are soft +enough for him to penetrate. + +Ovid has left a charming little poem, _Nucis Elegia_--the plaint of +the Walnut tree--because beaten with sticks and pelted with stones, +in return for the generosity with which it bestows on mankind its +fair produce. + +A valuable medicinal Spirit is distilled by druggists from the fruit of +the Walnut. It is an admirable remedy for spasmodic indigestion, +and to relieve the morning sickness of pregnancy. A teaspoonful of +the spirit (_Spiritus nucis juglandis_) may be given with half a +wine-glassful of water every hour or two, for most forms of +sickness, and the dose may be increased if necessary. + +"Nucin," or "juglon," is the active chemical principle of the several +parts of the tree and its fruit. + +The leaves, when slightly rubbed, emit a rich aromatic odour, which +renders them proof against the attacks of insects. Qualities of this +odoriferous sort commended the tree to King Solomon, whose +"garden of nuts" was clearly one of Walnuts, according to the +Hebrew word _eghoz_. The longevity of the tree is very great. There is +at Balaclava, in the Crimea, a Walnut tree believed to be a thousand +years old. + +[601] The shade of the Walnut tree was held by the Romans to be +baneful, but the nuts were thought propitious, and favourable to +marriage as a symbol of fecundity. The ceremony of throwing nuts, +for which boys scrambled at a wedding, was of Athenian origin:-- + + "Let the air with Hymen ring + Hymen! Io! Hymen sing! + Soon the nuts will now be flung: + Soon the wanton verses sung." + --_Catullus_. + +In Italy this is known as the "Witches tree." It is hostile to the oak. + +The leaves of the American Black Walnut tree, which grows +naturally in Virginia, are of the highest curative value for scrofulous +diseases and for strumous eruptions. Chronic, indolent sores have +been healed by these after every other remedy has failed. The parts +should be washed several times a day with a strong decoction of the +leaves, and an infusion of the same should be taken internally; also +of the extract made from the leaves, four grains in a pill each night +and morning. For such purposes the leaves of our English Walnut +are almost equally efficacious. To make an infusion one ounce +should be used to twelve ounces of boiling water. For a syrup mix +eight grains of the extract with an ounce of simple syrup: and give +one teaspoonful of this twice a day with water. Also apply to any +sore some of the powdered leaves on lint soaked in the decoction. +For scrofulous joints, or glands, this treatment is invaluable. A green +English Walnut, boiled in syrup and preserved in the same, is an +excellent homely remedy for constipation. It will be noticed that the +fruit becomes black by boiling. The Chinese put the raw kernels into +their tea to give it a flavour. + +[602] By the Romans Walnuts were scattered among the people +when a marriage was celebrated, as an intimation that the wedded +couple henceforth abandoned the frivolities of youth. + +The "titmouse" walnut produces very delicate fruit, rich in oil, and +with thin shells, so that the little creatures can pierce the husks and +shells while the fruit is still on the bough. + +Nuts of various kinds, being charged with carbon and oil, are highly +nutritious, but on account of this oil abounding, they are not readily +digested by some persons. In Southern Europe, the Chestnut is a +staple article of food, The title "nut" signifies a hard round lump, +from _nodus_, a knot. + +Leigh Hunt wrote meaningly of the "inexorably hard cocoa nut-- +milky at heart." In Devonshire a plentiful crop of hazel nuts is +believed to portend an unhealthy year:-- + + "Many nits (nuts) + Many pits (graves)." + +When eating almonds and raisins at dessert we get the nitrogenous +food of the nuts with the saccharine nourishment of the grapes. + + + +WART-WORT, OR WART-WEED. + +This name has been commonly applied to the Petty Spurge, or to the +Sun Spurge, a familiar little weed growing abundantly in English +gardens, with umbels of a golden green colour which "turn towards +the sun." Its stem and leaves yield, when wounded, an acrid milky +juice which is popularly applied for destroying warts, and corns. But +our Greater Celandine (see page 92) or Swallow-wort is better +known abroad as the Wart-wort: and its sap is widely given in +Russia for the cure, not only of [603] warts, but likewise of +cancerous outgrowths, whether occurring on the skin surface, or +assailing membranes inside the body. Conclusive evidence has been +adduced of cancerous disease within the gullet and the stomach--as +well as on the external skin--being healed by this herb. Its sap, or +juice, contains chemically, "chelidonine," and "sanguinarine," which +latter principle (obtained heretofore from the Canadian "blood +root"), is of long established repute for repressing fungoid +granulations of indolent ulcers, when powdered over them, and of +quickly advancing their cure. Each principle exercises a narcotic +influence on the nervous system, and will, thereby, relieve +spasmodic coughs. Healthy provers have taken the fresh juice of the +Greater Celandine in doses of from twenty to two hundred drops, at +repeated intervals; the results of the larger portions being drastic +purgation, with persistent nervous torpor, and with an outbreak on +the skin of irritating, sore, itching eruptions. In some of the provers +active inflammatory congestion of the right lung ensued, with +turgidity of the liver. The root beaten into a conserve with sugar will +operate by stool, and by urine. For cancerous excrescences from five +to ten drops of the fresh juice, or of the mother tincture (H.) should +be given steadily three times a day, this quantity being reduced if it +should move the bowels too freely. Some of the sap, or tincture, +should be also used outwardly as a lotion, either by itself, or diluted +with an equal quantity of cold water. + + + +WATER PLANTS (Other). + +(Water Dropwort, Water Lily, Water Pepper.) + +The Water Dropwort--Hemlock (_oenanthe crocata_) is an umbelliferous +plant, frequent in our marshes and ditches. [604] It is named +from _oinos_, wine, and _anthos_, a flower, because its blossoms +have a vinous smell. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the +ripe fruit. + +The leaves look like Celery, and the roots like parsnips. A country +name of this plant is Dead-tongue, from its paralyzing effects on the +organs of the voice. Of eight lads who were poisoned by eating the +root, says Mr. Vaughan, five died before morning, not one of them +having spoken a word. Other names are Horsebane, from its being +thought in Sweden to cause in horses a kind of palsy; (due, as +Linnaeus thought, to an insect, _curculio paraplecticus_, which +breeds in the stem); and Five-fingered-root, from its five leaflets. +The roots contain a poisonous, milky juice, which becomes yellow +on exposure to the air, and which exudes from all parts of the plant +when wounded. It will be readily seen that because of so virulent a +nature the plant is too dangerous for use as a Herbal Simple, though +the juice has been known to cure obstinate and severe skin disease. +It yields an acrid emetic principle. The root is sometimes applied by +country folk to whitlows, but this has proved an unsafe proceeding. +The plant has a pleasant odour. Its leaves have been mistaken for +Parsley, and its root for the Skirret. + +The _OEnanthe Phellandrium_ (Water Fennel) is a variety of the +same species, but with finer leaves. Pliny gave the seeds, twenty +grains for a dose, against stone, and disorders of the bladder. Also +they have been commended for cancer. + +In this country Water Lilies, or Pond Lilies, comprise the White +Water Lily--a large native flower inhabiting clear pools and slow +rivers--and the Yellow Water Lily, frequent in rivers and ditches, +with a yellow, globose flower smelling like brandy, so that it is +called "Brandy [605] bottle" in Norfolk and other parts. Its root and +stalks contain much tannin. + +This latter Yellow Lily (_Nuphar lutea_) possesses medicinal +virtues against diarrhoea, such as is aggravated in the morning, and +against sexual weakness. A tincture is made (H.) from the whole +plant with spirit of wine. The second title, _lutea_, signifies +growing in the mud; whilst the large white Water Lily is called +_Nymphoea_, from occurring in the supposed haunts of the +nymphs: and Flatter-dock. + +The root stocks of the Yellow Water Lily, when bruised, and +infused in milk, will destroy beetles and cockroaches. The smoke of +the same when burnt will get rid of crickets. + +The small Yellow Pond Lily bears the name of Candock, from the +shape of its seed vessel, like that of a silver can or flagon, and this +perhaps has likewise to do with the appellations, "Brandy bottle" +and "Water can:" which latter may be given because of the half +unfolded leaves floating on the water like cans. + +The root of the larger white Water Lily is acrid, and will redden the +skill if the juice is applied thereto. + +An Ointment may be made with this juice to stimulate the scalp so +as to prevent falling out of the hair. The root contains tannin and +mucilage, it is therefore astringent and demulcent. Also the +expressed juice from the fresh leaves of this white Water Lily, the +"one sinless flower," if used as a head wash, will preserve the hair. + +"Oh, destinée des choses d'ici bas! Descendre des austeritiés du +Cloitre dans l'officine Cancanière du perruquier!" + +Dutch boys are said to be extremely careful about plucking or +handling the Water Lily, for, if a boy fall [606] with the flowers in +his possession, he is thought to immediately become subject to fits. + +The Water Pepper (_Polygonum Hydropiper_) or Arsmart, Grows +abundantly by the sides of lakes and ditches in Great Britain. It +bears a vulgar English name signifying the irritation which it causes +when applied to the fundament; and its French sobriquet, _Culrage_, +conveys the same meaning:-- + + "An erbe is the cause of all this rage, + In our tongue called Culrage." + +The plant is further known to rustics as Cyderach, or Ciderage, and +as Red-knees, from its red angular points. It possesses an acrid, +biting taste, somewhat like that of the Peppermint, which resides in +the glandular dots sprinkled about its surface, and which is lost in +drying. Fleas will not come into rooms where this herb is kept. It is +called also "lake weed." A tradition says that the plant when placed +under the saddle will enable a horse to travel for some long time +without becoming hungry or thirsty. The Scythians knew this herb +(_Hippice_) to be useful for such a purpose. + +The Water Pepper has its virtues first taught by a beggar of Savoy. +It is admirable against syphilis, and to arrest sexual losses: being +long adored because "healing the original sin." + +Farriers use it for curing proud flesh in the sores of animals, and +when applied to the human skin, the leaves will serve the purpose of +a mustard poultice. Also, a piece of the plant may be chewed to +relieve toothache, as well as to cure small ulcers of thrush in the +mouth, and pimples on the tongue. + +The expressed juice of the freshly-gathered plant has been found +very useful in jaundice. From one to three [607] tablespoonfuls may +be taken for a dose. A hot decoction made from the whole herb +(Water Persicaria) has a sheet soaked in it as an American remedy +for cholera, the patient being wrapped therein immediately when +seized. This herb, together with the _Thuja Occidentalis_ (_Arbor +vitoe_) makes the _Anti-venereo_ of Count Mattaei. + +Another Polygonum, the great Bistort, or Snakeweed, and +Adderswort, is a common wild plant in the northern parts of Great +Britain, having bent or crooked roots, which are difficult to be +extirpated, and are strongly astringent. + +This Bistort, "twice twisted," on account of its snake-like +root, was at one time called _Serpentaria_, _Columbrina_, and +_Dracunculus_. + +It has been thought to be the _Oxylapathum Britannicum_ and +_Limonium_ of the ancients. + +The dose of the root in substance is from twenty to sixty grains. In +the North of England the plant is known as Easter Giant, and its +young shoots are eaten in herb pudding. About Manchester they are +substituted for greens, under the name of Passion's dock. The root +may be employed both externally as a poultice, and inwardly as a +decoction, when an astringent is needed. It is most useful for a +spongy state of the gums, attended with looseness of the teeth. + +This plant grows in moist meadows, but is not common. Its roots are +reddish of colour inside. + +The Bistort contains starch, and much tannin; likewise its rhizome +(crooked root) furnishes gallic acid. The decoction is to be made +with an ounce of the bruised root boiled in a pint of water; one +tablespoonful of this may be given every two hours in passive +bleedings, and for simple diarrhoea. Other names for the [608] plant +are Osterick, and Twice writhen (_bis tort_), Red legs, and Man +giant, from the French _mangeant_, eatable. + + + +WHITETHORN. +(_See_ "Hawthorn," _page 245_.) + + + +WHORTLEBERRY. +(_See_ "Bilberry," _page 52_.) + + + +WOODRUFF. + +Concerning the Sweet Woodruff (_Asperula odorata_), it is a +favourite little plant growing commonly in our woods and gardens, +with a pleasant smell which, like the good deeds of the worthiest +persons, delights by its fragrance most after death. This herb is of +the Rubiaceous order, and gets its botanical name from the Latin +_asper_, rough, in allusion to the rough leaves possessed by its +species. + +It may be readily recognised by its small white flowers set on a +slender stalk, with narrow leaves growing round it in successive +whorls, just as in the Cleaver (Goosegrass), which belongs to the +same order. + +The name Woodruffe has been whimsically spelt Woodderowffe, +thus:-- + + Double U, double O, double D, E + R, O, double U, double F, E. + +Its terminal syllable, "ruff," is derived from _rofe_, a wheel,--with +the diminutive _rouelle_, a little wheel or rowel, like that of an +ancient spur,--which the verticillate leaves of this herb closely +resemble. They serve to remind us also of good Queen Bess, and of +the high, starched, old-fashioned ruff which she is shown to wear +[609] in her portraits. Therefore, the plant is known as Woodrowel. + +When freshly gathered, it has but little odour, but when dried it +exhales a delightful and lasting aroma, like the scent of meadow +grass, or of peach blossoms. + +A fragrant and exhilarating tea may be made from the leaves and +blossoms of the sweet Woodruffe, and this is found to be of service +in correcting sluggishness of the liver. "When it is desired," says +Mr. Johns, "to preserve the leaves merely for their scent, the stem +should be cut through just below and above a joint, and the leaves +pressed in such a way as not to destroy their star-like arrangement." + +Gerard tells us: "The flowers are of a very sweet smell, as is the rest +of the herb, which, being made up into garlands or bundles, and +hanged up in houses, in the heat of summer, doth very well attemper +the air, cool and make fresh the place, to the delight and comfort of +such as are therein." + +The agreeable odour of this sweet Woodruffe is due to a chemical +principle named "coumarin," which powerfully affects the brain; +and the plant further contains citric, malic, and rubichloric acids, +together with some tannic acid. + +Another species of the same genus is the Squinancy Woodruff +(_Asperula cynanchica_), so called from the Greek _cynanche_, +which means quinsy, because an excellent gargle may be made from +this herb for the troublesome throat affection here specified, and for +any severe sore throat. Quinsy is called cynanche, from the Greek +words, _kuon_, a dog, and _ancho_, to strangle, because the +distressed patient is compelled by the swollen state of his highly +inflamed throat, to gasp with his mouth open like a choking dog. + +[610] This plant is found growing in dry pastures, especially on a +chalky or limestone soil, but it is not common; it has very narrow +leaves, and tufts of lilac flowers. + +Reverting to the Sweet Woodruff, the dried herb may be kept +amongst linen, like lavender, to preserve it from insects. + + She--"Fresh Woodruff soaks + To brew cool drink, and keep away the moth." + --_A. Austin, Poet Laureate_. + +It was formerly employed for strewing churches, littering chambers, +and stuffing beds. Withering declares that its strongly aromatic +flowers make an infusion which far exceeds even the choice teas of +China. The powdered leaves are mixed with fancy snuffs, because +of their enduring fragrance. + + + +WOODSORRELL (_See also "Docks."_) + +This elegant little herb, called also French Sorrel, Rabbits' food, +Shamrock, and Wood Sour (_Oxalis acetosella_), is abundant +throughout our woods, and in other moist, shady places. It belongs +to the natural order of Geraniums, and bears the provincial names of +Sour trefoil, Cuckoo's bread, or Gowk's-meat, and Stubwort (from +growing about the stubs of hewn trees). Its botanical title is got from +the Greek word _oxus_, sharp, or acid, because of its penetrating +sour taste. This is due to the acid oxalate of potash which it contains +abundantly, in common with the Dock Sorrel, and the Garden +Rhubarb. + +By reason of this chemical salt being present in combination with +less leafy matter than in the other plants which are akin to it, the +Wood Sorrel makes a lighter and more palatable salad. + +In olden days the Monks named this pretty little [611] woodland +plant _Alleluia_, because it blossoms between Easter and +Whitsuntide, when the Psalms--from the 113th to the 117th, +inclusive--which end with the aspiration, "Hallelujah!" were sung. + +St. Patrick is said to have shown on the ternate leaf of the Wood +Sorrel to his rude audience the possibility of a Trinity in Unity. + +The herb has been long popular as a Simple for making a fever +drink, which is thought to be somewhat sedative to the heart, and for +helping to cure scurvy. Also, it has proved useful against +intermittent fever. + +Towards assisting to digest, by their free acid, the immature fibre of +young flesh meats, the Wood Sorrel leaves are commonly eaten as a +dressing with veal, and lamb. But too habitual use of such a salad or +sauce has led to the formation of gouty crystals (oxalate of lime) in +the urine, with considerable irritation of the kidneys. Externally, the +bruised leaves are of excellent service for cleansing and stimulating +foul sores and ulcers, being first macerated in a Cabbage leaf with +warmth. + +This familiar harbinger of Spring, with its three delicate leaflets on +a long stalk, and its tiny white flowers, having purple veins like +those of the Wood Anemone, bears the fanciful name of Fairy-bells in +Welsh districts. + +Fra Angelico placed the claret-stained flowers in the foreground of +his pictures representing the Crucifixion. After the doctrine of +signatures, because of its shape like a heart, the leaf of the Wood +Sorrel was formerly esteemed as a cordial medicine. It was called in +Latin _Panis Cuculi_, meaning the "Cuckoo's bread and cheese." +The leaves, when bruised, make with sugar a capital conserve which +is refreshing to a fevered stomach, or, if boiled in milk, they form an +agreeable sub-acid whey. [612] Twenty pounds of the fresh plant +will yield four ounces of the oxalate of potash, commonly known as +salt of lemons or salt of sorrel, which is often used for taking ink +stains out of linen. Francus, an old classical author, concluded by +experiment that the herb is of value (_cordis vires reparare_) to +recruit the energies of the heart, and (_anginum abigere_) to dispel +the quinsy. Its infusion makes an excellent anti-putrescent gargle. +There is also a yellow variety of the Wood Sorrel. + + + +WORMWOOD. + +The common Wormwood (_Artemisia absinthium_) has been partly +considered here together with Mugwort, to which it is closely allied. +It is a Composite herb of frequent growth on waste ground, being a +bushy plant with silky stems, and collections of numerous small +heads of dull yellow flowers. The name Wormwood is from +_wehren_, to keep off--_mought_, a maggot or moth; and +_absinthium_, from-a-negative--_psinthos_, delight, in allusion to +the very bitter taste. + +The whole plant is of an aromatic smell and bitter flavour. The +flowers, when dried and powdered, destroy worms more effectually +than worm seed, whilst the leaves resist putrefaction and help to +make capital antiseptic fomentations. + +Wormwood tea, or the powdered herb in small doses, mixed in a +little soup, will serve to relieve bilious melancholia, and will help +to disperse the yellow hue of jaundice from the skin. + +This herb was formerly thought to possess the power of dispelling +demons, and was thus associated with the ceremonials of St. John's +Eve, owning the name, on the Continent, of St. John's Herb, or St. +John's Girdle. Both it, and the Mugwort were dedicated to Diana: +[613] and Venus gave thereof (Ambrose) to AEneas. It bears the +provincial name "old woman." The smell of common Wormwood is +very refreshing, and its reviving qualities in heated Courts are +almost equal to a change of air. + +Dioscorides declared it a preventive of intoxication, and a remedy +for the ill-effects of any such excess; for which reason the _poculum +absinthiacum_ was a favourite beverage. + +Gerard says: "The plant voideth away the worms, not only taken +inwardly, but applied outwardly; it withstandeth all putrefactions, +and is good against the stinking breath." It keepeth garments also +from the moths--_A tineis tutam reddit quá conditur arcam_ +(Macer); and Dr. W. Bulleyne says "it keepeth clothes from +moths and wormes." This is the great preventive used by cloth +manufacturers. "Furthermore," adds Gerard, "taken in wine it is +good against the biting of the shrew mouse, and of the sea dragon. It +may be applied against the Squincie, or inflammation of the throat, +with honey and water: likewise, after the same manner, to dim eyes, +and mattery ears." + +The characteristic odour of the plant is due to a volatile oil which +consists mainly of absinthol; and the intensely bitter taste resides +in "absinthin." + +The plant also contains tannin, resin, starch, succinic, malic, and +acetic acids, with nitrate of potash, and other salts. In some +districts it is popularly called "green ginger." + +Wormwood is of benefit for strengthless flatulent indigestion. An +infusion may be made of an ounce of the dried plant to a pint of +boiling water, and given in doses of from one to two tablespoonfuls +three times during the day. + +[614] This infusion with a few drops of the essential oil will prevent +the hair from falling off. + +Absinthe, a liqueur concocted from Wormwood, is used largely in +France, and the medical verdict pronounced there about its effects +shows that it exercises through the pneumogastric nerve a painful +sensation, which has been taken for that of extreme hunger. This +feeling goes off quickly if a little alcohol is given, though it is +aggravated by coffee, whilst an excessive use of absinthe from day +to day is not slow in producing serious symptoms: the stomach +ceases to perform its duty, there is an irritative reaction in the +brain, and the effects of blind drunkenness come on after each debauch. +The French Military call absinthe _un perroquet_. The daily taking +even for a short while only of a watery infusion of Wormwood +shows its bad effects by a general languor, with obscurities of the +sight, giddiness, want of appetite, and painful indigestion. + +When indulged-in as an appetiser by connoisseurs, absinthe, the +"fairy with the green eyes," is modified by admixture with anisette, +noted as an "agreeable and bronchitis-palliating" liqueur. + +As a result of his experiments on animals, Dr. Maignan has come to +the conclusion that absinthe (Wormwood) determines tremblings, +dulness of thought, and epileptiform convulsions,--symptoms which +alcohol alone will not produce. Hence it may be inferred that +absinthe contains really a narcotic poison which should prevent its +being employed as a liqueur, or as a homely medicament, to any +excess. + +Dogs are given to eat the Wormwood as a remedy for their ailments. +Its medicinal and curative uses have been already partly discussed, +together with those of _Mugwort_. + + + +[615] WOUNDWORT. + +The Hedge Woundwort (_Stachys sylvatica_) is a common Labiate +plant in our hedges and woods, branched and hairy, with whorls of +small dull purple flowers on a spike two feet high or more. There +are other varieties of the herb, such as the Marsh (March) +Woundwort, the Corn Woundwort, and the Downy Woundwort. + +The Hedge Woundwort was named by Gerard, Clown's all heal, or +the Husbandman's Woundwort, because a countryman who had cut +his hand to the bone with a scythe, healed the wound in seven days +with this plant. + +It is called by some the Hedge Dead Nettle, from its nettle-like +leaves, and the place of its growth. + +"The leaves," says Gerard, "stampt (pounded) with hog's grease, and +applied unto green wounds in the manner of a poultice, heal them in +such short time and such absolute manner, that it is hard for anyone +that hath not had the experience thereof to believe. For instance, a +deep and grievous wound in the breast with a dagger, and two others +in the abdomen (or nether belly), so that the fat commonly named +the caul, issued forth, the which mortal wounds, by God's +permission, and the virtues of this herb, I perfectly cured within +twenty days--for the which the name of God be praised." + +The name _Stachys_ given to this herb, is from the Greek _stakos_, +a bunch, because of the arrangement of the flowers. It contains a +volatile oil, and a bitter principle undetermined. + +The _Stachys Germanica_ (Downy Woundwort) is so called from +its soft, downy leaves having been employed instead of lint as a +surgical dressing to wounds. The plant grows on a chalky soil in +Bedfordshire, [616] Berkshire, and Oxfordshire: being named also +"Lamb's Ear." + +This _Stachys lanata_ (Woolly Woundwort) is known as Saviour's +blanket, in Sussex; also in Devonshire and Somersetshire, as +Mouse's ear, Donkey's ear, and Lamb's tongue. + +The Knights' Water Woundwort (_Statiotes aloides_) was supposed +from its blade-like leaves, acting on the doctrine of signatures, +to heal sword wounds. + + + +YARROW. + +The Yarrow, from _hiera_, holy herb (_Achillea millefolium_), or +Milfoil, is so called from the very numerous fine segments of its +leaves. It is a Composite plant very common on waysides and in +pastures throughout Britain. + +The name _Achillea_ has been bestowed thereupon because the +Greek warrior, Achilles, is said to have disclosed its virtues which +he had been taught by Chiron, the Centaur. This herb is the +_Stratiotes chiliophullos _of the Greek botanists, by whom it was +valued as an excellent astringent and vulnerary. But Gerard +supposes it may have been the _Achillea millefolium nobile_, which +grows with a thick root and longer leaves, on a fat and fruitful soil, +a stranger in England, "and the very same with which Achilles cured +the wounds of his soldiers." But, he adds, "the virtues of each sort +of Milfoil are set to be both alike." + +The flowers of the Common Yarrow or Nosebleed are white or +pink; those of the _Nobile_ are yellow. + +The popular name of Nosebleed has been given to the Yarrow +because the hairy filaments of the leaves, when put up the nose, +provoke an exudation of blood, and will thus afford relief to +headache, caused by a passive fulness of the vessels. Parkinson says +"if it be [617] pat into the nose, assuredly it will stay the bleeding +of it," which mast be the' effect of action according to similars. Or +if using Yarrow in the same way as a love charm, the following lines +were repeated:-- + + "Green arrow! green arrow! + You bear a white blow; + If my love love me + My nose will bleed now." + +The leaves have a somewhat fragrant smell, and a bitterish taste. +The odour of the flowers, when rubbed between the fingers, is +aromatic. In consequence of this pungent, volatile principle, the herb +has proved useful in hysteria, flatulence, heartburn, colic, and +epilepsy; also, it is employed in Norway for the cure of rheumatism, +and sometimes chewed for toothache. + +Yarrow is one of the few aboriginal English plants, having held the +primitive title, _Gearwe_. Greek botanists seem to have known the +identical species which we now possess, and to have used it against +haemorrhagic losses. It yields, chemically, a dark-green volatile oil, +and achilleic acid, which is said to be identical with aconitic acid; +also resin, tannin, gum; and earthy ash consisting of nitrates, +phosphates, and chlorides of potash and lime. + +For preparing an infusion of the plant, half an ounce should be +boiled down in half a pint of water to six ounces; one tablespoonful +for a dose. + +Sir John Hill says the best way of giving Yarrow is in a strong +decoction of the whole plant. A hot infusion of the herb taken freely +on going to bed at night seldom fails to make short work of a cold. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared from the whole plant with +spirit of wine. This, when employed in a diluted form of the first or +third decimal strength, and [618] in small doses of from five to ten +drops in a tablespoonful of cold water, will act admirably in +arresting nocturnal losses in the male; likewise bleeding from the +lungs, the kidneys, or the nose, especially in florid, hectic subjects. +It has been found by healthy provers that stronger, and larger doses +of any preparation of the herb will induce or aggravate one or +another of these bleedings. + +The fresh juice of the plant may be had, a dessert-spoonful three +times in the day; or of the volatile essential oil, from three to five +drops for a dose. These medicines greatly stimulate and promote the +appetite. "For ague," says Parkinson, "drink a decoction of the herb +warm before the fit, and so for two or three fits together." + +Externally, a strong decoction of the leaves has been used as an +injection into the nostrils to stay bleeding from the nose. It is +similarly of service for piles, and for female floodings, because +exerting a special local action on the organs within the middle trunk. +The bruised herb, or an ointment made from it, is applied by rustics +to heal fresh cuts and contusions. + +Even in ancient times it was famous as a topical remedy for piles. It +is further of benefit for sore nipples as a lotion, and for a relaxed +sore throat as a gargle: also as a hair wash. + +The leaves were applied in former days as a poultice to wounds; and +because of its healing and astringent virtues when so used, the plant +gained the names Sanguinary, Thousand leaf, Old Man's pepper, +Soldiers' Woundwort. Other local names for it are Staunch grass, +Carpenters' weed, and Bloodwort: also, "Old Man's Mustard," "Bad +Man's Plaything," and "Devil's Plaything." In Gloucestershire and +some other parts, the double-flowered Yarrow is brought to a +wedding by [619] bridesmaids as "seven years' love." In Cheshire, +children draw the herb across the face to produce a tingling +sensation, and they call it "Devil's nettle." + +Culpeper spoke of the same as a profitable herb in cramps, and +therefore called _Militaris_. + +Yarrow, worn in a little bag over the stomach, was the secret +(confided to Boyle) of a great lord against ague. A famous physician +had used it with strange efficacy. + +Similarly a charmed packet containing dried Yarrow has been +credited with bringing success to its bearer, if at the same time he +were admitted to the knowledge of a traditional secret (only +whispered to the initiated) that this was the first herb our Saviour +had put into His hand when a child. + +Again, Elspeth Reoch, in 1616, when tried for witchcraft, +acknowledged to having employed the Yarrow in her incantations. +She "plucked one herbe called Meleflower, sitting on her right knee, +and pulling it betwixt the mid-finger and thumbe, and saying: _In +nominee Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti_." The Meleflower is the +_Achilloea Ptarmica_ or Sneezewort. + +By the plant so gathered, she was enabled to cure distempers, and to +impart the faculty of prediction. + + + +YEW. + +Although the Yew--a Conifer--which is so thoroughly English a +tree, is known to be highly poisonous as regards its leaves to the +humans subject, and as concerning its loppings or half-dead +branches, to oxen, horses, and asses, yet a medicinal tincture (H.) is +made from the young shoots, which has distinct and curative uses. +Both the Yew and the Ivy were called _abiga_, because [620] +causing abortion. From which word when corrupted was formed +_iua_; and under this latter name, says Dr. Prior, the Ivy and the +Yew became inextricably mixed up. + +Moreover, the red berries, or their coloured fleshy cups, are not +poisonous when taken in moderation, but rejecting the seeds. + +Gerard says: "When I was yong, and went to schoole, divers of my +school-fellows and likewise myself, did eat our fils of the berries of +this tree, and have not only slept under the shadow thereof, but +among the branches also, without any hurt at all, and that not one +time, but many times." + +Yet Leo Grindon says, much more recently: "Though the juice and +pulp of the sweet and viscid berries are not harmful, still the _seeds_ +of the Yew, and the _leaves_ are deadly poison." + +In the _Herbal_ of 1578, Lyte tells us the Yew is altogether +venomous, and against man's nature. "Such as do but only sleep +under the shadow thereof become sick, and sometimes they die;" +and, "the extract of yew is used by ignorant apothecaries to the great +peril and danger of the poor diseased people." + +The Yew tree (_Taxus baccata_) occurs in mountainous woods and +rocky glens about Britain, but is rare as of native growth. Its name, +Taxus, is a corruption of toxos, an arrow, since arrows in the old +time were poisoned with the juice of yew. + +The tree was planted frequently by our forefathers in churchyards, +because of its value in the manufacture of bows. It is exceedingly +long lived, and often attains great magnitude of girth. + +A ghastly superstition was attached to the Yew when thus growing +in a churchyard, that it would prey upon [621] the dead bodies lying +beneath its sombre shade. So Tennyson writes (_In Memoriam_):-- + + "Old Yew! which graspest at the stones + That name the underlying dead, + Thy fibres net the dreamless head, + Thy roots are wrapped about the bones." + +The juice of the tree and of its leaves is a rapidly fatal poison, +the symptoms corresponding in a very remarkable way with those +which follow the bites of venomous snakes. + +No known poison but the Yew produces the lazar-like ulcerations +upon the body, on which Marlowe lays such stress--(Jew of +Malta):-- + + "In few, the blood of Hydra--Herne's bane, + The juice of _Hebron_, and Cocytus' breath, + And all the poisons of the Stygian pool." + +The witches in _Macbeth_ include it in their accursed brew:-- + + "Liver of blaspheming Jew, + Gall of goat, and _Slips of Yew_." + +The Yew tree is called "Hebon" by Spencer, and "Jew of Malta" by +other writers of Shakespeare's time. The leaves are bitter, nauseous, +and acrid. The succulent covering of the fruit is soft and slimy, +mawkishly sweet, and mucilaginous. The leaves have a dangerous +effect on the circulation of the heart, and when taken with any +freedom are as fatal as the Foxglove. + +Before the new Shakespeare Society, 1882, it was contended and +proved to the satisfaction of the Society, that "the cursed Hebena," +the "leperous distilment poured into the chambers of mine ears," +told of, so pathetically, by the sad ghost of Hamlet's father, was the +[622] poison of the Yew, and identical with Marlow[e]'s juice of +Hebron. + +Ray mentions that a gardener employed in clipping a Yew tree at +Pisa, could not proceed with his work for more than half-an-hour at +a time without being seized with a violent pain in the head. +Nevertheless, deer, sheep, and goats can eat the foliage with +impunity. + +The fresh leaves were administered to three children near +Manchester for worms. Yawning and listlessness came on, and the +eldest vomited a little, but neither of them complained of any pain. +They all died within a few hours of each other. + +Because being then green, on the Sunday next before Easter, the +branches of the Yew tree have been used as a substitute for the +Palms which symbolise the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. + +The symptoms induced by provings of the leaves and juice in toxic +quantities, have been sick headache, with giddiness, feeble, faltering +pulse, coldness of the extremities, diarrhoea, and general +prostration. So that for this combination of symptoms, as in severe +biliousness, or as in the auditory vertigo of Menière's disease, small +doses of the diluted tincture are found to give prompt and effectual +relief. The leaves contain a volatile oil, tannin, and a bitter +principle "taxina," which is also furnished by the seeds. An extract +of Yew has been pronounced a useful narcotic by more than one physician +of repute: and in some parts of Germany a decoction of the wood is +a well-known remedy against hydrophobia. + +A jelly prepared from the berries has been given for chronic +bronchitis, and the leaves have been used for epilepsy; likewise they +have been taken by ignorant persons to induce abortion, but with +serious injury to the experimenter. In some rural districts the berries +[623] are known as "Snots"; whilst the wood and roots are "Wire +thorn." + +By an old statute of Edward the First, trees were required to be +placed in churchyards to defend the church from high winds, the +clergy being allowed to cut them down for repairing the chancel +when necessary. Perhaps, partly for this reason, the Yew was +commonly planted by the side of a newly-built church. That its +wood was certainly employed for making bows, we learn from +Shakespeare:-- + + "Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows + Of double-fatal Yew against thy state." + +It was "double-fatal," because the leaves and fruit seeds are +poisonous, and the bows made from its branches, as well as arrows +armed with its deadly juice, were instruments of death. + +Against the maladies which have been specified as indicating the +tincture of Yew for their cure, from five to ten drops of the third +decimal tincture should be given, with a spoonful of water, every +two, three, or four hours, whilst required. In Switzerland the Yew is +known as William's tree, in memory of Tell. Formerly the name was +spelt "Eugh," "Yeugh," and "Ewgh." + +Spenser says:-- + + "The Eugh--obedient to the bender's will." + + + +In olden times the Olitory, or Herb-garden, formed an important +annex to all demesnes having any pretensions to completeness, and +was under "My Lady's" [624] special charge. In fact, the culture and +preparing of Simples formed a part of every lady's education. "My +Lord's" retainers and tenants, when out of sorts, were treated with +these wholesome remedies, and were directed to find in Simples the +cure for all ordinary ailments. + + + +Good George Herbert, of Country Parson celebrity, taught, 1620:-- +"In the knowledge of Simples, wherein the manifold wisdom of God +is wonderfully to be seen, one thing should be carefully observed, +which is, to know what herbs may be used instead of drugs of the +same nature, and to make the garden the shop; for, home-bred +medicines are both more easy for the Parson's purse, and more +familiar for all men's bodies. So where the Apothecary useth either +for loosing, Rhubarb, or for binding, Bole Armena; the Parson useth +Damask, or White Roses for the one, and Plantain, Shepherd's +Purse, or Knotgrass for the other: and that with better success. As +for Spices, he doth not only prefer home-bred things before them, +but condemns them for vanities, and so shuts them out of his family, +esteeming that there is no spice comparable of herbs to Rosemary, +Thyme, Savory, Mints: and of seeds to Fennel and Carraway. +Accordingly for salves his wife seeks not the city, but prefers her +garden and fields, before all outlandish gums. And, surely, Hyssop, +Valerian, Mercury, Adder's tongue, Yarrow, Melilot, and St. John's +Wort, made into a salve, and Elder, Camomile, Mallows, Comphrey, +and Smallage, made into a poultice have done great, and rare cures!" + + + +[625] INDEX. + +AGE, Old, to Promote. +Agrimony, Hemp . . . 19 +Apples . . . 27-31 +Chamomile . . . 86 +Chervil . . . 101 +Cider . . . 81 +Elder . . . 168 +Fennel . . . 182 +Fig . . . 196 +Honey . . . 258 +Lemon . . . 303 +Mountain Ash . . . 350 +Oat drink . . . 397 +Orchis Salep . . . 405 +Sage . . . 490 +Sago . . . 155 +Sea Holly (Eryngo) . . . 499 +Sugar . . . 257 + +AGUE, and Intermittent Fever. +Agrimony, Hemp . . . 19 +Chestnut, Horse . . . 102 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 515 +Cloves oil . . . 396 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Flag, Sweet . . . 202 +Lemon . . . 302 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 332 +Nettle . . . 385 +Parsley seed . . . 409 +Parsnip, Wild . . . 414 +Plantain, Ribwort . . . 435 +Rush, sweet-scented . . . 480 +Sage . . . 492 +Skullcap, Greater . . . 517 +Sunflower . . . 547-549 +Verbena-vervain . . . 588 +Woodsorrel . . . 611 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +ALBUMINURIA, _see_ URINE. + +ANEURISM of Heart. +Club moss . . . 115 + +ANTISEPTIC and Germ Destroying. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Angelica . . . 24 +Camphor . . . 338 +Carrot . . . 88 +Centaury . . . 97 +Cinnamon bark . . . 390 +Clove . . . 395 +Currant, Red, juice . . . 138 +Elecampane . . . 173 +Garlic . . . 215 +Hop . . . 266 +Juniper . . . 294 +Mountain Ash jelly . . . 350 +Mustard flour . . . 377 +Onion tribe . . . 211 +Orange . . . 403 +Peppermint . . . 340 +Rosemary . . . 473 +Rue . . . 478 +Sage . . . 490 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Tansy . . . 554 +Tar . . . 582 +Thistle, Sow . . . 558 +--Carline . . . 558 +Thymol . . . 563 +Tomato . . . 569 +Wormwood . . . 355,612 + +[626] APPETITE, to Improve. +Asafetida (Garlic) . . . 220 +Lettuce . . . 309 +Orange . . . 403 +Parsnip . . . 414 +Samphire . . . 497 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +ASTHMA. +Anise . . . 26 +Bee propolis . . . 260 +Cabbage, Red . . . 75 +Coltsfoot (to smoke) . . . 118 +Elder . . . 166 +Elecampane candy . . . 173 +Garlic . . . 215 +Horehound, white . . . 267 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Mace . . . 395 +Mullein . . . 361 +Mustard, Hedge . . . 382 +Nettle . . . 387 +Onion tincture . . . 212 +Pine, yellow (pillow) . . . 577 +Primrose, Evening (with diarrhoea) . . . 450 +Rosemary, wild (gouty) . . . 475 +Sow Thistle . . . 559 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Vernal grass (Hay) . . . 241 + +ATROPHY and Wasting. +Acorn (of children) . . . 16 +Daisy (from youthful indiscretions) . . . 144 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Iceland Moss . . . 501 +Truffle . . . 371 +Vine (of young women) . . . 588 + +BACK, Injury to Spine. +Saint John's Wort . . . 289 + +BILIOUS Disorders, and Jaundice. +Agrimony . . . 18 +Apple (sluggish liver) . . . 27 +Asparagus . . . 37 +Barberry . . . 42 +Carrot . . . 89 +Celandine, Greater . . . 99, 603 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 516 +Dandelion . . . 149 +Egg . . . 150 +Flag, blue (bilious sickness) . . . 199 +Gooseberry, red . . . 225 +Grape cure . . . 239, 588 +Hemp Agrimony . . . 20 +Hop . . . 264 +Hyssop, Hedge . . . 280 +Ivy cup (spleen congested) . . . 282 +Knapweed . . . 296 +Lemon juice . . . 301 +Lime . . . 317 +Marigold . . . 327 +Mullein (with megrims) . . . 361 +Orach . . . 229 +Orange . . . 402 +Parsnip, wild . . . 414 +Radish tincture . . . 487 +Samphire (spleen congested) . . . 498 +Spindle . . . 531 +Spleenwort fern . . . 190 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Succory (melancholy) . . . 541 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Thistle, Blessed . . . 558 +--Milk . . . 557 +Toadflax . . . 567 +Tomato . . . 571 +Water Pepper (with sore fundament) . . . 606 +Woodruff . . . 609 +Wormwood (with melancholy) . . . 612 +Yew (severe) . . . 622 + +BLADDER, _see_ Urine. + +BLEEDING. +Acorn . . . 17 +Agaric, Oak (amadou) . . . 370 +[627] Bistort, great . . . 607 +Bramble . . . 54 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 431 +Cinnamon (from bowels) . . . 392 +Comfrey . . . 120 +Fern, Hart's tongue . . . 187 +Goosegrass . . . 233 +John's Wort, Saint . . . 288 +Lavender, Sea (from kidney) . . . 300 +Lemon . . . 303 +Mistletoe (from womb) . . . 348 +Moss, Iceland (from lungs) . . . 500 +Nettle, White . . . 386 +Periwinkle, Lesser . . . 428 +Plantain, Water . . . 436 +Puff-ball . . . 366 +Quince . . . 454 +Saffron (from nose) . . . 489 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 514 +Sloe . . . 518 +Strawberry (root and leaf) . . . 537 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Turpentine (from lungs, or kidneys) . . . 577 +Yarrow (from nose) . . . 618 + +BLOODLESSNESS. +Marigold, Marsh . . . 330 + +BOILS. +Daisy . . . 144 +Dock . . . 159 +Fig . . . 196 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Honey . . . 259 +Parsley, Stone . . . 413 +Radish (carbuncle) . . . 457 + +BOWELS and Stomach. +CATARRH-- +Grape . . . 239 +Quince seed . . . 452 + +BRAIN. +TO STRENGTHEN-- +Apple . . . 27 +Balm . . . 41 +Cress . . . 127 +Oat . . . 154 +Rosemary . . . 470 +Sage . . . 491 + +CONGESTION OF-- +Darnel (active) . . . 243 +Lettuce, wild . . . 311 +Saffron . . . 488 + +ANGRY EXCITABILITY-- +Cat Mint . . . 345 + +BREAST. +CANCER OF-- +Goosegrass . . . 233 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Parsley . . . 411 + +SWOLLEN WITH MILK-- +Parsley leaves . . . 409 +Yarrow (sore nipples) . . . 618 + +BRONCHITIS. +RECENT CATARRH-- +Daffodil (children) . . . 143 +Eyebright . . . 176 +Fig . . . 197 +Flax, Linseed . . . 263 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +CHRONIC-- +Angelica . . . 24 +Anise (of children) . . . 25 +Coltsfoot . . . 119 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Garlic . . . 215 +Ginger . . . 392 +Horehound, white . . . 267 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Ivy, Ground . . . 284 +Mace . . . 395 +Moon Daisy . . . 147 +Mustard, white . . . 381 +Onion . . . 210 +Radish . . . 456 +Rue compress . . . 477 +[628] Sow Thistle (wheezy) . . . 559 +Sundew . . . 544 +Tar . . . 581 +Turpentine . . . 577 +Yew . . . 622 + +BRUISES. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bryony, white (black eye) . . . 66 +Caraway poultice . . . 83 +Chervil . . . 101 +Comfrey . . . 120 +Daisy . . . 145 +Elder, Dwarf . . . 172 +Fern, Royal . . . 186 +Hyssop (black eye) . . . 279 +Mullein oil . . . 362 +Pea . . . 416 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 513 +Solomon's Seal (broken bones) . . . 525 +Verjuice . . . 238 +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +BUGS, to Expel. +Agaric . . . 369 +Lavender . . . 297 +Tansy . . . 553 + +BUNION. +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 + +BURRS and SCALDS. +Bilberry . . . 53 +Blackberry . . . 54 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Dock, Wayside . . . 158 +Elder . . . 168 +Fern, Hart's tongue . . . 187 +House Leek . . . 275 +Lettuce leaf . . . 311 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Linseed Flax . . . 203 +Marigold . . . 329 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Nettle . . . 385 +Potato, raw . . . 445 + +CANCER. +Belladonna (external) . . . 389 +Clover, red . . . 110 +Comfrey root . . . 595 +Crowfoot, Ranunculus . . . 73 +Egg shells . . . 150, 458 +Goosegrass . . . 232 +Hemlock juice (external) . . . 251 +Hoglouse . . . 565 +Lemon juice (of tongue) . . . 301 +Livelong Sedum . . . 276 +Marjoram (of breast) . . . 332 +Marigold . . . 328 +Opium . . . 440 +Parsley leaves (tumours) . . . 411 +Ragwort . . . 458 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 513 +Stitchwort . . . 536 +Stone crop . . . 277 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 +Tomato (for, or against) . . . 570 +Turpentine Chian (of womb) . . . 579 +Wartwort (Celandine, greater) . . . 603 +Water Fennel . . . 604 +Water Hemlock . . . 251 + +CARBUNCLE. +Radish juice . . . 457 +Savin . . . 494 + +CHAPPED HANDS. +Fern, Polypody . . . 190 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Juniper gum . . . 294 +Leek . . . 220 +Spearmint . . . 342 + +CHICKEN POCK. +Nettle . . . 885 + +CHILBLAINS. +Agaric, Fly mushroom . . . 870 +Bryony, black . . . 68 +Butcher's Broom . . . 65 +Capsicum friction . . . 80 +[629] Leek . . . 220 +Onion (to unbroken) . . . 211 +Potato (frost bite) . . . 445 +Rosemary, wild . . . 474 + +CHOLERA. +Camphor . . . 338 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Water pepper . . . 607 + +COLD and CATARRH. +FOR FRESH COLD-- +Anemone, Wood . . . 21 +Balm tea . . . 41 +Barley water . . . 48 +Borage . . . 61 +Camphor . . . 337 +Herb Bennet . . . 48 +Ivy, ground . . . 285 +Lime, sweet tea . . . 317 +Linseed Flax . . . 203 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +FOR CONTINUED CATARRH-- +Anise (of infants) . . . 25 +Borage (feverish) . . . 61 +Dog's Mercury . . . 333 +Elder . . . 167 +Eyebright . . . 176 +Fig pulp . . . 197 +Hemp Agrimony . . . 20 +Honey . . . 260 +Lemon . . . 303 +Maiden-hair fern . . . 189 +Mustard (apply) . . . 377 +Onion (tincture and broth) . . . 212 +Pellitory, Spanish (of head) . . . 425 +Peppermint spray . . . 339 +Poppy, red (pleurisy) . . . 438 +Quince . . . 452 +Saint John's Wort . . . 288 +Soapwort (inflamed lungs) . . . 523 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 +Turnip (with hoarseness) . . . 575 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 595 + +COLIC of Bowels. +Chamomile . . . 85 +Fennel (of infants) . . . 181 +Ground Ivy (lead colic) . . . 286 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Poppy (foment) . . . 439 +Rice . . . 462 +Silver-weed . . . 515 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Turpentine . . . 579 +Walnut (inner skin) . . . 599 + +CONSTIPATION of Bowels. +Apple . . . 28 +Barberry . . . 42 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Bryony, white . . . 66 +Buckthorn (black alder) . . . 70 +Bugloss . . . 594 +Clove . . . 396 +Dill seed . . . 157 +Dock, Herb Patience . . . 159 +--Water, great . . . 164 +Dodder . . . 112 +Dwarf, Elder . . . 171 +Elder . . . 167 +Fig . . . 197 +Flag, Stinking . . . 201 +Flax seed . . . 203 +Flax, Purging . . . 204 +Gingerbread . . . 393 +Grape . . . 237 +Groundsel . . . 244 +Honey . . . 262 +Horse Chestnut . . . 102 +Hyssop, Hedge . . . 280 +Ivy, Gum . . . 282 +Lettuce, Wild . . . 308 +Liquorice . . . 319 +Maidenhair fern . . . 188 +Mallow . . . 323 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mulberry . . . 357 +Mustard, white seeds . . . 381 +Oatmeal . . . 398 +Peach flowers . . . 418 +[630] Periwinkle, greater (children) . . . 427 +Perry . . . 422 +Plantain . . . 436 +Plum, electuary . . . 521 +Polypody fern . . . 190 +Prune . . . 521 +Psyllium seeds . . . 430 +Sea Cabbage . . . 76 +Sea Holly . . . 500 +Sloe (gently laxative) . . . 519 +Sowbread . . . 451 +Spinach (for aged) . . . 530 +Spindle . . . 532 +Spurge, Wood . . . 533 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Succory (children) . . . 541 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Thistle, Carline . . . 558 +Toadflax . . . 566 +Tomato sauce . . . 569 +Turpentine (with colic) . . . 579 +Valerian (chronic) . . . 584 +Violet, Dog . . . 594 +Violet, Sweet . . . 591 +Walnut, green . . . 601 + +CONSUMPTION of Lungs. +Acorn, oak bark . . . 17 +Agaric, Fly (night sweats) . . . 370 +Balm . . . 41 +Carraigeen Moss . . . 500 +Carrot (children) . . . 89 +Cow . . . 126 +Cresses . . . 131 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Date . . . 152 +Elecampane . . . 175 +Grape cure . . . 239, 588 +Ground Ivy . . . 286 +Horehound . . . 268 +Iceland Moss . . . 500 +Marigold, Corn (night sweats) . . . 326 +Mugwort . . . 354 +Mullein milk . . . 359 +Nettle . . . 385 +Ox eye Daisy . . . 147 +Peppermint oil (inhale) . . . 341 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Plantain, Greater (blood spitting) . . . 434 +Poppy, Sea . . . 441 +Rice . . . 463 +Rose, French crimson . . . 465 +Saffron . . . 488 +Snails . . . 118, 409 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Succory . . . 541 +Sundew (of wind pipe) . . . 544 +Terebene . . . 578 +Thyme . . . 564 +Vine . . . 588 +Violet sugar . . . 591 +Watercress . . . 131 + +CONVULSIONS. +Chickweed (of children) . . . 106 +Henbane necklace . . . 253 +Mistletoe . . . 345 +Mugwort (children) . . . 354 +Orange . . . 401 +Parsley, Fool's . . . 413 + +CORDIAL. +Allspice . . . 396 +Asafetida . . . 219 +Balm . . . 39 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Borage . . . 60, 595 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 431 +Calamint . . . 344 +Caraway . . . 82 +Cat-thyme . . . 565 +Chervil . . . 101 +Cinnamon . . . 390 +Citron (restorative) . . . 301 +Coriander . . . 123 +Cumin . . . 135 +Elecampane . . . 173 +Fennel . . . 179 +Flag, Sweet . . . 201 +Grapes . . . 238 +[631] Horse Radish . . . 270 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Juniper berries . . . 291 +Lavender . . . 296 +Lime . . . 317 +Lupine . . . 306 +Marigold broth . . . 327 +Marjoram . . . 331 +Mead (honey) . . . 259 +Mint, Garden . . . 334 +Mustard . . . 380 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +Pansy . . . 589 +Parsnip . . . 414 +Peach . . . 419 +Pear, perry . . . 422 +Pennyroyal . . . 335 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Pink . . . 433 +Primrose, Evening . . . 450 +Quince . . . 453 +Rosemary . . . 470 +Saffron (noble) . . . 486 +Sage (for indigestion) . . . 490 +Sloe . . . 519 +Spearmint . . . 343 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Tansy . . . 553 +Tarragon . . . 555 +Thistle, Carline . . . 558 +Thyme, Wild . . . 562 +Verbena . . . 587 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 595 +Wallflower . . . 596 +Woodruff . . . 609 +Woodsorrel . . . 612 + +CORNS. +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +House leek . . . 275 +Ivy leaf . . . 282 +Potato, boiled . . . 445 +Radish juice . . . 456 + +COUGH. +Bean . . . 416 +Bryony, white (bronchial) . . . 67 +Cabbage . . . 75 +Chamomile (nervous) . . . 85 +Cherry, Wild . . . 99 +Coltsfoot . . . 117 +Dock, yellow curled (bronchial) . . . 163 +Elder (croupy) . . . 166 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Fennel (chronic) . . . 181 +Fern, Maidenhair . . . 189 +Fig . . . 197 +Hedge mustard . . . 381 +Hemlock vapour . . . 250 +Honey . . . 259 +Horehound, Water . . . 269 +Horehound, White . . . 267 +Lime, Sweet (hard cough) . . . 317 +Linseed Flax . . . 203 +Liquorice (if hoarse) . . . 319 +Marsh Mallow . . . 323 +Moon Daisy . . . 147 +Mullein (smoke) . . . 361 +Mustard, Hedge . . . 382 +Nutmeg (chronic) . . . 395 +Parietary (old cough) . . . 424 +Pear . . . 423 +Peppermint . . . 341 +Radish (chronic and bilious) . . . 457 +Rosemary, wild . . . 474 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Sundew . . . 544 +Turnip syrup . . . 575 +Turpentine (bronchial) . . . 578 +Violet (spasmodic) . . . 593 +Wall Rue (bronchial) . . . 191 +Wart-wort (spasmodic) . . . 603 + +CRAMP. +Cork . . . 426 +Mullein root . . . 361 +Periwinkle, lesser (legs) . . . 426 +Silverweed (belly) . . . 515 +Yarrow . . . 619 + +CROUP. +Elder . . . 166 + +[632] DEAFNESS, _see_ EAR. + +DEBILITY, General. +Chestnut, sweet . . . 105 +Fig . . . 196 +Hop . . . 264 +Lentil . . . 305 +Lily of the Valley (nervous) . . . 315 +Lupine . . . 306 +Mushroom, French . . . 374 +Nettle-urtication . . . 384 +Orange, bitter . . . 403 +Potato, sweet . . . 442 +Sage . . . 491 +Salep . . . 405 +Sea Holly . . . 499 +Spinach . . . 530 +Truffles (children) . . . 371 + +DELIRIUM TREMENS. +Capsicum . . . 79 +Chamomile . . . 87 + +DIABETES. +Apple bark . . . 29 +Asparagus . . . 36 +Fern, Hart's-tongue . . . 188 +Iceland Moss . . . 501 +Knapweed . . . 296 +Stitchwort, greater . . . 536 + +DIARRHOEA. +ACTIVE LOOSENESS-- +Barberry (bilious) . . . 42 +Camphor (choleraic) . . . 338 +Cinnamon . . . 391 +Fool's Parsley . . . 413 +Radish . . . 457 +Spurge, Wood . . . 534 + +CHRONIC LOOSENESS-- +Fruit, fresh . . . 455 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 187 +House Leek . . . 276 +Orchis (Salep) . . . 407 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Quince . . . 453 +Sloe . . . 519 +Strawberry . . . 540 +Water Lily, yellow (for morning looseness) . . . 605 + +SIMPLE LOOSENESS-- +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bilberry . . . 52 +Bistort, great . . . 607 +Blackberry . . . 54 +Chamomile (children) . . . 85 +Cinquefoil . . . 515 +Flag, Sweet . . . 200 +Flag, Yellow . . . 202 +Flax Purging . . . 204 +Ginger . . . 392 +Lime Blossom . . . 317 +Mace . . . 395 +Marsh Mallow . . . 323 +Mountain Ash . . . 351 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Pulsatilla (catarrhal) . . . 21 +Rice . . . 462 +Service tree . . . 352 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Tormentil . . . 573 + +DIPHTHERIA. +Betony, Stone-crop . . . 276 +Peppermint oil . . . 342 +Tar . . . 580 +Turpentine . . . 580 + +DISINFECTANTS, _see_ ANTI-SEPTICS. + +DIZZINESS, _see_ GIDDINESS. + +DRINK, Alcoholic. +EFFECTS TO DISPEL-- +Acorn spirit . . . 16 +Angelica . . . 24 +Cabbage . . . 77 +Capsicum . . . 79 +Chamomile . . . 87 +Darnel . . . 243 +Ivy . . . 283 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Watercress . . . 133 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +[633] DROPSY. +Artichoke, Globe . . . 549 +Asparagus (heart) . . . 36 +Bee sting . . . 261 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Broom (heart) . . . 62 +Butcher's broom . . . 65 +Cabbage . . . 77 +Christmas Rose . . . 108 +Currant, Black, leaves . . . 140 +Fennel . . . 181 +Hyssop, hedge . . . 279 +Juniper berries (kidney) . . . 292 +Lily of the Valley (heart) . . . 315 +Onion . . . 210 +Pellitory of Wall (heart) . . . 424 +Plantain, Water . . . 436 +Rosemary (heart) . . . 472 +Shepherd's Purse (kidney) . . . 512 +Toadflax . . . 566 + +DROWSINESS. +Nutmeg . . . 894 + +DYSENTERY. +Bilberry . . . 52 +Daffodil . . . 143 +Fruit, fresh . . . 455 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 187 +House Leek . . . 275 +Hyssop, Hedge . . . 280 +Iceland Moss . . . 501 +Marsh Mallow . . . 323 +Mustard, Hedge . . . 382 +Quince . . . 454 +Rice . . . 463 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Service Tree . . . 352 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 +Violet, sweet (infants) . . . 591 + +EARS. +EAR-ACHE, OR DEAFNESS-- +Cabbage . . . 75 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Caraway poultice . . . 82 +Cat's tail . . . 482 +Chamomile . . . 86 +Christmas Rose . . . 108 +Fennel . . . 182 +Feverfew (with headache) . . . 194 +Garlic . . . 216 +Ground Ivy . . . 286 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mullein (with eczema, or abscess) . . . 362 +Onion poultice . . . 211 +Plaintain, greater . . . 434 +Pulsatilla (catarrhal) . . . 21 +Spurge, Wood . . . 534 +Yew tincture (giddiness from ear) . . . 622 + +ECZEMA, _see_ SKIN. + +EPILEPSY, Falling Sickness. +Bryony, white . . . 66 +Carrot flower . . . 88 +Clover, sweet . . . 113 +Club Moss . . . 116 +Cuckoo flower . . . 134 +Daffodil . . . 143 +Elder flower . . . 171 +Fool's Parsley . . . 412 +Goose Grass . . . 234 +Juniper berries . . . 293 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Marsh Marigold . . . 331 +Mistletoe . . . 346 +Mugwort coals . . . 354 +Mullein . . . 360 +Orange flower . . . 401 +Parsley . . . 408, 412 +--Fool's . . . 412 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Pink . . . 433 +Rose, red . . . 466 +Rue . . . 476 +Skullcap, greater . . . 517 +Sea Holly . . . 499 +Sea water (gold) . . . 508 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Turpentine . . . 579 +Valerian . . . 584 +[634] Violet, sweet . . . 593 +Wormwood . . . 614 +Yarrow . . . 617 +Yew . . . 622 + +ERYSIPELAS. +Bee sting . . . 260 +House Leek . . . 275 +Primula . . . 449 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 + +EYES. +FOR WEAK OR INFLAMED-- +Apple poultice . . . 28 +Cabbage (scrofulous) . . . 78 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Clary . . . 492 +Eyebright . . . 177 +Fennel . . . 180 +Fool's Parsley (scrofulous) . . . 412 +House Leek . . . 275 +Ivy . . . 282 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Parsley . . . 409 +Rose water . . . 466 +Saint John's Wort . . . 288 +Saliva . . . 178 +Sloe . . . 519 +Snail poultice . . . 411 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Succory (amaurosis) . . . 541 +Turpentine (rheumatic) . . . 577 +Valerian . . . 585 +Verbena . . . 587 + +TO STRENGTHEN VISION-- +Asafetida . . . 219 +Blackthorn . . . 519 +Bogbean (amaurosis) . . . 59 +Caraway . . . 83 +Darnel . . . 243 +Fennel (for cataract) . . . 180 +Fumitory . . . 208 +Parsley . . . 409 +Puffball . . . 368 +Rice . . . 477 +Saffron . . . 488 +Stitchwort . . . 536 +Thyme, wild . . . 563 +Vine sap . . . 238 + +TO REDUCE A BLACK EYE-- +Bryony, white . . . 66 +Hyssop . . . 273 + +TO REMOVE SPECKS-- +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +Meadow sage . . . 492 + +SIGHT IMPAIRED BY THE USE OF-- +Chicory . . . 542 +Parsley . . . 409 +Rice (in excess) . . . 477 +Stye in eye (gold ring) . . . 515 + +FAINTING, For. +Dodder . . . 112 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Rosewater, sprinkle . . . 467 + +FAT, to Reduce. +Bladderwrack . . . 504 +Fennel seed . . . 181 +Goose Grass . . . 233 + +FATIGUE, to Lessen. +Grapes . . . 239 +Honey . . . 257 +Hop . . . 264 +Sorrel soup . . . 160 + +FERTILITY, to Promote. +Leek . . . 220 +Potato . . . 446 + +FEVER, to Allay. +Apple tea . . . 30 +Barley water . . . 45 +Currant, Red, juice . . . 138 +Fumitory (malarious) . . . 208 +Grapes . . . 236 +Lemon (intermittent) . . . 302 +Lettuce, garden 310 +[635] Marigold (low fever) . . . 328 +Quince . . . 454 +Raspberry vinegar . . . 460 +Rice . . . 463 +Rose, French crimson . . . 464 +Soapwort (low fever) . . . 523 +Sorrel, Wood . . . 162-611 +Strawberry (putrid) . . . 540 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Vernal Grass (hay fever) . . . 241 + +FLATULENCE. +Angelica . . . 23 +Aniseed . . . 25 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Capsicum . . . 81 +Caraway . . . 82 +Cinnamon . . . 391 +Clove . . . 396 +Club Moss . . . 114 +Coriander . . . 123 +Cumin . . . 136 +Dill (Infants) . . . 156 +Fennel seed . . . 181 +Flag, Sweet . . . 201 +Ginger . . . 392 +Juniper berries . . . 293 +Lavender . . . 297 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +Orange, Seville . . . 403 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Pink . . . 438 +Rice (to avoid) . . . 462 +Rue . . . 475 +Spearmint . . . 343 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Turnips (to avoid) . . . 575 +Valerian . . . 585 +Wormwood . . . 613 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +FLEAS, and other Insects, to destroy. +Lavender oil . . . 296 +Pennyroyal . . . 334 +Walnut . . . 600 +Water-lily, yellow . . . 605 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Wormwood . . . 355 + +FLIES, to destroy, or prevent. +Chamomile . . . 85 +Elder . . . 165 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Horehound . . . 268 +Toadflax . . . 566 + +FRECKLES, to Remove. +Anise . . . 26 +Cowslip . . . 125 +Fumitory . . . 208 +Savin . . . 494 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Solomon's Seal . . . 525 +Speedwell . . . 529 +Strawberry . . . 540 + +FROST-BITES, for +Potato flour . . . 445 + +FRUITS which do not turn Acid in Stomach. +Apple . . . 29 +Mulberry . . . 358 +Quince . . . 454 +Raspberry . . . 460 +Strawberry . . . 538 + +FUNDAMENT, SORE, _and see_ PILES. +Fig . . . 197 +Figwort water . . . 198 +Hemlock, apply . . . 249 +Nettle, (for itching of) . . . 385 +Thyme, Cat . . . 565 +Water Pepper . . . 606 + +GIDDINESS. +Chestnut, Horse . . . 103 +Cowslip . . . 125 +Lily of the Valley . . . 314 +Mistletoe (epileptiform) . . . 349 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +[636] Parsley . . . 408 +Rue . . . 476 +Spearmint . . . 343 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thistle, Blessed . . . 558 +Yew, (connected with ear) . . . 622 + +GLANDS, Scrofulous, Enlarged to Reduce. +Bladderwrack (goitre) . . . 503 +Burdock . . . 163 +Clover, sweet . . . 113 +Cresses . . . 130 +Cumin, plaster . . . 136 +Dock, yellow curled . . . 163 +Dodder . . . 112 +Dulse . . . 501 +Fennel . . . 182 +Foxglove ointment . . . 206 +Garlic . . . 215 +Goosegrass . . . 232 +Hemlock . . . 251 +House Leek . . . 275 +Linseed oil . . . 203 +Marjoram (of breast) . . . 332 +Mugwort . . . 356 +Parsley (and snails) . . . 409 +Peach (goitre) . . . 419 +Rose Rock . . . 470 +Sea Tang . . . 502 +Sea Weeds . . . 497 +Valerian . . . 584 +Walnut . . . 601 +Watercress . . . 131 +Water Figwort (of neck) . . . 198 + +GOLD. +In sea water . . . 507 + +GOUT. +Apple . . . 28 +Asparagus . . . 36 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Carrot (with gravel) . . . 88 +Currant, black . . . 139 +Daisy . . . 144 +Ginger . . . 392 +Goutweed . . . 236 +Grape cure . . . 239 +Hemlock, apply . . . 249 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Hungary water . . . 472 +Lily of the Valley . . . 316 +Meadow Saffron . . . 484 +Mugwort . . . 354 +Mullein . . . 360 +Nettle . . . 385 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Pear, wild . . . 423 +Rosemary, wild (with eczema) . . . 474 +Speedwell . . . 529 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Succory . . . 541 +Tansy . . . 552 + +FRUIT PROPER FOR GOUTY PERSONS-- +Apple . . . 29 +Mulberry . . . 358 +Quince . . . 454 +Raspberry . . . 460 +Strawberry . . . 538 + +FRUITS IMPROPER FOR THE GOUTY-- +Grapes, sweet . . . 236 +Rhubarb, garden . . . 160 +Sorrel . . . 160 +Tomato, uncooked . . . 569 +Wood Sorrel . . . 160, 611 + +GRAPE CURE. +Grape cure . . . 239 + +GRAVEL, _see_ URINE. + +GUM BOIL. +Fig, split . . . 196 + +HAIR. +TO PROMOTE THE GROWTH OF-- +Artichoke, Jerusalem . . . 549 +Daffodil . . . 143 +[637] Honey water . . . 260 +Lavender oil . . . 297 +Lemon juice (to remove dandriff) . . . 304 +Maidenhair Fern . . . 188 +Mullein . . . 361 +Mustard oil . . . 376 +Rosemary spirit . . . 472 +Saint John's Wort . . . 289 +Savin . . . 494 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Spindle (remove scurf) . . . 531 +Verbena . . . 587 +Wall Rue . . . 191 +Water Lily, yellow . . . 605 +Wormwood . . . 356, 614 + +TO DYE DARK-- +Bramble . . . 56 +Elder juice . . . 168 +Oranges, green . . . 403 +Walnut juice . . . 599 + +TO REMOVE SUPERFLUOUS HAIR-- +Fern Oak . . . 190 +Fumitory . . . 207 +Spurge, Wood . . . 533 + +FOR FIXING THE HAIR-- +Quince Bandoline . . . 452 + +HEADACHE. +FROM ACTIVE FULNESS, WITH HOT SKIN, AND FLUSHED FACE-- +Basil . . . 46 +Elder . . . 188 +Mustard paper . . . 378 +Parsley . . . 408 +Tansy . . . 553 + +PASSIVE FULNESS OF HEAD, WITH GENERAL COLDNESS AND PALLOR-- +Betony . . . 49 +Buttercup . . . 73 +Clover, sweet . . . 112 +Cowslip . . . 125 +Elecampane (costive) . . . 175 +Flag, yellow . . . 200 +Ginger . . . 392 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Lettuce, Wild (dull and striped) . . . 311 +Mustard . . . 377 +Primrose . . . 448 +Puffball powder . . . 367 +Tansy . . . 553 +Yarrow (for making nose bleed) . . . 616 + +NERVOUS HEADACHE AND HYSTERICAL-- +Asafetida . . . 218 +Balm . . . 41 +Basil . . . 46 +Betony . . . 48 +Camphor . . . 337 +Celery . . . 96 +Clover, sweet . . . 113 +Flag, blue (bilious) . . . 199 +Garlic . . . 218 +Ground Ivy (inveterate) . . . 285 +Ivy leaves (after hard drinking) . . . 283 +Lavender . . . 299 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Marjoram . . . 331 +Mullein (in the bilious) . . . 361 +Pennyroyal . . . 335 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rosemary . . . 473 +Rue (giddiness) . . . 476 +Saffron . . . 489 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Valerian . . . 585 +Verbena (inveterate) . . . 587 +Violet, sweet . . . 593 +Wallflower . . . 597 +Water Hemlock . . . 251 + +HEART. +TO STRENGTHEN A WEAK HEART-- +Fly, Agaric Mushroom . . . 370 +Lily of the Valley . . . 814 +[638] Mistletoe . . . 348 +Saffron . . . 486 +Sea water, gold in . . . 508 +Soapwort (in fever) . . . 523 + +FOR IRRITABLE HEART, WITH NERVOUS PALPITATIONS-- +Asparagus . . . 36 +Cherry, wild . . . 99 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Hemlock plaster . . . 249 +Lavender . . . 297 +Lemon juice . . . 301 +Lily of the Valley . . . 314 +Nettle, Stinging . . . 384 + +HEARTBURN, _see_ INDIGESTION. + +HICCOUGH. +Aniseed . . . 25 +Dill . . . 156 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Mustard . . . 378 +Skullcap, lesser . . . 517 +Spearmint . . . 343 + +HYDROPHOBIA. +Club Moss . . . 116 +Cress, garden . . . 128 +Figwort . . . 51 +Horehound, black . . . 268 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Plantain, Water . . . 436 +Rose, Dog root . . . 465 +Rush, flowering . . . 481 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 +Yew . . . 622 + +HYSTERIA. +Allspice . . . 397 +Caraway . . . 83 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Daffodil . . . 143 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Garlic . . . 215 +Goosefoot, Stinking . . . 229 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Lavender . . . 297 +Mistletoe (St. Vitus's dance) . . . 348 +Mugwort . . . 353 +Orange blossoms . . . 401 +Pennyroyal . . . 335 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rosemary . . . 474 +Rue . . . 476 +Sage, meadow (colic) . . . 492 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Turnip (injurious) . . . 575 +Valerian . . . 584 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +INDIGESTION. +Allspice (flatulent) . . . 397 +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 21 +Capsicum . . . 81 +Centaury (tonic) . . . 97 +Cinnamon . . . 391 +Clove . . . 396 +Club Moss (water brash) . . . 114 +Cumin . . . 136 +Currant, Red (torpor) . . . 138 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Flag, sweet . . . 201 +Ginger (gouty) . . . 392 +Good King Henry . . . 228 +Gooseberry (after rich food) . . . 224 +Hop . . . 264 +Horse Radish . . . 272 +Lavender . . . 299 +Lemon juice (heartburn) . . . 303 +Lettuce . . . 308 +Lupine . . . 306 +Nutmeg (drowsy) . . . 394 +Onion (if cold-blooded) . . . 210 +Primrose, Evening . . . 450 +Pyrethrum lozenges, (heartburn) . . . 426 +Quince . . . 455 +Raspberries . . . 461 +Sage (after rich meats) . . . 490 +[689] Sago . . . 155 +Samphire . . . 498 +Spearmint (infants after milk) . . . 343 +Walnut (after fish, and for colic) . . . 600 +Wood Sorrel (prevents) . . . 611 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +INFLUENZA. +Agrimony, Hemp . . . 20 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Cinnamon . . . 392 +Orange . . . 403 +Rue oil . . . 476 + +INSANITY. +ACTIVE-- +Rest Harrow . . . 321 +St. John's Wort . . . 287 + +MELANCHOLY-- +Borage . . . 61, 595 +Chervil . . . 101 +Elecampane . . . 173 +Fool's Parsley (imbecility) . . . 413 +Hop . . . 264 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Lavender . . . 299 +Maidenhair Fern (idiocy) . . . 188 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 332 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Polypody Fern . . . 189 +Radish (with cough) . . . 457 +Rose, Christmas (Hellebore) . . . 107 +Saffron . . . 486 +Saint John's Wort . . . 287 +Succory (bilious) . . . 541 +Tar water . . . 583 +Thistle, Melancholy . . . 560 +Thistle, Milk . . . 556 +Tutsan . . . 290 +Wormwood (bilious) . . . 612 + +INVISIBILITY, Supposed to Confer. +Fern Seed . . . 184 + +ITCHING, and the Itch. +Anise . . . 26 +Cat Thyme (fundament) . . . 565 +Dock, Yellow Curled . . . 163 +Henbane (of fundament) . . . 249 +Lemon juice (of genitals) . . . 303 +Nettle (of fundament) . . . 385 +Puffball . . . 368 +Rock Rose . . . 470 +Speedwell . . . 528 + +JAUNDICE, _see_ BILIOUS INDIGESTION. + +JOINTS, Affections of, _see_ SCROFULA. +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 + +KIDNEYS, _see_ also URINE. +ACTIVE CONGESTION-- +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Turpentine . . . 577 + +PASSIVE CONJESTION TO REMOVE-- +Asparagus . . . 36 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Gooseberry (gravel) . . . 225 +Honey and Bee Sting . . . 260 +Parsley . . . 409 +Peach flowers (and Colic) . . . 419 + +LEPROSY and LEPROUS ERUPTIONS, _see_ SKIN. + +LIFE, To Prolong, _see_ AGE. + +LIVER, Disorders of, _see_ BILIOUS INDIGESTION. + +LOCK JAW. +St. John's Wort . . . 289 + +LUMBAGO, _see_ RHEUMATISM. + +LUNGS, Diseases of, _see_ COLDS and CONSUMPTION. + +[640] MEASLES. +Marigold tea . . . 327 +Pea . . . 416 +Saffron tea . . . 486 + +MELANCHOLY, _see_ INSANITY. + +MEMORY, To Strengthen. +Eyebright . . . 177 + +MILK, BREAST. +TO PROMOTE FLOW-- +Borage . . . 61 +Caraway . . . 83 +Dill . . . 157 +Fennel seed . . . 179 +Lettuce . . . 312 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Rosemary . . . 472 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 + +TO STAY FLOW-- +Hemlock . . . 249 +Sage . . . 492 + +MILK CRUST of Children, _see_ SKIN. + +MONTHLY FLOW OF WOMEN. +TO PROMOTE-- +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 21 +Angelica . . . 24 +Balm . . . 41 +Basil . . . 96 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Calamint . . . 344 +Christmas Rose . . . 107 +Cumin . . . 136 +Dill . . . 156 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Fennel . . . 181 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Goosefoot, Stinking . . . 229 +Hyssop . . . 279 +Ivy gum . . . 282 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mugwort . . . 353 +Mullein . . . 360 +Nettle (urtication) . . . 384 +Parsley oil . . . 408 +Pennyroyal . . . 336 +Ragwort . . . 459 +Rosemary . . . 474 +Rue . . . 477 +Rush, flowering . . . 481 +Savin . . . 494 +Saxifrage, Burnet . . . 430 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 513 +Soapwort . . . 524 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, Wild . . . 561 +Valerian (with hysteria) . . . 584 +Wormwood . . . 356 + +TO ARREST WHEN EXCESSIVE-- +Cinnamon bark . . . 391 +Lemon juice . . . 303 +Lentil . . . 305 +Mistletoe . . . 348 +Orange, Seville . . . 403 +Periwinkle, greater . . . 427 +Plantain, greater . . . 435 +Saffron (with liquidity) . . . 488 +Savin . . . 494 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 512 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +TO EASE PAIN AT PERIODS-- +Peppermint (colic) . . . 339 +Savin . . . 494 + +MOTHS, to Drive Away. +Camphor . . . 338 +Mugwort . . . 353 +Sedum Livelong . . . 276 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Woodruff . . . 610 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +MOUTH, SORE, _see_ THRUSH. + +MUSHROOMS. +Not to take Alcohol with . . . 375 +To eat Pears after . . . 373, 423 + +[641] NERVES, to Strengthen. +Citron of Law . . . 304 +Hedge Hyssop . . . 279 +Oat . . . 397 +Saffron . . . 488 +Skullcap, greater . . . 517 +Valerian . . . 585 +Violet, sweet . . . 503 + +TO STIMULATE REFLEX NERVOUS ACTIVITY-- +Cumin . . . 137 + +TO QUIET REFLEX NERVOUS IRRITABILITY-- +Camphor . . . 338 +Chamomile . . . 85 +Clove . . . 395 +Lime flowers . . . 318 +Valerian . . . 347 + +NETTLE RASH, _see_ SKIN. + +NEURALGIA, to Relieve. +Allspice plaster . . . 397 +Arum . . . 35 +Buttercup (stitch) . . . 73 +Celandine, greater (face right side) . . . 93 +Chamomile (face and teeth) . . . 85 +Coltsfoot (back and loins) . . . 120 +Cuckoopint . . . 35 +Feverfew . . . 194 +Henbane poultice . . . 253 +Horse Radish (face) . . . 271 +Juniper berries . . . 292 +Lemon, cut . . . 303 +Pyrethrum (head and face) . . . 425 +Pennyroyal . . . 336 +Peppermint oil . . . 339 +Sloe tincture (right eyeball) . . . 519 +Wallflower oil (limbs) . . . 597 +Yarn (tic douloureux) . . . 204 + +NIPPLES, Chapped, or Sore. +Carrot . . . 89 +Comfrey . . . 121 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +NOSE, Ulceration inside. +Elecampane . . . 174 + +PAIN, Local, for. +Buttercup (stitch) . . . 73 +Chamomile fomentation . . . 86 +Elecampane (in elbow) . . . 175 +Hemlock, apply . . . 249 +Henbane poultice . . . 253 +Lavender . . . 291 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Mistletoe (stitch) . . . 347 +Mugwort . . . 355 +Peach (colic from gravel) . . . 419 +Poppy, White, fomentation . . . 439 +Stitch Wort . . . 535 +Wormwood . . . 355 + +PALPITATION, _see_ HEART. + +PARALYSIS. +Burnet Saxifrage (of tongue) . . . 430 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Daffodil (limbs) 141 +Horse Radish, scraped . . . 271 +Hungary water . . . 472 +Lavender oil . . . 296 +Mustard liniment . . . 378 +Nettle, Stinging . . . 384 +Nutmeg spirit (of limbs) . . . 394 +Pellitory of Spain (tongue and lips) . . . 425 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rosemary spirit (limbs) . . . 471 +Sage . . . 491 +Tomato (of back) . . . 571 +Valerian oil . . . 585 +Wallflower oil . . . 597 +Water Dropwort (voice) . . . 604 + +PERSPIRATION, to Promote. +Camphor . . . 338 +Ivy . . . 282 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Turpentine . . . 577 + +[642] PILES. +Blackberry . . . 55 +Brook lime . . . 431 +Celandine, lesser . . . 91 +Chestnut, Horse . . . 102 +Elderberry . . . 169 +Figwort . . . 51 +Mountain Ash (lower bowel relaxed) . . . 351 +Mullein . . . 362 +Oak Bark (prolapse of bowel) . . . 18 +Onion, raw (inflamed) . . . 214 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Pimpernel, blue (descent of bowel) . . . 431 +Plantain, Greater . . . 435 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Toadflax . . . 567 +Water Betony . . . 50 +Water Pepper (sore fundament) . . . 606 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +PLEURITIC PAIN IN SIDE. +Bryony, White (with inflammation) . . . 66 +Buttercup (neuralgic) . . . 72 +Stitchwort . . . 535 + +POLYPUS of Nose. +Polypody Fern . . . 190 +Sage, Wood . . . 498 + +POULTICES. +Carrot . . . 89 +Flax-linseed . . . 203 +Goosefoot . . . 229 +Hemlock . . . 250 +Marsh Mallow . . . 328 +Mustard . . . 377 +Turnip . . . 574 +Vinegar . . . 240 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Yeast (oat) . . . 398 + +PREGNANCY, and _see_ WOMB. +Gooseberry, green (longings to abate) . . . 226 +Quince (wise children to procreate) . . . 454 +Turnip (injurious during) . . . 575 + +PSORIASIS, _see_ SKIN. + +QUINSY, _see_ also SORE THROAT. +Currant, black . . . 139 +Prunella . . . 509 +Strawberry leaves . . . 537 +Woodruff Squinancy . . . 609 +Woodsorrel . . . 612 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +RHEUMATISM and LUMBAGO. +Allspice Plaster . . . 397 +Bee sting . . . 261 +Bryony, White 66 +Calamint (lumbago) . . . 344 +Chickweed (bilious) . . . 106 +Fern Royal (lumbago) . . . 87 +Meadow Saffron (Colchicum) . . . 483 +Nutmeg spirit . . . 394 +Yarn, hank of . . . 204 + +CHRONIC RHEUMATISM-- +Angelica . . . 24 +Asparagus . . . 36 +Bladderwrack, embrocation . . . 505 +Bryony, White . . . 66 +Buttercup . . . 72 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Celery . . . 95 +Centaury (muscular) . . . 97 +Cress, Garden . . . 129 +Garlic . . . 217 +Henbane liniment . . . 224 +Hop . . . 265 +Horse Radish . . . 271 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Ivy berries . . . 282 +Juniper berries . . . 292 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Mugwort (moxa) . . . 354 +[643] Mustard . . . 376-8 +Nettle, Stinging . . . 383 +Nutmeg spirit . . . 394 +Pellitory (head and face) . . . 425 +Peppermint . . . 340 +Pimpernel . . . 430 +Pine . . . 580 +Polypody Fern . . . 189 +Potato, raw . . . 444 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rue (periosteal) . . . 478 +Savin (of womb) . . . 494 +Sea Tang . . . 503 +Spruce beer . . . 580 +Tansy . . . 553 +Turpentine liniment . . . 578 +Violet, sweet (wrists) . . . 593 +Wallflower . . . 597 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +RICKETS, _see_ SCROFULA. + +RINGWORM, _see_ SKIN. + +RUPTURE of Children. +Wall Rue Fern . . . 191 + +SAINT VITUS'S DANCE (CHOREA). +Mistletoe berries . . . 348 + +SALIVATION, _see_ MOUTH, SORE. + +SCALDS, _see_ BURNS. + +SCALD HEAD, _see_ SKIN. + +SCARLET FEVER. +Belladonna (to prevent) . . . 389 +Rock Rose (sore throat of) . . . 470 + +SCIATICA. +Bracken (to smoke legs) . . . 185 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Goutweed . . . 235 +Horse Radish . . . 278 +Nettle (urtication) . . . 884 +Peppermint . . . 842 +Ragwort . . . 458 +Rue leaves, bruised . . . 478 +Thyme, Wild . . . 568 +Turpentine . . . 578 +Tutsan . . . 290 + +SCROFULA, _see also_ GLANDULAR SWELLINGS +Acorn . . . 10 +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bladderwrack in rum . . . 503 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Clover, Red . . . 111 +Coltsfoot . . . 118 +Cresses . . . 130 +Dock . . . 163 +Dodder (tumours) . . . 112 +Dulse . . . 501 +Fern, Royal (rickets) . . . 187 +Fig . . . 196 +Figwort, water . . . 198 +Garlic . . . 215 +Goosegrass . . . 233 +Hoglouse . . . 564 +Lavender oil . . . 296 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mugwort (moxa to joint) . . . 384 +Parsley . . . 411 +Poor Man's Garlic . . . 223 +Rock Rose (joints) . . . 469 +Samphire . . . 497 +Scurvy Grass. ...496 +Seapod Essence . . . 504 +Sea Tang . . . 503 +Sea Water in Bread . . . 503 +Spurge plaster . . . 534 +Stitchwort . . . 536 +Thyme (for Hoglice) . . . 564 +Verbena . . . 587 +Walnut, Black . . . 601 +Wall Rue Fern (Rickets) . . . 191 +Watercress . . . 168 + +[644] SCURVY. +Bogbean . . . 59 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Cabbage, Red . . . 76 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Cresses . . . 130 +Elder . . . 168 +Goosegrass . . . 233 +Horse Radish . . . 271 +Lamb's Lettuce . . . 312 +Laver . . . 506 +Lemon juice . . . 301 +Mum . . . 581 +Mustard, White . . . 380 +Nasturtium . . . 133 +Orange . . . 408 +Parsnip water . . . 415 +Potato . . . 443 +Raspberry liqueur . . . 460 +Saucealone . . . 228 +Scurvy Grass . . . 495 +Sea Holy (Candy) . . . 498 +Sea Spinach . . . 506 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Spruce beer . . . 580 +Stone Crop. Sedum . . . 277 +Watercress . . . 130 +Woodsorrel . . . 611 + +SEXUAL DISORDERS. +FUNCTIONS, TO STRENGTHEN-- +Artichoke, Globe . . . 548 +Asafetida . . . 219 +Bedstraw, Yellow . . . 234 +Camphor . . . 337 +Daisy (after excesses) . . . 144 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Lords and Ladies . . . 84 +Nettle (urtication) . . . 684 +Orchis . . . 405 +Periwinkle, greater . . . 427 +Potato . . . 446 +Potato, sweet . . . 442 +Quince . . . 454 +Rosemary (to renew energy) . . . 473 +Ragwort . . . 458 +Sea Holly (eryngo) . . . 499 +Sea Water (gold) . . . 508 +Southernwood . . . 526 +Sowbread . . . 451 +Sundew . . . 544 +Sunflower . . . 547 +Tarragon . . . 555 +Tomato (to stimulate) . . . 568 +Water Lily, Yellow . . . 605 + +EXCITEMENT, TO CONTROL-- +Camphor, full doses . . . 337 +Coriander . . . 123 +Hemlock . . . 251 +Hop . . . 264 +Lettuce . . . 308 +Parsley . . . 409 +Rue . . . 476 + +LOSSES, AND DISCHARGES, TO STAY-- +Artichoke, Globe . . . 548 +Hop-lupulin . . . 264 +Periwinkle, greater . . . 427 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +SHINGLES, _see_ SKIN. + +SICKNESS, to Relieve. +Cinnamon . . . 392 +Fool's Parsley (Infants) . . . 413 +Marigold (chronic) . . . 328 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Pansy . . . 589 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Walnut, spirit (of pregnancy) . . . 600 + +TO INDUCE-- +Mustard . . . 377 +Violet . . . 591 + +SIGHT, _see_ EYES. + +SKIN, Affections of. +FOR GENERAL CURE OF WHEN UNHEALTHY-- +Brooklime . . . 432 +Docks . . . 160-164 +Elder . . . 168 +[645] Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Lemon . . . 308 +Mushroom, Edible (vesicular outbreak) . . . 375 +Nettle . . . 385 +Parsnip water . . . 415 +Primula . . . 449 +Quince . . . 452 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 511 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, Wild . . . 562 +Toadflax . . . 566 +Turnip juice . . . 575 +Walnut, Black . . . 601 +Water Dropwort (chronic) . . . 604 + +FOR ECZEMA-- +Bilberry . . . 53 +Clove . . . 395 +Goosegrass . . . 234 +Juniper Cade oil . . . 295 +Mullein (of ear) . . . 362 +Primula Biconica . . . 440 +Puffball powder . . . 367 +Rosemary, Wild (gouty) . . . 475 +Rue . . . 477 +Tar (if eruption dry) . . . 581 +Thymol . . . 564 +Violet (pustular) . . . 590 +Walnut . . . 598 + +FOR LEPROUS ERUPTIONS, SCALY-- +Fumitory . . . 208 +Garlic . . . 217 +Goosegrass . . . 234 +Potato . . . 444 +Soapwort (venereal) . . . 523 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Tar gravy and ointment . . . 581 +Walnut oil . . . 598 + +FOR MILK CRUST OF CHILDREN-- +Fumitory . . . 208 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Violet, Pansy . . . 590 + +FOR NETTLE RASH-- +Dandelion (bilious) . . . 149 +Nettle, stinging . . . 385 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 + +FOR PIMPLES AND "ACNE"-- +Horse Radish . . . 273 +Puffball powder . . . 367 + +FOR BRAN-LIKE PSORIASlS-- +Burdock . . . 162 +Goosegrass . . . 234 +Juniper Cade oil . . . 295 + +FOR RINGWORM-- +Arum . . . 34 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Mullein . . . 362 +Thymol . . . 564 + +FOR SCALD HEAD-- +Blackberry . . . 54 +Tar . . . 582 +Violet, Pansy . . . 590 + +FOR SHINGLES-- +Buttercup . . . 72 +House Leek . . . 275 +Rock Rose . . . 469 + +COSMETICS-- +Beet juice . . . 507 +Cowslip (freckles) . . . 125 +Cumin (for pallor) . . . 136 +Flag, Blue . . . 200 +Fumitory . . . 207 +Horse radish in milk . . . 271 +Lemon juice (for hands) . . . 304 +Pulse . . . 416 +Savin . . . 494 +Solomon's Seal . . . 525 +Speedwell (freckles) . . . 528 +Spinach water . . . 530 +Thistle, Sow . . . 559 +Toadflax . . . 566 +Violet, Sweet . . . 591 + +TO RAISE A BLISTER-- +Water Plantain . . . 436 + +[646] SLEEP +FOR SLEEPLESSNESS-- +Anise . . . 26 +Bean . . . 416 +Bulrush . . . 481 +Chamomile (nightmare) . . . 87 +Clove . . . 396 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Dill (of infants) . . . 156 +Fennel . . . 180 +Henbane (foot bath) . . . 253 +Hop (tea, and pillow) . . . 265 +House leek (with head-ache) . . . 275 +Lady's mantle . . . 511 +Lemon squash . . . 304 +Lettuce, Garden, gum (infants) . . . 307 +Lettuce, Wild, gum . . . 307 +Mushroom (in consumption) . . . 370 +Mustard foot-bath . . . 378 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Oat . . . 398 +Onion . . . 211 +Orange buds . . . 401 +Orange flower water . . . 401 +Poppy, white . . . 438 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rue (nightmare) . . . 478 +Sea Tang essence . . . 502 +Skullcap, lesser (exhausted brain) . . . 517 +Water Figwort (nightmare) . . . 50 + +SORES, _see also_ ULCERS. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Amadou mushroom (bedsore) . . . 370 +Carrot (fetid and indolent) . . . 89 +Chickweed (on legs) . . . 107 +Cleavers . . . 232 +Clover, red . . . 111 +Club Moss powder (raw sores) . . . 15 +Fig . . . 206 +Foxglove ointment . . . 206 +Groundsel (sore legs) . . . 245 +Hemlock (cancerous) . . . 252 +House Leek . . . 275 +Marigold . . . 328 +Marsh Mallow . . . 328 +Peppermint oil . . . 342 +Plantain . . . 434 +Puff ball powder (weeping sore) . . . 366 +Resin ointment (Pine) . . . 578 +Saint John's Wort (bedsore) . . . 289 +Savin ointment (to keep sore open) . . . 494 +Thymol . . . 564 +Turnip poultice . . . 574 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 594 +Walnut, black, the leaves . . . 601 +Yeast poultice (oat) . . . 398 + +SPASMS, _see_ PAIN. + +SPINE, Irritable or Weak. +Agaric, Fly (locomotor ataxy) . . . 369 +Chamomile . . . 85 +Eryngo (to strengthen) . . . 499 +Garlic . . . 215 +Rush, Soft . . . 479 +Saint John's Wort oil (after injury) . . . 288 +Turpentine . . . 579 +Valerian . . . 585 +Water Hemlock . . . .252 + +SPLEEN, _see_ BILIOUS DISORDERS. + +SPRAINS. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bladderwrack (old sprain) . . . 504 +Lavender Spike . . . 296 +Linseed oil . . . 203 +Rosemary . . . 472 +Sea weeds . . . 497 +[647] Verjuice of apple, pear, and vine . . . 29, 288 +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 + +STINGS and BITES. +PAIN AND SWELLING FROM-- +Dock, Wayside (nettle sting) . . . 158 +Feverfew . . . 193 +House Leek . . . 275 +Marigold . . . 328 +Plantain, greater (snake bite) . . . 434 +Onion, raw . . . 212 +Poppy leaf . . . 441 +Rosemary, wild . . . 474 +Stitchwort . . . 535 + +STITCH OF SIDE, _see_ PAIN. + +STONE IN BLADDER. +Apple cider . . . 31 +Carrot . . . 89 +Currant, White . . . 140 +Gorse seed . . . 64 +Juniper berries . . . 293 +Ladies' Mantle . . . 511 +Leek (phosphatic stone) . . . 220 +Parsnip water . . . 415 +Rest Harrow . . . 321 +Stephens', Joanna, remedy . . . 411 +Thyme, for Woodlouse . . . 565 +Water Fennel . . . 604 + +STYE, _see_ EYE. + +SWEATS, NIGHT, to Check, _see_ CONSUMPTION. + +SYPHILIS, VENEREAL DISEASE. +Burdock . . . 162 +Gold (in Sea Water) . . . 508 +Hemlock . . . 252 +Pellitory of Spain . . . 425 +Soapwort (inveterate) . . . 523 +Southernwood . . . 526 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Stonecrop, Sedum . . . 277 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Walnut leaves . . . 598 +Water Pepper . . . 606 + +TEETH. +FOR TOOTH-ACHE AND FACE-ACHE-- +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Cabbage . . . 75 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Celandine, greater . . . 92 +Chamomile (of children) . . . 86 +Clove oil . . . 396 +Fennel . . . 182 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Henbane seeds, smoke . . . 254 +Ivy gum . . . 282 +Ladybird . . . 425 +Pellitory of Spain . . . 424 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Plantain, greater . . . 434 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +LOOSE TEETH, TO TIGHTEN-- +Blackberry . . . 54 +Dock, Great Water . . . 164 +Great Bistort (with spongy gums) . . . 607 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 + +FOR CHILDREN TO CUT TEETH ON-- +Marsh Mallow root . . . 325 + +TEMPER, Irritable, for. +Cat mint . . . 345 +Chamomile (of children) . . . 86 +Feverfew . . . 194 + +TESTICLE, Swollen, for. +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 20 + +[648] THROAT, Sore. +Agrimony . . . 18 +Arum (Lords and Ladies) . . . 34 +Barberry (relaxed) . . . 43 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Capsicum . . . 81 +Chestnut, Horse (with piles) . . . 102 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 515 +Currant, Black (quinsy) . . . 139 +Dock, Great Water . . . 164 +Elder . . . 169 +Fig . . . 198 +Flax, Linseed . . . 203 +Groundsel . . . 244 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Hawthorn flowers . . . 246 +Honey . . . 259 +Horse Radish (with hoarseness) . . . 271 +Leek (loss of voice) . . . 221 +Lemon juice . . . 303 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Mountain Ash (relaxed) . . . 351 +Mulberry . . . 357 +Mustard, Hedge (ulcerated) . . . 381 +Mustard, White, seed . . . 381 +Pellitory . . . 425 +Peppermint, Menthol . . . 339 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Quince . . . 452 +Raspberry vinegar . . . 460 +Rock Rose (of scarlet fever) . . . 470 +Sage . . . 492 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Sea Lavender . . . 300 +Sea Pod Essence (goitre) . . . 504 +Selfheal, Brownwort (quinsy) . . . 509 +Strawberry leaves (quinsy) . . . 537 +Thymol . . . 564 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Verbena . . . 587 +Walnut vinegar . . . 598 +Water Dock . . . 164 +Woodruff, Squinancy (quinsy) . . . 609 +Woodsorrel . . . 612 +Wormwood (quinsy) . . . 613 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +THRUSH and SORE MOUTH. +Currant, Black . . . 140 +Grapes . . . 241 +Honey . . . 261 +House Leek . . . 275 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 333 +Mulberry . . . 357 +Quince . . . 453 +Tomato (salivation) . . . 572 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Water Pepper . . . 606 + +TIC DOULOUREUX. +Flax Yarn . . . 204 + +TOOTHACHE, _see_ TEETH. + +TUMOURS, _see_ GLANDULAR SWELLINGS. + +ULCERS, to Heal. +Blackberry leaves . . . 55 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Dock, Water . . . 164 +Good King Henry . . . 228 +Goosegrass . . . 232 +Hemlock, apply . . . 251 +House Leek . . . 275 +Juniper Gum (deep ulcers) . . . 294 +Marigold . . . 328 +Sage (strong) . . . 492 +Saint John's Wort . . . 289 +Savin juice . . . 494 +Scurvy Grass . . . 496 +Sorrel (scrofulous) . . . 161 +Tormentil . . . 578 +Turpentine Resin . . . 578 +Tutsan (sore legs) . . . 290 +Verbena (indolent) . . . 587 +Walnut leaves . . . 598 +Wartwort . . . 603 +[649] Watercress leaves . . . 131 +Woodsorrel . . . 611 +Yew . . . 621 + +URINE, and KIDNEY DISORDERS. +TO PROMOTE FLOW OF URINE-- +Bee Tea . . . 261 +Broom . . . 62 +Butcher's Broom . . . 65 +Celery . . . 95 +Daffodil . . . 142 +Earth Nut . . . 373 +Grapes . . . 289 +Juniper . . . 291 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Nettle tea . . . 387 +Onion . . . 210 +Parsley . . . 409 +Pellitory of Wall . . . 424 +Potato, watery . . . 446 +Radish . . . 456 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Tar . . . 580 +Toadflax . . . 567 +Violet seeds . . . 591 + +TO SOOTHE IRRITABLE BLADDER AND URINARY PASSAGES-- +Asparagus . . . 36 +Barley . . . 45 +Camphor . . . 338 +Chervil . . . 101 +Couch Grass . . . 242 +Henbane . . . 253 +Horehound . . . 267 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Parsley tea . . . 412 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Plantain, Water . . . 435 +Pulsatilla Anemone . . . 21 +Rest Harrow . . . 321 +Turpentine . . . 577 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 594 + +TO CORRECT DEPOSITS IN URINE-- +Barberry (gravel) . . . 43 +Carrot (gravel) . . . 88 +Couch Grass . . . 242 +Flag, Sweet . . . 202 +Gooseberry leaves . . . 225 +Valerian (urea) . . . 585 +Violet, Sweet . . . 593 +Water Parsnip . . . 415 + +OF MILKY PHOSPHATES-- +Burdock . . . 162 +Leek . . . 220 + +ALBUMINURIA-- +Barberry . . . 43 +Clove . . . 395 +Hart's tongue Fern . . . 187 +Stitchwort, greater . . . 536 + +BED-WETTING, TO PREVENT-- +Daffodil . . . 142 +Dandelion . . . 167 +Mullein Oil . . . 362 +Plantain, greater . . . 435 +Saint John's Wort . . . 287 + +VENEREAL DISEASE, _see_ SYPHILIS. + +VERMIN, to Destroy. +Agaric, Fly, mushroom . . . 36 +Aniseed (lice) . . . 24 +Cat mint (rats, keep away) . . . 345 +Ivy Leaf (lice) . . . . 282 +Spindletree . . . 531 +Tansy . . . 553 +Water Lily, Yellow . . . 605 + +WARTS, to Remove. +Apple juice . . . 29 +Cabbage, White . . . 76 +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Elder . . . 170 +(Epsom Salts) . . . 80 +[650] Fig juice . . . 197 +Gooseberry Thorn . . . 226 +House Leek . . . 275 +Marsh Marigold . . . 331 +Peach leaf . . . 419 +Savin . . . 494 +Spurge Wood . . . 534 +Sundew . . . 546 +Teasel water . . . 559 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Watercress juice . . . 131 + +WATER BRASH, _see_ INDIGESTION. + +WHITES, _see_ WOMB. + +WHITLOW. +Brooklime . . . 431 +Rosemary, Wild . . . 474 +Water Dropwort . . . 604 + +WHOOPING COUGH. +Blackberry . . . 54 +Bog Bean . . . 59 +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +Chestnut, sweet . . . 104 +Clover, Red . . . 111 +Garlic . . . 215 +Hemlock vapour . . . 250 +Horse Radish . . . 273 +Ivy Cup . . . 282 +Pennyroyal . . . 336 +Radish, Black . . . 457 +Rose Canker . . . 469 +Sundew . . . 544 +Thyme, Wild . . . 561 + +WOMB, Disorders of, _and see_ MONTHLY FLOW. +FOR IRRITABLE WOMB-- +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 21 +Groundsel bath . . . 215 +Parsley . . . 408 +Savin . . . 494 +Sowbread (falling womb) . . . 451 +Thyme, Wild . . . 561 +Valerian . . . 584 + +MONTHLY ILLNESSES, _see_ MENSTRUATION-- + +WHITES--LEUCORRHOEA--TO CURE-- +Burdock . . . 163 +Hyacinth, Wild (Blue Bell) . . . 57 +Tomato . . . 571 + +CANCER OF WOMB-- +Turpentine Chian . . . 579 + +TO PREVENT BARRENNESS-- +Leeks . . . 220 +Potato . . . 446 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Tansy (to prevent miscarriage) . . . 554 + +WORMS, to Expel. +Carrot, raw . . . 90 +Cat Thyme (thread worms) . . . 565 +Chamomile . . . 87 +Christmas Rose (round worms) . . . 108 +Coraline Sea Weed . . . 507 +Fern, Male, oil and root (tape worm) . . . 183 +Garlic, Clove . . . 216 +Goosefoot (round worms) . . . 223 +Groundsel (bot worms) . . . 244 +Hedge Hyssop . . . 280 +Lemon pips . . . 302 +Lettuce, unwashed (to guard against eating) . . . 381 +Mulberry root (tape worms) . . . 358 +Nettle . . . 385 +Peach leaves . . . 418 +Rose, Dog, hips (round worms) . . . 464 +Salt Worts . . . 506 +Sedum . . . 277 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Stinking Hellebore . . . 109 +Tansy seeds . . . 552 +[651] Turpentine (round worms) . . . 579 +Walnut, unripe fruit . . . 598 +Wormwood . . . 612 + +WOUNDS, to Heal. +Adder's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Agrimony . . . 19 +Anemone, Wood . . . 21 +Balm . . . 40 +Bugle . . . 510 +Comfrey . . . 120 +Cow-dung poultice . . . 126 +Daisy . . . 145 +Fern, Royal . . . 186 +Figwort (gangrenous) . . . 51 +Good King Henry . . . 228 +Goosegrass . . . 238 +Hemlock, Water . . . 252 +House Leek . . . 275 +Hyssop, green . . . 279 +Marigold . . . 328 +Marsh Mallow . . . 328 +Pea . . . 416 +Peppermint, apply . . . 342 +Plantain, greater . . . 434 +Potato flour . . . 445 +Primrose salve . . . 418 +Prunella, Selfheal . . . 510 +Puff Ball powder (to stay bleeding) . . . 366 +Resin (Honey) . . . 260 +Rosemary, Wild . . . 474 +Saint John's Wort oil (deep wounds) . . . 288 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Solomon's Seal . . . 525 +Thymol . . . 564 +Turnip poultice . . . 574 +Tutsan . . . 290 +Valerian . . . 584 +Watercress poultice . . . 131 +Woundwort, Hedge . . . 615 + " Water . . . 616 +Yarrow . . . 618 + + + +[652] + + "Farewell, sweet flowers!--whose time is fitly spent + For all delights of colour, and of scent: + And after death for cures! + May I my days with equal uses fill, + Living to work some benefits: and still + Having an end like yours!" + _Robert Herrick_, 1650 + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN +USES OF CURE*** + + +******* This file should be named 19352-8.txt or 19352-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/19352-8.zip b/19352-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..75dbf65 --- /dev/null +++ b/19352-8.zip diff --git a/19352.txt b/19352.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb5cea0 --- /dev/null +++ b/19352.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24093 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of +Cure, by William Thomas Fernie + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure + + +Author: William Thomas Fernie + + + +Release Date: September 22, 2006 [eBook #19352] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN +USES OF CURE*** + + +Transcribed by Ruth Hart ruthhart@twilightoracle.com + + + +Transcriber's notes: + + While most of the book titles and non-English words are + italicized, not all of them are, and I have left the + non-italicized terms as is. + + Page numbers have been placed in sqare brackets to facilitate + the use of the table of contents and the index. + + + + + +HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN USES OF CURE + +by + +W. T. FERNIE, M.D. +Author of "Botanical Outlines," etc_ + +Second Edition. + + + + + + + +"Medicine is mine; what herbs and _Simples_ grow +In fields and forests, all their powers I know." + DRYDEN. + + + +Philadelphia: +Boericke & Tafel. +1897. + + + + "Jamque aderat Phoebo ante alios dilectus lapis + Iasides: acri quondam cui captus amore + Ipse suas artes, sua munera, laetus Apollo + Augurium, citharamque dabat, celeresque sagittas + Ille ut _depositi_ proferret fata _clientis,_ + Scire potestates herbarum, usumque medendi + Maluit, et mutas agitare inglorius artes." + VIRGIL, _AEnid_: Libr. xii. v. 391-8. + + "And now lapis had appeared, + Blest leech! to Phoebus'-self endeared + Beyond all men below; + On whom the fond, indulgent God + His augury had fain bestowed, + His lyre-his sounding bow! + But he, the further to prolong + A fellow creature's span, + _The humbler art of Medicine chose, + The knowledge of each plant that grows,_ + Plying a craft not known to song, + An unambitious man!" + + + +[vii] + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + +It may happen that one or another enquirer taking up this book will +ask, to begin with, "What is a Herbal Simple?" The English word +"Simple," composed of two Latin words, _Singula plica_ (a single +fold), means "Singleness," whether of material or purpose. + +From primitive times the term "Herbal Simple" has been applied +to any homely curative remedy consisting of one ingredient only, +and that of a vegetable nature. Many such a native medicine found +favour and success with our single-minded forefathers, this being +the "reverent simplicity of ancienter times." + +In our own nursery days, as we now fondly remember, it was: +"Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair; said Simple Simon +to the pieman, 'Let me taste your ware.'" That ingenuous youth had +but one idea, connected simply with his stomach; and his sole +thought was how to devour the contents of the pieman's tin. We +venture to hope our readers may be equally eager to stock their +minds with the sound knowledge of Herbal Simples which this +modest Manual seeks to provide for their use. + +Healing by herbs has always been popular both [xviii] with the +classic nations of old, and with the British islanders of more recent +times. Two hundred and sixty years before the date of Hippocrates +(460 B.C.) the prophet Isaiah bade King Hezekiah, when sick unto +death, "take a lump of Figs, and lay it on the boil; and straightway +the King recovered." + +Iapis, the favourite pupil of Apollo, was offered endowments of +skill in augury, music, or archery. But he preferred to acquire a +knowledge of herbs for service of cure in sickness; and, armed +with this knowledge, he saved the life of AEneas when grievously +wounded by an arrow. He averted the hero's death by applying the +plant "Dittany," smooth of leaf, and purple of blossom, as plucked +on the mountain Ida. + +It is told in _Malvern Chase_ that Mary of Eldersfield (1454), +"whom some called a witch," famous for her knowledge of herbs +and medicaments, "descending the hill from her hut, with a small +phial of oil, and a bunch of the 'Danewort,' speedily enabled Lord +Edward of March, who had just then heavily sprained his knee, to +avoid danger by mounting 'Roan Roland' freed from pain, as it +were by magic, through the plant-rubbing which Mary +administered." + +In Shakespeare's time there was a London street, named +Bucklersbury (near the present Mansion House), noted for its +number of druggists who sold Simples and sweet-smelling herbs. +We read, in [ix] _The Merry Wives of Windsor_, that Sir John +Falstaff flouted the effeminate fops of his day as "Lisping +hawthorn buds that smell like Bucklersbury in simple time." + +Various British herbalists have produced works, more or less +learned and voluminous, about our native medicinal plants; but no +author has hitherto radically explained the why and where fore of +their ultimate curative action. In common with their early +predecessors, these several writers have recognised the healing +virtues of the herbs, but have failed to explore the chemical +principles on which such virtues depend. Some have attributed the +herbal properties to the planets which rule their growth. Others +have associated the remedial herbs with certain cognate colours, +ordaining red flowers for disorders of the blood, and yellow for +those of the liver. "The exorcised demon of jaundice," says +Conway, "was consigned to yellow parrots; that of inflammatory +disease to scarlet, or red weeds." Again, other herbalists have +selected their healing plants on the doctrine of allied signatures, +choosing, for instance, the Viper's Bugloss as effectual against +venomous bites, because of its resembling a snake; and the sweet +little English Eyebright, which shows a dark pupil in the centre +white ocular corolla, as of signal benefit for inflamed eyes. + +Thus it has continued to happen that until the [x] last half-century +Herbal Physic has remained only speculative and experimental, +instead of gaining a solid foothold in the field of medical science. +Its claims have been merely empirical, and its curative methods +those of a blind art:-- + + "Si vis curari, de morbo nescio quali, + Accipias herbam; sed quale nescio; nec qua + Ponas; nescio quo; curabere, nescio quando." + + Your sore, I know not what, be not foreslow + To cure with herbs, which, where, I do not know; + Place them, well pounc't, I know not how, and then + You shall be perfect whole, I know not when." + +Happily now-a-days, as our French neighbours would say, _Nous +avons change tout cela_, "Old things are passed away; behold all +things are become new!" Herbal Simples stand to-day safely +determined on sure ground by the help of the accurate chemist. +They hold their own with the best, and rank high for homely cures, +because of their proved constituents. Their manifest healing +virtues are shown to depend on medicinal elements plainly +disclosed by analysis. Henceforward the curtain of oblivion must +fall on cordial waters distilled mechanically from sweet herbs, and +on electuaries artlessly compounded of seeds and roots by a Lady +Monmouth, or a Countess of Arundel, as in the Stuart and Tudor +times. Our Herbal Simples are fairly entitled at last to independent +promotion from the shelves of the amateur still-room, from [xi] +the rustic ventures of the village grandam, and from the shallow +practices of self styled botanical doctors in the back streets of our +cities. + + "I do remember an apothecary,-- + And hereabouts he dwells,--whom late I noted + In tatter'd weeds, with overwhelming brows, + _Culling of Simples_; meagre were his looks; + And in his needy shop a tortoise hung, + An alligator stuff'd, and other skins + Of ill-shap'd fishes; and about his shelves + A beggarly account of empty boxes, + Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, + Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses + Were thinly scattered to make up a show." + _Romeo and Juliet_, Act V. Sc. 1. + +Chemically assured, therefore, of the sterling curative powers +which our Herbal Simples possess, and anxious to expound them +with a competent pen, the present author approaches his task with +a zealous purpose, taking as his pattern, from the _Comus_ of +Milton:-- + + "A certain shepherd lad + Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled + In every virtuous plant, and healing herb; + He would beg me sing; + Which, when I did, he on the tender grass + Would sit, and hearken even to constancy; + And in requital ope his leathern scrip, + And show me _Simples_, of a thousand names, + Telling their strange, and vigorous faculties." + +Shakespeare said, three centuries ago, "throw physic to the dogs." +But prior to him, one Doctor Key, self styled Caius, had written in +the Latin [xii] tongue (_tempore_ Henry VIII.), a Medical History +of the British Canine Race. His book became popular, though +abounding in false concords; insomuch that from then until now +medical classics have been held by scholars in poor repute for +grammar, and sound construction. Notwithstanding which risk, +many a passage is quoted here of ancient Herbal lore in the past +tongues of Greece, Rome; and the Gauls. It is fondly hoped that +the apt lines thus borrowed from old faultless sources will escape +reproach for a defective modern rendering in Dog Latin, Mongrel +Greek, or the "French of Stratford atte bowe." + +Lastly, quaint old Fuller shall lend an appropriate Epilogue. "I +stand ready," said he (1672), "with a pencil in one hand, and a spunge +in the other, to add, alter, insert, efface, enlarge, and delete, +according to better information. And if these my pains shall be +found worthy to passe a second Impression, my faults I will +confess with shame, and amend with thankfulnesse, to such as will +contribute clearer intelligence unto me." + + 1895. + + + +[xiii] + +PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + +On its First Reading, a Bill drafted in Parliament meets with +acquiescence from the House on both sides mainly because its +merits and demerits are to be more deliberately questioned when it +comes up again in the future for a second closer Reading, +Meanwhile, its faults can be amended, and its omissions supplied: +fresh clauses can be introduced: and the whole scheme of the Bill +can be better adapted to the spirit of the House inferred from its +first reception. + +In somewhat similar fashion the Second Edition of "Herbal +Simples" is now submitted to a Parliament of readers with the +belief that its ultimate success, or failure of purpose, is to depend +on its present revised contents, and the amplified scope of its +chapters. + +The criticism which public journalists, not a few, thought proper to +pass on its First Edition have been attentively considered herein. It +is true their comments were in some cases so conflicting as to be +difficult of practical appliance. The fabled old man and his ass +stand always in traditional warning against futile attempts to +satisfy inconsistent objectors, or to carry into effect suggestions +made by irreconcilable censors. "_Quot homines, tot [xiv] +sententioe_," is an adage signally verified when a fresh venture is +made on the waters of chartered opinion. How shall the perplexed +navigator steer his course when monitors in office accuse him on +the one hand of lax precision throughout, and belaud him on the +other for careful observance of detail? Or how shall he trim his +sails when a contemptuous Standard-bearer, strangely uninformed +on the point, ignores, as a leader of any repute, "one Gerard," a +former famous Captain of the Herbal fleet? With the would-be +Spectator's lament that Gerard's graphic drawings are regrettedly +wanting here, the author is fain to concur. He feels that the +absence of appropriate cuts to depict the various herbs is quite a +deficiency: but the hope is inspired that a still future Edition may +serve to supply this need. Certain botanical mistakes pointed out +with authority by the _Pharmaceutical Journal _have here been +duly corrected: and as many as fifty additional Simples will be +found described in the present Enlarged Edition. At the same time +a higher claim than hitherto made for the paramount importance of +the whole subject is now courageously advanced. + +To all who accept as literal truth the Scriptural account of the +Garden of Eden it must be evident how intimately man's welfare +from the first was made to depend on his uses of trees and herbs. +The labour of earning his bread in the sweat of his brow by tilling +the ground: and the penalty of [xv] and thistles produced +thereupon, were alike incurred by Eve's disobedience in plucking +the forbidden fruit: and a signified possibility of man's eventful +share in the tree of life, to "put forth his hand, and eat, and live +for ever," has been more than vaguely revealed. So that with almost a +sacred mission, and with an exalted motive of supreme usefulness, +this Manual of healing Herbs is published anew, to reach, it is +hoped, and to rescue many an ailing mortal. + +Against its main principle an objection has been speciously raised, +which at first sight appears of subversive weight; though, when +further examined, it is found to be clearly fallacious. By an able +but carping critic it was alleged that the mere chemical analysis of +old-fashioned Herbal Simples makes their medicinal actions no +less empirical than before: and that a pedantic knowledge of their +constituent parts, invested with fine technical names, gives them +no more scientific a position than that which our fathers +understood. + +But, taking, for instance, the herb Rue, which was formerly +brought into Court to protect a and the Bench from gaol fever, and +other infectious disease; no one knew at the time by what +particular virtue the Rue could exercise this salutary power. But +more recent research has taught, that the essential oil contained in +this, and other allied aromatic herbs, such as Elecampane, [xvi] +Rosemary, and Cinnamon, serves by its germicidal principles +(stearoptens, methyl-ethers, and camphors), to extinguish bacterial +life which underlies all contagion. In a parallel way the antiseptic +diffusible oils of Pine, Peppermint, and Thyme, are likewise +employed with marked success for inhalation into the lungs by +consumptive patients. Their volatile vapours reach remote parts of +the diseased air-passages, and heal by destroying the morbid +germs which perpetuate mischief therein. It need scarcely be said +the very existence of these causative microbes, much less any +mode of cure by their abolishment, was quite unknown to former +Herbal Simplers. + +Again, in past times a large number of our native, plants acquired +a well-deserved, but purely empirical celebrity, for curing scrofula +and scurvy. But later discovery has shown that each of these +several herbs contains lime, and earthy salts, in a subtle form of +high natural sub-division: whilst, at the same time, the law of cure +by medicinal similars has established the cognate fact that to those +who inherit a strumous taint, infinitesimal doses of these earth +salts are incontestably curative. The parents had first undergone a +gradual impairment of health because of calcareous matters to +excess in their general conditions of sustenance; and the lime +proves potent to cure in the offspring what, through the parental +surfeit, was entailed as [xvii] a heritage of disease. Just in the +same way the mineral waters of Missisquoi, and Bethesda, in America, +through containing siliceous qualities so sublimated as almost to +defy the analyst, are effective to cure cancer, albuminuria, and +other organic complaints. + +Nor is this by any means a new policy of cure. Its barbaric practice +has long since obtained, even in African wilds, where the native +snake doctor inoculates with his prepared snake poison to save the +life of a victim otherwise fatally bitten by another snake of the +same deadly virus. To Ovid, of Roman fame (20 B.C.), the same +sanative axiom was also indisputably known as we learn from his +lines:-- + + "Tunc observatas augur descendit in herbas; + Usus et auxilio est anguis ab angue dato." + + "Then searched the Augur low mid grass close scanned + For snake to heal a snake-envenomed hand." + +And with equal cogency other arguments, which are manifold, +might be readily adduced, as of congruous force, to vindicate our +claim in favour of analytical knowledge over blind experience in +the methods of Herbal cure, especially if this be pursued on the +broad lines of enlightened practice by similars. + +So now, to be brief, and to change our allegory, "on the banks of +the Nile," as Mrs. Malaprop would have pervertingly put it, with +"a nice [xviii] derangement of epitaphs," we invite our many +guests to a simple "dinner of herbs." Such was man's primitive +food in Paradise: "every green herb bearing seed, and every tree in +the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed:" "the green herb for +meat for every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air." What +better Preface can we indite than a grace to be said before sitting +down to the meal? "Sallets," it is hoped, will be found "in the lines +to make the matter savoury." Far be it from our object to preach a +prelude of texts, or to weary those at our board I with a +meaningless long benediction. "'Tis not so plain as the old Hill of +Howth," said tender-hearted witty Tom Hood, with serio-comic +truth, "a man has got his belly full of meat, because he talks with +victuals in his mouth." Rather would we choose the "russet Yeas +and honest kersey Noes" of sturdy yeoman speech; and cheerfully +taking the head of our well-stocked table, ask in homely terms that +"God will bless these the good creatures of His Herbal Simples to +our saving uses, and us to His grateful service." + + 1897. + + + +[xix] + +CONTENTS. + +Absinthe . . . 614 +Acorn . . . 15 +Agaric, Fly . . . 368 +Agrimony . . . 18 +Alexanders . . . 313 +Allspice . . . 386 +Amadou . . . 378 +Anemone, Wood . . . 20 +Angelica . . . 23 +Aniseed . . . 24 +Apple . . . 26 +Arsmart . . . 606 +Artichoke, Globe . . . 548 + " Jerusalem . . . 549 +Arum . . . 33 +Asafetida . . . 269 +Ash, Mountain . . . 350 +Asparagus . . . 35 +Asphodel, Bog . . . 482 +Avens . . . 47 + +Balm . . . 39 +Barberry . . . 42 +Barley . . . 44 +Basil, Sweet . . . 45 +Bean . . . 415 +Bedstraw . . . 231 +Bee sting . . . 260 +Beet . . . 507 +Belladonna . . . 388 +Bennet Herb . . . 47 +Betony, Water . . . 50, 198 + " Wood . . . 42 +Bilberry . . . 652 +Bistort, Great . . . 607 +Blackberry . . . 53 +Black Pot Herb . . . 312 +Blackthorn . . . 517 +Bladderwrack . . . 503 +Blessed Thistle . . . 557 +Blue Bell . . . 57 +Bog Bean . . . 58 +Borage . . . 60 +Bracken . . . 184 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Broom . . . 62 +Bryony, Black . . . 68 + " White . . . 65 +Buckthorn . . . 69 +Bugle . . . 510 +Bullace . . . 520 +Bulrush . . . 481 +Burdock . . . 162 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Butcher's Broom . . . 64 +Butterbur . . . 119 +Buttercup . . . 71 + +Cabbage . . . 74 + " Sea . . . 76 +Calamint . . . 343 +Camphor . . . 337 +Capsicum . . . 78 +Caraway . . . 81 +Carline Thistle . . . 558 +Carraigeen Moss . . . 500 +Carrot . . . 88 +Cascara Sagrada . . . 70 +Cat Mint . . . 344 +Cat Thyme . . . 565 +Cat's Tail . . . 482 +[xx] Celandine, Greater . . . 92 + " Lesser . . . 90 +Celery . . . 94 +Centaury . . . 96 +Chamomile . . . 84 + " Bitter . . . 86 +Cherry . . . 98 +Chervil . . . 100 +Chestnut, Horse . . . 102 + " Sweet . . . 104 +Chickweed . . . 105 +Chicory . . . 542 +Christmas Rose . . . 107 +Cider . . . 30 +Cinnamon . . . 390 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 516 +Clary . . . 492 +Cleavers . . . 230 +Clover, Meadow . . . 110 + " Sweet . . . 112 +Clovers . . . 395 +Club Moss . . . 113 +Colchicum . . . 483 +Coltsfoot . . . 116 +Comfrey . . . 120, 595 + " Prickly . . . 122 +Coriander . . . 122 +Couch Grass . . . 242 +Cow . . . 126 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Crab Apple . . . 29 +Cresses . . . 127 +Cress, Garden . . . 128 + " Water . . . 129 +Crowfoot . . . 71 +Cuckoo Flower . . . 134 +Cuckoo Pint . . . 33 +Cumin . . . 135 +Currants, Red, White, and Black . . . 137 + +Daffodil . . . 141 +Daisy . . . 143 +Damson . . . 520 +Dandelion . . . 147 +Darnel . . . 242 +Date . . . 152 +Dill . . . 155 +Dock . . . 157 + " Great Water . . . 164 + " Yellow Curled . . . 163 +Dodder . . . 112 +Dog's Mercury . . . 332 +Dropwort, Water . . . 603 +Dulse . . . 501 + +Earthnut . . . 372 +Egg . . . 150 +Elder . . . 164 + " Dwarf . . . 171 +Elecampane . . . 172 +Eryngo . . . 499 +Eyebright . . . 175 + +Fairy rings . . . 374 +Fennel . . . 179 + " Water . . . 604 +Ferns . . . 182 + " Female (Bracken) . . . 184 + " Hart's-tongue . . . 187 + " Maidenhair . . . 188 + " Male . . . 183 + " Polypody . . . 189 + " Royal . . . 186 + " Spleenwort . . . 190 + " Wall Rue . . . 191 +Feverfew . . . 192 +Fig . . . 194 +Figwort . . . 54 +Flag, Blue . . . 199 + " Yellow . . . 200 + " Stinking (Gladdon) . . . 201 + " Sweet . . . 201, 480 +Flax . . . 202 + " Purging . . . 204 +Fly Agaric . . . 368 +Foxglove . . . 205 +Fumitory . . . 201 +Furze . . . 63 + +Gage, Green . . . 521 +Garlic . . . 214 + " Poor Man's . . . 222 +Ginger . . . 392 +Gipsy Wort (Water Hore-hound) . . . 269 +[xxi] Good King Henry . . . 227 +Gooseberry . . . 223 +Goosefoot . . . 227 + " Stinking . . . 229 +Goosegrass . . . 230 +Goutweed . . . 235 +Grapes . . . 236 +Grasses . . . 241 +Ground Ivy . . . 283 +Groundsel . . . 243 + +Hawthorn . . . 245 +Hellebore, Stinking . . . 109 +Hemlock . . . 248 + " Water . . . 251 +Hemp Agrimony . . . 19 +Henbane . . . 252 +Herb, Bennet . . . 47 +Hoglouse . . . 564 +Honey . . . 256 +Hop . . . 262 +Horehound, Black . . . 268 + " White . . . 267 +Horse Radish . . . 269 +House Leek . . . 273 +Hyssop . . . 277 + " Hedge . . . 279 + +Iceland Moss . . . 500 +Irish Moss . . . 500 +Ivy . . . 280 + " Ground . . . 283 + +John's Wort, Saint . . . 287 +Juniper . . . 291 + +Knapweed, the Lesser . . . 296 + +Ladies' Mantle . . . 511 + " Smock . . . 134 +Lavender . . . 296 + " Sea . . . 300 +Laver . . . 505 +Leek . . . 220 +Lemon . . . 300 +Lentil . . . 305 +Lettuce . . . 308 +Lettuce, Lamb's . . . 312 + " Wild . . . 307 +Lily of the Valley 313 +Lily, Water . . . 604 +Lime Tree . . . 316 +Linseed . . . 202 +Liquorice . . . 318 +Lords and Ladies (Arum) . . . 33 +Lungwort . . . 594 +Lupine . . . 306 + +Mace . . . 395 +Mace Reed . . . 482 +Mallow . . . 322 + " Marsh . . . 323 + " Musk . . . 325 +Mandrake . . . 66 +Marigold . . . 327 + " Corn . . . 326 + " Marsh . . . 329 +Marjoram . . . 331 +Melancholy Thistle . . . 560 +Menthol . . . 339 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 332 + " English . . . 228 +Milk Thistle . . . 556 +Mints . . . 333 +Mistletoe . . . 345 +Monk's Rhubarb . . . 159 +Moon Daisy . . . 146 +Moss, Club . . . 113 + " Iceland . . . 500 + " Irish . . . 500 +Mountain Ash . . . 350 +Mugwort . . . 352 +Mulberry . . . 356 +Mullein . . . 359 +Mum . . . 581 +Mushrooms . . . 362 +Mustard . . . 375 + " Hedge . . . 222, 381 + +Nasturtium . . . 132 +Nettle . . . 382 + " Dead . . . 387 +Night Shade, Deadly . . . 388 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +Nuts . . . 602 + +[xxii] Oak Bark . . . 16 +Oat . . . 397 +Onion . . . 209 +Orach . . . 229 +Orange . . . 399 +Orchids . . . 404 +Orpine (Live Long) . . . 276 +Ox eye Daisy . . . 146 + +Pansy, Wild . . . 589 +Parsley . . . 407 + " Fool's . . . 412 +Parsnip . . . 413 + " Water . . . 414 +Pea . . . 416 +Peach . . . 418 +Pear . . . 419 +Pellitory of Spain . . . 424 + " of Wall . . . 423 +Pennyroyal . . . 334 +Peppermint . . . 338 +Pepper, Water . . . 606 +Periwinkle, Greater . . . 427 + " Lesser . . . 428 +Perry . . . 422 +Pilewort . . . 90 +Pimento, Allspice . . . 386 +Pimpernel . . . 428 +Pine . . . 576 +Pink . . . 432 +Plantain, Greater . . . 433 + " Ribwort . . . 435 + " Water . . . 435 +Plum, Common . . . 520 + " Wild . . . 520 +Polypody Fern . . . 190 +Poppy, Scarlet . . . 437 + " Welsh . . . 441 + " White . . . 438 +Potato . . . 441 +Primrose . . . 447 + " Evening . . . 449 +Primula . . . 449 +Prune . . . 522 +Prunella . . . 509 +Psyllium Seeds . . . 436 +Puff Ball . . . 365 +Pulsatilla . . . 20 + +Quince . . . 452 + +Radish . . . 455 + " Horse . . . 269 +Ragwort . . . 457 +Ransoms . . . 221 +Raspberry . . . 459 +Reed, Sweet Scented . . . 480 +Rest Harrow . . . 320 +Rhubarb, Garden . . . 159 +Rice . . . 461 +Rosemary . . . 470 + " Wild . . . 474 +Roses . . . 463 + " Rock . . . 469 +Rue . . . 475 +Rushes . . . 479 + +Saffron . . . 485 + " Meadow . . . 483 +Sage . . . 489 + " Meadow . . . 492 +Sago . . . 155 +Saint John's Wort . . . 287 +Salep . . . 405 +Saliva . . . 178 +Samphire . . . 497 +Sanicle . . . 508 +Saucealone . . . 222 +Savin . . . 493 +Schalot . . . 222 +Scurvy Grass . . . 133, 495 +Sea Holly . . . 498 + " Tang . . . 502 + " Water . . . 508 + " Weeds . . . 496 +Selfheal . . . 508 +Service Tree . . . 352 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 511 +Silverweed . . . 514 +Skullcap . . . 516 + " the Lesser . . . 517 +Sloe . . . 517 +Snails . . . 409 +Soapwort . . . 522 +Solomon's Seal . . . 524 +Sorrel . . . 160 + " Wood . . . 161 +Southernwood . . . 526 +Sowbread . . . 450 +Sow Thistle . . . 559 +Spearmint . . . 342 +Speedwell . . . 527 +Spinach . . . 529 + " Sea . . . 506 +Spindle Tree . . . 530 +Spurge Wood . . . 532 + " Petty . . . 602 +Stitchwort . . . 535 +Stonecrop (House Leek) . . . 276 +Strawberry . . . 538 + " Wild . . . 537 +Succory . . . 541 +Sundew . . . 543 +Sunflower . . . 546 + +Tamarind . . . 550 +Tansy . . . 552 +Tar . . . 580 +Tarragon . . . 554 +Teasel, Fuller's . . . 559 + " Wild . . . 559 +Thistles . . . 555 +Thyme . . . 560 +Thymol . . . 563 +Toadflax . . . 565 +Toadstool . . . 372 +Tomato . . . 567 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Truffle . . . 371 +Turnip . . . 574 +Turpentine . . . 576 +Tutsan . . . 290 + +Valerian, Red . . . 585 + " Wild . . . 583 +Verbena (Vervain) . . . 586 +Verguice . . . 29, 238 +Vernal grass . . . 241 +Vine . . . 240, 588 +Violet, Sweet . . . 592 + " Wild . . . 589 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 594 + +Wallflower . . . 595 +Walnut . . . 597 + " American . . . 601 +Wartwort . . . 602 +Watercress . . . 129 +Water Dropwort . . . 603 + " Figwort . . . 198 + " Horehound . . . 269 + " Lily, White . . . 605 + " Yellow . . . 605 + " Pepper . . . 606 +Whitethorn . . . 245 +Whortleberry . . . 52 +Woodruff, Sweet . . . 608 + " Squinancy . . . 609 +Wood Sorrel . . . 161, 610 +Wormwood . . . 355, 612 +Woundwort, Hedge . . . 615 + +Yarrow 616 +Yew 619 + + + +[1] INTRODUCTION. + +The art of _Simpling _is as old with us as our British hills. It aims +at curing common ailments with simple remedies culled from the +soil, or got from home resources near at hand. + +Since the days of the Anglo-Saxons such remedies have been +chiefly herbal; insomuch that the word "drug" came originally +from their verb _drigan_, to dry, as applied to medicinal plants. + +These primitive Simplers were guided in their choice of herbs +partly by watching animals who sought them out for self-cure, and +partly by discovering for themselves the sensible properties of the +plants as revealed by their odour and taste; also by their supposed +resemblance to those diseases which nature meant them to heal. + +John Evelyn relates in his _Acetaria_ (1725) that "one Signor +Faquinto, physician to Queen Anne (mother to the beloved martyr, +Charles the First), and formerly physician to one of the Popes, +observing scurvy and dropsy to be the epidemical and dominant +diseases [2] of this nation, went himself into the hundreds of +Essex, reputed the most unhealthy county of this island, and used +to follow the sheep and cattle on purpose to observe what plants +they chiefly fed upon; and of these Simples he composed an +excellent electuary of marvellous effects against these same +obnoxious infirmities." Also, in like manner, it was noticed by +others that "the dog, if out of condition, would seek for certain +grasses of an emetic or purgative sort; sheep and cows, when +ill, would devour curative plants; an animal suffering from +rheumatism would remain as much as it could in the sunshine; and +creatures infested by parasites would roll themselves frequently in +the dust." Again, William Coles in his _Nature's Paradise, or, Art +of Simpling_ (1657), wrote thus: "Though sin and Sathan have +plunged mankinde into an ocean of infirmities, jet the mercy of +God, which is over all His works, maketh grass to grow upon the +mountaines, and Herbes for the use of men; and hath not only +stamped upon them a distinct forme, but also given them particular +signatures, whereby a man may read even in legible characters the +use of them." + +The present manual of our native Herbal Simples seeks rather to +justify their uses on the sound basis of accurate chemical analysis, +and precise elementary research. Hitherto medicinal herbs have +come down to us from early times as possessing only a traditional +value, and as exercising merely empirical effects. Their selection +has been commended solely by a shrewd discernment, and by the +practice of successive centuries. But to-day a closer analysis in the +laboratory, and skilled provings by experts have resolved the +several plants into their component parts, and have chemically +determined the medicinal nature of these parts, both [3] singly and +collectively. So that the study and practice of curative British +herbs may now fairly take rank as an exact science, and may +command the full confidence of the sick for supplying trustworthy +aid and succour in their times of bodily need. + +Scientific reasons which are self-convincing may be readily +adduced for prescribing all our best known native herbal +medicines. Among them the Elder, Parsley, Peppermint, and +Watercress may be taken as familiar examples of this leading fact. +Almost from time immemorial in England a "rob" made from the +juice of Elderberries simmered and thickened with sugar, or +mulled Elder wine concocted from the fruit, with raisins, sugar, +and spices, has been a popular remedy in this country, if taken hot +at bedtime, for a recent cold, or for a sore throat. But only of late +has chemistry explained that Elderberries furnish "viburnic acid," +which induces sweating, and is specially curative of inflammatory +bronchial soreness. So likewise Parsley, besides being a favourite +pot herb, and a garnish for cold meats, has been long popular in +rural districts as a tea for catarrh of the bladder or kidneys; whilst +the bruised leaves have been extolled as a poultice for swellings +and open sores. At the same time, a saying about the herb has +commonly prevailed that it "brings death to men, and salvation to +women." Not, however, until recently has it been learnt that the +sweet-smelling plant yields what chemists call "apiol," or +Parsley-Camphor, which, when given in moderation, exercises a quieting +influence on the main sensific centres of life--the head and the +spine. Thereby any feverish irritability of the urinary organs +inflicted by cold, or other nervous shock, would be subordinately +allayed. Thus likewise the Parsley-Camphor (whilst serving, [4] +when applied externally, to usefully stimulate indolent wounds) +proves especially beneficial for female irregularities of the womb, +as was first shown by certain French doctors in 1849. + +Again, with respect to Peppermint, its cordial water, or its +lozenges taken as a confection, have been popular from the days of +our grandmothers for the relief of colic in the bowels, or for the +stomach-ache of flatulent indigestion. But this practice has +obtained simply because the pungent herb was found to diffuse +grateful aromatic warmth within the stomach and bowels, whilst +promoting the expulsion of wind; whereas we now know that an +active principle "menthol" contained in the plant, and which may +be extracted from it as a camphoraceous oil, possesses in a marked +degree antiseptic and sedative properties which are chemically +hostile to putrescence, and preventive of dyspeptic fermentation. + +Lastly, the Watercress has for many years held credit with the +common people for curing scurvy and its allied ailments; while its +juices have been further esteemed as of especial use in arresting +tubercular consumption of the lungs; and yet it has remained for +recent analysis to show that the Watercress is chemically rich in +"antiscorbutic salts," which tend to destroy the germs of tubercular +disease, and which strike at the root of scurvy generally. These +salts and remedial principles are "sulphur," "iodine," "potash," +"phosphatic earths," and a particular volatile essential oil known as +"sulphocyanide of allyl," which is almost identical with the +essential oil of White Mustard. + +Moreover, many of the chief Herbal Simples indigenous to Great Britain +are further entitled for a still stronger reason to the fullest +confidence of both doctor [5] and patient. It has been found that +when taken experimentally in varying quantities by healthy +provers, many single medicines will produce symptoms precisely +according with those of definite recognized maladies; and the +same herbs, if administered curatively, in doses sufficiently small +to avoid producing their toxical effects, will speedily and surely +restore the patient to health by dispelling the said maladies. Good +instances of such homologous cures are afforded by the common +Buttercup, the wild Pansy, and the Sundew of our boggy marshes. +It is widely known that the field Buttercup (_Ranunculus +bulbosus_), when pulled from the ground, and carried in the palm +of the hand, will redden and inflame the skin by the acrimony of its +juices; or, if the bruised leaves are applied to any part they will +excite a blistering of the outer cuticle, with a discharge of watery +fluid from numerous small vesicles, whilst the tissues beneath +become red, hot, and swollen; and these combined symptoms +precisely represent "shingles,"--a painful skin disease given to +arise from a depraved state of the bodily system, and from a faulty +supply of nervous force. These shingles appear as a crop of sore +angry blisters, which commonly surround the walls of the chest +either in part or entirely; and modern medicine teaches that a +medicinal tincture of the Buttercup, if taken in small doses, and +applied, will promptly and effectively cure the same troublesome +ailment; whilst it will further serve to banish a neuralgic or +rheumatic stitch occurring in the side from any other cause. + +And so with respect to the Wild Pansy (_Viola tricolor_), we read +in Hahnemann's commentary on the proved plant: "The Pansy +Violet excites certain cutaneous eruptions about the head and face, +a hard thick scab being formed, which is cracked here and there, +and [6] from which a tenacious yellow matter exudes, and hardens +into a substance like gum." This is an accurate picture of the +diseased state seen often affecting the scalp of unhealthy children, +as milk-crust, or, when aggravated, as a disfiguring eczema, and +concerning the same Dr. Hughes of Brighton, in his authoritative +modern treatise, says, "I have rarely needed any other medicine +than the Viola tricolor for curing milk-crust, which is the plague of +children," and "I have given it in the adult for recent impetigo (a +similar disease of the skin), with very satisfactory results." + +Finally, the Sundew (_Drosera rotundifolia_), which is a common +little plant growing on our bogs, and marshy places, is found to act +in the same double fashion of cause or cure according to the +quantity taken, or administered. Farmers well know that this small +herb when devoured by sheep in their pasturage will bring about a +violent chronic cough, with waste of substance: whilst the Sundew +when given experimentally to cats has been found to stud the +surface of their lungs with morbid tubercular matter, though this is +a form of disease to which cats are not otherwise liable. In like +manner healthy human provers have become hoarse of voice +through taking the plant, and troubled with a severe cough, +accompanied with the expectoration of abundant yellow mucus, +just as in tubercular mischief beginning at the windpipe. Meantime +it has been well demonstrated (by Dr. Curie, and others) that at the +onset of pulmonary consumption in the human subject a cure may +nearly always be brought about, or the symptoms materially +improved, by giving the tincture of Sundew throughout several +weeks--from four to twenty drops in the twenty-four hours. And it +has further become an established fact that the same tincture [7] +will serve with remarkable success to allay the troublesome +spasms of Whooping Cough in its second stage, if given in small +doses, repeated several times a day. + +From these several examples, therefore, which are easy to be +understood, we may fairly conclude that positive remedial actions +are equally exercised by other Herbal Simples, both because of +their chemical constituents and by reason of their curing in many +cases according to the known law of medicinal correspondence. + +Until of late no such an assured position could be rightly claimed +by our native herbs, though pretentions in their favour have been +widely popular since early English times. Indeed, Herbal physic +has engaged the attention of many authors from the primitive days +of Dioscorides (A.D. 60) to those of Elizabethan Gerard, whose +exhaustive and delightful volume published in 1587 has remained +ever since in paramount favour with the English people. Its quaint +fascinating style, and its queer astrological notions, together with +its admirable woodcuts of the plants described, have combined to +make this comprehensive Herbal a standing favourite even to the +present day. + +Gerard had a large physic-garden near his house in Old Bourne +(Holborn), and there is in the British Museum a letter drawn up +by his hand asking Lord Burghley, his patron, to advise the +establishment by the University of Cambridge in their grounds of +a Simpling Herbarium. Nevertheless, we are now told (H. Lee, 1883) +that Gerard's "ponderous book is little more than a translation +of Dodonoeus, from which comparatively un-read author whole +chapters have been taken verbatim without acknowledgment." + +No English work on herbs and plants is met with prior to the +sixteenth century. In 1552 all books on [8] astronomy and +geography were ordered to be destroyed, because supposed to be +infected with magic. And it is more than probable that any +publications extant at that time on the virtues of herbs (then +associated by many persons with witchcraft), underwent the same +fate. In like manner King Hezekiah long ago "fearing lest the +Herbals of Solomon should come into profane hands, caused them +to be burned," as we learn from that "loyal and godly herbalist," +Robert Turner. + +During the reigns of Edward the Sixth and Mary, Dr. William +Bulleyn ranked high as a physician and botanist. He wrote the first +_Boke of Simples_, which remains among the most interesting +literary productions of that era as a record of his acuteness and +learning. It advocates the exclusive employment of our native +herbal medicines. Again, Nicholas Culpeper, "student in physick," +whose name is still a household word with many a plain thinking +English person, published in 1652, for the benefit of the +Commonwealth, his "Compleat Method whereby a man may cure +himself being sick, for threepence charge, with such things only as +grow in England, they being most fit for English bodies." +Likewise in 1696 the Honourable Richard Boyle, F.R.S., published +"_A Collection of Choice, Safe, and Simple English Remedies_, +easily prepared, very useful in families, and fitted for +the service of country people." + +Once more, the noted John Wesley gave to the world in 1769 an +admirable little treatise on _Primitive Physic, or an Easy and +Natural Method for Curing most Diseases_; the medicines on +which he chiefly relied being our native plants. For asthma, he +advised the sufferer to "live a fortnight on boiled Carrots only"; +for "baldness, to wash the head with a decoction of Boxwood"; [9] +for "blood-spitting to drink the juice of Nettles"; for "an open +cancer, to take freely of Clivers, or Goosegrass, whilst covering +the sore with the bruised leaves of this herb"; and for an ague, to +swallow at stated times "six middling pills of Cobweb." + +In Wesley's day tradition only, with shrewd guesses and close +observation, led him to prescribe these remedies. But now we have +learnt by patient chemical research that the Wild Carrot possesses +a particular volatile oil, which promotes copious expectoration for +the relief of asthmatic cough; that the Nettle is endowed in its +stinging hairs with "formic acid," which avails to arrest bleeding; +that Boxwood yields "buxine," a specific stimulant to those nerves +of supply which command the hair bulbs; that Goosegrass or +Clivers is of astringent benefit in cancer, because of its "tannic," +"citric," and "rubichloric acids"; and that the Spider's Web is of +real curative value in ague, because it affords an albuminous +principle "allied to and isomeric with quinine." + +Long before this middle era in medicine, during quite primitive +British times, the name and office of "Leeches" were familiar to +the people as the first doctors of physic; and their _parabilia_ or +"accessibles" were worts from the field and the garden; so that +when the Saxons obtained possession of Britain, they found it +already cultivated and improved by what the Romans knew of +agriculture and of vegetable productions. Hence it had happened +that Rue, Hyssop, Fennel, Mustard, Elecampane, Southernwood, +Celandine, Radish, Cummin, Onion, Lupin, Chervil, Fleur de +Luce, Flax (probably), Rosemary, Savory, Lovage, Parsley, +Coriander, Alexanders, or Olusatrum, the black pot herb, Savin, +and other useful herbs, were already of common growth for +kitchen uses, or for medicinal purposes. + +[10] And as a remarkable incidental fact antiquity has bequeathed +to us the legend, that goats were always exceptionally wise in the +choice of these wholesome herbs; that they are, indeed, the +herbalists among quadrupeds, and known to be "cunning in +simples." From which notion has grown the idea that they are +physicians among their kind, and that their odour is wholesome to +the animals of the farmyard generally. So that in deference, +unknowingly, to this superstition, it still happens that a single +Nanny or a Betty is freakishly maintained in many a modern +farmyard, living at ease, rather than put to any real use, or kept for +any particular purpose of service. But in case of stables on fire, he +or she will face the flames to make good an escape, and then the +horses will follow. + +It was through chewing the beans of Mocha, and becoming stupefied +thereby, that unsuspicious goats first drew the attention +of Mahomedan monks to the wonderful properties of the Coffee +berry. + +Next, coming down to the first part of the present century, we find +that purveyors of medicinal and savoury herbs then wandered over +the whole of England in quest of such useful simples as were in +constant demand at most houses for the medicine-chest, the +store-closet, or the toilet-table. These rustic practitioners of the +healing art were known as "green men," who carried with them their +portable apparatus for distilling essences, and for preparing their +herbal extracts. In token of their having formerly officiated in this +capacity, there may yet be seen in London and elsewhere about the +country, taverns bearing the curious sign of "The Green Man and +(his) Still." + +It is told of a certain French writer not long since, that whilst +complacently describing our British manners [11] customs, he +gravely translated this legend of the into "_L'homme vert, et +tranquil_." + +Passing on finally to our own times at the close of the nineteenth +century, we are able now-a-days, as has been already said, to avail +ourselves of precise chemical research by apparatus far in advance +of the untutored herbalist's still. He prepared his medicaments and +his fragrant essences, merely as a mechanical art, and without +pretending to fathom their method of physical action. But the +skilled expert of to-day resolves his herbal simples into their +ultimate elements by exact analysis in the laboratory, and has +learnt to attach its proper medicinal virtue to each of these curative +principles. It has thus come about that Herbal Physic under +competent guidance, if pursued with intelligent care, is at length a +reliable science of fixed methods, and crowned with sure results. + +Moreover, in this happy way is at last vindicated the infinite +superiority felt instinctively by our forefathers of home-grown +herbs over foreign and far-fetched drugs; a superiority long since +expressed by Ovid with classic felicity in the passage:-- + + "AEtas cui facimus _aurea_ nomen, + Fructibus arbuteis, et humus quas educat herbis + Fortunata fuit."--_Metamorphos., Lib. XV_. + + "Happy the age, to which we moderns give + The name of 'golden,' when men chose to live + On woodland fruits; and for their medicines took + Herbs from the field, and simples from the brook." + +or, as epitomised in the time-worn Latin adage:-- + + "Qui potest mederi _simplicibus_ frustra quaerit composita." + + "If _simple_ herbs suffice to cure, + 'Tis vain to compound drugs endure." + +In the following pages our leading Herbal Simples [12] are +reviewed alphabetically; whilst, to ensure accuracy, the genus and +species of each plant are particularised. + +Most of these herbs may be gathered fresh in their proper season +by persons who have acquired a knowledge of their parts, and who +live in districts where such plants are to be found growing; and to +other persons who inhabit towns, or who have no practical +acquaintance with Botany, great facilities are now given by our +principal druggists for obtaining from their stores concentrated +fresh juices of the chief herbal simples. + +Again, certain preparations of plants used only for their specific +curative methods are to be got exclusively from the Homoeopathic +chemist, unless gathered at first hand. These, not being officinal, +fail to find a place on the shelves of the ordinary Pharmaceutical +druggist. Nevertheless, when suitably employed, they are of +singular efficacy in curing the maladies to which they stand akin +by the law of similars. For convenience of distinction here, the +symbol H. will follow such particular preparations, which number +in all some seventy-five of the simples described. At the same time +any of the more common extracts, juices, and tinctures (or the +proper parts of the plants for making these several medicaments), +may be readily purchased at the shop of every leading druggist. + +It has not been thought expedient to include among the Simples +for homely uses of cure such powerfully poisonous plants as +Monkshood (_Aconite_), Deadly Nightshade (_Belladonna_), +Foxglove (_Digitalis_), Hemlock or Henbane (except for some +outward uses), and the like dangerous herbs, these being beyond +the province of domestic medicine, whilst only to be administered +under the advice and guidance of a qualified prescriber. + +[13] The chief purpose held in view has been to reconsider those +safe and sound herbal curative remedies and medicines which +were formerly most in vogue as homely simples, whether to be +taken or to be outwardly applied. And the main object has been to +show with what confidence their uses may be now resumed, or +retained under the guidance of modern chemical teachings, and of +precise scientific provings. This question equally applies, whether +the Simples be employed as auxiliaries by the physician in +attendance, or are welcomed for prompt service in a household +emergency as ready at hand when the doctor cannot be immediately had. + +Moreover, such a Manual as the present of approved Herbal +Remedies need not by any means be disparaged by the busy +practitioner, when his customary medicines seem to be out of +place, or are beyond speedy reach; it being well known that a sick +person is always ready to accept with eagerness plain assistant +remedies sensibly advised from the garden, the store-closet, the +spice-box, or the field. + + "Of simple medicines, and their powers to cure, + A wise physician makes his knowledge sure; + Else I or the household in his healing art + He stands ill-fitted to take useful part." + +So said Oribasus (freely translated) as long ago as the fourth +century, in classic terms prophetic of later times, _Simplicium +medicamentorum et facultatum quoe in eis insunt cognitio ita +necessaria est ut sine ea nemo rite medicari queat_. + +But after all has been said and done, none the less must it be +finally acknowledged in the pathetic utterance of King Alfred's +Anglo-Saxon proverb, _Nis [14] no wurt woxen on woode ne on +felde, per enure mage be lif uphelden_. + + "No wort is waxen in wood or wold, + Which may for ever man's life uphold." + +Neither to be discovered in the quaint Herbals of primitive times, +nor to be learnt by the advanced chemical knowledge of modern +plant lore, is there any panacea for all the ills to which our flesh +is heir, or an elixir of life, which can secure for us a perpetual +immunity from sickness. _Contra vim mortis nullum medicamentum +in hortis_, says the rueful Latin distich:-- + + "No healing herb can conquer death, + And so for always give us breath." + +To sum up which humiliating conclusion good George Herbert has +put the matter thus with epigrammatic conciseness:-- + + "St. Luke was a saint and a physician, yet he is dead!" + +But none the less bravely we may still take comfort each in his +mortal frailty, because of the hopeful promise preached to men +long since by the son of Sirach, "A faithful friend is the Medicine +of life; they that fear the Lord shall find Him." + + + +[15] ACORN. + +This is the well-known fruit of our British Oak, to Which tree it +gives the name--_Aik_, or _Eik_, Oak. + +The Acorn was esteemed by Dioscorides, and other old authors, +for its supposed medicinal virtues. As an article of food it is not +known to have been habitually used at any time by the inhabitants +of Britain, though acorns furnished the chief support of the large +herds of swine on which our forefathers subsisted. The right of +maintaining these swine in the woods was called "panage," and +formed a valuable property. + +The earliest inhabitants of Greece and Southern Europe who lived +in the primeval forests were supported almost wholly on the fruit +of the Oak. They were described by classic authors as fat of +person, and were called "balanophagi"--acorn eaters. + +During the great dearth of 1709 the French were driven to eat +bread of acorns steeped in water to destroy the bitterness, and they +suffered therefrom injurious effects, such as obstinate +constipation, or destructive cholera. + +It is worth serious notice medically that in years remarkable for a +large yield of Acorns disastrous losses have occurred among +young cattle from outbreaks of acorn poisoning, or the acorn +disease. Those up to two years old suffered most severely, but +sheep, pigs and deer were not affected by this acorn malady. Its +symptoms are progressive wasting, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, sore +places inside the mouth, discharge from [16] the eyes and nostrils, +excretion of much pale urine, and no fever, but a fall of +temperature below the normal standard. Having regard to which +train of symptoms it is fair to suppose the acorn will afford in the +human subject a useful specific medicine for the marasmus, or +wasting atrophy of young children who are scrofulous. The fruit +should be given in the form of a tincture, or vegetable extract, or +even admixed (when ground) sparingly with wheaten flour in +bread. The dose should fall short of producing any of the above +symptoms, and the remedy should be steadily pursued for many +weeks. + +The tincture should be made of saturated strength with spirit of +wine on the bruised acorns, to stand for a fortnight before being +decanted. Then the dose will be from twenty to thirty drops with +water three or four times a day. + +The Acorn contains chemically starch, a fixed oil, citric acid, +uncrystallizable sugar, and another special sugar called "quercit." + +Acorns, when roasted and powdered, have been sometimes employed +as a fair substitute for coffee. By distillation they will +yield an ardent spirit. + +Dr. Burnett strongly commends a "distilled spirit of acorns" as an +antidote to the effects of alcohol, where the spleen and kidneys +have already suffered, with induced dropsy. It acts on the principle +of similars, ten drops being given three times a day in water. + +In certain parts of Europe it is customary to place acorns in the +hands of the newly dead; whilst in other districts an apple is put +into the palm of a child when lying in its little coffin. + +The bark of an oak tree, and the galls, or apples, produced on its +leaves, or twigs, by an insect named [17] cynips, are very +astringent, by reason of the gallo-tannic acid which they furnish +abundantly. This acid, given as a drug, or the strong decoction of +oak bark which contains it, will serve to restrain bleedings if taken +internally; and finely powdered oak bark, when inhaled pretty +frequently, has proved very beneficial against consumption of the +lungs in its early stages. Working tanners are well known to be +particularly exempt from this disease, probably through their +constantly inhaling the peculiar aroma given off from the tan pits; +and a like effect may be produced by using as snuff the fresh oak +bark dried and reduced to an impalpable powder, or by inhaling +day after day the steam given off from recent oak bark infused in +boiling water. + +Marble galls are formed on the back of young twigs, artichoke +galls at their extremities, and currant galls by spangles on the +under surface of the leaves. From these spangles females presently +emerge, and lay their eggs on the catkins, giving rise to the round +shining currant galls. + +The Oak--_Quercus robur_--is so named from the Celtic "quer," +beautiful; and "cuez," a tree. "Drus," another Celtic word for tree, +and particularly for the Oak, gave rise to the terms Dryads and +Druids. Among the Greeks and Romans a chaplet of oak was one +of the highest honours which could be conferred on a citizen. +Ancient oaks exist in several parts of England, which are +traditionally called Gospel oaks, because it was the practice in +times long past when beating the bounds of a parish to read a +portion of the Gospel on Ascension Day beneath an oak tree which +was growing on the boundary line of the district. Cross oaks were +planted at the juncture of cross roads, so that persons suffering +from ague might peg a lock of their hair into the [18] trunks, and +by wrenching themselves away might leave the hair and the +malady in the tree together. A strong decoction of oak bark is most +usefully applied for prolapse of the lower bowel. + +Oak Apple day (May 29th) is called in Hampshire "Shikshak" day. + + + +AGRIMONY. + +The Agrimony is a Simple well known to all country folk, and +abundant throughout England in the fields and woods, as a popular +domestic medicinal herb. It belongs to the Rose order of plants, +and blossoms from June to September with small yellow flowers, +which sit close along slender spikes a foot high, smelling like +apricots, and called by the rustics "Church Steeples." Botanically +it bears the names _Agrimonia Eupatoria_, of which the first is +derived from the Greek, and means "shining," because the herb is +thought to cure cataract of the eye; and the second bears reference +to the liver, as indicating the use of this plant for curing diseases +of that organ. Chemists have determined that the Agrimony possesses +a particular volatile oil, and yields nearly five per cent. of tannin, +so that its use in the cottage for gargles, and as an astringent +application to indolent wounds, is well justified. The herb does not +seem really to own any qualities for acting medicinally on the +liver. More probably the yellow colour of its flowers, which, with +the root, furnish a dye of a bright nankeen hue, has given it a +reputation in bilious disorders, according to the doctrine of +signatures, because the bile is also yellow. Nevertheless, Gerard +says: "A decoction of the leaves is good for them that have +naughty livers." By pouring a pint of boiling water on a handful of +the plant--stems, flowers and leaves--an [19] excellent gargle may +be made for a relaxed throat; and a teacupful of the same infusion +may be taken cold three or four times in the day for simple +looseness of the bowels; also for passive losses of blood. In +France, Agrimony tea is drank as a beverage at table. This herb +formed an ingredient of the genuine arquebusade water, as +prepared against wounds inflicted by an arquebus, or hand-gun, +and it was mentioned by Philip de Comines in his account of the +battle of Morat, 1476. When the Yeomen of the Guard were first +formed in England--1485--half were armed with bows and arrows, +whilst the other half carried arquebuses. In France the _eau de +arquebusade_ is still applied for sprains and bruises, being +carefully made from many aromatic herbs. Agrimony was at one +time included in the London _Materia Medica_ as a vulnerary +herb. It bears the title of Cockleburr, or Sticklewort, because its +seed vessels cling by the hooked ends of their stiff hairs to any +person or animal coming into contact with the plant. A strong +decoction of the root and leaves, sweetened with honey, has been +taken successfully to cure scrofulous sores, being administered +two or three times a day in doses of a wineglassful persistently for +several months. Perhaps the special volatile oil of the plant, in +common with that contained in other herbs similarly aromatic, is +curatively antiseptic. Pliny called it a herb "of princely +authoritie." + +The _Hemp Agrimony_, or St. John's Herb, belongs to the Composite +order of plants, and grows on the margins of brooks, having +hemp-like leaves, which are bitter of taste and pungent of +smell, as if it were an umbelliferous herb. Because of these +hempen leaves it was formerly called "Holy Rope," being thus +named after the rope with which Jesus was bound. They contain a +volatile [20] oil, which acts on the kidneys; likewise some tannin, +and a bitter chemical principle, which will cut short the chill of +intermittent fever, or perhaps prevent it. Provers of the plant have +found it produce a "bilious fever," with severe headache, redness of +the face, nausea, soreness over the liver, constipation, and +high-coloured urine. Acting on which experience, a tincture, prepared +(H.) from the whole plant, may be confidently given in frequent +small well-diluted doses with water for influenza, or for a similar +feverish chill, with break-bone pains, prostration, hot dry skin, and +some bilious vomiting. Likewise a tea made with boiling water +poured on the dried leaves will give prompt relief if taken hot at +the onset of a bilious catarrh, or of influenza. This plant also is +named _Eupatorium_ because it refers, as Pliny says, to Eupator, a +king of Pontus. In Holland it is used for jaundice, with swollen +feet: and in America it belongs to the tribe of bone-sets. The Hemp +Agrimony grows with us in moist, shady places, with a tall reddish +stem, and with terminal crowded heads of dull lilac flowers. Its +distinctive title is _Cannabinum_, or "Hempen," whilst by some it +is known as "Thoroughwort." + + + +ANEMONE (Wood). + +The _Wood Anemone_, or medicinal English _Pulsatilla_, with its +lovely pink white petals, and drooping blossoms, is one of our best +known and most beautiful spring flowers. Herbalists do not +distinguish it virtually from the silky-haired _Anemone Pulsatilla_, +which medicinal variety is of highly valuable modern curative +use as a Herbal Simple. The active chemical principles of +each plant are "anemonin" and "anemonic acid." A tincture is +made (H.) with spirit of wine from the entire [21] plant, collected +when in flower. This tincture is remarkably beneficial in disorders +of the mucous membranes, alike of the respiratory and of the +digestive passages. For mucous indigestion following a heavy or +rich meal the tincture of Pulsatilla is almost a specific remedy. +Three or four drops thereof should be given at once with a +tablespoonful of water, hot or cold, and the same dose may be +repeated after an hour if then still needed. For catarrhal affections +of the eyes and the ears, as well as for catarrhal diarrhoea, the +tincture is very serviceable; also for female monthly difficulties its +use is always beneficial and safe. As a medicine it best suits +persons of a mild, gentle disposition, and of a lymphatic +constitution, especially females; it is less appropriate for quick, +excitable, energetic men. Anemonin, or Pulsatilla Camphor, which +is the active principle of this plant, is prepared by the chemist, and +may be given in doses of from one fiftieth to one tenth of a grain +rubbed up with dry sugar of milk. Such a dose (or a drop of the +tincture with a tablespoonful of water), given every two or three +hours, will soon relieve a swollen testicle; and the tincture still +more diluted will ease the bladder difficulties of old men. +Furthermore, the tincture, in doses of two or three drops with a +spoonful of water, will allay spasmodic cough, as of whooping +cough, or bronchitis. The vinegar of Wood Anemone made from +the leaves retains all the more acrid properties of the plant, and is +put, in France, to many rural domestic purposes. When applied in +lotions every night for five or six times consecutively, it will heal +indolent ulcers; and its rubefacient effects serve instead of those +produced externally by mustard. If a teaspoonful is sprinkled +within the palms and its volatile vapours are inhaled through the +mouth and nose, this [22] will dispel an incipient catarrh. The +name Pulsatilla is a diminutive of the Latin _puls_, a pottage, as +made from pulse, and used at sacrificial feasts. The title Anemone +signifies "wind-flower." Pliny says this flower never opens but +when the wind is blowing. The title has been misapprehended as +"an emony." Turner says gardeners call the flowers "emonies"; +and Tennyson, in his "Northern Farmer," tells of the dead keeper +being found "doon in the woild _enemies_ afoor I corned to the +plaice." Other names of the plant are Wood Crowfoot, Smell Fox +(Rants), and Flawflower. Alfred Austin says, "With windflower +honey are my tresses smoothed." It is also called the Passover +Flower, because blossoming at Easter; and it belongs to the +Ranunculaceous order of plants. The flower of the Wood Anemone +tells the approach of night, or of a shower, by curling over +its petals like a tent; and it has been said that fairies nestle +within, having first pulled the curtains round them. Among the old +Romans, to gather the first Anemone of the year was deemed a +preservative against fever. The Pasque flower, also named +Bluemoney and Easter, or Dane's flower, is of a violet blue, +growing in chalky pastures, and less common than the Wood +Anemone, but each possesses equally curative virtues. + +The seed of the Anemone being very light and downy, is blown +away by the first breeze of wind. A ready-witted French senator +took advantage of this fact while visiting Bacheliere, a covetous +florist, near Paris, who had long held a secret monopoly of certain +richly-coloured and splendidly handsome anemones from the East. +Vexed to see one man hoard up for himself what ought to be more +widely distributed, he walked and talked with the florist in his +garden when the anemone [23] plants were in seed. Whilst thus +occupied, he let fall his robe, as if by accident, upon the flowers, +and so swept off a number of the little feathery seed vessels which +clung to his dependent garment, and which he afterwards cultivated +at home. The petals of the Pasque flower yield a rich green +colour, which is used For staining Easter eggs, this festival +having been termed Pask time in old works, from "paske," a +crossing over. The plant is said to grow best with iron in the soil. + + + +ANGELICA (also called MASTER-WORT). + +The wild Angelica grows commonly throughout England in wet +places as an umbelliferous plant, with a tall hollow stem, out of +which boys like to make pipes. It is purple, furrowed, and downy, +bearing white flowers tinged with pink. But the herb is not useful +as a simple until cultivated in our gardens, the larger variety being +chosen for this purpose, and bearing the name _Archangelica_. + + "Angelica, the happy counterbane, + Sent down from heaven by some celestial scout, + As well its name and nature both avow't." + +It came to this country from northern latitudes in 1568. The +aromatic stems are grown abundantly near London in moist fields +for the use of confectioners. These stems, when candied, are sold +as a favourite sweetmeat. They are grateful to the feeble stomach, +and will relieve flatulence promptly. The roots of the garden +Angelica contain plentifully a peculiar resin called "angelicin," +which is stimulating to the lungs, and to the skin: they smell +pleasantly of musk, being an excellent tonic and carminative. An +infusion of the plant may be made by pouring a pint of boiling +water on an ounce of the bruised root, and two tablespoonfuls [24] +of this should be given three or four times in the day; or the +powdered root may be administered in doses of from ten to thirty +grains. The infusion will relieve flatulent stomach-ache, and will +promote menstruation if retarded. It is also of use as a stimulating +bronchial tonic in the catarrh of aged and feeble persons. Angelica, +taken in either medicinal form, is said to cause a disgust for +spirituous liquors. In high Dutch it is named the root of the Holy +Ghost. The fruit is employed for flavouring some cordials, notably +Chartreuse. If an incision is made in the bark of the stems, and the +crown of the root, at the commencement of spring, a resinous gum +exudes with a special aromatic flavour as of musk or benzoin, for +either of which it can be substituted. Gerard says: "If you do but +take a piece of the root, and hold it in your mouth, or chew the +same between your teeth, it doth most certainly drive away +pestilent aire." Icelanders eat both the stem and the roots raw with +butter. These parts of the plant, if wounded, yield a yellow juice +which becomes, when dried, a valuable medicine beneficial in +chronic rheumatism and gout. Some have said the Archangelica +was revealed in a dream by an angel to cure the plague; others +aver that it blooms on the day of Michael the Archangel (May 8th, +old style), and is therefore a preservative against evil spirits and +witchcraft. + + + +ANISEED. + +The Anise (_Pimpinella_), from "bipenella," because of its +secondary, feather-like leaflets, belongs to the umbelliferous +plants, and is cultivated in our gardens; but its aromatic seeds +chiefly come from Germany. The careful housewife will do well +always to have a [25] supply of this most useful Simple closely +bottled in her store cupboard. The herb is a variety of the Burnet +Saxifrage, and yields an essential oil of a fine blue colour. To +make the essence of Aniseed one part of the oil should be mixed +with four parts of spirit of wine. This oil, by its chemical basis, +"anethol," represents the medicinal properties of the plant. It has a +special influence on the bronchial tubes to encourage expectoration, +particularly with children. For infantile catarrh, after +its first feverish stage, Aniseed tea is very useful. It should be +made by pouring half-a-pint of boiling water on two teaspoonfuls +of the seeds, bruised in a mortar, and given when cold in doses of +one, two, or three teaspoonfuls, according to the age of the child. +For the relief of flatulent stomach-ache, whether in children or in +adults, from five to fifteen drops of the essence may be given on a +lump of sugar, or mixed with two dessertspoonfuls of hot water. +Gerard says: "The Aniseed helpeth the yeoxing, or hicket +(hiccough), and should be given to young children to eat which are +like to have the falling sickness, or to such as have it by patrimony +or succession." The odd literary mistake has been sometimes made +of regarding Aniseed as a plural noun: thus, in "The Englishman's +Doctor," it is said, "Some anny seeds be sweet, and some bitter." +An old epithet of the Anise was, _Solamen intestinorum_--"The +comforter of the bowels." The Germans have an almost superstitious +belief in the medicinal virtues of Aniseed, and all their +ordinary household bread is plentifully flavoured with the +whole seeds. The mustaceoe, or spiced cakes of the Romans, +introduced at the close of a rich entertainment, to prevent +indigestion, consisted of meal, with anise, cummin, and other +aromatics used for staying putrescence or fermentation within the +[26] intestines. Such a cake was commonly brought in at the end +of a marriage feast; and hence the bridecake of modern times has taken +its origin, though the result of eating this is rather to provoke +dyspepsia than to prevent it. Formerly, in the East, these seeds +were in use as part payment of taxes: "Ye pay tithe of mint, anise +[dill?], and cummin!" The oil destroys lice and the itch insect, for +which purpose it may be mixed with lard or spermaceti as an +ointment. The seed has been used for smoking, so as to promote +expectoration. + +Besides containing the volatile oil, Aniseed yields phosphates, +malates, gum, and a resin. The leaves, if applied externally, will +help to remove freckles; and, "Let me tell you this," says a +practical writer of the present day, "if you are suffering from +bronchitis, with attacks of spasmodic asthma, just send for a bottle +of the liqueur called 'Anisette,' and take a dram of it with a little +water. You will find it an immediate palliative; you will cease +barking like Cerberus; you will be soothed, and go to sleep."-- +_Experto crede!_ "I have been bronchitic and asthmatic for twenty +years, and have never known an alleviative so immediately +efficacious as 'Anisette.'" + +For the restlessness of languid digestion, a dose of essence of +Aniseed in hot water at bedtime is much to be commended. In the +_Paregoric Elixir_, or "Compound Tincture of Camphor," prescribed +as a sedative cordial by doctors (and containing some opium), +the oil of Anise is also included--thirty drops in a pint of +the tincture. This oil is of capital service as a bait for mice. + + + +APPLE. + +The term "Apple" was applied by the ancients indiscriminately to +almost every kind of round fleshy fruit, [27] such as the +thornapple, the pineapple, and the loveapple. Paris gave to Venus +a golden apple; Atalanta lost her classic race by staying to pick up +an apple; the fruit of the Hesperides, guarded by a sleepless +dragon, were golden apples; and through the same fruit befell +"man's first disobedience," bringing "death into the world and all +our woe" (concerning which the old Hebrew myth runs that the +apple of Eden, as the first fermentable fruit known to mankind, +was the beginner of intoxicating drinks, which led to the +knowledge of good and evil). + +Nothing need be said here about the Apple as an esculent; we have +only to deal with this eminently English, and most serviceable +fruit in its curative and remedial aspects. Chemically, the Apple is +composed of vegetable fibre, albumen, sugar, gum, chlorophyll, +malic acid, gallic acid, lime, and much water. Furthermore, +German analysts say that the Apple contains a larger percentage of +phosphorus than any other fruit or vegetable. This phosphorus is +specially adapted for renewing the essential nervous "lethicin" of +the brain and spinal cord. Old Scandinavian traditions represent +the Apple as the food of the gods, who, when they felt themselves +growing feeble and infirm, resorted to this fruit for renewing their +powers of mind and body. Also the acids of the Apple are of signal +use for men of sedentary habits, whose livers are sluggish of +action; they help to eliminate from the body noxious matters, +which, if retained, would make the brain heavy and dull, or +produce jaundice, or skin eruptions, or other allied troubles. Some +experience of this sort has led to the custom of our taking Apple +sauce with roast pork, roast goose, and similar rich dishes. The +malic acid of ripe Apples, raw or cooked, will neutralize the +chalky matter engendered in gouty subjects, particularly from [28] +an excess of meat eating. A good, ripe, raw Apple is one of the +easiest of vegetable substances for the stomach to deal with, the +whole process of its digestion being completed in eighty-five +minutes. Furthermore, a certain aromatic principle is possessed by +the Apple, on which its peculiar flavour depends, this being a +fragrant essential oil--the valerianate of amyl--in a small but +appreciable quantity. It can be made artificially by the chemist, +and used for imparting the flavour of apples to sweetmeats and +confectionery. Gerard found that "the pulp of roasted Apples, +mixed in a wine quart of faire water, and laboured together until it +comes to be as Apples and ale--which we call lambswool (Celtic, +'the day of Apple fruit')--never faileth in certain diseases of the +raines, which myself hath often proved, and gained thereby both +crownes and credit." Also, "The paring of an Apple cut somewhat +thick, and the inside whereof is laid to hot, burning or running +eyes at night when the party goes to bed, and is tied or bound to +the same, doth help the trouble very speedily, and, contrary to +expectation, an excellent secret." A poultice made of rotten Apples +is commonly used in Lincolnshire for the cure of weak, or +rheumatic eyes. Likewise in the _Hotel des Invalides_, at Paris, an +Apple poultice is employed for inflamed eyes, the apple being +roasted, and its pulp applied over the eyes without any intervening +substance To obviate constipation two or three Apples taken at +night, whether baked or raw, are admirably efficient. It was said +long ago: "They do easily and speedily pass through the belly, +therefore they do mollify the belly," and for this reason a modern +maxim teaches that:-- + + "To eat an Apple going to bed + Will make the doctor beg his bread." + +[29] There was concocted in Gerard's day an ointment with the +pulpe of Apples, and swine's grease, and rosewater, which was +used to beautifie the face, and to take away the roughnesse of the +skin, and which was called in the shops "pomatum," from the +apples, "poma," whereof it was prepared. As varieties of the +Apple, mention is made in documents of the twelfth century, of +the pearmain, and the costard, from the latter of which has come +the word costardmonger, as at first a dealer in this fruit, and now +applied to our costermonger. Caracioli, an Italian writer, declared +that the only ripe fruit he met with in Britain was a _baked_ apple. +The juices of Apples are matured and lose their rawness by +keeping the fruit a certain time. These juices, together with those +of the pear, the peach, the plum, and other such fruits, if taken +without adding cane sugar, diminish acidity in the stomach rather +than provoke it: they become converted chemically into alkaline +carbonates, which correct sour fermentation. It is said in +Devonshire that apples shrump up if picked when the moon is on +the wane. From the bark of the stem and root of the apple, pear +and plum trees, a glucoside is to be obtained in small crystals, +which possesses the peculiar property of producing artificial +diabetes in animals to whom it is given. + +The juice of a sour Apple, if rubbed on warts first pared away to +the quick, will serve to cure them. The wild "Scrab," or Crab +Apple, armed with thorns, grows in our fields and hedgerows, +furnishing verjuice, which is rich in tannin, and a most useful +application for old sprains. In the United States of America an +infusion of apple tree bark is given with benefit during +intermittent, remittent, and bilious fevers. We likewise prescribe +Apple water as a grateful cooling drink for [29] feverish patients. +Francatelli directs that it should be made thus: "Slice up thinly +three or four Apples without peeling them, and boil them in a very +clean saucepan, with a quart of water and a little sugar until the +slices of apple become soft; the apple water must then be strained +through a piece of muslin, or clean rag, into a jug, and drank when +cold." If desired, a small piece of the yellow rind of a lemon may +be added, just enough to give it a flavour. + +About the year 1562 a certain rector of St. Ives, in Cornwall, the +Rev. Mr. Attwell, practised physic with milk and Apples so +successfully in many diseases, and so spread his reputation, that +numerous sufferers came to him from all the neighbouring +counties. In Germany ripe Apples are applied to warts for +removing them, by reason of the earthy salts, particularly the +magnesia, of the fruit. It is a fact, though not generally known, that +magnesia, as occurring in ordinary Epsom salts, will cure obstinate +warts, and the disposition thereto. Just a few grains, from three to +six, not enough to produce any sensible medicinal effect, taken +once a day for three or four weeks, will surely dispel a crop of +warts. Old cheese ameliorates Apples if eaten when crude, +probably by reason of the volatile alkali, or ammonia of the cheese +neutralizing the acids of the Apple. Many persons make a practice +of eating cheese with Apple pie. The "core" of an Apple is so +named from the French word, _coeur_, "heart." + +The juice of the cultivated Apple made by fermentation into cider, +which means literally "strong drink," was pronounced by John +Evelyn, in his _Pomona_, 1729, to be "in a word the most +wholesome drink in Europe, as specially sovereign against the +scorbute, the stone, spleen, and what not." This beverage [31] +contains alcohol (on the average a little over five per cent.), gum, +sugar, mineral matters, and several acids, among which the malic +predominates. As an habitual drink, if sweet, it is apt to provoke +acid fermentation with a gouty subject, and to develop rheumatism. +Nevertheless, Dr. Nash, of Worcester, attributed to cider +great virtues in leading to longevity; and a Herefordshire +vicar bears witness to its superlative merits thus:-- + + "All the Gallic wines are not so boon + As hearty cider;--that strong son of wood + In fullest tides refines and purges blood; + Becomes a known Bethesda, whence arise + Full certain cures for spit tall maladies: + Death slowly can the citadel invade; + A draught of this bedulls his scythe, and spade." + +Medical testimony goes to show that in countries where cider--not +of the sweet sort--is the common beverage, stone, or calculus, +is unknown; and a series of enquiries among the doctors of +Normandy, a great Apple country, where cider is the principal, if +not the sole drink, brought to light the fact that not a single case +had been met with there in forty years. Cider Apples were +introduced by the Normans; and the beverage began to be brewed +in 1284. The Hereford orchards were first planted "tempore" +Charles I. + +A chance case of stone in the bladder if admitted into a +Devonshire or a Herefordshire Hospital, is regarded by the +surgeons there as a sort of professional curiosity, probably +imported from a distance. So that it may be fairly surmised that the +habitual use of natural unsweetened cider keeps held in solution +materials which are otherwise liable to be separated in a solid form +by the kidneys. + +Pippins are apples which have been raised from pips; [32] a +codling is an apple which requires to be "coddled," stewed, or +lightly boiled, being yet sour and unfit for eating whilst raw. The +John Apple, or Apple John, ripens on St. John's Day, December +27th. It keeps sound for two years, but becomes very shrunken. Sir +John Falstaff says (_Henry IV_., iii. 3) "Withered like an old +Apple John." The squab pie, famous in Cornwall, contains apples +and onions allied with mutton. + + "Of wheaten walls erect your paste: + Let the round mass extend its breast; + Next slice your apples picked so fresh; + Let the fat sheep supply its flesh: + Then add an onion's pungent juice-- + A sprinkling--be not too profuse! + Well mixt, these nice ingredients--sure! + May gratify an epicure." + +In America, "Apple Slump" is a pie consisting of apples, molasses, +and bread crumbs baked in a tin pan. This is known to New +Englanders as "Pan Dowdy." An agreeable bread was at one time +made by an ingenious Frenchman which consisted of one third of +apples boiled, and two-thirds of wheaten flour. + +It was through the falling of an apple in the garden of Mrs. +Conduitt at Woolthorpe, near Grantham, Sir Isaac Newton was led +to discover the great law of gravitation which regulates the whole +universe. Again, it was an apple the patriot William Tell shot from +the head of his own bright boy with one arrow, whilst reserving a +second for the heart of a tyrant. Dr. Prior says the word Apple took +its origin from the Sanskrit, _Ap_,--"water," and _Phal_,--"fruit," +meaning "water fruit," or "juice fruit"; and with this the Latin +name _Pomum_--from _Poto_, "to drink"--precisely agrees; if +which be so, our apple must have come originally from the East +long ages back. + +[33] The term "Apple-pie order" is derived from the French +phrase, _a plis_, "in plaits," folded in regular plaits; or, perhaps, +from _cap a pied_, "armed from head to foot," in perfect order. +Likewise the "Apple-pie bed" is so called from the French _a +plis_, or it may be from the Apple turnover of Devon and +Cornwall, as made with the paste turned over on itself. + +The botanical name of an apple tree is Pyrus Malus, of which +schoolboys are wont to make ingenious uses by playing on the +latter word. Malo, I had rather be; Malo, in an Apple tree; Malo, +than a wicked man; Malo, in adversity. Or, again, _Mea mater +mala est sus_, which bears the easy translation, "My mother is a +wicked old sow"; but the intentional reading of which signifies +"Run, mother! the sow is eating the apples." The term "Adam's +Apple," which is applied to the most prominent part of a person's +throat in front is based on the superstition that a piece of the +forbidden fruit stuck in Adam's throat, and caused this lump to +remain. + + + +ARUM--THE COMMON. + +The "lords and ladies" (_arum maculatum_) so well known to +every rustic as common throughout Spring in almost every hedge +row, has acquired its name from the colour of its erect pointed +spike enclosed within the curled hood of an upright arrow-shaped +leaf. This is purple or cream hued, according to the accredited sex +of the plant. It bears further the titles of Cuckoo Pint, Wake Robin, +Parson in the Pulpit, Rampe, Starchwort, Arrowroot, Gethsemane, +Bloody Fingers, Snake's Meat, Adam and Eve, Calfsfoot, Aaron, +and Priest's Pintle. The red spots on its glossy emerald arrow-head +leaves, are attributed to the dropping of our Saviour's blood on +[34] the plant whilst growing at the foot of the cross. Several of +the above appellations bear reference to the stimulating effects of +the herb on the sexual organs. Its tuberous root has been found to +contain a particular volatile acrid principle which exercises distinct +medicinal effects, though these are altogether dissipated if the +roots are subjected to heat by boiling or baking. When tasted, the +fresh juice causes an acrid burning irritation of the mouth and +throat; also, if swallowed it will produce a red raw state of the +palate and tongue, with cracked lips. The leaves, when applied +externally to a delicate skin will blister it. Accordingly a tincture +made (H.) from the plant and its root proves curative in diluted +doses for a chronic sore throat, with swollen mucous membrane, +and vocal hoarseness, such as is often known as "Clergyman's +Sore Throat," and likewise for a feverish sore mouth, as well as for +an irresistible tendency to sleepiness, and heaviness after a full +meal. From five to ten drops of the tincture, third decimal strength, +should be given with a tablespoonful of cold water to an adult +three times a day. An ointment made by stewing the fresh sliced +root with lard serves efficiently for the cure of ringworm. + +The fresh juice yields malate of lime, whilst the plant contains +gum, sugar, starch and fat. The name Arum is derived from the +Hebrew _jaron_, "a dart," in allusion to the shape of the leaves like +spear heads; or, as some think, from _aur_, "fire," because of the +acrid juice. The adjective _maculatum _refers to the dark spots or +patches which are seen on the smooth shining leaves of the plant. +These leaves have sometimes proved fatal to children who have +mistaken them for sorrel. The brilliant scarlet coral-like berries +which are found set closely about the erect spike of the arum in the +autumn [35] are known to country lads as adder's meat--a name +corrupted from the Anglo-Saxon _attor_, "poison," as originally +applied to these berries, though it is remarkable that pheasants can +eat them with impunity. + +In Queen Elizabeth's time the Arum was known as starch-wort +because the roots were then used for supplying pure white starch +to stiffen the ruffs and frills worn at that time by gallants and +ladies. This was obtained by boiling or baking the roots, and thus +dispelling their acridity. When dried and powdered the root +constitutes the French cosmetic, "Cypress Powder." Recently a +patented drug, "Tonga," has obtained considerable notoriety for +curing obstinate neuralgia of the head and face--this turning +out to be the dried scraped stem of an aroid (or arum) called +Raphidophora Vitiensis, belonging to the Fiji Islands. Acting on +the knowledge of which fact some recent experimenters have tried +the fresh juice expressed from our common Arum Maculatum in a +severe case of neuralgia which could be relieved previously only +by Tonga: and it was found that this juice in doses of a teaspoonful +gave similar relief. The British Domestic Herbal, of Sydenham's +time, describes a case of alarming dropsy, with great constitutional +exhaustion treated most successfully with a medicine composed of +Arum and Angelica, which cured in about three weeks. The +"English Passion Flower" and "Portland Sago" are other names +given to the Arum Maculatum. + + + +ASPARAGUS. + +The Asparagus, belonging to the Lily order of plants, occurs wild +on the coasts of Essex, Suffolk, and Cornwall. It is there a more +prickly plant than the cultivated vegetable which we grow for the +sake of the tender, [36] edible shoots. The Greeks and Romans +valued it for their tables, and boiled it so quickly that _velocius +quam asparagi coquuntur_--"faster than asparagus is cooked"--was +a proverb with them, to which our "done in a jiffy" closely +corresponds. The shoots, whether wild or cultivated, are succulent, +and contain wax, albumen, acetate of potash, phosphate of potash, +mannite, a green resin, and a fixed principle named "asparagin." +This asparagin stimulates the kidneys, and imparts a peculiar, +strong smell to the urine after taking the shoots; at the same time, +the green resin with which the asparagin is combined, exercises +gently sedative effects on the heart, calming palpitation, or +nervous excitement of that organ. Though not producing actual +sugar in the urine, asparagus forms and excretes a substance +therein which answers to the reactions used by physicians for +detecting sugar, except the fermentation test. It may fairly be given +in diabetes with a promise of useful results. In Russia it is a +domestic medicine for the arrest of flooding. + +Asparagin also bears the chemical name of "althein," and occurs +in crystals, which may be reduced to powder, and which may +likewise be got from the roots of marsh mallow, and liquorice. +One grain of this given three times a day is of service for relieving +dropsy from disease of the heart. Likewise, a medicinal tincture is +made (H.) from the whole plant, of which eight or ten drops given +with a tablespoonful of water three times a day will also allay +urinary irritation, whilst serving to do good against rheumatic +gout. A syrup of asparagus is employed medicinally in France: and +at Aix-les-Bains it forms part of the cure for rheumatic patients to +eat Asparagus. The roots of Asparagus contain diuretic virtues +more abundantly than the shoots. An infusion [37] made from +these roots will assist against jaundice, and congestive torpor of +the liver. The shrubby stalks of the plant bear red, coral-like +berries which, when ripe, yield grape sugar, and spargancin. +Though generally thought to branch out into feathery leaves, these +are only ramified stalks substituted by the plant when growing on +an arid sandy soil, where no moisture could be got for the +maintenance of leaves. The berries are attractive to small birds, +who swallow them whole, and afterwards void the seeds, to +germinate when thus scattered about. Thus there is some valid +reason for the vulgar corruption of the title Asparagus into +Sparrowgrass, or Grass. Botanically the plant is a lily which has +seen better days. In the United States of America, Asparagus is +thought to be undeniably sedative, and a palliative in all heart +affections attended with excited action of the pulse. The water in +which asparagus has been boiled, if drunk, though somewhat +disagreeable, is beneficial against rheumatism. The cellular tissue +of the plant furnishes a substance similar to sago. In Venice, the +wild asparagus is served at table, but it is strong in flavour and +less succulent than the cultivated sort. Mortimer Collins makes Sir +Clare, one of his characters in _Clarisse_ say: "Liebig, or +some other scientist maintains that asparagin--the alkaloid in +asparagus-develops _form_ in the human brain: so, if you get +hold of an artistic child, and give him plenty of asparagus, he +will grow into a second Raffaelle!" + +Gerard calls the plant "Sperage," "which is easily concocted when +eaten, and doth gently loose the belly." Our name, "Asparagus," is +derived from a Greek word signifying "the tearer," in allusion to +the spikes of some species; or perhaps from the Persian "Spurgas," +a shoot. + +[38] John Evelyn, in his _Book of Salads_, derives the term +Asparagus in easy fashion, _ab asperitate_, "from the sharpness of +the plant." "Nothing," says he, "next to flesh is more nourishing; +but in this country we overboil them, and dispel their volatile salts: +the water should boil before they are put in." He tells of asparagus +raised at Battersea in a natural, sweet, and well-cultivated soil, +sixteen of which (each one weighing about four ounces) were +made a present to his wife, showing what "solum, coelum, and +industry will effect." The Asparagus first came into use as a food +about 200 B.C., in the time of the elder Cato, and Augustus was +very partial to it. The wild Asparagus was called Lybicum, and by +the Athenians, Horminium. Roman cooks used to dry the shoots, +and when required these were thrown into hot water, and boiled +for a few minutes to make them look fresh and green. Gerard +advises that asparagus should be sodden in flesh broth, and eaten; +or boiled in fair water, seasoned with oil, pepper, and vinegar, +being served up as a salad. Our ancestors in Tudor times ate the +whole of the stalks with spoons. Swift's patron, Sir William +Temple, who had been British Minister at the Hague, brought the +art of Asparagus culture from Holland; and when William III. +visited Sir William at Moor Park, where young Jonathan was +domiciled as Secretary, his Majesty is said to have taught the +future Dean of St. Patrick's how to eat asparagus in the Dutch +style. Swift afterwards at his own table refused a second helping of +the vegetable to a guest until the stalks had been devoured, +alleging that "King William always ate his stalks." When the large +white asparagus first came into vogue, it was known as the "New +Vegetable." This was grown with lavish manure and was called +Dutch Asparagus. For [39] cooking the stalks should be cut of +equal lengths, and boiled standing upwards in a deep saucepan +with nearly two inches of the heads out of the water. Then the +steam will suffice to cook these tender parts, whilst the hard +stalky portions may be boiled long enough to become soft and +succulently wholesome. Two sorts of asparagus are now grown-- +the one an early kind, pinkish white, cultivated in France and the +Channel Islands; the other green and English. At Kynance Cove in +Cornwall, there is an island called Asparagus Island, from the +abundance in which the plant is found there. + +In connection with this popular vegetable may be quoted the +following riddle:-- + + "What killed a queen to love inclined, + What on a beggar oft we find, + Show--to ourselves if aptly joined, + A plant which we in bundles bind." + + + +BALM. + +The herb Balm, or _Melissa_, which is cultivated quite commonly +in our cottage gardens, has its origin in the wild, or bastard Balm, +growing in our woods, especially in the South of England, and +bearing the name of "Mellitis." Each is a labiate plant, and +"Bawme," say the Arabians, "makes the heart merry and joyful." +The title, "Balm," is an abbreviation of Balsam, which signifies +"the chief of sweet-smelling oils;" Hebrew, _Bal smin_, "chief of +oils"; and the botanical suffix, _Melissa_, bears reference to the +large quantity of honey (_mel_) contained in the flowers of this +herb. + +When cultivated, it yields from its leaves and tops an essential oil +which includes a chemical principle, or "stearopten." "The juice of +Balm," as Gerard tells us, "glueth together greene wounds," and +the leaves, say [40] both Pliny and Dioscorides, "being applied, do +close up woundes without any perill of inflammation." It is now +known as a scientific fact that the balsamic oils of aromatic plants +make most excellent surgical dressings. They give off ozone, and +thus exercise anti-putrescent effects. Moreover, as chemical +"hydrocarbons," they contain so little oxygen, that in wounds +dressed with the fixed balsamic herbal oils, the atomic germs of +disease are starved out. Furthermore, the resinous parts of these +balsamic oils, as they dry upon the sore or wound, seal it up, and +effectually exclude all noxious air. So the essential oils of balm, +peppermint, lavender, and the like, with pine oil, resin of +turpentine, and the balsam of benzoin (Friars' Balsam) should +serve admirably for ready application on lint or fine rag to cuts and +superficial sores. In domestic surgery, the lamentation of Jeremiah +falls to the ground: "Is there no balm in Gilead: is there no +physician there?" Concerning which "balm of Gilead," it may be +here told that it was formerly of great esteem in the East as a +medicine, and as a fragrant unguent. It was the true balsam of +Judea, which at one time grew nowhere else in the whole world +but at Jericho. But when the Turks took the Holy Land, they +transplanted this balsam to Grand Cairo, and guarded its shrubs +most jealously by Janissaries during the time the balsam was +flowing. + +In the "Treacle Bible," 1584, Jeremiah viii., v. 22, this passage is +rendered: "Is there not treacle at Gylead?" Venice treacle, or +triacle, was a famous antidote in the middle ages to all animal +poisons. It was named _Theriaca_ (the Latin word for our present +treacle) from the Greek word _Therion_, a small animal, in +allusion to the vipers which were added to the triacle by +Andromachus, physician to the emperor Nero. + +[41] Tea made of our garden balm, by virtue of the volatile oil, +will prove restorative, and will promote perspiration if taken hot +on the access of a cold or of influenza; also, if used in like manner, +it will help effectively to bring on the delayed monthly flow with +women. But an infusion of the plant made with cold water, acts +better as a remedy for hysterical headache, and as a general +nervine stimulant because the volatile aromatic virtues are not +dispelled by heat. Formerly, a spirit of balm, combined with lemon +peel, nutmeg, and angelica-root, enjoyed a great reputation as a +restorative cordial under the name of Carmelite water. Paracelsus +thought so highly of balm that he believed it would completely +revivify a man, as _primum ens melissoe_. The London Dispensatory +of 1696 said: "The essence of balm given in Canary wine every +morning will renew youth, strengthen the brain, relieve languishing +nature, and prevent baldness." "Balm," adds John Evelyn, "is +sovereign for the brain, strengthening the memory, and powerfully +chasing away melancholy." In France, women bruise the young shoots +of balm, and make them into cakes, with eggs, sugar, and rose +water, which they give to mothers in childbed as a strengthener. + +It is fabled that the Jew Ahasuerus (who refused a cup of water to +our Saviour on His way to Golgotha, and was therefore doomed to +wander athirst until Christ should come again) on a Whitsuntide +evening, asked for a draught of small beer at the door of a +Staffordshire cottager who was far advanced in consumption. He +got the drink, and out of gratitude advised the sick man to gather +in the garden three leaves of Balm, and to put them into a cup of +beer. This was to be repeated every fourth day for twelve days, the +refilling of the cup to be continued as often as might be wished; +then "the [42] disease shall be cured and thy body altered." So +saying, the Jew departed and was never seen there again. But the +cottager obeyed the injunction, and at the end of the twelve days +had become a sound man. + + + +BARBERRY. + +The Common Barberry (_Berberis_), which gives its name to a +special order of plants, grows wild as a shrub in our English +copses and hedges, particularly about Essex, being so called from +Berberin, a pearl oyster, because the leaves are glossy like the +inside of an oyster shell. It is remarkable for the light colour of its +bark, which is yellow inside, and for its three-forked spines. +Provincially it is also termed Pipperidge-bush, from "pepin," a pip, +and "rouge," red, as descriptive of its small scarlet juiceless fruit, +of which the active chemical principles, as well as of the bark, are +"berberin" and "oxyacanthin." The sparingly-produced juice of the +berries is cooling and astringent. It was formerly held in high +esteem by the Egyptians, when diluted as a drink, in pestilential +fevers. The inner, yellow bark, which has been long believed to +exercise a medicinal effect on the liver, because of its colour, is a +true biliary purgative. An infusion of this bark, made with boiling +water, is useful in jaundice from congestive liver, with furred +tongue, lowness of spirits, and yellow complexion; also for +swollen spleen from malarious exposure. A medicinal tincture (H.) +is made of the root-branches and the root-bark, with spirit of wine; +and if given three or four times a day in doses of five drops with +one tablespoonful of cold water, it will admirably rouse the liver to +healthy and more vigorous action. Conversely the tincture when of +reduced strength will stay bilious diarrhoea. British farmers dislike +the [43] Barberry shrub because, when it grows in cornfields, the +wheat near it is blighted, even to the distance of two or three +hundred yards. This is because of a special fungus which is +common to the Barberry, and being carried by the wind reproduces +itself by its spores destructively on the ears of wheat, the +AEcidium Berberidis, which generates Puccinia. + +Clusius setteth it down as a wonderful secret which he had from a +friend, "that if the yellow bark of Barberry be steeped in white +wine for three hours, and be afterwards drank, it will purge one +very marvellously." + +The berries upon old Barberry shrubs are often stoneless, and this +is the best fruit for preserving or for making the jelly. They +contain malic and citric acids; and it is from these berries that the +delicious _confitures d'epine vinette_, for which Rouen is famous, +are commonly prepared. And the same berries are chosen in +England to furnish the kernel for a very nice sugar-plum. The +syrup of Barberries will make with water an excellent astringent +gargle for raw, irritable sore throat; likewise the jelly gives famous +relief for this catarrhal affection. It is prepared by boiling the +berries, when ripe, with an equal weight of sugar, and then +straining. For an attack of colic because of gravel in the kidneys, +five drops of the tincture on sugar every five minutes will +promptly relieve, as likewise when albumen is found by analysis +in the urine. + +A noted modern nostrum belauds the virtues of the Barberry as +specific against bile, heartburn, and the black jaundice, this being +a remedy which was "discovered after infinite pains by one who +had studied for thirty years by candle light for the good of his +countrymen." In Gerard's time at the village of Ivor, near +Colebrooke, most of the hedges consisted solely of Barberry +bushes. + +[44] The following is a good old receipt for making Barberry +jam:--Pick the fruit from the stalks, and bake it in an earthen pan; +then press it through a sieve with a wooden spoon. Having mixed equal +weights of the prepared fruit, and of powdered sugar, put these +together in pots, and cover the mixture up, setting them in a dry +place, and having sifted some powdered sugar over the top of each +pot. Among the Italians the Barberry bears the name of Holy +Thorn, because thought to have formed part of the crown of thorns +made for our Saviour. + + + +BARLEY. + +Hordeum Vulgare--common Barley--is chiefly used in Great Britain +for brewing and distilling; but, it has dietetic and medicinal +virtues which entitle it to be considered among serviceable +simples. Roman gladiators who depended for their strength and +prowess chiefly on Barley, were called Hordearii. Nevertheless, +this cereal is less nourishing than wheat, and when prepared as +food is apt to purge; therefore it is not made into bread, except +when wheat is scarce and dear, though in Scotland poor people eat +Barley bread. In India Barley meal is made into balls of dough for +the oxen and camels. Pearl Barley is prepared in Holland and +Germany by first shelling the grain, and then grinding it into round +white granules. The ancients fed their horses upon Barley, and we +fatten swine on this grain made into meal. Among the Greeks beer +was known as barley wine, which was brewed without hops, these +dating only from the fourteenth century. + +A decoction of barley with gum arabic, one ounce of the gum +dissolved in a pint of the hot decoction, is a very useful drink to +soothe irritation of the bladder, [45] and of the urinary passages. +The chemical constituents of Barley are starch, gluten, albumen, +oil, and hordeic acid. From the earliest times it has been employed +to prepare drinks for the sick, especially in feverish disorders, and +for sore lining membranes of the chest. Honey may be added +beneficially to the decoction of barley for bronchial coughs. The +French make "Orgeat" of barley boiled in successive waters, and +sweetened at length as a cooling drink: though this name is now +applied in France to a liqueur concocted from almonds. + + + +BASIL. + +The herb Sweet Basil (_Ocymum Basilicum_) is so called because +"the smell thereof is fit for a king's house." It grows commonly in +our kitchen gardens, but in England it dies down every year, and +the seeds have to be sown annually. Botanically, it is named +"basilicon," or royal, probably because used of old in some regal +unguent, or bath, or medicine. + +This, and the wild Basil, belong to the Labiate order of plants. The +leaves of the Sweet Basil, when slightly bruised, exhale a +delightful odour; they gave the distinctive flavour to the original +Fetter-Lane sausages. + +The Wild Basil (_Calamintha clinopodium_) or Basil thyme, or +Horse thyme, is a hairy plant growing in bushy places, also about +hedges and roadsides, and bearing whorls of purple flowers with +a strong odour of cloves. The term _Clinopodium_ signifies "bed's-foot +flower," because "the branches dooe resemble the foot of a +bed." In common with the other labiates, Basil, both the wild and +the sweet, furnishes an aromatic volatile camphoraceous oil. On +this account it is much employed in France for flavouring soups +(especially mock turtle) and [46] sauces; and the dry leaves, in the +form of snuff, are used for relieving nervous headaches. A tea, +made by pouring boiling water on the garden basil, when green, +gently but effectually helps on the retarded monthly flow with +women. The Bush Basil is _Ocymum minimum_, of which the leafy +tops are used for seasoning, and in salads. + +The Sweet Basil has been immortalised by Keats in his tender, +pathetic poem of _Isabella and the Pot of Basil_, founded on +a story from Boccaccio. She reverently possessed herself of +the decapitated head of her lover, Lorenzo, who had been +treacherously slain:-- + + "She wrapped it up, and for its tomb did choose + A garden pot, wherein she laid it by, + And covered it with mould, and o'er it set + Sweet Basil, which her tears kept ever wet." + +The herb was used at funerals in Persia. Its seeds were sown by the +Romans with maledictions and curses through the belief that the +more it was abused the better it would prosper. When desiring a +good crop they trod it down with their feet, and prayed the gods it +might not vegetate. The Greeks likewise supposed Basil to thrive +best when sown with swearing; and this fact explains the French +saying, _Semer la Basilic_, as signifying "to slander." It was told +in Elizabeth's time that the hand of a fair lady made Basil flourish; +and this was then planted in pots as an act of gallantry. "Basil," +says John Evelyn, "imparts a grateful flavour to sallets if not too +strong, but is somewhat offensive to the eyes." Shenstone, in his +_School Mistress's Garden_, tells of "the tufted Basil," and +Culpeper quaintly says: "Something is the matter; Basil and Rue +will never grow together: no, nor near one another." It is related +[47] that a certain advocate of Genoa was once sent as an +ambassador to treat for conditions with the Duke of Milan; but the +Duke harshly refused to hear the message, or to grant the +conditions. Then the Ambassador offered him a handful of Basil. +Demanding what this meant, the Duke was told that the properties +of the herb were, if gently handled, to give out a pleasant odour; +but that, if bruised, and hardly wrung, it would breed scorpions. +Moved by this witty answer, the Duke confirmed the conditions, +and sent the Ambassador honourably home. + + + +BEAN (_see_ Pea and Bean). + + + +BELLADONNA (_see_ Night Shade). + + + +BENNET HERB (Avens). + +This, the _Herba Benedicta_, or Blessed Herb, or Avens (_Geum +Urbanum_) is a very common plant of the Rose tribe, in our +woods, hedges, and shady places. It has an erect hairy stem, red at +the base, with terminal bright yellow drooping flowers. The +ordinary name Avens--or Avance, Anancia, Enancia--signifies an +antidote, because it was formerly thought to ward off the Devil, +and evil spirits, and venomous beasts. Where the root is in a house +Satan can do nothing, and flies from it: "therefore" (says Ortus +Sanitatis) "it is blessed before all other herbs; and if a man carries +the root about him no venomous beast can harm him." The herb +is sometimes called Way Bennet, and Wild Rye. Its graceful +trefoiled loaf, and the fine golden petals of its flowers, +symbolising the five wounds of Christ, were sculptured by the +monks of the thirteenth century on their Church architecture. The +botanical title of this [48] plant, _Geum_, is got from _Geuo_, "to +yield an agreeable fragrance," in allusion to the roots. Hence also +has been derived another appellation of the Avens--_Radix +Caryophyllata_, or "clove root," because when freshly dug out of +the ground the roots smell like cloves. They yield tannin freely, +with mucilage, resin, and muriate of lime, together with a heavy +volatile oil. The roots are astringent and antiseptic, having been +given in infusion for ague, and as an excellent cordial sudorific in +chills, or for fresh catarrh. To make this a pint of boiling water +should be poured on half an ounce of the dried root, or rather more +of the fresh root, sliced. Half a wineglassful will be the dose, or +ten grains of the powdered root. An extract is further made. When +the petals of the flower fall off, a small round prickly ball is to be +seen. + + + +BETONY. + +Few, if any, herbal plants have been more praised for their +supposed curative virtues than the Wood Betony (_Stachys +Betonica_), belonging to the order of Labiates. By the common +people it is often called Bitny. The name _Betonica_ is from the +Celtic "ben," head, and "tonic," good, in allusion to the usefulness +of the herb against infirmities of the head. It is of frequent growth +in shady woods and meadows, having aromatic leaves, and spikes +(stakoi) of light purple flowers. Formerly it was held in the very +highest esteem as a leading herbal simple. The Greeks loudly +extolled its good qualities. Pliny, in downright raptures, styled it +_ante cunctas laudatissima_! An old Italian proverb ran thus: +_Vende la tunica en compra la Betonia_, "Sell your coat, and buy +Betony;" whilst modern Italians, when speaking of a most +excellent man, say, [49] "He has as many virtues as Betony"--_He +piu virtu che Bettonica_. + +In the _Medicina Britannica_, 1666, we read: "I have known the +most obstinate headaches cured by daily breakfasting for a month +or six weeks on a decoction of Betony, made with new milk, and +strained." + +Antonius Musa, chief physician to the Emperor Augustus, wrote a +book entirely on the virtues of this herb. Meyrick says, inveterate +headaches after resisting every other remedy, have been cured by +taking daily at breakfast a decoction made from the leaves and +tops of the Wood Betony. Culpeper wrote: "This is a precious herb +well worth keeping in your house." Gerard tells that "Betony +maketh a man have a good appetite to his meat, and is commended +against ache of the knuckle bones" (sciatica). + +A pinch of the powdered herb will provoke violent sneezing. The +dried leaves formed an ingredient in Rowley's British Herb Snuff, +which was at one time quite famous against headaches. + +And yet, notwithstanding all this concensus of praise from writers +of different epochs, it does not appear that the Betony, under +chemical analysis and research, shows itself as containing any +special medicinal or curative constituents. It only affords the +fragrant aromatic principles common to most of the labiate plants. + +Parkinson, who enlarged the _Herbal_ of Gerard, pronounced the +leaves and flowers of Wood Betony, "by their sweet and spicy +taste, comfortable both in meate and medicine." Anyhow, Betony +tea, made with boiling water poured on the plant, is a safe drink, +and likely to prove of benefit against languid nervous headaches; +and the dried herb may be smoked as tobacco for relieving the +same ailment. To make Betony tea, put two ounces of [50] the +herb to a quart of water over the fire, and let this gradually simmer +to three half-pints. Give a wine-glassful of the decoction three +times a day. A conserve may be made from the flowers for similar +purposes. The Poet Laureate, A. Austin, mentions "lye of Betony +to soothe the brow." Both this plant, and the _Water Betony_--so +called from its similarity of leaf--bear the name of Kernel-wort, +from having tubers or kernels attached to the roots, and from being +therefore supposed, on the doctrine of signatures, to cure diseased +kernels or scrofulous glands in the neck; also to banish piles from +the fundament. + +But the Water Betony (Figwort) belongs not to the labiates, but to +the _Scrophulariaceoe_, or scrofula-curing order of plants. It +is called in some counties "brown-wort," and in Yorkshire +"bishopsleaves," or, _l'herbe du siege_, which term has a double +meaning--in allusion both to the seat in the temple of Cloacina +(W.C.) and to the ailments of the lower body in connection +therewith, as well as to the more exalted "See" of a Right +Reverend Prelate. In old times the Water figwort was famous as +a vulnerary, both when used externally, and when taken in +decoction. The name "brown-wort" has been got either from the +brown colour of the stems and flowers, or, more probably, from its +growing abundantly about the "brunnen," or public German +fountains. Wasps and bees are fond of the flowers. In former days +this herb was relied on for the cure of toothache, and for expelling +the particular disembodied spirit, or "mare," which visited our +Saxon ancestors during their sleep after supper, being familiarly +known to them as the "nightmare." The "Echo" was in like manner +thought by the Saxons to be due to a spectre, or mare, which +they called the "wood mare." The Water [51] Betony is said to +make one of the ingredients in Count Mattaei's noted remedy, +"anti-scrofuloso." The Figwort is named in Somersetshire "crowdy-kit" +(the word kit meaning a fiddle), "or fiddlewood," because if two of +the stalks are rubbed together, they make a noise like the scraping +of the bow on violin strings. In Devonshire, also, the plant is +known as "fiddler." + +An allied Figwort--which is botanically called _nodosa_, or +knotted--is considered, when an ointment is made with it, using +the whole plant bruised and treated with unsalted lard, a sovereign +remedy against "burnt holes" or gangrenous chicken-pox, such as +often attacks the Irish peasantry, who subsist on a meagre and +exclusively vegetable diet, being half starved, and pent up in +wretched foul hovels. This herb is said to be certainly curative of +hydrophobia, by taking every morning whilst fasting a slice of +bread and butter on which the powdered knots of the roots have +been spread, following it up with two tumblers of fresh spring +water. Then let the patient be well clad in woollen garments and +made to take a long fast walk until in a profuse perspiration. The +treatment should be continued for nine days. Again, the botanical +name of a fig, _ficus_, has been commonly applied to a sore or +scab appearing on a part of the body where hair is, or to a red sore +in the fundament, i.e., to a pile. And the Figwort is so named in +allusion to its curative virtues against piles, when the plant is made +into an ointment for outward use, and when the tincture is taken +internally. It is specially visited by wasps. + + + +BILBERRY (Whortleberry, or Whinberry). + +This fruit, which belongs to the Cranberry order of plants, grows +abundantly throughout England in heathy [52] and mountainous +districts. The small-branched shrub bears globular, wax-like +flowers, and black berries, which are covered, when quite fresh, +with a grey bloom. In the West of England they are popularly +called "whorts," and they ripen about the time of St. James' Feast, +July 25th. Other names for the fruit are Blueberry, Bulberry, +Hurtleberry, and Huckleberry. The title Whinberry has been +acquired from its growing on Whins, or Heaths; and Bilberry +signifies dark coloured; whence likewise comes Blackwort as +distinguished in its aspect from the Cowberry and the Cranberry. +By a corruption the original word Myrtleberry has suffered change +of its initial M into W. (Whortlebery.) In the middle ages the +Myrtleberry was used in medicine and cookery, to which berry the +Whortleberry bears a strong resemblance. It is agreeable to the +taste, and may be made into tarts, but proves mawkish unless +mixed with some more acid fruit. + +The Bilberry (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_) is an admirable astringent, +and should be included as such among the domestic medicines of +the housewife. If some good brandy be poured over two handfuls +of the fruit in a bottle, this will make an extract which continually +improves by being kept. Obstinate diarrhoea may be cured by +giving doses of a tablespoonful of this extract taken with a +wineglassful of warm water, and repeated at intervals of two hours +whilst needed, even for the more severe cases of dysenteric +diarrhoea. The berries contain chemically much tannin. Their stain +on the lips may be quickly effaced by sucking at a lemon. In +Devonshire they are eaten at table with cream. The Irish call them +"frawns." If the first tender leaves are properly gathered and dried, +they can scarcely be [53] distinguished from good tea. Moor game +live on these berries in the autumn. Their juice will stain paper or +linen purple:-- + + "Sanguineo splendore rosas vaccinia nigro, + Induit, et dulci violas ferrugine pingit." + CLAUDIAN. + +They are also called in some counties, Blaeberries, Truckleberries, +and Blackhearts. + +The extract of Bilberry is found to be a very useful application for +curing such skin diseases as scaly eczema, and other eczema +which is not moist or pustulous; also for burns and scalds. Some of +the extract is to be laid thickly on the cleansed skin with a camel +hairbrush, and a thin layer of cotton wool to be spread over it, the +whole being fastened with a calico or gauze bandage. This should +be changed gently once a day. + +Another Vaccinium (oxycoccos), the Marsh Whortleberry, or +Cranberry, or Fenberry--from growing in fens--is found in peat +bogs, chiefly in the North. This is a low plant with straggling wiry +stems, and solitary terminal bright red flowers, of which the +segments are bent back in a singular manner. Its fruit likewise +makes excellent tarts, and forms a considerable article of +commerce at Langtown, on the borders of Cumberland. The fruit +stalks are crooked at the top, and before the blossom expands they +resemble the head and neck of a crane. + + + +BLACKBERRY. + +This is the well-known fruit of the Common Bramble (_Rubus +fructicosus_), which grows in every English hedgerow, and which +belongs to the Rose order of plants. It has long been esteemed for +its bark and leaves as a [54] capital astringent, these containing +much tannin; also for its fruit, which is supplied with malic and +citric acids, pectin, and albumen. Blackberries go often by the +name of "bumblekites," from "bumble," the cry of the bittern, and +kyte, a Scotch word for belly; the name bumblekite being applied, +says Dr. Prior, "from the rumbling and bumbling caused in the +bellies of children who eat the fruit too greedily." "Rubus" is from +the Latin _ruber_, red. + +The blackberry has likewise acquired the name of scaldberry, from +producing, as some say, the eruption known as scaldhead in +children who eat the fruit to excess; or, as others suppose, from the +curative effects of the leaves and berries in this malady of the +scalp; or, again, from the remedial effects of the leaves when +applied externally to scalds. + +It has been said that the young shoots, eaten as a salad, will fasten +loose teeth. If the leaves are gathered in the Spring and dried, then, +when required, a handful of them may be infused in a pint of +boiling water, and the infusion, when cool, may be taken, a +teacupful at a time, to stay diarrhoea, and for some bleedings. +Similarly, if an ounce of the bruised root is boiled in three +half-pints of water, down to a pint, a teacupful of this may be given +every three or four hours. The decoction is also useful against +whooping-cough in its spasmodic stage. The bark contains tannin; +and if an ounce of the same be boiled in a pint and a half of water, +or of milk, down to a pint, half a teacupful of the decoction may be +given every hour or two for staying relaxed bowels. Likewise the +fruit, if desiccated in a moderately hot oven, and afterwards +reduced to powder (which should be kept ill a well corked bottle) +will prove an efficacious remedy for dysentery. + +[55] Gerard says: "Bramble leaves heal the eyes that hang out, and +stay the haemorrhoides [piles] if they can be laid thereunto." The +London _Pharmacopoeia_ (1696) declared the ripe berries of the +bramble to be a great cordial, and to contain a notable restorative +spirit. In Cruso's _Treasury of Easy Medicines_ (1771), it is +directed for old inveterate ulcers: "Take a decoction of blackberry +leaves made in wine, and foment the ulcers with this whilst hot +each night and morning, which will heal them, however difficult to +be cured." The name of the bush is derived from brambel, or +brymbyll, signifying prickly; its blossom as well as the fruit, ripe +and unripe, in all stages, may be seen on the bush at the same time. +With the ancient Greeks Blackberries were a popular remedy for +gout. + +As soon as blackberries are over-ripe, they become quite +indigestible. Country folk say in Somersetshire and Sussex: "The +devil goes round on Old Michaelmas Day, October 11th, to spite +the Saint, and spits on the blackberries, so that they who eat them +after that date fall sick, or have trouble before the year is out." +Blackberry wine and blackberry jam are taken for sore throats in +many rustic homes. Blackberry jelly is useful for dropsy from +feeble ineffective circulation. To make "blackberry cordial," the +juice should be expressed from the fresh ripe fruit, adding half a +pound of white sugar to each quart thereof, together with half an +ounce of both nutmeg and cloves; then boil these together for a +short time, and add a little brandy to the mixture when cold. + +In Devonshire the peasantry still think that if anyone is troubled +with "blackheads," _i.e._, small pimples, or boils, he may be cured +by creeping from East to West on the hands and knees nine times +beneath an arched [56] bramble bush. This is evidently a relic of +an old Dryad superstition when the angry deities who inhabited +particular trees had to be appeased before the special diseases +which they inflicted could be cured. It is worthy of remark that the +Bramble forms the subject of the oldest known apologue. When +Jonathan upbraided the men of Shechem for their base ingratitude +to his father's house, he related to them the parable of the trees +choosing a king, by whom the Bramble was finally elected, after +the olive, the fig tree, and the vine had excused themselves from +accepting this dignity. + +In the Roxburghe Ballad of "The Children in the Wood," occurs +the verse-- + + "Their pretty lips with Blackberries + Were all besmeared and dyed; + And when they saw the darksome night + They sat them down, and cryed." + +The French name for blackberries is _mures sauvages_, also +_mures de haie_; and in some of our provincial districts they are +known as "winterpicks," growing on the Blag. + +Blackberry wine, which is a trustworthy cordial astringent remedy +for looseness of the bowels, may be made thus: Measure your +berries, and bruise them, and to every gallon of the fruit add a +quart of boiling water. Let the mixture stand for twenty-four hours, +occasionally stirring; then strain off the liquid, adding to every +gallon a couple of pounds of refined sugar, and keep it in a cask +tightly corked till the following October, when it will be ripe and +rich. + +A noted hair-dye is said to be made by boiling the leaves of the +bramble in strong lye, which then imparts permanently to the hair +a soft, black colour. Tom Hood, in his humorous way, described a +negro funeral [57] as "going a black burying." An American poet +graphically tell us:-- + + "Earth's full of Heaven, + And every common bush afire with God! + But only they who see take off their shoes; + The rest sit round it, and--pluck blackberries." + + + +BLUEBELL (Wild Hyacinth). + +This,--the _Agraphis mutans_,--of the Lily tribe--is so abundant in +English woods and pastures, whilst so widely known, and popular +with young and old, as to need no description. Hyacinth petals +are marked in general with dark spots, resembling in their +arrangement the Greek word AI, alas! because a youth, beloved by +Apollo, and killed by an ill-wind, was changed into this flower. +But the wild Hyacinth bears no such character on its petals, and is +therefore called "non-scriptus." The graceful curl of the petals, not +their dark violet colour, has suggested to the poets "hyacinthine +locks." + +In Walton's _Angler_ the Bluebell is mentioned as Culverkeys, the +same as "Calverkeys" in Wiltshire. No particular medicinal uses +have attached themselves to the wild Hyacinth flower as a herbal +simple. The root is round, and was formerly prized for its +abundant clammy juice given out when bruised, and employed as +starch. Miss Pratt refers to this as poisonous; and our Poet +Laureate teaches:-- + + "In the month when earth and sky are one, + To squeeze the blue bell 'gainst the adder's bite." + +When dried and powdered, the root as a styptic is of special virtue +to cure the whites of women: in doses of not more than three +grains at a time. "There is [58] hardly," says Sir John Hill, "a more +powerful remedy." Tennyson has termed the woodland abundance +of Hyacinths in full spring time as "The heavens upbreaking +through the earth." On the day of St. George, the Patron Saint of +England, these wild hyacinths tinge the meadows and pastures +with their deep blue colour--an emblem of the ocean empire, over +which England assumes the rule. + +But the chief charms of the Bluebell are its beauty and early +appearance. Now is "the winter past; the rain is over and gone; the +flowers appear on the earth; the time for the singing of birds is +come; and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land." + + "This earth is one great temple, made + For worship everywhere; + The bells are flowers in sun and shade + Which ring the heart to prayer." + + "The city bell takes seven days + To reach the townsman's ear; + But he who kneels in Nature's ways. + Has Sabbath all the year." + +The Hairbell (_Campanula rotundifolia_) is the Bluebell of +Scotland; and nothing rouses a Scot to anger more surely than to +exhibit the wild Hyacinth as the true Bluebell. + + + +BOG BEAN (or Marsh-trefoil). + +The Buck-bean, or Bog-bean, which is common enough in stagnant +pools, and on our spongy bogs, is the most serviceable of +all known herbal tonics. It may be easily recognised growing in +water by its large leaves overtopping the surface, each being +composed of three leaflets, and resembling the leaf of a Windsor +Broad Bean. The flowers when in bud are of a bright rose [59] +color, and when fully blown they have the inner surface of their +petals thickly covered with a white fringe, on which account the +plant is known also as "white fluff." The name Buckbean is +perhaps a corruption of _scorbutus_, scurvy; this giving it another +title, "scurvy bean." And it is termed "goat's bean," perhaps from +the French _le bouc_, "a he-goat." The plant flowers for a month +and therefore bears the botanical designation, "Menyanthes" +(_trifoliata_) from _meen_, "a month," and _anthos_, "a flower." It +belongs to the Gentian tribe, each of which is distinguished by a +tonic and appetizing bitterness of taste. The root of the Bog Bean +is the most bitter part, and is therefore selected for medicinal use. +It contains a chemical glucoside, "Menyanthin," which consists of +glucose and a volatile product, "Menyanthol." For curative +purposes druggists supply an infusion of the herb, and a liquid +extract in combination with liquorice. These preparations are in +moderate doses, strengthening and antiscorbutic; but when given +more largely they are purgative and emetic. Gerard says if the +plant "be taken with mead, or honied water, it is of use against a +cough"; in which respect it is closely allied to the Sundew (another +plant of the bogs) for relieving whooping-cough after the first +feverish stage, or any similar hacking, spasmodic cough. A +tincture is made (H.) from the whole plant with spirit of wine, and +this proves most useful for clearing obscuration of the sight, when +there is a sense, especially in the open-air, of a white vibrating +mist before the eyes; and therefore it has been given with marked +success in early stages of amaurotic paralysis of the retina. The +dose should be three or four drops of the tincture with a +tablespoonful of cold water three times in the day for a week at a +time. + + + +[60] BORAGE. + +The Borage, with its gallant blue flower, is cultivated in our +gardens as a pot herb, and is associated in our minds with bees and +claret cup. It grows wild in abundance on open plains where the +soil is favourable, and it has a long-established reputation for +cheering the spirits. Botanically, it is the _Borago officinalis_, this +title being a corruption of _cor-ago_, i.e., _cor_, the heart, _ago_, +I stimulate--_quia cordis affectibus medetur_, because it cures weak +conditions of the heart. An old Latin adage says: _Borago ego +gaudia semper ago_--"I, Borage, bring always courage"; or the +name may be derived from the Celtic, _Borrach_, "a noble +person." This plant was the Bugloss of the older botanists, and it +corresponds to our Common Bugloss, so called from the shape and +bristly surface of its leaves, which resemble _bous-glossa_, the +tongue of an ox. Chemically, the plant Borage contains potassium +and calcium combined with mineral acids. The fresh juice affords +thirty per cent., and the dried herb three per cent. of nitrate of +potash. The stems and leaves supply much saline mucilage, which, +when boiled and cooled, likewise deposits nitre and common salt. +These crystals, when ignited, will burn with a succession of small +sparkling explosions, to the great delight of the schoolboy. And it +is to such saline qualities the wholesome, invigorating effects and +the specially refreshing properties of the Borage are supposed to +be mainly due. For which reason, the plant, "when taken in +sallets," as says an old herbalist, "doth exhilarate, and make the +mind glad," almost in the same way as a bracing sojourn by the +seaside during an autumn holiday. The flowers possess cordial +virtues which are very revivifying, and have been much commended +against melancholic depression of the nervous system. Burton, +in his [61] _Anatomy of Melancholy_ (1676), wrote with reference +to the frontispiece of that book:-- + + "Borage and Hellebore fill two scenes, + Sovereign plants to purge the veins + Of melancholy, and cheer the heart + Of those black fumes which make it smart; + The best medicine that God e'er made + For this malady, if well assaid." + +"The sprigs of Borage," wrote John Evelyn, "are of known virtue +to revive the hypochondriac and cheer the hard student." + +According to Dioscorides and Pliny, the Borage was that famous +nepenthe of Homer which Polydamas sent to Helen for a token "of +such rare virtue that when taken steep'd in wine, if wife and +children, father and mother, brother and sister, and all thy dearest +friends should die before thy face, thou could'st not grieve, or shed +a tear for them." "The bowl of Helen had no other ingredient, as +most criticks do conjecture, than this of borage." And it was +declared of the herb by another ancient author: _Vinum potatum +quo sit macerata buglossa moerorum cerebri dicunt auferre +periti_:-- + + "To enliven the sad with the joy of a joke, + Give them wine with some borage put in it to soak." + +The Romans named the Borage _Euphrosynon_, because when put +into a cup of wine it made the drinkers of the same merry and +glad. + +Parkinson says, "The seed of Borage helpeth nurses to have more +store of milk, for which purpose its leaves are most conducing." Its +saline constituents promote activity of the kidneys, and for this +reason the plant is used in France to carry off catarrhs which are +feverish. The fresh herb has a cucumber-like odour, and when +compounded with lemon and sugar, added to wine and [62] water, +it makes a delicious "cool tankard," as a summer drink. "A syrup +concocted of the floures," said Gerard, "quieteth the lunatick +person, and the leaves eaten raw do engender good blood." Of all +nectar-loving insects, bees alone know how to pronounce the +"open sesame" of admission to the honey pots of the Borage. + + + +BROOM. + +The Broom, or Link (_Cytisus scoparius_) is a leguminous shrub +which is well known as growing abundantly on open places in our +rural districts. The prefix "cytisus" is derived from the name of a +Greek island where Broom abounded. It formerly bore the name of +_Planta Genista_, and gave rise to the historic title, "Plantagenet." +A sprig of its golden blossom was borne by Geoffrey of Anjou in +his bonnet when going into battle, making him conspicuous +throughout the strife. In the _Ingoldsby Legends_ it is said of our +second King Henry's headdress:-- + + "With a great sprig of broom, which he bore as a badge in it, + He was named from this circumstance, Henry Plantagenet." + +The stalks of the Broom, and especially the topmost young twigs, +are purgative, and act powerfully on the kidneys to increase the +flow of urine. They contain chemically an acid principle, +"scoparin," and an alkaloid, "sparteine." For medical purposes +these terminal twigs are used (whether fresh or dried) to make a +decoction which is of great use in dropsy from a weak heart, but it +should not be given where congestion of the lungs is present. From +half to one ounce by weight of the tops should be boiled down in a +pint of water to half this quantity, and a wineglassful may be taken +as a dose every four or six hours. For more chronic dropsy, +a compound decoction of broom may be given with much [63] +benefit. To make this, use broom-tops and dandelion roots, of each +half an ounce, boiling them in a pint of water down to half a pint, +and towards the last adding half an ounce of bruised juniper +berries. When cold, the decoction should be strained and a +wineglassful may be had three or four times a day. "Henry the +Eighth, a prince of famous memory, was wonte to drinke the +distilled water of broome flowers against surfeits and diseases +therefrom arising." The flower-buds, pickled in vinegar, are +sometimes used as capers; and the roasted seeds have been +substituted for coffee. Sheep become stupefied or excited when by +chance constrained to eat broom-tops. + +The generic name, _Scoparius_, is derived from the Latin word +_scopa_, a besom, this signifying "a shrub to sweep with." It has +been long represented that witches delight to ride thereon: and in +Holland, if a vessel lying in dock has a besom tied to the top of its +mast, this advertises it as in search of a new owner. Hence has +arisen the saying about a woman when seeking a second husband, +_Zij steetk't dem bezen_, "She hangs out the broom." + +There is a tradition in Suffolk and Sussex:-- + + "If you sweep the house with Broom in May, + You'll sweep the head of the house away." + +Allied to the Broom, and likewise belonging to the Papilionaceous +order of leguminous plants, though not affording any known +medicinal principle, the Yellow Gorse (_Ulex_) or Furze grows +commonly throughout England on dry exposed plains. It covers +these during the flowering season with a gorgeous sheet of yellow +blossoms, orange perfumed, and which entirely conceals the +rugged brown unsightly branches beneath. Its elastic seed vessels +burst with a crackling noise in hot [64] weather, and scatter the +seeds on all sides. "Some," says Parkinson, "have used the flowers +against the jaundice," but probably only because of their yellow +colour. "The seeds," adds Gerard, "are employed in medicines +against the stone, and the staying of the laske" (_laxitas_, +looseness). They are certainly astringent, and contain tannin. In +Devonshire the bush is called "Vuzz," and in Sussex "Hawth." + +The Gorse is rare in Scotland, thriving best in our cool humid +climate. In England it is really never out of blossom, not even after +a severe frost, giving rise to the well-known saying "Love is never +out of season except when the Furze is out of bloom." It is also +known as Fursbush, Furrs and Whins, being crushed and given as +fodder to cattle. The tender shoots are protected from being eaten +by herbivorous animals in the same way as are the thistles and the +holly, by the angles of the leaves having grown together so as to +constitute prickles. + + "'Twere to cut off an epigram's point, + Or disfurnish a knight of his spurs, + If we foolishly tried to disjoint + Its arms from the lance-bearing Furze." + +Linnoeus "knelt before it on the sod: and for its beauty thanked his +God." + +The _Butcher's Broom, Ruscus (or Bruscus) aculeatus_, or prickly, +is a plant of the Lily order, which grows chiefly in the South of +England, on heathy places and in woods. It bears sharp-pointed, +stiff leaves (each of which produces a small solitary flower on its +upper surface), and scarlet berries. The shrub is also known as +Knee Hulyer, Knee Holly (confused with the Latin _cneorum_), +Prickly Pettigrue and Jews' Myrtle. Butchers make besoms of its +twigs, with which to sweep their stalls or [65] blocks: and these +twigs are called "pungi topi," "prickrats," from being used to +preserve meat from rats. Jews buy the same for service during the +Feast of Tabernacles; and the boughs have been employed for +flogging chilblains. The Butcher's Broom has been claimed by the +Earls of Sutherland as the distinguishing badge of their followers +and Clan, every Sutherland volunteer wearing a sprig of the bush +in his bonnet on field days. This shrub is highly extolled as a free +promoter of urine in dropsy and obstructions of the kidneys; a pint +of boiling water should be poured on an ounce of the fresh twigs, +or on half-an-ounce of the bruised root, to make an infusion, +which may be taken as tea. The root is at first sweet to the taste, +and afterwards bitter. + + + +BRYONY. + +English hedgerows exhibit Bryony of two distinct sorts--the white +and the black--which differ much, the one from the other, as to +medicinal properties, and which belong to separate orders of +plants. The White Bryony is botanically a cucumber, being of +common growth at our roadsides, and often called the White Vine; +it also bears the name of Tetterberry, from curing a disease of the +skin known as tetters. It climbs about with long straggling stalks, +which attach themselves by spiral tendrils, and which produce +rough, palmated leaves. Insignificant pale-green flowers spring in +small clusters from the bottom of these leaves. The round berries +are at first green, and afterwards brilliantly red. Chemically, the +plant contains "bryonin," a medicinal substance which is intensely +bitter; also malate and phosphate of lime, with gum, starch, and +sugar. + +A tincture is made (H.) from the fresh root collected before the +plant flowers, which is found to [66] be of superlative use for the +relief of chronic rheumatism (especially when aggravated by +moving), and for subduing active congestions of the serous +membranes which line the heart-bag, the ribs, the outer coat of the +brain, and which cover the bowels. In the treatment of pleurisy, +this tincture is invaluable. Four drops should be given in a +tablespoonful of cold water every three or four hours. Also for any +contused bruising of the skin, and especially for a black eye, to +promptly bathe the injured part with a decoction of White +Bryony root will speedily subdue the swelling, and will prevent +discoloration far better than a piece of raw beef applied outside as +the remedy most approved in the Ring. + +In France, the White Bryony is deemed so potent and perilous, that +its root is named the devil's turnip--_navet du diable_. + +Our English plant, the _Bryonia dioica_, purges as actively as +colocynth, if too freely administered. + +The name Bryony is two thousand years old, and comes from a +Greek word _bruein_, "to shoot forth rapidly." + +From the incised root of the White Bryony exudes a milky juice +which is aperient of action, and which has been commended for +epilepsy, as well as for obstructed liver and dropsy; also its +tincture for chronic constipation. + +The popular herbal drink known as Hop Bitters is said to owe +many of its supposed virtues to the bryony root, substituted for the +mandrake which it is alleged to contain. The true mandrake is a +gruesome herb, which was held in superstitious awe by the Greeks +and the Romans. Its root was forked, and bears some resemblance +to the legs of a man; for which reason the moneymakers [67] of +the past increased the likeness, and attributed supernatural powers +to the plant. It was said to grow only beneath a murderer's gibbet, +and when torn from the earth by its root to utter a shriek which +none might hear and live. From earliest times, in the East, a notion +prevailed that the mandrake would remove sterility. With which +purpose in view, Rachel said to Leah: "Give me, I pray thee, of thy +son's mandrakes" (Genesis xxx. v. 14). In later times the Bryony +has come into use instead of the true mandrake, and it has +continued to form a profitable spurious article with mountebank +doctors. In Henry the Eighth's day, ridiculous little images made +from Bryony roots, cut into the figure of a man, and with grains of +millet inserted into the face as eyes, the same being known as +pappettes or mammettes, were accredited with magical powers, +and fetched high prices with simple folk. Italian ladies have been +known to pay as much as thirty golden ducats for one of these +artificial mandrakes. Readers of Thalaba (Southey) will remember +the fine scene in which Khawla procures this plant to form part of +the waxen figure of the Destroyer. Unscrupulous vendors of the +fraudulent articles used to seek out a thriving young Bryony plant, +and to open the earth round it. Then being prepared with a mould +such as is used for making Plaster of Paris figures, they fixed it +close to the root, and fastened it with wire to keep it in place. +Afterwards, by filling the earth up to the root they left it to assume +the required shape, which was generally accomplished in a single +summer. + +The medicinal tincture (H.) of White Bryony (_Bryonia alba_) is +of special service to persons of dark hair and complexion, with +firm fibre of flesh, and of a bilious cross-grained temperament. +Also it is of [68] particular use for relieving coughs, and colds of a +feverish bronchial sort, caught by exposure to the east wind. On +the contrary, the catarrhal troubles of sensitive females, and of +young children, are better met by Ipecacuanha:-- + + "Coughing in a shady grove + Sat my Juliana, + Lozenges I gave my love, + Ipecacuanha-- + Full twenty from the lozenge box + The greedy nymph did pick; + Then, sighing sadly, said to me-- + My Damon, I am sick." + _George Canning._ + + THYRSIS ET PHYLLIS. + In nemore umbroso Phyllis mea forte sedebat, + Cui mollem exhausit tussis anhela sinum: + Nec mora: de loculo deprompsi pyxida loevo, + Ipecacuaneos, exhibuique trochos: + Illa quidem imprudens medicatos leniter orbes + Absorpsit numero bisque quaterque decem: + Tum tenero ducens suspiria pectore dixit, + "Thyrsi! Mihi stomachum nausea tristis habet." + +The _Black Bryony _(Lady's-seal, or Oxberry), which likewise +grows freely in our hedges, is quite a different plant from its +nominal congener. It bears the name of _Tamus Vulgaris_, and +belongs to the natural order of Yams. It is also called the Wild +Hop, and Tetterberry or Tetterwort (in common with the greater +Celandine), because curing the skin disease known as tetters; and +further, Blackbindweed. It has smooth heart-shaped leaves, and +produces scarlet, elliptical berries larger than those of the White +Bryony. A tincture is made (H.) from the root-stock, with spirit of +wine, which proves a most useful application to unbroken +chilblains, when [69] made into a lotion with water, one part to +twenty. The plant is called Black Bryony (_Bryonia nigra_) from +its dark leaves and black root. It is not given at all internally, but +the acrid pulp of the root has been used as a stimulating plaster. + + + +BUCKTHORN. + +The common Buckthorn grows in our woods and thickets, and +used to be popularly known because of the purgative syrup made +from its juice and berries. It bears dense branches of small green +flowers, followed by the black berries, which purge violently. If +gathered before they are ripe they furnish a yellow dye. When +ripe, if mixed with gum arabic and lime water, they form the +pigment called "Bladder Green." Until late in the present century-- +_O dura ilia messorum!_--English rustics, when requiring an +aperient dose for themselves or their children, had recourse to the +syrup of Buckthorn. But its action was so severe, and attended +with such painful gripings, that as time went on the medicine was +discarded, and it is now employed in this respect almost +exclusively by the cattle doctor. Dodoeus taught about Buckthorn +berries: "They be not meet to be administered but to young and +lusty people of the country, which do set more store of their +money than their lives." The shrub grows chiefly on chalk, and +near brooks. The name Buckthorn is from the German _buxdorn_, +boxthorn, hartshorn. In Anglo-Saxon it was Heorot-bremble. It is +also known as Waythorn, Rainberry Thorn, Highway Thorn and +Rhineberries. Each of the berries contains four seeds: and the flesh +of birds which eat thereof is said to be purgative. When the juice is +given medicinally it causes a bad stomach-ache, with much +dryness of the throat: for which reason Sydenham [70] always +ordered a basin of soup to be given after it. Chemically the active +principle of the Buckthorn is "rhamno-cathartine." Likewise a +milder kind of Buckthorn, which is much more useful as a Simple, +grows freely in England, the _Rhamnus frangula_ or so-called +"black berry-bearing Alder," though this appellation is a mistake, +because botanically the Alder never bears any berries. This black +Buckthorn is a slender shrub, which occurs in our woods and +thickets. The juice of its berries is aperient, without being +irritating, and is well suited as a laxative for persons of delicate +constitution. It possesses the merit of continuing to answer in +smaller doses after the patient has become habituated to its +use. The berry of the _Rhamnus frangula _may be known by its +containing only two seeds. Country people give the bark boiled in +ale for jaundice; and this bark is the black dogwood of gunpowder +makers. Lately a certain aperient medicine has become highly +popular with both doctors and patients in this country, the same +being known as Cascara Sagrada. It is really an American +Buckthorn, the _Rhamnus Persiana_, and it possesses no true +advantage over our black Alder Buckthorn, though the bark of this +latter must be used a year old, or it will cause griping. A fluid +extract of the English mild Buckthorn, or of the American +Cascara, is made by our leading druggists, of which from half to +one teaspoonful may be given for a dose. This is likewise a tonic +to the intestines, and is especially useful for relieving piles. +Lozenges also of the Alder Buckthorn are dispensed under the +name of "Aperient Fruit Lozenges;" one, or perhaps two, being +taken for a dose as required. + +There is a Sea Buckthorn, _Hippophoe_, which belongs to a +different natural order, _Eloeagnaceoe_, a low shrubby tree, [71] +growing on sandhills and cliffs, and called also Sallowthorn. The +fruit is made (in Tartary) into a pleasant jelly, because of its acid +flavour, and used in the Gulf of Bothnia for concocting a fish +sauce. + +The name signifies "giving light to a horse," being conferred +because of a supposed power to cure equine blindness; or it may +mean "shining underneath," in allusion to the silvery underside of +the leaf. + +The old-fashioned Cathartic Buckthorn of our hedges and woods +has spinous thorny branchlets, from which its name, _Rhamnus_, +is thought to be derived, because the shrub is set with thorns like +as the ram. At one time this Buckthorn was a botanical puzzle, +even to Royalty, as the following lines assure us:-- + + "Hicum, peridicum; all clothed in green; + The King could not tell it, no more could the Queen; + So they sent to consult wise men from the East. + Who said it had horns, though it was not a beast." + + + +BURNET SAXIFRAGE (_see_ Pimpernel). + + + +BUTTERCUP. + +The most common Buttercup of our fields (_Ranunculus bulbosis_) +needs no detailed description. It belongs to the order termed +_Ranunculaceoe_, so-called from the Latin _rana_, a frog, +because the several varieties of this genus grow in moist places +where frogs abound. Under the general name of Buttercups +are included the creeping Ranunculus, of moist meadows; the +_Ranunculus acris_, Hunger Weed, or Meadow Crowfoot, so named +from the shape of the leaf (each of these two being also +called King Cup), and the _Ranunculus bulbosus_ mentioned +above. "King-Cob" signifies a resemblance between the unexpanded +flowerbud and [72] a stud of gold, such as a king would +wear; so likewise the folded calyx is named Goldcup, Goldknob +and Cuckoobud. The term Buttercup has become conferred through +a mistaken notion that this flower gives butter a yellow +colour through the cows feeding on it (which is not the case), +or, perhaps, from the polished, oily surface of the petals. +The designation really signifies "button cop," or _bouton d'or_; +"the batchelor's button"; this terminal syllable, _cup_, being +corrupted from the old English word "cop," a head. It really means +"button head." The Buttercup generally is known in Wiltshire and +the adjoining counties as Crazy, or Crazies, being reckoned by +some as an insane plant calculated to produce madness; or as a +corruption of Christseye (which was the medieval name of the +Marigold). + +A burning acridity of taste is the common characteristic of the +several varieties of the Buttercup. In its fresh state the ordinary +field Buttercup is so acrimonious that by merely pulling up the +plant by its root, and carrying it some little distance in the hand, +the palm becomes reddened and inflamed. Cows will not eat it +unless very hungry, and then the mouth of the animal becomes +sore and blistered. The leaves of the Buttercup, when bruised and +applied to the skin, produce a blistering of the outer cuticle, with a +discharge of a watery fluid, and with heat, redness, and swelling. +If these leaves are masticated in the mouth they will induce pains +like a stitch between the ribs at the side, with the sharp catchings +of neuralgic rheumatism. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from +the bulbous Buttercup with spirit of wine, which will, as a similar, +cure _shingles_ very expeditiously, both the outbreak of +small watery pimples clustered together at the side, and the +accompanying sharp pains between the ribs. Also this tincture will +[73] promptly relieve neuralgic side-ache, and pleurisy which is of +a passive sort. From six to eight drops of the tincture may be taken +with a tablespoonful of cold water by an adult three or four times a +day for either of the aforesaid purposes. In France, this plant is +called "jaunet." Buttercups are most probably the "Cuckoo Buds" +immortalised by Shakespeare. The fresh leaves of the Crowfoot +(_Ranunculus acris_) formed a part of the famous cancer cure of +Mr. Plunkett in 1794. This cure comprised Crowfoot leaves, +freshly gathered, and dog's-foot fennel leaves, of each an ounce, +with one drachm of white arsenic levigated, and with five scruples +of flowers of sulphur, all beaten together into a paste, and dried by +the sun in balls, which were then powdered, and, being mixed with +yolk of egg, were applied on pieces of pig's bladder. The juice of +the common Buttercup (_Bulbosus_), known sometimes as "St. +Anthony's Turnip," if applied to the nostrils, will provoke +sneezing, and will relieve passive headache in this way. The leaves +have been applied as a blister to the wrists in rheumatism, and +when infused in boiling water as a poultice over the pit of the +stomach as a counter-irritant. For sciatica the tincture of the +bulbous buttercup has proved very helpful. + +The _Ranunculus flammata_, Spearwort, has been used to produce +a slight blistering effect by being put under a limpet shell against +the skin of the part to be relieved, until some smarting and burning +have been sensibly produced, with incipient vesication of the +outermost skin. + +The _Ranunculus Sceleratus_, Marsh Crowfoot, or Celery-leaved +Buttercup, called in France "_herbe sardonique_," and "_grenouillette +d'eau_," when made into a tincture (H.) with spirit of wine, +and given in small diluted doses, proves curative of stitch +in the side, and of neuralgic pains between the ribs, likewise of +pleurisy without [74] feverishness. The dose should be five drops +of the third decimal tincture with a spoonful of water every three +or four hours. This plant grows commonly at the sides of our +pools, and in wet ditches, bearing numerous small yellow flowers, +with petals scarcely longer than the calyx. + + + +CABBAGE. + +"The time has come," as the walrus said in _Alice and the Looking +Glass_, "to talk of many things"-- + + "Of shoes, and ships, and sealing-wax; of _Cabbages_, and + kings." + +The Cabbage, which is fabled to have sprung from the tears of the +Spartan lawgiver, Lycurgus, began as the Colewort, and was for +six hundred years, according to Pliny and Cato, the only internal +remedy used by the Romans. The Ionians had such a veneration +for Cabbages that they swore by them, just as the Egyptians did by +the onion. With ourselves, the wild Cabbage, growing on our +English sea cliffs, is the true Collet, or Colewort, from which have +sprung all our varieties of Cabbage--cauliflower, greens, broccoli, +etc. No vegetables were grown for the table in England before the +time of Henry the Eighth. In the thirteenth century it was the +custom to salt vegetables because they were so scarce; and in the +sixteenth century a Cabbage from Holland was deemed a choice +present. + +The whole tribe of Cabbages is named botanically _Brassicaceoe-- +apo tou brassein_--because they heat, or ferment. + +By natural order they are cruciferous plants; and all contain much +nitrogen, or vegetable albumen, with a considerable quantity of +sulphur; hence they tend strongly to putrefaction, and when +decomposed their odour is very offensive. Being cut into pieces, +and pressed close in a tub with aromatic herbs and salt, so as to +undergo an acescent fermentation (which is [75] arrested at that +stage), Cabbages form the German _Saurkraut_, which is strongly +recommended against scurvy. The white Cabbage is most putrescible; +the red most emollient and pectoral. The juice of the red +cabbage made into syrup, without any condiments, is useful in +chronic coughs, and in bronchial asthma. The leaves of the +common white Cabbage, when gently bruised and applied to a +blistered surface, will promote a free discharge, as also when laid +next the skin in dropsy of the ankles. All the Coleworts are called +"Crambe," from _krambos_, dry, because they dispel drunkenness. + +"There is," says an old author, "a natural enmitie between the +Colewort and the vine, which is such that the vine, if growing near +unto it, withereth and perisheth; yea, if wine be poured into the +Colewort while it is boiling, it will not be any more boiled, and the +colour thereof will be quite altered." The generic term Colewort is +derived from _caulis_, a stalk, and _wourte_, as applied to all +kinds of herbs that "do serve for the potte." "Good worts," +exclaimed Falstaff, catching at Evans' faulty pronunciation of +_words_,--"good worts,"--"good cabbages." An Irish cure for sore +throat is to tie Cabbage leaves round it; and the same remedy is +applied in England with hot Cabbage leaves for a swollen face. In +the Island of Jersey coarse Cabbages are grown abundantly on +patches of roadside ground, and in corners of fields, the stalks of +which attain the height of eight, ten, or more feet, and are used for +making walking sticks or _cannes en tiges de choux_. These are in +great demand on the island, and are largely exported. It may be +that a specially tall cabbage of this sort gave rise to the Fairy tale +of "Jack and the bean stalk." The word Cabbage bears reference +[76] to _caba (caput)_, a head, as signifying a Colewort which +forms a round head. _Kohl rabi_, from _caulo-rapum_, cabbage +turnip, is a name given to the _Brassica oleracea_. In 1595 the sum +of twenty shillings was paid for six Cabbages and a few carrots, at +the port of Hull, by the purveyor to the Clifford family. + +The red Cabbage is thought in France to be highly anti-scorbutic; +and a syrup is made from it with this purpose in view. The juice of +white Cabbage leaves will cure warts. + +The _Brassica oleracea_ is one of the plants used in Count +Mattaei's vaunted nostrum, "anti-scrofuloso." This, the sea +Cabbage, with its pale clusters of handsome yellow flowers, is +very ornamental to our cliffs. Its leaves, which are conspicuously +purple, have a bitter taste when uncooked, but become palatable +for boiling if first repeatedly washed; and they are sold at Dover as +a market vegetable. These should be boiled in two waters, of +which the first will be made laxative, and the second, or thicker +decoction, astringent, which fact was known to Hippocrates, who +said "_jus caulis solvit cujus substantia stringit_." + +Sir Anthony Ashley brought the Cabbage into English cultivation. +It is said a Cabbage is sculptured at his feet on his monument in +Wimbourne Minster, Dorset. He imported the Cabbage (Cale) +from Cadiz (Cales), where he held a command, and grew rich by +seizing other men's possessions, notably by appropriating some +jewels entrusted to his care by a lady. Hence he is said to have got +more by Cales (Cadiz) than by Cale (Cabbage); and this is, +perhaps, the origin of our term "to cabbage." Among tailors, this +phrase "to cabbage" is a cant saying which means to filch the cloth +when cutting out for a customer. Arbuthnot writes "Your [77] +tailor, instead of shreds, cabbages whole yards of cloth." Perhaps +the word comes from the French _cabasser_, to put into a basket. + +From the seed of the wild Cabbage (Rape, or Navew) rape-seed oil +is extracted, and the residue is called rape-cake, or oil-cake. + +Some years ago it was customary to bake bread-rolls wrapped in +Cabbage leaves, for imparting what was considered an agreeable +flavour. John Evelyn said: "In general, Cabbages are thought to +allay fumes, and to prevent intoxication; but some will have them +noxious to the sight." After all it must be confessed the Cabbage is +greatly to be accused for lying undigested in the stomach, and for +provoking eructations; which makes one wonder at the veneration +the ancients had for it, calling the tribe divine, and swearing _per +brassicam_, which was for six hundred years held by the Romans +a panacea: though "_Dis crambee thanatos_"--"Death by twice +Cabbage"--was a Greek proverb. Gerard says the Greeks called +the Cabbage Amethustos, "not only because it driveth away +drunkennesse; but also for that it is like in colour to the pretious +stone called the amethyst." The Cabbage was Pompey's best +beloved dish. To make a winter salad it is customary in America to +choose a firm white Cabbage, and to shred it very fine, serving it +with a dressing of plain oil and vinegar. This goes by the name of +"slaw," which has a Dutch origin. + +The free presence of hydrogen and sulphur causes a very strong +and unpleasant smell to pervade the house during the cooking of +Cabbages. Nevertheless, this sulphur is a very salutary constituent +of the vegetable, most useful in scurvy and scrofula. Partridge and +Cabbage suit the patrician table; bacon and Cabbage [78] better +please the taste and the requirements of the proletarian. The +nitrogen of this and other cruciferous plants serves to make them +emit offensive stinks when they lie out of doors and rot. + +For the purulent scrofulous ophthalmic inflammation of infants, by +cleansing the eyes thoroughly every half-hour with warm water, +and then packing the sockets each time with fresh Cabbage leaves +cleaned and bruised to a soft pulp, the flow of matter will be +increased for a few days, but a cure will be soon effected. Pliny +commended the juice of the raw Cabbage with a little honey for +sore and inflamed eyes which were moist and weeping, but not for +those which were dry and dull. + +In Kent and Sussex, when a Cabbage is cut and the stalk left in the +ground to produce "greens" for the table, a cottager will carve an x +on the top flat surface of the upright stalk, and thus protect it +against mischievous garden sprites and demons. + +Some half a century ago medical apprentices were taught the art of +blood-letting by practising with a lancet on the prominent veins of +a Cabbage leaf. + +Carlyle said "of all plants the Cabbage grows fastest to +completion." His parable of the oak and the Cabbage conveys the +lesson that those things which are most richly endowed when they +come to perfection, are the slowest in their production and +development. + + + +CAPSICUM (CAYENNE). + +The _Capsicum_, or Bird Pepper, or Guinea Pepper, is a native of +tropical countries; but it has been cultivated throughout Great +Britain as a stove plant for so many years (since the time +of Gerard, 1636) as to have become practically indigenous. +Moreover, its fruit-pods are so highly useful, whether as a +condiment, or as a medicine, [79] no apology is needed for +including it among serviceable Herbal Simples. The Cayenne +pepper of our tables is the powdered fruit of Bird Pepper, a variety +of the Capsicum plant, and belonging likewise to the order of +Solanums; whilst the customary "hot" pickle which we take with +our cold meats is prepared from another variety of the Capsicum +plant called "Chilies." This plant--the Bird Pepper--exercises an +important medicinal action, which has only been recently +recognized by doctors. The remarkable success which has attended +the use of Cayenne pepper as a substitute for alcohol with hard +drinkers, and as a valuable drug in _delirium tremens_, has lately +led physicians to regard the Capsicum as a highly useful, +stimulating, and restorative medicine. For an intemperate person, +who really desires to wean himself from taking spirituous liquors, +and yet feels to need a substitute at first, a mixture of tincture of +Capsicum with tincture of orange peel and water will answer very +effectually, the doses being reduced in strength and frequency +from day to day. In _delirium tremens_, if the tincture of +Capsicum be given in doses of half-a-dram well diluted with +water, it will reduce the tremor and agitation in a few hours, +inducing presently a calm prolonged sleep. At the same time the +skin will become warm, and will perspire naturally; the pulse will +fall in quickness, but whilst regaining fulness and volume; and the +kidneys, together with the bowels, will act freely. + +Chemically the plant furnishes an essential oil with a crystalline +principle, "capsicin," of great power. This oil may be taken +remedially in doses of from half to one drop rubbed up with some +powdered white sugar, and mixed with a wineglassful of hot +water. + +The medicinal tincture is made with sixteen grains of [80] the +powdered Capsicum to a fluid ounce of spirit of wine; and the +dose of this tincture is from five to twenty drops with one or two +tablespoonfuls of water. In the smaller doses it serves admirably to +relieve pains in the loins when depending on a sluggish inactivity +of the kidneys. Unbroken chilblains may be readily cured by +rubbing them once a day with a piece of sponge saturated with the +tincture of Capsicum until a strong tingling is induced. In the early +part of the present century, a medicine of Capsicum with salt was +famous for curing severe influenza with putrid sore throat. Two +dessert spoonfuls of small red pepper; or three of ordinary cayenne +pepper, were beaten together with two of fine salt, into a paste, +and with half-a-pint of boiling water added thereto. Then the +liquor was strained off when cold, and half-a-pint of very sharp +vinegar was mixed with it, a tablespoonful of the united mixture +being given to an adult every half, or full hour, diluted with water +if too strong. For inflammation of the eyes, with a relaxed state of +the membranes covering the eyeballs and lining the lids, the +diluted juice of the Capsicum is a sovereign remedy. Again, for +toothache from a decayed molar, a small quantity of cayenne +pepper introduced into the cavity will often give immediate relief. +The tincture or infusion given in small doses has proved useful to +determine outwardly the eruption of measles and scarlet fever, +when imperfectly developed because of weakness. Also for a +scrofulous discharge of matter from the ears, Capsicum tincture, of +a weak strength, four drops with a tablespoonful of cold water +three times a day, to a child, will prove curative. + +A Capsicum ointment, or "Chili paste," scarcely ever fails to +relieve chronic rheumatism when rubbed in [81] topically for ten +minutes at a time with a gloved hand; and an application +afterwards of dry heat will increase the redness and warmth, which +persist for some while, and are renewed by walking. This ointment, +or paste, is made of the Oleo-resin--Capsicin--half-an-ounce, +and Lanolin five ounces, the unguent being melted, and, after +adding the Capsicin, letting them be stirred together until +cold. The powder or tincture of Capsicum will give energy to a +languid digestion, and will correct the flatulency often incidental +to a vegetable diet. Again, a gargle containing Capsicum in a +proper measure will afford prompt relief in many forms of sore +throat, both by its stimulating action, and by virtue of its special +affinities (H.); this particularly holds good for a relaxed state of +the throat, the uvula, and the tonsils. Cayenne pepper is employed +in the adulteration of gin. + +The "Peter Piper" of our young memories took pickled pepper by +the peck. He must have been a Homoeopathic prover with a +vengeance; but has left no useful record of his experiments--the +more's the pity--for our guidance when prescribing its diluted +forms. + + + +CARAWAY. + +The common Caraway is a herb of the umbelliferous order found +growing on many waste places in England, though not a true +native of Great Britain. Its well-known aromatic seeds should be +always at hand in the cupboard of every British housewife. The +plant got its name from inhabiting Caria, a province of Asia +Minor. It is now cultivated for commerce in Kent and Essex; and +the essential oil distilled from the home grown fruit is preferred in +this country. The medicinal properties of the Caraway are cordial +and comforting to [82] the stomach in colic and in flatulent +indigestion; for which troubles a dose of from two to four drops of +the essential oil of Caraway may be given on a lump of sugar, or +in a teaspoonful of hot water. + +For earache, in some districts the country people pound up the +crumb of a loaf hot from the oven, together with a handful of +bruised Caraway seeds; then wetting the whole with some spirit, +they apply it to the affected part. The plant has been long +naturalised in England, and was known here in Shakespeare's time, +who mentions it in the second part of _Henry IV_. thus: "Come, +cousin Silence! we will eat a pippin of last year's graffing, with a +dish of Caraways; and then to bed!" The seeds grow numerously +in the small flat flowers placed thickly together on each floral +plateau, or umbel, and are best known to us in seed cake, and in +Caraway comfits. They are really the dried fruit, and possess, +when rubbed in a mortar, a warm aromatic taste, with a fragrant +spicy smell. Caraway comfits consist of these fruits encrusted with +white sugar; but why the wife of a comfit maker should be given +to swearing, as Shakespeare avers, it is not easy to see. The young +roots of Caraway plants may be sent to table like parsnips; they +warm and stimulate a cold languid stomach. These mixed with +milk and made into bread, formed the _chara_ of Julius Caesar, +eaten by the soldiers of Valerius. Chemically the volatile +oil obtained from Caraway seeds consists of "carvol," and a +hydro-carbon, "carvene," which is a sort of "camphor." Dioscorides +long ago advised the oil for pale-faced girls; and modern ladies +have not disregarded the counsel. + +From six pounds of the unbruised seeds, four ounces of the pure +essential oil can be expressed. In Germany the peasants flavour +their cheese, soups, and household [83] bread--jager--with the +Caraway; and this is not a modern custom, for an old Latin author +says: _Semina carui satis communiter adhibentur ad condiendum +panem; et rustica nostrates estant jusculum e pane, seminibus +carui, et cerevisa coctum_. + +The Russians and Germans make from Caraways a favourite +liqueur "Kummel," and the Germans add them as a flavouring +condiment to their sawerkraut. In France Caraways enter into the +composition of _l'huile de Venus_, and of other renowned +cordials. + +An ounce of the bruised seeds infused for six hours in a pint of +cold water makes a good Caraway julep for infants, from one to +three teaspoonfuls for a dose, It "consumeth winde, and is +delightful to the stomack; the powdered seed put into a poultice +taketh away blacke and blew spots of blows and bruises." "The oil, +or seeds of Caraway do sharpen vision, and promote the secretion +of milk." Therefore dimsighted men and nursing mothers may +courageously indulge in seed cake! + +The name Caraway comes from the Gaelic _Caroh_, a ship, because +of the shape which the fruit takes. By cultivation the root +becomes more succulent, and the fruit larger, whilst more oily, and +therefore acquiring an increase of aromatic taste and odour. In +Germany the seeds are given for hysterical affections, being finely +powdered and mixed with ginger and salt to spread with butter on +bread. As a draught for flatulent colic twenty grains of the +powdered seeds may be taken with two teaspoonfuls of sugar in a +wineglassful of hot water. Caraway-seed cake was formerly a +standing institution at the feasts given by farmers to their labourers +at the end of wheat sowing. But narcotic effects have been known +to follow the chewing of Caraway seeds in a large quantity, such +as three ounces at a time. + +[84] As regards its stock of honey the Caraway may be termed, +like Uriah Heep, and in a double sense, "truly umbel." The +diminutive florets on its flat disk are so shallow that lepidopterous +and hymenopterous insects, with their long proboses, stand no +chance of getting a meal. They fare as poorly as the stork did in +the fable, whom the fox invited to dinner served on a soup plate. +As Sir John Lubbock has shown, out of fifty-five visitants to the +Caraway plant for nectar, one moth, nine bees, twenty-one flies, +and twenty-four miscellaneous midges constituted the dinner +party. + + + +CHAMOMILE. + +No Simple in the whole catalogue of herbal medicines is possessed +of a quality more friendly and beneficial to the intestines than +"Chamomile flowers." This herb was well known to the Greeks, +who thought it had an odour like that of apples, and therefore they +named it "Earth Apple," from two of their words, _kamai_--on the +ground, and _melon_--an apple. The Spaniards call it _Manzanilla_, +from a little apple, and they give the same name to one of +their lightest sherries flavoured with this plant. The flowers, +or "blows" of the Chamomile belong to the daisy genus, having an +outer fringe of white ray florets, with a central yellow disk, in +which lies the chief medicinal virtue of the plant. In the cultivated +Chamomile the white petals increase, while the yellow centre +diminishes; thus it is that the curative properties of the wild +Chamomile are the more powerful. The true Chamomile is to be +distinguished from the bitter Chamomile (_matricaria chamomilla_) +which has weaker properties, and grows erect, with several +flowers at a level on the same stalk. The true Chamomile +grows prostrate, and produces but [85] one flower (with a convex, +not conical, yellow disk) from each stem, whilst its leaves are +divided into hair-like segments. The flowers exhale a powerful +aromatic smell, and present a peculiar bitter to the taste. When +distilled with water they yield a small quantity of most useful +essential oil, which, if fresh and good, is always of a bluish colour. +It should be green or blue, and not faded to yellow. This oil is a +mixture of ethers, among which "chamomilline," or the valerianate +of butyl, predominates. Medicinally it serves to lower nervous +excitability reflected from some organ in trouble, but remote from +the part where the pain is actually felt; so it is very useful for +such spasmodic coughs as are due to indigestion; also for distal +neuralgia, pains in the head or limbs from the same cause, and for +nervous colic bowels. The oil may be given in doses of from two +to four drops on a lump of sugar, or in a dessert-spoonful of milk. +An officinal tincture (_Tinctura anthemidis_) is made from the +flowers of the true Chamomile (_Anthemis nobilis_) with rectified +spirit of wine. The dose of this is from three to ten drops with a +spoonful of water. It serves usefully to correct the summer +diarrhoea of children, or that which occurs during teething, when +the stools are green, slimy and particoloured. The true Chamomile, +the bitter Chamomile, and the Feverfew, are most obnoxious to +flies and mosquitoes. An infusion of their respective leaves in +spirit will, if used as a wash to the face, arms, or any exposed part +of the body, protect effectually from all attack by these petty foes, +which are quaintly described in an old version of our Bible as "the +pestilence that walketh in the darkness, and the bug that destroyeth +at noonday." Chamomile tea is an excellent stomachic when taken +in moderate doses of half-a-teacupful at a [86] time. It should be +made by pouring half-a-pint of boiling water on half-an-ounce of +the dried flower heads, and letting this stand for fifteen minutes, A +special tincture (H.) of Chammomilla is made from the bitter +Chamomile (_Matricaria_), which, when given in small doses of +three or four drops in a dessertspoonful of cold water every hour, +will signally relieve severe neuralgic pains, particularly if they are +aggravated at night. Likewise this remedy will quickly cure +restlessness and fretfulness in children from teething, and who +refuse to be soothed save by being carried about. + +The name, _Matricaria_, of the bitter Chamomile is derived from +_mater cara_, "beloved mother," because the herb is dedicated to +St. Anne, the reputed mother of the Virgin Mary, or from matrix, +as meaning "the womb." This herb may be known from the true +Chamomile because having a large, yellow, conical disk, and no +scales on the receptacles. + +Chamomile tea is also an excellent drink for giving to aged +persons an hour or more before dinner. Francatelli directs that it +should be made thus: "Put about thirty flowers into a jug, and pour +a pint of boiling water on them; cover up the tea, and when it has +stood for about ten minutes pour it off from the flowers into +another jug, and sweeten with sugar or honey." A teacupful of this +Chamomile tea, into which is stirred a large dessertspoonful of +moist sugar, with a little grated ginger added, will answer the +purpose now indicated. For outward application, to relieve +inflammatory pains, or congestive neuralgia, hot fomentations +made of the infused Chamomile "blows" are invaluable. Bags may +be loosely stuffed with the flowers, and steeped well in boiling +water before being applied. But for internal use the infusion and +the extract of the herb are comparatively [87] useless, because +much of the volatile essential oil is dissipated by boiling, or by dry +heat. This oil made into pills with bread crumbs, and given whilst +fasting two hours before a meal, will effectually dispel intestinal +worms. True Chamomile flowers may be known from spurious +ones (of the Feverfew) which have no bracts on the receptacle +when the florets are removed. + +It is remarkable that each Chamomile is a plant Physician, as +nothing contributes so much to the health of a garden as a number +of Chamomile herbs dispersed about it. Singularly enough, if +another plant is drooping, and apparently dying, in nine cases out +of ten it will recover if you place a herb of Chamomile near it. + +The stinking Chamomile (_Anthemis cotula_) or Mayweed, grows +in cornfields, having a foetid smell, and often blistering the hand +which gathers it. Another name which it bears is "dog's fennel," +because of the disagreeable odour, and the leaf resembling fennel. +Similar uses may be made of it as with the other Chamomiles, but +less effectively. It has solitary flowers with erect stems. + +Dr. Schall declares that the Chamomile is not only a preventive of +nightmare, but the sole certain remedy for this complaint. As a +carminative injection for tiresome flatulence, it has been found +eminently beneficial to employ Chamomile flowers boiled in tripe +broth, and strained through a cloth, and with a few drops of the oil +of Aniseed added to the decoction. + +Falstaffe says in _Henry IV_.: "Though Chamomile, the more it is +trodden on the faster it grows; yet youth, the more it is wasted the +sooner it wears." For coarse feeders and drunkards Chamomile is +peculiarly suitable. Its infusion will cut short an attack of delirium +tremens in the early stage. Gerard found the oil of the flowers [88] +a remedy against all weariness; and quaint old Culpeper reminds +us that the Egyptians dedicated the Chamomile to the sun because +it cured agues. He slyly adds: "They were like enough to do it, for +they were the arrantest apes in their religion I ever read of." + + + +CARROT. + +Our garden Carrot, or Dauke, is a cultivated variety of the +_Dalucus sylvestris_, or wild carrot, an umbelliferous plant, which +groweth of itself in untoiled places, and is called _philtron_, +because it serveth for love matters. This wild Carrot may be found +abundantly in our fields and on the sea shore; the term Carrot +being Celtic, and signifying "red of colour," or perhaps derived +from caro, flesh, because this is a fleshy vegetable. Daucus is from +the Greek _daio_, to burn, on account of the pungent and +stimulating qualities. It is common also on our roadsides, being +popularly known as "Bee's nest," because the stems of its +flowering head, or umbel, form a concave semi-circle, or nest, +which bees, when belated from the hive will use as a dormitory. +The small purple flower which grows in the middle of the umbel +has been found beneficial for the cure of epilepsy. The juice of the +Carrot contains "carotine" in red crystals; also pectin, albumen, +and a particular volatile oil, on which the medicinal properties of +the root depend. The seeds are warm and aromatic to the taste, +whilst they are slightly diuretic. A tea made from the whole plant, +and taken each night and morning, is excellent when the lithic +acid, or gouty disposition prevails, with the deposit of a brick-dust +sediment in the urine on its becoming cool. + +The chief virtues of Carrots lie in the strong antiseptic qualities +they possess, which prevent all putrescent [89] changes within the +body. In Suffolk they were given long since as a secret specific for +preserving and restoring the wind of horses, but cows if fed long +on them will make bloody urine. Wild Carrots are superior +medicinally to those of the cultivated kind. Carrot sugar got from +the inspissated juice of the roots may be used at table, and is good +for the coughs of consumptive children. The seeds of the wild +Carrot were formerly esteemed as a specific remedy for jaundice; +and in Savoy the peasants now give an infusion of the roots for the +same purpose; whilst this infusion has served to prevent stone in +the bladder throughout several years when the patient had been +previously subject to frequent attacks. + +Carrots boiled sufficiently, and mashed into a pulp, when applied +directly to a putrid, indolent sore, will sweeten and heal it. The +Carrot poultice was first used by Sulzer for mitigating the pain, +and correcting the stench of foul ulcers. Raw scraped Carrot is +an excellent plaster for chapped nipples. At Vichy, where +derangements of the liver and of the biliary digestion are +particularly treated, Carrots in one or another form are served at +every meal, whether in soup, or as a vegetable; and considerable +efficacy of cure is attributed to them. In the time of Parkinson +(1640) the leaves of the Carrot were thought to be so ornamental +that ladies wore them as a head-dress instead of feathers. A good +British wine may be brewed from the roots of the Carrot; and very +tolerable bread may be prepared for travellers from these roots +when dried and powdered. Pectic acid can be extracted by the +chemist from Carrots, which will solidify plain sugared water into +a wholesome appetising jelly. One part of this pectic acid +dissolved in a little hot water, and added to make three hundred +parts of warm water, [90] is soon converted into a mass of +trembling jelly. The yellow core of the Carrot is the part which is +difficult of digestion with some persons, not the outer red layer. +Before the French Revolution the sale of Carrots and oranges was +prohibited in the Dutch markets, because of the unpopular +aristocratic colour of these commodities. In one thousand parts of +a Carrot there are ninety-five of sugar, and (according to some +chemists) only three of starch. In country districts raw Carrots are +sometimes given to children for expelling worms, probably +because the vegetable matter passes mechanically through the +body unchanged, and scours it. "Remember, William," says Sir +Hugh Evans in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, "Focative is +Caret," "and that" replies Mrs. Quickly, "is a good root." + + "The man in the moon drinks claret, + But he is a dull Jack-a-dandy; + Would he know a sheep's head from a Carrot + He should learn to drink cider and brandy." + Song of Mad Tom in _Midsummer Night's Dream_. + + + +CELANDINE (Greater, and Lesser). + +This latter flower is a conspicuous herald of spring, which is +strikingly welcome to everyone living in the country throughout +England, and a stranger to none. The Pilewort, or lesser Celandine, +bespangles all our banks with its brilliant, glossy, golden stars, +coming into blossom on or about March 7th, St. Perpetua's day. +They are a timely tocsin for five o'clock tea, because punctually at +that hour they shut up their showy petals until 9.0 a.m. on the +following morning. The well-known little herb, with its heart-shaped +leaves, is a Ranunculus, and bears the affix _ficaria_ from +its curative value in the malady called _ficus_--a "red sore in the +fundament". (Littleton, 1684). + +[91] The popular title, Pilewort, from _Pila_, a ball, was probably +first acquired because, after the doctrine of signatures, the small +oval tubercles attached to its stringy roots were supposed to +resemble and to cure piles. Nevertheless, it has been since proved +practically that the whole plant, when bruised and made into an +ointment with fresh lard, is really useful for healing piles; as +likewise when applied to the part in the form of a poultice or hot +fomentation. "There be those also who thinke that if the herbe be +but carried about by one that hath the piles the paine forthwith +ceaseth." It has sometimes happened that the small white tubercles +collected about the roots of the plant, when washed bare by heavy +rains, and lying free on the ground, have given rise to a supposed +shower of wheat. After flowering the Pilewort withdraws its +substance of leaf and stem into a small rounded tube underground, +so as to withstand the heat of summer, and the cold of the +subsequent winter. + +With the acrid juice of this herb, and of others belonging to the +same Ranunculous order, beggars in England used to produce +sores about their body for the sake of exciting pity, and getting +alms. They afterwards cured these sores by applying fresh mullein +leaves to heal them. The lesser Celandine furnishes a golden +yellow volatile oil, which is readily converted into anemonic acid. + +Wordsworth specially loved this lesser Celandine, and turned his +lyre to sing its praises:-- + + "There is a flower that shall be mine, + 'Tis the little Celandine; + I will sing as doth behove + Hymns in praise of what I love." + +In token of which affectionate regard these flowers have been +carved on the white marble of his tomb. + +[92] The greater Celandine, or _Coeli donum_ (_Chelidonium +majus_), though growing freely in our waste places and hedgerows, +is, perhaps, scarcely so well known as its diminutive namesake. +Yet most persons acquainted with our ordinary rural plants +have repeatedly come across this conspicuous herb, which +exudes a bright yellow juice when bruised. It has sharply cut vivid +leaves of a dull green, with a small blossom of brilliant yellow, +and is not altogether unlike a buttercup, though growing to the +height of a couple of feet. But this Celandine belongs to the Poppy +tribe, whilst the Buttercup is a Ranunculus. The technical name of +the greater Celandine (_Chelidonium_) comes from the Greek +word _Chelidon_, a swallow, because of an ancient tradition that +the bird makes use of this herb to open the eyes of its young, or to +restore their sight when it has been lost:-- + + "Caecatis pullis hac lumina mater hirundo + (Plinius ut scripsit) quamvis sint eruta, reddit." + +The ancients entertained a strong belief that birds are gifted with a +knowledge of herbs; the woodpecker, for instance, seeking out the +Springwort to remove obstructions, and the linnet making use of +the Eyebright to restore its vision. + +Queen Elizabeth in the forty-sixth year of her age was attacked +with such a grievous toothache that she could obtain no rest by +night or day because of the torture she endured. The lords of her +council decided on sending for an "outlandish physician" named +Penatus, who was famous for curing this agonising pain. He +advised that when all was said and done, if the tooth was hollow, it +were best to have it drawn; but as Her Majesty could not bring +herself to submit to the use of [93] chirugical instruments, he +suggested that the _Chelidonius major_--our greater Celandine-- +should be put into the tooth, and this stopped with wax, which +would so loosen the tooth that in a short time it might be pulled +out with the fingers. Aylmer, Bishop of London, tried to +encourage the Queen by telling her that though he was an old man, +and had not many teeth to spare, she should see a practical +experiment made on himself. Thereupon he bade the surgeon who +was in attendance extract one of his teeth in Her Majesty's +presence. + +This plant, the _Chelidonium majus_, is still used in Suffolk for +toothache by way of fomentation. It goes also by the name of +"Fenugreek" (_Foenum Groecum_), Yellow Spit, Grecian Hay, +and by that of Tetterwort. The root contains chemically "chelidonin" +and "sanguinarin." + +On the doctrine of signatures the herb, because of its bright +orange-coloured juice, was formerly believed to be curative of +jaundice. A medicinal tincture (H.) made from the entire plant +with spirit of wine is at the present time held in high esteem by +many physicians for overcoming torpid conditions of the liver. Eight +or ten drops of this tincture, or of the fresh juice of the plant, +may be given for a dose three times in the day in sweetened water +when bilious yellowness of the skin is present, with itching, and +with clayey stools, dark thick urine, constipation, and a pain in the +right shoulder; also for neuralgia of the head and face on the right +side. It is certainly remarkable that though the fanciful theory of +choosing curative plants by their signatures has been long since +exploded, yet doctors of to-day select several yellow medicines for +treating biliary disorders--to wit, this greater Celandine with its +ochreous juice; the Yellow Barberry; the Dandelion; [94] the +Golden Seal (Hydrastis); the Marigold; Orange; Saffron; and +Tomato. Animals poisoned by the greater Celandine have developed +active and pernicious congestion of the lungs and liver. +Clusius found by experience that the juice of the greater +Celandine, when squeezed into small green wounds of what sort +so ever, wonderfully cured them. "If the juice to the bigness of a +pin's head be dropped into the eye in the morning in bed, it takes +away outward specks, and stops incipient suffusions." Also if the +yellow juice is applied to warts, or to corns, first gently scraped, +it will cure them promptly and painlessly. The greater Celandine is +by genus closely allied to the horned Poppy which grows so +abundantly on our coasts. Its tincture given in small doses proves +of considerable service in whooping-cough when very spasmodic. + +Curious remedies for this complaint have found rustic favour: in +Yorkshire owl broth is considered to be a specific; again in +Gloucestershire a roasted mouse is given to be eaten by the +patient; and in Staffordshire the child is made to look at the new +moon whilst the right hand of the nurse is rubbed up and down its +bare belly. + + + +CELERY. + +The Parsleys are botanically named _Selinon_, and by some verbal +accident, through the middle letter "n" in this word being changed +into "r," making it _Seliron_, or, in the Italian, Celeri, our Celery +(which is a Parsley) obtained its title. It is a cultivated variety of +the common Smallage (_Small ache_) or wild Celery (_Apium +graveolens_), which grows abundantly in moist English ditches, or +in water. This is an umbelliferous herb, unwholesome as a food, +and having a coarse root, with [95] a fetid smell. But, like many +others of the same natural order, when transplanted into the +garden, and bleached, it becomes aromatic and healthful, making +an excellent condimentary vegetable. But more than this, the +cultivated Celery may well take rank as a curative Herbal Simple. +Dr. Pereira has shown us that it contains sulphur (a known +preventive of rheumatism) as freely as do the cruciferous plants, +Mustard, and the Cresses. In 1879, Mr. Gibson Ward, then +President of the Vegetarian Society, wrote some letters to the +Times, which commanded much attention, about Celery as a food +and a medicament. "Celery," said he, "when cooked, is a very fine +dish, both as a nutriment and as a purifier of the blood; I will not +attempt to enumerate all the marvellous cures I have made with +Celery, lest medical men should be worrying me _en masse_. Let +me fearlessly say that rheumatism is impossible on this diet; and +yet English doctors in 1876 allowed rheumatism to kill three +thousand six hundred and forty human beings, every death being +as unnecessary as is a dirty face." + +The seeds of our Sweet Celery are carminative, and act on the +kidneys. An admirable tincture is made from these seeds, when +bruised, with spirit of wine; of which a teaspoonful may be taken +three times a day, with a spoonful or two of water. The root of the +Wild Celery, Smallage, or Marsh Parsley, was reckoned, by the +ancients, one of the five great aperient roots, and was employed in +their diet drinks. The Great Parsley is the Large Age, or Large +Ache; as a strange inconsistency the Romans adorned the heads of +their guests, and the tombs of their dead with crowns of the +Smallage. Our cultivated Celery is a capital instance of fact that +most of the poisonous plants call, by [96] human ingenuity, be so +altered in character as to become eminently serviceable for food or +medicine. Thus, the Wild Celery, which is certainly poisonous +when growing exposed to daylight, becomes most palatable, and +even beneficial, by having its edible leaf stalks earthed up and +bleached during their time of cultivation. + +Dr. Pereira says the digestibility of Celery is increased by its +maceration in vinegar. As taken at table, Celery possesses certain +qualities which tend to soothe nervous irritability, and to relieve +sick headaches. "This herb Celery [Sellery] is for its high and +grateful taste," says John Evelyn, in his _Acetaria_, "ever placed +in the middle of the grand sallet at our great men's tables, and our +Praetor's feasts, as the grace of the whole board." It contains some +sugar and a volatile odorous principle, which in the wild plant +smells and tastes strongly and disagreeably. The characteristic +odour and flavour of the cultivated plant are due to this essential +oil, which has now become of modified strength and qualities; also +when freshly cut it affords albumen, starch, mucilage, and mineral +matter. Why Celery accompanies cheese at the end of dinner it is +not easy to see. This is as much a puzzle as why sucking pig and +prune sauce should be taken in combination,--of which delicacies +James Bloomfield Rush, the Norwich murderer, desired that plenty +should be served for his supper the night before he was hanged, on +April 20th, 1849. + + + +CENTAURY. + +Of all the bitter appetising herbs which grow in our fields and +hedgerows, and which serve as excellent simple tonics, the +Centaury, particularly its white flowered variety, belonging to the +Gentian order of [97] plants, is the most efficacious. It shares in an +abundant measure the restorative antiseptic virtues of the Field +Gentian and the Buckbean. There are four wild varieties of the +Centaury, square stemmed, and each bearing flat tufts of flowers +which are more or less rose coloured. The ancients named this +bitter plant the Gall of the Earth, and it is now known as Christ's +Ladder, or Felwort. + +Though growing commonly in dry pastures, in woods, and on +chalky cliffs, yet the Centaury cannot be reared in a garden. Of old +its tribe was called "Chironia," after Chiron, the Greek Centaur, +well skilled in herbal physic; and most probably the name of our +English plant was thus originated. But the Germans call the Centaury +_Tausendgulden kraut_--"the herb of a thousand florins,"--either +because of its medicinal value, or as a corruption of _Centum +aureum_, "a hundred golden sovereigns." Centaury has become +popularly reduced in Worcestershire to Centre of the Sun. +Its generic adjective "erythroea" signifies red. The flowers +open only in fine weather, and not after twelve o'clock (noon) in +the day. Chemically the herb contains erythrocentaurin--a bitter +principle of compound character,--together with the usual herbal +constituents, but with scarcely any tannin. The tops of the +Centaury, especially of that _flore albo_--with the light coloured +petals--are given in infusion, or in powder, or when made into an +extract. For languid digestion, with heartburn after food, and a +want of appetite, the infusion prepared with cold water, an ounce +of the herb to a pint is best; but for muscular rheumatism the +infusion should be made with boiling water. A wineglass of either +will be the proper dose, two or three times a day. + + + +[98] CHERRY. + +The wild Cherry (_Cerasus_), which occurs of two distinct kinds, +has by budding and grafting begotten most of our finest garden +fruits of its genus. The name _Cerasus _was derived from +Kerasous, a city of Cappadocia, where the fruit was plentiful. +According to Pliny, Cherries were first brought to Rome by +Lucullus after his great victory over Mithridates, 89 B.C. The +cultivated Cherry disappeared in this country during the Saxon +period, and was not re-introduced until the reign of Henry VIII. +The _Cerasus sylvestris _is a wild Cherry tree rising to the height +of thirty or forty feet, and producing innumerable small globose +fruits; whilst the _Cerasus vulgaris_, another wild Cherry, is a +mere shrub, called _Cerevisier_ in France, of which the fruit is +sour and bitter. Cherry stones have been found in the primitive +lake dwellings of Western Switzerland. There is a tradition that +Christ gave a Cherry to St. Peter, admonishing him not to despise +little things. In the time of Charles the First, Herrick, the +clergyman poet, wrote a simple song, to which our well-known +pretty "Cherry Ripe" has been adapted:-- + + "Cherry ripe! ripe! I cry, + Full and fair ones I come, and buy! + If so be you ask me where + They do grow: I answer there + Where my Julia's lips do smile, + There's the land: a cherry isle." + +"Cherries on the ryse" (or, on twigs) was well known as a London +street cry in the fifteenth century; but these were probably the +fruit of the wild Cherry, or Gean tree. In France soup made from +Cherries, and taken with bread, is the common sustenance of the +wood cutters and charcoal burners of the forest during the [99] +winter. The French distil from Cherries a liqueur named _Eau de +Cerises_, or, in German, _Kirschwasser_; whilst the Italians +prepare from a Cherry called _Marusca_ the liqueur noted as +_Marasquin_. Cherries termed as Mazzards are grown in Devon +and Cornwall, A gum exudes from the bark of the Cherry tree +which is equal in value to gum arabic. A caravan going from +Ethiopia to Egypt, says Husselquist, and a garrison of more than +two hundred men during a siege which lasted two months, were +kept alive with no other food than this gum, "which they sucked +often and slowly." It is known chemically as "cerasin," and differs +from gum acacia in being less soluble. + +The leaves of the tree and the kernels of the fruit contain a basis +of prussic acid. + +The American wild Cherry (_Prunus virginiana_) yields from its +bark a larger quantity of the prussic acid principle, which is +sedative to the nervous centres, and also some considerable tannin. +As an infusion, or syrup, or vegetable extract, it will allay nervous +palpitation of the heart, and will quiet the irritative hectic cough of +consumption, whilst tending to ameliorate the impaired digestion. +Its preparations can be readily had from our leading druggists, and +are found to be highly useful. A teaspoonful of the syrup, with one +or two tablespoonfuls of cold water, is a dose for an adult every +three or four hours. The oozing of the gum-tears from the trunk +and boughs is due to the operation of a minute parasitic fungus. +Helena, in the _Midsummer Night's Dream_, paints a charming +picture of the close affection between Hermia and herself-- + + "So we grew together + Like to a double Cherry-seeming parted, + But yet a union in partition: + Two lovely berries moulded on one stem." + + + +CHERVIL, or BEAKED PARSLEY. + +"There is found," writes Parkinson, "during June and July, in almost +every English hedge, a certain plant called _Choerophyllum_, +in show very like unto Hemlockes, of a good and pleasant +smell and taste, which have caused us to term it 'Sweet Chervill.'" +And in modern times this plant has taken rank as a pot herb +in our gardens, though its virtues and uses are not sufficiently +known. "The root is great, thick and long, exceedingly sweet +in smell, and tasting like unto anise seeds. This root is much +used among the Dutch people in a kind of loblolly or hotchpot, +which they do eat, calling it _warmus_. The seeds taken as a salad +whilst they are yet green, exceed all other salads by many degrees +in pleasantness of taste, sweetness of smell, and wholesomeness +for the cold and feeble stomach." In common with other camphoraceous +and strongly aromatic herbs, by reason of its volatile oil +and its terebinthine properties, the Scandix, or Sweet Chervil, +was entitled to make one of the choice spices used for composing +the holy oil with which the sacred vessels of the Tabernacle +were anointed by Moses. It belongs to the particular group +of umbelliferous plants which is endowed with balsamic gums, +and with carminative essences appealing powerfully to the +sense of smell. + +The herb Chervil was in the mind of Roman Catullus when discoursing +sweet verses of old to his friend Fabullus:-- + + "Nam unguentum dabo quod meoe puelloe + Donarunt veneres, cupidinesque. + Quod tu quum olfacies deo rogabis + Totum ut te faciat. Fabulle! nasum." + + "I will give you a perfume my damsels gave me, + Sweet daughters of Venus, sad hoydens are ye! + Which the moment you smell will incite you to pray + My Fabullus! to live as 'all nose' from that day." + +Evelyn taught (1565) that "the tender tops of Cherville should +never be wanting in our sallets, being exceeding wholesome, and +chearing the spirits; also that the roots boiled and cold are to be +much commended for aged persons." But in 1745 several Dutch +soldiers were poisoned by eating the rough wild Chervil, from +which the cultivated sweet variety is to be distinguished by its +having its stems swollen beneath the joints--much as our +blue-blooded patricians are signalised by gouty knuckles and +bunioned feet. + +The botanical name of the Sweet Chervil (_Choerophyllum_) +signifies a plant which rejoices the heart--_Kairei-phyllum_. "The +roots," said an old writer, "are very good for old people that are +dull and without courage; they gladden and comfort the spirits, +and do increase their lusty strength." The juice is slightly aperient, +and abundantly lacteal when mixed with goat's milk, or in gruel. +Physicians formerly held this herb in high esteem, as capable of +curing most chronic disorders connected with the urinary +passages, and gravel. Some have even asserted that if these +distempers will not yield to a constant use of Chervil, they win be +scarcely curable by any other medicine. The Wild Chervil will +"help to dissolve any tumours or swellings in all parts of the body +speedily, if applied to the place, as also to take away the spots and +marks in the flesh and skin, of congealed blood by blows or +bruises." The feathery leaves of Chervil, which are of a bright +emerald hue in the spring, become of a rich purple in the +autumn, just as the objectionably carroty locks of Tittlebat +Titmouse, in _Ten Thousand a Year_, became vividly green under +"Cyanochaitanthropopoin," and were afterwards strangely empurpled +by "Tetragmenon abracadabra," at nine and sixpence the bottle. + + + +[102] CHESTNUTS (Horse, and Sweet). + +Ever since 1633 the Horse Chestnut tree has grown and flourished +in England, having been brought at first from the mountains of +Northern Asia. For the most part it is rather known and admired +for its wealth of shade, its large handsome floral spikes of creamy, +pink-tinted blossom, and its white, soft wood, than supposed to +exercise useful medicinal properties. But none the less is this tree +remarkable for the curative virtues contained in its large nuts of +mahogany polish, its broad palmate leaves, and its smooth silvery +bark. These virtues have been discovered and made public +especially by physicians and chemists of the homoeopathic school. +From the large digitated leaves an extract is made which has +proved of service in whooping-cough, and of which from one-third +to half a teaspoonful may be given for a dose. On the Continent +the bark is held in estimation for cutting short attacks of +intermittent fever and ague by acting in the same way as Peruvian +bark, though it is much more astringent. But the nuts are chiefly to +be regarded as the medicinal belongings of the Horse Chestnut +tree; and their bodily sphere of action is the rectum, or lower +bowel, in cases of piles, and of obstinate constipation. Their use is +particularly indicated when the bottom of the back gives out on +walking, with aching and a sense of weariness in that region. +Likewise, signal relief is found to be wrought by the same remedy +when the throat is duskily red and dry, in conjunction with +costiveness, and piles. A tincture is made (H.) from the ripe nuts +with spirit of wine, for the purposes described above, or the nuts +themselves are finely powdered and given in that form. These nuts +are starchy, and contain so much potash, that they may be +used when boiled for washing purposes. [103] In France and +Switzerland they are employed for cleansing wool and bleaching +linen, on account of their "saponin." Botanically, the Horse +Chestnut is named _AEsculus hippocastanea_--the first word +coming from _esca_, food; and the second from _hippos_, a horse; +and _Castana_, the city, so called. The epithet "horse" does not +imply any remedial use in diseases of that animal, but rather the +size and coarseness of this species as compared with the Sweet +Spanish Chestnut. In the same way we talk of the horse radish, the +horse daisy, and the horse leech. In Turkey the fruit is given to +horses touched or broken in the wind, but in this country horses +will not eat it. Nevertheless, Horse Chestnuts may be used for +fattening cattle, particularly sheep, the nuts being cut up, and +mixed with oats, or beans. Their bitterness can be removed by first +washing the Chestnuts in lime water. Medicinally, the ripe nut of +this tree is employed, being collected in September or October, +and deprived of its shell. The odour of the flowers is powerful and +peculiar. No chemical analysis of them, or of the nuts, has been +made, but they are found to contain tannin freely. Rich-coloured, +of a reddish brown, and glossy, these nuts have given their name +to a certain shade of mellow dark auburn hair. Rosalind, in _As +You Like It_, says "Orlando's locks are of a good colour: I' faith +your Chestnut was ever the only colour." + +Of the Horse Chestnut tincture, two or three drops, with a spoonful +of water, taken before meals and at bedtime, will cure almost any +simple case of piles in a week. Also, carrying a Horse Chestnut +about the person, is said to obviate giddiness, and to prevent piles. + +Taken altogether, the Horse Chestnut, for its splendour of +blossom, and wealth of umbrageous leaf, [104] its polished +mahogany fruit, and its special medicinal virtues, is _facile +princeps_ the belle of our English trees. But, like many a +ball-room beauty, when the time comes for putting aside the gay leafy +attire, it is sadly untidy, and makes a great litter of its cast-off +clothing. + +It has been ingeniously suggested that the cicatrix of the leaf +resembles a horse-shoe, with all its nails evenly placed. + +The Sweet Spanish Chestnut tree is grown much less commonly in +this country, and its fruit affords only material for food, without +possessing medicinal properties; though, in the United States of +America, an infusion of the leaves is thought to be useful for +staying the paroxysms of whooping-cough. Of all known nuts, this +(the Sweet Chestnut, Stover Nut, or Meat Nut) is the most +farinaceous and least oily; hence it is more easy of digestion than +any other. To mountaineers it is invaluable, so that on the +Apennines and the Pyrenees the Chestnut harvest is the event of +the year. The Italian Chestnut-cakes, called _necci_, contain forty +per cent. of nutritious matter soluble in cold water; and Chestnut +flour, when properly prepared, is a capital food for children. + +To be harvested the Chestnuts are spread on a frame of lattice-work +overhead, and a fire is kept burning underneath. When dry the +fruit is boiled, or steamed, or roasted, or ground into a kind of +flour, with which puddings are made, or an excellent kind of bread +is produced. The ripe Chestnut possesses a fine creamy flavour, +and when roasted it becomes almost aromatic. A good way to cook +Chestnuts is to boil them for twenty minutes, and then place them +for five minutes more in a Dutch oven. + +It was about the fruit of the Spanish tree Shakespeare [105] said: +"A woman's tongue gives not half so great a blow to the ear as will +a Chestnut in a farmer's fire." In the United States of America an +old time-worn story, or oft repeated tale, is called in banter a +"Chestnut," and a stale joker is told "not to rattle the Chestnuts." + +For convalescents, after a long serious illness, the French make a +chocolate of sweet Chestnuts, which is highly restorative. The nuts +are first cooked in _eau de vie_ until their shells and the pellicle +of the kernels can be peeled off; then they are beaten into a pulp +together with sufficient milk and sugar, with some cinnamon +added. The mixture is afterwards boiled with more milk, and +frothed up in a chocolate pot. + + + +CHICKWEED. + +Chickweed--called _Alsine_ or _Stellaria media_, a floral star of +middle magnitude--belongs to the Clove-pink order of plants, and, +despite the most severe weather, grows with us all the year round, +in waste places by the roadsides, and as a garden weed. It is easily +known by its fresh-looking, juicy, verdant little leaves, and by its +tiny white star-like flowers; also by a line of small stiff hairs, +which runs up one side of the stalk like a vegetable hog-mane, and +when it reaches a pair of leaves immediately shifts its position, and +runs up higher on the opposite side. + +The fact of our finding Chickweed (and Groundsel) in England, as +well as on the mainland of Europe, affords a proof that Britain, +when repeopled after the great Ice age, must have been united +somewhere to the continent; and its having lasted from earliest +times throughout Europe, North America, and Siberia, seems to +show that this modest plant must be possessed of some universal +utility which has enabled it to hold its own [106] until now in the +great evolutionary struggle. It grows wild allover the earth, and +serves as food for small birds, such as finches, linnets, and other +feathered songsters of the woods. Moreover, we read in the old +herbal of Turner: _Qui alunt aviculas caveis inclusas hoc solent +illas si quando cibos fastigiant recreare_--or, as Gerard translates +this: "Little birds in cages are refreshed with Chickweed when +they loath their meat." + +The Chickweed is termed _Alsine--quia lucos, vel alsous amat_-- +because it loves to grow in shady places This small herb abounds +with the earthy salts of potash, which are admirable against +scurvy when thus found in nature's laboratory, and a continued +deprivation from which always proves disastrous to mankind. +"The water of Chickweed," says an old writer, "is given to +children for their fits, and its juice is used for their gripes." When +boiled, the plant may be eaten instead of Spinach. Its fresh juice if +rubbed on warts, first pared to the quick, will presently cause them +to fall off. + +Fresh Chickweed juice, as proved medicinally in 1893, produced +sharp rheumatic pains and stitches in the head and eyes, with a +general feeling of being bruised; also pressure about the liver and +soreness there, with sensations of burning, and of bilious +indigestion. Subsequently, the herb, when given in quite small +doses of tincture, or fresh juice, or infusion, has been found by its +affinity to remove the train of symptoms just described, and to act +most reliably in curing obstinate rheumatism allied therewith. +Furthermore, a poultice prepared from the fresh green juicy leaves, +is emollient and cooling, whilst an ointment made from them with +hog's lard, is manifestly healing. + +When rain is impending, the flowers remain closed; [107] and the +plant teaches an exemplary matrimonial lesson, seeing that at night +its leaves approach one another in loving pairs, and sleep with the +tender buds protected between them. Culpeper says: "Chickweed +is a fine, soft, pleasing herb, under the dominion of the moon, and +good for many things." Parkinson orders thus: "To make a salve fit +to heal sore legs, boil a handful of Chickweed with a handful of +red rose leaves in a pint of the oil of trotters or sheep's feet, and +anoint the grieved places therewith against a fire each evening and +morning; then bind some of the herb, if ye will, to the sore, and so +shall ye find help, if God will." + + + +CHRISTMAS ROSE--BLACK HELLEBORE. + +This well-known plant, a native of Southern Europe, and belonging +to the Ranunculus order, is grown commonly in our gardens +for the sake of its showy white flowers, conspicuous in winter, +from December to February. The root has been famous since +time immemorial as a remedy for insanity. From its abundant +growth in the Grecian island of Anticyra arose the proverb: +_Naviget Anticyram_--"Take a voyage to Anticyra," as applied +by way of advice to a man who has lost his reason. + +When fresh the root is very acrid, and will blister the skin. If dried +and given as powder it will cause vomiting and purging, also +provoking sneezing when smelt, and inducing the monthly flow of +a woman. This root contains a chemical glucoside--"helleborin," +which, if given in full doses, stimulates the kidneys to such an +excess that their function becomes temporarily paralyzed. It +therefore happens that a medicinal tincture (H.) made from the +fresh root collected at Christmas, just before the plant would +flower, when [108] taken in small doses, will promptly relieve +dropsy, especially a sudden dropsical swelling of the skin, with +passive venous congestion of the kidneys, as in scrofulous +children. + +A former method of administering the root was by sticking a +particularly sweet apple full of its fibres, and roasting this under +hot embers; then the fibres were withdrawn, and the apple was +eaten by the patient. + +Taken by mischance in any quantity the root is highly poisonous: +one ounce of a watery decoction has caused death in eight hours, +with vomiting, giddiness, insensibility, and palsy. Passive dropsy +in children after scarlet fever may be effectually cured by small +doses of the tincture, third decimal strength. + +The name Hellebore, as applied to the plant, comes from the +Greek _Elein_--to injure, and _Bora_--fodder. It is also known as +_Melampodium_, being thus designated because Melampus, a +physician in the Peloponnesus (B.C. 1530) watched the effect on +his goats when they had eaten the leaves, and cured therewith the +insane daughters of Proetus, King of Argos. + +It was famous among the Egyptian and Greek doctors of old as the +most effectual remedy for the diseases of mania, epilepsy, +apoplexy, dropsy, and gout. The tincture is very useful in mental +stupor, with functional impairment of the hearing and sight; +likewise for strumous water on the brain. + +The original reputation of this herb was acquired because of its +purgative properties, which enabled it to carry off black bile which +was causing insanity. + +No tannin is contained in the root. A few drops of the juice +obtained therefrom, if dropped warm into the ear each night and +morning, will cure singing and noises in the ears. A proper dose of +the powdered root [109] is from five to ten grains. Snuff made +with this powder has cured night blindness, as among the French +prisoners at Norman Cross in 1806. The Gauls used to rub the +points of their hunting spears with Hellebore, believing the game +they killed was thus rendered more tender. Hahnemann said that at +least one third of the cases of insanity occurring in lunatic asylums +may be cured by this and the white Hellebore (an allied plant) in +such small doses as of the tincture twelfth dilution, given in the +patient's drink. + +A bastard Hellebore, which is _foetidus_, or, "stinking," and is +known to rustics as Bearsfoot, because of its digitate leaves, grows +frequently near houses in this country, though a doubtful native. +The sepals of its flowers are purple, and the leaves are evergreen; +the petals are green and leaf-like, whilst the nectaries are large and +tubular, often containing small flies. The nectar is reputed to be +poisonous. Again, this plant bears the names Pegroots, Oxbeel, +Oxheal, and Setterwort, because used for "settering" cattle. A +piece of the root is inserted as a seton (so-called from _seta_--a +hank of silk) into the dewlap, and this is termed "pegging," or, +"settering," for the benefit of diseased lungs. "The root," says +Gerard, "consists of many small black strings, involved or wrapped +one within another very intricately." The smell of the fresh plant is +extremely fetid, and, when taken, it will purge, or provoke +vomiting. The leaves are very useful for expelling worms. Dr. +Woodville says their juice made into a syrup, with coarse sugar, is +almost the only vermifuge he had used against round worms for +three years past. "If these leaves be dried in an oven after the bread +is drawne out, and the powder thereof be taken in a figge, or raisin, +or strewed upon a piece of [110] bread spread with honey, and +eaten, it killeth worms in children exceedingly." A decoction made +with one drachm of the green leaves, or about fifteen grains of the +dried leaves in powder, is the usual dose for a child between four +and six years of age; but a larger dose will provoke sickness, or +diarrhoea. The medicine should be repeated on two or three +consecutive mornings; and it will be found that the second dose +acts more powerfully than the first, "never failing to expel round +worms by stool, if there be any lodged in the alimentary tube." + + + +CLOVER. + +In this country we possess about twenty species of the trefoil, or +Clover, which is a plant so well known in its general features by +its abundance in every field and on every grass plot, as not to need +any detailed description. The special variety endowed with +medicinal and curative virtues, is the Meadow Clover (_Trifolium +pratense_), or red clover, called by some, Cocksheads, and +familiar to children as Suckles, or Honey-suckles, because of the +abundant nectar in the long tubes of its corollae. Other names for it +are Bee-bread, and Smere. An extract of this red clover is now +confidently said to have the power of healing scrofulous sores, and +of curing cancer. The _New York Tribune_ of September, 1884, +related a case of indisputable cancer of the breast of six years' +standing, with an open fetid sore, which had penetrated the +chest-wall between the ribs, and which was radically healed by a +prolonged internal use of the extract of red clover. Four years +afterwards, in September, 1888, "the breast was found to be +restored to its normal condition, all but a small place the size of +half a dollar, which will in every probability become absorbed like +[111] the rest, so that the patient is considered by her physicians to +be absolutely cured." + +The likelihood is that whatever virtue the red clover can boast for +counteracting a scrofulous disposition, and as antidotal to cancer, +resides in its highly-elaborated lime, silica, and other earthy salts. +Moreover, this experience is not new. Sir Spencer Wells, twenty +years ago, recorded some cases of confirmed cancer cured by +taking powdered and triturated oyster shells; whilst egg shells +similarly reduced to a fine dust have proved equally efficacious. It +is remarkable that if the moorlands in the North of England, and in +some parts of Ireland, are turned up for the first time, and strewed +with lime, white clover springs up there in abundance. + +Again, a syrup is made from the flowers of the red clover, which +has a trustworthy reputation for curing whooping-cough, and of +which a teaspoonful may be taken three or four times in the day. +Also stress is laid on the healing of skin eruptions in children, by a +decoction of the purple and white meadow trefoils. + +The word clover is a corruption of the Latin _clava_ a club; and +the "clubs" on our playing cards are representations of clover +leaves; whilst in France the same black suit is called _trefle_. + +A conventional trefoil is figured on our coins, both Irish and +English, this plant being the National Badge of Ireland. Its charm +has been ever supposed there as an unfailing protection against +evil influences, as is attested by the spray in the workman's cap, +and in the bosom of the cotter's wife. + +The clover trefoil is in some measure a sensitive plant; "its +leaves," said Pliny, "do start up as if afraid of an assault when +tempestuous weather is at hand." + +[112] The phrase, "living in clover," alludes to cattle being put to +feed in rich pasturage. + +A sworn foe to the purple clover cultivated by farmers, is the +Dodder (_Cuscuta trifolii_), a destructive vegetable parasite which +strangles the plants in a crafty fashion, and which goes by the +name of "hellweed," or "devil's guts." It lies in ambush like a +pigmy field octopus, with deadly suckers for draining the sap of its +victims. These it mats together in its wiry, sinuous coils, and +chokes relentlessly by the acre. Nevertheless, the petty garotter-- +like a toad, "ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in its +head." "If boiled," says Hill, "with a little ginger, the dodder in +decoction works briskly as a purge. Also, the thievish herb, when +bruised and applied externally to scrofulous tumours, is an +excellent remedy." + +The word "dodder" signifies the plural of "dodd," a bunch of +threads. The parasite is sometimes called "Red tangle" and "Lady's +laces." + +Its botanical name _Cuscuta_ comes from the Greek _Kassuo_--to +sew together. If the piece of land infested with it is closely mown +(and the cut material carried away unshaken), being next covered +with deal saw-dust, on which a ten per cent. solution of sulphate of +iron is freely poured, then by combining with the tannin contained +in the stems of the Dodder, this will serve to kill the parasite +without doing any injury to the clover or lucerne. Although a +parasite the plant springs every year from seed. It is a remedy for +swooning or fainting fits. + +The Sweet Clover (or yellow Melilot), when prepared as a tincture +(H.), with spirit of wine, and given as a medicine in material +doses, causes, in sensitive persons, a severe headache, sometimes +with a determination of [113] blood to the head, and bleeding from +the nose. When administered, on the principle of curative affinity, +in much smaller doses, it is singularly beneficial against nervous +headaches, with oppression of the brain, acting helpfully within +five minutes. Dr. Hughes (Brighton) writes: "I value this medicine +much in nervous headaches, and I always carry it in my pocket-case-- +as the mother tincture--which I generally administer _by olfaction_." +For epilepsy, it is said in the United States of America +to be "the one grand master-remedy," by giving a drop of the +tincture every five minutes during the attack, and five drops five +times a day in water, for some weeks afterwards. + +The Melilot (from _mel_, honey, and _lotus_, because much liked +by bees) is known as Plaster Clover from its use since Galen's time +in plasters for dispersing tumours. Continental physicians still +employ the same made of melilot, wax, resin, and olive oil. The +plant contains, "Coumarin" in common with the Sweet Woodruff, +and the Tonquin Bean. Other names for it are "Harts' Clover," +because deer delight to feed on it and "King's Clover" or "Corona +Regis," because "the yellow flouers doe crown the top of the +stalkes as with a chaplet of gold." It is an herbaceous plant +common in waste places, and having light green leaves; when +dried it smells like Woodruff, or new hay. + + + +CLUB MOSS. + +Though not generally thought worth more than a passing notice, or +to possess any claims of a medicinal sort, yet the Club Moss, +which is of common growth in Great Britain on heaths and hilly +pastures, exerts by its spores very remarkable curative effects, and +[114] therefore it should be favourably regarded as a Herbal +Simple. It is exclusively due to homoeopathic provings and +practice, that the _Lycopodium clavatum _(Club Moss) takes an +important position amongst the most curative vegetable remedies +of the present day. + +The word _lycopodium_ means "wolf's claw," because of the +claw-like ends to the trailing stems of this moss; and the word +clavatum signifies that its inflorescence resembles a club. The +spores of Club Moss constitute a fine pale-yellow, dusty powder +which is unctuous, tasteless, inodorous, and only medicinal when +pounded in all agate mortar until the individual spores, or nuts, are +fractured. + +By being thus triturated, the nuts give out their contents, which are +shown to be oil globules, wherein the curative virtues of the moss +reside. Sugar of milk is then rubbed up for two hours or more with +the broken spores, so as to compose a medicinal powder, which is +afterwards to be further diluted; or a tincture is made from the +fractured spores, with spirit of ether, which will develop their +specific medicinal properties. The Club Moss, thus prepared, +has been experimentally taken by provers in varying material +doses; and is found through its toxical affinities in this way +to be remarkably useful for chronic mucous indigestion and +mal-nutrition, attended with sallow complexion, slow, difficult +digestion, flatulence, waterbrash, heartburn, decay of bodily +strength, and mental depression. It is said that whenever a fan-like +movement of the wings of the nostrils can be observed during the +breathing, the whole group of symptoms thus detailed is _specially_ +curable by Club Moss. + +As a dose of the triturated powder, reduced to a weaker +dilution, ten grains may be taken twice a day [115] mixed with a +dessertspoonful of water; or of the tincture largely reduced in +strength, ten drops twice a day in like manner. Chemically, the oil +globules extracted from the spores contain "alumina" and +"phosphoric acid." The diluted powder has proved practically +beneficial for reducing the swelling and for diminishing the +pulsation of aneurism when affecting a main blood-vessel of the +heart. + +In Cornwall the Club Moss is considered good against most +diseases of the eyes, provided it be gathered on the third day of the +moon when first seen; being shown the knife whilst the gatherer +repeats these words:-- + + "As Christ healed the issue of blood, + Do thou cut what thou cut test for good." + +"Then at sundown the Club Moss should be cut by the operator +whilst kneeling, and with carefully washed hands. It is to be +tenderly wrapped in a fair white cloth, and afterwards boiled in +water procured from the spring nearest the spot where it grew," +and the liquor is to be applied as a fomentation; or the Club Moss +may be "made into an ointment with butter from the milk of a new +cow." Such superstitious customs had without doubt a Druidic +origin, and they identify the Club Moss with the Selago, or golden +herb, "Cloth of Gold" of the Druids. This was reputed to confer the +power of understanding the language of birds and beasts, and was +intimately connected with some of their mysterious rites; though +by others it is thought to have been a sort of Hedge Hyssop +(_Gratiola_). + +The Common Lycopodium bears in some, districts the name of +"Robin Hood's hatband." Its unmoistenable powder from the +spores is a capital absorbing application to weeping, raw surfaces. +At the shops, this [116] powder of the Club Moss spores is sold as +"witch meal," or "vegetable sulphur." For trade purposes it is +obtained from the ears of a Wolfsfoot Moss, the Lycopodium +clavatum, which grows in the forests of Russia and Finland. The +powder is yellow of colour, dust-like and smooth to the touch. +Half a drachm of it given during July in any proper vehicle has +been esteemed "a noble remedy to cure stone in the bladder." +Being mixed with black pepper, it was recognized by the College +of Physicians in 1721 as a medicine of singular value for +preventing and curing hydrophobia. Dr. Mead, who had repeated +experience of its worth, declared that he never knew it to fail when +combined with cold bathing. + +Club Moss powder ignites with a flicker, and is used for stage +lightning. It is the _Blitzmehl_, or lightning-meal of the Germans, +who give it in doses of from fifteen to twenty grains for the cure of +epilepsy in children. + +When the "Mortal Struggle" was produced (see _Nicholas Nickleby_) +by Mr. Vincent Crummles at Portsmouth, with the aid of Miss +Snevelicci, and the Infant Phenomenon, lurid lightning was +much in request to astonish the natives; and this was sufficiently +well simulated by igniting, with a sudden flash and a hiss, +highly inflammable spores of the Club Moss projected against +burning tow within a hollow cone, producing weird scenic effects. + + + +COLTSFOOT. + +The Coltsfoot, which grows abundantly throughout England in +places of moist, heavy soil, especially along the sides of our raised +railway banks, has been justly termed "nature's best herb for the +lungs, and her most eminent thoracic." Its seeds are supposed to +have lain [117] dormant from primitive times, where our railway +cuttings now upturn them and set them growing anew; and the +rotting foliage of the primeval herb by retaining its juices, is +thought to have promoted the development and growth of our +common earthworm. + +The botanical name of Coltsfoot is _Tussilago farfara_, signifying +_tussis ago_, "I drive away a cold"; and _farfar_, the white poplar +tree, which has a similar leaf. It is one of the Composite order, and +the older authors named this plant, _Filius ante patrem_--"the son +before the father," because the flowers appear and wither before +the leaves are produced. These flowers, at the very beginning of +Spring, stud the banks with gay, golden, leafless blossoms, each +growing on a stiff scaly stalk, and resembling a dandelion in +miniature. The leaves, which follow later on, are made often into +cigars, or are smoked as British herbal tobacco, being mixed for +this purpose with the dried leaves and flowers of the eye-bright, +buckbean, betony, thyme, and lavender, to which some persons +add rose leaves, and chamomile flowers. All these are rubbed +together by the hands into a coarse powder, Coltsfoot forming +quite one-half of the same; and this powder may be very +beneficially smoked for asthma, or for spasmodic bronchial cough. +Linnoeus said, "_Et adhuc hodie plebs in Suecia, instar tabaci +contra tussim fugit_"--"Even to-day the Swiss people cure their +coughs with Coltsfoot employed like tobacco." When the flowers +are fully blown and fall off, the seeds with their "clock" form a +beautiful head of white flossy silk, and if this flies away when +there is no wind it is said to be a sure sign of coming rain. The +Goldfinch often lines her nest with the soft pappus of the +Coltsfoot. In Paris the Coltsfoot flower is painted on the doorposts +of an apothecary's house. + +[118] From earliest times, the plant has been found helpful in +maladies of the chest. Hippocrates advised it with honey for +"ulcerations of the lungs." Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galen, severally +commended the use of its smoke, conducted into the mouth +through a funnel or reed, for giving ease to cough and difficult +breathing; they named it _breechion_, from _breex_, a cough. + +In taste, the leaves are harsh, bitter, and mucilaginous. They +appear late in March, being green above, with an undersurface +which is white, and cottony. Sussex peasants esteem the white +down of the leaves as a most valuable medicine. + +All parts of the plant contain chemically tannin, with a special +bitter principle, and free mucilage; so that the herb is to be +considered emollient, demulcent, and tonic. Dr. Cullen employed a +decoction of the leaves with much benefit in scrofula, where the +use of sea water had failed. And Dr. Fuller tells about a girl cured +of twelve scrofulous sores, by drinking daily, for four months, as +much as she could of Coltsfoot tea, made so strong from the leaves +as to be sweet and glutinous. A modern decoction is prepared from +the herb with boiling water poured on the leaves, and with +liquorice root and honey added. + +But, "hark! I hear the pancake bell," said Poor Richard in his +almanack, 1684; alluding to pancakes then made with Coltsfoot, +like tansies, and fried with saged butter. + +A century later it was still the fashion to treat consumptive young +women with quaint remedies. Mrs. Delaney writes in 1758, "Does +Mary cough in the Night? two or three snails boiled in her barley +water may be of great service to her." + +Again, the confectioner provides Coltsfoot rock, [119] concocted +in fluted sticks of a brown colour, as a sweetmeat, and flavoured +with some essential oil--as aniseed, or dill--these sticks being well +beloved by most schoolboys. The dried leaves, when soaked out in +warm water, will serve as an excellent emollient poultice. A +certain preparation, called "Essence of Coltsfoot," found great +favour with our grand sires for treating their colds. This consisted +of Balsam of Tolu and Friar's Balsam in equal parts, together with +double the quantity of Spirit of Wine. It did not really contain +a trace of Coltsfoot, and the nostrum was provocative of +inflammation, because of the spirit in excess. Dr. Paris said: "And +this, forsooth, is a pectoral for coughs! If a patient with a catarrh +should recover whilst using such a remedy, I should certainly +designate it a lucky escape, rather than a skilful cure." Gerard +wrote about Coltsfoot: "The fume of the dried leaves, burned upon +coles, effectually helpeth those that fetch their winde thicke, and +breaketh without peril the impostumes of the brest"; also "the +green leaves do heal the hot inflammation called Saint Anthony's +fire." + +The names of the herb--Coltsfoot, and Horsehoof--are derived +from the shape of the leaf. It is likewise known as Asses' foot, and +Cough wort; also as Foal's foot, and Bull's foot, Hoofs, and (in +Yorkshire) Cleats. + +To make an infusion or decoction of the plant for a confirmed +cough, or for chronic bronchitis, pour a pint of boiling water on an +ounce of the dried leaves and flowers, and take half a teacupful of +it when cold three or four times in the day. The silky down of the +seed-heads is used in the Highlands for stuffing pillows, and the +presence of coal is said to be indicated by an abundant growth of +the herb. + +Another species, the Butter bur (_Tussilago petasites_), [120] is +named from _petasus_, an umbrella, or a broad covering for the +head. It produces the largest leaves of any plant in Great Britain, +which sometimes measure three feet in breadth. This plant was +thought to be of great use in the time of the plague, and thus got +the names of Pestilent wort, Plague flower and Bog Rhubarb. Both +it, and the Coltsfoot, are specific remedies (H.) for severe and +obstinate neuralgia in the small of the back, and the loins, a +medicinal tincture being prepared from each herb. + + + +COMFREY. + +The Comfrey of our river banks, and moist watery places, is the +_Consound_, or Knit-back, or Bone-set, and Blackwort of country +folk; and the old _Symphytum_ of Dioscorides. It has derived +these names from the consolidating and vulnerary qualities +attributed to the plant, from _confirmo_, to strengthen together, or +the French, _comfrie_. This herb is of the Borage tribe, and is +conspicuous by its height of from one to two feet, its large rough +leaves, which provoke itching when handled, and its drooping +white or purple flowers growing on short stalks. Chemically, the +most important part of the plant is its "mucilage." This contains +tannin, asparagin, sugar, and starch granules. The roots are sweet, +sticky, and without any odour. "_Quia tanta proestantia est_," says +Pliny, "_ut si carnes duroe coquuntur conglutinet addita; unde +nomen!_"--"and the roots be so glutinative that they will solder or +glew together meat that is chopt in pieces, seething in a pot, and +make it into one lump: the same bruysed, and lay'd in the manner +of a plaister, doth heale all fresh and green wounds." These roots +are very brittle, and the least bit of them will start growing afresh. + +[121] The whole plant, beaten to a cataplasm, and applied hot as a +poultice, has always been deemed excellent for soothing pain in +any tender, inflamed or suppurating part. It was formerly applied +to raw indolent ulcers as a glutinous astringent, and most useful +vulnerary. Pauli recommended it for broken bones, and externally +for wounds of the nerves, tendons, and arteries. More recently +surgeons have declared that the powdered root (which, when +broken, is white within, and full of a slimy juice), if dissolved in +water to a mucilage, is far from contemptible for bleedings, +fractures, and luxations, whilst it hastens the callus of bones under +repair. Its strong decoction has been found very useful in Germany +for tanning leather. The leaves were formerly employed for giving +a flavour to cakes and panada. + +A modern medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the root-stock with +spirit of wine; and ten drops of this should be taken three or four +times a day with a tablespoonful of cold water. French nurses treat +cracked nipples by applying a hollow section of the fresh root over +the sore caruncle; and a decoction of the root made by boiling +from two to four drachms in a pint of water, is given for bleedings +from the lungs or bladder. + +The name _Consound_, owned by the Common Comfrey, was given +likewise to the daisy and the bugle, in the middle ages. "It +joyeth," says Gerard, "in watery ditches, in fat and fruitful +meadows." A solve concocted from the fresh herb will certainly +tend to promote the healing of bruised and broken parts, +suggesting as an appropriate motto for the salve box: "Behold how +good and pleasant a thing it is to dwell together in unity! It is +like the precious ointment which ran down Aaron's beard." Some +foreknowledge [122] of the Comfrey perhaps inspired the Prophet +Isaiah to predict that after a time "the heart should rejoice and the +bones flourish like a herb." The Poet Laureate tells of + + "This, the Consound, + Whereby the lungs are eased of their grief." + +About a century ago, the _Prickly Comfrey_--a variety of our +Consound--was naturalised in this country from the Caucasus, and +has since proved itself amazingly productive to farmers, as, when +cultivated, it will grow six crops in the year; and the plant is both +preventive and curative of foot and mouth disease in cattle. It +bears flowers of a rich blue colour. + +From our Common Comfrey a sort of glue is got in Angora, which +is used for spinning the famous fleeces of that country. Mr. +Cockayne relates that the locksman at Teddington informed him +how the bone of his little finger being broken, was grinding and +grunching so sadly for two months, that sometimes he felt quite +wrong in his head. One day he saw a doctor go by, and told him +about the distress. The doctor said: "You see that Comfrey +growing there? Take a piece of its root, and champ it, and put it +about your finger, and wrap it up." The man did so, and in four +days his finger was well. + + + +CORIANDER. + +Coriander comfits, sold by the confectioner as admirably warming +to the stomach, and corrective of flatulence, consist of small +aromatic seeds coated with white sugar. These are produced by the +Coriander, an umbelliferous herb cultivated in England from early +times for medicinal and culinary uses, though introduced at first +from the Mediterranean. It has now [123] become wild as an +escape, growing freely in our fields and waste places. Farmers +produce it, especially about Essex, under the name of Col, the +crops being mown down when ripe, and the fruits being then +thrashed out to procure the seeds. The generic name has been +derived from _koros_, a bug; alluding to the stinking odour of the +bruised leaves, though these, when dried, are fragrant, and +pleasant of smell. In some countries, as Egypt and Peru, they are +taken in soups. The seeds are cordial, but become narcotic if used +too freely. When distilled with water they yield a yellow essential +oil of a very aromatic and strong odour. + +Coriander water was formerly much esteemed as a carminative for +windy colic. Being so aromatic and comfortably stimulating, the +fruit is commended for aiding the digestion of savoury pastry, and +to correct the griping tendencies of such medicines as senna and +rhubarb. It contains malic acid, tannin, the special volatile oil of +the herb, and some fatty matter. + +Distillers of gin make use of this fruit, and veterinary surgeons +employ it as a drug for cattle and horses. Alston says, "The green +herb--seeds and all--stinks intolerably of bugs"; and Hoffman +admonishes, "_Si largius sumptura fuerit semen non sine periculo +e sua sede et statu demovet, et qui sumpsere varia dictu pudenda +blaterant_." The fruits are blended with curry powder, and are +chosen to flavour several liquors. By the Chinese a power of +conferring immortality is thought to be possessed by the seeds. +From a passage in the Book of Numbers where manna is likened +to Coriander seed, it would seem that this seed was familiar to the +Israelites and used by them for domestic purposes. Robert Turner +says when taken in wine it stimulates the animal passions. + + + +[124] COWSLIP. + +Our English pastures and meadows, especially where the soil is of +blue lias clay, become brilliantly gay, "with gaudy cowslips drest," +quite early in the spring. But it is a mistake to suppose that these +flowers are a favourite food with cows, who, in fact, never eat +them if they can help it. The name Cowslip is really derived, says +Dr. Prior, from the Flemish words, _kous loppe_, meaning "hose +flap," a humble part of woollen nether garments. But Skeat thinks +it arose from the fact that the plant was supposed to spring up +where a patch of cow dung had fallen. + +Originally, the Mullein--which has large, oval, woolly leaves-- +and the Cowslip were included under one common Latin name, +_Verbascum_; for which reason the attributes of the Mullein still +remain accredited by mistake to the second plant. Former medical +writers called the Cowslip _herba paralysis_, or, "palsywort," +because of its supposed efficacy in relieving paralysis. The whole +plant is known to be gently narcotic and somniferous. Pope +praised the herb and its flowers on account of their sedative +qualities:-- + + "For want of rest, + Lettuce and Cowslip wine--_Probatum est_." + +Whilst Coleridge makes his _Christabel_ declare with reference to +the fragrant brew concocted from its petals, with lemons and +sugar:-- + + "It is a wine of virtuous powers, + My mother made it of wild flowers." + +Physicians for the last two centuries have used the powdered roots +of the Cowslip (and the Primrose) for wakefulness, hysterical +attacks, and muscular rheumatism; and the cowslip root was +named of old both [124] _radix paralyseos_, and _radix arthritica_. +This root, and the flowers, have an odour of anise, which +is due to their containing some volatile oil identical with +mannite. Their more acrid principle is "saponin." Hill tells us that +when boiled in ale, the roots are taken by country persons for +giddiness, with no little success. "They be likewise in great request +among those that use to hunt after goats and roebucks on high +mountains, for the strengthening of the head when they pass by +fearful precipices and steep places, in following their game, so that +giddiness and swimming of the brain may not seize upon them." +The dose of the dried and powdered flowers is from fifteen to +twenty grains. A syrup of a fine yellow colour may also be made +from the petals, which answers the same purposes. Three pounds +of the fresh blossoms should be infused in five pints of boiling +water, and then simmered down to a proper consistence with +sugar. + +Herbals of the Elizabethan date, say that an ointment made from +cowslip flowers "taketh away the spots and wrinkles of the skin, +and doth add beauty exceedingly, as divers ladies, gentlewomen, +and she citizens--whether wives or widows--know well enough." + +The tiny people were then supposed to be fond of nestling in the +drooping bells of Cowslips, and hence the flowers were called +fairy cups; and, in accordance with the doctrine of signatures, they +were thought effective for removing freckles from the face. + + + "In their gold coats spots you see, + These be rubies: fairy favours. + In these freckles live their savours." + +The cluster of blossoms on a single stalk sometimes bears the +name of "lady's keys" or "St. Peter's wort," either because it +resembles a bunch of keys as St. [126] Peter's badge, or because as +_primula veris_ it unlocks the treasures of spring. + +Cowslip flowers are frequently done up by playful children into +balls, which they call tisty tosty, or simply a tosty. For this +purpose the umbels of blossoms fully blown are strung closely +together, and tied into a firm ball. + +The leaves were at one time eaten in salad, and mixed with other +herbs to stuff meat, whilst the flowers were made into a delicate +conserve. + +Yorkshire people call this plant the Cowstripling; and in +Devonshire, where it is scarcely to be found, because of the red +marl, it has come about that the foxglove goes by the name of +Cowslip. Again, in some provincial districts, the Cowslip is known +as Petty Mullein, and in others as Paigle (Palsywort). The old +English proverb, "As blake as a paigle," means, "As yellow as a +cowslip." + +One word may be said here in medicinal favour of the poor cow, whose +association with the flower now under discussion has been so +unceremoniously disproved. The breath and smell of this sweet-odoured +animal are thought in Flintshire to be good against consumption. +Henderson tells of a blacksmith's apprentice who was restored +to health when far advanced in a decline, by taking the milk +of cows fed in a kirkyard. In the south of Hampshire, a useful +plaster of fresh cow-dung is applied to open wounds. And +even in its evolutionary development, the homely animal reads us +a lesson; for _Dat Deus immiti cornua curta bovi_, says the Latin +proverb--"Savage cattle have only short horns." So was it in "the +House that Jack built," where the fretful creature that tossed the +dog had but one horn, and this grew crumpled. + + + +[127] CRESSES. + +The Cress of the herbalist is a noun of multitude: it comprises +several sorts, differing in kind but possessing the common +properties of wholesomeness and pungency. Here "order in variety +we see"; and here, "though all things differ, all agree." The name +is thought by some to be derived from the Latin verb _crescere_, +to grow fast. + +Each kind of Cress belongs to the Cruciferous genus of plants; +whence comes, perhaps, the common name The several varieties +of Cress are stimulating and anti-scorbutic, whilst each contains a +particular essential principle, of acrid flavour, and of sharp biting +qualities. The whole tribe is termed _lepidium_, or "siliquose," +scaly, with reference to the shape of the seed-pouches. It includes +"Land Cress (formerly dedicated to St. Barbara); Broad-leaved +Cress (or the Poor-man's pepper); Penny Cress (_thlapsus_); +Garden, or Town Cress; and the well known edible Water Cress." +Formerly the Greeks attached much value to the whole order of +Cresses, which they thought very beneficial to the brain. A +favourite maxim with them was, "Eat Cresses, and get wit." + +In England these plants have long been cultivated as a source of +profit; whence arose the saying that a graceless fellow is not worth +a "kurse" or cress--in German, _kers_. Thus Chaucer speaks about +a character in the _Canterbury Tales_, "Of paramours ne fraught +he not a kers." But some writers have referred this saying rather to +the wild cherry or kerse, making it of the same significance as our +common phrase, "Not worth a fig." + +As Curative Herbal Simples we need only consider the Garden or +Town Cress, and the Water Cress: whilst regarding the other +varieties rather as condiments, and [128] salad herbs to be taken +by way of pleasant wholesome appetisers at table. These +aromatic herbs were employed to season the homely dishes of our +forefathers, before commerce had brought the spices of the East at +a cheap rate to our doors; and Cresses were held in common +favour by peasants for such a purpose. The black, or white pepper +of to-day, was then so costly that "to promise a saint yearly a +pound of it was considered a liberal bequest." And therefore the +leaves of wild Cresses were eaten as a substitute for giving +pungency to the food. Remarkable among these was the _Dittander +Sativus_, a species found chiefly near the sea, with foliage +so hot and acrid, that the plant then went by the name of +"Poor-man's Pepper," or "Pepper Wort." Pliny said, "It is of the +number of scorching and blistering Simples." "This herbe," says +Lyte, "is fondly and unlearnedly called in English Dittany. It were +better in following the Dutchmen to name it Pepperwort." + +The _Garden Cress_, called _Sativum_ (from _satum_, a pasture), +is the sort commonly coupled with the herb Mustard in our +familiar "Mustard and Cress." It has been grown in England since +the middle of the sixteenth century, and its other name _Town_ +Cress refers to its cultivation in "tounes," or enclosures. It was +also known as Passerage; from _passer_, to drive away--rage, or +madness, because of its reputed power to expel hydrophobia. "This +Garden Cress," said Wm. Coles in his _Paradise of Plants_, 1650, +"being green, and therefore more qualified by reason of its +humidity, is eaten by country people, either alone with butter, or +with lettice and purslane, in Sallets, or otherwise." + +It contains sulphur, and a special ardent volatile medicinal oil. The +small leaves combined with those of [129] our white garden +Mustard are excellent against rheumatism and gout. Likewise it is +a preventive of scurvy by reason of its mineral salts. In which +salutary respects the twin plants, Mustard and Cress, are happily +consorted, and well play a capital common part, like the "two +single gentlemen rolled into one" of George Colman, the younger. + +The _Water Cress_ (_Nasturtium officinale_) is among cresses, to +use an American simile, the "finest toad in the puddle." This is +because of its superlative medicinal worth, and its great popularity +at table. Early writers called the herb "Shamrock," and common +folk now-a-days term it the "Stertion." Zenophon advised the +Persians to feed their children on Water-cresses (_kardamon +esthie_) that they might grow in stature and have active minds. + +The Latin name _Nasturtium_ was given to the Watercress because +of its volatile pungency when bruised and smelt; from _nasus_, +a nose, and _tortus_, turned away, it being so to say, "a herb +that wriths or twists the nose." For the same reason it is called +_Nasitord_ in France. When bruised its leaves affect the eyes and +nose almost like mustard. They have been usefully applied to the +scald head and tetters of children. In New Zealand the stems grow +as thick as a man's wrist, and nearly choke some of the rivers. Like +an oyster, the Water-cress is in proper season only when there is +an "r" in the month. + +According to an analysis made recently in the School of Pharmacy +at Paris, the Water-cress contains a sulpho-nitrogenous oil, iodine, +iron, phosphates, potash, certain other earthy salts, a bitter extract, +and water. Its volatile oil which is rich in nitrogen and sulphur +(problematical) is the sulpho-cyanide of allyl. Anyhow [130] there +is much sulphur possessed by the whole plant in one form or +another, together with a considerable quantity of mineral matter. +Thus the popular plant is so constituted as to be particularly +curative of scrofulous affections, especially in the spring time, +when the bodily humours are on the ferment. Dr. King Chambers +writes (_Diet in Health and Disease_), "I feel sure that the +infertility, pallor, fetid breath, and bad teeth which characterise +some of our town populations are to a great extent due to their +inability to get fresh anti-scorbutic vegetables as articles of diet: +therefore I regard the Water-cress seller as one of the saviours of +her country." Culpeper said pithily long ago: "They that will live +in health may eat Water-cress if they please; and if they won't, I +cannot help it." + +The scrofula to which the Water-cress and its allied plants are +antidotal, got its name from _scrofa_, "a burrowing pig," +signifying the radical destruction of important glands in the body +by this undermining constitutional disease. Possibly the quaint +lines which nurses have long been given to repeat for the +amusement of babies while fondling their infantine fingers bear a +hidden meaning which pointedly imports the scrofulous taint. This +nursery distich, as we remember, personates the fingers one by one +as five little fabulous pigs:--the first small piggy doesn't feel well; +and the second one threatens the doctor to tell; the third little pig +has to linger at home; and the fourth small porker of meat has +none; then the fifth little pig, with a querulous note, cries "weak, +weak, weak" from its poor little throat. + + "oegrotat multis doloribus porculus ille: + Ille rogat fratri medicum proferre salutem: + Debilis ille domi mansit vetitus abire; + Carnem digessit nunquam miser porculus ille; + 'Eheu!' ter repetens, 'eheu!' perporculus, 'eheu!' + Vires exiguas luget plorante susurro." + +[131] On account of its medicinal constituents the herb has +been deservedly extolled as a specific remedy for tubercular +consumption of the lungs. Haller says: "We have seen patients in +deep declines cured by living almost entirely on this plant;" and it +forms the chief ingredient of the _Sirop Antiscorbutique _given so +successfully by the French faculty in scrofula and other allied +diseases. Its active principles are at their best when the plant is in +flower; and the amount of essential oil increases according to the +quantity of sunlight which the leaves obtain, the proportion of iron +being determined according to the quality of the water, and the +measure of phosphates by the supply of dressing afforded. The +leaves remain green when grown in the shade, but become of a +purple brown because of their iron when exposed to the sun. The +expressed juice, which contains the peculiar taste and pungency of +the herb, may be taken in doses of from one to two fluid ounces at +each of the three principal meals, and it should always be had +fresh. When combined with the juice of Scurvy grass and of +Seville oranges it makes the popular antiscorbutic medicine known +as "Spring juices." + +A Water-cress cataplasm applied cold in a single layer, and with a +pinch of salt sprinkled thereupon makes a most useful poultice to +heal foul scrofulous ulcers; and will also help to resolve glandular +swellings. + +Water-cresses squeezed and laid against warts were said by the +Saxon leeches to work a certain cure on these excrescences. In +France the Water-cress is dipped in oil and vinegar to be eaten at +table with chicken or a steak. The Englishman takes it at his +morning or evening meal, with bread and butter, or at dinner in a +salad. It loses some of its pungent flavour and of its curative +qualities [132] when cultivated; and therefore it is more appetising +and useful when freshly gathered from natural streams. But these +streams ought to be free from contamination by sewage matter, or +any drainage which might convey the germs of fever, or other +blood poison: for, as we are admonished, the Water-cress plant +acts as a brush in impure running brooks to detain around its stalks +and leaves any dirty disease-bringing flocculi. + +Some of our leading druggists now make for medicinal use a +liquid extract of the _Nasturtium officinale_, and a spirituous juice +(or _succus_) of the plant. These preparations are of marked +service in scorbutic cases, where weakness exists without wasting, +and often with spongy gums, or some skin eruption. They are best +when taken with lemon juice. + +The leaf of the unwholesome Water parsnep, or Fool's Cress, +resembles that of the Water-cress, and grows near it not infrequently: +but the leaves of the true Water-cress never embrace the stem +of the plant as do the leaf stalks of its injurious imitators. +Herrick the joyous poet of "dull Devonshire" dearly loved the +Water-cress, and its kindred herbs. He piously and pleasantly +made them the subject of a quaint grace before meat:-- + + "Lord, I confess too when I dine + The pulse is Thine: + And all those other bits that be + There placed by Thee: + The wurts, the perslane, and the mess + of Water-cress." + +The true _Nasturtium_ (_Tropoeolum majus_), or greater Indian +Cress grows and is cultivated in our flower gardens as a brilliant +ornamental creeper. It was brought from Peru to France in 1684, and +was called _La grande Capucine_, whilst the botanical title +_tropoeolum_, [133] a trophy, was conferred because of its +shield-like leaves, and its flowers resembling a golden helmet. +An old English name for the same plant was Yellow Lark's heels. + +Two years later it was introduced into England. This partakes of +the sensible and useful qualities of the other cresses. The fresh +plant and the dark yellow flowers have an odour like that of the +Water-cress, and its bruised leaves emit a pungent smell. An +infusion made with water will bring out the antiscorbutic virtues of +the plant which are specially aromatic, and cordial. The flowers +make a pretty and palatable addition to salads, and the nuts or +capsules (which resemble the "cheeses" of Mallow) are esteemed +as a pickle, or as a substitute for Capers. Invalids have often +preferred this plant to the Scurvy grass as an antiscorbutic remedy. +In the warm summer months the flowers have been observed about +the time of sunset to give out sparks, as of an electrical kind, +which were first noticed by a daughter of Linnoeus. + +The _Water-cress_ is justly popular with persons who drink freely +overnight, for its power of dissipating the fumes of the liquor, and +of clearing away lethargic inaptitude for work in the morning: also +for dispelling the tremors, and the foul taste induced by excessive +tobacco smoking. + +Closely allied thereto is another cruciferous plant, the Scurvy +grass (_Cochleare_), named also "Spoon-wort" from its leaves +resembling in shape the bowl of an old-fashioned spoon. This is +thought to be the famous _Herba Britannica_ of the ancients. Our +great navigators have borne testimony to its never failing use in +scurvy, and, though often growing many miles from the sea, yet +the taste of the herb is always [134] found to be salt. If eaten in +its fresh state, as a salad, it is the most effectual of all the +antiscorbutic plants, the leaves being admirable also to cure +swollen and spongy gums. It grows along the muddy banks of the +Avon, likewise in Wales, and is found in Cumberland, more +commonly near the coast; and again on the mountains of Scotland. +It may be readily cultivated in the garden for medicinal use. + +The Cuckoo flower, or "Ladies' Smock" (Cardamine) from _Cardia +damao_, "I strengthen the heart," is another wholesome Cress +with the same sensible properties as the Water-cress, only in +an inferior degree, while the strong pungency of its flavour +prevents it from being equally popular. This plant bears also the +names of "Lucy Locket," and "Smell Smocks." In Cornwall the +flowering tops have been employed for the cure of epilepsy +throughout several generations with singular success; though the +use of the leaves only for this purpose has caused disappointment. +From one to three drams of these flowering tops are to be taken +two or three times a day. + +By the Rev. Mr. Gregor (1793) and by his descendants this +remedy was given for inveterate epilepsy with much benefit. +Lady Holt, and her sister Lady Bracebridge, of Aston Hall, +Warwickshire, were long famous for curing severe cases of the +same infirmity by administering this herb. They gave the +powdered heads of the flowers when in full bloom-twelve grains +three times a day for many weeks together. + +Sir George Baker in 1767 read a paper before the London College +of Physicians on the value of these flowers in convulsive +disorders. He related five cures of St. Vitus' dance, spasmodic +convulsions, and spasmodic asthma. Formerly the flowers were +admitted into the [135] London Pharmacopoeia. The herb was +named Ladies' Smock in honour of the Virgin Mary, because it +comes first into flower about Lady Day, being abundant with its +delicate lilac blossoms in our moist meadows and marshes: + + "Lady Smocks all silver white + Do paint the meadows with delight." + +This plant is also named--"Milk Maids," "Bread and Milk," and +"Mayflower." Gerard says "it flowers in April and May when +the Cuckoo cloth begin to sing her pleasant notes without +stammering." One of his characters is made by the Poet Laureate +to-- + + "Steep for Danewulf leaves of Lady Smock, + For they keep strong the heart." + +"And so much," as says William Cole, herbalist, in his _Paradise +of Plants_, 1650, "for such Plants as cure the Scurvy." + + + +CUMIN. + +Cumin (_Cuminum cyminum_) is not half sufficiently known, or +esteemed as a domestic condiment of medicinal value, and +culinary uses; whilst withal of ready access as one of our +commonest importations from Malta and Sicily for flavouring +purposes, and veterinary preparations. It is an umbelliferous plant, +and large quantities of its seeds are brought every year to England. +The herb has been cultivated in the East from early days, being +called "Cuminum" by the Greeks in classic times. The seeds +possess a strong aromatic odour with a penetrating and bitter taste; +when distilled they yield a pungent powerful essential oil. The +older herbalists esteemed them superior in comforting carminative +[136] qualities to those of the fennel or caraway. They are +eminently useful to correct the flatulence of languid digestion, +serving also to relieve dyspeptic headache, to allay colic of the +bowels, and to promote the monthly flow of women. + +In Holland and Switzerland they are employed for flavouring +cheese; whilst in Germany they are added to bread as a condiment. + +Here the seeds are introduced in the making of curry powder, and +are compounded to form a stimulating liniment; likewise a +warming plaster for quickening the sluggish congestions of +indolent parts. The odorous volatile oil of the fruit contains the +hydro-carbons "Cymol," and "Cuminol," which are redolent of +lemon and caraway odours. A dose of the seeds is from fifteen to +thirty grains. Cumin symbolised cupidity among the Greeks: +wherefore Marcus Antoninus was so nick-named because of his +avarice; and misers were jocularly said to have eaten Cumin. + +The herb was thought to specially confer the gift of retention, +preventing the theft of any object which contained it, and holding +the thief in custody within the invaded house; also keeping fowls +and pigeons from straying, and lovers from proving fickle. If a +swain was going off as a soldier, or to work a long way from his +home, his sweetheart would give him a loaf seasoned with Cumin, +or a cup of wine in which some of the herb had been mixed. + +The ancients were acquainted with the power of Cumin to cause +the human countenance to become pallid; and as a medicine the +herb is well calculated to cure such pallor of the face when +occurring as an illness. Partridges and pigeons [137] are extremely +fond of the seeds: respecting the scriptural use of which in the +payment of taxes we are reminded (Luke xi. v. 42)--"ye pay tithe +of mint, and anise, and cummin." It has been discovered by Grisar +that Cumin oil exercises a special action which gives it importance +as a medicine. This is to signally depress nervous reflex +excitability when administered in full doses, as of from two to +eight drops of the oil on sugar. And when the aim is to stimulate +such reflex sensibility as impaired by disease, small diluted doses +of the oil serve admirably to promote this purpose. + + + +CURRANTS. + +The original Currants in times past were small grapes, grown in +Greece at Zante, near Corinth, and termed Corinthians; then they +became Corantes, and eventually Currants. But, as an old Roman +proverb pertinently said: _Non cuivis homini contingit adire +Corinthum_, "It was not for everyone to visit fashionable +Corinth." And therefore the name of Currants became transferred +in the Epirus to certain small fruit of the Gooseberry order which +closely resembled the grapes of Zante, but were identical rather +with the Currants of our modern kitchen gardens, such as we now +use for making puddings, pies, jams, and jellies. The bushes which +produce this fruit grow wild in the Northern part, of Great Britain, +and belong to the Saxifrage order of plants. The wild Red Currant +bears small berries which are intensely acid. In modern Italy +basketsful are gathered in the woods of the Apennines, and the +Alps. + +Currants are not mentioned in former Greek or Roman literature, +nor do they seem to have been cultivated by the Anglo-Saxons, or +the Normans. Our several sorts [138] of Currants afford a striking +illustration of the mode which their parent bushes have learnt to +adopt so as to attract by their highly coloured fruits the birds +which shall disperse their seeds. These colours are not developed +until the seed is ripe for germination; because if birds devoured +them prematurely the seed would fall inert. But simultaneously +come the ripeness and the soft sweet pulp, and the rich colouring, +so that the birds may be attracted to eat the fruit, and spread the +seed in their droppings. Zeuxis, a famous Sicilian painter four +hundred years before Christ, depicted currants and grapes with +such fidelity that birds came and tried to peck them out from his +canvas. + +White Currants are the most simple in kind; and the Red are a step +in advance. If equal parts of either fruit and of sugar are put over +the fire, the liquid which separates spontaneously will make a very +agreeable jelly because of the "pectin" with which it is chemically +furnished. Nitric acid will convert this pectin into oxalic acid, or +salts of sorrel. The juice of Red Currants also contains malic and +citric acids, which are cooling and wholesome. In the Northern +counties this red Currant is called Wineberry, or Garnetberry, from +its rich ruddy colour, and transparency. Its sweetened juice is a +favourable drink in Paris, being preferred there to the syrup of +_orgeat _(almonds). When made into a jelly with sugar the juice of +red Currants is excellent in fevers, and acts as an anti-putrescent; +as likewise if taken at table with venison, or hare, or other "high" +meats. This fruit especially suits persons of sanguine temperament. +Both red and white Currants are without doubt trustworthy +remedies in most forms of obstinate visceral obstruction, and they +correct impurities of the blood, being certainly antiseptic. + +[139] The black Currant is found growing wild in England, for the +most part by the edges of brooks, and in moist grounds, from +mid-Scotland southwards. Throughout Sussex and Kent the shrub is +called "Gazles" as corrupted from the French _Groseilles_ +(Gooseberries). The fruit is cooling, laxative, and anodyne. Its +thickened juice concocted over the fire, with, or without sugar, +formed a "rob" of Old English times. The black Currant is often +named by our peasantry "Squinancy," or "Quinsyberry," because a +jelly prepared therefrom has been long employed for sore throat +and quinsy. The leaf glands of its young leaves secrete from their +under surface a fragrant odorous fluid. Therefore if newly +gathered, and infused for a moment in very hot water and then +dried, the leaves make an excellent substitute for tea; also these +fresh leaves when applied to a gouty part will assuage pain, and +inflammation. They are used to impart the flavour of brandy to +common spirit. Bergius called the leaf, _mundans, pellens, et +diuretica_. Botanically the black Currant, _Ribes nigrum_, belongs +to the Saxifrage tribe, this generic term Ribes being applied to all +fresh currants, as of Arabian origin, and signifying acidity. +Grocers' currants come from the Morea, being small grapes dried +in the sun, and put in heaps to cake together. Then they are dug out +with a crow-bar, and trodden into casks for exportation. Our +national plum pudding can no more be made without these currants +than "little Tom Tucker who for his supper, could cut his +bread without any knife or could find himself married without any +wife." Former cooks made an odd use of grocers' currants, +according to King, a poet of the middle ages, who says:-- + + "They buttered currants on fat veal bestowed, + And rumps of beef with virgin honey strewed." + +[140] On the kitchen Currant a riddling rhyme was long ago to be +found in the _Children's Book of Conundrums_:-- + + "Higgledy-piggledy, here I lie + Picked and plucked, and put in a pie; + My first is snapping, snarling, growling; + My second noisy, ramping, prowling." + +Eccles cakes are delicious Currant sandwiches which are very +popular in Manchester. + +Black Currant jelly should not be made with too much sugar, else +its medicinal-virtues will be impaired. A teaspoonful of this jelly +may be given three or four times in the day to a child with thrush. +In Russia the leaves of the black Currant are employed to fabricate +brandy made with a coarse spirit. These leaves and the fruit are +often combined by our herbalists with the seeds of the wild carrot +for stimulating the kidneys in passive dropsy. A medicinal wine is +also brewed from the fruit together with honey. In this country we +use a decoction of the leaf, or of the bark as a gargle. In Siberia +black Currants grow as large as hazel nuts. Both the black and the +red Currants afford a pleasant home-made wine. _Ex eo optimum +vinum fieri potest non deterius vinis vetioribus viteis_, wrote +Haller in 1750. White Currants, however, yield the best wine, and +this may be improved by keeping, even for twenty years. Dr. +Thornton says: "I have used old wine of white Currants for +calculous affections, and it has surpassed all expectation." + +A delicate jelly is made from the red Currant at Bas-le-duc; and a +well-known nursery rhyme tells of the tempting qualities of +"cherry pie, and currant wine." A rob of black Currant jam is taken +in Scotland with whiskey toddy. Shakespeare in the _Winter's +Tale_ makes Antolycus, the shrewd "picker-up of unconsidered +[141] trifles" talk of buying for the sheep-shearing feast "three +pounds of sugar, five pounds of currants, and rice." In France a +cordial called _Liqueur de cassis_ is made from black Currants; +and a refreshing drink, _Eau de groseilles_, from the red. + +Some forty years ago, at the time of the Crimean war a patriotic +song in praise of the French flag was most popular in our streets, +and had for its refrain, "Hurrah for the Red, White, and Blue!" So +valuable for food and physics are our tricoloured Currants that the +same argot may be justly paraphrased in their favour, with a +well-merited eulogium of "Hurrah for the White, Red, Black!" + + + +DAFFODIL. + +The yellow Daffodil, which is such a favourite flower of our early +Spring because of its large size, and showy yellow color, grows +commonly in English woods, fields, and orchards. Its popular +names, Daffodowndilly, Daffodily, and Affodily, bear reference to +the Asphodel, with which blossom of the ancient Greeks this is +identical. It further owns the botanical name of Narcissus +(pseudo-narcissus)--not after the classical youth who met with his +death through vainly trying to embrace his image reflected in a clear +stream because of its exquisite beauty, and who is fabled to have +been therefore changed into flower--but by reason of the narcotic +properties which the plant possesses, as signified by the Greek +word, _Narkao_, "to benumb." Pliny described it as a _Narce +narcisswm dictum, non a fabuloso puero_. An extract of the bulbs +when applied to open wounds has produced staggering, numbness +of the whole nervous system, and paralysis of the heart. Socrates +called this plant the "Chaplet of the Infernal Gods," because of its +[142] narcotic effects. Nevertheless, the roots of the asphodel were +thought by the ancient Greeks to be edible, and they were +therefore laid in tombs as food for the dead. Lucian tells us that +Charon, the ferryman who rowed the souls of the departed over the +river Styx, said: "I know why Mercury keeps us waiting here so +long. Down in these regions there is nothing to be had but, +asphodel, and oblations, in the midst of mist and darkness; +whereas up in heaven he finds it all bright and clear, with +ambrosia there, and nectar in plenty." + +In the Middle Ages the roots of the Daffodil were called _Cibi +regis_, "food for a king,"; but his Majesty must have had a +disturbed night after partaking thereof, as they are highly +stimulating to the kidneys: indeed, there is strong reason for +supposing that these roots have a prior claim to those of the +dandelion for lectimingous fame, (_lectus_, "the bed"; _mingo_, to +"irrigate"). + +The brilliant yellow blossom of the Daffodil possesses, as is well +known, a bell-shaped crown in the midst of its petals, which is +strikingly characteristic. The flower-stalk is hollow, bearing on its +summit a membranous sheath, which envelops a single flower of +an unpleasant odour. But the Jonquil, which is a cultivated variety +of the Daffodil, having white petals with a yellow crown, yields a +delicious perfume, which modern chemistry can closely imitate by +a hydrocarbon compound. If "naphthalin," a product of coal tar oil, +has but the smallest particle of its scent diffused in a room, the +special aroma of jonquil and narcissus is at once perceived. + +When the flowers of the Daffodil are dried in the sun, if a +decoction of them is made, from fifteen to thirty grains will prove +emetic like that of Ipecacuanha. From five to six ounces of boiling +water should be poured on this quantity of the dried [143] flowers, +and should stand for twenty minutes. It will then serve most +usefully for relieving the congestive bronchial catarrh of children, +being sweetened, and given one third at a time every ten or fifteen +minutes until it provokes vomiting. It is also beneficial in this way, +but when given less often, for epidemic dysentery. + +The chemical principles of the Daffodil have not been investigated; +but a yellow volatile oil of disagreeable odour, and a brown +colouring matter, have been got from the flowers. + +Arabians commended this oil to be applied for curing baldness, +and for stimulating the sexual organs. + +Herrick alludes in his _Hesperides_ to the Daffodil as death:-- + + "When a Daffodil I see + Hanging down its head towards me, + Guess I may what I must be-- + First I shall decline my head; + Secondly I shall be dead; + Lastly, safely buried." + +Daffodils, popularly known in this country as Lent Lilies, are +called by the French _Pauvres filles de Sainte Clare_. The name +_Junquillo_ is the Spanish diminutive of _Junco_, "the rush," and +is given to the jonquil because of its slender rush-like stem. From +its fragrant flowers a sweet-smelling yellow oil is obtained. + +The medicinal influence of the daffodil on the nervous System has +led to giving its flowers and its bulb for Hysterical affections, and +even epilepsy, with benefit. + + + +DAISY. + +Our English Daisy is a composite flower which is called in the +glossaries "gowan," or Yellow flower. Botanically [144] it is +named _Bellis perennis_, probably from _bellis_, "in fields of +battle," because of its fame in healing the wounds of soldiers; and +perennis as implying that though "the rose has but a summer reign, +the daisy never dies," The flower is likewise known as "Bainwort," +"beloved by children," and "the lesser Consound." The whole plant +has been carefully and exhaustively proved for curative purposes; +and a medicinal tincture (H.) is now made from it with spirit of +wine. Gerard says: "Daisies do mitigate all kinds of pain, +especially in the joints, and gout proceeding from a hot humour, if +stamped with new butter and applied upon the pained place." And, +"The leaves of Daisies used among pot herbs do make the belly +soluble." Pliny tells us the Daisy was used in his time with +Mugwort as a resolvent to scrofulous tumours. + +The leaves are acrid and pungent, being ungrateful to cattle, and +even rejected by geese. These and the flowers, when chewed +experimentally, have provoked giddiness and pains in the arms as +if from coming boils: also a development of boils, "dark, fiery, and +very sore," on the back of the neck, and outside the jaws. For +preventing, or aborting these same distressing formations when +they begin to occur spontaneously, the tincture of Daisies should +be taken in doses of five drops three times a day in water. +Likewise this medicine should be given curatively on the principle +of affinity between it and the symptoms induced in provers who +have taken the same in material toxic doses, "when the brain is +muddled, the sight dim, the spirits soon depressed, the temper +irritable, the skin pimply, the heart apt to flutter, and the whole +aspect careworn; as if from early excesses." Then the infusion of +the plant in tablespoonful doses, or the diluted tincture, will +answer admirably [145] to renovate and re-establish the health and +strength of the sufferer. + +The flowers and leaves are found to afford a considerable quantity +of oil and of ammoniacal salts. The root was named _Consolida +minima _by older physicians. Fabricius speaks of its efficacy in +curing wounds and contusions. A decoction of the leaves and +flowers was given internally, and the bruised herb blended with +lard was applied outside. "The leaves stamped do take away +bruises and swellings, whereupon, it was called in old time +Bruisewort." If eaten as a spring salad, or boiled like spinach, the +leaves are pungent, and slightly laxative. + +Being a diminutive plant with roots to correspond, the Daisy, on +the doctrine of signatures, was formerly thought to arrest the +bodily growth if taken with this view. Therefore its roots boiled in +broth were given to young puppies so as to keep them of a small +size. For the same reason the fairy Milkah fed her foster child on +this plant, "that his height might not exceed that of a pigmy":-- + + "She robbed dwarf elders of their fragrant fruit, + And fed him early with the daisy-root, + Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran, + And formed the beauteous miniature of man." + +"Daisy-roots and cream" were prescribed by the fairy godmothers +of our childhood to stay the stature of those gawky youngsters +who were shooting up into an ungainly development like "ill +weeds growing apace." + +Daisies were said of old to be under the dominion of Venus, and +later on they were dedicated to St. Margaret of Cortona. Therefore +they were reputed good for the special-illnesses of females. It is +remarkable there is no [146] Greek word for this plant, or flower. +Ossian the Gaelic poet feigns that the Daisy, whose white +investments figure innocence, was first "sown above a baby's +grave by the dimpled hands of infantine angels." + +During mediaeval times the Daisy was worn by knights at a +tournament as an emblem of fidelity. In his poem the _Flower and +the Leaf_, Chaucer, who was ever loud in his praises of the "Eye +of Day"--"empresse and floure of floures all," thus pursues his +theme:-- + + "And at the laste there began anon + A lady for to sing right womanly + A bargaret in praising the Daisie: + For--as methought among her notes sweet, + She said, '_Si doucet est la Margarete_.'" + +The French name _Marguerite _is derived from a supposed resemblance +of the Daisy to a pearl; and in Germany this flower is known +as the Meadow Pearl. Likewise the Greek word for a pearl is +_Margaritos_. + +A saying goes that it is not Spring until a person can put his foot +on twelve of these flowers. In the cultivated red Daisies used for +bordering our gardens, the yellow central boss of each compound +flower has given place to strap-shaped florets like the outer rays, +and without pollen, so that the entire flower consists of this purple +inflorescence. But such aristocratic culture has made the blossom +unproductive of seed. Like many a proud and belted Earl, each of +the pampered and richly coloured Daisies pays the penalty of its +privileged luxuriance by a disability from perpetuating its species. + +The Moon Daisy, or Oxeye Daisy (_Leucanthemum Orysanthemum_), +St. John's flower, belonging to the same tribe of plants, +grows commonly with an erect stem about two feet high, in +dry pastures and roads, bearing large solitary flowers which are +balsamic and make a [147] useful infusion for relieving chronic +coughs, and for bronchial catarrhs. Boiled with some of the leaves +and stalks they form, if sweetened with honey, or barley sugar, an +excellent posset drink for the same purpose. In America the root is +employed successfully for checking the night sweats of pulmonary +consumption, a fluid extract thereof being made for this object, the +dose of which is from fifteen to sixty drops in water. + +The Moon Daisy is named Maudlin-wort from St. Mary Magdalene, +and bears its lunar name from the Grecian goddess of the +moon, Artemis, who particularly governed the female health. +Similarly, our bright little Daisy, "the constellated flower that +never sets," owns the name Herb Margaret. The Moon Daisy is +also called Bull Daisy, Gipsies' Daisy, Goldings, Midsummer +Daisy, Mace Flinwort, and Espilawn. Its young leaves are +sometimes used as a flavouring in soups and stews. The flower +was compared to the representation of a full moon, and was +formerly dedicated to the Isis of the Egyptians. Tom Hood wrote +of a traveller estranged far from his native shores, and walking +despondently in a distant land:-- + + "When lo! he starts with glad surprise, + Home thoughts come rushing o'er him, + For, modest, wee, and crimson-tipped + A flower he sees before him. + With eager haste he stoops him down, + His eyes with moisture hazy; + And as he plucks the simple bloom + He murmurs, 'Lawk, a Daisy'"! + + + +DANDELION. + +Owing to long years of particular evolutionary sagacity in +developing winged seeds to be wafted from the silky pappus of its +ripe flowerheads over wide areas of land, [148] the Dandelion +exhibits its handsome golden flowers in every field and on every +ground plot throughout the whole of our country. They are to be +distinguished from the numerous hawkweeds, by having the +outermost leaves of their exterior cup bent downwards whilst the +stalk is coloured and shining. The plant-leaves have jagged edges +which resemble the angular jaw of a lion fully supplied with teeth; +or, some writers say, the herb has been named from the heraldic +lion which is vividly yellow, with teeth of gold-in fact, a dandy +lion! Again, the flower closely resembles the sun, which a lion +represents. It is called by some Blowball, Time Table, and Milk +"Gowan" (or golden). + + "How like a prodigal does Nature seem, + When thou with all thy gold so common art." + +In some of our provinces the herb is known as Wiggers, and +Swinesnout; whilst again in Devon and Cornwall it is called the +Dashelflower. Botanically it belongs to the composite order, and is +named _Taraxacum Leontodon_, or eatable, and lion-toothed. This +latter when Latinised is _dens leonis_, and in French _dent de +lion_. The title Taraxacum is an Arabian corruption of the Greek +_trogimon_, "edible"; or it may have been derived from the Greek +_taraxos_, "disorder," and _akos_, "remedy." It once happened +that a plague of insects destroyed the harvest in the island of +Minorca, so that the inhabitants had to eat the wild produce of the +country; and many of them then subsisted for some while entirely +on this plant. The Dandelion, which is a wild sort of Succory, was +known to Arabian physicians, since Avicenna of the eleventh +century mentions it as _taraxacon_. It is found throughout Europe, +Asia, and North America; possessing a root which abounds with +milky juice, and [149] this varying in character according to the +time of year in which the plant is gathered. + +During the winter the sap is thick, sweet, and albuminous; but in +summer time it is bitter and acrid. Frost causes the bitterness to +diminish, and sweetness to take its place; but after the frost this +bitterness returns, and is intensified. The root is at its best for +yielding juice about November. Chemically the active ingredients +of the herb are taraxacin, and taraxacerine, with inulin (a sort of +sugar), gluten, gum, albumen, potash, and an odorous resin, which +is commonly supposed to stimulate the liver, and the biliary +organs. Probably this reputed virtue was assigned at first to the +plant largely on the doctrine of signatures, because of its bright +yellow flowers of a bilious hue. But skilled medical provers who +have experimentally tested the toxical effects of the Dandelion +plant have found it to produce, when taken in excess, troublesome +indigestion, characterized by a tongue coated with a white skin +which peels off in patches, leaving a raw surface, whilst the +kidneys become unusually active, with profuse night sweats and +an itching nettle rash. For these several symptoms when occurring +of themselves, a combination of the decoction, and the medicinal +tincture will be invariably curative. + +To make a decoction of the root, one part of this dried, and sliced, +should be gently boiled for fifteen minutes in twenty parts of +water, and strained off when cool. It may be sweetened with +brown sugar, or honey, if unpalatable when taken alone, several +teacupfuls being given during the day. Dandelion roots as +collected for the market are often adulterated with those of the +common Hawkbit (_Leontodon hispidus_); but these are more +tough and do not give out any milky juice. + +[150] The tops of the roots dug out of the ground, with the tufts of +the leaves remaining thereon, and blanched by being covered in +the earth as they grow, if gathered in the spring, are justly +esteemed as an excellent vernal salad. It was with this homely fare +the good wise Hecate entertained Theseus, as we read in Evelyn's +_Acetaria_. Bergius says he has seen intractable cases of liver +congestion cured, after many other remedies had failed, by the +patients taking daily for some months, a broth made from +Dandelion roots stewed in boiling water, with leaves of Sorrel, and +the yelk of an egg; though (he adds) they swallowed at the same +time cream of tartar to keep their bodies open. + +Incidentally with respect to the yelk of an egg, as prescribed here, +it is an established fact that patients have been cured of obstinate +jaundice by taking a raw egg on one or more mornings while +fasting. Dr. Paris tells us a special oil is to be extracted from the +yelks (only) of hard boiled eggs, roasted in pieces in a frying pan +until the oil begins to exude, and then pressed hard. Fifty eggs well +fried will yield about five ounces of this oil, which is acrid, and so +enduringly liquid that watch-makers use it for lubricating the axles +and pivots of their most delicate wheels. Old eggs furnish the oil +most abundantly, and it certainly acts as a very useful medicine for +an obstructed liver. Furthermore the shell, when finely triturated, +has served by its potentialised lime to cure some forms of cancer. +Sweet are the uses of adversity! even such as befell the egg +symbolised by Humpty-Dumpty:-- + + "Humptius in muro requievit Dumptius alto, + Humptius e muro Dumptius--heu! cecidit! + Sed non Regis equi, Reginae exercitus omnis + Humpti, te, Dumpti, restituere loco." + +[151] The medicinal tincture of Dandelion is made from the entire +plant, gathered in summer, employing proof spirit which dissolves +also the resinous parts not soluble in water. From ten to fifteen +drops of this tincture may be taken with a spoonful of water three +times in the day. + +Of the freshly prepared juice, which should not be kept long as it +quickly ferments, from two to three teaspoonfuls are a proper +dose. The leaves when tender and white in the spring are taken on +the Continent in salads or they are blanched, and eaten with bread +and butter. Parkinson says: "Whoso is drawing towards a +consumption, or ready to fall into a cachexy, shall find a +wonderful help from the use thereof, for some time together." +Officially, according to the London College, are prepared from the +fresh dried roots collected in the autumn, a decoction (one ounce +to a pint of boiling water), a juice, a fresh extract, and an +inspissated liquid extract. + +Because of its tendency to provoke involuntary urination at night, +the Dandelion has acquired a vulgar suggestive appellation which +expresses this fact in most homey terms: _quasi herba lectiminga, +et urinaria dicitur_: and this not only in our vernacular, but in most +of the European tongues: _quia plus lotii in vesicam derivat quam +puerulis retineatur proesertim inter dormiendum, eoque tunc +imprudentes et inviti stragula permingunt_. + +At Gottingen, the roots are roasted and used instead of coffee by +the poorer folk; and in Derbyshire the juice of the stalk is applied +to remove warts. The flower of the Dandelion when fully blown is +named Priest's Crown (_Caput monachi_), from the resemblance +of its naked receptacle after the winged seeds have been all blown +away, to the smooth shorn head of a Roman [152] cleric. So +Hurdis sings in his poem _The Village Curate_:-- + + "The Dandelion this: + A college youth that flashes for a day + All gold: anon he doffs his gaudy suit, + Touched by the magic hand of Bishop grave, + And all at once by commutation strange + Becomes a reverend priest: and then how sleek! + How full of grace! with silvery wig at first + So nicely trimmed, which presently grows bald. + But let me tell you, in the pompous globe + Which rounds the Dandelion's head is fitly couched + Divinity most rare." + +Boys gather the flower when ripe, and blow away the hall of its +silky seed vessels at the crown, to learn the time of day, thus +sportively making:-- + + "Dandelion with globe of down + The school-boy's clock in every town." + + + +DATE. + +Dates are the most wholesome and nourishing of all our imported +fruits. Children especially appreciate their luscious sweetness, as +afforded by an abundant sugar which is easily digested, and which +quickly repairs waste of heat and fat. With such a view, likewise, +doctors now advise dates for consumptive patients; also because +they soothe an irritable chest, and promote expectoration; whilst, +furthermore, they prevent costiveness. Dates are the fruit of the +Date palm (_Phoenix dactylifera_), or, Tree of Life. + +In old English Bibles of the sixteenth century, the name Date-tree +is constantly given to the Palm, and the fruit thereof was the first +found by the Israelites when wandering in the Wilderness. + +Oriental writers have attributed to this tree a certain semi-human +consciousness. The name _Phoenix_ was [153] bestowed on the +Date palm because a young shoot springs always from the withered +stump of an old decayed Date tree, taking the place of the +dead parent; and the specific term _Dactylifera_ refers to a fancied +resemblance between clusters of the fruit and the human fingers. + +The Date palm is remarkably fond of water, and will not thrive +unless growing near it, so that the Arabs say: "In order to flourish, +its feet must be in the water, and its head in the fire (of a hot sun)." +Travellers across the desert, when seeing palm Dates in the +horizon, know that wells of water will be found near at hand: at +the same time they sustain themselves with Date jam. + +In some parts of the East this Date palm is thought been the tree of +the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It is mystically +represented as the tree of life in the sculptured foliage of early +French churches, and on the primitive mosaics found in the apses +of Roman Basilicas. Branches of this tree are carried about in +Catholic countries on Palm Sunday. Formerly Dates were sent to +England and elsewhere packed in mats from the Persian gulf; but +now they arrive in clean boxes, neatly laid, and free from duty; so +that a wholesome, sustaining, and palatable meal may be had for +one penny, if they are eaten with bread. + +The Egyptian Dates are superior, being succulent and luscious +when new, but apt to become somewhat hard after Christmas. + +The Dates, however, which surpass all others in their general +excellence, are grown with great care at Tafilat, two or three +hundred miles inland from Morocco, a region to which Europeans +seldom penetrate. + +These Dates travel in small packages by camel, rail, and steamer, +being of the best quality, and highly valued. Their exportation is +prohibited by the African [154] authorities at Tafilat, unless the +fruit crop has been large enough to allow thereof after gathering +the harvest with much religious ceremony. + +Dates of a second quality are brought from Tunis, being intermixed +with fragments of stalk and branch; whilst the inferior sorts +come in the form of a cake, or paste (_adjoue!_), being pressed +into baskets. In this shape they were tolerably common with us +in Tudor times, and were then used for medicinal purposes. Strutt +mentions a grocer's bill delivered in 1581, in which occurs +the item of six pounds of dates supplied at a funeral for +two shillings; and we read that in 1821 the best kind of dates +cost five shillings a pound. + +If taken as a portable refection by jurymen and others who may be +kept from their customary food Dates will prevent exhaustion, and +will serve to keep active the energies of mind and body. The fruit +should be selected when large and soft, being moist, and of a +reddish yellow colour outside, and not much wrinkled, whilst +having within a white membrane between the flesh and the stone. + +Beads for rosaries are made in Barbary from Date stones turned in +a lathe; or when soaked in water for a couple of days the stones +may be given to cattle as a nutritious food, being first ground in a +mill. The fodder being astringent will serve by its tannin, which is +abundant, to cure or prevent looseness. + +In a clever parody on Bret Harte's "Heathen Chinee," an undergraduate +is detected in having primed himself before examination thus:-- + + "Inscribed on his cuffs were the Furies, and Fates, + With a delicate map of the Dorian States: + Whilst they found in his palms, which were hollow, + What are common in Palms--namely, Dates." + +[155] Again, a conserve is prepared by the Egyptians from unripe +Dates whole with sugar. The soft stones are edible: and this jam, +though tasteless, is very nourishing. The Arabs say that Adam +when driven out of Paradise took with him three things--the Date, +chief of all fruits, Myrtle, and an ear of Wheat. + +Another Palm--the _Sagus_, or, _Cycus revolute_,--which grows +naturally in Japan and the East Indian Islands, being also +cultivated in English hot-houses, yields by its gummy pith our +highly nutritious sago. This when cooked is one of the best and +most sustaining foods for children and infirm old persons. The +Indians reserve their finest sago for the aged and afflicted. A +fecula is washed from the abundant pith, which is chemically a +starch, very demulcent, and more digestible than that of rice. It +never ferments in the stomach, and is very suitable for hectic +persons. By the Arabs the pith of the Date-bearing Palm is eaten in +like manner. The simple wholesome virtues of this domestic +substance have been told of from childhood in the well-known +nursery rhyme, which has been playfully rendered into Latin and +French:-- + + "There was an old man of Iago + Whom they kept upon nothing but sago; + Oh! how he did jump when the doctor said plump: + 'To a roast leg of mutton you may go.'" + + "Jamdudum senior quidam de rure Tobagus + Invito mad das carpserat ore dapes; + Sed medicus tandem non injucunda locutus: + 'Assoe' dixit 'oves sunt tibi coena, senex.'" + + "J'ai entendu parler d'un veillard de Tobag + Qui ne mangea longtemps que du ris et du sague; + Mais enfin le medecin lui dit ces mots: + 'Allez vous en, mon ami, au gigot.'" + + + +[156] DILL. + +Cordial waters distilled from the fragrant herb called Dill are, as +every mother and monthly nurse well know, a sovereign remedy +for wind in the infant; whilst they serve equally well to correct +flatulence in the grown up "gourmet." This highly scented plant +(_Anethum graveolens_) is of Asiatic origin, growing wild also in +some parts of England, and commonly cultivated in our gardens +for kitchen or medicinal uses. + +It "hath a little stalk of a cubit high, round, and joyned, whereupon +do grow leaves very finely cut, like to those of Fennel, but much +smaller." The herb is of the umbelliferous order, and its fruit +chemically furnishes "anethol," a volatile empyreumatic oil similar +to that contained in the Anise, and Caraway. Virgil speaks of the +Dill in his _Second Eclogue _as the _bene olens anethum_, "a +pleasant and fragrant plant." Its seeds were formerly directed to be +used by the _Pharmacopoeias_ of London and Edinburgh. Forestus +extols them for allaying sickness and hiccough. Gerard says: +"Dill stayeth the yeox, or hicquet, as Dioscorides has taught." + +The name _Anethum _was a radical Greek term (_aitho_--to +burn), and the herb is still called Anet in some of our country +districts. The pungent essential oil which it yields consists of a +hydrocarbon, "carvene," together with an oxygenated oil; It is a +"gallant expeller of the wind, and provoker of the terms." "Limbs +that are swollen and cold if rubbed with the oil of Dill are much +eased; if not cured thereby." + +A dose of the essential oil if given for flatulent indigestion should +be from two to four drops, on sugar, or with a tablespoonful of +milk. Of the distilled water sweetened, one or two teaspoonfuls +may be given to an infant. + +[157] The name Dill is derived from the Saxon verb _dilla_, to +lull, because of its tranquillizing properties, and its causing +children to sleep. This word occurs in the vocabulary of Oelfric, +Archbishop of Canterbury, tenth century. Dioscorides gave the oil +got from the flowers for rheumatic pains, and sciatica; also a +carminative water distilled from the fruit, for increasing the milk +of wet nurses, and for appeasing the windy belly-aches of babies. +He teaches that a teaspoonful of the bruised seeds if boiled in +water and taken hot with bread soaked therein, wonderfully helps +such as are languishing from hardened excrements, even though +they may have vomited up their faeces. + +The plant is largely grown in the East Indies, where is known as +_Soyah_. Its fruit and leaves are used for flavouring pickles, and +its water is given to parturient women. + +Drayton speaks of the Dill as a magic ingredient in Love potions; +and the weird gipsy, Meg Merrilies, crooned a cradle song at the +birth of Harry Bertram in it was said:-- + + "Trefoil, vervain, John's wort, _Dill_, + Hinder witches of their will." + + + +DOCK. + +The term Dock is botanically a noun of multitude, meaning originally +a bundle of hemp, and corresponding to a similar word signifying a +flock. It became in early times applied to a wide-spread tribe of +broad-leaved wayside weeds. They all belong to the botanical order +of _Polygonaceoe_, or "many kneed" plants, because, like the wife +of Yankee Doodle, famous in song, they are "double-jointed;" +though he, poor man! expecting to find Mistress Doodle doubly +active in her household [158] duties, was, as the rhyme says, +"disappointed." The name "Dock" was first applied to the _Arctium +Lappa_, or Bur-dock, so called because of its seed-vessels +becoming frequently entangled by their small hooked spines +in the wool of sheep passing along by the hedge-rows. Then +the title got to include other broad-leaved herbs, all of the Sorrel +kind, and used in pottage, or in medicine. + +Of the Docks which are here recognized, some are cultivated, such +as Garden Rhubarb, and the Monk's Rhubarb, or herb Patience, an +excellent pot herb; whilst others grow wild in meadows, and by +river sides, such as the round-leafed Dock (_Rumex obtusifolius_), +the sharp-pointed Dock (_Rumex acutus_), the sour Dock (_Rumex +acetosus_), the great water Dock (_Rumex hydrolapathum_), +and the bloody-veined Dock (_Rumex sanguineus_). + +All these resemble our garden rhubarb more or less in their general +characteristics, and in possessing much tannin. Most of them +chemically furnish "rumicin," or crysophanic acid, which is highly +useful in several chronic diseases of the skin among scrofulous +patients. The generic name of several Docks is _rumex_, from the +Hebrew _rumach_, a "spear"; others arc called _lapathum_, from +the Greek verb _lapazein_, to cleanse, because they act medicinally +as purgatives. + +The common wayside Dock (_Rumex obtusifolius_) is the most +ordinary of all the Docks, being large and spreading, and so coarse +that cattle refuse to eat it. The leaves are often applied as a rustic +remedy to burns and scalds, and are used for dressing blisters. +Likewise a popular cure for nettle stings is to rub them with a +Dock leaf, saying at the same time:-- + + "Out nettle: in Dock; + Dock shall have a new smock." + +[159] or: + + "Nettle out: Dock in; + Dock remove the nettle sting." + +A tea made from the root was formerly given for the cure of boils, +and the plant is frequently called Butterdock, because its leaves +are put into use for wrapping up butter. This Dock will not thrive +in poor worthless soil; but its broad foliage serves to lodge the +destructive turnip fly. The root when dried maybe added to tooth +powder. + +It was under the broad leaf of a roadside Dock that Hop o' My +Thumb, famous in nursery lore, sought refuge from a storm, and +was unfortunately swallowed whilst still beneath the leaf by a +passing hungry cow. + +The herb Patience, or Monk's Rhubarb (_Rumex alpinus_), a +Griselda among herbs, may be given with admirable effect in +pottage, as a domestic aperient, "loosening the belly, helping the +jaundice, and dispersing the tympany." This grows wild in some +parts, by roadsides, and near cottages, but is not common except as +a cultivated herb ill the kitchen-garden, known as "Patience-dock." +It is a remarkable fact that the toughest flesh-meat, if boiled with +the herb, or with other kindred docks, will become quite tender. +The name Patience, or Passions, was probably from the Italian +_Lapazio_, a corruption of _Lapathum_, which was mistaken for +_la passio_, the passion of Christ. + +Our _Garden Rhubarb_ is a true Dock, and belongs to the "many-kneed," +buckwheat order of plants. Its brilliant colouring is due to +varying states of its natural pigment (_chlorophyll_), in +combination with oxygen. For culinary purposes the stalk, or +petiole of the broad leaf, is used. Its chief nutrient property is +glucose, which is identical with grape-sugar. The agreeable taste +and odour of the [160] plant are not brought out until the leaf +stalks are cooked. It came originally from the Volga, and has been +grown in this country since 1573. The sour taste of the stalks is +due to oxalic acid, or rather to the acid oxalate of potash. This +combines with the lime elaborated in the system of a gouty person +(having an "oxalic acid" disposition), and makes insoluble and +injurious products which have to be thrown off by the kidneys as +oxalate crystals, with much attendant irritation of the general +system. Sorrel (_Rumex acetosus_) acts with such a person in just +the same way, because of the acid oxalate of potash which it +contains. + +Garden Rhubarb also possesses albumen, gum, and mineral matters, +with a small quantity of some volatile essence. The proportion +of nutritive substance to the water and vegetable fibre is +very small. As an article of food it is objectionable for gouty +persons liable to the passage of highly coloured urine, which +deposits lithates and urates as crystals after it has cooled; and this +especially holds good if hard water, which contains lime, is drunk +at the same time. + +The round-leaved Dock, and the sharp-pointed Dock, together +with the bloody-veined Dock (which is very conspicuous because +of its veins and petioles abounding in a blood-coloured juice), +make respectively with their astringent roots a useful infusion +against bleedings and fluxes; also with their leaves a decoction +curative of several chronic skin diseases. + +The _Rumex acetosus_ (Sour Dock, or Sorrel), though likely to +disagree with gouty persons, nevertheless supplies its leaves as the +chief constituent of the _Soupe aux herbes_, which a French lady +will order for herself after a long and tiring journey. Its title is +derived as some think, from struma, because curative [161] +thereof. This Dock further bears the names of Sour sabs, Sour +grabs, Soursuds, Soursauce, Cuckoo sorrow, and Greensauce. +Because of their acidity the leaves make a capital dressing with +stewed lamb, veal, or sweetbread. Country people beat the herb to +a mash, and take it mixed with vinegar and sugar as a green sauce +with cold meat. When boiled by itself without water it serves as an +excellent accompaniment to roast goose or pork instead of apple +sauce. The root of Sorrel when dried has the singular property of +imparting a fine red colour to boiling water, and it is therefore +used by the French for making barley water look like red wine +when they wish to avoid giving anything of a vinous character to +the sick. In Ireland Sorrel leaves are eaten with fish, and with other +alkalescent foods. Because corrective of scrofulous deposits, +Sorrel is specially beneficial towards the cure of scurvy. Applied +externally the bruised leaves will purify foul ulcers. Says John +Evelyn in his noted _Acetaria _(1720), "Sorrel sharpens the +appetite, assuages heat, cools the liver and strengthens the heart; it +is an antiscorbutic, resisting putrefaction, and in the making of +sallets imparts a grateful quickness to the rest as supplying the +want of oranges and lemons. Together with salt it gives both the +name and the relish to sallets from the sapidity which renders not +plants and herbs only, but men themselves, and their conversations +pleasant and agreeable. But of this enough, and perhaps too much! +lest while I write of salts and sallets I appear myself insipid." + +The Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis acetosella_) is a distinct plant from the +Dock Sorrel, and is not one of the _Polygonaceoe_, but a +geranium, having a triple leaf which is often employed to +symbolise the Trinity. Painters of old [162] placed it in the +foreground of their pictures when representing the crucifixion. The +leaves are sharply acid through oxalate of potash, commonly +called "Salts of Lemon," which is quite a misleading name in its +apparent innocence as applied to so strong a poison. The petals are +bluish coloured, veined with purple. Formerly, on account of its +grateful acidity, a conserve was ordered by the London College to +be made from the leaves and petals of Wood Sorrel, with sugar +and orange peel, and it was called _Conserva lujuoe_. + +The Burdock (_Arctium lappa_) grows very commonly in our +waste places, with wavy leaves, and round heads of purple +flowers, and hooked scales. From the seeds a medicinal tincture +(H.) is made, and a fluid extract, of which from ten to thirty drops, +given three times a day, with two tablespoonfuls of cold water, +will materially benefit certain chronic skin diseases (such as +psoriasis), if taken steadily for several weeks, or months. Dr. +Reiter of Pittsburg, U.S.A., says the Burdock feed has proved in +his hands almost a specific for psoriasis and for obstinate syphilis. +The tincture is of special curative value for treating that depressed +state of the general health which is associated with milky +phosphates in the urine, and much nervous debility. Eight or ten +drops of the reduced tincture should be given in water three times +a day. + +The root in decoction is an excellent remedy for other skin +diseases of the scaly, itching, vesicular, pimply and ulcerative +characters. Many persons think it superior to Sarsaparilla. The +burs of this Dock are sometimes called "Cocklebuttons," or +"Cucklebuttons," and "Beggarsbuttons." Its Anglo-Saxon name +was "Fox's clote." + +Boys throw them into the air at dusk to catch bats, which dart at +the Bur in mistake for a moth or fly; [163] then becoming +entangled with the thorny spines they fall helplessly to the ground. +Of the botanical names, _Arctium_ derived from _arktos_, a bear, in +allusion to the roughness of the burs; and _Lappa_ is from +_labein_, to seize. Other appellations of the herb are Clot-bur +(from sticking to clouts, or clothes), Clithe, Hurbur, and Hardock. +The leaves when applied externally are highly resolvent for +tumours, bruises, and gouty swellings. In the _Philadelphia +Recorder_ for January, 1893, a striking case is given of a fallen +womb cured after twenty years' duration by a decoction of +Burdock roots. The liquid extract acts as an admirable remedy in +some forms (strumous) of longstanding indigestion. The roots +contain starch; and the ashes of the plant burnt when green yield +carbonate of potash abundantly, with nitre, and inulin. + +The Yellow Curled Dock (_Rumex crispus_), so called because its +leaves are crisped at their edges, grows freely in our roadside +ditches, and waste places, as a common plant; and a medicinal +tincture which is very useful (H.) is made from it before it flowers. +This is of particular service for giving relief to an irritable +tickling cough of the upper air-tubes, and the throat, when these +passages are rough and sore, and sensitive to the cold atmosphere, +with a dry cough occurring in paroxysms. It is likewise excellent for +dispelling any obstinate itching of the skin, in which respect it was +singularly beneficial against the contagious army-itch which +prevailed during the last American war. It acts like Sarsaparilla +chiefly, for curing scrofulous skin affections and glandular +swellings. To be applied externally an ointment may be made by +boiling the root in vinegar until the fibre is softened, and by then +mixing the pulp with lard (to which some sulphur is [164] added at +times). In all such cases of a scrofulous sort from five to ten drops +of the tincture should be given two or three times a day with a +spoonful of cold water. + +Rumicin is the active principle of the Yellow Curled Dock; and +from the root, containing chrysarobin, a dried extract is prepared +officinally, of which from one to four grains may be given for a +dose in a pill. This is useful for relieving a congested liver, as +well as for scrofulous skin diseases. + +"Huds," or the great Water Dock (_Rumex hydrolapathum_) is of +frequent growth on our river banks, bearing numerous green +flowers in leafless whorls, and being identical with the famous +_Herba Britannica_ of Pliny. This name does not denote British +origin, but is derived from three Teuton words, _brit_, to tighten: +_tan_, a tooth; and _ica_, loose; thus expressing its power of +bracing up loose teeth and spongy gums. Swedish ladies employ +the powdered root as a dentifrice; and gargles prepared therefrom +are excellent for sore throat and relaxed uvula. The fresh root must +be used, as it quickly turns yellow and brown in the air. The green +leaves make a capital application for ulcers of the legs. They +possess considerable acidity, and are laxative. Horace was aware +of this fact, as we learn by his _Sermonum, Libr_. ii., _Satir_ 4:-- + + "Si dura morabitur alvus, + Mytulus, et viles pellent, obstantia conchae, + Et Lapathi brevis herba, sed albo non sine Coo." + + + +ELDER. + +"'Arn,' or the common Elder," says Gerard, "groweth everywhere; +and it is planted about cony burrows, for the shadow of the +conies." Formerly it was much [165] cultivated near our English +cottages, because supposed to afford protection against witches. +Hence it is that the Elder tree may be so often seen immediately +near old village houses. It acquired its name from the Saxon word +_eller_ or _kindler_, because its hollow branches were made into +tubes to blow through for brightening up a dull fire. By the Greeks +it was called _Aktee_. The botanical name of the Elder is +_Sambucus nigra_, from _sambukee_, a sackbut, because the +young branches, with their pith removed, were brought into +requisition for making the pipes of this, and other musical +instruments. + +It was probably introduced as a medicinal plant at the time of the +Monasteries. The adjective term _nigra_ refers to the colour of the +berries. These are without odour, rather acid, and sweetish to the +taste. The French put layers of the flowers among apples, to which +they impart, an agreeable odour and flavour like muscatel. A tract +on _Elder and Juniper Berries, showing how useful they may be in +our Coffee Houses_, is published with the _Natural History of +Coffee_, 1682. Elder flowers are fatal to turkeys. + +Hippocrates gave the bark as a purgative; and from his time the +whole tree has possessed a medicinal celebrity, whilst its fame in +the hands of the herbalist is immemorial. German writers have +declared it contains within itself a magazine of physic, and a +complete chest of medicaments. + +The leaves when bruised, if worn in the hat, or rubbed on the face, +will prevent flies from settling on the person. Likewise turnips, +cabbages, fruit trees, or corn, if whipped with the branches and +green leaves of Elder, will gain an immunity from all depredations +of blight; but moths are fond of the blossom. + +Dried Elder flowers have a dull yellow colour, being [166] +shrivelled, and possessing a sweet faint smell, unlike the repulsive +odour of the fresh leaves and bark. They have a somewhat bitter, +gummy taste, and are sold in entire cymes, with the stalks. An +open space now seen in Malvern Chase was formerly called +Eldersfield, from the abundance of Elder trees which grew there. +"The flowers were noted," says Mr. Symonds, "for eye ointments, +and the berries for honey rob and black pigments. Mary of +Eldersfield, the daughter of Bolingbroke, was famous for her +knowledge of herb pharmacy, and for the efficacy of her nostrums." + +Chemically the flowers contain a yellow, odorous, buttery oil, with +tannin, and malates of potash and lime, whilst the berries furnish +viburnic acid. On expression they yield a fine purple juice, which +proves a useful laxative, and a resolvent in recent colds. Anointed +on the hair they make it black. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the fresh inner bark of the +young branches. This, when given in toxical quantities, will induce +profuse sweating, and will cause asthmatic symptoms to present +themselves. When used in a diluted form it is highly beneficial for +relieving the same symptoms, if they come on as an attack of +illness, particularly for the spurious croup of children, which +wakes them at night with a suffocative cough and wheezing. A +dose of four or five drops, if given at once, and perhaps repeated +in fifteen minutes, will straightway prove of singular service. + +Sir Thomas Browne said that in his day the Elder had become a +famous medicine for quinsies, sore throats, and strangulations. + +The inspissated juice or "rob" extracted from the crushed berries, +and simmered with white sugar, is cordial, aperient, and diuretic. +This has long been a [167] popular English remedy, taken hot at +bed-time, when a cold is caught. One or two tablespoonfuls +are mixed with a tumblerful of very hot water. It promotes +perspiration, and is demulcent to the chest. Five pounds of the +fresh berries are to be used with one pound of loaf sugar, and the +juice should be evaporated to the thickness of honey. + +"The recent rob of the Elder spread thick upon a slice of bread and +eaten before other dishes," says Dr. Blochwich, 1760, "is our +wives' domestic medicine, which they use likewise in their infants +and children whose bellies are stop't longer than ordinary; for this +juice is most pleasant and familiar to children; or to loosen the +belly drink a draught of the wine at your breakfast, or use the +conserve of the buds." + +Also a capital wine, which may well pass for Frontignac, is +commonly made from the fresh berries, with raisins, sugar, and +spices. When well brewed, and three years' old, it constitutes +English port. "A cup of mulled Elder wine, served with nutmeg +and sippets of toast, just before going to bed on a cold wintry +night, is a thing," as Cobbet said, "to be run for." The juice of +Elder root, if taken in a dose of one or two tablespoonfuls when +fasting, acts as a strong aperient, being "the most excellent purger +of watery humours in the world, and very singular against dropsy, +if taken once in the week." + +John Evelyn, in his _Sylva_ (1729), said of the Elder: "If the +medicinal properties of its leaves, bark, and berries, were fully +known, I cannot tell what our countrymen could ail, for which he +might not fetch a remedy from every hedge, either for sickness or +wounds." "The buds boiled in water gruel have effected wonders in a +fever," "and an extract composed [168] of the berries greatly +assists longevity. Indeed,"--so famous is the story of Neander-- +"this is a catholicum against all infirmities whatever." "The leaves, +though somewhat rank of smell, are otherwise, as indeed is the +entire shrub, of a very sovereign virtue. The springbuds are +excellently wholesome in pottage; and small ale, in which Elder +flowers have been infused, are esteemed by many so salubrious, +that this is to be had in most of the eating houses about our town." + +"It were likewise profitable for the scabby if they made a sallet of +those young buds, who in the beginning of the spring doe bud +forth together with those outbreakings and pustules of the skin, +which by the singular favour of nature is contemporaneous; these +being sometimes macerated a little in hot water, together with +oyle, salt, and vinegar, and sometimes eaten. It purgeth the belly, +and freeth the blood from salt and serous humours" (1760). +Further, "there be nothing more excellent to ease the pains of the +haemorrhoids than a fomentation made of the flowers of the Elder +and _Verbusie_, or Honeysuckle, in water or milk, for in a short +time it easeth the greatest pain." + +If the green leaves are warmed between two hot tiles, and applied +to the forehead, they will promptly relieve nervous headache. In +Germany the Elder is regarded with much respect. From its leaves +a fever drink is made; from its berries a sour preserve, and a +wonder-working electuary; whilst the moon-shaped clusters of its +aromatic flowers, being somewhat narcotic, are of service in +baking small cakes. + +The Romans made use of the black Elder juice as a hair dye. From +the flowers a fragrant water is now distilled as a perfume; and a +gently stimulating ointment is prepared with lard for dressing +burns and [169] scalds. Another ointment, concocted from the +green berries, with camphor and lard, is ordered by the London +College as curative of piles. "The leaves of Elder boiled soft, and +with a little linseed oil added thereto, if then laid upon a piece of +scarlet or red cloth, and applied to piles as hot as this can be +suffered, being removed when cold, and replaced by one such +cloth after another upon the diseased part by the space of an hour, +and in the end some bound to the place, and the patient put warm +to bed. This hath not yet failed at the first dressing to cure the +disease, but if the patient be dressed twice, it must needs cure them +if the first fail." The Elder was named _Eldrun_ and _Burtre_ by +the Anglo-Saxons. It is now called _Bourtree_ in Scotland, from +the central pith in the younger branches which children bore out so +as to make pop guns:-- + + "Bour tree--Bour tree: crooked rung, + Never straight, and never strong; + Ever bush, and never tree + Since our Lord was nailed on thee." + +The Elder is specially abundant in Kent around Folkestone. By the +Gauls it was called "Scovies," and by the Britons "Iscaw." + +This is the tree upon which the legend represents Judas as having +hanged himself, or of which the cross was made at the crucifixion. +In _Pier's Plowman's Vision_ it is said:-- + + "Judas he japed with Jewen silver, + And sithen an eller hanged hymselve." + +Gerard says "the gelly of the Elder, otherwise called Jew's ear, +taketh away inflammations of the mouth and throat if they be +washed therewith, and doth in like Manner help the uvula." He +refers here to a fungus [170] which grows often from the trunk of +the Elder, and the shape of which resembles the human ear. +Alluding to this fungus, and to the supposed fact that the berries of +the Elder are poisonous to peacocks, a quaint old rhyme runs +thus:-- + + "For the coughe take Judas' eare, + With the paring of a peare, + And drynke them without feare + If you will have remedy." + + "Three syppes for the hycocke, + And six more for the chycocke: + Thus will my pretty pycocke + Recover bye and bye." + +Various superstitions have attached themselves in England to the +Elder bush. The Tree-Mother has been thought to inhabit it; and it +has been long believed that refuge may be safely taken under an +Elder tree in a thunderstorm, because the cross was made +therefrom, and so the lightning never strikes it. Elder was formerly +buried with a corpse to protect it from witches, and even now at a +funeral the driver of the hearse commonly has his whip handle +made of Elder wood. Lord Bacon commended the rubbing of warts +with a green Elder stick, and then burying the stick to rot in +the mud. Brand says it is thought in some parts that beating with +an Elder rod will check the growth of boys. A cross made of the +wood if affixed to cow-houses and stables was supposed to protect +cattle from all possible harm. + +Belonging to the order of _Caprifoliaceous_ (with leaves eaten by +goats) plants, the Elder bush grows to the size of a small tree, +bearing many white flowers in large flat umbels at the ends of the +branches. It gives off an unpleasant soporific smell, which is said +to prove harmful to those that sleep under its shade. Our summer +is [171] not here until the Elder is fully in flower, and it ends when +the berries are ripe. When taken together with the berries of Herb +Paris (four-leaved Paris) they have been found very useful in +epilepsy. "Mark by the way," says _Anatomie of the Elder_ +(1760), "the berries of Herb Paris, called by some Bear, or Wolfe +Grapes, is held by certain matrons as a great secret against +epilepsie; and they give them ever in an unequal number, as three, +five, seven, or nine, in the water of Linden tree flowers. Others also +do hang a cross made of the Elder and Sallow, mutually inwrapping +one another, about the children's neck as anti-epileptick." +"I learned the certainty of this experiment (Dr. Blochwich) +from a friend in Leipsick, who no sooner erred in diet but +he was seized on by this disease; yet after he used the Elder +wood as an amulet cut into little pieces, and sewn in a knot against +him, he was free." Sheep suffering from the foot-rot, if able to get +at the bark and young shoots of an Elder tree, will thereby cure +themselves of this affection. The great Boerhaave always took off +his hat when passing an Elder bush. Douglas Jerrold once, at a +well-known tavern, ordered a bottle of port wine, which should be +"old, but not _Elder_." + +The _Dwarf Elder_ (_Sambucus ebulus_) is quite a different +shrub, which grows not infrequently in hedges and bushy places, +with a herbaceous stem from two to three feet high. It possesses a +smell which is less aromatic than that of the true Elder, and it +seldom brings its fruit to ripeness. A rob made therefrom is +actively purgative; one tablespoonful for a dose. The root, which +has a nauseous bitter taste, was formerly used in dropsies. A +decoction made from it, as well as from the inner bark, purges, and +promotes free urination. + +[172] The leaves made into a poultice will resolve swellings and +relieve contusions. The odour of the green leaves will drive away +mice from granaries. To the Dwarf Elder have been given the +names Danewort, Danesweed, and Danesblood, probably because +it brings about a loss of blood called the "Danes," or perhaps as a +corruption of its stated use _contra quotidianam_. The plant is also +known as Walewort, from _wal_--slanghter. It grows in great +plenty about Slaughterford, Wilts, where there was a noted +fight with the Danes; and a patch of it thrives on ground in +Worcestershire, where the first blood was drawn in the civil war +between the Parliament and the Royalists. Rumour says it will +only prosper where blood has been shed either in battle, or in +murder. + + + +ELECAMPANE. + +"Elecampane," writes William Coles, "is one of the plants whereof +England may boast as much as any, for there grows none better in +the world than in England, let apothecaries and druggists say what +they will." It is a tall, stout, downy plant, from three to five feet +high, of the Composite order, with broad leaves, and bright, +yellow flowers. Campania is the original source of the plant +(_Enula campana_), which is called also Elf-wort, and Elf-dock. +Its botanical title is _Helenium inula_, to commemorate Helen of +Troy, from whose tears the herb was thought to have sprung, or +whose hands were full of the leaves when Paris carried her off +from Menelaus. This title has become corrupted in some districts +to Horse-heal, or Horse-hele, or Horse-heel, through a double, +blunder, the word _inula_ being misunderstood for _hinnula_, a +colt; and the term _Hellenium_ being thought to have something +to do with healing, or [173] heels; and solely on this account the +Elecampane has been employed by farriers to cure horses of scabs +and sore heels. Though found wild only seldom, and as a local +production in our copses and meadows, it is cultivated in our +gardens as a medicinal and culinary herb. The name _inula_ is +only a corruption of the Greek _elenium_; and the herb is of +ancient repute, having been described by Dioscorides. An old +Latin distich thus celebrates its virtues: _Enula campana reddit +proecordia sana_--"Elecampane will the spirits sustain." "Julia +Augusta," said Pliny, "let no day pass without eating some of the +roots of _Enula_ condired, to help digestion, and cause mirth." + +The _inula_ was noticed by Horace, _Satire_ viii., 51:-- + + "Erucos virides inulas ego primus amaras + Monstravi incoquere." + +Also the _Enula campana_ has been identified with the herb Moly +(of Homer), "_apo tou moleuein_, from its mitigating pain." + +Prior to the Norman Conquest, and during the Middle Ages, the +root of Elecampane was much employed in Great Britain as a +medicine; and likewise it was candied and eaten as a sweetmeat. +Some fifty years ago the candy was sold commonly in London, as +flat, round cakes, being composed largely of sugar, and coloured +with cochineal. A piece was eaten each night and morning for +asthmatical complaints, whilst it was customary when travelling +by a river to suck a bit of the root against poisonous exhalations +and bad air. The candy may be still had from our confectioners, +but now containing no more of the plant Elecampane than there is +of barley in barley sugar. + +Gerard says: "The flowers of this herb are in all [174] their +bravery during June and July; the roots should be gathered in the +autumn. The plant is good for an old cough, and for such as cannot +breathe freely unless they hold their necks upright; also it is of +great value when given in a loch, which is a medicine to be licked +on. It voids out thick clammy humors, which stick in the chest and +lungs." Galen says further: "It is good for passions of the +huckle-bones, called sciatica." The root is thick and substantial, +having, when sliced, a fragrant aromatic odour. + +Chemically, it contains a crystalline principle, resembling +camphor, and called "helenin"; also a starch, named "inulin," +which is peculiar as not being soluble in water, alcohol, or ether; +and conjointly a volatile oil, a resin, albumen, and acetic acid. +Inulin is allied to starch, and its crystallized camphor is separable +into true helenin, and alantin camphor. The former is a powerful +antiseptic to arrest putrefaction. In Spain it is much used as a +surgical dressing, and is said to be more destructive than any other +agent to the bacillus of cholera. Helenin is very useful in +ulceration within the nose (_ozoena_), and in chronic bronchitis to +lessen the expectoration. The dose is from a third of a grain to two +grains. + +Furthermore, Elecampane counteracts the acidity of gouty +indigestion, and regulates the monthly illnesses of women. The +French use it in the distillation of absinthe, and term it _l'aulnee, +d'un lieu plante d'aulnes ou elle se plait_. To make a decoction, +half-an-ounce of the root should be gently boiled for ten minutes +in a pint of water, and then allowed to cool. From one to two +ounces of this may be taken three times in the day. Of the +powdered root, from half to one teaspoonful may be given for a +dose. + +[175] A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared from the root, of +which thirty or forty drops may be taken for a dose, with two +tablespoonfuls of cold water; but too large a dose will induce +sickness. Elecampane is specifically curative of a sharp pain +affecting the right elbow joint, and recurring daily; also of a +congestive headache coming on through costiveness of the lowest +bowel. Moreover, at the present time, when there is so much talk +about the inoculative treatment of pulmonary consumption by the +cultivated virus of its special microbe, it is highly interesting to +know that the helenin of Elecampane is said to be peculiarly +destructive to the bacillus of tubercular disease. + +In classic times the poet Horace told how Fundanius first taught +the making of a delicate sauce, by boiling in it the bitter _Inula_ +(Elecampane); and how the Roman stomach, when surfeited with +an excess of rich viands, pined for turnips, and the appetising +_Enulas acidas_ from frugal Campania:-- + + "Quum rapula plenus + Atque acidas mavult inulas." + + + +EYEBRIGHT. + +Found in abundance in summer time on our heaths, and on mountains +near the sea, this delicate little plant, the _Euphrasia +officinalis_, has been famous from earliest times for restoring and +preserving the eyesight. The Greeks named the herb originally +from the linnet, which first made use of the leaf for clearing its +vision, and which passed on the knowledge to mankind. The +Greek word, _euphrosunee_, signifies joy and gladness. The elegant +little herb grows from two to six inches high, with deeply-cut +leaves, and numerous white or [176] purplish tiny flowers +variegated with yellow; being partially a parasite, and preying on +the roots of other plants. It belongs to the order of scrofula-curing +plants; and, as proved by positive experiment (H.), the Eyebright +has been recently found to possess a distinct sphere of curative +operation, within which it manifests virtues which are as +unvarying as they are truly potential. It acts specifically on the +mucous lining of the eyes and nose, and the uppermost throat to +the top of the windpipe, causing, when given so largely as to be +injurious, a profuse secretion from these parts; and, if given of +reduced strength, it cures the same troublesome symptoms when +due to catarrh. + +An attack of cold in the head, with copious running from the eyes +and nose, may be aborted straightway by giving a dose of the +infusion (made with an ounce of the herb to a pint of boiling +water) every two hours; as, likewise, for hay fever. A medicinal +tincture (H.) is prepared from the whole plant with spirit of wine, +of which an admirably useful lotion may be made together with +rose water for simple inflammation of the eyes, with a bloodshot +condition of their outer coats. Thirty drops of the tincture should +be mixed with a wineglassful of rosewater for making this lotion, +which may be used several times in the day. + +What precise chemical constituents occur in the Eyebright beyond +tannin, mannite, and glucose, are not yet recorded. In Iceland its +expressed juice is put into requisition for most ailments of the +eyes. Likewise, in Scotland, the Highlanders infuse the herb in +milk, and employ this for bathing weak, or inflamed eyes. In +France, the plant is named _Casse lunettes_; and in Germany, +_Augen trost_, or, consolation of the eye. + +[177] Surely the same little herb must have been growing freely in +the hedge made famous by ancient nursery tradition:-- + + "Thessalus acer erat sapiens proe civibus unus + Qui medium insiluit spinets per horrida sepem. + Effoditque oculos sibi crudelissimus ambos. + Cum vero effosos orbes sine lumine vidit + Viribus enisum totis illum altera sepes + Accipit, et raptos oculos cito reddit egenti." + + "There was a man of Thessuly, and he was wondrous wise; + He jumped into a quick set hedge, and scratched out both his eyes; + Then, when he found his eyes were out, with all his might and main + He jumped into the quick set hedge, and scratched them in again." + +Old herbals pronounced it "cephalic, ophthalmic, and good for a +weak memory." Hildamus relates that it restored the sight of many +persons at the age of seventy or eighty years. "Eyebright made into +a powder, and then into an electuary with sugar, hath," says +Culpeper, "powerful effect to help and to restore the sight decayed +through years; and if the herb were but as much used as it is +neglected, it would have spoilt the trade of the maker." + +On the whole it is probable that the Eyebright will succeed best for +eyes weakened by long-continued straining, and for those which +are dim and watery from old age. Shenstone declared, "Famed +Euphrasy may not be left unsung, which grants dim eyes to +wander leagues around"; and Milton has told us in _Paradise +Lost_, Book XI:-- + + "To nobler sights + Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed, + Then purged with _Euphrasy_ and rue + The visual nerve, for he had much to see." + +[178] The Arabians I mew the herb Eyebright under the name +_Adhil_, It now makes an ingredient in British herbal tobacco, +which is smoked most usefully for chronic bronchial colds. +Some sceptics do not hesitate to say that the Eyebright owes its +reputation solely to the fact that the tiny flower bears in its centre +a yellow spot, which is darker towards the middle, and gives a close +resemblance to the human eye; wherefore, on the doctrine of +signatures, it was pronounced curative of ocular derangements. The +present Poet Laureate speaks of the herb as:-- + + "The Eyebright this. + Whereof when steeped in wine I now must eat + Because it strengthens mindfulness." + +Grandmother Cooper, a gipsy of note for skill in healing, practised +the cure of inflamed and scrofulous eyes, by anointing them with +clay, rubbed up with her spittle, which proved highly successful. +Outside was applied a piece of rag kept wet with water in which a +cabbage had been boiled. As confirmatory of this cure, we read +reverently in the _Gospel of St. John_ about the man "which was +blind from his birth," and for whose restoration to sight our Saviour +"spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the +eyes of the blind man with the clay." More than one eminent oculist +has similarly advised that weak, ailing eyes should be daily wetted +on waking with the fasting saliva. And it is well known that +"mothers' marks" of a superficial character, but even of a +considerable size, become dissipated by a daily licking with the +mother's tongue. Old Mizaldus taught that "the fasting spittle of a +whole and sound person both quite taketh away all scurviness, or +redness of the face, ringworms, tetters, and all kinds [179] of +pustules, by smearing or rubbing the infected place therewith; and +likewise it clean puts away thereby all painful swelling by the +means of any venomous thing as hornets, spiders, toads, and such +like." Healthy saliva is slightly alkaline, and contains sulphocyanate +of potassium. + + + +FENNEL. + +We all know the pleasant taste of Fennel sauce when eaten with +boiled mackerel. This culinary condiment is made with Sweet +Fennel, cultivated in our kitchen gardens, and which is a variety of +the wild Fennel growing commonly in England as the Finkel, +especially in Cornwall and Devon, on chalky cliffs near the sea. It is +then an aromatic plant of the umbelliferous order, but differing from +the rest of its tribe in producing bright yellow flowers. + +Botanically, it is the _Anethum foeniculum_, or "small fragrant +hay" of the Romans, and the _Marathron_ of the Greeks. The whole +plant has a warm carminative taste, and the old Greeks esteemed it +highly for promoting the secretion of milk in nursing mothers. +Macer alleged that the use of Fennel was first taught to man by +serpents. His classical lines on the subject when translated run +thus:-- + + "By eating herb of Fennel, for the eyes + A cure for blindness had the serpent wise; + Man tried the plant; and, trusting that his sight + Might thus be healed, rejoiced to find him right." + + "Hac mansa serpens oculos caligine purgat; + Indeque compertum est humanis posse mederi + Illum hominibus: atque experiendo probatum est." + +Pliny also asserts that the ophidia, when they cast their skins, have +recourse to this plant for restoring their [180] sight. Others have +averred that serpents wax young again by eating of the herb; +"Wherefore the use of it is very meet for aged folk." + +Fennel powder may be employed for making an eyewash: half-a-teaspoonful +infused in a wineglassful of cold water, and decanted when +clear. A former physician to the Emperor of Germany saw a +monk cured by his tutor in nine days of a cataract by only applying +the roots of Fennel with the decoction to his eyes. + +In the Elizabethan age the herb was quoted as an emblem of flattery; +and Lily wrote, "Little things catch light minds; and fancie is a +worm that feedeth first upon Fennel." Again, Milton says, in +_Paradise Lost_, Book XI:-- + + "The savoury odour blown, + Grateful to appetite, more pleased my sense + Than smell of sweetest Fennel." + +Shakespeare makes the sister of Laertes say to the King, in +_Hamlet_, when wishing to prick the royal conscience, "There's +Fennel for you." And Falstaff commends Poins thus, in _Henry the +Fourth_, "He plays at quoits well, and eats conger, and Fennel." + +The Italians take blanched stalks of the cultivated Fennel (which +they call _Cartucci_) as a salad; and in Germany its seeds are added +to bread as a condiment, much as we put caraways in some of our +cakes. The leaves are eaten raw with pickled fish to correct its oily +indigestibility. Evelyn says the peeled stalks, soft and white, when +"dressed like salery," exercise a pleasant action conducive to sleep. +Roman bakers put the herb under their loaves in the oven to make +the bread taste agreeably. + +Chemically, the cultivated Fennel plant furnishes a volatile aromatic +oil, a fixed fatty principle, sugar, and some [181] in the root; also a +bitter resinous extract. It is an admirable corrective of flatulence; +and yields an essential oil, of which from two to four drops taken on +a lump of sugar will promptly relieve griping of the bowels with +distension. Likewise a hot infusion, made by pouring half-a-pint of +boiling water on a teaspoonful of the bruised seeds will comfort +belly ache in the infant, if given in teaspoonful doses sweetened +with sugar, and will prove an active remedy in promoting female +monthly regularity, if taken at the periodical times, in doses of a +wineglassful three times in the day. Gerard says, "The green leaves +of the Fennel eaten, or the seed made into a ptisan, and drunk, do fill +women's brestes with milk; also the seed if drunk asswageath the +wambling of the stomacke, and breaketh the winde." The essential +oil corresponds in composition to that of anise, but contains a +special camphoraceous body of its own; whilst its vapour will cause +the tears and the saliva to flow. A syrup prepared from the +expressed juice was formerly given for chronic coughs. + +W. Coles teaches in _Nature's Paradise_, that "both the leaves, +seeds, and roots, are much used in drinks and broths for those that +are grown fat, to abate their unwieldinesse, and make them more +gaunt and lank." The ancient Greek name of the herb, _Marathron_, +from _maraino_, to grow thin, probably embodied the same notion. +"In warm climates," said Matthiolus, "the stems are cut, and there +exudes a resinous liquid, which is collected under the name of +fennel gum." + +The Edinburgh _Pharmacopoeia_ orders "Sweet Fennel seeds, +combined with juniper berries and caraway seeds, for making with +spirit of wine, the 'compound spirit of juniper,' which is noted for +promoting a copious flow of urine in dropsy." The bruised plant, if +applied [182] externally, will speedily relieve toothache or earache. +This likewise proves of service as a poultice to resolve chronic +swellings. Powdered Fennel is an ingredient in the modern laxative +"compound liquorice powder" with senna. The flower, surrounded +by its four leaves, is called in the South of England, "Devil in a +bush." An old proverb of ours, which is still believed in New +England, says, that "Sowing Fennel is sowing sorrow." A modern +distilled water is now obtained from the cultivated plant, and +dispensed by the druggist. The whole herb has been supposed to +confer longevity, strength and courage. Longfellow wrote a poem +about it to this effect. + +The fine-leaved Hemlock Water Dropwort (_Oenanthe Phellandrium_), +is the Water Fennel. + + + +FERNS. + +Only some few of our native Ferns are known to possess medicinal +virtues, though they may all be happily pronounced devoid of +poisonous or deleterious properties. As curative simples, a brief +consideration will be given here to the common male and female +Ferns, the Royal Fern, the Hart's Tongue, the Maidenhair, the +common Polypody, the Spleenwort, and the Wall Rue. Generically, +the term "fern" has been referred to the word "feather," because of +the pinnate leaves, or to _farr_, a bullock, from the use of the plants +as litter for cattle. Ferns are termed _Filices_, from the Latin word +_filum_, a thread, because of their filamentary fronds. Each of those +now particularized owes its respective usefulness chiefly to its +tannin; while the few more specially endowed with healing powers +yield also a peculiar chemical acid "filicic," which is fatal to worms. +In an old charter, A.D. 855, the [183] right of pasturage on the +common Ferns was called "fearnleswe," or _Pascua procorum_, the +pasturage of swine (from _fearrh_, a pig). Matthiolus when writing +of the ferns, male and female, says, _Utriusque radice sues +pinguescunt_. In some parts of England Ferns at large are known as +"Devil's brushes"; and to bite off close to the ground the first Fern +which appears in the Spring, is said, in Cornwall, to cure toothache, +and to prevent its return during the remainder of the year. + +The common Male Fern (_Filix mas_) or Shield Fern, grows +abundantly in all parts of Great Britain, and has been known from +the times of Theophrastus and Dioscorides, as a specific remedy for +intestinal worms, particularly the tape worm. For medicinal +purposes, the green part of the rhizome is kept and dried; this is then +powdered, and its oleo-resin is extracted by ether. The green fixed +oil thus obtained; which is poisonous to worms, consists of the +glycerides of filocylic and filosmylic acids, with tannin, starch, +gum, and sugar. The English oil of Male Fern is more reliable than +that which is imported from the Continent. Twenty drops made into +an emulsion with mucilage should be given every half-hour on an +empty stomach, until sixty or eighty drops have been taken. It is +imprudent to administer the full quantity in a single dose. The +treatment should be thus pursued when the vigour of the parasite has +been first reduced by a low diet for a couple of days, and is lying +within the intestines free from alimentary matter; a purgative being +said to assist the action of the plant, though it is, independently, +quite efficacious. The knowledge of this remedy had become lost, +until it was repurchased for fifteen thousand francs, in 1775, by the +French king, under the advice of his principal physicians, from +Madame Nouffer, [184] a surgeon's widow in Switzerland, who +employed it as a secret mode of cure with infallible success. Her +method consisted in giving from one to three drams of the powdered +root, after using a clyster, and following the dose up with a purge of +scammony and calomel. The rhizome should not be used medicinally +if more than a year old. A medicinal tincture (H.) is now +prepared from the root-stock with proof spirit, in the autumn +when the fronds are dying. + +The young shoots and curled leaves of the Male Fern, which is +distinguished by having one main rib, are sometimes eaten like +asparagus; whilst the fronds make an excellent litter for horses and +cattle. The seed of this and some other species of Fern is so minute +(one frond producing more than a million) as not to be visible to the +naked eye. Hence, on the doctrine of signatures, the plant--like the +ring of Gyges, found in a brazen horse--has been thought to confer +invisibility. Thus Shakespeare says, _Henry IV_., Act II., Scene 1, +"We have the receipt of Fern seed; we walk invisible." + +Bracken or Brakes, which grows more freely than any other of the +Fern tribe throughout England, is the _Filix foemina_, or common +Female Fern. The fronds of this are branched, whilst the male plant +having only one main rib, is more powerful as an astringent, and +antiseptic; "the powder thereof freely beaten healeth the galled +necks of oxen and other cattell." Bracken is also named botanically, +_Pteris aquilina_, because the figure which appears in its succulent +stem when cut obliquely across at the base, has been thought to +resemble a spread eagle; and, therefore, Linnaeus termed the Fern +_Aquilina_. Some call it, for the same reason, "King Charles in the +oak tree"; and in Scotland the symbol is said to be an impression of +the Devil's foot. [185] Again, witches are reputed to detest this Fern, +since it bears on its cut root the Greek letter X, which is the initial +of _Christos_. + +In Ireland it is called the Fern of God, because of the belief that if +the stem be cut into three sections, on the first of these will be seen +the letter G; on the second O; and on the third D. + +An old popular proverb says about this Bracken:-- + + "When the Fern is as high as a spoon + You may sleep an hour at noon, + When the Fern is as high as a ladle + You may sleep as long as you're able, + When the Fern is looking red + Milk is good with faire brown bread." + +The Bracken grows almost exclusively on waste places and +uncultivated ground; or, as Horace testified in Roman days, +_Neglectis urenda filix innascitur agris_. It contains much potash; +and its ashes were formerly employed in the manufacture of soap. +The young tops of the plant are boiled in Hampshire for hogs' food, +and the peculiar flavour of Hampshire bacon has been attributed to +this custom. The root affords much starch, and is used medicinally. +"For thigh aches" [sciatica], says an old writer, "smoke the legs +thoroughly with Fern braken." + +During the Seventeenth Century it was customary to set growing +Brakes on fire with the belief that this would produce rain. A like +custom of "firing the Bracken" still prevails to-day on the +Devonshire moors. By an official letter the Earl of Pembroke +admonished the High Sheriff of Stafford to forbear the burning of +Ferns during a visit of Charles I., as "His Majesty desired that the +country and himself may enjoy fair weather as long as he should +remain in those parts." + +In northern climates a coarse kind of bread is made [186] from the +roots of the Brake Fern; whilst in the south the young shoots are +often sold in bundles as a salad. (Some writers give the name of +Lady Fern, not to the Bracken, but to the _Asplenium filix +foemina_, because of its delicate and graceful foliage.) The Bracken +has branched riblets, and is more viscid, mucilaginous, and diuretic, +than the Male Fern. + +Its ashes when burnt contain much vegetable alkali which has been +used freely in making glass. + +It was customary to "watch the Fern" on Midsummer eve, when the +plant put forth at dusk a blue flower, and a wonderful seed at +midnight, which was carefully collected, and known as "wish seed." +This gave the power to discover hidden treasures, whilst to drink the +sap conferred perpetual youth. + +The Royal Fern (_Osmunda regalis_), grows abundantly in many +parts of Great Britain, and is the stateliest of Ferns in its favourite +watery haunts. It heeds a soil of bog earth, and is incorrectly styled +"the flowering Fern," from its handsome spikes of fructification. +One of its old English names is "Osmund, the Waterman"; and the +white centre of its root has been called the heart of Osmund. This +middle part boiled in some kind of liquor was supposed good for +persons wounded, dry-beaten, and bruised, or that have fallen from +some high place. The name "Osmund" is thought to be derived from +_os_, the mouth, or _os_, bone, and _mundare_, to cleanse, or from +_gross mond kraut_, the Greater Moonwort; but others refer it to +Saint Osmund wading a river, whilst bearing the Christ on his +shoulders. The root or rhizome has a mucilaginous slightly bitter +taste. The tender sprigs of the plant at their first coming are "good +to be put into balmes, oyles, and healing plasters." Dodonoeus says, +"the harte of the root of [187] Osmonde is good against squattes, +and bruises, heavie and grievous falles, and whatever hurte or +dislocation soever it be." "A conserve of these buds," said Dr. Short +of Sheffield, 1746, "is a specific in the rickets; and the roots +stamped in water or gin till the liquor becometh a stiff mucilage, has +cured many most deplorable pains of the back, that have confined +the distracted sufferers close to bed for several weeks." This +mucilage was to be rubbed over the vertebrae of the back each night +and morning for five or six days together. Also for rickets, "take of +the powdered roots with the whitest sugar, and sprinkle some +thereof on the child's pap, and on all his liquid foods." "It maketh a +noble remedy," said Dr. Bowles, "without any other medicine." The +actual curative virtues of this Fern are most probably due to the salts +of lime, potash, and other earths, which it derives in solution from +the bog soil, and from the water in which it grows. On July 25th it is +specially dedicated to St. Christopher, its patron saint. + +The Hart's Tongue or Hind's Tongue, is a Fern of common English +growth in shady copses on moist banks, it being the _Lingua cervina_ +of the apothecaries, and its name expressing the shape of its fronds. +This, the _Scolopendrium vulgare_, is also named "Button-hole," +"Horse tongue;" and in the Channel Islands "Godshair." The older +physicians esteemed it as a very valuable medicine; and Galen gave +it for diarrhoea or dysentery. By reason of its tannin it will restrain +bleedings, "being commended," says Gerard, "against the bloody +flux." People in rural districts make an ointment from its leaves for +burns and scalds. It was formerly, in company with the common +Maidenhair Fern, one of the five great capillary herbs. Dr. Tuthill +Massy advises the drinking, in Bright's disease, of as much as three +[188] half-pints daily of an infusion of this Fern, whilst always +taking care to gather the young shoots. Also, in combination (H.) +with the American Golden Seal (_Hydrastis canadensis_). the Hart's +Tongue has served in not a few authenticated cases to arrest the +progress of that formidable disease, diabetes mellitus. Its distilled +water will quiet any palpitations of the heart, and will stay the +hiccough; it will likewise help the falling of the palate (relaxed +throat), or stop bleeding of the gums if the mouth be gargled +therewith. + +From the _Ophioglossum vulgatum_, "'Adder's tongue,' or 'Christ's +Spear,' when boiled in olive oil is produced a most excellent greene +oyle. Or rather a balsam for greene wounds, comparable to oyle of +St. John's Wort; if it doth not far surpasse it." A preparation from +this plant known as the "green oil of charity," is still in request as +a vulnerary, and remedy for wounds. + +The true Maidenhair Fern (_Adiantum capillus veneris_), of +exquisite foliage, and of a dark crimson colour, is a stranger in +England, except in the West country. But we have in greater +abundance the common Maidenhair (_Asplenium trichomanes_), +which grows on old walls, and which will act as a laxative +medicine; whilst idiots are said to have taken it remedially, so as to +recover their senses. The true Maidenhair is named _Adiantum_, +from the Greek: _Quod denso imbre cadente destillans foliis tenuis +non insidet humor_, "Because the leaves are not wetted even by a +heavily falling shower of rain." "In vain," saith Pliny, "do you plunge +the Adiantum into water, it always remains dry." This veracious +plant doth "strengthen and embellish the hair." It, occurs but rarely +with us; on damp rocks, and walls near the sea. The Maidenhair is +called _Polytrichon_ because it brings forth a multitude of hairs; +[189] _Calitrichon_ because it produces black and faire hair; +_Capillus veneris_ because it fosters grace and love. + +From its fine hairlike stems, and perhaps from its attributed virtues +in toilet use, this Fern has acquired the name of "Our Lady's Hair" +and "Maria's Fern." "The true Maidenhair," says Gerard, "maketh +the hair of the head and beard to grow that is fallen and pulled off." +From this graceful Fern a famous elegant syrup is made in France +called _Capillaire_; which is given as a favourite medicine in +pulmonary catarrh. It is flavoured with orange flowers, and acts as a +demulcent with slightly stimulating effects. One part of the plant is +gently boiled with ten parts of water, and with nineteen parts of +white sugar. Dr. Johnson says Boswell used to put _Capillaire_ into +his port wine. Sir John Hill instructed us that (as we cannot get the +true Maidenhair fresh in England) the fine syrup made in France +from their Fern in perfection, concocted with pure Narbonne honey, +is not by any means to be thought a trifle, because barley water, +sweetened with this, is one of the very best remedies for a violent +cold. But a tea brewed from our more common Maidenhair will +answer the same purpose for tedious coughs. Its leaves are sweet, +mucilaginous, and expectorant, being, therefore, highly useful in +many pulmonary disorders. + +The common Polypody Fern, or "rheum-purging Polypody" grows plentifully +in this country on old walls and stumps of trees, in shady places. +In Hampshire it is called "Adder's Tongue," as derived from the +word _attor_, poison; also Wall-fern, and formerly in Anglo-Saxon +Ever-fern, or Boar-fern. In Germany it is said to have sprung +from the Virgin's milk, and is named _Marie bregue_. The fresh root +has been used successfully in decoction, or powdered, for +melancholia; [190] also of late for general rheumatic swelling of the +joints. By the ancients it was employed as a purgative. Six drachms +by weight of the root should be infused for two hours in a pint of +boiling water, and given in two doses. This is the Oak Fern of the +herbalists; not that of modern botanists (_Polypodium dryopteris_); +it being held that such Fern plants as grew upon the roots of an oak +tree were of special medicinal powers, _Quod nascit super radices +quercus est efficacius_. The true Oak Fern (_Dryopteris_) grows +chiefly in mountainous districts among the mossy roots of old oak +trees, and sometimes in marshy places. If its root is bruised and +applied to the skin of any hairy part, whilst the person is sweating, +this will cause the hair to come away. Dioscorides said, "The root of +Polypody is very good for chaps between the fingers." "It serveth," +writes Gerard, "to make the belly soluble, being boiled in the broth +of an old cock, with beets or mallows, or other like things, that +move to the stool by their slipperiness." Parkinson says: "A dram or +two, it need be, of the powdered dry roots taken fasting, in a cupful +of honeyed water, worketh gently as a purge, being a safe medicine, +fit for all persons and seasons, which daily experience confirmeth." +"Applied also to the nose it cureth the disease called polypus, which +by time and sufferance stoppeth the nostrils." The leaves of the +Polypody when burnt furnish a large proportion of carbonate of +Potash. + +The Spleenwort (_Asplenium ceterach_--an Arabian term), or Scaly +Fern, or Finger Fern, grows on old walls, and in the clefts of moist +rocks. It is also called "Miltwaste," because supposed to cure +disorders of the milt, or spleen:-- + + "The Finger Fern, which being given to swine, + It makes their milt to melt away in fine." + +[191] Very probably this reputed virtue has mainly become attributed +to the plant, because the lobular milt-like shape of its leaf +resembles the form of the spleen. "No herbe maie be compared +therewith," says one of the oldest Herbals, "for his singular virtue to +help the sicknesse or grief of the splene." Pliny ordered: "It should +not be given to women, because it bringeth barrenness." Vitruvius +alleged that in Crete the flocks and herds were found to be without +spleens, because they browsed on this fern. The plant was supposed +when given medicinally to diminish the size of the enlarged spleen +or "ague-cake." + +The Wall Rue (_Ruta muraria_) is a white Maidenhair Fern, and is +named by some _Salvia vitoe_. It is a small herb, somewhat nearly +of the colour of Garden Rue, and is likewise good for them that +have a cough, or are shortwinded, or be troubled with stitches in the +sides. It stayeth the falling or shedding of the hair, and causeth them +to grow thick, fair, and well coloured. This plant is held by those of +judgment and experience, to be as effectual a capillary herb as any +whatever. Also, it helpeth ruptures in children. Matthiolus "hath +known of divers holpen therein by taking the powder of the herb in +drink for forty days together." Its leaves are like those of Rue, and +the Fern has been called Tentwort from its use as a specific or +sovereign remedy for the cure of rickets, a disease once known as +"the taint." + +The generic appellations of the several species of Ferns are derived +thus: _Aspidium_, from _aspis_, a shield, because the spores are +enclosed in bosses; _Pteris_, from _pteerux_, a wing, having doubly +pinnate fronds; or from _pteron_, a feather, having feathery fronds; +_Scolopendrium_, because the fructification is supposed to +resemble the feet of _Scoltpendra_, a genus of mydrapods; and +_Polypody_, many footed, by reason of the pectinate fronds. + +[192] There grows in Tartary a singular polypody Fern, of which the +hairy foot is easily made to simulate in form a small sheep. It rises +above the ground with excrescences resembling a head and tail, +whilst having four leg-like fronds. Fabulous stories are told about +this remarkable Fern root; and in China its hairy down is so highly +valued as a styptic for fresh bleeding cuts and wounds, that few +families will be without it. Dr. Darwin, in his _Loves of the Plants_, +says about this curious natural production, the _Polypodium +Barometz_:-- + + "Cradled in snow, and fanned by Arctic air + Shines, gentle Barometz, thy golden hair; + Rooted in earth each cloven hoof descends, + And found and round her flexile neck she bends: + Crops the green coral moss, and hoary thyme, + Or laps with rosy tongue the melting rime; + Eyes with mute tenderness her distant dam, + Or seems to bleat--a vegetable Lamb." + + + +FEVERFEW. + +The Feverfew is one of the wild Chamomiles (_Pyrethrum Parthenium_), +or _Matricaria_, so called because especially useful for +motherhood. Its botanical names come from the Latin _febrifugus_, +putting fever to flight, and _parthenos_, a virgin. The herb +is a Composite plant, and grows in every hedgerow, with numerous +small heads of yellow flowers, having outermost white rays, +but with an upright stem; whereas that of the true garden +Chamomile is procumbent. The whole plant has a pungent odour, +and is particularly disliked by bees. A double variety is cultivated +in gardens for ornamental purposes. + +The herb Feverfew is strengthening to the stomach, preventing +hysteria and promoting the monthly functions of women. It is much +used by country mediciners, though insufficiently esteemed by the +doctors of to-day. + +[193] In Devonshire the plant is known as "Bachelor's buttons," and +at Torquay as "Flirtwort," being also sometimes spoken of as +"Feathyfew," or "Featherfull." + +Gerard says it may be used both in drinks, and bound on the wrists, +as of singular virtue against the ague. + +As "Feverfue," it was ordered, by the Magi of old, "to be pulled +from the ground with the left hand, and the fevered patient's name +must be spoken forth, and the herbarist must not look behind him." +Country persons have long been accustomed to make curative uses +of this herb very commonly, which grows abundantly throughout +England. Its leaves are feathery and of a delicate green colour, being +conspicuous even in mid-winter. Chemically, the Feverfew +furnishes a blue volatile oil; containing a camphoraceous stearopten, +and a liquid hydrocarbon, together with some tannin, and a bitter +mucilage. + +The essential oil is medicinally useful for correcting female +irregularities, as well as for obviating cold indigestion. The herb is +also known as "Maydeweed," because useful against hysterical +distempers, to which young women are subject. Taken generally it +is a positive tonic to the digestive and nervous systems. Out +chemists make a medicinal tincture of Feverfew, the dose of which +is from ten to twenty drops, with a spoonful of water, three times a +day. This tincture, if dabbed oil the parts with a small sponge, will +immediately relieve the pain and swelling caused by bites of insects +or vermin. In the official guide to Switzerland directions are given +to take "a little powder of the plant called _Pyrethrum roseum_ and +make it into a paste with a few drops of spirit, then apply this to the +hands and face, or any exposed part of the body, and let it [194] dry: +no mosquito or fly will then touch you." Or if two teaspoonfuls of +the tincture are mixed with half a pint of cold water, and if all parts +of the body likely to be exposed to the bites of insects are freely +sponged therewith they will remain unassailed. Feverfew is +manifestly the progenitor of the true Chamomilla (_Anthemis +nobilis_), from which the highly useful Camomile "blows," so +commonly employed in domestic medicine, are obtained, and its +flowers, when dried, may be applied to the same purposes. An +infusion of them made with boiling water and allowed to become +cold, will allay any distressing sensitiveness to pain in a highly +nervous subject, and will afford relief to the faceache or earache of a +dyspeptic or rheumatic person. This Feverfew (_Chrysanthemum +parthenium_), is best calculated to pacify those who are liable to +sudden, spiteful, rude irascibility, of which they are conscious, but +say they cannot help it, and to soothe fretful children. "Better is a +dinner or such herbs, where love is; than a stalled ox, and hatred +therewith." + + + +FIGS. + +"In the name of the Prophet 'Figs'" was the pompous utterance +ascribed to Dr. Johnson, whose solemn magniloquent style was +simulated as Eastern cant applied to common business in _Rejected +Addresses_, by the clever humorists, Horace and James Smith, +1812. The tree which produces this fruit belongs to the history of +mankind. In Paradise Adam partook of figs, and covered his +nakedness with the leaves. + +Though indigenous to Western Asia, Figs have been cultivated in +most countries from a remote period, and will ripen in England +during a warm summer if screened from north-east winds. The fig +tree flourishes best with [195] us on our sea coasts, bathed by the +English Channel, by reason of the salt-laden atmosphere. Near +Gosport, and at Fig Valleys, in the neighbourhood of Worthing, +there are orchards of figtrees; but they remain barren in this country +as far as affording seed to be raised anew from the ripened fruit. The +first figtrees introduced into England are still alive and productive +in the gardens of the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth, having +been planted there by Cardinal Pole in the time of Henry the Eighth. +We call the Sunday before Easter "Fig Sunday," probably because +of our Saviour's quest of the fruit when going from Bethany the next +day. + +By the Jews a want of blossom on the Fig tree was considered a +grievous calamity. On the Saturday preceding Palm Sunday (says +Miss Baker), the market at Northampton is abundantly supplied +with figs, and more of the fruit is purchased at this time than +throughout the rest of the year. Even charity children are regaled in +some parts with figs on the said Sunday; whilst in Lancashire fig +pies made of dried figs with sugar and treacle are eaten beforehand +in Lent. + +In order to become fertilised, figs (of which the sexual apparatus lies +within the fruit) must have their outer skin perforated by certain +gnats of the Cynips tribe, which then penetrate to the interior whilst +carrying with them the fertilising pollen; but these gnats are not +found in this country. Producers of the fruit abroad bearing the said +fact in view tie some of the wild fruit when tenanted by the Culex +fly to the young cultivated figs. + +Foreign figs are dried in the oven so as to destroy the larvae of the +Cynips insect, and are then compressed into small boxes. They +consist in this state almost exclusively of mucilage and sugar. + +[196] Only one kind of Fig comes to ripeness with us in England, +the great blue Fig, as large as a Catherine pear. "It should be +grown," says Gerard, "under a hot wall, and eaten when newly +gathered, with bread, pepper, and salt; or it is excellent in tarts." +This fruit is soft, easily digested, and corrective of strumous +disease. Dried Turkey Figs, as imported, contain glucose (sugar), +starch, fat, pectose, gum, albumen, mineral matter, collulose, and +water. They are used by our druggists as an ingredient in confection +of senna for a gentle laxative effect. When split open, and applied +as hot as they can be borne against gumboils, and similar suppurative +gatherings, they afford ease, and promote maturation of the abscess; +and likewise they will help raw, unhealthy sores to heal. The first +poultice of Figs on record is that employed by King Hezekiah 260 +years before Christ, at the instance of the prophet Isaiah, who +ordered to "take a lump of Figs; and they took it, and laid it on the +boil, and the King recovered" (2 Kings xx. 7). + +The Fig is said to have been the first fruit, eaten as food by man. +Among the Greeks it formed part of the ordinary Spartan fare, and +the Athenians forbade exportation of the best Figs, which were +highly valued at table. Informers against those who offended in this +respect were called _Suko phantai_, or Fig discoverers--our +_Sycophants_. + +Bacchus was thought to have acquired his vigour and corpulency +from eating Figs, such as the Romans gave to professed wrestlers +and champions for strength and good sustenance. + +Dodonoeus said concerning Figs, _Alimentum amplius quam coeteri +proebent_; and Pliny spoke of them as the best restorative +for those brought low by languishing [197] disease, with loss of +their colour. It was under the Perpul tree (_Ficus religiosa_) Buddha +attained Nirvada. + +The botanical name _ficus_ has been derived from the Greek verb +_phuo_ to generate, and the husbandry of Figs was called by the +Latins "caprification." The little fig-bird of the Roman Campagna +pays a yearly visit in September to the fig orchards on our Sussex +coast. + +When eaten raw, dried Figs prove somewhat aperient, and they are +apt to make the mouth sore whilst masticating them. Their seeds +operate mechanically against constipation, though sometimes +irritating the lining membrane of the stomach and bowels. Grocers +prepare from the pulp of these foreign dried figs, when mixed with +honey, a jam called "figuine," which is wholesome, and will prevent +costiveness if eaten at breakfast with bread. + +The pulp of Turkey Figs is mucilaginous, and has been long +esteemed as a pectoral emollient for coughs: also when stewed and, +added to ptisans, for catarrhal troubles of the air passages, and of +other mucous canals. + +In its fresh green state the fruit secretes a mildly acrid juice, which +will destroy warts; this afterwards becomes saccharine and oily. The +dried Figs of the shops give no idea of the fresh fruit as enjoyed in +Italy at breakfast, which then seem indeed a fruit of paradise, and +which contain a considerable quantity of grape sugar. In the +_Regimen of the School of Salerno_ (eleventh century) we read:-- + + "Scrofa, tumor, glandes, ficus cataplasma sedet, + Swines' evil, swellings, kernels, a plaster of figs will heal." + +Barley water boiled with dried Figs (split open), liquorice root, and +raisins, forms the compound decoction of barley prescribed by +doctors as a capital demulcent; [198] and an admirable gargle for +inflamed sore throat may be made by boiling two ounces of the Figs +in half-a-pint of water, which is to be strained when cool. Figs +cooked in milk make an excellent drink for costive persons. + +In the French codex a favourite pectoral medicine is composed of +Figs, stoned dates, raisins, and jujubes. + +Formerly the poisoned Fig was used in Spain as a secret means for +getting rid of an enemy. The fruit was so common there that to say +"a fig for you!" and "I give you the fig" became proverbial +expressions of contempt. _In fiocchi_ (in gala costome), is an Italian +phrase which we now render as "in full fig." + +The _Water Figwort_, a common English plant which grows by the +sides of ditches, and belongs to the scrofula-curing order, has +acquired its name because supposed to heal sores in the fundament +when applied like figs as a poultice. It further bears the name of +_Water Betony_ (_page_ 50), under which title its curative +excellence against piles, and for scrofulous glands in the neck has +been already described. The whole plant, yielding its juice, may be +blended with lard to be used as an ointment; and an infusion of the +roots, made with boiling water, an ounce to a pint, may be taken as a +medicine--a wineglassful three times in the day. + +In Ireland it is known as "Rose noble," also as Kernelwort, because +the kernels, or tubers attached to the roots have been thought to +resemble scrofulous glands in the neck. "Divers do rashly teach that +if it be hanged about the necke, or else carried about one it keepeth a +man in health." In France the sobriquet _herbe du seige_, given to +this plant, is said to have been derived from its famous use in +healing all sorts of wounds during the long siege of Rochelle under +Louis XIII. + +[199] The Water Figwort may be readily known by the winged +corners of its stems, which, though hollow and succulent, are rigid +when dead, and prove very troublesome to anglers. The flowers are +much frequented by wasps: and the leaves are employed to correct +the taste of senna. + + + +FLAG (Common). + +Our English water Flags are true whigs of the old school, and get +their generic name because hanging out their banners respectively of +dark blue and yellow. + +Each is also called Iris, as resembling the rainbow in beauty of +colour. The land Flag (_Iris versicolor_) is well known as growing +in swamps and moist meadows, with sword-shaped leaves, and large +purple heads of flowers, bearing petals chiefly dark blue, and veined +with green, yellow, or white. The water Flag (_Iris pseudacorus_) is +similar of growth, and equally well known by its brilliant heads of +yellow flowers, with blade-like leaves, being found in wet places +and water courses. The root of the Blue Flag, "Dragon Flower," or +"Dagger Flower," contains chemically an "oleo-resin," which is +purgative to the liver in material doses, and specially alleviative +against bilious sickness when taken of much reduced strength by reason +of its acting as a similar. The official dose of this "iridin" is +from one to three grains. A liability to the formation of gall stones +may be remedied by giving one grain of the oleoresin (iridin) every +night for twelve nights. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is made which holds this Iris in solution; +and if three or four drops are taken immediately, with a spoonful of +water, and the same dose is repeated in half-an-hour if still +necessary, an attack of bilious vomiting, with sick headache, and a +[200] film before the eyes, will be prevented, or cut short. The +remedy is, under such circumstances, a trustworthy substitute for +calomel, or blue pill. Orris powder, which is so popular in the +nursery, and for the toilet table with ladies, on account of its fresh +"violet" scent, is made from the root of this Iris, being named from +the genitive _ireos_. + +Louis VII. of France chose this Blue Flag as his heraldic emblem, +and hence its name, _fleur de lys_, has been subsequently borne on +the arms of France. The flower was said to have been figured on a +shield sent down from heaven to King Louis at Clovis, when +fighting against the Saracens. Fleur de Louis has become corrupted +to _fleur de lys_, or _fleur de lis_. + +The Purple Flag was formerly dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A +certain knight more devout than learned could never remember +more than two words of the Latin prayer addressed to the Holy +Mother; these were _Ave Maria_, which the good old man repeated +day and night until he died. Then a plant of the blue Iris sprang up +over his grave, displaying on every flower in golden letters these +words, _Ave Maria_. When the monks opened the tomb they found +the root of the plant resting on the lips of the holy knight whose +body lay buried below. + +The Yellow Flag, or Water Flag, is called in the north, "Seggs." Its +flowers afford a beautiful yellow dye; and, its seeds, when roasted, +can be used instead of coffee. The juice of the root is very acrid +when sniffed up the nostrils, and causes a copious flow of water +therefrom, thus giving marked relief for obstinate congestive +headache of a dull, passive sort. The root is very astringent, and will +check diarrhoea by its infusion; also it is of service for making ink. +In the [201] south of England the plant is named "Levers." It +contains much tannin. + +The "Stinking Flag," or "Gladdon," or "Roast Beef," because having +the odour of this viand, is another British species of Flag, abundant +in southern England, where it grows in woods and, shady places. Its +leaves, when bruised, emit a strong smell like that of carrion, which +is very loathsome. The plant bears the appellations, _Iris +foetidissima_, _Spatual foetida_, and "Spurgewort," having long, +narrow leaves, which stink when rubbed. Country folk in Somersetshire +purge themselves to good purpose with a decoction made from +the root. The term "glad," or "smooth," refers to the surface +of the leaves, or to their sword-like shape, from _gladiolus_ +(a small sword), and the plant bears flowers of a dull, livid purple, +smaller than those of the other flags. + +Lastly, there is the Sweet Flag (_Acorus calamus_), though this is +not an Iris, but belongs botanically to the family of _Arums_. It +grows on the edges of lakes and streams allover Europe, as a highly +aromatic, reedy plant, with an erect flowering stem of yellowish +green colour. Its name comes from the Greek, _koree_, or "pupil of +the eye," because of its being used in ailments of that organ. + +_Calamus_ was the Roman term for a reed; and formerly this sweet +Flag, by reason of its pleasant odour like that of violets, was freely +strewn on the floor of a cathedral at times of church festivals, and in +many private houses instead of rushes. The root is a powerful cordial +against flatulence, and passive indigestion, with headache. It contains +a volatile oil, and a bitter principle, "acorin;" so that a fluid +extract is made by the chemists, of which from thirty to forty drops +may be given as a dose, with a [202] tablespoonful, of water, every +half-hour for several consecutive times. The candied root is much +employed for like uses in Turkey and India. It is sold as a favourite +medicine in every Indian Bazaar; and Ainslie says it is reckoned so +valuable in the bowel complaints of children, that there is a penalty +incurred by every druggist who will not open his door in the middle +of the night to sell it if demanded. + +The root stocks are brought to this country from Germany, being +used by mastication to cleat the urine when it is thick and loaded +with dyspeptic products; also for flavouring beer, and scenting +snuff. + +Their ash contains potash, soda, zinc, phosphoric Acid, silica, and +peroxide of iron. In the _Times_ April 24th, 1856, Dr. Graves wrote +commending for the soldiers when landing at Galipoli, and notable +to obtain costly quinine, the Sweet Flag--_acorus calamas_--as their +sheet anchor against ague and allied maladies arising from _marsh +miasmata_. The infusion of the root should be given, or the +powdered root in doses of from ten to sixty grains. (_See_ RUSHES.) + + + +FLAX (LINSEED). + +The common Flax plant, from which we get our Linseed, is of great +antiquity, dating from the twenty-third century before Christ, and +having been cultivated in all countries down to the present time. But +it is exhausting to the soil in England, and therefore not favoured in +home growth for commercial uses. The seeds come to us chiefly +from the Baltic. Nevertheless, the plant (_Linum usitatissimum_) is +by no means uncommon in our cornfields, flowering in June, and +ripening its seed in September. Provincially it is called "Lint" and +"Lyne." A rustic proverb says "if put in the shoes it preserves [203] +from poverty"; wherever found it is probably an escape from +cultivation. + +The word "flax" is derived from _filare_, to spin, or, _filum_, a +thread; and the botanical title, _linum_, is got from the Celtic _lin_ +also signifying thread. The fibres of the bark are separated from the +woody matter by soaking it in water, and they then form tow, which +is afterwards spun into yarn, and woven into cloth. This water +becomes poisonous, so that Henry the Eighth prohibited the +washing of flax in any running stream. + +The seeds ate very rich in linseed oil, after expressing which, the +refuse is oil-cake, a well-known fattening food for cattle. The oil +exists chiefly in the outer skins of the seeds, and is easily extracted +by boiling water, as in the making a linseed poultice. These seeds +contain gum, acetic acid, acetate and muriate of potash, and other +salts, with twenty-two parts per cent. of the oil. They were taken as +food by the ancient Greeks and Romans, whilst Hippocrates knew +the demulcent properties of linseed. An infusion of the seeds has +long been given as Linseed tea for soothing a sore chest or throat in +severe catarrh, or pulmonary complaints; also the crushed seed is +used for making poultices. Linseed oil has laxative properties, and +forms, when mixed with lime water, or with spirit of turpentine, a +capital external application to recent burns or scalds. + +Tumours of a simple nature, and sprains, may be usefully rubbed +with Linseed oil; and another principal service to which the oil is +put is for mixing the paints of artists. To make Linseed tea, wash +two ounces of Linseed by putting them into a small strainer, and +pouring cold water through it; then pare off as thinly as possible the +yellow rind of half a lemon; to the Linseed and lemon rind add a +quart of cold water, [204] and allow them to simmer over the fire for +an hour-and-a-half; strain away the seeds, and to each half-pint of +the tea add a teaspoonful of sugar, or sugar candy, with some lemon +juice, in the proportion of the juice of one lemon to each pint of tea. + +The seeds afford but little actual nourishment, and are difficult of +digestion; they provoke troublesome flatulence, though sometimes +used fraudulently for adulterating pepper. Flax seed has been mixed +with corn for making bread, but it proved indigestible and hurtful to +the stomach. In the sixteenth century during a scarcity of wheat, the +inhabitants of Middleburgh had recourse to Linseed for making +cakes, but the death of many citizens was caused thereby, it bringing +about in those who partook of the cakes dreadful swellings on the +body and face. There is an Act of Parliament still in force which +forbids the steeping of Flax in rivers, or any waters which cattle are +accustomed to drink, as it is found to communicate a poison +destructive to cattle and to the fish inhabiting such waters. In +Dundee a hank of yarn is worn round the loins as a cure for +lumbago, and girls may be seen with a single thread of yarn round +the head as an infallible specific for tic douloureux. + +The Purging Flax (_Linum catharticum_), or Mill Mountain +(_Kamailinon_), or Ground Flax, is a variety of the Flax common +on our heaths and pastures, being called also Fairy Flax from its +delicacy, and Dwarf Flax. It contains a resinous, purgative principle, +and is known to country folk as a safe, active purge. They infuse the +herb in water, which they afterwards take medicinally. Also a +tincture is made (H.) from the entire fresh plant, which may be +given curatively for frequent, wattery, painless diarrhoea, two or +three [205] drops for a dose with water every hour or two until the +flux is stayed. + + + +FOXGLOVE. + +The purple Foxglove (_Digitalis purpurea_) which every one knows +and admires for its long graceful spikes of elegant bell-shaped +brilliant blossoms seen in our woods and hedges, is also called the +Thimble Flower, or the Finger Flower, from the resemblance of +these blossoms to a thimble or to the fingers of a glove. The word +digitalis refers likewise to the digits, or fingers of a gauntlet. In +France the title is _Gants de Notre Dame_, the gloves of our Lady +the Virgin. Some writers give Folks' Glove, or Fairies' Glove as the +proper English orthography, but this is wrong. Our name of the +plant comes really from the Anglo-Saxon, Foxesglew or Fox music, +in allusion to an ancient musical instrument composed of bells +which were hanging from an arched support, _a tintinnabulum_, +which this plant with its pendent bell-shaped flowers so exactly +represents. + +In Ireland the Foxglove is known as the Great Herb, and Lusmore, +also the Fairy Cap; and in Wales it is the Goblin's Gloves; whilst in +the North of Scotland it is the Dead men's Bells. We read in the +_Lady of the Lake_ there grew by Loch Katrine:-- + + "Night shade and Foxglove side by side, + Emblems of punishment and pride." + +In Devonshire the plant is termed Poppy, because when one of the +bell-shaped flowers is inflated by the breath whilst the top edges are +held firmly together; the wind bag thus formed, if struck smartly +against the other hand, goes off with a sounding pop. The peasantry +also call it "Flop a dock." Strangely enough, the Foxglove, so +handsome and striking in a landscape, is not [206] mentioned by +Shakespeare, or by either of the old English poets. The "long +purples" of Shakespeare refers to the _orchis mascula_. + +Chemically, the Foxglove contains a dangerous, active, medicinal +principle _digitalin_, which acts powerfully on the heart, and on the +kidneys, but this should never be given in any preparation of the +plant except under medical guidance, and then only with much +caution. Parkinson speaks highly of the bruised herb, or of its +expressed juice, for scrofulous swellings when applied outwardly in +the form of an ointment. An officinal tincture is made from the +plants collected in the spring, when two years old; also, in some +villages the infusion is employed as a homely remedy to cure a cold, +the herb being known as "Throttle Wort;" but this is not a safe thing +to do, for medical experience shows that the watery infusion of +Foxglove acts much more powerfully than the spirituous tincture, +which is eight times stronger, and from this fact it may fairly be +inferred that the presence of alcohol, as in the tincture, directly +opposes the specific action of the plant. This herb bears further in +some districts the names "Flop Top," "Cow Flop," and "Flabby +Dock." It was stated in the _Times Telescope_, 1822, "the women +of the poorer class in Derbyshire used to indulge in copious +draughts of Foxglove tea, as a cheap means of obtaining the +pleasures of intoxication. This was found to produce a great +exhilaration of the spirits, with other singular effects on the +system." So true is the maxim, _ubi virus, ibi virtus_. + +No animal will touch the plant, which is biennial, and will only +develop its active principle _digitalin_, when getting some sunshine, +but remains inert when grown altogether in the shade. Therefore its +source of production for medicinal purposes is very important. + + + +[207] FUMITORY. + +The common Fumitory (_Fumaria officinalis_) is a small grey-green +plant, bearing well known little flowers, rose coloured, and tipped +with purple, whilst standing erect in every cornfield, vineyard, or +such-like manured place throughout Great Britain. It is so named +from the Latin _fumus terroe_, earth smoke, which refers either to +the appearance of its pretty glaucous foliage on a dewy summer +morning, or to the belief that it was produced not from seed but +from vapours rising out of the earth. The plant continues to flower +throughout the year, and was formerly much favoured for making +cosmetic washes to purify the skin of rustic maidens in the spring +time:-- + + "Whose red and purpled mottled flowers + Are cropped by maids in weeding hours + To boil in water, milk, or whey, + For washes on a holiday; + To make their beauty fair and sleek, + And scare the tan from summer's cheek." + +In many parts of Kent the Fumitory bears the name of "Wax Dolls," +because its rose coloured flowers, with their little, dark, purple +heads, are by no means unlike the small waxen toys given as +nurslings to children. + +Dioscorides affirmed: "The juice of Fumitory, of that which +groweth among barley, with gum arabic, doth take away unprofitable +hairs that prick, being first plucked away, for it will not +suffer others to grow in their places." "It helpeth," says Gerard, "in +the summer time those that are troubled with scabs." + +Pliny said it is named because causing the eyes to water as smoke +does. In Shakespeare the name is written Fumiter. It continues to +flower throughout the year, and its presence is thought to indicate +good deep rich land. There is also a "ramping" Fumitory [208] +(_capreolata_) which climbs; being found likewise in fields and +waste places, but its infusion produces purgative effects. + +The whole plant has a saline, bitter, and somewhat acrid taste. It +contains "fumaric acid," and the alkaloid "fumarina," which are +specially useful for scrofulous diseases of the skin. A decoction of +the herb makes a curative lotion for the milk-crust which disfigures +the scalp of an infant, and for grown up persons troubled with +chronic eruptions on the face, or freckles. + +The fresh juice may be given as a medicine; or an infusion made +with an ounce of the plant to a pint of boiling water, one +wineglassful for a dose twice or three times in the day. + +By the ancients Fumitory was named _Capnos_, smoke: Pliny wrote +"_Claritatem facit inunctis oculis delachrymationemque, ceu fumus, +unde nomen_." They esteemed the herb specially useful for +dispelling dimness of the sight, and for curing other infirmities of +the eyes. + +The leaves, which have no particular odour, throw up crystals of +nitre on their surface when cool. The juice may be mixed with +whey, and taken as a common drink, or as a medicinal beverage for +curing obstinate skin eruptions, and for overcoming obstructions of +the liver and digestive organs. Dr. Cullen found it most useful in +leprous skin disease. The juice from the fresh herb may be given +two ounces in the day, but the virtues remain equally in the dried +plant. Its smoke was said by the ancient exorcists to have the power +of expelling evil spirits. The famous physician, John of Milan, +extolled Fumitory as a sovereign remedy against malarious fever. + +It is a remarkable fact, that the colour of the hair and the complexion +seem to determine the liability, or [209] otherwise, of a European to +West Coast fever in Africa. A man with harsh, bright-coloured red +hair, such as is common in Scotland, has a complete immunity, +though running the same risks as another mall, dark and with a dry +skin, who seems absolutely doomed. A red-haired European will, as +a rule, keep his health where even the natives are attacked. Old +negresses have secret methods of cure which can, undoubtedly, save +life even in cases which have become hopeless to European medical +science. + + + +GARLIC, LEEK, and ONION. + +Seeming at first sight out of place among the lilies of the field, yet +Garlic, the Leek, and the Onion are true members of that noble +order, and may be correctly classified together with the favoured +tribe, "Clothed more grandly than Solomon in all his glory." They +possess alike the same properties and characteristics, though in +varying degrees, and they severally belong to the genus _Allium_, +each containing "allyl," which is a radical rich in sulphur. + +The homely Onion may be taken first as the best illustration of the +family. This is named technically _Allium cepa_, from _cep_, a +head (of bunched florets which it bears). Lucilius called it _Flebile +coepe_, because the pungency of its odour will provoke a flow of +tears from the eyes. As Shakespeare says, in _Taming of the +Shrew_:-- + + "Mine eyes smell onions; + I shall weep anon." + +The Egyptians were devoted to Onions, which they ate more than +two thousand years before the time of Christ. They were given to +swear by the Onion and [210] Garlic in their gardens. Herodotus +tells us that during the building of the pyramids nine tons of gold +were spent in buying onions for the workmen. But it is to be noted +that in Egypt the Onion is sweet and soft; whereas, in other +countries it grows hard, and nauseous, and strong. + +By the Greeks this bulb was called Krommuon, "_apo tau Meuein +tas koras_," because of shutting the eyes when eating it. In Latin its +name _unio_, signified a single root without offsets. + +Raw Onions contain an acrid volatile oil, sulphur, phosphorus, +alkaline earthy salts, phosphoric and acetic acids, with phosphate +and citrate of lime, starch, free uncrystallized sugar, and lignine. +The fresh juice is colourless, but by exposure to the air becomes red. +A syrup made from the juice with honey is an excellent medicine +for old phlegmatic persons in cold weather, when their lungs are +stuffed, and the breathing is hindered. + +Raw Onions increase the flow of urine, and promote perspiration, +insomuch, that a diet of them, with bread, has many a time cured +dropsy coming on through a chill at first, or from exposure to cold. +They contain the volatile principle, "sulphide of allyl," which is +acrid and stimulating. If taken in small quantities, Onions quicken +the circulation, and assist digestion; but when eaten more prodigally +they disagree. + +In making curative Simples, the Onion (and Garlic) should not be +boiled, else the volatile essential oil, on which its virtues chiefly +depend, will escape during the process. + +The principal internal effects of the Onion, the Leek, and Garlic, are +stimulation and warmth, so that they are of more salutary use when +the subject is of a cold [211] temperament, and when the vital +powers are feeble, than when the body is feverish, and the +constitution ardently excitable. "They be naught," says Gerard, "for +those that be cholericke; but good for such as are replete with raw +and phlegmatick humors." _Vous tous qui etes gros, et gras, et +lymphatiques, avec l'estomac paresseux, mangez l'oignon cru; c'est +pour vous que le bon Dieu l'a fait_. + +Onions, when eaten at night by those who are not feverish, will +promote sleep, and induce perspiration. The late Frank Buckland +confirmed this statement. He said, "I am sure the essential oil of +Onions has soporific powers. In my own case it never fails. If I am +much pressed with work, and feel that I am not disposed to sleep, I +eat two or three small Onions, and the effect is magical." The Onion +has a very sensitive organism, and absorbs all morbid matter that +comes in its way. During our last epidemic of cholera it puzzled the +sanitary inspectors of a northern town why the tenants of one +cottage in an infected row were not touched by the plague. At last +some one noticed a net of onions hanging in the fortunate house, +and on examination all these proved to have become diseased. But +whilst welcoming this protective quality, the danger must be +remembered of eating an onion which shows signs of decay, for it +cannot be told what may have caused this distemper. + +When sliced, and applied externally, the raw Onion serves by its +pungent and essential oil to quicken the circulation, and to redden +the skin of the particular surface treated in this way; very usefully +so in the case of an unbroken chilblain, or to counteract neuralgic +pain; but in its crude state the bulb is not emollient or demulcent. If +employed as a poultice for ear-ache, or broken chilblains, the Onion +should be roasted, so as to [212] modify its acrid oil. When there is +a constant arid painful discharge of fetid matter from the ear, or +where an abscess is threatened, with pain, heat, and swelling, a hot +poultice of roasted Onions will be found very useful, and will +mitigate the pain. The juice of a sliced raw Onion is alkaline, and +will quickly relieve the acid venom of a sting from a wasp, or bee, if +applied immediately to the part. + +A tincture is made (H.) from large, red, strong Onions for medicinal +purposes. As a warming expectorant in chronic bronchitis, or +asthma, or for a cold which is not of a feverish character, from half +to one teaspoonful of this tincture may be given with benefit three +or four times in the day in a wineglassful of hot water, or hot milk. +Likewise, a jorum (_i.e._, an earthen bowl) of hot Onion broth taken +at bedtime, serves admirably to soothe the air passages, and to +promote perspiration; after the first feverish stage of catarrh or +influenza has passed by. To make this, peel a large Spanish Onion, +and divide it into four parts; then put them into a saucepan, with half +a saltspoonful of salt, and two ounces of butter, and a pint of cold +water; let them simmer gently until quite tender; next pour all into a +bowl which has been made hot, dredging a little pepper over; and let +the porridge be eaten as hot as it can be taken. + +The allyl and sulphur in the bulbs, together with their mucilaginous +parts, relieve the sore mucous membranes, and quicken perspiration, +whilst other medicinal virtues are exercised at the same time on the +animal economy. + +By eating a few raw parsley sprigs immediately afterwards, the +strong smell which onions communicates to the breath may be +removed and dispelled. Lord [213] Bacon averred "the rose will be +sweeter if planted in a bed of onions." So nutritious does the +Highlander find this vegetable, that, if having a few raw bulbs in his +pocket, with oat-cake, or a crust of bread, he can travel for two or +three days together without any other food. Dean Swift said:-- + + "This is every cook's opinion, + No savoury dish without an onion, + But lest your kissing should be spoiled, + Your onions must be fully boiled." + +Provings have been made by medical experts of the ordinary red +Onion in order to ascertain what its toxical effects are when pushed +to an excessive degree, and it has been found that Onions, Leeks, +or Garlic, when taken immoderately, induce melancholy and +depression, with severe catarrh. They dispose to sopor, lethargy, and +even insanity. The immediate symptoms are extreme watering of the +eyes after frequent sneezing, confusion of the head, and heavy +defluxion from the nose, with pains in the throat extending to the +ears; in a word, all the accompaniments of a bad cold, sneezings, +lacrymation, pains in the forehead, and a hoarse, hacking cough. +These being the effects of taking Onions in a harmful quantity, it is +easy to understand that when the like morbid symptoms have arisen +spontaneously from other causes, as from a sharp catarrh of the head +and chest, then modified forms of the Onion are calculated to +counteract them on the law of similars, so that a cure is promptly +produced. On which principle the Onion porridge is a scientific +remedy, as food, and as Physic, during the first progress of a +catarrhal attack, and _pari passu_ the medicinal tincture of the red +Onion may be likewise curatively given. + +[214] Spanish Onions, which are imported into this country in the +winter, are sweet and mucilaginous. A peasant in Spain will munch +an onion just as an English labourer eats an apple. + +At the present day Egyptians take onions, roasted, and each cut into +four pieces, with small bits of baked meat, and slices of an acid +apple, which the Turks call kebobs. With this sweet and savoury dish +they are so delighted, that they trust to enjoy it in paradise. The +Israelites were willing to return to slavery and brick-making for +their love of the Onion; and we read that Hecamedes presented +some of the bulbs to Patrochus, in _Homer_, as a regala. These are +supplied liberally to the antelopes and giraffes in our Zoological +Gardens, which animals dote on the Onion. + +A clever paraprase of the word Onion may be read in the lines:-- + + "Charge! Stanley, charge! On! Stanley, on! + Were the last words of Marmion. + If _I_ had been in Stanley's place + When Marmion urged him to the chase, + In me you quickly would descry + What draws a tear from many an eye." + +For chilblains apply onions with salt pounded together, and for +inflamed or protruding piles, raw Onion pulp, made by bruising the +bulb, if kept bound to the parts by a compress, and renewed as +needed, will afford certain relief. + +The Garlic (_Allium sativum_), Skorodon of the Greeks, which was +first cultivated in English gardens in 1540, takes its name, from +_gar_, a spear; and _leac_, a plant, either because of its sharp +tapering leaves, or perhaps as "the war plant," by reason of its +nutritive and stimulating qualities for those who do battle. It is +known also [215] to many as "Poor-man's Treacle," or "Churls +Treacle," from being regarded by rustics as a treacle, or antidote to +the bite of any venomous reptile. + +The bulb, consisting of several combined cloves, is stimulating, +antispasmodic, expectorant, and diuretic. Its active properties +depend on an essential oil which may be readily obtained by +distillation. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) with spirit of wine, of +which from ten to twenty drops may be taken in water several times +a day. Garlic proves useful in asthma, whooping-cough, and other +spasmodic affections of the chest. For all adult, one or more cloves +may be eaten at a time. The odour of the bulb is very diffusible, +even when it is applied to the soles of the feet its odour is exhaled +by the lungs. + +When bruised and mixed with lard, it makes a most useful opbdeldoc +to be rubbed in for irritable spines of indolent scrofulous +tumours or gout, until the skin surface becomes red and glowing. If +employed thus over the chest (back and front) of a child with +whooping-cough, it proves eminently helpful. + +Raw Garlic, when applied to the skin, reddens it, and the odour +sniffed into the nostrils will revive an hysterical sufferer. It formed +the principal ingredient in the "Four thieves' vinegar," which was +adopted so successfully at Marseilles for protection against the +plague, when prevailing there. This originated with four thieves, +who confessed that, whilst protected by the liberal use of aromatic +vinegar during the plague, they plundered the dead bodies of its +victims with complete security. Or, according to another +explanation of the name, an old tract, printed in 1749, testifies that +one, Richard Forthave, who lived in Bishopsgate Street, invented +and sold a vinegar which had such a run that [216] he soon grew +famous, and that his surname became thus corrupted in the course of +time. + +But long before the plague at Marseilles (1722) vinegar was +employed as a disinfectant. With Cardinal Wolsey it was a constant +custom to carry in his hand an orange emptied of its pulp, and +containing a sponge soaked in vinegar made aromatic with spices, +so as to protect himself from infection when passing through the +crowds which his splendour and his office attracted. + +It is related that during a former outbreak of infectious fever in +Somer's Town and St. Giles's, the French priests, who constantly used +Garlic in all their dishes, visited the worst cases in the dirtiest +hovels with impunity, while the English clergy, who were similarly +engaged, but who did not eat onions in like fashion, caught the +infection in many instances, and fell victims to the disease. + +For toothache and earache, a clove of Garlic stripped of its skin, and +cut in the form of a suppository, if thrust in the ear of the aching +side, will soon assuage the pain. If introduced into the lower bowel, +it will help to destroy thread worms, and when swallowed it +abolishes round worms. + +As a condiment, Garlic undoubtedly aids digestion by stimulating +the circulation, with a consequent increase of saliva and gastric +juice. The juice from the bulbs can be employed for cementing +broken glass or china, by means of its mucilage. + +Dr. Bowles, a noted English physician of former times, made use of +Garlic with much success as a secret remedy for asthma. He +concocted a preserve from the boiled cloves with vinegar and sugar, +to be kept in an earthen jar. The dose was a bulb or two with some +of the syrup, each morning when fasting. [217] The pain of +rheumatic parts may be much relieved by simply rubbing them with +cut Garlic. + +Garlic emits the most acrimonious smell of all the onion tribe. +When leprosy prevailed in this country, Garlic was a prime specific +for its relief, and as the victims had to "pil," or peel their own +garlic, they were nicknamed "Pil Garlics," and hence it came about that +anyone shunned like a leper had this epithet applied to him. Stow +says, concerning a man growing old: "He will soon be a peeled +garlic like myself." + +The strong penetrating odour and taste of this plant, though +offensive to most English palates, are much relished by Russians, +Poles, and Spaniards, and especially by the Jews. But the Greeks +detested Garlic. It is true the Attic husbandmen ate it from remote +times, probably in part to drive away by its odour venomous +creatures from assailing them; but persons who partook of it were +not allowed to enter the temples of Cybele, says Athenaeus; and so +hated was garlic, that to have to eat it was a punishment for those +that had committed the most horrid crimes; Horace, among the +Romans, was made ill by eating garlic at the table of Maecenas; and +afterwards (in his third _Epode_) he reviled the plant as, _Cicutis +allium nocentius_, "Garlic more poisonous than hemlock." Sir +Theodore Martin has thus spiritedly translated the passage:-- + + "If his old father's throat any impious sinner, + Has cut with unnatural hand to the bone: + Give him garlick--more noxious than hemlock--at dinner; + Ye gods! what strong stomachs the reapers must own!" + +The singular property is attributed to Garlic, that if a morsel of the +bulb is chewed by a man running a race, it will prevent his +competitors from getting ahead of him. Hungarian jockeys sometimes +fasten a clove of [218] garlic to the bits of their racers; and +it is said that the horses which run against those thus baited, fall +back the moment they smell the offensive odour. If a leg of mutton, +before being roasted, has a small clove of Garlic inserted into the +knuckle, and the joint is afterwards served with haricot beans +(soaked for twenty-four hours before being boiled), it is rendered +doubly delicious. In Greece snails dressed with Garlic are now a +favourite dish. + +A well known _chef_ is said to have chewed a small clove of Garlic +when he wished to impart its delicate flavour to a choice _plat_, +over which he then breathed lightly. Dumas relates that the whole +atmosphere of Provence is impregnated with the perfume of Garlic, +and is exceedingly wholesome to inhale. + +As an instance of lunar influences (which undoubtedly affect our +bodily welfare), it is remarkable that if Garlic is planted when the +moon is in the full, the bulb will be round like an onion, instead of +being composed, as it usually is, of several distinct cloves. + +Homer says it was to the virtues of the Yellow Garlic (Moly?) +Ulysses owed his escape from being changed by Circe into a pig, +like each of his companions. + +The Crow Garlic, _vineale_, and the purple striped, _oleraceum_, +grow wild in this country. When the former of these is eaten by +birds it so stupefies them that they may be taken with the hand. + +Concerning the cure of nervous headache by Garlic (and its kindred +medicinal herb _Asafoetida_), an old charm reads thus:-- + + "Give onyons to Saynt Cutlake, + And Garlycke to Saynt Cyryake; + If ye will shun the headake, + Ye shall have them at Queenhyth." + +The Asafoetida (_Ferula Asafoetida_) grows in Western Thibet, and +exudes a gum which is used medicinally, coming as a milky juice +from the incised root and soon coagulating; it is then exported, +having a very powerful odour of garlic which may be perceived a +long distance away. Phosphorus and sulphur are among its +constituent elements, and, because of the latter, says Dr. Garrod +after much observation, he regards Asafoetida as one of the most +valuable remedies known to the physician. From three to five grains +of the gum in a pill, or half-a-teaspoonful of the tincture, with a +small wineglassful of warm milk, may be given for a dose. + +Some of the older writers esteemed it highly as an aromatic +flavouring spice, and termed it _cibus deorum_, food of the gods. +John Evelyn says (in his _Acetaria_) "the ancient Silphium thought +by many to be none other than the fetid asa, was so highly prized for +its taste and virtues, that it was dedicated to Apollo at Delphi, and +stamped upon African coins as a sacred plant." + +Aristophanes extolled its juice as a restorer of masculine vigour, and +the Indians at this day sauce their viands with it. Nor are some of +our skilful cooks ignorant how to condite it, with the applause of +those who are unaware of the secret. The Silphium, or _laserpitium_ +of the Romans, yielded what was a famous restorative, the +"Cyrenaic juice." Pareira tells us he was assured by a noted gourmet +that the finest relish which a beef steak can possess, may be +communicated to it by rubbing the gridiron on which the steak is to +be cooked, with Asafoetida. + +The gum when given in moderate doses, acts on all parts of the +body as a wholesome stimulant, leading among other good results, +to improvement of the vision, [220] and enlivening the spirits. But +its use is apt to produce eructations smacking of garlic, which may +persist for several hours; and, if it be given in over doses, the +effects are headache and giddiness. When suitably administered, it +quickens the appetite and improves the digestion, chiefly with those +of a cold temperament, and languid habit. Smollet says the Romans +stuffed their fowls for the table with Asafoetida. In Germany, +Sweden, and Italy, it is known as "Devil's Dung." + +The Leek (_Allium porrium_) bears an Anglo-Saxon name corrupted +from Porleac, and it is also called the Porret, having been +the Prason of the Greeks. It was first made use of in England during +1562. This was a food of the poor in ancient Egypt, as is shown by +an inscription on one of the Pyramids, whence was derived the +phrase, "to eat the Leek"; and its loss was bewailed by the Israelites +in their journey through the Desert. It was said by the Romans to be +prolific of virtue, because Latona, the mother of Apollo, longed +after leeks. The Welsh, who take them much, are observed to be +very fruitful. They dedicate these plants to St. David, on whose day, +March 1st, in 640, the Britons (who were known to each other by +displaying in their caps, at the inspiration of St. David, some leeks, +"the fairest emblym that is worne," plucked in a garden near the +field of action) gained a complete victory over the Saxons. + +The bulb contains some sulphur, and is, in its raw state, a +stimulating expectorant. Its juice acts energetically on the kidneys, +and dissolves the calculous formations of earthy phosphates which +frequently form in the bladder. + +For chilblains, chapped hands, and sore eyes, the juice of a leek +squeezed out, and mixed with cream, [221] has been found curative. +Old Tusser tells us, in his _Husbandry for March_:-- + + "Now leeks are in season, for pottage full good, + That spareth the milch cow, and purgeth the blood," + +and a trite proverb of former times bids us:-- + + "Eat leeks in Lide [March] and ramsons in May, + Then all the year after physicians can play." + +Ramsons, or the Wild Garlic (_Allium ursinum_), is broad leaved, +and grows abundantly on our moist meadow banks, with a strong smell +of onions when crushed or bruised. It is perennial, having egg-shaped +or lance-like leaves, whilst bearing large, pearly-white +blossoms with acute petals. The name is the plural of "Ramse," or +"Ram," which signifies strong-smelling, or rank. And the plant is +also called "Buck Rams," or "Buck Rampe," in allusion to its spadix +or spathe. "The leaves of Ramsons," says Gerard, "are stamped and +eaten with fish, even as we do eat greene sauce made with sorrell." +This is "Bear's Garlic," and the Star Flower of florists. + +Leeks were so highly esteemed by the Emperor Nero, that his +subjects gave him the sobriquet of "Porrophagus." He took them +with oil for several days in each month to clear his voice, eating +no bread on those days. _Un remede d'Empereur (Neron) pour se +debarrasser d'un rhume,--et de commere pour attendre le meme but-- +fut envelopper un oignon dans une feuille de chou et le faire cuire +sous la cendre; puis l'ecrasser, le reduire en pulpe, le mettre dans +une tasse de lait, ou une decoction chaude de redisse; se coucher; et +se tenir chaudement, au besoin recidiver matin et soir_. + +The Scotch leek is more hardy and pungent than that [222] grown in +England. It was formerly a favourite ingredient in the Cock-a-Leekie +soup of Caledonia, which is so graphically described by Sir +Walter Scott, in the _Fortunes of Nigel_. + +A "Herby" pie, peculiar to Cornwall, is made of leeks and pilchards, +or of nettles, pepper cress, parsley, mustard, and spinach, with thin +slices of pork. At the bottom of the Squab pie mentioned before was +a Squab, or young Cormorant, "which diffused," says Charles +Kingsley, "through the pie, and through the ambient air, a delicate +odour of mingled guano and polecat." That "lovers live by love, as +larks by leeks," is an old saying; and in the classic story of Pyramus +and Thisbe, reference is made to the beautiful emerald green which +the leaves of the leek exhibit. "His eyes were as green as leeks." +Among the Welsh farmers, it is a neighbourly custom to attend on a +certain day and plough the land of a poor proprietor whose means +are limited--each bringing with him one or more leeks for making the +soup or broth. + +The _Schalot_, or _Eschalotte_, is another variety of the onion tribe, +which was introduced into England by the Crusaders, who found it +growing at Ascalon. And Chives (_Allium schoenoprasum_) are an +ever green perennial herb of the onion tribe, having only a mild, +alliaceous flavour. Epicures consider the Schalot to be the best +seasoning for beef steaks, either by taking the actual bulb, or by +rubbing the plates therewith. + +Again, as a most common plant in all our hedgerows, is found the +Poor Man's Garlic, or Sauce-alone (_Erisymum alliaria_), from +_eruo_, to cure, a somewhat coarse and most ordinary member of +the onion tribe, which goes also by the names of "Jack by the +hedge" and "Garlick-wort," and belongs to the cruciferous order +[223] of plants. When bruised, it gives out a strong smell of garlic, +and when eaten by cows it makes their milk taste powerfully of +onions. The Ancients, says John Evelyn, used "Jack by the hedge" +as a succedaneum to their Scordium, or cultivated Garlic. + +This herb grows luxuriantly, bearing green, shining, heart-shaped +leaves, and headpieces of small, white-flowering bunches. It was +named "Saucealone," from being eaten in the Springtime with meat, +whilst having so strong a flavour of onions, that it served alone of +itself for sauce. Perhaps (says Dr. Prior) the title "Jack by the +hedge" is derived from "jack," or "jakes," an old English word +denoting a privy, or house of office, and this in allusion to +the fetid smell of the plant, and the usual place of its growth. + +When gathered and eaten with boiled mutton, after having been first +separately boiled, it makes an excellent vegetable, if picked as it +approaches the flowering state. Formerly this herb was highly +valued as an antiscorbutic, and was thought a most desirable pot +herb. + +(The _Erysimum officinale_ (Hedge Mustard) and the _Vervain_ +(Verbena) make Count Mattaei's empirical nostrum _Febrifugo_: but +this _Erysimum_ is not the same plant as the Jack by the hedge.) + + + +GOOSEBERRY. + +The Gooseberry (_Ribes grossularia_) gets its name from _kruesbar_, +which signifies a cross, in allusion to the triple spine of the fruit +or berry, which is commonly cruciform. This is a relic of its first +floral days, preserved like the apron of the blacksmith at Persia, +when he came to the throne. The term _grossularia_ implies a +resemblance of the fruit to _grossuli_, small unripe figs. + +[224] Frequently the shrub, which belongs to the same natural order +as the Currant (_Ribes_), grows wild in the hedges and thickets of +our Eastern counties, bearing then only a small, poor berry, and not +supposed to be of native origin. + +In East Anglia it is named Fabe, Feap, Thape, or Theab berry, +probably by reason of a mistake which arose through an incorrect +picture. The Melon, in a well-known book of Tabernaemontanus, +was figured to look like a large gooseberry, and was headed, +_Pfebe_. And this name was supposed by some wiseacre to be that +of the gooseberry, and thus became attached to the said fruit. +Loudon thinks it signifies Feverberry, because of the cooling +properties possessed by the gooseberry, which is scarcely probable. + +In Norfolk, the green, unripe fruit is called Thape, and the +schoolboys in that county well know Thape pie, made from green +Gooseberries. The French call the fruit _Groseille_, and the Scotch, +Grosert. It contains, chemically, citric acid, pectose, gum, sugar, +cellulose, albumen, mineral matter, and water. The quantity of +flesh-forming constituents is insignificant. Its pectose, under +heat, makes a capital jelly. + +In this country, the Gooseberry was first cultivated at the time of the +Reformation, and it grows better in Great Britain than elsewhere, +because of the moist climate. The original fruit occurred of the hairy +sort, like Esau, as the _Uva crispa_ of Fuschius, in Henry the +Eighth's reign; and there are now red, white, and yellow cultivated +varieties of the berry. + +When green and unripe, Gooseberries are employed in a sauce, +together with bechamel, and aromatic spices, this being taken with +mackerel and other rich fish, as an acid corrective condiment. Also, +from the juice of the [225] green fruit, "which cureth all +inflammations," may be concocted an excellent vinegar. + +Gooseberry-fool, which comes to our tables so acceptably in early +summer, consists of the unripe fruit _foule_ (that is, crushed or +beaten up) with cream and milk. Similarly the French have a _foule +des pommes_, and a_ foule des raisins_. To "play old Gooseberry" +with another man's property is conjectured to mean smashing it up, +and reducing it, as it were, to Gooseberry-fool. + +The young and tender leaves of the shrub, if eaten raw in a salad; +drive forth the gravel. And from the red Gooseberry may be +prepared an excellent light jelly, which is beneficial for sedentary, +plethoric, and bilious subjects. This variety of the fruit, whether +hairy or smooth, is grown largely in Scotland, but in France it is +little cared for. + +The yellow Gooseberry is richer and more vinous of taste, suiting +admirably, when of the smooth sort, for making Gooseberry wine; +which is choice, sparkling, and wholesome, such as that wherewith +Goldsmith's popular _Vicar of Wakefield_ used to regale Farmer +Flamborough and the blind piper, having "lost neither the recipe nor +the reputation." They were soothed in return by the touching ballads +of _Johnny Armstrong's Last Good Night_, and _Cruel Barbara +Allen_. + +Gooseberry Shows are held annually in Lancashire, and excite keen +competition; but after exhibition, the successful berries are "topped +and tailed," so as to disqualify them from being shown elsewhere. +Southey, in _The Doctor_, speaks about an obituary notice in a +former Manchester newspaper, of a man who "bore a severe illness +with Christian fortitude, and was much esteemed among Gooseberry +growers." Prizes are given for the [226] biggest and heaviest berries, +which are produced with immense pains as to manuring, and the +growth of cool chickweed around the roots of the bushes. At the +same time each promising berry is kept submerged in a shallow +vessel of water placed beneath it so as to compel absorption of +moisture, and thus to enlarge its size. Whimsical names, such as +"Golden Lion," "The Jolly Angler," and "Crown Bob," etc., are +bestowed on the prize fruit. Cuttings from the parent plant of a prize +Gooseberry become in great request; and thus the pedigree scions of +a single bush have been known to yield as much as thirty-two +pounds sterling to their possessor. The _Gooseberry Book_ is a +regular Manchester annual. + +A berry weighing as heavy as thirty-seven penny-weight has been +exhibited; and a story is told of a Middleton weaver, who, when a +thunder-storm was gathering, lay awake as if for his life, and at the +first patter of rain against the window panes, rushed to the rescue of +his Gooseberry bushes with his bed quilt. Green Gooseberries will +help to abate the strange longings which sometimes beset pregnant +women. + +In Devon the rustics call Gooseberries "Deberries," and in Sussex +they are familiarly known to village lads as Goosegogs. + +An Irish cure for warts is to prick them with a Gooseberry thorn +passed through a wedding ring. + +By some subtle bodily action wrought through a suggestion made to +the mind, warts undoubtedly disappear as the result of this and +many another equally trivial proceeding; which being so, why not +the more serious skin affections, and larger morbid growths? + +The poet Southey wrote a _Pindaric Ode upon a Gooseberry_ [227] +Pie, beginning "Gooseberry Pie is best," with the refrain:-- + + "And didst thou scratch thy tender arms, + Oh, Jane I that I should dine"? + + + +GOOSEFOOT. + +Among Curative Simples, the Goosefoot, or Chenopod order of +British plants, contributes two useful herbs, the _Chenopodium +bonus Henricus_ (Good King Henry), and the _Chenopodium +vulvaria_ (Stinking Goosefoot). + +This tribe derives its distinctive title from the Greek words, +_cheen_, a goose, and _pous_, a foot, in allusion to the resemblance +borne by its leaves to the webbed members of that waddling bird +which raw recruits are wont to bless for their irksome drill of the +goose-step. Incidentally, it may be said that goosegrease, got from +the roasted bird, is highly emollient, and very useful in clysters; +it also proves easily emetic. + +The Goosefoot herbs are common weeds in most temperate climates, +and grow chiefly in salt marshes, or on the sea-shore. Other plants +of this tribe are esculent vegetables, as the Spinach, Beet, +and Orach. They all afford "soda" in abundance. + +The _Good King Henry_ (Goosefoot) grows abundantly in waste +places near villages, being a dark green, succulent plant, about a +foot high, with thickish arrow-shaped leaves, which are cooked as +spinach, especially in Lincolnshire. It is sometimes called Blite, +from the Greek _bliton_, insipid; and, as Evelyn says, in his +_Acetaria_, "it is well named, being insipid enough." + +Why the said Goosefoot has been named "Good King Henry," or, +"Good King Harry," is a disputed point. A French writer declares +"this humble plant which grows on our plains without culture will +confer a more lasting [228] duration on the memory of _Henri +Quatre_ than the statue of bronze placed on the Pont Neuf, though +fenced with iron, and guarded by soldiers." Dodoeus says the +appellation was given to distinguish the plant from another, a +poisonous one, called _Malus Henricus_, "Bad Henry." Other +authors have referred it to our Harry the Eighth, and his sore legs, +for which the leaves were applied as a remedy; but this idea does +not seem of probable correctness. Frowde tells us "the constant +irritation of his festering legs made his terrible temper still more +dreadful. Warned of his approaching dissolution; and consumed +with the death-thirst, he called for a cup of white wine, and, turning +to one of his attendants; cried, 'All is lost!'--and these were his +last words." The substantive title, _Henricus_, is more likely derived +from "heinrich," an elf or goblin, as indicating certain magical +virtues in the herb. + +It is further known as English Marquery, or Mercury, and _Tota bona_; +or, Allgood, the latter from a conceit of the rustics that it will +cure all hurts; "wherefore the leaves are now a constant plaster +among them for every green wound." It bears small flowers of +sepals only, and is grown by cottagers as a pot herb. The young +shoots peeled and boiled may be eaten as asparagus, and are gently +laxative. The leaves are often made into broth, being applied also +externally by country folk to heal old ulcers; and the roots are given +to sheep having a cough. + +Both here and in Germany this Goosefoot is used for feeding +poultry, and it has hence acquired the sobriquet of Fat-hen. + +The term, English Mercury, has been given because of its excellent +remedial qualities against indigestion, and bears out the proverb: +"Be thou sick or whole, put [229] Mercury in thy koole." Poultices +made from the herb are applied to cleanse and heal chronic sores, +which, as Gerard teaches, "they do scour and mundify." Certain +writers associate it with our _good_ King Henry the Sixth. There is +made in America, from an allied plant, the oak-leaved Goosefoot +(_Chenopodium glaucum_), or from the aphis which infests it, a +medicinal tincture used for expelling round worms. + +The Stinking Goosefoot, called therefore, _Vulvaria_, and _Garosmus_, +grows often on roadsides in England, and is known as Dog's +Orach. It is of a dull, glaucous, or greyish-green aspect, and +invested with a greasy mealiness which when touched exhales a +very odious and enduring smell like that of stale salt fish, this being +particularly attractive to dogs, though swine refuse the plant. It has +been found very useful in hysteria, the leaves being made into a +conserve with sugar; or Dr. Fuller's famous _Electuarium +hystericum_ may be compounded by adding forty-eight drops of oil +of amber (_Oleum succini_) to four ounces of the conserve. Then a +piece of the size of a chestnut should be taken when needed, and +repeated more or less often as required. It further promotes the +monthly flow of women. But the herb is possessed _odoris virosi +intolerabilis_, of a stink which remains long on the hands after +touching it. The whole plant is sprinkled over with the white, +pellucid meal, and contains much "trimethylamine," together with +osmazome, and nitrate of potash; also it gives off free ammonia. +The title, Orach, given to the Stinking Goosefoot, a simple of a +"most ancient, fish-like smell," and to others of the same tribe, is a +corruption of _aurum_, gold, because their seeds were supposed to +cure the ailment known popularly as the "yellow jaundice." These +plants afford no nutriment, [230] and, therefore, each bears the +name, _atriplex_, not, _trephein_, to nourish:-- + + "Atriplicem tritum cum nitro, melle, et aceto + Dicunt appositum calidum sedare podagram + _Ictericis_ dicitque Galenus tollere morbum + Illius semen cum vino saepius haustum." + + "With vinegar, honey, and salt, the Orach + Made hot, and applied, cures a gouty attack; + Whilst its seeds for the jaundice, if mingled with wine, + --As Galen has said--are a remedy fine." + +"Orach is cooling," writes Evelyn, "and allays the pituit humors." +"Being set over the fire, neither this nor the lettuce needs any other +water than their own moisture to boil them in." The Orach hails +from Tartary, and is much esteemed in France. It was introduced +about 1548. + + + +GOOSEGRASS. + +"Goosey, goosey, gander, whither do ye wander?" says an old +nursery rhyme by way of warning to the silly waddling birds not to +venture into hedgerows, else will they become helplessly fettered by +the tough, straggling coils of the Clivers, Goosegrass, or, +Hedgeheriff, growing so freely there, and a sad despoiler of +feathers. + +The medicinal Goosegrass (_Galium aparine_), which is a highly +useful curative Simple, springs up luxuriantly about fields and waste +places in most English districts. It belongs to the Rubiaceous order +of plants, all of which have a root like madder, affording a red dye. +This hardy Goosegrass climbs courageously by its slender, hairy +stems through the dense vegetation of our hedges into open +daylight, having sharp, serrated leaves, and producing small white +flowers, "pearking on the tops of the sprigs." It is one of the +Bedstraw tribe, and bears [231] a number of popular titles, such as +Cleavers, Clithers, Robin run in the grass, Burweed, Loveman, +Gooseherriff, Mutton chops, Clite, Clide, Clitheren, and Goosebill, +from the sharp, serrated leaves, like the rough-edged mandibles of a +goose. + +Its stalks and leaves are covered with little hooked bristles, which +attach themselves to passing objects, and by which it fastens itself in +a ladder-like manner to adjacent shrubs, so as to push its way +upwards in the hedgerows. + +Goosegrass has obtained the sobriquet of Beggar's lice, from +clinging closely to the garments of passers by, as well as because +the small burs resemble these disgusting vermin; again it is known +to some as Harriff, or, Erriff, from the Anglo-Saxon "hedge rife," a +taxgather, or robber, because it plucks the wool from the sheep as +they pass through a hedge; also Grip-grass, Catchweed, and +Scratchweed. Furthermore, this Bedstraw has been called Goose-grease, +from a mistaken belief that obstructive ailments of geese can +be cured therewith. It is really a fact that goslings are extremely +fond of the herb. + +The botanical name, _Aparine_, bears the same meaning, being +derived from the Greek verb, _apairo_, to lay hold of. The generic +term, _Galium_, comes from the Greek word _gala_, milk, which +the herb was formerly employed to curdle, instead of rennet. + +The flowers of this Bedstraw bloom towards August, about the time +of the Feast of the Annunciation, and a legend says they first burst +into blossom at the birth of our Saviour. Bedstraw is, according to +some, a corruption of Beadstraw. It is certain that Irish peasant girls +often repeat their "aves" from the round seeds of the Bedstraw, +using them for beads in the absence of a rosary; [232] and hence, +perhaps, has been derived the name Our Lady's Be(a)dstraw. But +straw (so called from the Latin _sterno_, to strew, or, scatter about) +was formerly employed as bedding, even by ladies of rank: whence +came the expression of a woman recently confined being "in the +straw." Children style the _Galium Aparine_ Whip tongue, and +Tongue-bleed, making use of it in play to draw blood from their +tongues. + +This herb has a special curative reputation with reference to +cancerous growths and allied tumours. For open cancers an +ointment is made from the leaves and stems wherewith to dress the +ulcerated parts, and at the same time the expressed juice of the plant +is given internally. Dr. Tuthill Massy avers that it often produces a +cure in from six to twelve months, and advises that the decoction +shall be drank regularly afterwards in the Springtime. + +Dr. Quinlan, at St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, successfully +employed poultices made with the fresh juice, and applied three +times in the day, to heal chronic ulcers on the legs. Its effects, he +says, in the most unlikely cases, were decisive and plain to all. He +gave directions that whilst a bundle of ten or twelve stalks is +grasped with the left hand, this bundle should be cut into pieces of +about half-an-inch long, by a pair of scissors held in the right hand. +The segments are then to be bruised thoroughly in a mortar, and +applied in the mass as a poultice beneath a bandage. + +Dr. Thornton, in his excellent _Herbal_ (1810), says: "After some +eminent surgeons had failed, he ordered the juice of Cleavers, mixed +with linseed, to be applied to the breast, in cases of supposed cancer +of that part, with a teaspoonful of the juice to be taken every night +and morning whilst fasting; by which plan, after a short [233] time, +he dispersed very frightful tumours in the breast." + +The herb is found, on analysis, to contain three distinct acids--the +tannic acid (of galls), the citric acid (of lemons), and the special +rubichloric acid of the plant. + +"In cancer," says Dr. Boyce, "five fluid ounces of the fresh juice of +the plant are to be taken twice a day, whilst constantly applying the +bruised leaves, or their ointment, to the sore." + +Some of our leading druggists now furnish curative preparations +made from the fresh herb. These include the _succus_, or juice, to +be swallowed; the decoction, to be applied as a lotion; and the +ointment, for curative external use. Both in England and elsewhere +the juice of this Goosegrass constitutes one of the Spring juices +taken by country people for scorbutic complaints. And not only for +cancerous disease, but for many other foul, illconditioned ulcers, +whether scrofulous or of the scurvy nature, this Goosegrass has +proved itself of the utmost service, its external application being at +all times greatly assisted by the internal use of the juice, or of a +decoction made from the whole herb. + +By reason of its acid nature; this Galium is astringent, and therefore +of service in some bleedings, as well as in diarrhoea, and for +obesity. + +Gerard writes: "The herb, stamped with swine's grease, wasteth +away the kernels by the throat; and women do usually make pottage +of Cleavers with a little mutton and oatmeal, to cause leanness, and +to keep them from fatness." Dioscorides reported that: "Shepherds +do use the herb to take hairs out of the milk, if any remain therein." + +Considered generally, the _Galium aparine_ exercises acid, astringent, +and diuretic effects, whilst it is of [234] special value +against epilepsy, and cancerous sores, as already declared; +being curative likewise of psoriasis, eczema, lepra, and other +cutaneous diseases. The dose of the authorised officinal juice +is from one to two teaspoonfuls, and from five to twenty grains of +the prepared extract. + +The title _Galium_ borne by Bedstraws has been derived from the +Greek _gala_, milk, because they all possess to some extent the +power of curdling milk when added to it. Similarly the appellation +"Cheese rennet," or, Cheese running (from _gerinnen_, to +coagulate), is given to these plants. Highlanders make special use of +the common Yellow Bedstraw for this purpose, and to colour their +cheese. + +From the Yellow Bedstraw (_Galium verum_), which is abundant +on dry banks chiefly near the sea, and which may be known by its +diminutive, puffy stems, and its small golden flowers, closely +clustered together in dense panicles, "an ointment," says Gerard, "is +prepared, which is good for anointing the weary traveller." + +Because of its bright yellow blossoms, this herb is also named +"Maid's hair," resembling the loose, unsnooded, golden hair of +maidens. In Henry VIII's reign "maydens did wear silken callis to +keep in order their hayre made yellow with dye." For a like reason +the Yellow Bedstraw has become known as "Petty mugget," from +the French _petit muguet_, a little dandy, as applied in ridicule to +effeminate young men, the _Jemmy Jessamies_, or "mashers" of the +period. Old herbalists affirmed that the root of this same Bedstraw, +if drunk in wine, stimulates amorous desires, and that the flowers, if +long smelt at, will produce a similar effect. + +This is, _par excellence_, the Bedstraw of _our Lady_, who [235] +gave birth to her son, says the legend, in a stable, with nothing but +wild flowers for the bedding. + +Thus, in the old Latin hymn, she sings right sweetly:-- + + "Lectum stravi tibi soli: dormi, nate bellule! + Stravi lectum foeno molli: dormi, mi animule! + Ne quid desit sternam rosis: sternam foenum violis, + Pavimentum hyacinthis; et praesepe liliis." + + "Sleep, sweet little babe, on the bed I have spread thee; + Sleep, fond little life, on the straw scattered o'er! + 'Mid the petals of roses, and pansies I've laid thee, + In crib of white lilies; blue bells on the floor." + + + +GOUTWEED. + +A passing word should certainly be given to the Goutweed, or, +Goatweed, among Herbal Simples. It is, though but little regarded, +nevertheless, a common and troublesome garden weed, of the +Umbelliferous tribe, and thought to possess certain curative virtues. +Botanically it is the _OEgopodium podagraria_, signifying, by the +first of these names, Goatsfoot, and by the second, a specific power +against gout. The plant is also known as Herb Gerard, because +dedicated to St. Gerard, who was formerly invoked to cure gout, +against which this herb was employed. Also it has been named Ashweed, +wild Master-wort, and Gout-wort. The herb grows about a foot high, +with white flowers in umbels, having large, thrice-ternate, +aromatic leaves, and a creeping root. These leaves are sometimes +boiled, and eaten, but they possess a strong, disagreeable +flavour. Culpeper says: "It is not to be supposed that Goutweed hath +its name for nothing; but upon experiment to heal the gout, and +sciatica; as also joint aches, and other cold griefs; _the very bearing +it about one_ [236] _easeth the pains of the gout, and defends him +that bears it from disease_." Hill recommends the root and fresh +buds of the leaves as excellent in fomentations and poultices for +pains; and the leaves, when boiled soft, together with the roots, for +application about the hip in sciatica. + +No chemical analysis of the Goutweed is yet on record. + +"Herbe Gerard groweth of itself in gardens without setting, or +sowing; and is so fruitful in his increase that where once it hath +taken root, it will hardly be gotten out again, spoiling and getting +every yeere more ground--to the annoying of better herbes." + + + +GRAPES (see also VINE). + +Grapes, the luscious and refreshing fruit of the Vine, possess certain +medicinal properties and virtues which give them a proper place +among Herbal Simples. The name Vine comes from _viere_, to +twist, being applied with reference to the twining habits of the +parent stock; as likewise to "with," and "withy." + +The fruit consists of pulp, stones, and skin. Within the pulp is +contained the grape sugar, which differs in some respects +chemically from cane sugar, and which is taken up straightway into +our circulation when eaten, without having to be changed slowly by +the saliva, as is the case with cane sugar. Therefore it happens that +the grape sugar warms and fattens speedily, with a quick repair of +waste, when the strength and the structures are consumed by fever, +Grapes then being most grateful to the sufferer. But they do not suit +inflammatory subjects at other times, or gouty persons at any time, +as well as cane sugar, which has to undergo slower chemical +conversion before it furnishes heat and [237] sustenance. And in this +respect, grape sugar closely resembles the glucose, or sweet +principle of honey. + +The fruit also contains a certain quantity of "fruit sugar," which is +chemically identical with cane sugar; and, because of the special +syrupy juice of its pulp, the Grape adapts itself to quick alcoholic +fermentation. + +The important ingredients of Grapes are sugar (grape and fruit), gum, +tannin, bitartrate of potash, sulphate of potash, tartrate of lime, +magnesia, alum, iron, chlorides of potassium and sodium, tartaric, +citric, racemic, and malic acids, some albumen, and azotized +matters, with water. + +But the wine grower is glad to see his _must_ deposit the greater +part of these chemical ingredients in the "tartar," a product much +disliked, and therefore named _Sal Tartari_, or Hell Salt; and +_Cremor Tartari_, Hell Scum (Cream of Tartar). + +In Italy, the vine furnishes oil as well as wine, this being extracted +from the grape stones, and reckoned superior to any other sort, +whether for the table or for purposes of lighting. It has no odour, +and burns without smoke. The stones also yield volatile essences, +which are developed by crushing, and which give bouquet to the +several wines, whilst the skin affords colouring matter and tannin, +of more or less astringency. + +Grapes supply but little actual nutritious matter for building up the +solid structures of the body; they act as gentle laxatives; though +their stones, and the leaves of the vine, are astringent. These latter +were formerly employed to stop bleedings, and when dried and +powdered, for arresting dysentery in cattle. + +In Egypt the leaves are used, when young and tender, for enveloping +balls of hashed meat, at good tables. The [238] sap of the vine, +named _lacryma_, "a tear," is an excellent application to weak eyes, +and for specs of the cornea. The juice of the unripe fruit, which is +verjuice (as well as that of the wild crabapple), was much esteemed +by the ancients, and is still in good repute for applying to bruises +and sprains. + +When taken in any quantity, Grapes act freely on the kidneys, and +promote a flow of urine. The vegetable acids of the fruit become +used up as such, and are neutralised in the system by combining +with the earthy salts found therein, and they pass off in the urine as +alkaline carbonates. With full-blooded, excitable persons, grapes in +any quantity are apt to produce palpitation, and to quicken the +circulation for a time. Also with persons of slow and feeble +energies, having a languid digestion (and especially if predisposed +to acid fermentation in the stomach), Grapes are apt to disagree. +They send their glucose straightway into the circulation combined +with acids found in the stomach, and create considerable distress of +heartburn and dyspepsia. "Thus," says Dr. King Chambers, "is +generated acidity of the stomach, parent of gout, and of all its +hideous crew." Likewise wine, especially if sweet, new, or +full-bodied, when taken by such persons at a meal, is absorbed but +slowly by the stomach, and much of the sugar, with some alcohol, +becomes converted by fermentation into acetic acid, which further +causes the oily ingredients in the food which has been swallowed to +turn rancid. "Things sweet to taste prove to digestion sour." But +otherwise, with a person in good health, and not given to gout or +rheumatism, Grapes are an excellent food for supplying warmth as +combustion material, by their ready-made sugar; whilst the essential +flavours of the fruit are cordial, and [239] whilst a surplus of the +glucose serves to form fat for storage. + +What is known as the _Grape-cure_, is pursued in the Tyrol, in +Bavaria, on the banks of the Rhine, and elsewhere--the sick person +being ordered to eat from three to six pounds of grapes a day. But +the relative proportions of the sugar and acids in the various kinds +of grapes have important practical bearings on the results obtained, +determining whether wholesome purgation shall follow, or whether +tonic and fattening effects shall be produced. In the former case, +sufferers from sluggish liver and torpid biliary functions, with +passive local congestions, will benefit most by taking the grapes not +fully ripe, and not completely sweet; whilst in the latter instance, +those invalids will gain special help from ripe and sweet grapes, +who require quick supplies of animal heat and support to resist rapid +waste of tissue, as in chronic catarrh of the lungs, or mucous catarrh +of the bowels. + +The most important constituent to be determined is the quantity of +grape sugar, which varies according to the greater or less warmth of +the climate. Tokay Grapes are the sweetest; next are those of +southern France; then of Moselle, Bohemia, and Heidelberg; whilst +the fruit of the Vine in Spain, Italy, and Madeira, is not commended +for curative purposes. The Grapes are eaten three, four, or five times +a day, during the promenade; those which are not sweet produce a +diuretic and laxative effect; seeing, moreover, that their reaction is +alkaline, the "cure" thereby is particularly suitable for persons +troubled with gravel and acid gout. + +After losses of blood, and in allied states of exhaustion, the +restorative powers of the grape-cure are often [240] strikingly +exhibited. Formerly, the German doctors kept their patients, when +under this mode of treatment, almost entirely without other food. +But it is now found that light, wholesome nourishment, properly +chosen, and taken at regular times, even with some moderate +allowance of Bordeaux wine, may be permitted in useful conjunction +with the grapes. Children do not, as a rule, bear the grape-cure +well. One sort of grape, the Bourdelas, or Verjus, being +intensely sour when green, is never allowed to ripen, but its large +berries are made to yield their acid liquor for use instead of vinegar +or lemon juice, in sauces, drinks, and medicinal preparations. + +A vinegar poultice, applied cold, is an effectual remedy for sprains +and bruises, and will arrest the progress of scrofulous enlargements +of bones. It may be made with vinegar and oatmeal, or with the +addition of bread crumb."--_Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica_, 1794. + +"Other fruits may please the palate equally well, but it is the +proud prerogative of the kingly grape to minister also to the mind." +This served to provide one of the earliest offerings to the Deity, +seeing that "Bread and wine were brought forth to Abraham by +Melchisedec, the Priest of the Most High God." + +The Vine (_Vitis vinifera_) was almost always to the front in the +designs drawn by the ancients. Thus, miniatures and dainty little +pictures were originally encircled with representations of its foliage, +and we still name such small exquisite illustrations, "vignettes," +from the French word, _vigne_. + +The large family of Muscat grapes get their distinctive title not +because of any flavour of musk attached to them, but because the +sweet berries are particularly attractive to flies (muscre), a reason +which [241] induced the Romans to name this variety, Vitis apiaria. +"_On attrape plus de mouches avec le miel qu' avec le vinaigre_"-- +say the French. + +In Portugal, grape juice is boiled down with quinces into a sort of +jam--the progenitor of all marmalades. The original grape vine is +supposed to have been indigenous to the shores of the Caspian Sea. + +If eaten to excess, especially by young persons, grapes will make +the tongue and the lining membrane of the mouth sore, just as honey +often acts. For this reason, both grapes and honey do good to the +affection known as thrush, with sore raw mouth, and tongue in +ulcerative white patches, coming on as a derangement of the health. + + + +GRASSES. + +Our abundant English grasses furnish nutritious herbage and +farinaceous seeds, whilst their stems and leaves prove useful for +textile purposes. Furthermore, some few of them possess distinctive +medicinal virtues, with mucilaginous roots, and may be properly +classed among Herbal Simples. + +The Sweet-scented Vernal Grass (Anthoxanthum, with Yellow +Anthers) gives its delightfully characteristic odour to newly mown +meadow hay, and has a pleasant aroma of Woodruff. But it is +specially provocative of hay fever and hay asthma with persons +liable to suffer from these distressing ailments. Accordingly, a +medicinal tincture is made (H.) from this grass with spirit of wine, +and if some of the same is poured into the open hand-palms for the +volatile aroma to be sniffed well into the nose and throat, immediate +relief is afforded during an attack. At the same time three or four +drops of the tincture should be taken as a dose with water, and [242] +repeated at intervals of twenty or thirty minutes, as needed. + +The flowers contain "coumarin," and their volatile pollen +impregnates the atmosphere in early summer. The sweet perfume is +due chiefly to benzoic acid, such as is used for making scented +pastilles, or Ribbon of Bruges for fumigation. + +Again, the Couch Grass, Dog Grass, or Quilch (_Triticum repens_) +found freely in road-sides, fields, and waste places, has been +employed from remote times as a vulnerary, and to relieve +difficulties of urination. Our English wheat has been evolved +therefrom. + +In modern days its infusion--of the root--is generally regarded as a +soothing diuretic, helpful to the bladder and kidneys. Formerly, this +was a popular drink to purify the blood in the Spring. But no special +constituents have been discovered in the root besides a peculiar +sugar, a gum-like principle, _triticin_, and some lactic acid. The +decoction may be made from the whole fresh plant, or from the +dried root sliced, two to four ounces being put in a quart of water, +reduced to a pint by boiling. A wineglassful of this may be given for +a dose. It certainly palliates irritation of the urinary passages, and +helps to relieve against gravel. A liquid extract is also dispensed by +the druggists, of which from one to two teaspoonfuls are given in +water. + +The French specially value this grass for its stimulating fragrancy of +vanilla and rose perfumes in the decoction. They use the Cocksfoot +Grass (_Dactylis_), or _pied de poule_, in a similar way, and for the +same purposes. + +Also the "bearded Darnel," _Lolium temulentum_ ("intoxicated"), a +common grass-weed in English cornfields, will produce medicinally +all the symptoms of drunkenness. The French call it _Ivraie_ for this +reason, and [243] with us it is known as Ray Grass, or in some +provincial districts as "Cheat." The old Sages supposed it to cause +blindness, hence with the Romans, _lolio victitare_, to live on +Darnel, was a phrase applied to a dim-sighted person. Gerard says, +"the new bread wherein Darnell is eaten hot, causeth drunkenness." + +From _lolium_ the term Lollard given in reproach to the Waldenses, +and the followers of Wickliffe, indicated that they were pernicious +weeds choking and destroying the pure wheat of the gospel. Milne +says the expression in Matthew xiii. v. 25, would have been better +translated "darnel" than "tares." + +A general trembling, followed by inability to walk, hindered speech, +and presently profound sleep, with subsequent headache and +vomiting, are the symptoms produced by Darnel when taken in a +harmful quantity. So that medicinally a tincture of the plant may be +expected, if given in small diluted doses, to quickly dispel +intoxication from alcoholic drinks; also to prove useful for +analogous congestion of the brain coming on as an illness, and for +dimness of vision. Chemically, it contains an acrid fixed oil, and a +yellow glucoside. + +There is some reason to suspect that the old custom of using Darnel +to adulterate malt and distilled liquors has not been wholly +abandoned. Farmers in Devonshire are fond of the Ray Grass, which +they call "Eaver" or "Iver"; and "Devon-ever" is noted likewise in +Somersetshire. + + + +GROUNDSEL. + +Common Groundsel is so well known throughout Great Britain, that +it needs scarcely any description. It is very prolific, and found in +every sort of cultivated ground, being a small plant of the Daisy +tribe, but without any [244] outer white rays to its yellow +flower-heads. These are compact little bundles, at first of a dull +yellow colour, until presently the florets fall off and leave the +white woolly pappus of the seeds collected together, somewhat +resembling the hoary hairs of age. They have suggested the name +of the genus "senecio," from the Latin _senex_, an old man:-- + + "Quod canis simili videatur flore capillis; + Cura facit canos quamvis vir non habet annos." + + "With venerable locks the Groundsel grows; + Hard care more quick than years white head-gear shows." + +In the fifteenth century this herb went by the name of Grondeswyle, +from _grund_, ground, and _swelgun_, to swallow, and to this day it +is called in Scotland Grundy Swallow, or Ground Glutton. + +Not being attractive to insects or visited by them the Groundsel is +fertilized by the wind. It flowers throughout the whole year, and is +the favourite food of many small birds, being thus given to canaries, +and to other domesticated songsters. + +The weed, named at first "Ascension," is called in the Eastern +counties by corruption "Senshon" and "Simson." Its leaves are fleshy, +with a bitter saline taste, whilst the juice is slightly acrid, but +emollient. In this country farriers give it to horses for bot-worms, +and in Germany it is employed as a vermifuge for children. A weak +infusion of the whole plant with boiling water makes a simple and +easy purgative dose, but a strong infusion will act as an emetic. For +the former purpose two drachms by weight of the fresh plant should +be boiled in four fluid ounces of water, and the same decoction +serves as a useful gargle for a [245] sore throat from catarrh. +Chemically it contains senecin and seniocine. + +In the hands of Simplers the Groundsel formerly held high rank as a +herb of power. Au old herbal prescribes against toothache to "dig up +Groundsel with a tool that hath no iron in it, and touch the tooth five +times with the plant, then spit thrice after each touch, and the cure +will be complete." Hill says "the fresh roots if smelled when first +taken out of the ground, are an immediate cure for many forms of +headache." To apply the bruised leaves will serve for preventing +boils, and the plant, if taken as a sallet with vinegar, is good for +sadness of the heart. Gerard says "Women troubled with the mother +(womb) are much eased by baths made of the leaves, and flowers of +this, and the kindred Ragworts." + +A decoction of Groundsel serves as a famous application for healing +chapped hands. In Cornwall if the herb is to be used as an emetic +they strip it upwards, if for a purgative downwards. "Lay by your +learned receipts," writes Culpeper, "this herb alone shall do the deed +for you in all hot diseases, first safely, second speedily." + + + +HAWTHORN (Whitethorn). + +The Hawthorn, or Whitethorn, is so welcome year by year as a +harbinger of Summer, by showing its wealth of sweet-scented, +milk-white blossoms, in our English hedgerows, that everyone rejoices +when the Mayflower comes into bloom. Its brilliant haws, or fruit, +later on are a botanical advance on the blackberry and wild +raspberry, which belong to the same natural order. It has promoted +itself to the possession of a single carpel or seed-vessel to each +blossom, producing a [246] separate fruit, this being a stony apple in +miniature. + +But the word "haw" is misapplied, because it really means a +"hedge," and not a fruit; whilst "hips," which are popularly +connected with "haws," are the fruit-capsules of the wild Dog-rose. +Haws, when dried, make an infusion which will act on the kidneys; +they are astringent, and serve, as well as the flowers, in decoction, +to cure a sore throat. + +The Hawthorn bush was chosen by Henry the Seventh for his +device, because a small crown from the helmet of Richard the Third +was discovered hanging thereon. Hence arose the legend "Cleve to +thy crown though it hangs on a bush." In some districts it is called +Hazels, Gazels, and Halves; and in many country places the +villagers believe that the blossom of the Hawthorn still bears the +smell of the great plague of London. It was formerly thought to be +scathless--a tree too sacred to be touched. + +Botanically, the Hawthorn is called _Cratoegus oxyacantha_, these +names signifying _kratos_, strength or hardness (of the wood); and +_oxus_, sharp--_akantha_, a thorn. It is the German _Hage-dorn_ or +Hedge thorn, showing that from a very early period in the history of +the Germanic races, their land was divided into plots by means of +hedges. + +The Hawthorn is also named Whitethorn, from the whiteness of its +rind; and Quickset from its growing in a hedge as a "quick" or living +shrub, when contrasted with a paling of dead wood. An old English +name for the buds of the Hawthorn when just expanding, was +Ladies' Meat; and in Sussex it is called the Bread and Cheese tree. + +In many parts of England charms or incantations are [247] +employed to prevent a thorn from festering in the flesh, as:-- + + "Happy the man that Christ was born, + He was crowned with a thorn, + He was pierced through the skin + For to let the poison in; + But His five wounds, so they say, + Closed before He passed away; + In with healing, out with thorn! + Happy man that Christ was born." + +The flowers are fertilised for the most part by carrion insects, and a +certain undertone of decomposition may be detected (says Grant +Allen) by keen nostrils in the scent of the Mayflower. It is this +curious element, in what seems otherwise a pure and delicious +perfume, which attracts the meat-eating insects, or rather those +insects which lay their eggs and hatch out their larvae in decaying +animal matter. The meat-fly comes first abroad just at the time when +the Mayblossom breaks into bloom. + +A Greek bride was sometimes decked with a sprig of Hawthorn, as +emblematic of a flowery future, with thorns intermingled. It is +supposed that "the Jewes maden," for our Saviour, "a croune of the +branches of Albespyne, that is, Whitethorn, that grew in the same +garden, and therefore hath the Whitethorn many vertues" being +called in France _l'epine noble_. + +The shadows in the moon are popularly thought to represent a man +laden with a bundle of thorns in punishment of theft:-- + + "Rusticus in luna quem sarcina deprimit una, + Monstrat per spinas nulli prodesse rapinas." + + "A thievish clown by cruel thorns opprest + Shows in the moon that honesty pays best." + + + +[248] HEMLOCK and HENBANE. + +The Spotted Hemlock (_Conium maculatum_), and the Sickly-smelling +Henbane (_Hyoscyamus niger_), are plants of common wild growth +throughout England, especially the former, and are well known +to everyone familiar with our Herbal Simples. But each is so +highly narcotic as a medicine, and yet withal so safely useful +externally to allay pain, as well as to promote healing, that their +outward remedial forms of application must not be overlooked +among our serviceable herbs. Nevertheless, for internal +administration, these herbs lie altogether beyond the pale of +domestic uses, except in the hands of a doctor. + +The Hemlock is an umbelliferous plant of frequent growth in our +hedges and roadsides, with tall, hollow stalks, powdered blue at the +bottom, whilst smooth and splashed about with spotty streaks of a +reddish purple. It possesses foliage resembling that of the garden +carrot, but feathery and more delicately divided. + +The name has been got from _healm_, or _haulm_, straw, and _leac_, +a plant, because of the dry hollow stalks which remain after +flowering is done. In Kent and Essex, the Hemlock is called +Kecksies, and the stalks are spoken of as Hollow Kecksies. + +Keckis, or Kickes, of Humblelockis are mentioned by our oldest +herbalists. In a book about herbs, of the fourteenth century, two +sorts of Hemlock are specified--one being the Grete Homeloc, +which is called "Kex," or "Wode Whistle," being of no use except +for poor men's fuel, and children's play. + +Botanically, it bears the name of _Conium maculatum_ (spotted), +the first of these words coming from the Greek, _konos_, a top, and +having reference to the giddiness which the juice of hemlock causes +toxically in the [249] human brain. The unripe fruit of this plant +possesses its peculiar medicinal properties in a greater degree than +any other part, and the juice expressed therefrom is more reliably +medicinal than the tincture made with spirit of wine, from the whole +plant. + +Soil, situation, and the time of year, materially affect the potency of +Hemlock. Being a biennial plant, it is not poisonous in this country +to cattle during the first year, if they eat its leaves. + +The herb is always uncertain of action unless gathered of the true +"maculatum" sort, when beginning to flower. Its juice should be +thickened in a water bath, or the leaves carefully dried, and kept in a +well-stoppered bottle, not exposed to the light. Cole says, "if asses +chance to feed on Hemlock, they will fall so fast asleep that they +seem to be dead, insomuch that some, thinking them to be dead +indeed, have flayed off their skins; yet after the Hemlock had done +operating they had stirred and wakened out of their sleep." + +The dried leaves of the plant, if put into a small bag, and steeped in +boiling water for a few minutes, and then applied hot to a gouty +part, will quickly relieve the pain; also, they will help to soften the +hard concretions which form about gouty joints. If the fresh juice of +the Hemlock is evaporated to a thick syrup, and mixed with lanoline +(the fat of sheep's wool), to make an ointment, it will afford +wonderful relief to severe itching within and around the fundament; +but it must be thoroughly applied. For a poultice some of this +thickened juice may be added to linseed meal and boiling water, +previously mixed well together. + +Conium plasters were formerly employed to dry up the breast milk, +and are now found of service to subdue palpitations of the heart. + +[250] An extract of Hemlock, blended with potash, is kept by the +chemists, to be mixed with boiling water, for inhalation to ease a +troublesome spasmodic cough, or an asthmatic attack. In Russia and +the Crimea, this plant is so inert as to be edible; whereas in the +South of Europe it is highly poisonous. + +Chemically, the toxic action of Hemlock depends on its alkaloids, +"coniine," and "methyl-coniine." + +Vinegar has proved useful in neutralising the poisonous effects of +Hemlock, and it is said if the plant is macerated or boiled in vinegar +it becomes altogether inert. + +For inhalation to subdue whooping-cough, three or four grains of +the extract should be mixed with a pint of boiling water in a suitable +inhaler, so that the medicated vapour may be inspired through the +mouth and nostrils. + +To make a Hemlock poultice, when the fresh plant cannot be +procured, mix an ounce of powdered hemlock leaves (from the +druggist) with three ounces of linseed meal; then gradually add half +a pint of boiling water whilst constantly stirring. + +Herb gatherers sometimes mistake the wild Cicely (_Myrrhis +odorata_) for the Hemlock; but this Cicely has a furrowed stem +without spots, and is hairy, with a highly aromatic flavour. The +bracts of Hemlock, at the base of the umbels, go only half way +round the stem. The rough Chervil is also spotted, but hairy, and its +stem is swollen below each joint. Under proper medical advice, the +extract and the juice of Hemlock may be most beneficially given +internally in cancer, and as a nervine sedative. + +The Hemlock was esteemed of old as _Herba Benedicta_, a blessed +herb, because "where the root is in the house [251] the devil can do +no harm, and if anyone should carry the plant about on his person +no venomous beast can harm him." The Eleusinian priests who were +required to remain chaste all their lives, had the wisdom to rub +themselves with Hemlock. + +Poultices may be made exclusively with the fresh leaves (which +should be gathered in June) or with the dried leaflets when +powdered, for easing and healing cancerous sores. Baron Stoerck +first brought the plant into repute (1760) as a medicine of +extraordinary efficacy for curing inveterate scirrhus, cancer, and +ulcers, such as were hitherto deemed irremediable. + +Likewise the _Cicuta virosa_, or Water Hemlock, has proved +curative to many similar glandular swellings. This is also an +umbelliferous plant, which grows commonly on the margins of +ditches and rivers in many parts of England. It gets its name from +_cicuta_ (a shepherd's pipe made from a reed), because of its hollow +stems. Being hurtful to cows it has acquired the title of Cowbane. + +The root when incised secretes from its wounded bark a yellow +juice of a narcotic odour and acrid taste. This has been applied +externally with benefit for scirrhous cancer, and to ease the pain of +nervous gout. But when taken internally it is dangerous, being likely +to provoke convulsions, or to produce serious narcotic effects. +Nevertheless, goats eat the herb with impunity:-- + + "Nam videre licet pinguescere soepe cicutam, + Barbigeras pecudes; hominique est acre venenum." + +The leaves smell like celery or parsley, these being most toxical in +summer, and the root in spring. The potency of the plant depends on +its cicutoxin, a principle derived from the resinous constituents, and +[252] which powerfully affects the organic functions through the +spinal cord. It was either this or the Spotted Hemlock, which was +used as the State poison of the Greeks for causing the death of +Socrates. + +For a fomentation with the Water Hemlock half-a-pound of the fresh +leaves, or three ounces of the dried leaves should be boiled in three +pints of water down to a quart; and this will be found very helpful +for soothing and healing painful cancerous, or scrofulous sores. +Also the juice of the herb mixed with hot lard, and strained, will +serve a like useful purpose. + +For pills of the herb take of its inspissated juice half-an-ounce, and +of the finely powdered plant enough when mixed together to make +from forty to sixty pills. Then for curing cancer, severe scrofula, +or syphilitic sores, give from one to twenty of these pills in +twenty-four hours (_Pharmacopeia Chirurgica_, 1794). + +An infusion of the plant will serve when carefully used, to relieve +nervous and sick headache. If the fresh, young, tender leaves are +worn under the soles of the feet, next the skin, and are renewed once +during the day, they will similarly assuage the discomfort of a +nervous headache. The oil with which the herb abounds is not +poisonous. + +The _Black Henbane_ grew almost everywhere about England, in +Gerard's day, by highways, in the borders of fields, on dunghills, +and in untoiled places. But now it has become much less common as +a rustic herb in this country. We find it occasionally in railway +cuttings, and in rubbish on waste places, chiefly on chalky ground, +and particularly near the sea. The plant is biennial, rather large, +and dull of aspect, with woolly sea-green leaves, and bearing +bell-shaped flowers of a lurid, creamy colour, streaked and spotted +with purple. It [253] is one of the Night-shade tribe, having a heavy, +oppressive, sub-fetid odour, and being rather clammy to the touch. +This herb is also called Hogsbean, and its botanical name, +_Hyoscyamus_, signifies "the bean of the hog," which animal eats it +with impunity, though to mankind it is a poisonous plant. It has +been noticed in Sherwood Forest, that directly the turf is pared +Henbane springs up. + +"To wash the feet," said Gerard, "in a decoction of Henbane, as also +the often smelling to the flowers, causeth sleep." Similarly famous +anodyne necklaces were made from the root, and were hung about +the necks of children to prevent fits, and to cause an easy breeding +of the teeth. From the leaves again was prepared a famous sorcerer's +ointment. "These, the seeds, and the juice," says Gerard, "when +taken internally, cause an unquiet sleep, like unto the sleep of +drunkenness, which continueth long, and is deadly to the patient." + +The herb was known to the ancients, being described by Dioscorides +and Celsus. Internally, it should only be prescribed by a physician, +and is then of special service for relieving irritation of the bladder, +and to allay maniacal excitement, as well as to subdue spasm. + +The fresh leaves crushed, and applied as a poultice, will quickly +relieve local pains, as of gout or neuralgia. In France the plant is +called _Jusquiame_, and in Germany it is nicknamed Devil's-eye. + +The chemical constituents of Henbane are "hyoscyamine," a volatile +alkaloid, with a bitter principle, "hyoscypricin" (especially just +before flowering), also nitrate of potash, which causes the leaves, +when burnt, to sparkle with a deflagration, and other inorganic salts. +The seeds contain a whitish, oily albumen. + +The leaves and viscid stem are produced only in [254] each second +year. The juice when dropped into the eye will dilate the pupil. + +Druggists prepare this juice of the herb, and an extract; also, they +dispense a compound liniment of Henbane, which, when applied to +the skin-surface on piline, is of great service for relieving obstinate +rheumatic pains. + +In some rural districts the cottony leaves of Henbane are smoked for +toothache, like tobacco, but this practice is not free from risk of +provoking convulsions, and even of causing insanity. + +Gerard writes, with regard to the use of the seed of Henbane by +mountebanks, for obstinate toothache: "Drawers of teeth who run +about the country and pretend they cause worms to come forth from +the teeth by burning the seed in a chafing dish of coals, the party +holding his mouth over the fume thereof, do have some crafty +companions who convey small lute strings into the water, +persuading the patient that those little creepers came out of his +mouth, or other parts which it was intended to ease." Forestus says: +"These pretended worms are no more than an appearance of worms +which is always seen in the smoak of Henbane seed." + + "Sic dentes serva; porrorum collige grana: + No careas thure; cum _hyoscyamo_ ure: + Sic que per embotum fumun cape dente remotum." + _Regimen sanitatis salernitanum_ (Translated 1607). + + "If in your teeth you happen to be tormented, + By means some little worms therein do brede, + Which pain (if need be tane) may be prevented + By keeping cleane your teeth when as ye fead. + Burn Frankonsence (a gum not evil scented), + Put Henbane into this, and onyon seed, + And with a tunnel to the tooth that's hollow, + Convey the smoke thereof, and ease shall follow." + +[255] By older writers, the Henbane was called Henbell and +Symphonica, as implying its resemblance to a ring of bells +(_Symphonia_), which is struck with a hammer. It has also been +named _Faba Jovis_ (Jupiter's bean). Only within recent times has +the suffix "bell" given place to "bane," because the seeds are fatal to +poultry and fish. In some districts horsedealers mix the seed of +Henbane with their oats, in order to fatten the animals. + +An instance is narrated where the roots of Henbane were cooked by +mistake at a monastery for the supper of its inmates, and produced +most strange results. One monk would insist on ringing the large +bell at midnight, to the alarm of the neighbourhood; whilst of those +who came to prayers at the summons, several could not read at all, +and others read anything but what was contained in their breviaries. + +Some authors suppose that this is the noxious herb intended by +Shakespeare, in the play of _Hamlet_, when the ghost of the +murdered king makes plaint, that: + + "Sleeping within mine orchard, + My custom always of the afternoon, + Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, + With juice of cursed _hebenon_ in a vial, + And in the porches of mine ear did pour + The leprous distilment." + +But others argue more correctly that the name used here is a varied +form of that by which the yew is known in at least five of the Gothic +languages, and which appears in Marlow and other Elizabethan +writers, as "hebon." "This tree," says Lyte, "is altogether venomous +and against man's nature; such as do but only sleepe under the +shadow thereof, become sicke, and sometimes they die." + + + +[256] HONEY. + +Being essentially of floral origin, and a vegetable product endowed +with curative properties, Honey may be fairly ranked among Herbal +Simples. Indeed, it is the nectar of flowers, partaking closely of +their flavours and odours, whilst varying in taste, colour, scent, +and medicinal attributes, according to the species of the plant from +which it is produced. + +The name Honey has been derived from a Hebrew word _ghoneg_, +which means literally "delight." Historically, this substance dates +from the oldest times of the known world. We read in the book of +Genesis, that the land of Canaan where Abraham dwelt, was +flowing with milk and honey; and in the Mosaic law were statutes +regulating the ownership of bees. + +Among the ancients Honey was used for embalming the dead, and it +is still found contained in their preserved coffins. + +Aristoeus, a pupil of Chiron, first gathered Honey from the comb, +and it was the basis of the seasoning of Apicius: whilst Pythagoras, +who lived to be ninety, took latterly only bread and Honey. +"Whoever wishes," said an old classic maxim, "to preserve his +health, should eat every morning before breakfast young onions +with honey." + +Tacitus informs us that our German ancestors gave credit for their +great strength and their long lives to the Mead, or Honey-beer, on +which they regaled themselves. Pliny tells of Rumilius Pollio, who +enjoyed marvellous health arid vitality, when over a hundred years +old. On being presented to the Emperor Augustus, who enquired +what was the secret of his wondrous longevity, Pollio answered, +"_Interus melle, exterus oleo_, the eating of Honey, and anointing +with oil." + +[257] At the feasts of the gods, described by Ovid, the delicious +Honey-cakes were never wanting, these being made of meal, Honey, +and oil, whilst corresponding in number to the years of the devout +offerer. + +Pure Honey contains chemically about seventy per cent. of glucose +(analogous to grape sugar) or the crystallizable part which sinks +to the bottom of the jar, whilst the other portion above, which is +non-crystallizable, is levulose, or fruit sugar, almost identical with +the brown syrup of the sugar cane, but less easy of digestion. Hence, +the proverb has arisen "of oil the top, of wine the middle, of Honey +the bottom." + +The odour of Honey is due to a volatile oil associated with a yellow +colouring matter _melichroin_, which is separated by the floral +nectaries, and becomes bleached on exposure to the sunlight. A +minute quantity of an animal acid lends additional curative value for +sore throat, and some other ailments. + +Honey has certain claims as a food which cane sugar does not +possess. It is a heat former, and a producer of vital energy, both in +the human subject, and in the industrious little insect which collects +the luscious fodder. Moreover, it is all ready for absorption +straightway into the blood after being eaten, whereas cane sugar +must be first masticated with the saliva, or spittle, and converted +somewhat slowly into honey sugar before it can be utilised for the +wants of the body. In this way the superiority of Honey over cane +sugar is manifested, and it may be readily understood why grapes, +the equivalent of Honey in the matter of their sugar, have an +immediate effect in relieving fatigue by straightway contributing +power and caloric. + +Aged persons who are toothless may be supported almost exclusively +on sugar. The great Duke of [258] Beaufort, whose teeth were +white and sound at seventy, whilst his general health was likewise +excellent, had for forty years before his death a pound of sugar +daily in his wine, chocolate, and sweetmeats. A relish for sugar +lessens the inclination for alcohol, and seldom accompanies the +love of strong drink. + +With young children, cane sugar is apt to form acids in the stomach, +chiefly acetic, by a process of fermentation which causes pain, and +flatulence, so that milk sugar should be given instead to those of +tender years who are delicate, as this produces only lactic acid, +which is the main constituent of digestive gastric juice. + +When examined under a microscope Honey exhibits in addition to +its crystals (representing glucose, or grape sugar), pollen-granules of +various forms, often so perfect that they may be referred to the +particular plants from which the nectar has been gathered. + +As good Honey contains sugar in a form suitable for such quick +assimilation, it should be taken generally in some combination less +easily absorbed, otherwise the digestion may be upset by too speedy +a glut of heat production, and of energy. Therefore the bread and +Honey of time-honoured memory is a sound form of sustenance, as +likewise, the proverbial milk and Honey of the Old Testament. This +may be prepared by taking a bowl of new milk, and breaking into it +some light wheaten bread, together with some fresh white +Honeycomb. The mixture will be found both pleasant and easy of +digestion. + +Our forefathers concocted from Honey boiled with water and +exposed to the sun (after adding chopped raisins, lemon peel, and +other matters) a famous fermented drink, called mead, and this was +termed metheglin (_methu_, wine, and _aglaion_, splendid) when +the finer [261] Honey was used, and certain herbs were added so as +to confer special flavours. + + "Who drank very hard the whole night through + Cups of strong mead, made from honey when new, + Metheglin they called it, a mighty strong brew, + Their whistles to wet for the morrow." + +Likewise, the old Teutons prepared a Honey wine, (hydromel), and +made it the practice to drink this for the first thirty days after +marriage; from which custom has been derived the familiar +Honeymoon, or the month after a wedding. + +Queen Elizabeth was particularly fond of mead, and had it made +every year according to a special recipe of her own, which included +the leaves of sweet briar, with rosemary, cloves, and mace. + +Honey derived from cruciferous plants, such as rape, ladies' smock, +and the wallflower, crystallizes quickly, often, indeed, within the +comb before it is removed from the hive; whilst Honey from labiate +plants, and from fruit trees in general, remains unchanged for +several months after being extracted from the comb. + +As a heat producer, if taken by way of food, one pound of Honey is +equal to two pounds of butter; and when cod liver oil is indicated, +but cannot be tolerated by the patient, Honey may sometimes be +most beneficially substituted. + +In former times it was employed largely as a medicine, and applied +externally for the healing of wounds. When mixed with flour, and +spread on linen, or leather, it has long been a simple remedy for +bringing boils to maturity. In coughs and colds it makes a +serviceable adjunct to expectorant medicines, whilst acting at the +same time as sufficiently laxative. For sore throats it may be used in +gargles with remarkable benefit; and [260] when mixed with +vinegar it forms the old-fashioned oxymel, always popular against +colds of the chest and throat. + +"Honeywater" distilled from Honey, incorporated with sand, is an +excellent wash for promoting the growth of the hair, either by itself, +or when mixed with spirit of rosemary. Rose Honey (_rhodomel_) +made from the expressed juice of rose petals with Honey, was +formerly held in high esteem for the sick. + +Bee propolis, or the glutinous resin manufactured by bees for fixing +the foundations of their combs, will afford relief to the asthmatic by +its fumes when burnt. It consists largely of resin, and yields benzoic +acid. + +Basilicon, kingly ointment, or resin ointment, is composed of bees +wax, olive oil, resin, Burgundy pitch, and turpentine. This is said to +be identical with the famous "Holloway's Ointment," and is highly +useful when the stimulation of indolent sores is desired. + +A medicinal tincture of superlative worth is prepared by +Homoeopathic practitioners from the sting of the Honey bee. This +makes a most valuable and approved medicine for obviating +erysipelas, especially of the head and face; likewise, for a puffy sore +throat with much swelling about the tonsils; also for dropsy of the +limbs which has followed a chill, or is connected with passive +inactivity of the kidneys. Ten drops of the diluted tincture, first +decimal strength, should be given three or four times in the day, +with a tablespoonful of cold water. This remedy is known as the +tincture of _Apis mellifica_. For making it the bees are seized when +emerging from the hive, and they thus become irritated, being ready +to sting. They are put to death with a few drops of chloroform, and +then have their Honey-bags severed. These are bruised in a mortar +[261] with glycerine, and bottled in spirit of wine, shaking them for +several days, and lastly filtering the tincture. + +Boiling water poured on bees (workers) when newly killed makes +bee-tea, which may be taken to relieve strangury, and a difficult +passage of urine, as likewise for dropsy of the heart and kidneys. +Also of such bees when dried and powdered, thirty grains will act as +a dose to promote a free flow of the urine. + +Honey, especially if old, will cause indigestion when eaten by some +persons, through an excessive production of lactic acid in the +stomach; and a superficial ulceration of the mouth and tongue, +resembling thrush, will ensue; it being at the same time a known +popular fact, that Honey by itself, or when mixed with powdered +borax (which is alkaline) will speedily cure a similar sore state +within the mouth arising through deranged health. + +As long ago as when Soranus lived, the contemporary of Galen (160 +A.D.) Honey was declared to be "an easy remedy for the thrush of +children," but he gravely attributed its virtues in this respect to the +circumstance that bees collected the Honey from flowers growing +over the tomb of Hippocrates, in the vale of Tempe. + +The sting venom of bees has been found helpful for relieving +rheumatic gout in the hands, and elsewhere through toxicating the +tender and swollen limbs by means of lively bees placed over the +parts in an inverted tumbler, and then irritating the insects so as to +make them sting. A custom prevails in Malta of inoculation by +frequent bee stinging, so as to impart at length a protective +immunity against rheumatism, this being confirmatory of the fact +known to beekeepers elsewhere, that after exposure to attacks from +bees, often repeated [262] throughout a length of time, most persons +will acquire a convenient freedom from all future disagreeable +effects. An Austrian physician has based on these methods an +infallible cure for acute rheumatism. + +In Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_, Sir Toby Belch asks to have a +"song for sixpence," the third verse of which has been thought to +run thus:-- + + "The King was in his counting house + Counting out his money, + The Queen was in the parlour + Eating bread and Honey." + + "Mel mandit, panemque, morans regina culina, + Dulcia plebeia non comedenda nuru." + +A plain cake, currant or seed, made with Honey in place of sugar is +a pleasant addition to the tea-table and a capital preventive of +constipation. + +"All kinds of precious stones cast into Honey become more brilliant +thereby," says St. Francis de Sales in _The Devout Life_, 1708, +"and all persons become more acceptable when they join devotion +to their graces." + + + +HOP. + +The Hop (_Humulus lupulus_) belongs to the Nettle tribe (_Cannabineoe_) +of plants, and grows wild in our English hedges and copses; but +then it bears only male flowers. When cultivated it produces +the female catkins, or strobiles which are so well known as +Hops, and are so largely used for brewing purposes. + +The plant gets its first name _Humulus_ from _humus_, the rich +moist ground in which it chooses to grow, and its affix _lupulus_ +from the Latin _lupus_ a wolf, because (as Pliny explained), when +produced among osiers, it [263] strangles them by its light climbing +embraces as the wolf does a sheep. + +The word Hop comes from the Anglo-saxon _hoppan_ to climb. +The leaves and the flowers afford a fine brown dye, and paper has +been made from the bine, or stalk, which sprouts in May, and soon +grows luxuriantly; as said old Tusser (1557):-- + + "Get into thy Hop-yard, for now it is time + To teach Robin Hop on his pole how to climb." + +The Hop, says Cockayne, was known to the Saxons, and they called +it the _Hymele_, a name enquired-for in vain among Hop growers +in Worcestershire and Kent. + +Hops were first brought to this country from Flanders, in 1524:-- + + "Turkeys, Carp, Hops, Pickerel, and Beer, + Came into England all in one year." + +So writes old Izaak Walton! Before Hops were used for improving +and preserving beer our Saxon ancestors drank a beverage made +from malt, but clarified in a measure with Ground Ivy which is +hence named Ale-hoof. This was a thick liquor about which it was +said:-- + + "Nil spissius est dum bibitur; nil clarius dum mingitur, + Unde constat multas faeces in ventre relinqui." + +The Picts made beer from heather, but the secret of its manufacture +was lost when they became exterminated, since it had never been +divulged to strangers. Kenneth offered to spare the life of a father, +whose son had been just slain, if he would reveal the method; but, +though pardoned, he refused persistently. The inhabitants of Tola, +Jura, and other outlying districts, now brew a potable beer by +mixing two-thirds of heath tops with one of malt. Highlanders think +it very lucky to [264] find the white heather, which is the badge of +the Captain of Clan Ronald. + +At first Hops were unpopular, and were supposed to engender +melancholy. Therefore Henry the Eighth issued an injunction to +brewers not to use them. "Hops," says John Evelyn in his +_Pomona_, 1670, "transmuted our wholesome ale into beer, which +doubtless much altered our constitutions. This one ingredient, by +some suspected not unworthily, preserves the drink indeed, but +repays the pleasure with tormenting diseases, and a shorter life." + +Hops, such as come into the market, are the chaffy capsules of the +seeds, and turn brown early in the autumn. They possess a heavy +fragrant aromatic odour, and a very bitter pungent taste. The yellow +glands at the base of the scales afford a volatile strong-smelling oil, +and an abundant yellow powder which possesses most of the virtues +of the plant. Our druggists prepare a tincture from the strobiles with +spirit of wine, and likewise a thickened extract. + +Again, a decoction of the root is esteemed by some as of equal +benefit with Sarsaparilla. + +The lassitude felt in hot weather at its first access, or in early +spring, may be well met by an infusion of the leaves, strobiles and +stalks as Hop tea, taken by the wineglassful two or three times in +the day, whilst sluggish derangements of the liver and spleen may be +benefited thereby. + +_Lupulin_, the golden dust from the scales (but not the pollen of the +anthers, as some erroneously suppose), is given in powder, and acts +as a gentle sedative if taken at bedtime. This is specific against +sexual irritability and its attendant train of morbid symptoms, with +mental depression and vital exhaustion. It contains [265] "lupulite," +a volatile oil, and a peculiar resin, which is somewhat acrid, and +penetrating of taste. + +Each of the Simples got from the Hop will allay pain and conduce to +sleep; they increase the firmness of the pulse, and reduce its +frequency. + +Also if applied externally, Hops as a poultice, or when steeped in a +bag, in very hot water as a stupe, will relieve muscular rheumatism, +spasm, and bruises. + +Hop tea, when made from the flowers only, is to be brewed by +pouring a pint of boiling water on an ounce of the Hops, and letting +it stand until cool. This is an excellent drink in delirium tremens, +and will give prompt ease to an irritable bladder. Sherry in which +some Hops have been steeped makes a capital stomachic cordial. A +pillow, _Pulvinar Humuli_, stuffed with newly dried Hops was +successfully prescribed by Dr. Willis for George the Third, when +sedative medicines had failed to give him sleep; and again for our +Prince of Wales at the time of his severe typhoid fever, 1871, in +conjunction then with a most grateful draught of ale which had been +heretofore withheld. The crackling of dry Hop flowers when put +into a pillow may be prevented by first sprinkling them with a little +alcohol. + +Persons have fallen into a deep slumber after remaining for some +time in a storehouse full of hops; and in certain northern districts a +watery extract from the flowers is given instead of opium. It is +useful to know that for sound reasons a moderate supper of bread +and butter, with crisp fresh lettuces, and light home-brewed ale +which contains Hops, is admirably calculated to promote sleep, +except in a full-blooded plethoric person. _Lupulin_, the glandular +powder from the dried strobiles, will induce sleep without causing +constipation, or headache. The dose is from two to four grains at +bedtime [266] on a small piece of bread and butter, or mixed with a +spoonful of milk. + +The year 1855 produced a larger crop of cultivated Hops than has +been known before or since. When Hop poles are shaken by the +wind there is a distant electrical murmur like thunder. + +Hop tea in the leaf is now sold by grocers, made from a mixture of +the Kentish and Indian plants, so as to combine in its infusion, the +refreshment of the one herb with the sleep-inducing virtues of the +other. The hops are brought direct from the farmers, just as they are +picked. They are then laid for a few hours to wither, after which +they are put under a rolling apparatus, which ill half-an-hour makes +them look like tea leaves, both in shape and colour. They are finally +mixed with Indian and Ceylon teas. + +The young tops of the Hop plant if gathered in the spring and +boiled, may be eaten as asparagus, and make a good pot-herb: they +were formerly brought to market tied up in small bundles for table +use. + +A popular notion has, in some places, associated the Hop and the +Nightingale together as frequenting the same districts. + +Medicinally the Hop is tonic, stomachic, and diuretic, with +antiseptic effects; it prevents worms, and allays the disquietude of +nervous indigestion. The popular nostrum "Hop Bitters" is thus +made: Buchu leaves, two ounces; Hops, half-a-pound; boil in five +quarts of water, in an iron vessel, for an hour; when lukewarm add +essence of Winter-green (_Pyrola_), two ounces, and one pint of +alcohol. Take one tablespoonful three times in the day, before +eating. White Bryony root is likewise used in making the Bitters. + + + +[267] HOREHOUND (White and Black). + +The herb Horehound occurs of two sorts, white and black, in our +hedge-rows, and on the sides of banks, each getting its generic +name, which was originally Harehune, from _hara_, hoary, and +_hune_, honey; or, possibly, the name Horehound may be a +corruption of the Latin _Urinaria_, since the herb has been found +efficacious in cases of strangury, or difficult making of water. + +The White Horehound (_Marrubium_) is a common square-stemmed +herb of the Labiate order, growing in waste places, and of +popular use for coughs and colds, whether in a medicinal form, or as +a candied sweetmeat. Its botanical title is of Hebrew derivation, +from _marrob_, a bitter juice. The plant is distinguished by the +white woolly down on its stems, by its wrinkled leaves, and small +white flowers. + +It has a musky odour, and a bitter taste, being a much esteemed +Herbal Simple, but very often spuriously imitated. It affords +chemically a fragrant volatile oil, a bitter extractive "marrubin," +and gallic acid. + +As a homely remedy it is especially given for coughs accompanied +with abundant thick expectoration, and for chronic asthma. In +Norfolk scarcely a cottage garden can be found without its +Horehound corner; and Horehound beer is much drunk there by the +natives. Horehound tea may be made by pouring boiling water on +the fresh leaves, an ounce to a pint, and sweetening this with honey: +then a wineglassful should be taken three or four times in the day. +Or from two to three teaspoonfuls of the expressed juice of the herb +may be given for a dose. + +Candied Horehound is best made from the fresh plant by boiling it +down until the juice is extracted, [268] and then adding sugar before +boiling this again until it has become thick enough of consistence to +pour into a paper case, and to be cut into squares when cool. Gerard +said: "Syrup made from the greene fresh leaves and sugar is a most +singular remedy against the cough and wheezing of the lungs. It +doth wonderfully, and above credit, ease such as have been long +sicke of any consumption of the lungs; as hath been often proved by +the learned physicians of our London College." + +When given in full doses, an infusion of the herb is laxative. If the +plant be put in new milk and set in a place pestered with flies, it +will speedily kill them all. And according to Columella, the Horehound +is a serviceable remedy against the Cankerworm in trees: _Profuit et +plantis latices infundere amaros marrubii_. + +The Marrubium was called by the Egyptian Priests the "Seed of +Horus" or "the Bull's Blood" and "the Eye of the Star." It was a +principal remedy in the Negro Caesar's Antidote for vegetable +poisons. + +The Black Horehound (_Ballota nigra_), so called from its dark +purple-coloured flowers, is likewise of common growth about our +roadsides and waste places. Its botanical title comes from the Greek +_ballo_, to reject, because of its disagreeable odour, particularly +when burnt. The herb is sometimes known as Madwort, being +supposed to act as an antidote to the bite of a mad dog. In Beaumont +and Fletcher's _Faithful Shepherdess_, we read of:-- + + "Black Horehound, good + For Sheep, or Shepherd bitten by a wood-dog's venomed tooth." + +If its leaves are applied externally as a poultice, they will relieve +the pain of gout, and will mollify angry [269] boils. In Gotha the +plant is valued for curing chronic skin diseases, particularly of a +fungoid character, such as ringworm; also for diseases of cattle. +"This," says Meyrick "is one of those neglected English herbs which are +possessed of great virtues, though they are but little known, and still +less regarded. It is superior to most things as a remedy in hysteria, +and for low spirits." Drayton said (_Polybion_, 1613):-- + + "For comforting the spleen and liver--get for juice, + Pale Horehound." + +The Water Horehound (_Lycopus_), or Gipsy wort, which grows +frequently in our damp meadows and on the sides of streams, yields +a black dye used for wool, or silk, and with which gipsies stain their +skins, as well as with Walnut juice. "This is called Gipsy Wort," +says Lyte, "because the rogues and runagates, which name +themselves Egyptians, do colour themselves black with this herbe." +Each of the Horehounds is a labiate plant; and this, the water +variety, bears flesh coloured flowers, whilst containing a volatile +oil, a resin, a bitter principle, and tannin. Its medicinal action is +astringent, with a reduced frequency of the pulse, and some gentle +sedative effects, so that any tendency to coughing, etc., will be +allayed. Half-an-ounce of the plant to a pint of boiling water will +make the infusion. + + + +HORSE RADISH (_Radix_, a Root). + +The Horse Radish of our gardens is a cultivated cruciferous plant of +which the fresh root is eaten, when scraped, as a condiment to +correct the richness of our national roast beef. This plant grows wild +in many parts of the country, particularly about rubbish, and the +sides of ditches; yet it is probably an introduction, [270] and not a +native. Its botanical name, _Cochlearia armoracia_, implies a +resemblance between its leaves and an old-fashioned spoon, +_cochleare_; also that the most common place of its growth is _ar_, +near, _mor_, the sea. + +Our English vernacular styles the plant "a coarse root," or a "Horse +radish," as distinguished from the eatable radish (root), the +_Raphanus sativus_. Formerly it was named Mountain Radish, and +Great Raifort. This is said to be one of the five bitter herbs ordered +to be eaten by the Jews during the Feast of the Passover, the other +four being Coriander, Horehound, Lettuce, and Nettle. + +Not a few fatal cases have occurred of persons being poisoned by +taking Aconite root in mistake for a stick of Horse radish, and eating +it when scraped. But the two roots differ materially in shape, colour, +and taste, so as to be easily discriminated: furthermore the leaves of +the Aconite--supposing them to be attached to the root--are not to be +mistaken for those of any other plant, being completely divided to +their base into five wedge-shaped lobes, which are again sub-divided +into three. Squire says it seems incredible that the Aconite +Root should be mistaken for Horse Radish unless we remember that +country folk are in the habit of putting back again into the ground +Horse Radish which has been scraped, until there remain only the +crown and a remnant of the root vanishing to a point, these bearing +resemblance to the tap root of Aconite. + +The fresh root of the Horse radish is a powerful stimulant by reason +of its ardent and pungent volatile principle, whether it be taken as a +medicament, or be applied externally to any part of the body. When +scraped it exhales a nose-provoking odour, and possesses [271] a +hot biting taste, combined with a certain sweetness: but on exposure +to the air it quickly turns colour, and loses its volatile strength; +likewise, it becomes vapid, and inert by being boiled. The root is +expectorant, antiscorbutic, and, if taken at all freely, emetic. It +contains a somewhat large proportion of sulphur, as shown by the +black colour assumed by metals with which it comes into touch. +Hence it promises to be of signal use for relieving chronic +rheumatism, and for remedying scurvy. + +Taken in sauce with oily fish or rich fatty viands, scraped Horse +radish acts as a corrective spur to complete digestion, and at the +same time it will benefit a relaxed sore throat, by contact during the +swallowing. In facial neuralgia scraped Horse radish applied as a +poultice, proves usefully beneficial: and for the same purpose some +of the fresh scrapings may be profitably held in the hand of the +affected side, which hand will become in a short time bloodlessly +benumbed, and white. + +When sliced across with a knife the root of the Horse radish will +exude some drops of a sweet juice which may be rubbed with +advantage on rheumatic, or palsied limbs. Also an infusion of the +sliced root in milk, almost boiling, and allowed to cool, makes an +excellent and safe cosmetic; or the root may be infused for a longer +time in cold milk, if preferred, for use with a like purpose in view. +Towards the end of the last century Horse radish was known in +England as Red cole, and in the previous century it was eaten +habitually at table, sliced, with vinegar. + +Infused in wine the root stimulates the whole nervous system, and +promotes perspiration, whilst acting likewise as a diuretic. For +rheumatic neuralgia [272] it is almost a specific, and for palsy it has +often proved of service. Our druggists prepare a "compound spirit of +Horse radish," made with the sliced fresh root, orange peel, nutmeg, +and spirit of wine. This proves of effective use in strengthless, +languid indigestion, as well as for chronic rheumatism; it stimulates +the stomach, and promotes the digestive secretions. From one to two +teaspoonfuls may be taken two or three times in the day, with half a +wineglassful of water, at the end of a principal meal, or a few +minutes after the meal. An infusion of the root made with boiling +water and taken hot readily proves a stimulating emetic. Until cut or +bruised the root is inodorous; but fermentation then begins, and +develops from the essential oil an ammoniacal odour and a pungent +hot bitter taste which were not pre-existing. + +Chemically the Horse radish contains a volatile oil, identical with +that of mustard, being highly diffusible and pungent by reason of its +"myrosin." One drop of this volatile oil will suffice to odorise the +atmosphere of a whole room, and, if swallowed with any freedom, it +excites vomiting. Other constituents of the root are a bitter resin, +sugar, starch, gum, albumen, and acetates. + +A mixture of the fresh juice, with vinegar, if applied externally, +will prove generally of service for removing freckles. + +Bergius alleges that by cutting the root into very small pieces +without bruising it, and then swallowing a tablespoonful of these +fragments every morning without chewing them, for a month, a cure +has been effected in chronic rheumatism, which had seemed +otherwise intractable. + +For loss of the voice and relaxed sore throat the [273] infusion of +Horse radish makes an excellent gargle; or it may be concentrated in +the form of a syrup, and mixed for the same use--a teaspoonful, with +a wine-glassful of cold water. + +Gerard said of the root: "If bruised and laid to the part grieved with +the sciatica, gout, joyntache, or the hard swellings of the spleen and +liver, it doth wonderfully help them all." If the scraped root be +macerated in vinegar, it will form a mixture (which may be +sweetened with glycerine to the taste) very effective against +whooping cough. In pimply acne of the skin, to touch each papula +with some of the Compound Spirit of Horse Radish now and again +will soon effect a general cure of the ailment. + + + +HOUSE LEEK (Crassulaceoe). + +The House Leek (_Sempervivum tectorum_), or "never dying" +flower of our cottage roofs, which is commonly known also as +Stone-crop, grows plentifully on walls and the tops of small +buildings throughout Great Britain, in all country districts. It is +distinguished by its compact rose-shaped arrangement of seagreen +succulent leaves lying sessile in a somewhat flattened manner, and +by its popularity among country folk on account of these bland juicy +leaves, and its reputed protective virtues. It possesses a remarkable +tenacity of life, _quem sempervivam dicunt quoniam omni tempore +viret_, this being in allusion to its prolonged vitality; for which +reason it is likewise called Ayegreen, and Sengreen (_semper_, +green). + +History relates that a botanist tried hard for eighteen months to dry a +plant of the House Leek for his herbarium, but failed in this object. +He afterwards restored it to its first site when it grew again as if +nothing had interfered with its ordinary life. + +[274] The plant was dedicated of old to Thor, or Jupiter, and +sometimes to the Devil. It bore the titles of Thor's beard, Jupiter's +eye, Joubarb, and Jupiter's beard, from its massive inflorescence +which resembles the sculptured beard of Jove; though a more recent +designation is St. George's beard. + + "Quem sempervivam dicunt quoniam viret omni + Tempore--'Barba Jovis' vulgari more vocatur, + Esse refert similem predictoe Plinius istam." + _Macer_. + +The Romans took great pleasure in the House Leek, and grew it in +vases set before the windows of their houses. They termed it +_Buphthalmon_, _Zoophthalmon_, and _Stergethron_, as one of the +love medicines; it being further called _Hypogeson_, from growing +under the eaves; likewise _Ambrosia_ and _Ameramnos_. The plant +is indigenous to the Greek Islands, being sometimes spoken of as +"Imbreke" and "Home Wort." + +It has been largely planted about the roofs of small houses +throughout the country, particularly in Scotland, because supposed +to guard against lightning and thunderstorms; likewise as protective +against the enchantments of sorcerers; and, in a more utilitarian +spirit, as preservative against decay. Hence the House Leek +is known as Thunderbeard, and in Germany _Donnersbart_ or +_Donderbloem_, from "Jupiter the thunderer." + +The English name House Leek denotes _leac_ (Anglo-Saxon) a +plant growing on the house; and another appellation of its genus, +sedum, comes from the Latin _sedare_, to soothe, and subdue +inflammations, etc. + +The thick leaves contain an abundant acidulous astringent juice, +which is mucilaginous, and affords malic acid, identical with that of +the Apple. This juice, in a dose of from one to three drams, has +proved [275] useful in dysentery, and in some convulsive diseases. +Galen extolled it as a capital application for erysipelas and shingles. +Dioscorides praised it for weak and inflamed eyes, but in large +doses it is emetic and purgative. + +In rural districts the bruised leaves of the fresh plant or its juice +are often applied to burns, scalds, contusions, and sore legs, or to +scrofulous ulcers; as likewise for chronic skin diseases, and +enlarged or cancerous lymphatic glands. By the Dutch the leaves are +cultivated with a dietetic purpose for mixing in their salads. + +With honey the juice assuages the soreness and ulcerated condition +within the mouth in thrush. Gerard says: "The juice being gently +rubbed on any place stung by nettles, or bees, or bitten by any +venomous creature, doth presently take away the pain. Being +applied to the temples and forehead it easeth also the headache and +distempered heat of the brain through want of sleep." + +The juice, moreover, is excellently helpful for curing corns and +warts, if applied from day to day after they have been scraped. As +Parkinson teaches, "the juice takes away cornes from the toes and +feet if they be bathed therewith every day, and at night emplastered +as it were with the skin of the same House Leek." + +The plant may be readily made to cover all the roof of a building by +sticking on the offsets with a little moist earth, or cowdung. It bears +purple flowers, and its leaves are fringed at their edges, being +succulent and pulpy. Thus the erect gay-looking blossoms, in +contrast to the light green foliage arranged in the form of full blown +double roses, lend a picturesque appearance to the roof of even a +cow-byre, or a hovel. + +[276] The House Leek (_Sedum majus_), and the Persicaria Water-pepper +(Arsmart), if their juices be boiled together, will cure a +diarrhoea, however obstinate, or inveterate. The famous empirical +_anti-Canceroso nostrum_ of Count Mattaei is authoritatively said to +consist of the _Sedum acre_ (Betony stone-crop), the _Sempervivum +tectorum_ (House Leek), _Sedum telephium_ (Livelong), the +_Matricaria_ (Feverfew), and the _Nasturtium Sisymbrium_ (Water-cress). + +The _Sedum Telephium_ (Livelong, or Orpine), called also +Roseroot and Midsummer Men, is the largest British species of +Stone-crop. Being a plant of augury its leaves are laid out in pairs +on St. John's Eve, these being named after courting couples. When +the leaves are freshly assorted those which keep together promise +well for their namesakes, and those which fall apart, the reverse. + +The special virtues of this _Sedum_ are supposed to have been +discovered by Telephus, the son of Hercules. Napoleon, at St. +Helena, was aware of its anti-cancerous reputation, which was +firmly believed in Corsica. The plant contains lime, sulphur, +ammonia, and (perhaps) mercury. It remains long alive when hung +up in a room. The designation Orpine has become perversely +applied to this plant which bears pink blossoms, the word having +been derived from _Orpin_, gold pigment, a yellow sulphuret of the +metal arsenic, and it should appertain exclusively to yellow flowers. +The Livelong _Sedum_ was formerly named Life Everlasting. It +serves to keep away moths. + +Doctors have found that the expulsive vomiting provoked by doses +of the _Sedum acre_ (Betony stone-crop), will serve in diphtheria to +remove such false membrane clinging in patches to the throat and +tonsils, [277] as threatens suffocation: and after this release +afforded by copious vomiting, the diphtheritic foci are prevented +from forming again. + +The _Sedum Acre_ (or Biting Stone-crop) is also named Pepper +crop, being a cyme, or head of flowers, which furnishes a pungent +taste like that of pepper. This further bears the names of Ginger (in +Norfolk), Jack of the Buttery, Gold Dust, Creeping Tom, Wall +Pepper, Pricket or Prick Madam, Gold Chain, and Biting Mouse +Tail. It was formerly said "the savages of Caledonia use this plant +for removing the sloughs of cancer." + +The herb serves admirably to make a gargle for scurvy of the gums, +and a lotion for scrofulous, or syphilitic ulcers. The leaves are thick +and very acrid, being crowded together. This and the _Sedums +album_ and _reflexum_ were ingredients in a famous worm-expelling +medicine, or _theriac_ (treacle), which conferred the title +"Jack of the Buttery," as a corruption of "_Bot. theriaque_." + +The several Stone-crops are so named from _crop_, a top, or bunch +of flowers, these plants being found chiefly in tufts upon walls or +roofs. From their close growth originally on their native rocks they +have acquired the generic title of _Sedum_, from _sedere_ (to sit). + + + +HYSSOP. + +The cultivated Hyssop, now of frequent occurrence in the herb-bed, +and a favourite plant there because of its fragrance, belongs to the +labiate order, and possesses cordial qualities which give it rank as a +Simple. It has pleasantly odorous striped leaves which vary in +colour, and possess a camphoraceous odour, with a warm aromatic +bitter taste. This is of comparatively recent introduction into our +gardens, not having been [278] cultivated until Gerard's time, about +1568, and not being a native English herb. + +The _Ussopos_ of Dioscorides, was named from _azob_, a holy +herb, because used for cleansing sacred places. Hence it is alluded +to in this sense scripturally: "Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be +clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm li. 7). +Solomon wrote "of all trees, from the Cedar in Lebanon to the +Hyssop that springeth out of the wall." The healing virtues of the +plant are due to a particular volatile oil which admirably promotes +expectoration in bronchial catarrh and asthma. Hyssop tea is a +grateful drink well adapted to improve the tone of a feeble stomach, +being brewed with the green tops of the herb. The same parts of the +plant are sometimes boiled in soup to be given for asthma. The +leaves and flowers are of a warm pungent taste, and of an agreeable +aromatic smell; therefore if the tops and blossoms are reduced to a +powder and added to cold salad herbs they give a comforting cordial +virtue. + +There was formerly made a distilled water of Hyssop, which may +still be had from some druggists, it being deemed a good pectoral +medicine. In America an infusion of the leaves is used externally for +the relief of muscular rheumatism, as also for bruises and +discoloured contusions. The herb was sometimes called Rosemary +in the East, and was hung up to afford protection from the evil eye, +as well as to guard against witches. + +To make Hyssop tea, one drachm of the herb should be infused in a +pint of boiling water, and allowed to become cool. Then a +wineglassful is to be given as a dose two or three times in the day. + +Of the essential oil of Hyssop, from one to two drops [279] should +be the dose. Pliny said: "Hyssop mixed with figs, purges; with +honey, vomits." If the herb be steeped in boiling water and applied +hot to the part, it will quickly remove the blackness consequent +upon a bruise or blow, especially in the case of "black" or +blood-shot eyes. + +Parkinson says that in his day "the golden hyssop was of so pleasant +a colour that it provoked every gentlewoman to wear them in their +heads, and on their arms with as much delight as many fine flowers +can give." The leaves are striped conspicuously with white or +yellow; for which reason, and because of their fragrance, the herb is +often chosen to be planted on graves. The green herb, bruised and +applied, will heal cuts promptly. Its tea will assist in promoting the +monthly courses for women. Hyssop grows wild in middle and +southern Europe. + +The Hedge Hyssop (_Gratiola officinalis_), or Water Hyssop, is +quite a different plant from the garden pot-herb, and belongs to the +scrofula-curing order, with far more active medicinal properties than +the Hyssop proper. The commonly recognized Hedge Hyssop bears +a pale yellow, or a pale purple flower, like that of the Foxglove; and +the whole plant has a very bitter taste. A medicinal tincture (H.) is +made from the entire herb, of which from eight to ten drops may be +taken with a tablespoonful of cold water three times in the day. It +will afford relief against nervous weakness and shakiness, such as +occur after an excessive use of coffee or tobacco. The title +"gratiola," is from _dei gratia_, "by the grace of God." + +The juice of the plant purges briskly, and may be usefully employed +in some forms of dropsy. Its decoction is milder of action, and +proves beneficial [280] in cases of jaundice. In France the plant is +cultivated as a perfume, and it is said to be an active ingredient in +the famous _Eau medicinale_ for gout. + +Of the dried leaves from five to twenty-five grains will act as a +drastic vermifuge to expel worms. The root resembles ipecacuanha +in its effects, and in moderate quantities, as a powder or decoction, +helps to stay bloody fluxes and purgings. The flowers are sometimes +of a blood-red hue, and the whole plant contains a special essential +oil. + +"Whoso taketh," says Parkinson, "but one scruple of _Gratiola_ +(Hedge Hyssop) bruised, shall perceive evidently his effectual +operation and virtue in purging mightily, and that in great +abundance, watery, gross, and slimy tumours." _Caveat qui +sumpserit_. On the principle of affinities, small diluted doses of the +tincture, or decoction, or of the dried leaves, prove curative in cases +of fluxes from the lower bowels, where irritation within the +fundament is frequent, and where there is considerable nervous +exhaustion, especially in chronic cases of this sort. + + + +IVY, Common (_Araliaceoe_). + +The clergyman of fiction in the sixth chapter of Dickens' memorable +_Pickwick_, sings certain verses which he styles "indifferent" (the +only verse, by the way, to be found in all that great writer's +stories), and which relate to the Ivy, beginning thus:-- + + "Oh! a dainty plant is the Ivy green, + That creepeth o'er ruins old." + +The well known common Ivy (_Hedera helix_), which clothes the +trunks of trees and the walls of old buildings so picturesquely +throughout Great Britain, gets its botanical name most probably +from the Celtic word _hoedra _[281] "a cord," or from the Greek +_hedra_ "a seat," because sitting close, and its vernacular title from +_iw_ "green," which is also the parent of "yew." In Latin it is termed +_abiga_, easily corrupted to "iva"; and the Danes knew it as +Winter-grunt, or Winter-green, to which appellation it may still lay a +rightful claim, being so conspicuously green at the coldest times of +the year when trees are of themselves bare and brown. + +By the ancients the Ivy was dedicated to Bacchus, whose statues +were crowned with a wreath of the plant, under the name Kissos, +and whose worshippers decorated themselves with its garlands. The +leaves have a peculiar faintly nauseous odour, whilst they are +somewhat bitter, and rough of taste. The fresh berries are rather +acid, and become bitter when dried. They are much eaten by our +woodland birds in the spring. + +A crown of Ivy was likewise given to the classic poets of +distinction, and the Greek priests presented a wreath of the same to +newly married persons. The custom of decorating houses and +churches with Ivy at Christmastide, was forbidden by one of the +early councils on account of its Pagan associations. Prynne wrote +with reference to this decree:-- + + "At Christmas men do always Ivy get, + And in each corner of the house it set, + But why make use then of that Bacchus weed? + Because they purpose Bacchus-like to feed." + +The Ivy, though sending out innumerable small rootlets, like +suckers, in every direction (which are really for support) is not a +parasite. The plant is rooted in the soil and gets its sustenance +therefrom. + +Chemically, its medicinal principles depend on the special balsamic +resin contained in the leaves and stems, as well as constituting the +aromatic gum. + +[282] Ivy flowers have little or no scent, but their yield of nectar is +particularly abundant. + +When the bark of the main stems is wounded, a gum will exude, and +may be collected: it possesses astringent and mildly aperient +properties. This was at one time included as a medicine in the +Edinburgh _Pharmacopoeia_, but it has now fallen out of such +authoritative use. Its chemical principle is "hederin." The gum is +anti-spasmodic, and promotes the monthly flow of women. + +An infusion of the berries will relieve rheumatism, and a decoction +of the leaves applied externally will destroy vermin in the heads of +children. + +Fresh Ivy leaves will afford signal relief to corns when they shoot, +and are painful. Good John Wesley, who dabbled in "domestic +medicine," and with much sagacity of observation, taught that +having bathed the feet, and cut the corns, and having mashed some +fresh Ivy leaves, these are to be applied: then by repeating the +remedial process for fifteen days the corns will be cured. + +During the Great Plague of London, Ivy berries were given with +some success as possessing antiseptic virtues, and to induce +perspiration, thus effecting a remission of the symptoms. Cups made +from Ivywood have been employed from which to drink for disorders +of the spleen, and for whooping cough, their method of use +being to be kept refilled from time to time with water (cold or +hot), which the patient is to constantly sip. + +Ivy gum dissolved in vinegar is a good filling for a hollow tooth +which is causing neuralgic toothache: and an infusion of the leaves +made with cold water, will, after standing for twenty-four hours, +relieve sore and smarting eyes if used rather frequently as a lotion. +A decoction of the leaves and berries will mitigate a [283] severe +headache, such as that which follows hard drinking over night. And +it may have come about that from some rude acquaintance with this +fact the bacchanals adopted goblets carved out of Ivywood. + +This plant is especially hardy, and suffers but little from the smoke +and the vitiated air of a manufacturing town. Chemically, such +medicinal principles as the Ivy possesses depend on the special +balsamic resin contained in its leaves and stems; as well as on its +particular gum. Bibulous old Bacchus was always represented in +classic sculpture with a wreath of Ivy round his laughing brows; and +it has been said that if the foreheads of those whose potations run +deep were bound with frontlets of Ivy the nemesis of headache +would be prevented thereby. But legendary lore teaches rather that +the infant Bacchus was an object of vengeance to Juno, and that the +nymphs of Nisa concealed him from her wrath, with trails of Ivy as +he lay in his cradle. + +At one time our taverns bore over their doors the sign of an Ivybush, +to indicate the excellence of the liquor supplied within. From which +fact arose the saying that "good wine needs no bush," "_Vinum +vendibile hedera non est opus_." And of this text Rosalind cleverly +avails herself in _As You Like It_, "If it be true" says she, "that +good wine needs no bush,"--"'tis true that a good play needs no +epilogue." + + + +IVY (Ground). + +This common, and very familiar little herb, with its small Ivy-like +aromatic leaves, and its striking whorls of dark blue blossoms +conspicuous in early spring time, comes into flower pretty +punctually about the third or fourth of April, however late or early +the season may be. Its name is attributed to the resemblance borne +[284] by its foliage to that of the true Ivy (_Hedera helix_). The +whole plant possesses a balsamic odour, and an aromatic taste, due +to its particular volatile oil, and its characteristic resin, as a +fragrant labiate herb. It remaineth green not only in summer, but +also in winter, at all times of the year. + +From the earliest days it has been thought endowed with singular +curative virtues chiefly against nervous headaches, and for the relief +of chronic bronchitis. Ray tells of a remarkable instance in the +person of a Mr. Oldacre who was cured of an obstinate chronic +headache by using the juice or the powdered leaves of the Ground +Ivy as snuff: _Succus hujus plantoe naribus attractus cephalalgiam +etiam vehementissimam et inveteratam non lenit tantum, sed et +penitus aufert_; and he adds in further praise of the herb: +_Medicamentum hoc non satis potest laudari; si res ex usu +oestimarentur, auro oequiparandum_. An infusion of the fresh herb, +or, if made in winter, from its dried leaves, and drank under the +name of Gill tea, is a favourite remedy with the poor for coughs of +long standing, accompanied with much phlegm. One ounce of the +herb should be infused in a pint of boiling water, and a wineglassful +of this when cool is to be taken three or four times in the day. The +botanical name of the plant is _Nepeta glechoma_, from _Nepet_, in +Tuscany, and the Greek _gleechon_, a mint. + +Resembling Ivy in miniature, the leaves have been used in weaving +chaplets for the dead, as well as for adorning the Alestake erected as +a sign at taverns. For this reason, and because formerly in vogue for +clearing the ale drank by our Saxon ancestors, the herb acquired the +names of Ale hoof, and Tun hoof ("tun" signifying a garden, and +"hoof" or "hufe" a coronal or chaplet), [285] or Hove, "because," +says Parkinson, "it spreadeth as a garland upon the ground." Other +titles which have a like meaning are borne by the herb, such as "Gill +go by the ground," and Haymaids, or Hedgemaids; the word "gill" +not only relating to the fermentation of beer, but meaning also a +maid. This is shown in the saying, "Every Jack should have his Gill, +or Jill"; and the same notion was conveyed by the sobriquet +"haymaids." Again in some districts the Ground Ivy is called "Lizzy +run up the hedge," "Cat's-foot" (from the soft flower heads), "Devil's +candlesticks," "Aller," and in Germltny "Thundervine," also in the +old English manuscripts "Hayhouse," "Halehouse," and "Horshone." +The whole plant was employed by our Saxon progenitors to clarify +their so-called beer, before hops had been introduced for this +purpose; and the place of refreshment where the beverage was sold +bore the name of a "Gill house." + +In _A Thousand Notable Things_, it is stated, "The juice of Ground +Ivy sniffed up into the nostrils out of a spoon, or a saucer, purgeth +the head marvellously, and taketh away the greatest and oldest pain +thereof that is: the medicine is worth gold, though it is very cheap." + +Small hairy tumours may often be seen in the autumn on the leaves +of the Ground Ivy occasioned (says Miss Pratt) by the punctures of +the _cynips glechomoe_ from which these galls spring. They have a +strong flavour of the plant, and are sometimes eaten by the +peasantry of France. The volatile oil on which the special virtues of +the Ground Ivy depend exudes from small glandular dots on the +under surface of the leaves. This is the active ingredient of Gill tea +made by country persons, and sweetened with honey, sugar, or +liquorice. Also the expressed juice of the herb is [286] equally +effectual, being diaphoretic, diuretic, and somewhat astringent +against bleedings. + +Gerard says that in his day "the Ground Ivy was commended against +the humming sound, and ringing noises of the ears by being put into +them, and for those that are hard of hearing. Also boiled in mutton +broth it helpeth weak and aching backs." Dr. Thornton tells us in his +_Herbal _(1810) that "Ground Ivy was at one time amongst the +'cries' of London, for making a tea to purify the blood," and Dr. +Pitcairn extolled this plant before all other vegetable medicines for +the cure of consumption. Perhaps the name Ground Ivy was +transferred at first to the _Nepeta_ from the Periwinkle, about which +we read in an old distich of Stockholm:-- + + "Parvenke is an erbe green of colour, + In time of May he bereth blo flour, + His stalkes are so feynt and feye + That nevermore groweth he heye: + On the grounde he rynneth and growe + As doth the erbe that _hyth tunhowe_; + The lef is thicke, schinende and styf + As is the grene Ivy leef: + Uniche brod, and nerhand rownde; + Men call it the _Ivy of the grounde_." + +In the _Organic Materia Medica_ of Detroit, U.S.A., 1890, it is +stated, "Painters use the Ground Ivy (_Nepeta glechoma_) as a +remedy for, and a preventive of lead colic." An infusion is given +(the ounce to a pint of boiling water)--one wineglassful for a dose +repeatedly. In the relief which it affords as a snuff made from the +dried leaves to congestive headache of a passive continued sort, this +benefit is most probably due partly to the special titillating aroma of +the plant, and partly to the copious defluxion of mucus and tears +from the nasal passages, and the eyes. + + + +[287] JOHN'S WORT. + +The wild Saint John's Wort (_Hypericum peiforatum_) is a frequent +plant in our woods and hedgebanks, having leaves studded with +minute translucent vesicles, which seem to perforate their structure, +and which contain a terebinthinate oil of fragrant medicinal virtues. + +The name _Hypericum_ is derived from the two Greek words, +_huper eikon_, "over an apparition," because of its supposed power +to exorcise evil spirits, or influences; whence it was also formerly +called _Fuga doemoniorum_, "the Devil's Scourge," "the Grace of +God," "the Lord God's Wonder Plant." and some other names of a +like import, probably too, because found to be of curative use +against insanity. Again, it used to be entitled _Hexenkraut_, and +"Witch's Herb," on account of its reputed magical powers. +Matthiolus said, _Scripsere quidam Hypericum adeo odisse +doemones, ut ejus suffitu statim avolent_, "Certain writers have said +that the St. John's Wort is so detested by evil spirits that they fly +off at a whiff of its odour." + +Further names of the herb are "Amber," "Hundred Holes," and _Sol +terrestris_, the "Terrestrial Sun," because it was believed that all +the spirits of darkness vanish in its presence, as at the rising of +the sun. + +For children troubled with incontinence of urine at night, and who +wet their beds, an infusion, or tea, of the St. John's Wort is an +admirable preventive medicine, which will stop this untoward +infirmity. + +The title St. John's Wort is given, either because the plant blossoms +about St. John's day, June 24th, or because the red-coloured sap +which it furnishes was thought to resemble and signalise the blood +of St. John the Baptist. Ancient writers certainly attributed a host of +virtues to this plant, especially for the cure of hypochondriasis, and +insanity. The red juice, or "red [288] oil," of _Hypericum_ made +effective by hanging for some months in a glass vessel exposed to +the sun, is esteemed as one of the most popular and curative +applications in Europe for excoriations, wounds, and bruises. + +The flowers also when rubbed together between the fingers yield a +red juice, so that the plant has obtained the title of _Sanguis +hominis_, human blood. Furthermore, this herb is _Medicamentum +in mansa intus sumptum_, "to be chewed for its curative effects." + +And for making a medicinal infusion, an ounce of the herb should +be used to a pint of boiling water. This may be given beneficially +for chronic catarrhs of the lungs, the bowels, or the urinary +passages, Dr. Tuthill Massy considered the St. John's Wort, by virtue +of its healing properties for injuries of the spinal cord, and its +dependencies, the vulnerary "arnica" of the organic nervous system. +On the doctrine of signatures, because of its perforated leaves, and +because of the blood-red juice contained in the capsules which it +bears, this plant was formerly deemed a most excellent specific for +healing wounds, and for stopping a flow of blood:-- + + "Hypericon was there--the herb of war, + Pierced through with wounds, and seamed with many a scar." + +For lacerated nerves, and injuries by violence to the spinal cord, a +warm lotion should be employed, made with one part of the tincture +to twenty parts of water, comfortably hot. A salve compounded +from the flowers, and known as St. John's Wort Salve, is still much +used and valued in English villages. And in several countries the +dew which has fallen on vegetation before daybreak on St. John's +morning, is gathered with great care. It is thought to protect the eyes +from all harm throughout the ensuing year, and the Venetians [289] +say it renews the roots of the hair on the baldest of heads. Peasants +in the Isle of Man, are wont to think that if anyone treads on the St. +John's Wort after sunset, a fairy horse will arise from the earth, and +will carry him about all night, leaving him at sunrise wherever he +may chance to be. + +The plant has a somewhat aromatic odour; and from the leaves and +flowers, when crushed, a lemon-like scent is exhaled, whilst their +taste is bitter and astringent. The flowers furnish for fabrics of silk +or wool a dye of deep yellow. Those parts of the plant were alone +ordered by the London _Pharmacopoeia_ to be used for supplying +in chief the medicinal, oily, resinous extractive of the plant. + +The juice gives a red colour to the spirit of wine with which it is +mixed, and to expressed oils, being then known as the _Hypericum_ +"red oil" mentioned above. The flowers contain tannin, and +"_Hypericum_ red." + +Moreover, this _Hypericum_ oil made from the tops is highly useful +for healing bed sores, and is commended as excellent for ulcers. A +medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared with spirit of wine from the +entire fresh plant, collected when flowering, or in seed, and this +proves of capital service for remedying injuries to the spinal cord, +both by being given internally, and by its external use. It has been +employed in like manner with benefit for lock-jaw. The dose of the +tincture is from five to eight drops with a spoonful of water two or +three times a day. + +This plant may be readily distinguished from others of the +Hypericaceous order by its decidedly two edged stem. Sprigs of it +are stuck at the present time in Wales over every outer door on the +eve of St. John's day; [290] and in Scotland, milking is done on the +herb to dispel the malignant enchantments which cause ropy milk. + +Among the Christian saints St. John represents light; and the flowers +of this plant were taken as a reminder of the beneficent sun. + +Tutsan is a large flowered variety (_Hypericum androsoemum_) of +the St. John's Wort, named from the French _toute saine_, or "heal +all," because of its many curative virtues; and is common in Devon +and Cornwall. It possesses the same properties as the perforate sort, +but yields a stronger and more camphoraceous odour when the +flowers and the seed vessels are bruised. A tincture made from this +plant, as well as that made from the perforate St. John's Wort, has +been used with success to cure melancholia, and its allied forms of +insanity. The seed-capsules of the Tutsan are glossy and berry-like; +the leaves retain their strong resinous odour after being dried. + +Tutsan is called also provincially "Woman's Tongue," once set +g(r)owing it never stops; and by country folk in Ireland the "Rose of +Sharon." Its botanical name Androsoemum, _andros aima_, man's +blood, derived from the red juice and oil, probably suggested the +popular title of Tutsan, "heal all," often corrupted to "Touchen leaf." + +Gerard gives a receipt, as a great secret, for making a compound oil +of _Hypericum_, "than which," he says, "I know that in the world +there is no better; no, not the natural balsam itself." "The plant," he +adds, "is a singular remedy for the sciatica, provided that the patient +drink water for a day or two after purging." "The leaves laid upon +broken shins and scabbed legs do heal them." + +The whole plant is of a special value for healing [291] punctured +wounds; and its leaves are diuretic. It is handsome and shrubby, +growing to a height of two or three feet. + + + +JUNIPER. + +The Juniper shrub (Arkenthos of the ancients), which is widely +distributed about the world, grows not uncommonly in England as a +stiff evergreen conifer on heathy ground, and bears bluish purple +berries. These have a sweet, juicy, and, presently, bitter, brown +pulp, containing three seeds, and they do not ripen until the second +year. The flowers blossom in May and June. Probably the shrub gets +its name from the Celtic _jeneprus_, "rude or rough." Gerard notes +that "it grows most commonly very low, like unto our ground +furzes." Gum Sandarach, or Pounce, is the product of this tree. + +Medicinally, the berries and the fragrant tops are employed. They +contain "juniperin," sugar, resins, wax, fat, formic and acetic acids, +and malates. The fresh tops have a balsamic odour, and a +carminative, bitterish taste. The berries afford a yellow aromatic oil, +which acts on the kidneys, and gives cordial warmth to the stomach. +Forty berries should yield an ounce of the oil. Steeped in alcohol the +berries make a capital _ratafia_; they are used in several +confections, as well as for flavouring gin, being put into a spirit +more common than the true geneva of Holland. The French obtain +from these berries the _Genievre_ (_Anglice_ "geneva"), from +which we have taken our English word "gin." In France, Savoy, and +Italy, the berries are largely collected, and are sometimes eaten as +such, fifteen or twenty at a time, to stimulate the kidneys; or they +are taken in powder for the same [292] purpose. Being fragrant of +smell, they have a warm, sweet, pungent flavour, which becomes +bitter on further mastication. + +Our British _Pharmacopoeia_ orders a spirit of Juniper to be made +for producing the like diuretic action in some forms of dropsy, so as +to carry off the effused fluid by the kidneys. A teaspoonful of this +spirit may be taken, well diluted with water, several times in the +day. Of the essential oil the dose is from two to three drops on +sugar, or with a tablespoonful of milk. These remedies are of service +also in catarrh of the urinary passages; and if applied externally to +painful local swellings, whether rheumatic, or neuralgic, the bruised +berries afford prompt and lasting relief. + +An infusion or decoction of the Juniper wood is sometimes given +for the same affections, but less usefully, because the volatile oil +becomes dissipated by the boiling heat. A "rob," or inspissated juice +of the berries, is likewise often employed. Gerard said: "A decoction +thereof is singular against an old cough." Gin is an ordinary malt +spirit distilled a second time, with the addition of some Juniper +berries. Formerly these berries were added to the malt in grinding, +so that the spirit obtained therefrom was flavoured with the berries +from the first, and surpassed all that could be made by any other +method. At present gin is cheaply manufactured by leaving out the +berries altogether, and giving the spirit a flavour by distilling it +with a proportion of oil of turpentine, which resembles the Juniper +berries in taste; and as this sophistication is less practised in +Holland than elsewhere, it is best to order "Hollands," with water, +as a drink for dropsical persons. By the use of Juniper berries Dr. +Mayern cured some patients who were deplorably ill with [293] epilepsy +when all other remedies had failed. "Let the patient carry a bag of +these berries about with him, and eat from ten to twenty every +morning for a month or more, whilst fasting. Similarly for flatulent +indigestion the berries may be most usefully given; on the first day, +four berries; on the second, five; on the third, six; on the fourth, +seven; and so on until twelve days, and fifteen berries are reached; +after this the daily dose should be reduced by one berry until only +five are taken in the day; which makes an admirable 'berry-cure.'" +The berries are to be well masticated, and the husks may be +afterwards either rejected or swallowed. + +Juniper oil, used officinally, is distilled from the full-grown, +unripe, green fruit. The Laplanders almost adore the tree, and they +make a decoction of its ripe berries, when dried, to be drunk as tea, +or coffee; whilst the Swedish peasantry prepare from the fresh berries +a fermented beverage, which they drink cold, and an extract, which +they eat with their bread for breakfast as we do butter. + +Simon Pauli assures us these berries have performed wonders in +curing the stone, he having personally treated cases thus, with +incredible success. Schroder knew a nobleman of Germany, who +freed himself from the intolerable symptoms of stone, by a constant +use of these berries. Evelyn called them the "Forester's Panacea," +"one of the most universal remedies in the world to our crazy +Forester." Astrological botanists advise to pull the berries when the +sun is in Virgo. + +We read in an old tract (London, 1682) on _The use of Juniper and +Elder berries in our Publick Houses_: "The simple decoction of +these berries, sweetened with a little sugar candy, will afford liquors +so pleasant to the eye, so grateful to the palate, and so beneficial to +the [294] body, that the wonder is they have not been courted and +ushered into our Publick Houses, so great are the extraordinary +beauty and vertues of these berries." "One ounce, well cleansed, +bruised, and mashed, will be enough for almost a pint of water. +When they are boiled together the vessel must be carefully stopt, +and after the boiling is over one tablespoonful of sugar candy must +be put in." + +From rifts which occur spontaneously in the bark of the shrubs in +warm countries issues a gum resembling frankincense. This gum, as +Gerard teaches, "drieth ulcers which are hollow, and filleth them +with flesh if they be cast thereon." "Being mixed with oil of roses, it +healeth chaps of the hands and feet." Bergius said "the lignum +(wood) of Juniper is _diureticum, sudorificum, mundificans_; the +_bacca_ (berry), _diuretica, nutriens, diaphoretica_." In Germany +the berries are added to _sauerkraut_ for flavouring it. + +Virgil thought the odour exhaled by the Juniper tree noxious, and he +speaks of the _Juniperis gravis umbra_:-- + + "Surgamus! solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra; + Juniperis gravis umbra; nocent et frugibus umbrae." + _Eclog. X. v._ 75. + +But it is more scientific to suppose that the growth of Juniper trees +should be encouraged near dwellings, because of the balsamic and +antiseptic odours which they constantly exhale. The smoke of the +leaves and wood was formerly believed to drive away "all infection +and corruption of the aire which bringeth the plague, and such like +contagious diseases." + +Sprays of Juniper are frequently strewn over floors of apartments, so +as to give out when trodden down, their agreeable odour which is +supposed to promote [295] sleep. Queen Elizabeth's bedchamber +was sweetened with their fumes. In the French hospitals it is +customary to burn Juniper berries with Rosemary for correcting +vitiated air, and to prevent infection. + +On the Continent the Juniper is regarded with much veneration, +because it is thought to have saved the life of the Madonna, and of +the infant Jesus, whom she hid under a Juniper bush when flying +into Egypt from the assassins of Herod. + +Virgil alludes to the Juniper as Cedar:-- + + "Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum." + _Georgic_. + + "But learn to burn within your sheltering rooms + Sweet Juniper." + +Its powerful odour is thought to defeat the keen scent of the hound; +and a hunted hare when put to extremities will seek a safe retreat +under cover of its branches. Elijah was sheltered from the +persecutions of King Ahab by the Juniper tree; since which time it +has been always regarded as an asylum, and a symbol of succour. + +From the wood of the _Juniperus oxycoedrus_; an empyreumatic oil +resembling liquid pitch, is obtained by dry distillation, this being +named officinally, _Huile de cade_, or _Oleum cadinum_, otherwise +"Juniper tar." It is found to be most useful as an external stimulant +for curing psoriasis and chronic eczema of the skin. A recognised +ointment is made with this and yellow wax, _Unguentum olei +cadini_. + +In Italy stables are popularly thought to be protected by a sprig of +Juniper from demons and thunderbolts, just as we suppose the +magic horseshoe to be protective to our houses and offices. + + + +[296] KNAPWEED (The Lesser). + +Black Knapweed, the _Centaurea nigra_, is a common tough-stemmed +composite weed growing in our meadows and cornfields, being +well known by its heads of dull purple flowers, with brown, +or almost black scales of the outer floral encasement. It is popularly +called Hard heads, Loggerheads, Iron heads, Horse knob, and Bull +weed. + +Dr. Withering relates that a decoction made from these hard heads +has afforded at least a temporary relief in cases of diabetes mellitus, +"by diminishing the quantity of urine, and dispelling the sweetness." + +Its chief chemical constituent _enicin_, is identical with that of the +Blessed thistle, and the Blue bottle, and closely resembles that of the +Dandelion. It has been found useful in strengthless indigestion, +especially when this is complicated with sluggish torpor of the liver. +From half to one ounce of the herb may be boiled in eight fluid +ounces of water, and a small wineglassful be taken for a dose twice +or three times a day. In Bucks young women make use of this +Knapweed for love divination:-- + + "They pull the little blossom threads + From out the Knotweed's button beads, + And put the husk with many a smile + In their white bosoms for a while; + Then, if they guess aright, the swain + Their love's sweet fancies try to gain, + 'Tis said that ere it lies an hour + 'Twill blossom with a second flower." + + + +LAVENDER. + +The Lavender of our gardens, called also Lavender Spike, is a +well-known sweet-smelling shrub, of the Labiate order. It grows wild +in Spain, Piedmont, and [297] the south of France, on waysides, +mountains, and in barren places. The plant was propagated by slips, +or cuttings, and has been cultivated in England since about 1568. +It is produced largely for commercial purposes in Surrey, +Hertfordshire, and Lincoln. The shrub is set in long rows occupying +fields, and yields a profitable fragrant essential oil from the +flowering tops, about one ounce of the oil from sixty terminal +flowering spikes. From these tops also the popular cosmetic +lavender water is distilled. They contain tannin, and a resinous +camphire, which is common to most of the mints affording essential +oils. If a hank of cotton is steeped in the oil of Lavender, and +drained off so as to be hung dry about the neck, it will prevent bugs +and other noxious insects from attacking that part. When mixed with +three-fourths of spirit of turpentine, or spirit of wine, this oil +makes the famous _Oleum spicoe_, formerly much celebrated for curing +old sprains and stiff joints. Lavender oil is likewise of service when +rubbed in externally, for stimulating paralysed limbs--preferring the +sort distilled from the flowering tops to that which is obtained from +the stalks. Internally, the essential oil, or a spirit of Lavender made +therefrom, proves admirably restorative and tonic against faintness, +palpitations of a nervous sort, weak giddiness, spasms, and colic. It +is agreeable to the taste and smell, provokes appetite, raises the +spirits, and dispels flatulence; but the infusion of Lavender tops, if +taken too freely, will cause griping, and colic. In hysteria, palsy, and +similar disorders of debility, and lack of nerve power, the spirit of +Lavender will act as a powerful stimulant; and fomentations with +Lavender in bags, applied hot, will speedily relieve local pains. "It +profiteth them much," says Gerard, "that have the palsy if they be +washed with the distilled water [298] from the Lavender flowers; or +are anointed with the oil made from the flowers and olive oil, in +such manner as oil of roses is used." A dose of the oil is from one to +four drops on sugar, or on a small piece of bread crumb, or in a +spoonful or two of milk. And of the spirit, from half to one +teaspoonful may be taken with two tablespoonfuls of water, hot or +cold, or of milk. The spirit of Lavender is made with one part of the +essential oil to forty-nine parts of spirit of wine. For preparing +distilled Lavender water, the addition of a small quantity of musk +does much to develop the strength of the Lavender's odour and +fragrance. The essential oil of _Lavandula latifolia_, admirably +promotes the growth of the hair when weakly, or falling off. + +By the Greeks the name Nardus is given to Lavender, from Naarda, +a city of Syria, near the Euphrates; and many persons call the plant +"Nard." St. Mark mentions this as Spikenard, a thing of great value +The woman who came to Christ having an alabaster box of ointment +of Spikenard, very precious "brake the box, and poured it on His +head." In Pliny's time blossoms of the nardus sold for a hundred +Roman denarii (or L3 2s. 6d.) the pound. This Lavender or +_Nardus_, was likewise called Asarum by the Romans, because not +used in garlands or chaplets. It was formerly believed that the asp, a +dangerous kind of viper, made Lavender its habitual place of abode, +so that the plant had to be approached with great caution. + +Conserves of Lavender were much used in the time of Gerard, and +desserts may be most pleasantly brought to the table on a service of +Lavender spikes. It is said, on good authority, that the lions and +tigers in our Zoological gardens, are powerfully affected by the +smell of Lavender-water and become docile under its influence. + +[299] The Lavender shrub takes its name from the Latin _lavare_, +"to wash," because the ancients employed it as a perfume. Lavender +tops, when dried, and placed with linen, will preserve it from moths +and other insects. + +The whole plant was at one time considered indispensable in Africa, +_ubi lavandis corporibus Lybes ea utuntur; nec nisi decocto ejus +abluti mane domo egrediuntur_, "where the Libyans make use of it +for washing their bodies, nor ever leave their houses of a morning +until purified by a decoction of the plant." + +In this country the sweet-smelling herb is often introduced for +scenting newly washed linen when it is put by; from which custom +has arisen the expression, "To be laid up in Lavender." During the +twelfth century a washerwoman was called "Lavender," in the North +of England. + +A tea brewed from the flowers is an excellent remedy for headache +from fatigue, or weakness. But Lavender oil is, in too large a dose, a +narcotic poison, and causes death by convulsions. The tincture of +red Lavender is a popular medicinal cordial; and is composed of the +oils of Lavender and rosemary, with cinnamon bark, nutmeg, and +red sandal wood, macerated in spirit of wine for seven days; then a +teaspoonful may be given for a dose in a little water, with excellent +effect, after an indigestible meal, taking the dose immediately when +feeling uneasy, and repeating it after half-an-hour if needed. An old +form of this compound tincture was formerly famous as "Palsy +Drops," it being made from the Lavender, with rosemary, cinnamon, +nutmeg, red sandal wood, and spirit. In some cases of mental +depression and delusions the oil of Lavender proves of real service; +and a few drops of it rubbed on the temples will cure nervous +headache. + +[300] Shakespeare makes Perdita (_Winter's Tale_) class Lavender +among the flowers denoting middle age: + + "Here's flowers for you, + Hot Lavender: Mints: Savory: Marjoram; + The Marigold that goes to bed with the sun, + And with him rises, weeping: these are the flowers + Of middle summer, and I think they are given + To men of middle age." + +There is a broad-leaved variety of the Lavender shrub in France, +which yields three times as much of the essential oil as can be got +from our narrow-leaved plant, but of a second rate quality. + +The Sea Lavender, or Thrift (_Statice limonium_) grows near the +sea, or in salt marshes. It gets its name Statice from the Greek word +_isteemi_ (to stop, or stay), because of its medicinal power to arrest +bleeding. This is the marsh Rosemary, or Ink Root, which contains +(if the root be dried in the air) from fourteen to fifteen per cent. of +tannin. Therefore, its infusion or tincture will prove highly useful to +control bleeding from the lungs or kidneys, as also against +dysentery; and when made into a gargle, for curing an ulcerated sore +throat. + + + +LEMON. + +The Lemon (_Citrus Limonum_) is so common of use in admixing +refreshing drinks, and for its fragrancy of peel, whether for culinary +flavour, or as a delightful perfume, that it may well find a place +among the Simples of a sagacious housewife. Moreover, the +imported fruit, which abounds in our markets, as if to the manner +born, is endowed with valuable medicinal properties which +additionally qualify it for the domestic _Herbarium_. The Lemons +brought to England come chiefly from Sicily, [301] through +Messina and Palermo. Flowers may be found on the lemon tree all +the year round. + +In making lemonade it is a mistake to pour boiling water upon +sliced Lemons, because thus brewing an infusion of the peel, which +is medicinal. The juice should be squeezed into cold water +(previously boiled), adding to a quart of the same the juice of three +lemons, a few crushed strawberries, and the cut up rind of one +Lemon. + +This fruit grows specially at Mentone, in the south of France; and a +legend runs that Eve carried two or three Lemons with her away +from Paradise, wandering about until she came to Mentone, which +she found to be so like the Garden of Eden that she settled there, and +planted her fruit. + +The special dietetic value of Lemons consists in their potash +salts, the citrate, malate, and tartrate, which are respectively +antiscorbutic, and of assistance in promoting biliary digestion. +Each fluid ounce of the fresh juice contains about forty-four +grains of citric acid, with gum, sugar, and a residuum, which yields, +when incinerated, potash, lime, and phosphoric acid. But the +citric acid of the shops is not nearly so preventive or curative +of scurvy as the juice itself. + +The exterior rind furnishes a grateful aromatic bitter; and our word +"zest" signifies really a chip of lemon peel or orange peel used for +giving flavour to liquor. It comes from the Greek verb, "_skizein_," +to divide, or cut up. + +The juice has certain sedative properties whereby it allays hysterical +palpitation of the heart, and alleviates pain caused by cancerous +ulceration of the tongue. Dr. Brandini, of Florence, discovered this +latter property of fresh Lemon juice, through a patient who, when +suffering [302] grievously from that dire disease, found marvellous +relief to the part by casually sucking a lemon to slake his feverish +thirst. But it is a remarkable fact that the acid of Lemons is harmful +and obnoxious to cats, rabbits, and other small animals, because it +lowers the heart's action in these creatures, and liquifies the blood; +whereas, in man it does not diminish the coagulability of the blood, +but proves more useful than any other agent in correcting that thin +impoverished liquidity thereof which constitutes scurvy. Rapin +extols lemons, or citrons, for discomfort of the heart:-- + + "Into an oval form the citrons rolled + Beneath thick coats their juicy pulp unfold: + From some the palate feels a poignant smart, + Which, though they wound the tongue, _yet heal the heart_." + +Throughout Italy, and at Rome, a decoction of fresh Lemons is +extolled as a specific against intermittent fever; for which purpose a +fresh unpeeled Lemon is cut into thin slices, and put into an +earthenware jar with three breakfastcupfuls of cold water, and +boiled down to one cupful, which is strained, the lemon being +squeezed, and the decoction being given shortly before the access of +fever is expected. + +For a restless person of ardent temperament and active plethoric +circulation, a Lemon squash (unsweetened) of not more than half a +tumblerful is a capital sedative; or, a whole lemon may be made hot +on the oven top, being turned from time to time, and being put +presently when soft and moist into a teacup, then by stabbing it +about the juice will be made to escape, and should be drunk hot. If +bruised together with a sufficient quantity of sugar the pips of a +fresh Lemon or Orange will serve admirably against worms in [303] +children. Cut in slices and put into the morning bath, a Lemon +makes it fragrant and doubly refreshing. + +Professor Wilhelm Schmole, a German doctor, has published a work +of some note, in which he advances the theory that fresh Lemon +juice is a kind of _elixir vitae_; and that if a sufficient number of +Lemons be taken daily, life may be indefinitely prolonged. Lemon +juice is decidedly beneficial against jaundice from passive +sluggishness of the biliary functions; it will often serve to stay +bleedings, when ice and astringent styptics have failed; it will prove +useful when swallowed freely against immoderately active monthly +fluxes in women; and when applied externally it signally relieves +cutaneous itching, especially of the genitals. + +Prize-fighters refresh themselves with a fresh cut Lemon between +the rounds when competing in the Ring. Hence has arisen the +common saying, "Take a suck of the Lemon, and at him again." + +For a relaxed sore throat, Lemon juice will help to make a +serviceable gargle. By the heat of the sun it may be reduced to a +solid state. For a cold in the head, if the juice of a ripe Lemon be +squeezed into the palm of the hand, and strongly sniffed into the +nostrils at two or three separate times, a cure will be promoted. +Roast fillet of veal, with stuffing and lemon juice, was beloved by +Oliver Cromwell. + +For heartburn which comes on without having eaten sweet things, it +is helpful to suck a thin slice of fresh Lemon dipped in salt just +after each meal. + +The Chinese practice of rubbing parts severely neuralgic with the +wet surface of a cut Lemon is highly useful. This fruit has been sold +within present recollection at half-a-crown each, and during the +American war at five shillings. + +[304] The hands may be made white, soft, and supple by daily +sponging them with fresh Lemon juice, which further keeps the +nails in good order; and the same may be usefully applied to the +roots of the hair for removing dandriff from the scalp. + +The Candied Peel which we employ as a confection is got from one of +the citrons (a variety of the lemon); whilst another of this tribe is +esteemed for religious purposes in Jewish synagogues. These citrons +are imported into England from the East; and for unblemished +specimens of the latter which reach London, high prices are paid. +One pound sterling is a common sum, and not infrequently as much +as seventy shillings are given for a single "Citron of Law." The fruit +is used at the Feast of Tabernacles according to a command given in +the Book of the Law; it is not of an edible nature, but is handed +round and smelt by the worshippers as they go out, when they +"thank God for all good things, and for the sweet odours He has +given to men." This citron is considered to be almost miraculously +restorative, especially by those who regard it as the "tappnach," +intended in the text, "Comfort me with apples." Ladies of the Orient, +even now, carry a piece of its rind about them in a vinaigrette. + +The citron which furnishes Candied Peel resembles a large juicy +lemon, but without a nipple. + +Virgil said of the fruit generally:-- + + "Media fert tristes succos, tardumque saporem + Felicis mali." + +Fresh Lemon juice will not keep because of its mucilage, which +soon ferments. + +Sidney Smith, in writing about Foston, his remote Country Cure in +Yorkshire, said it is "twelve miles from a Lemon." + + + +[305] LENTIL. + +Among the leguminous plants which supply food for the invalid, +and are endowed with certain qualifications for correcting the +health, may be justly placed the Lentil, though we have to import it +because our moist, cold climate is not favourable for its growth. +Nevertheless, it closely resembles the small purple vetch of our +summer hedgerows at home. In France its pulse is much eaten +during Lent--which season takes its name, as some authors suppose, +from this penitential plant. Men become under its subduing dietary +influence, "_lenti et lenes_." The plant is cultivated freely in Egypt +for the sake of the seeds, which are flat on both sides, growing in +numerous pods. + +The botanical name is _Ervum lens_; and about the year 1840 a Mr. +Wharton sold the flour of Lentils under the name of Ervalenta, this +being then of a primrose colour. He failed in his enterprise, and Du +Barry took up the business, but substituting the red Arabian Lentil +for the yellow German pulse. + +Joseph's mess of pottage which he sold to Esau for his birthright +was a preparation of the red Lentil: and the same food was the bread +of Ezekiel. + +The legumin contained in this vegetable is very light and sustaining, +but it is apt to form unwholesome combinations with any earthy +salts taken in other articles of food, or in the water used in cooking; +therefore Lemon juice or vinegar is a desirable addition to Lentils at +table. This is because of the phosphates contained so abundantly, +and liable to become deposited in the urine. "Lentils," says Gerard, +"are singular good to stay the menses." They are traditionally +regarded as funeral plants, and formerly they were forbidden at +sacrifices and feasts. + +[306] Parkinson said, "The country people sow it in the fields as +food for their cattle, and call it 'tills', leaving out the 'lent', as +thinking that word agreeth not with the matter." "_Ita sus +Minervam_." In Hampshire the plant is known as "tils," and in +Oxfordshire as "dills." The Romans supposed it made people +indolent and torpid, therefore they named the plant from _lentus_, +slow. + +Allied to the Lentil as likewise a leguminous plant is the LUPINE, +grown now only as an ornament to our flower beds, but formerly +cultivated by the Romans as an article of food, and still capable of +usefulness in this capacity for the invalid. Pliny said, "No kind of +fodder is more wholesome and light of digestion than the white +Lupine when eaten dry." If taken commonly at meals it will +contribute a fresh colour and a cheerful countenance. When thus +formerly used neither trouble nor expense was needed in sowing the +seed, since it had merely to be scattered over the ground without +ploughing or digging. But Virgil designated it _tristis Lupinus_, "the +sad Lupine," probably because when the pulse of this plant was +eaten without being first cooked in any way so as to modify its bitter +taste, it had a tendency to contract the muscles of the face, and to +give a sorrowful appearance to the countenance. It was said the +Lupine was cursed by the Virgin Mary, because when she fled with +the child Christ from the assassins of Herod, plants of this species +by the noise they made attracted the attention of the soldiers. + +The Lupine was originally named from _lupus_, a wolf, because of +its voracious nature. The seeds were used as pieces of money by +Roman actors in their plays and comedies, whence came the saying, +"_nummus lupinus_," "a spurious bit of money." + + + +[307] LETTUCE. + +Our garden Lettuce is a cultivated variety of the wild, or +strong-scented Lettuce (_Lactuca virosa_), which grows, with prickly +leaves, on banks and waysides in chalky districts throughout +England and Wales. It belongs to the Composite order of plants, and +contains the medicinal properties of the plant more actively than +does the Lettuce produced for the kitchen. An older form of the +name is _Lettouce_, which is still retained in Scotland. + +Chemically the wild Lettuce contains lactucin, lactucopricin, +asparagin, mannite, albumen, gum, and resin, together with oxalic, +malic, and citric acids; thus possessing virtues for easing pain, and +inducing sleep. The cultivated Lettuce which comes to our tables +retains these same properties, but in a very modified degree, since +the formidable principles have become as completely toned down +and guileless in the garden product as were the child-like manners +and the pensive smile of Bret Harte's Heathen Chinee. + +Each plant derives its name, _lactuca_, from its milky juice; in Latin +_lactis_; and in Greek, _galaktos_ (taking the genitive case). This +juice, when withdrawn from the cut or incised stalks and stems of +the wild Lettuce, is milky at first, and afterwards becomes brown, +like opium, being then known (when dried into a kind of gum) as +_lactucarium_. From three to eight grains of this gum, if taken at +bedtime, will allay the wakefulness which follows over-excitement +of brain. A similar _lactucarium_, got from the dried milk of the +cultivated garden Lettuce, is so mild a sedative as to be suitable for +restless infants; and two grains thereof may be safely given to a +young child for soothing it to sleep. + +The wild Lettuce is rather laxative; with which view a decoction of +the leaves is sometimes taken as a drink [308] to remedy +constipation, and intestinal difficulties, as also to allay feverish +pains. The plant was mentioned as acting thus in an epigram by +Martial (_Libr. VI., Sq_.). + + "Prima tibi dabitur ventro lactuca movendo + Utilis, et porris fila resecta suis." + +Gerard said: "Being in some degree laxative and aperient, the +cultivated Lettuce is very proper for hot bilious dispositions;" and +Parkinson adds (1640): "Lettuce eaten raw or boyled, helpeth to +loosen the belly, and the boyled more than the raw." It was known +as the "Milk Plant" to Dioscorides and Theophrastus, and was much +esteemed by the Romans to be eaten after a debauch of wine, or as a +sedative for inducing sleep. But a prejudice against it was +entertained for a time as _venerem enervans_, and therefore +_mortuorum cibi_, "food for the dead." + +Apuleius says, that when the eagle desires to fly to a great height, +and to get a clear view of the extensive prospect below him, he first +plucks a leaf of the wild Lettuce and touches his eyes with the juice +thereof, by which means he obtains the widest perspicuity of vision. +"Dicunt aquilam quum in altum volare voluerit ut prospiciat rerum +naturas lactucoe sylvaticoe folium evellere et succo ejus sibi oculos +tangere, et maximam inde claritudinem accipere." + +After the death of Adonis, Venus is related to have thrown herself +on a bed of lettuces to assuage her grief. "In lactuca occultatum a +Venere Adonin--cecinit Callimachus--quod allegorice interpretatus +Athenoeus illuc referendum putat quod in venerem hebetiores fiunt +lactucas vescentes assidue." + +The Pythagoreans called this plant "the Eunuch"; and there is a +saying in Surrey, "O'er much Lettuce in [309] the garden will stop a +young wife's bearing." During the middle ages it was thought an evil +spirit lurked among the Lettuces adverse to mothers, and causing +grievous ills to new-born infants. + +The Romans, in the reign of Domitian, had the lettuce prepared with +eggs, and served with the last course at their tables, so as to +stimulate their appetites afresh. Martial wonders that it had since +then become customary to take it rather at the beginning of the +meal:-- + + "Claudere quae caenas lactuca solebat avorum + Dic mihi cur nostras inchoat illa dapes." + +Antoninus Musa cured Caesar Augustus of hypochondriasis by +means of this plant. + +The most common variety of the wild Lettuce, improved by +frequent cultivation, is the Cabbage Lettuce, or Roman, "which is +the best to boil, stew, or put into hodge-podge." Different sorts of +the Cos Lettuce follow next onwards. The _Lactuca sylvatica_ is a +variety of the wild Lettuce producing similar effects. From this a +medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared, and an extract from the +flowering herb is given in doses of from five to fifteen grains. No +attempt was made to cultivate the Lettuce in this country until the +fourth year of Elizabeth's reign. + +When bleached by gardeners the lettuce becomes tender, sweet, and +succulent, being easily digested, even by dyspeptic persons, as to its +crisp, leafy parts, but not its hard stalk. It now contains but little +nutriment of any sort, but supplies some mineral salts, especially +nitre. In the stem there still lingers a small quantity of the +sleep-inducing principle, "lactucarin," particularly when the plant is +flowering. Galen, when sleepless from [310] advanced age and +infirmities, with hard study, took decoction of the Lettuce at night; +and Pope says, with reference to our garden sort:-- + + "If you want rest, + Lettuce, and cowslip wine:--'probatum est.'" + +But if Lettuces are taken at supper with this view of promoting +sleep, they should be had without any vinegar, which neutralises +their soporific qualities. "Sleep," said Sir Thomas Brown, "is so like +death that I dare not trust it without my prayers." + +Some persons suppose that when artificially blanched the plant is +less wholesome than if left to grow naturally in the garden, +especially if its ready digestibility by those of sensitive stomachs be +correctly attributed to the slightly narcotic principle. It was taken +uncooked by the Hebrews with the Paschal lamb. + +John Evelyn writes enthusiastically about it in his _Book of +Sallets_: "So harmless is it that it may safely be eaten raw in fevers; +it allays heat, bridles choler, extinguishes thirst, excites appetite, +kindly nourishes, and, above all, represses vapours, conciliates +sleep, and mitigates pain, besides the effect it has upon the morals-- +temperance and chastity." + +"Galen (whose beloved sallet it was) says it breeds the most +laudable blood. No marvel, then, that Lettuces were by the ancients +called _sanoe_ by way of eminency, and were so highly valued by +the great Augustus that, attributing to them his recovery from a +dangerous sickness, it is reported he erected a statue and built an +altar to this noble plant." Likewise, "Tacitus, spending almost +nothing at his frugal table in other dainties, was yet so great a +friend to the Lettuce that he used to say of his prodigality in its +purchase, _Summi se mercari_ [311] _illas sumitus effusione_." +Probably the Lettuce of Greece was more active than our indigenous, +or cultivated plant. + +By way of admonition as to care in preparing the Lettuce for table, +Dr. King Chambers has said (_Diet in Health and Disease_), "The +consumption of Lettuce by the working man with his tea is an +increasing habit worthy of all encouragement. But the said working +man must be warned of the importance of washing the material of +his meal. This hint is given in view of the frequent occurrence of the +large round worm in the labouring population of some agricultural +counties, Oxfordshire for instance, where unwashed Lettuce is +largely eaten." Young Lettuces may be raised in forty-eight-hours +by first steeping the seed in brandy and then sowing it in a +hot-house. + +The seeds of the garden Lettuce are emollient, and when rubbed up +with water make a pleasant emulsion, which contains nothing of the +milky, laxative bitterness furnished by the leaves and stalk. This +emulsion resembles that of almonds, but is even more cooling, and +therefore a better medicine in disorders arising from acrimony and +irritation. + +From the _Lactuca virosa_, or strong-scented wild Lettuce, a +medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared, using the whole plant. On the +principle of treating with this tincture, when diluted, such toxic +effects as too large doses of the juice would bring about, a slow +pulse, with a disposition to stupor, and sleepy weakness, are +successfully met by its use. Also a medicinal extract is made by +druggists from the wild Lettuce, and given in doses of from three to +ten grains for the medicinal purposes which have been particularised, +and to remove a dull, heavy headache. + +"The garden Lettuce is good," as Pliny said, "for [312] burnings and +scaldings if the leaves be laid thereon, with salt (_sic_), before the +blisters do appear." "By reason," concludes Evelyn, "too, of its +soporiferous quality, the Lettuce ever was, and still continues, the +principal foundation of the universal tribe of Sallets, which cools +and refreshes, besides its other properties, and therefore was held in +such high esteem by the ancients, that divers of the Valerian family +dignified and ennobled their name with that of _Lactucinii_." It is +botanically distinguished as the _Lactuca sativa_, "from the plenty +of milk," says "Adam in Eden" (W. Coles), "that it hath, and +_causeth_." + +Lambs' Lettuce, or Corn Salad, is a distinct plant, one of the +Valerian tribe, which was formerly classed as a Lettuce, by name, +_Lactuca agnina_, either because it appears about the time when +lambs (_agni_) are dropped, or because it is a favourite food of +lambs. + +The French call this _salade de Pretre_, "monks' salad," and in +reference thereto an old writer has said: "It certainly deserves a +place among the _penitential_ herbs, for the stomach that admits it +is apt to cry _peccavi_." + +The same plant is also known by the title of the White Pot Herb, in +contrast to the _Olus atrum_, or Black Pot Herb. It grows wild in the +banks of hedges and waste cornfields, and is cultivated in our +kitchen gardens as a salad herb, the Milk Grass, being called +botanically the _Valerianella olitoria_, and having been in request as +a spring medicine among country folk in former days. By genus it is +a _Fedia_, and bears diminutive white flowers resembling glass. +Gerard says: "We know the Lambs' Lettuce as _Loblollie_; and it +serves in winter as a salad herb, among others none of the worst." In +France it goes by the names _manche_ and _broussette_. A +medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the fresh root. + +[313] The black pot-herb--so called from the dark colour of its +fruit--is an umbelliferous plant, (_Smyrnium olusatrum_) or Alexanders, +often found in the vicinity of abbeys, and probably therefore held in +former repute by the Monks. Its names are derived from _Smyrna_, +myrrh, in allusion to the odour of the plant; and from _Macedonicum_, +or the parsley of Macedon, Alexander's country. The herb +was also known as Stanmarch. It grows on waste places by +rivers near the sea, having been formerly cultivated like celery, +which has now supplanted it. When boiled it is eaten with avidity by +sailors returning from long voyages, who happen to land at the +South Western corner of Anglesea. + + + +LILY OF THE VALLEY. + +The Lily of the Valley grows wild in many of our English woods, +and possesses special curative virtues, which give it, according to +modern knowledge, a just place among Herbal Simples of repute. +This is the parent flower of our graceful, sweet-scented scape of +pendent, milk-white little floral bells, enshrined within two broad +leafy blades of dark green, and finding general favour for the +_jardiniere_, or the button-hole. + +Its name _Convallaria majalis_ is derived from _convallis_, "a +valley," and _majalis_, "belonging to the month of May," when this +Lily comes into flower. + +Rustics corrupt the double title to "Liry Confancy," and provincially +the plant is known as "Wood Lily," "May Lily," and "May +Blossom." Also it bears the name of Mugget, and is said to have +grown up after the bloody combat of St. Leonard with the Dragon. +The French call it _Muguet_, or "little musk." The taste of the +flowers is acrid and bitter; they have been [314] employed with +benefit, when dried and powdered, as snuff, for headache, and +giddiness arising from weakness. A tincture of the plant is made, +and can be procured from any leading druggist. The active +medicinal principle is "convallarin," which slows the disturbed +action of a weak, irritable heart, whilst at the same time increasing +its power. Happily the remedy is a perfectly safe one, and no harm +has been known to occur from taking it experimentally in full and +frequent doses; so that, in this respect, it is far preferable to the +Fox Glove, which is apt to accumulate in the blood with poisonous +results. To make the tincture of _Convallaria_, one part of the +flowers is treated with eight parts of spirit of wine (proof); and the +dose is from five to fifteen drops, with a tablespoonful of water, +three times in the twenty-four hours. + +Also an infusion may be made with boiling water poured over the +whole plant-root, stems, and flowers; and this infusion may be given +continuously for from five to ten days; but it should be left off for a +time as soon as the irritability of the heart is subdued, and the pulse +steady and stronger. If taken during an attack of palpitation and +laboured breathing from a weak heart, the benefit of the infusion in +tablespoonful doses is felt at once. + +Ten grains of the dried flowers may be infused in six ounces of +boiling water; and a tablespoonful of this be given three times a day +with perfect safety, and with a most soothing effect for a weak, +sensitive, palpitating heart; but it does not suit a fatty heart +equally well. Nevertheless, even for insufficiency of the valves, when +dangerous, or distressing symptoms of heart disease have set in, an +infusion of the flowers has proved very helpful. The _rhizome_, +root, exhales a pleasant odour, [315] different from that of the +flowers; it tastes sweet at first but afterwards bitter. + +A fluid extract is further prepared, and may be mixed in doses of +from five to twenty drops with water. The Russian peasants have +long employed the Lily of the Valley for certain forms of dropsy, +when proceeding from a faulty heart. + +In the summer, when the flowers are in bloom, two drachms, by +weight, of the leaves should be steeped in a pint of water, either cold +or boiling; and the whole of this may be taken, if needed, during the +twenty-four hours. It will promote a free flow of urine. Culpeper +commended the Lily of the Valley for weak memory, loss of speech, +and apoplexy; whilst Gerard advised it for gout. In Devonshire it is +thought unlucky to plant a bed of these Lilies, as the person who +does so will probably die within the next twelve months. + +In the _Apocrypha_, Canticles ii, I, "I am the Lily of the Valley," +this flower is apparently brought under notice, but some other plant +must be intended here, because the Lily Convally does not grow in +Palestine. The word Lily is used in Oriental languages for a flower +in general. + +Distilled water from the flowers was formerly in great repute against +nervous affections, and for many troubles of the head, insomuch +that it was treasured in vessels of gold and silver. Matthiolus named +it _Aqua aurea_, "golden water"; and Etmuller said of the virtues of +the plant, _Quod specifice armabit impotentes maritos ad bellum +veneris_. + +A spirit made from the petals is excellent as an outward +embrocation for rheumatism and sprains; and in some parts of +Germany, a wine is prepared from the flowers mixed with raisins. +Old Gerard adopted an [316] unaccountable method for extracting +these virtues of the Lilies. He ordered that, "The flowers being close +stopped up in a glass vessel, should be put into an ant hill, and taken +away again a month after, when ye shall find a liquor in the glass +which, being outwardly applied, will help the cure of the gout." + +After the blossom has fallen off a berry is formed, which assumes in +the autumn a bright scarlet colour, and proves attractive to birds. + + + +LIME TREE, Flowers of (_Tiliaceoe_). + +Though not a native of Great Britain, yet, because of its common +growth in our roadways and along the front of terraced houses, and +in suburban avenues, the Lime Tree has become almost indigenous. + +In the old _Herbals_ it is called Lyne or Line, Tillet, Till tree, and +Tilia, each of these names bearing reference to the bast or inner bark +of the tree, which is used in the North for cordage. Others say the +name is an alteration of Telia, from _telum_, a dart, alluding to the +use of the wood. Tilia is more probably derived from _ptilon_, a +feather, because of the feathery appearance of the floral leaves. + +Shakespeare says:-- + + "Now, tell me thy name, good fellow," said he, + "Under the leaves of lyne." + +The "n" in later writers has been changed into "m." + +Its sweet-smelling and highly fragrant flowers blossom in May, and +are much sought after by bees, because abounding with honied +nectar. A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from them with spirit of +wine; and when given in doses of from five to ten drops with water, +three times in the day, it serves to relieve sick [317] bilious +giddiness, with depression of spirits, and a tendency to loose +bowels, with nervous headache. The sap of the Lime Tree (_Tilia +Europoea_) abounds in mucilage, from which sugar can be elaborated. +A tea made from the blossoms and leaves with boiling water, +is admirable for promoting perspiration. It is because of a +long established reputation for giving relief in chronic epilepsy or +the falling sickness, and of curing epileptiform headaches, whilst +proving of indisputable usefulness in allied nervous disorders, that +the flowers and leaves of the Lime or Linden Tree occupy a true +place among modern medicinal Simples. Gilbert White made some +Lime-blossom tea, and pronounced it a very soft, well-flavoured, +pleasant saccharine julep, much resembling the juice of liquorice. +This tea has been found efficacious for quieting hard coughs and for +relieving hoarseness. + +The flowers easily ferment, and being so fragrant may be used for +making wine: likewise a fine flavoured brandy has been distilled +from them. The fruit contains an oily substance, and has been +proposed, when roasted, as a domestic substitute for chocolate. The +sap may be procured by making incisions in the trunk, and branches. +The flowers are sedative, and anti-spasmodic. Fenelon decorates his +enchanted Isle of Calypso with flowering Lime trees. Hoffman says +_Tilioe ad mille usus petendoe_. + +The inner bark furnishes a soft mucilage, which may be applied +externally with healing effect to burns, scalds, and inflammatory +swellings. Gerard taught, "that the flowers are commended by divers +persons against pain of the head proceeding from a cold cause; +against dizziness, apoplexy, and the falling sickness; and not only +the flowers, but the distilled water thereof." [318] Hoffman knew a +case of chronic epilepsy recovered by a use of the flowers in infusion +drunk as tea. Such, indeed, was the former exalted anti-epileptic +reputation of the Lime Tree, that epileptic persons sitting +under its shade were reported to be cured. + +A famous "Lind" or Lime Tree, which grew in his ancestral place, +gave to the celebrated Linnaeus his significant name. The well-known +street, _unter den Linden_ in Berlin, is a favourite resort, +because of its pleasant, balmy shade; and when Heine lay beneath +the Lindens, he "thought his own sweet nothing-at-all thoughts." +The wood of the Lime Tree is preferred before every other wood fur +masterly carving. Grinling Gibbons executed his best and most +noted work in this material; and the finely-cut details still remain +sharp, delicate, and beautiful. + +Chemically, the Linden flowers contain a particular light, fragrant, +volatile oil, which is soluble in alcohol. They are used in warm +baths with much success to allay nervous irritability; or a strong +infusion of them is administered by enema for the same purpose. + + + +LIQUORICE, English (_Leguminous_). + +The common Liquorice plant, a native of the warmer European +countries, was first cultivated in Britain about 1562, in Turner's +time. It has been chiefly grown at Pontefract (Pomfret) in Yorkshire, +Worksop in Nottinghamshire, and Godalming in Surrey; whilst at +the present time it is produced abundantly at Mitcham, near London, +and the roots are dug up after a three years' growth, to be supplied to +the shops. The use of the Liquorice plant was first learnt by the +Hellenes from the Scythians; and the root was named _adipson_, +being thought from the time of Theophrastus to [319] powerfully +extinguish thirst. But Dr. Cullen says his experience has not +confirmed this as a true effect of chewing the root. When lightly +boiled in a little water it yields all its sweetness, together with +some mucilage. + +A favourite pastime of school boys at the beginning of the present +century, was to carry in the pocket a small phial of water containing +bits of this "Spanish juice," and to shake it continually so as to make +a solution, valued the more the darker and thicker it became. + +The juice is commonly employed as a pectoral in coughs or +hoarseness, when thickened to the consistence of a lozenge, or to +that of a solid mass, which hardens in the form of a stick. It is also +added to nauseous medicines, for masking their taste. Towards +obtaining this juice the underground stem or root of the plant is the +part employed. + +The search of Diogenes for an honest man was scarcely more +difficult than would be that of an average person for genuine +Liquorice; since the juice is adulterated to any extent, and there is +no definite standard of purity for this article so commonly used. +Potato starch, miller's sweepings mixed with sugar, and any kind of +rubbish are added to it. + +In China, the roots of _Glycyrrhiza echinata _and _Glycyrrhiza +glabra_, are used in a variety of medicinal preparations as +possessing tonic, alterative, and expectorant properties, and as a +mild aperient. Thereto are attributed rejuvenating and highly +nutritive qualities. English Liquorice root occurs in pieces three or +four inches long, and about as thick as a finger. + +The extract of Liquorice must be prepared from the _dried_ root, +else it cannot be strained bright, and would be liable to +fermentation. Chemically, the root [320] contains a special kind of +sugar, glycyrrhizine, a demulcent starch, asparagin, phosphate and +malate of lime and magnesia, a resinous oil, albumen, and woody +fibre. Old Fuller says concerning Nottingham, "This county +affordeth the first and best Liquorice in England: great is the use +thereof in physick. A stick of the same is commonly the spoon +prescribed to patients to use in any Loaches. If (as the men of +oeneas were forced to eat their own trenchers), these chance to eat +their spoons, their danger is none at all." The Loach, or Lingence, +from _ekleigma_, a substance licked-up, has become our modern +lozenge. Extract of Liquorice is largely imported as "Spanish" or +"Italian" juice, the Solazzi juice being most esteemed, which comes +in cylindrical or flattened rolls, enveloped in bay leaves; but the +pipe Liquorice of the sweetstuff shops is adulterated. Pontefract +lozenges are made of refined Liquorice, and are justly popular. The +sugar of Liquorice may be safely taken by diabetic patients. + +Officinally, the root and stolons (underground stems) of the +_Glycyrrhiza glabra_ (smooth) are variously employed; for making +an extract, for mixing with linseed in a tea, for combination with +powdered senna, sugar, and fennel, to form a favourite mild laxative +medicine, known as "Compound Liquorice Powder," and for other +uses. The solid juice is put into porter and stout, because giving +sweetness, thickness, and blackness to those beverages, without +making them fermentative; but Liquorice, like gum, supplies +scant aliment to the body. Black Liquorice is employed in the +manufacture of tobacco, for smoking and chewing. + +The Rest Harrow (_Ononis arvensis_), a troublesome weed, very +common in our ploughed fields, has a root [321] which affords a +sweet viscid juice, and hence it is popularly known as "Wild +Liquorice." + +This is a leguminous plant, called also "Ground Furze," which is a +favourite food of the donkey, and therefore gets its botanical title +from the Greek word _onos_, an ass. Its long and thickly matted +roots will arrest the progress of the harrow, or plough. Medicinally, +the plant has been given with success to subdue delirium. It is +obnoxious to snakes, and they will not come near it. + +Other appellations of the herb are Cammock, Stinking Tommy, +_Arrete boeuf_, _Remora aratri_, _Resta bovis_, and Land Whin +(which from the Latin _guindolum_, signifies a kind of cherry). The +plant was formerly much extolled for obviating stone in the bladder. +It is seen to be covered with spines; and a tradition exists that it +was the Rest harrow which furnished the crown of thorns plaited by +the Roman soldiers at the crucifixion of our Saviour. This plant has +been long-used as a culinary vegetable, its young shoots being +boiled, or taken in salad, or pickled. + +The French know it as _Bugrane_, beloved by goats, and the chief +delight of donkeys, who rejoice to roll themselves amid its prickles. +Simon Pauli _ne connait pas de meilleur remede contre le calcul des +reins, et de la vessie_. "_Anjourdhui l'arr ete boeuf est a peu pres +abandonne_." "_On y reviendra!_" The plant contains "ononin," a +chemical glucoside, which is demulcent to the urinary organs. + +Its botanical name of _Glycyrrhiza_ comes from the Greek words, +_glukus_, "sweet," and _riza_, "a root." English Liquorice root, +when dried, is commercially used in two forms, the peeled and the +unpeeled. By far and away the best lozenges are those of our [322] +boyhood, still attributed to one "Smith," in the Borough of London. + + + +MALLOWS. + +All the Mallows (_Malvaceoe_) to the number of a thousand, agree +in containing mucilage freely, and in possessing no unwholesome +properties. + +Their family name "Mallow" is derived from the Greek _malassein_, +"to soften," as alluding to the demulcent qualities of these +mucilaginous plants. The Common Mallow is a well-known roadside +plant, with large downy leaves, and streaked trumpet-shaped +purple flowers, which later on furnish round button-like +seeds, known to the rustics as "pickcheeses" in Norfolk and +elsewhere, whilst beloved by schoolboys, because of their nutty +flavour, and called by them "Bread and Cheese." + +Clare tells playfully of the fairies, borne by mice at a gallop:-- + + "In chariots lolling at their ease, + Made of whate'er their fancies please, + With wheels at hand of Mallow seeds, + Which childish sport had strung as beads." + +And recalls the time when he sat as a boy:-- + + "Picking from Mallows, sport to please, + The crumpled seed we called a cheese." + +Both this plant and its twin sister, the Marsh Mallow (_Althoea +hibiscus_, from _altho_, to cure), possess medicinal virtues, which +entitle them to take rank as curative Herbal Simples. The Sussex +peasant knows the Common Mallow as "Maller," so that "aller and +maller" means with him Alehoof (Ground Ivy) and Mallow. Pliny +said: "Whosoever shall take a spoonful of the [323] Mallows shall +that day be free from all diseases that may come to him." + +This plant is often named "Round Dock," and was formerly called +"Hock Herb": our Hollyhock being of the Mallow tribe, and first +brought to us from China. Pythagoras held _Malvoe folium +sanctissimum_; and we read of Epimenides in _Plato_, "at his +Mallows and Asphodels." The Romans esteemed the plant _in deliciis_ +among their dainties, and placed it of old as the first dish at +their tables. The laxative properties of the Mallow, both as regards +its emollient leaves, and its _radix altheoe efficacior_, were told of +by Cicero and Horace. + +The _Marsh Mallow_ grows wild abundantly in many parts of England, +especially in marshes near the sea coast. It gets its generic +name _althoea_, from the Greek _althos_, "a remedy," because +exercising so many curative virtues. Its old appellations were +_Vismalva_, _Bismalva_, _Malvaviscus_, being twice as medicinally +efficacious as the ordinary Mallow (_Sylvestris_). + +Virgil in one of his eclogues teaches how to coax goats with the +Marsh Mallow:-- + + "Haedorumque gregem viridi compellere hibisco." + +The root is sweet and very mucilaginous when chewed, containing +more than half its weight of saccharine viscous mucilage. It is, +therefore, emollient, demulcent, pain-soothing, and lubricating; +serving to subdue heat and irritation, whilst, if applied externally, +diminishing the painful soreness of inflamed parts. It is, for these +reasons, much employed in domestic poultices, and in decoction as +a medicine for pulmonary catarrhs, hoarseness, and irritative +diarrhoea or dysentery. Also the decoction acts well as a bland +soothing collyrium for [324] bathing inflamed eyes. Gerard says: +"The leaves be with good effect mixed with fomentations and +poultices against pains of the sides, of the stone, and of the bladder; +also in a bath they serve to take away any manner of pain." + +The mucilaginous matter with which the Marsh Mallow abounds is +the medicinal part of the plant; the roots of the Common Mallow +being useless to yield it for such purposes, whilst those of the Marsh +Mallow are of singular efficacy. A decoction of Marsh Mallow is +made by adding five pints of water to a quarter-of-a-pound of the +dried root, then boiling down to three pints, and straining through +calico. Also Marsh Mallow ointment is a popular remedy, especially +for mollifying heat, and hence it was thought invaluable by those +who had to undergo the ordeal of holding red hot iron in their hands, +to rapidly test their moral integrity. The sap of the Marsh Mallow +was combined together with seeds of Fleabane, and the white of an +hen's egg, to make a paste which was so adhesive that the hands +when coated with it were safe from harm through holding for a few +moments the glowing iron. + +French druggists prepare a famous medicinal sweet-meat, known as +_Pate de gimauve_ from the root of the Marsh Mallow. In Palestine, +the plant is employed by the poor to eke out their food; thus we read +in the book of Job (chap. xxx. ver. 4), "Who cut up Mallows by the +bushes, and juniper roots for their meat." + +In France, the young tops and tender leaves of the Marsh Mallow +are added to spring salads, as stimulating the kidneys healthily, for +which purpose is likewise prepared a syrup of Marsh Mallows +(_Syrupus Althoeus_) from the roots with cold water, to which the +[325] sugar is afterwards added. The leaves, flowers, and roots, are +employed for making ptisans. In Devonshire, this plant is termed by +the farmers, "Meshmellish," also "Drunkards," because growing +close by the water; and in the West of England, "Bulls-eyes"; whilst +being known in Somerset as "Bull Flowers" (pool flowers). The root +of the Marsh Mallow contains starch, mucilage, pectin, oil, sugar, +asparagin, phosphate of lime, glutinous matter and cellulose. An +infusion made with cold water takes up the mucilage, sugar, and +asparagin, then the hot water dissolves the starch. + +The flowers were used formerly on May-day by country people for +strewing before their doors, and weaving into garlands. + +The Geranium is said to have been originally a Mallow. Mahomet +having washed his shirt while on a journey, hung it on a Mallow to +dry, and the plant became therefore promoted to be a Geranium. + +Most probably, the modern French _Pate de gimauve_ contains +actually nothing of the plant or its constituents; but the root is +given in France to infants, on which they may try their teeth +during dentition, much as Orris root is used elsewhere. + +The laxative quality of the common Mallow was mentioned by +Martial:-- + + "Exoneraturas ventrem mihi villica malvas + Attulit, et varias quas habet hortus opes." + +The Musk Mallow (_Malva moschata_) is another common variety +of this plant, which emits from its leaves a faint musky odour, +especially in warm weather, or when they are drawn lightly through +the hand. Its virtues are similar in kind, but less powerful in +degree, to those of the Marsh Mallow. + + + +[326] MARIGOLD. + +In the _Grete Herball_ this plant was called Mary Gowles. Three +varieties of the Marigold exercise medicinal virtues which constitute +them Herbal Simples of a useful nature--the Corn Marigold +(_Chrysanthemum segetum_), found in our cornfields; the cultivated +garden Marigold (_Calendula officinalis_); and the Marsh +Marigold (_Caltha palustris_), growing in moist grass lands, and +popularly known as "Mareblobs." + +The Corn Marigold, a Composite flower, called also Bigold, and the +Yellow Oxeye, grows freely, though locally, in English cornfields, +its brilliant yellow flowers contrasting handsomely with adjacent +Scarlet-hued Poppies and Bluebottles (_Centaurea cyanus_). It is +also named Buddle or Boodle, from _buidel_, a purse, because it +bears _gools_ or _goldins_, representing gold coins, in the form of +the flat, round, brightly yellow blossoms, which were formerly +known, too, as _Ruddes_ (red flowers). The botanical title of the +species, _Chrysanthemum segetum_, signifies "golden flower." + +Hill named this Marigold, "the husbandman's dyall." In common +with the larger Oxeye Daisy (_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_) it +has proved of late very successful in checking the night sweats of +pulmonary consumption. A tincture and an infusion of the herb have +been made; from five to ten drops of the former being given for a +dose, and from two to three tablespoonfuls of the latter. + +The garden Marigold, often called African Marigold, came +originally from Southern France, and has been cultivated in England +since 1570. It is a Composite plant, and bears the name _Calendula_ +from the Latin _calendoe_, the first days of each month, because it +flowers all the year round. Whittier styles it "the grateful and [327] +obsequious Marigold." The leaves are somewhat thick and sapid; +when chewed, they communicate straightway a viscid sweetness, +which is followed by a sharp, penetrating taste, very persistent in the +mouth, and not of the warm, aromatic kind, but of an acrid, saline +nature. This Marigold has always been grown, chiefly for its +flowers, which were esteemed of old as a cordial to cheer the spirits, +and when dried were put into broths as a condiment: Charles Lamb +(Elia) says, in his _Essay on Christ's Hospital_: "In lieu of our +half-pickled Sundays, or quite fresh boiled beef on Tuesdays (strong as +_caro equina_), with detestable Marigolds floating in the pail to +poison the broth." The strap-like florets of the rays are the parts of +the flowers used for such a purpose. They should be gathered on a +fine day when the blossoms are fully expanded, which having been +divested of their outer green leaves, should be next spread on a cloth +in an airy room to become dry. After having been turned frequently +for a few days, they may be put by in paper bags or in drawers. + +Gerard says: "The yellow leaves of the flowers are dried and kept +throughout Dutch-land against winter, to put into broths and +physical potions, and for divers other purposes, in such quantity that +the stores of some grocers or spice-sellers contain barrels filled with +them, and to be retailed by the penny, more or less; insomuch, that +no broths are well made without dried Marigolds"; and, "The herb +drank after the coming forth from the bath of them that hath the +yellow jaundice doth in short time make them well coloured." (This +is probably conjectured on the doctrine of signatures.) + +A decoction of the flowers is employed by country people as a +posset drink in measles and small-pox; and the expressed fresh juice +proves a useful remedy against [328] costiveness, as well as for +jaundice and suppression of the monthly flow--from one to two +tablespoonfuls being taken as a dose. + +The plant has been considered also of service for scrofulous +children, when given to them as a salad. One of the flowers if +rubbed on any part recently stung by a bee or wasp, will quickly +relieve it. + +Buttercups and Marigolds, when growing close to each other, are +called in Devonshire, "publicans and sinners." The active, bitter +principle of the Marigold is "callendulin," which is yellow and +tasteless, whilst swelling in water into a transparent jelly. Druggists +now make a medicinal tincture (H.) of the common Marigold, using +four ounces of the dried florets to a pint of proof spirit, the dose +being from half a teaspoonful to two teaspoonfuls in water, twice or +three times in the day. It is advised as a sudorific stimulant in low +fevers, and to relieve spasms. Also, the Marigold has been +employed both as a medicine and externally in treating cancer, +being thought to "dispose cancerous sores to heal." A saturated +tincture of the flowers when mixed with water, promotes the cure of +contusions, wounds, and simple sores or ulcers; also the extract will +allay chronic vomiting, if given in doses of two grains, several times +a day. One drop of the tincture with two grains of powdered borax +when sprayed into the ear, is very useful if a discharge has become +established therefrom. + +The plant, especially its flowers, was used on a large scale by the +American surgeons, to treat wounds and injuries sustained during +the last civil war; and obtained their warmest commendation. It +quite prevented all exhausting suppurative discharges and drainings. +_Succus Calenduloe_ (the fresh juice) is the best form--say +American surgeons--in which the _Calendula_ [329] is obtainable +for ready practice. Just sufficient alcohol should be added to the +juice as will prevent fermentation. For these purposes as a +vulnerary, the _Calendula_ owes its introduction and first use +altogether to homoeopathic methods, as signally valuable for +healing wounds, ulcers, burns, and other breaches of the skin +surface. Dr. Hughes (Brighton) says: "The Marigold is a precious +vulnerary. You will find it invaluable in surgical practice." + +On exposure to the sun the yellow colour of the garden Marigold +becomes bleached. Some writers spell the name "Marygold," as if it, +and its synonyms bore reference to the Virgin Mary; but this is a +mistake, though there is a fancied resemblance of the disc's florets +to rays of glory. It comes into blossom about March 25th (the +Annunciation of the Virgin Mary). + + "What flower is this which bears the Virgin's name, + And richest metal joined with the same?" + +In the chancel of Burynarbon Church, Devonshire, is an epitaph +containing a quaint allusion to this old idea respecting the +Marigold:--"To the pretious memory of Mary, ye dear, and only +daughter of George Westwood. January 31st, 1648." + + "This Mary Gold, lo! here doth show + Mari's worth gold lies here below; + The Marigold in sunshine spread, + When cloudie closed doth bow the head." + +Margaret of Orleans had for her device a Marigold turning towards +the sun, with the motto, "_je ne veux suivre que lui seul_." + +Dairy women used to churn the petals of the Marigold with their +cream for giving to their butter a yellow colour. + +The Marsh Marigold (_Caltha poetarum_) or the Marsh [330] +Horsegowl of old writers, grows commonly in our wet meadows, +and resembles a gigantic buttercup, being of the same order of +plants (_Ranunculaceoe_). The term, Marsh Marigold, is a +pleonasm for Marigold, which means of itself the Marsh Gowl or +Marsh Golden Flower, being an abbreviation of the old Saxon +_mear-gealla_. So that the term "Marsh" has become prefixed +unnecessarily. Presently, the name "Marigold," "Marsh Gowl," was +passed on to the _Calendula_ of the corn fields of Southern Europe, +and to the garden Marigold. Furthermore, the botanical title, Caltha, +of the Mare Blob, is got from _calathus_, a small round basket of +twigs or osiers made two thousand years and more ago, which the +concave golden bowl of the Marsh Marigold was thought to +resemble. Persephone was collecting wild flowers in a _Calathus_ +when carried off by the admiring Pluto. The earliest use of the floral +name _Caltha_ occurs in Virgil's second Pastoral, "_Mollia luteola +pingit vaccinia Caltha_." The title Mare Blob comes from the +Anglo-Saxon, "_mere_" (a marsh), and "_bleb_" or "_blob_" (a +bladder). These flowers were the _flaventia lumina Calthoe_ of +Columella, described by Shakespeare in the _Winter's Tale_. They +are also known as "Bublicans," "Meadowbrights," "Crazies," +"Christ's Eyes," "Bull's Eyes," "May Blobs," "Drunkards," "Water +Caltrops," and wild "Batchelor's Buttons." A tincture is made (H.) +from the whole plant when in flower, and may be given with +success for that form of bloodlessness with great impairment of the +whole health, known as pernicious anaemia. In toxic quantities the +marsh Marigold has produced in its provers, a pallid, yellow, +swollen state of the face, constant headache and giddiness, a +thickly-coated tongue, diarrhoea, a small rapid pulse sometimes +intermittent, heaviness of the limbs, and an [331] unhealthy, +eruptive state of the skin; so that the tincture of the plant in small, +well-diluted doses will slowly overcome this totality of symptoms, +and serve to establish a sound state of restored health. Five drops of +the tincture diluted to the third strength should be given three times +a day with water. Dr. Withering tells that on a large quantity of the +flowers being put in the bed-room of a girl subject to fits, the +attacks ceased; and an infusion of the flowers has been since given +with success for similar fits. + +The Marsh Marigold has been called _Verrucaria_, because +efficacious in curing warts; also _Solsequia_, or _Solsequium_; and +Sponsa Solis, since the flower opens at the rising, and shuts at the +setting of the sun. + + + +MARJORAM. + +The common Marjoram (_Origanum_) grows frequently as a wild +labiate plant on dry, bushy places, especially in chalky districts +throughout Britain, the whole herb being fragrantly aromatic, and +bearing flowers of a deep red colour. When cultivated in our kitchen +gardens it becomes a favourite pot herb, as "Sweet Marjoram," with +thin compact spikes, and more elliptical leaves than the wild +Marjoram. Its generic title, _Origanum_, means in Greek, the joy of +the mountains (_oros-ganos_) on which it grows. + +This plant and the Pennyroyal are often called "Organ." Its dried +leaves are put as a pleasant condiment into soups and stuffings, +being also sometimes substituted for tea. Together with the +flowering tops they contain an essential volatile fragrant oil, which +is carminative, warming, and tonic. An infusion made from the fresh +plant will excellently relieve nervous headaches by virtue of the +camphoraceous principle [332] contained in the oil; and externally +the herb may be applied with benefit in bags as a hot fomentation to +painful swellings and rheumatism, as likewise for colic. "Organy," +says Gerard, "is very good against the wambling of the stomacke, +and stayeth the desire to vomit, especially at sea. It may be used to +good purpose for such as cannot brooke their meate." + +The sweet Marjoram has also been successfully employed externally +for healing scirrhous tumours of the breast. Murray says: "Tumores +mammarum dolentes scirrhosos herba recens, viridis, per tempus +applicata feliciter dissipavit." The essential oil, when long kept, +assumes a solid form, and was at one time much esteemed for being +rubbed into stiff joints. The Greeks and Romans crowned young +couples with Marjoram, which is in some countries the symbol of +honour. Probably the name was originally, "Majoram," in Latin, +_Majorana_. Our forefathers scoured their furniture with its odorous +juice. In the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, Act v, Scene 5, we read:-- + + "The several chairs of order look you scour + With juice of balm, and every precious flower." + + + +MERCURY-DOG'S (_Euphorbiaceoe_). + +The _Mercuriallis perennis_ (Dog's Mercury) grows commonly in +our hedges and ditches, occurring in large patches, with egg-shaped +pointed leaves, square stems, and light green flowers, developed in +spikes. The old herbalists called it Smerewort, and gave it for agues, +as well as to cure melancholy humours. It has been eaten in mistake +for Good King Henry, which is sometimes called Mercury Goosefoot; +but it is decidedly poisonous, even when cooked. Some persons +style it "Kentish Balsam." + +[333] The name Dog's Mercury or Dog's Cole was given either +because of its supposed worthlessness, or to distinguish it from the +Mercury Goosefoot aforesaid. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) +from the whole plant freshly collected when in flower and fruit, +with spirit of wine; and the dose of this in a diluted form is from +five to ten drops, of the third decimal strength, two or three times a +day, with a spoonful of water. The condition which indicates its +medicinal use, is that of a severe catarrh, with chilliness, a heavy +head, sneezing, a dry mouth, and general aching, lassitude, with +stupor, and heat of face. Its chemical constituents have not been +ascertained. In the Isle of Skye it is used for causing salivation, as +a vegetable mercury; and _per contra_ for curing a sore mouth. + +Such virtues as the herb possesses were thought to have been taught +by the god Mercury. The Greeks called it Mercury's Grass (_Ermou +poa_). When boiled and eaten with fried bacon in error for the +English spinach, Good King Henry, it has produced sickness, +drowsiness, and convulsive twitchings. The root affords both a blue +and a crimson colour for dyeing. + + + +MINTS. (Pennyroyal, Peppermint, and Spearmint). + +Several kinds of the Mints have been used medicinally from the +earliest times, such as Balm, Basil, Ground Ivy, Horehound, +Marjoram, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, +Spearmint, and Thyme, some being esteemed rather as pot herbs, +than as exercising positive medicinal effects. The most useful as +Herbal Simples which have yet to be considered are Pennyroyal, +Peppermint, and Spearmint. The Cat Mint (_Nepeta cataria_) and +Horse Mint are of minor importance. + +[334] All the Mints are severally provided with leaves of a familiar +fragrant character, it having been observed that this aromatic +vegetation is a feature of deserts, and of other hot, dry places, +allover the world. Tyndall showed the power exercised by a spray of +perfume when diffused through a room to cool it, or in other words +to exclude the passage of the heat rays; and it has been suggested +that the presence of essential oils in the leaves of these plants +serves to protect them against the intense dry heat of a desert sun +all effectively as if they were partly under shelter. Nevertheless +Mints, with the exception of "Arvensis," are the inhabitants of wet +and marshy wastes. + +They have acquired their common name _Mentha_ from Minthes +(according to Ovid) who was changed into a plant of this sort by +Proserpina, the wife of Pluto, in a fit of jealousy. Their flowering +tops are all found to contain a certain portion of camphor. Pliny +said: "As for the garden Mint, the very smell of it alone recovers +and refreshes the spirits, as the taste stirs up the appetite for meat, +which is the reason that it is so general in our acid sauces, wherein +we are accustomed to dip our meat." The Mints for paying tithes, +with respect to which the Pharisees were condemned for their +extravagance by our Saviour, included the Horse Mint (_Sylvestris_), +the round-leaved Mint, the hairy Mint (_Aquatica_), the Corn +Mint (_Arvensis_), the Bergamot Mint, and some others, besides +the "Mint, Rue, and Anise," specially mentioned. "Woe unto +you Pharisees; for ye tithe Mint and Rue, and all manner of herbs. +Ye pay tithe of Mint, and Anise, and Cummin." + +The Mint Pennyroyal (_Mentha Pulegium_) gets its name from the +Latin _puleium regium_, because of its royal efficacy in destroying +fleas (_pulices_). The French call [335] this similarly, _Pouliot_. It +grows on moist heaths and pastures, and by the margins of brooks, +being cultivated further in our herb gardens, for kitchen and market +uses. Also, it is produced largely about Mitcham, and is mostly sold +in a dry state. The herb was formerly named Pudding Grass, from its +being used to make the stuffing for meat, in days when this was +termed a pudding. Thus we read in an old play, _The Ordinary_:-- + + "Let the corporal + Come sweating under a breast of mutton stuffed with + [pudding]." + +The Pennyroyal was named by the Greeks _Bleekon_ and _Gleekon_, +being often used by them as a condiment for seasoning different +viands. Formerly it was known in England as "Lurk in ditch," +and "Run by the ground," from its creeping nature, arid love +of a damp soil. Its first titles were "Puliall Royall," and "Hop +Marjoram." A chaplet of Pennyroyal was considered admirable for +clearing the brain. Treadwell says, the Pennyroyal was especially +put into hog's puddings, which were made of flour, currants, and +spice, and stuffed into the entrail of a hog. + +The oil of Pennyroyal is used commercially in France and Germany. +Its distilled water is carminative and anti-spasmodic; whilst the +whole plant is essentially stimulating. The fresh herb yields about +one per cent. of a volatile oil containing oxygen, but of which the +exact composition has not been ascertained. From two to eight drops +may be given as a dose in suitable cases, but not where feverish or +inflammatory symptoms are present. + +If added to an ordinary embrocation the oil of [336] Pennyroyal +increases the reddening and the benumbing (anodyne) effects, acting +in the same way as, menthol (oil of Peppermint) for promptly +dispelling severe neuralgic pain. With respect to the Pennyroyal, +folk speak in Devonshire of "Organs," "Organ Tea," and "Organ +Broth." An essence is made of the oil, mixed and diluted with spirit +of wine. The Pennyroyal has proved useful in whooping cough; but +the chief purpose to which it has long been devoted, is that of +promoting, the monthly flow with women. Haller says he never +knew an infusion of the herb in white wine, with steel, to fail of +success; _Quod me nunquam fefellit_. It is certain that in some parts +of England preparations of Pennyroyal are in considerable demand, +and a great number of women ascribe _emmenagogue_ properties to +it, that is, the power of inducing the periodical monthly flux. Many +married women of intelligence and close observation, assert as a +positive fact, that Pennyroyal will bring on the periodical flow when +suppressed; and yet the eminent jurisprudist, Dr. Taylor, was +explicit in declaring that Pennyroyal has no such properties. He +stated that it has no more effect on the womb than peppermint or +camphor water. So there is difficulty in collecting evidence as +regards the real action of Pennyroyal in such respect. Chemists +supply the medicine in the full belief of this eminent opinion just +quoted: at the same time they know it is not wanted for "catarrh of +the chest," as alleged. The purchaser keeps her secret to herself, and +does not communicate her experience to anyone. Dr. Taylor +evidently supposed Peppermint water and Camphor water to be +almost inert, especially as exercising any toxical effect on the +womb. The medicinal basis of the latter is certainly a powerful +agent, and its stimulating volatile principles [337] are found to exist +in most of the aromatic herbs; in fact, Camphor is a concrete volatile +vegetable oil, and camphoraceous properties signalise all the +essences derived from carminative Herbal Simples. + +The Camphor of commerce is secreted by trees of the laurel sort +native to China and Japan, whilst coming also from the West Indies. +Everyone knows by sight and smell the white crystalline granular +semi-translucent gum, strongly odorous, and having a warm +pungent characteristic taste. Branches, leaves, and chips of the trees +are soaked in water until it is saturated with the extract, which is +then turned out into an earthen basin to coagulate. This is +completely soluble in spirit of wine, but scarcely at all in water; +nevertheless, if a lump of the Camphor be kept in a bottle of fresh +water, to be drawn off from time to time as required, it will +constitute Camphor julep. A wineglassful of it serves to relieve +nervous headache and hysterical depression. + +The domestic uses of Camphor are multiple, and within moderate +limits perfectly safe; but a measure of caution should be exercised, +as was shown a while ago by the school-boy, whom his mother +furnished affectionately after the holidays with a bottle of +supersaturated pilules to be taken one or two at a time against any +incipient catarrh or cold. The whole bottleful was devoured at once +as a sweetmeat, and the lad's life was rescued with difficulty +because of intense nervous shock occasioned thereby. + +An old Latin adage declares that _Camphora per nares emasculat +mares_, "Camphor in excess makes men eunuchs," even when +imbibed only through the air as a continuous practice. And, +therefore, as a "similar" the odorous gum, in small repeated doses, is +an excellent sexual restorative. Likewise, persons who have taken +poisonous, or large [338] probative quantities of Camphor found +themselves quickly affected by exhausting choleraic diarrhoea; and +Hahnemann therefore advised, with much success, to give (in doses +of from one to three or four drops on sugar), repeatedly for cholera, +a tincture of Camphor (Rubini's) made with spirit of wine above +proof. This absorbs as much as is possibly soluble of the drug. + +Physiologically Camphor acts by reducing reflex nervous irritability. +Externally its spirit makes an admirable warming liniment, +either by itself, or when conjoined with other rubefacients. +In persons poisoned by the drug, all the superficial blood vessels of +the bodily skin have been found immensely dilated; acting on a +knowledge of which fact anyone wishing to produce copious +general sweating, may do so by sitting over a plate on which +Camphor is heated, whilst a blanket envelops the body loosely, and +is pinned round the neck so that the fumes do not get down the +throat. + +In medical books of the last century this substance was called +"Camphire." To a certain extent its effluvium is noxious to insects, +and it may therefore be employed for preserving specimens, as well +as for protecting fabrics against moths. But its volatile odours +swiftly evaporate, and become even offensively diffused about the +room. In a moderate measure Camphor is antiseptic, and lessens +urinary irritation. Recently a dose of ninety-six grains, taken +toxically, produced giddiness, then epileptic convulsions, with +dilated pupils, and stertor of breathing. + +The Peppermint (_Mentha piperita_), or "Brandy Mint," so called +because having a pungent smell, and taste of a peppery (_piper_) +nature, is a labiate plant, found not uncommonly in moist places +throughout Britain, and occurring of several varieties. Both it and +the Spearmint [390] probably escaped from cultivation at first, and +then became our wild plants. Its leaves and stems exhale a powerful, +refreshing, characteristic aroma, and give a taste which, whilst +delicate at first, is quickly followed by a sense of numbness and +coldness, increased by inspiring strongly. Preparations of +Peppermint, when swallowed, diffuse warmth in the stomach and +mouth, acting as a stimulating carminative, with some amount of +anodyne power to allay the pain of colic, flatulence, spasm, or +indigestion. This is through the powerful volatile oil, of which the +herb yields one per cent. + +Its bruised fresh leaves, if applied, will relieve local pains and +headache. A hot infusion, taken as tea, soothes stomach ache, allays +sickness, and stays colicky diarrhoea. This will also subdue +menstrual colic in the female. The essential oil owes its virtues to +the menthol, or mint camphor, which it contains. + +The Peppermint is largely grown at Mitcham, and is distilled on the +ground at a low temperature, the water which comes away with the +oil not being re-distilled, but allowed for the most part to run off. + +Chinese oil of Peppermint (_Po Ho Yo_) yields menthol in a solid +crystalline form, which, when rubbed over the surface of a painful +neuralgic part, will afford speedy and marked relief, as also for +neuralgic tooth-ache, tic douloureux, and the like grievous troubles. +It is sold in diminutive bottles and cases labelled with Chinese +characters. An ethereal tincture of menthol is made officinally with +one part of menthol to eight parts of pure ether. If some of this is +inhaled by vaporisation from a mouthpiece inhaler, or is sprayed +into the nostrils and hindermost throat, it will relieve acute +affections thereof, and of the nose, by making the blood vessels +contract, and by arresting the flow of mucous discharge, [340] +thus diminishing the congestion, and quieting the pain. This +camphoraceous oil was formerly applied by the Romans to the +temples for the cure of headache. In local rheumatic affections the +skin may be painted beneficially with oil of Peppermint. For internal +use, from one to three drops of the oil may be given as a dose on +sugar, or in a spoonful of milk; but the diluted essence, made from +some of the oil admixed with spirit of wine, is to be preferred. Put +on cotton wool into the hollow of a carious tooth, a drop or two of +the essential oil will often ease the pain speedily. The fresh plant, +bruised, and applied against the pit of the stomach over the navel, +will allay sickness, and is useful to stay the diarrhoeic purging of +young children. From half to one teaspoonful of the spirituous +essence of Peppermint may be given for a dose with two tablespoonfuls +of hot water; or, if Peppermint water be chosen, the dose +of this should be from half to one wineglassful. Distilled +Peppermint water should be preferred to that prepared by adding the +essence to common water. Lozenges made of the oil, or the essence, +are admirable for affording ease in colic, flatulence, and nausea. +They will also prevent or relieve sea-sickness. + +When Tom Hood lay a dying he turned his eyes feebly towards the +window on hearing it rattle in the night, whereupon his wife, who +was watching him, said softly. "It's only the wind, dear"; to which +he replied, with a sense of humour indomitable to the last, "Then put +a Peppermint lozenge on the sill." + +Two sorts of this herb are cultivated for the market--black and white +Peppermint, the first of which furnishes the most, but not the best +oil. The former has purple stems, and the latter green. As an +antiseptic, and destroyer of disease germs, this oil is signally +efficacious, [341] on which important account it is now used for +inhalation by consumptive patients as a volatile vapour to reach +remote diseased parts of the lung passages, and to heal by +destroying the morbid germs which are keeping up mischief therein. +Towards proving this preservative power exercised by the oil of +Peppermint, pieces of meat, and of fat, wrapped in several layers of +gauze medicated with the oil have been kept for seven months +sweet, and free from putrescent changes. A simple respirator for +inhaling the oil is made from a piece of thin perforated zinc plate +adapted to the shape of the mouth and nostrils like a small open +funnel, within the narrow end of which is fitted a pledget of cotton +wool saturated with twenty drops of the oil, or from twenty to thirty +drops of the spirituous essence. This should be renewed each night +and morning, whilst the apparatus is to be worn nearly all day. At +the same time the oil is agreeable of odour, and is altogether +harmless. It may be serviceably admixed with liniments for use to +rheumatic parts. + +"Peppermint," says Dr. Hughes (Brighton), "should be more largely +employed than it is in coughs, especially in a dry cough, however +caused, when it seems to act specifically as a cure, just as arnica +does for injuries, or aconite for febrile inflammation. It will relieve +even the irritative hectic cough of consumptive patients. Eight or ten +drops of the essence should be given for this purpose as a dose with +a tablespoonful of water. In France continuous inhalations of +Peppermint oil combined with creasote and glycerine, have become +used most successfully, even when cavities exist in the lungs, with +copious bacillary expectoration. The cough, the night sweats, and +the heavy phlegm have been arrested, whilst the nutrition and the +weight have steadily increased." + +[342] A solution of menthol one grain, spirit of wine fifty drops, and +oil of cloves ten drops, if painted over the seat of pain, will relieve +neuralgia of the face, or sciatica promptly. Unhealthy sores may be +cleansed, and their healing promoted, by being dressed with strips +of soft rag dipped in sweet oil, to each ounce of which one or two +drops of the oil of Peppermint has been added. For diphtheria, +Peppermint oil has been of marked use when applied freely twice or +three times in the day to the ulcerated parts of the throat. This oil, +or the essence, can be used of any strength, in any quantity, without +the least harm to the patient. It checks suppuration when applied to a +sore or wound, whilst exercising an independent antiseptic +influence. "Altogether," says Dr. Braddon, "the oil of Peppermint +forms the best, safest, and most agreeable of known antiseptics." +Pliny tells that the Greeks and Romans crowned themselves with the +Peppermint at their feasts, and adorned their _al fresco_ tables with +its sprays. The "chefs" introduced this herb into all their sauces, and +scented their wines with its essence. The Roman housewives made a +paste of the Peppermint with honey, which they esteemed highly, +partaking of it to sweeten their breath, and to conceal their passion +for wine at a time when the law punished with death every woman +convicted of quaffing the ruby seductive liquor. Seneca perished in +a bath scented with woolly mint. + +The Spearmint (_Mentha viridis_) is found growing apparently wild +in England, but is probably not an indigenous herb. It occurs in +watery places, and on the banks of rivers, such as the Thames, and +the Exe. If used externally, its strong decoction will heal chaps and +indolent eruptions. + +It possesses a warm, aromatic odour and taste, much [343] +resembling those of Peppermint, but not so pungent. Its volatile oil, +and its essence, made with spirit of wine, contain a similar +stimulating principle, but are less intense, and therefore better +adapted for children's maladies. + +The Spearmint is called "Mackerel Mint," and in Germany "Lady's +Mint," with a pun on the word munze. Its name, Spear, or Spire, +indicates the spiry form of its floral blossoming. When the leaves of +the herb are macerated in milk, this curdles much less quickly than +it otherwise would; and therefore the essence is to be commended +for use with milk diets by delicate persons, or for young children of +feeble digestive powers, though not when feverishness is present. +"Spearmint," says John Evelyn, "is friendly to the weak stomach, +and powerful against all nervous crudities." "This is the Spearmint +that steadies giddiness," writes Alfred Austin, Poet Laureate. + +Our cooks employ it with vinegar for making the mint sauce which +we eat with roast lamb, because of its condimentary virtues as a +spice to the immature meat, whilst the acetic acid of the vinegar +serves to help dissolve the crude albuminous fibre. + +The oil is less used than that of Peppermint. From two to five drops +may be given on sugar; or from half to one teaspoonful of the spirit +of Spearmint with two tablespoonfuls of water. Also a distilled +water of Spearmint is made, which will relieve hiccough, and +flatulence, as well as the giddiness of indigestion. The tincture +prepared from the dried herb looks of a bright dark green by day, +but of a deep red colour by night. Martial called the Spearmint +_Rutctatrix mentha_. "_Nec deest ructatrix mentha_." + +The Calamint, or Basil Thyme, grows frequently in [344] our +waysides and hedges, a labiate plant, with downy stems and leaves, +whilst bearing light purple flowers. The whole herb has a sweet, +aromatic odour, and makes a pleasant cordial tea. It is named from +the Greek kalos, "excellent," because thought useful against +serpents; "There is made hereof," said Galen, "An antidote +marvellous good for young women that want their courses." + +The stem of this pretty slender herb is seldom more than five or six +inches high, and its blossoms are so inconspicuous as to be often +overlooked. The flowers droop gracefully before expansion. In +country places it is often called Mill Mountain, and its infusion is an +old remedy for rheumatism. If bruised, and applied externally, it +reddens the skin, and will sometimes even blister it. In this way it +acts well when judiciously used for lumbago, and rheumatic pains. +The Calamint contains a camphoraceous, volatile, stimulating oil, in +common with the other mints; this is distilled by water, but its +virtues are better extracted by rectified spirit. The lesser Calamint +is a variety of the herb possessing almost superior virtues, with a +stronger odour resembling that of Pennyroyal. "Apple Mint" is the +"_Mentha rotundifolia_." + +"Many robust men and women among our peasantry," says Dr. +George Moore, "from notions of their own, use infusions of Balm, +Sage, or even a little Rue, or wild Thyme, as a common drink, with +satisfaction to their stomachs, and advantage to their health, instead +of infusing the Chinese herb." The Calamint is a favourite herb with +such persons. About the Cat mint there is an old saying, "If you set +it the cats will eat it: if you sow it the cats won't know it." This, +the _Nepeta cataria_, or _herbe aux chats_, is as much beloved by cats +as _Valerian_, [345] and the common _Marum_, for which herbs +they have a frenzied passion. They roll themselves over the plants, +which they lick, tear with their teeth, and bathe with their urine. But +the Cat mint is the detestation of rats, insomuch that with its leaves +a small barricade may be constructed which the vermin will never +pass however hungry they may be. It is sometimes called "Nep," as +contracted from _Nepeta_. Hoffman said, "The root of the Cat +mint, if chewed, will make the most gentle person fierce and +quarrelsome"; and there is a legend of a certain hangman who could +never find courage to exercise his gruesome task until he had +masticated some of this aromatic root. + + + +MISTLETOE. + +The Mistletoe, which we all associate so happily with the festivities +of Christmas, is an evergreen parasite, growing on the branches of +deciduous trees, and penetrating with simple roots through the bark +into the wood. It belongs to the _Loranthaceoe_, and has the +botanical name of _Viscum_, or "sticky," because of its glutinous +juices. The Mistletoe contains mucilage, sugar, a fixed oil, resin, an +odorous principle, some tannin, and various salts. Its most +interesting constituent is the "viscin," or bird glue, which is mainly +developed by fermentation, and becomes a yellowish, sticky, +resinous mass, such as can be used with success as a bird-lime. + +The dried young twigs, and the leaves, are chiefly the medicinal +parts, though young children have been attacked with convulsions +after eating freely of the berries. + +The name (in Anglo-Saxon, _Mistiltan_) is derived, says Dr. Prior, +from _mistil_, "different," and _tan_, "a twig," [346] because so +unlike the tree it grows upon; or, perhaps, _mist_ may refer to +excrement, and the adjective, _viscum_, bear some collateral +reference to viscera, "entrails." Probably our _viscum_ plant differs +from that of the Latin writers in their accounts of the Druids, which +would be the _Loranthus_ growing on the _Quercus pubescens_ (an +oak indigenous to the south of France). They knew it by a name +answering to "all-heal." It is of a larger and thicker sort than our +common Mistletoe, which, however, possesses the same virtues in a +lesser degree. The Germans call the plant _Vogellein_, and the +French _Gui_, which is probably Celtic. + +The plant is given powdered, or as an infusion, or made into a +tincture (H.) with spirit of wine. From ten to sixty grains of the +powder may be taken for a dose, or a decoction may be made by +boiling two ounces of the bruised plant with half-a-pint of water, +and giving one tablespoonful for a dose several times in the day; or +from five to ten drops of the tincture (which is prepared almost +exclusively by the homoeopathic chemists) are a dose, with one or +two tablespoonfuls of cold water. + +Sir John Colebatch published in 1720 a pamphlet, on _The +Treatment of Epilepsy by Mistletoe_, regarding it, and with much +justice, as a specific. He procured the parasite from the lime trees at +Hampton Court. The powdered leaves were ordered to be given (in +black cherry water), as much of these as will lie on a sixpence every +morning. + +Sir John says, "This beautiful plant must have been designed by the +Almighty for further and more noble purposes than barely to feed +thrushes, or to be hung up superstitiously in houses to drive away +evil spirits." His treatise was entitled, _A Dissertation concerning +the Misseltoe--A most wonderful Specifick Remedy for the Cure of +Convulsive Distempers_. The physiological effect of the [347] plant +is that of lessening, and temporarily benumbing such nervous action +as is reflected to distant organs of the body from some central organ +which is the actual seat of trouble. In this way the spasms of +epilepsy and of other convulsive distempers, are allayed. Large +doses of the plant, or of its berries, would, on the contrary, +aggravate these convulsive disorders. + +In a French "_Recueil de Remedes domestiques_," 1682, _Avec +privilege du Roy_, we read, de l'epilepsie: "Il est certain que contre +ce deplorable mal le veritable Guy de Chene (Mistletoe) est un +remede excellent, curatif, preservatif, et qui soulage beaucoup dans +l'accident. Il le faut secher au four apres qu'on aura tire le pain: le +mettre en poudre fort subtile; passer cette poudre par un tamis de +foye, et la conserver pour le besoin. Il faut prendre les poids dun ecu +d'or de cette poudre chaque matin dans vin blanc tous les trois +derniers jours de la lune vieille. Il est encore bon que la personne +affligee de ce mal porte toujours un morceau de Guy de Chene +pendu a son col; mais ce morceau doit etre toujours frais, et sans +avoir ete mis au four." The active part of the plant is its resin +(_viscin_), which is yielded to spirit of wine in making a tincture. +This is prepared (H.) with proof spirit from the leaves and ripe +berries of our Mistletoe in equal quantities, but it is difficult of +manufacture owing to the viscidity of the sap. A special process is +employed of passing the material twice through a sausage machine, +and then mixing the mass with powdered glass before its percolation +with the spirit. A trituration made from the leaves, berries, and +tender twigs, is given for epilepsy, in doses of twenty grains, twice +or three times a day. + +Nowadays the berries are taken by country people when finding +themselves troubled with severe stitches, [348] and they obtain +almost instantaneous relief. In accordance with which experience +Johnson says it was creditably reported to him, "That a few of the +berries of the Misseltoe, bruised and strained into oyle and drunken, +hath presently and forthwith rid a grievous and sore stitch." The +tincture, moreover, is put to a modern use as a heart tonic in place of +the foxglove. It lessens reflex irritability, and strengthens the +heart's beat, whilst raising the frequency of a slow pulse. Dr. J. +Wilde has shown that the Mistletoe possesses a high repute in rural +Hampshire for the cure of St. Vitus's dance, and similar spasmodic +nervous complaints. In the United States the leaves have been +successfully employed as an infusion to check female fluxes, and +haemorrhages, also to hasten childbirth by stimulating the womb when +labour is protracted to the exhaustion of the mother. In Scotland +the plant is almost unknown, and is restricted to one locality only. + +The Druids regarded the Mistletoe as the soul of their sacred tree-- +the oak; and they taught the people to believe that oaks on which it +was seen growing were to be respected, because of the wonderful +cures which the priests were then able to effect with it, particularly +of the falling sickness. The parasite was cut from the tree with a +golden sickle at a high and solemn festival, using much ceremonial +display, it being then credited with a special power of "giving +fertility to all animals." Ovid said, "Ad viscum cantare Druidoe +solebant." + +Shakespeare calls it "The baleful Mistletoe," in allusion to the +Scandinavian legend, that Balder, the god of peace, was slain with +an arrow made of Mistletoe. He was restored to life at the request of +the other gods and goddesses. The mistletoe was afterwards given to +[349] be kept by the goddess of love; and it was ordained in +Olympus that everyone who passed under it should receive a kiss, to +show that the branch was the emblem of love, and not of death. + +Persons in Sweden afflicted with epilepsy carry with them a +knife having a handle of oak mistletoe, which plant they call +Thunder-besom, connecting it with lightning and fire. The thrush is +the great disseminator of the parasite. He devours the berries +eagerly, and soils, or "missels" his feet with their viscid seeds, +conveying them thus from tree to tree, and getting thence the name +of missel thrush. + +In Brittany the plant is named _Herbe de la croix_, and, because the +crucifix was made from its wood when a tree, it is thought to have +become degraded to a parasite. + +When Norwood, in Surrey, was really a forest the Mistletoe grew +there on the oak, and, being held as medicinal, it was abstracted for +apothecaries in London. But the men who meddled with it were said +to become lame, or to fall blind with an eye, and a rash fellow who +ventured to cut down the oak itself broke his leg very shortly +afterwards. One teaspoonful of the dried leaves, in powder, from the +appletree Mistletoe, taken in acidulated water twice a day, will cure +chronic giddiness. Sculptured sprays and berries, with leaves of +Mistletoe, fill the spandrils of the tomb of one of the Berkeleys in +Bristol Cathedral--a very rare adornment, because for some +unknown reason the parasite has been always excluded from the +decorations of churches. In some districts it is called Devil's-fuge, +also the Spectre's Wand, from a belief that with due incantations a +branch held in the hand will compel the appearance of a spectre, and +require it to speak. + + + +[350] MOUNTAIN ASH. + +A somewhat common, and handsomely conspicuous tree in many +parts of England, especially about high lands, is the Rowan, or +Mountain Ash. In May and June it attracts attention by its bright +green feathery foliage set off by cream-coloured bloom, whilst in +September it bears a brilliant fruitage of berries, richly orange in +colour at first, but presently of a clear ripe vermilion. Popularly +this abundant fruit is supposed to be poisonous, but such is far from +being the case. A most excellent and wholesome jelly may be +prepared therefrom, which is slightly tonic by its salutary bitterness, +and is an admirable antiseptic accompaniment to certain roast meats, +such as venison and mutton. To make this jelly, boil the berries in +water (cold at first) in an enamelled preserving pan; when the fruit +has become sufficiently soft, run the contents of the pan through a +flannel bag without pressure; tie the bag between two chairs, with a +basin below, and let the juice strain leisurely through so as to come +out clear. Then to each pint of the juice add a pound of sugar, and +boil this from ten to twenty minutes; pour off into warm dry jars, +and cover them securely when cool. After the juice has dripped off +the fruit a pleasant refreshing drink may be made for children by +pouring a kettleful of boiling water through the flannel bag. Some +persons mix with the fruit an equal quantity of green apples when +making the jelly. Birds, especially field fares, eat the berries with +avidity; and a botanical designation of the tree is _aucuparia_, as +signifying fruit used by the _auceps_, or bird catcher, with which to +bait his snares. + +"There is," says an old writer, "in every berry the exhilaration of +wine, and the satisfying of old mead; and whosoever shall eat three +berries of them, if he has [351] completed a hundred years, he will +return to the age of thirty years." + +At the same time it must be noted that the _leaves_ of the Mountain +Ash are of a poisonous quality, and contain prussic acid like those +of the laurel. But, as already shown, the berries, when ripe, may be +eaten freely without fear. Chemically they contain tartaric acid when +unripe, and both malic and citric acids when ripe. They also furnish +sorbin, and parasorbic acid. The unripe fruit and the bark are +extremely astringent, being useful in decoction, or infusion, to +check diarrhoea; and externally in poultices or lotions, to constringe +such relaxed parts as the throat, and lower bowel. + +The title Rowan tree has affixed itself to the Mountain Ash, as +derived from the Norse, _Runa_ (a charm), because it is supposed to +have the power of averting the evil eye. + + "Rowan tree and red thread + Hold the witches a' in dread." + +"Ruma" was really a magician, or whisperer, from _ru_, to murmur, +and in olden times runes, or mystical secrets, were carved +exclusively on the Mountain Ash tree in Scandinavia and the British +Isles. + +Crosses made of the twigs, and tied with red thread were sewn by +Highlandmen into their clothes. Dame Sludge fastened a piece of +the wood into Flibbertigibbet's collar as a protection against +Wayland Smith's sorceries.--(Kenilworth). Other folk-names of the +tree are Quicken tree, Quick Beam, Wiggen, and Witcher. + +The Mountain Ash is botanically a connecting link between the dog +rose of our hedges and the apple tree of our orchards. Its flowers +exactly resemble apple blossoms, and its thickly-clustered red +berries are only small crabs dwarfed by the love of the tree for +mountain [352] heights and bleak windy situations. In the harsh cold +regions of the north it is only a stunted shrub with leaves split up +into many small leaflets, so as to suffer less by any breadth of +resistance to the sharp driving blasts of icy winds. + +Confusion has been often made between this tree and the Service +tree (_Sorbus_, or _Pyrus domestica_), which is quite distinct, being +more correctly called Servise tree, from _Cerevisia_, fermented +beer. Formerly this Servise, or Checker-tree, was employed for +making an intoxicating drink. Virgil says:-- + + "Et pocula lae + Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea _sorbis_." + + "With acid juices from the Service Ash, + And humming ale, they make their Lemon Squash." + +The fruit of the Service tree (or Witten Pear-tree) resembles a small +pear, and is considered in France very useful for dysentery because +of its tannin; but this _Pyrus domestica_ is a rare tree in England. +Sometimes mistaken for it is the wild Service tree (the _Pyrus +torminalis_), much more common in our south country hedges. Its +fruit is threaded on long strings, and carried in procession at village +feasts in Northamptonshire, but is worthless. Evelyn says, "Ale and +beer brewed from the berries, when ripe, of the true Service tree is +an incomparable drink." + + + +MUGWORT and WORMWOOD. + +The herb Mugwort (_Artemisia vulgaris_), a Composite plant, is +frequent about hedgerows and waste ground throughout Britain; and +it chiefly merits a place among Herbal Simples because of a special +medicinal use in certain female derangements. Its name Mugwort +has [353] been attributed to "moughte," a moth, or maggot, this title +being given to the plant because Dioscorides commended it for +keeping off moths. Its Anglo-Saxon synonym is _Wyrmwyrt_. +Mugwort is named from Artemis the Greek goddess of the moon, +and is also called Maidenwort or Motherwort (womb wort), being +a plant beneficial to the womb. + +Macer says, terming it by mistake "Mother of Worts": + + "Herbarum matrem justum puto ponere primo + Praepue morbis mulieribus illa medetur." + +A decoction of the fresh tops acts famously to correct female +irregularities when employed as a bath. _Uterina est, adeoque usus +est creberrimus mulierculis quoe eam adhibent externe, atque +interne ut vix balnea et lotiones parent in quibus artemisia non +contineatur_. Thus writes Ray, quoting from Schroder. Or it may be +that the term Mugwort became popularly applied because this herb +was in demand for helping to preserve ale. The plant was formerly +known as _Cingulum Sancti Johannis_, since a crown made from its +sprays was worn on St. John's Eve, to gain security from evil +possession; also as _Zona divi Johannis_, it being believed that John +the Baptist bore a girdle of it in the wilderness. In Germany and +Holland it has received the name of St. John's Plant, because, if +gathered on St. John's Eve, it is thought protective against diseases +and misfortunes. The Mugwort is also styled "Felon wort," or +"Felon herb." If placed in the shoes, it will prevent weariness. A +dram of the powdered leaves taken four times a day has cured +chronic hysterical fits, which were otherwise intractable. +"Mugwort," says Gerard, "cureth the shakings of the joynts inclining +to the palsie." + +The mermaid of the Clyde is said to have exclaimed, [354] when +she beheld the funeral of a young maiden who had died from +consumption and decline:-- + + "If they wad drink nettles in March, + And eat muggins [Mugwort] in May, + Sae mony braw young maidens + Wad na' be gang to clay." + +Portions of old dead roots are found at the base of the herb, which +go by the name of "coals," and are thought to be preventive of +epilepsy when taken internally, or worn around the neck as an +amulet. Parkinson says: "Mugwort is of wonderful help to women in +risings of the mother, or hysteria." It is also useful against gout by +boiling the tender parts of the roots in weak broth, and taking this +frequently; whilst at the same time the affected limbs should be +bathed and fomented with a hot decoction of the herb. The plant, +without doubt, is decidedly anti-epileptic, its remedial effects being +straightway followed by profuse and fetid perspirations. It is +similarly useful against the convulsions of children in teething. For +preventing disorders, as well as for curing rheumatism, the +Japanese, young and old, rich and poor, indiscriminately, are said to +be singed with a "moxa" made from the Mugwort. Its dried leaves +are rubbed in the hands until the downy part becomes separated, and +can be moulded into little cones. One of these having been placed +over the site of the disease, is ignited and burnt down to the skin +surface, which it blackens and scorches in a dark circular patch. +This process is repeated until a small ulcer is formed when treating +chronic diseases of the joints, which sore is kept open by issue peas +retained within it so that they may constantly exercise a derivative +effect. + +The flesh of geese is declared to be more savoury when [355] +stuffed with this herb, which contains "absinthin" as its active +principle, and other chemical constituents in common with +Wormwood; but the odour of Mugwort is not fragrant or aromatic, +because it does not possess a volatile essential oil like that of the +_Artemisia absinthium_ (Wormwood). + +This Wormwood is also a Composite plant of the same tribe and +character, but with an intensely bitter taste; and hence its name, +_Absinthium_, has been derived from the Greek privative, _a_, and +_psinthos_, "delight," because the flavour is so bitterly distasteful. +It is a bushy plant, which abounds in our rural districts, having silky +stems and leaves, with small heads of dull yellow flowers, the whole +plant being _amara et aromatica_. + +The Mugwort, as an allied Wormwood of the same genus, is taller +and more slender than the Absinthium, and is distinguished by being +scentless, its leaves being green above, and white below. The bitter +taste of the true Wormwood is also due to "absinthin," and each +kind contains nitrate of potash, tannin, and resin, with succinic, +malic, and acetic acids. + +Old Tusser says:-- + + "Where chamber is swept, and wormwood is strown, + No flea for his life dare abide to be known." + +And again:-- + + "What savour is better, if physic be true, + For places infected, than wormwood and rue." + +The infusion of Wormwood makes a useful fomentation for inflammatory +pains, and, combined with chamomile flowers and bay leaves, +it formed the anodyne fomentation of the earlier dispensatories. +This infusion, with a few drops of the essential oil of Wormwood, +will serve [356] as an astringent wash to prevent the hair +from falling off when it is weak and thin. + +Both Mugwort and Wormwood have been highly esteemed for overcoming +epilepsy in persons of a feeble constitution, and of a sensitive +nervous temperament, especially in young females. Mugwort tea, +and a decoction of Wormwood, may be confidently given for the +purposes just named, also to correct female irregularities. + +For promoting the monthly flow, Chinese women make a confection +of the leaves of Mugwort mixed with rice and sugar, which, when +needed to overcome arrested monthly fluxes, or hysteria, they +_instar bellaria ingerunt_, "eat as a sweetmeat." + +A drachm of the powdered leaves of the Mugwort, taken four times +a day, has cured chronic hysterical fits otherwise irrepressible. The +true Wormwood (_Artemisia absinthium_) is used for preparing +absinthe, a seductive liqueur, which, when taken to excess, induces +epileptic attacks. Any habitual use of alcohol flavoured with this +herb singularly impairs the mental and physical powers. + +"An ointment," says Meyrick, "made of the juice of Mugwort with +hogs' lard, disperses hard knots and kernels about the neck and +throat." + + + +MULBERRY. + +The Mulberry tree (_Morus nigra_) has been cultivated in England +since the middle of the sixteenth century, being first planted at Sion +house in 1548. It is now grown commonly in the garden, orchard, or +paddock, where its well-known rich syrupy fruit ripens in +September. This fruit, abounding with a luscious juice of regal hue, +is used in some districts, particularly in Devonshire, for mixing with +cider during [357] fermentation, giving to the beverage a pleasant +taste, and a deep red colour. The juice, made into syrup, is curative +of sore throats, especially of the putrid sort, if it be used in +gargles; also of thrush in the mouth, if applied thereto; and the +ripe fruit is gently laxative. + +Horace recommends that Mulberries be gathered before sunset:-- + + "AEstatis peraget qui nigris prandia moris + Finiet ante gravem quae legerit arbore solem." + +The generic name, _Morus_, is derived from the Celtic _mor_, +"black." In Germany (at Iserlohn), mothers, in order to deter their +children from eating Mulberries, tell them the devil requires the +juicy berries for the purpose of blacking his boots. This fruit was +fabled to have become changed from white to a deep red through +absorbing the blood of Pyramus and Thisbe, who were slain beneath +its shade. + +It is thought by some that "morus" has been derived from the Latin +word _mora_, delay, as shown in a tardy expansion of the buds. +Because cautious not to burst into leaf until the last frost of spring +is over, the Mulberry tree, as the wisest of its fellows, was dedicated +by the ancients to Minerva, and the story of Pyramus and Thisbe +owed its origin to the white and black fruited varieties:-- + + "The Mulberry found its former whiteness fled, + And, ripening, saddened into dusky red." + +Shakespeare's famous Mulberry tree, planted in 1609, was of the black +species. It was recklessly cut down at New Place, Stratford-on-Avon, +in 1759. Ten years afterwards, when the freedom of the city +was presented to Garrick, the document was enclosed in a +casket made from the wood of this tree. Likewise a cup was [358] +wrought therefrom, and at the Shakespeare Jubilee, Garrick, holding +the cup aloft, recited the following lines, composed by himself for +the occasion:-- + + "Behold this fair goblet: 'twas carved from the tree + Which, oh, my sweet Shakespeare, was planted by thee! + As a relic I kiss it, and bow at thy shrine, + What comes from thy hand must be ever divine." + + "All shall yield to the Mulberry tree; + Bend to the blest Mulberry: + Matchless was he who planted thee, + And thou, like him, immortal shall be." + +A slip of it was grown by Garrick in his garden at Hampton Court. +The leaves of the Mulberry tree are known to furnish excellent food +for silk worms. + +Botanically, each fruit is a collection of berries on a common pulpy +receptacle, being, like the Strawberry, especially wholesome for +those who are liable to heartburn, because it does not undergo +acetous fermentation in the stomach. In France Mulberries are +served at the beginning of a meal. Among the Romans the fruit was +famous for maladies of the throat and windpipe. + +The tree does not bear until it is somewhat advanced in age. It +contains in every part a milky juice, which will coagulate into a sort +of Indian rubber, and this has been thought to give tenacity to the +filament spun by the silkworm. + +The juice of Mulberries contains malic and citric acids, with +glucose, pectin, and gum. The bark of the root has been given to +expel tapeworm; and the fruit is remarkable for its large quantity of +sugar, being excelled in this respect only by the fig, the grape, and +the cherry. + +We are told in _Ivanhoe_ that the Saxons made a favourite drink, +"Morat," from the juice of Mulberries [359] with honey. During the +thirteenth century these berries were sometimes called "pynes." + +In the memorable narrative of the Old Testament, 2 _Samuel_, v., +24, "When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the +Mulberry trees," the word used (_bekhaim_) has been mistranslated, +really intending the Aspen (_Populus tremula_). + + + +MULLEIN. + +The great Mullein (_Verbascum thapsus_) grows freely in England +on dry banks and waste places, but somewhat sparingly in Scotland. +It belongs to the scrofula-curing order of plants, having a thick +stalk, from eighteen inches to four feet high, with large woolly +mucilaginous leaves, and with a long flower-spike bearing plain +yellow flowers, which are nearly sessile on the stem. The name +"Molayne" is derived from the Latin, _mollis_, soft. + +In most parts of Ireland, besides growing wild, it is carefully +cultivated in gardens, because of a steady demand for the plant by +sufferers from pulmonary consumption. Constantly in Irish +newspapers there are advertisements offering it for sale, and it can +be had from all the leading local druggists. The leaves are best when +gathered in the late summer, just before the plant flowers. The old +Irish method of administering Mullein is to put an ounce of the +dried leaves, or a corresponding quantity of the fresh ones, in a pint +of milk, which is boiled for ten minutes, and then strained. This is +afterwards given warm to the patient twice a day, with or without +sugar. The taste of the decoction is bland, mucilaginous, and +cordial. Dr. Quinlan, of Dublin, treated many cases of tubercular +lung disease, even when some were far advanced in pulmonary +consumption, with the Mullein, [360] and with signal success as +regards palliating the cough, staying the expectoration, and +increasing the weight. + +Mullein leaves have a weak, sleepy sort of smell, and rather a bitter +taste. In Queen Elizabeth's time they were carried about the person +to prevent the falling sickness; and distilled water from the flowers +was said to be curative of gout. + +The leaves and flowers contain mucilage, with a yellowish volatile +oil, a fatty substance, and sugar, together with some colouring +matter. Fish will become stupefied by eating the seeds. Gerard says +"Figs do not putrifie at all that are wrapped in the leaves of Mullein. +If worn under the feet day and night in the manner of a sock they +bring down in young maidens their desired sicknesse." + +The plant bears also the name of Hedge Taper, and used to be called +Torch, because the stalks were dipped in suet, and burnt for giving +light at funerals and other gatherings. "It is a plant," says the +_Grete Herball_, "whereof is made a manner of lynke if it be tallowed." + +According to Dodoeus the Mullein was called "Candela." _Folia +siquidem habet mollia hirsuta ad lucernarum funiculos apta_. "It +was named of the Latines, _Candela Regia_ and _Candelaria_." The +modern Romans style it the "Plant of the Lord," Other popular +English names of the plant are "Adam's flannel," "Blanket," +"Shepherd's club," "Aaron's rod," "Cuddie's lungs"; and in +Anglo-Saxon, "Feldwode." Gower says of Medea:-- + + "Tho' toke she feldwode, and verveine, + Of herbes ben nought better tweine." + +The name _Verbascum_ is an altered form of the Latin _barbascum_, +from _barba_, "a beard," in allusion to the dense woolly +hairs on both sides of the leaves; and the [361] appellation, +Mullein, is got from the French _molene_, signifying the "scab" in +cattle, and for curing which disease the plant is famous. It has also +been termed Cow's Lung Wort, Hare's Beard, Jupiter's Staff, Ladies' +Foxglove, and Velvet Dock from its large soft leaves. The Mullein +bears the title "Bullock's lung wort," because of its supposed +curative powers in lung diseases of this animal, on the doctrine of +signatures, because its leaf resembles a dewlap; and the term +"Malandre" was formerly applied to the lung maladies of cattle. +Also the "Malanders" meant leprosy, whence it came about that the +epithet "Malandrin" was attached to a brigand, who, like the leper, +was driven from society and forced to lead a lawless life. + +An infusion of the flowers was used by the Roman ladies to tinge +their tresses of the golden colour once so much admired in Italy; and +now in Germany, a hair wash made from the Mullein is valued as +highly restorative. A decoction of the root is good for cramps and +against the megrims of bilious subjects, which especially beset them +in the dark winter months. The dried leaves of the Mullein plant, if +smoked in an ordinary tobacco pipe, will completely control the +hacking cough of consumption; and they can be employed with +equal benefit, when made into cigarettes, for asthma, and for +spasmodic coughs in general. + +By our leading English druggists are now dispensed a _succus +verbasci_ (Mullein juice), of which the dose is from half to one +teaspoonful; a tincture of _Verbascum_ (Mullein), the dose of +which is from half-a-teaspoonful to two teaspoonfuls; and an +infusion of Mullein, in doses of from one to four tablespoonfuls. +Also a tincture (H.) is made from the fresh herb with spirit of wine, +which has been proved beneficial for migraine (sick head-ache) of +long [362] standing, with oppression of the ears. From eight to ten +drops of this tincture are to be given as a dose, with cold water, and +repeated pretty frequently whilst needed. + +Mullein oil is a most valuable destroyer of disease germs. If fresh +flowers of the plant be steeped for twenty-one days in olive oil +whilst exposed to the sunlight, this makes an admirable bactericide; +also by simply instilling a few drops two or three times a day into +the ear, all pain therein, or discharges therefrom, and consequent +deafness, will be effectually cured, as well as any itching eczema of +the external ear and its canal. A conserve of the flowers is employed +on the Continent against ringworm. Some of the most brilliant +results have been obtained in suppurative inflammation of the inner +ear by a single application of Mullein oil. In acute or chronic cases +of this otorrhoea, two or three drops of the oil should be made fall +into the ear twice or thrice in the day. And the same oil is an +admirable remedy for children who "wet the bed" at night. Five +drops should be put into a small tumblerful of cold water; and a +teaspoonful of the mixture, first stirred, should be taken four times +in the day. + +Flowers of Mullein in olive oil, when kept near the fire for several +days in a corked bottle, form a remedy popular in Germany for +frost-bites, bruises, and piles. Also a poultice made with the leaves +is a good application to these last named troublesome evils. For the +cure of piles, sit for five minutes on a chamber vessel containing +live coals, with crisp dry Mullein leaves over them, and some finely +powdered resin. + + + +MUSHROOMS. + +Without giving descriptive attention to those Mushrooms (_Agarics_, +_Boleti_, and others) which are edible, and [363] of which +over a hundred may be enumerated, as beyond our purpose when +treating of curative Herbal Simples, notice will be bestowed +here on two productions of the Mushroom nature--the Puff Ball and +the Fly Agaric,--because of their medicinal qualities. + +It may be first briefly stated that the _Agaricus campestris_, or field +Mushroom, is the kind most commonly eaten in England, being +highly nitrogenous, and containing much fat. This may be readily +distinguished from any harmful fungus by the pink colour of its +gills, the solidity of its stem, the fragrant anise-like odour which it +possesses, and the separability of its outer skin. Other edible +Mushrooms which grow with us, and are even of a better quality +than the above, are the _Agaricus augustus_ and the _Agaricus +elvensis_, not to mention the _Chanatrelle_, said to be unapproachable +for excellence. + +The Greeks were aware of edible fungi, and knew of injurious sorts +which produced a sense of choking, whilst subsequent wasting of +the body occurred. Athenaeus quotes an author who said: "You will +be choked like those who waste after eating mushrooms." The +Romans also esteemed some fungi as of so exquisite a flavour that +these would be stolen sooner than silver or gold by anyone entrusted +with their delivery:-- + + "Argentum, atque aurum facile est laenamque togamque. + Mittere, boletos mittere difficile est." + +Mushrooms were styled by Porphry _deorum filii_, and "without +seed, as produced by the midwifery of autumnal thunderstorms, and +portending the mischief which these cause." "They are generally +reported to have something noxious in them, and not without +reason; but they were exalted to the second course of the Caesarean +tables with the noble title 'bromatheon,' [364] a dainty fit for the +gods, to whom they sent the Emperor Claudius, as they have many +since to the other world." "So true it is he who eats Mushrooms +many times, _nil amplius edit_, eats no more of anything." + +The poisonous kinds may be commonly recognised by their possessing +permanently white gills which do not touch the stem; and +a thin ring, or frill, is borne by the stem at some distance from +the top, whilst the bottom of the stem is surrounded by a loose +sheath, or volva. If "phalline" is the active poisonous principle, this +is not rendered inert by heat in cooking; but the helvellic acid of +other sorts disappears during the process, and its fungi are thus +made non-poisonous. There is a popular belief that Mushrooms +which grow near iron, copper, or other metals, are deadly; the same +idea obtaining in the custom of putting a coin in the water used for +boiling Mushrooms in order that it may attract and detach any +poison, and so serve to make them wholesome. + +In Essex there is an old saying:-- + + "When the moon is at the full, + Mushrooms you may freely pull; + But when the moon is on the wane, + Wait till you think to pluck again." + +Even the most poisonous species may be eaten with impunity after +repeated maceration in salt and water, or vinegar and water--which +custom is generally adopted in the South of Europe, where the diet +of the poorer classes largely includes the fungi which they gather; +but when so treated the several Mushrooms lose much of their soluble +nutritive qualities as well as their flavour. For the most part, +_Agarics_ with salmon-coloured spores are injurious, likewise fungi +having a rancid or fetid odour, and an acrid, pungent, peppery taste. +Celsus said: "If anyone shall have eaten [365] noxious fungi, let him +take radishes with vinegar and water, or with salt and vinegar." + +Wholesome Mushrooms afford nourishment which is a capital +substitute for butchers' meat, and almost equally sustaining. If a +poisonous fungus has been eaten, its ill-effects may nowadays be +promptly met by antidotes injected beneath the skin, and by taking +small doses of strychnia in coffee. + +Gerard says: "I give my advice to those that love such strange and +new fangled meats to beware of licking honey among thorns, lest +the sweetness of the one do not countervail the sharpness and +pricking of the other." With regard to Mushrooms generally, Horace +said:-- + + "Pratensibus optima fungis + Natura est; aliis male creditur." + + "The meadow Mushrooms are in kind the best; + 'Tis ill to trust in any of the rest." + +The St. George's Mushroom, an early one, takes, perhaps, the +highest place as an agaric for the table. Blewits (formerly sold in +Covent Garden market for Catsup), and Blue Caps, each all +autumnal species, are savoury fungi to be fried. They may be served +with bacon on toast. + +A very old test as to the safety of Mushrooms is to stew with them +in the saucepan a small carefully-peeled onion. If after boiling for a +few minutes this comes out White, and clean-looking, the +Mushrooms may all be confidently eaten: but if it has turned blue, +or black, there are dangerous ones among them, and all should be +rejected. + +The Puff Ball (_Lycoperdon giganteum bovista_) grows usually on +the borders of fields, in orchards, or meadows, also on dry downs, +and occasionally in gardens. It [366] should be collected as a Simple +in August and September. This Puff Ball is smooth, globose, and +yellowish-white when young, becoming afterwards brown. It +contains, when ripe, a large quantity of extremely fine brown black +powder, which is a capital application for stopping bleeding from +slight wounds and cuts. This also makes a good drying powder for +dusting on weeping eruptive sores between parts which approximate +to one another, as the fingers, toes, and armpits. The powder is very +inflammable, and when propelled in a hollow cone against lighted +spirit of wine on tow at the other end by a sudden jerk, its flash +serves to imitate lightning for stage purposes. It was formerly used +as tinder for lighting fires with the flint and steel. + +When the fungus is burnt, its fumes exercise a narcotic property, +and will stupify bees, so that their honey may be removed. It has +been suggested that these fumes may take the place of chloroform +for minor surgical operations. The gas given off during combustion +is carbonic oxide. + +Puff Balls vary in size from that of a moderately large turnip to the +bigness of a man's head. Their form is oval, depressed a little at the +top, and the colour is a pure white both without and within. The +surface is smooth at first, but at length cracking, and as the fungus +ripens it becomes discoloured and dry; then the interior is resolved +into a yellow mass of delicate threads, mixed with a powder of +minute spores, about the month of September. + +When young and pulpy the Puff Ball is excellent to be eaten, and is +especially esteemed in Italy; but it deteriorates very rapidly after +being gathered, and should not be used at table if it has become +stained with yellow marks. When purely white it may be cut into +thick [367] slices of a quarter-of-an-inch, and fried in fresh butter, +with pepper, salt; and pounded herbs, and each slice should be first +dipped in the yolk of an egg; the Puff Ball will also make an +excellent omelette. Small Puff Balls are common on lawns, heaths, +and pastures. These are harmless, and eatable as long as their flesh +remains quite white. The Society of Amateur Botanists, 1863, had +its origin (as described by the president, Mr. M. C. Cooke), "over a +cup of tea and fried Puff Balls," in Great Turnstile. + +Pieces of its dried inner woolly substance, with a profusion of +minute snuff-coloured spores, have been long kept by the wise old +women of villages for use to staunch wounds and incisions; whilst a +ready surgical appliance to a deep cut is to bind a piece of Puff Ball +over it, and leave it until healing has taken place. In Norfolk large +Puff Balls found at the margins of cornfields are known as Bulfers, +or Bulfists, and are regarded with aversion. + +In medicine a trituration (H.) is made of this fungus, and its spores, +rubbed up with inert sugar of milk powdered, and it proves an +effective remedy against dull, stupid, sleepy headache, with passive +itchy pimples about the skin. From five to ten grains of the +trituration, diluted to the third decimal strength, should be given +twice a day, with a little water, for two or three weeks. + +Sir B. Richardson found that even by smelling at a strong tincture of +the fungus great heaviness of the head was produced; and he has +successfully employed the same tincture for relieving an analogous +condition when coming on of its own accord. But the Puff Ball, +whether in tincture (H.) or in trituration, is chiefly of service for +curing the itchy pimply skin of "tettery" subjects, especially if this +is aggravated by washing. Likewise the remedy is of essential use in +some forms [368] of eczema, especially in what is known as bakers', +or grocers' itch. Five drops of the diluted tincture may be given with +a spoonful of water three times in the day; and the affected parts +should be sponged equally often with a lotion made of one part of +the stronger tincture to four parts of water, or thin strained gruel. +Sometimes when a full meal of the Puff Ball fried in butter, or +stewed in milk, has been taken, undoubted evidences of its narcotic +effects have shown themselves. + +Gerard said: "In divers parts of England, where people dwell far +from neighbours, they carry the Puff Balls kindled with fire, which +lasteth long." In Latin they were named _Lupi crepitum_, or Wolfs' +Fists. "The powder of them is fitly applied to merigals, kibed heels, +and such like; the dust or powder thereof is very dangerous for the +eyes, for it bath been observed that divers have been poreblind even +after when some small quantity thereof hath been blown into their +eyes." This fungus has been called Molly Puff, from its resemblance +to a powder puff; also Devil's Snuff Box, Fuss Balls, and Puck Fists +(from _feist, crepitus ani_, and _Puck_, the impish king of the +fairies). In Scotland the Puff Ball is the blind man's e'en, because +it has been believed that its dust will cause blindness; and in +Wales it is the "bag of smoke." + +The Fly Agaric, or Bug Agaric (_Agaricus muscarius_) gives the +name of Mushroom to all the tribe of Fungi as used for the +destruction of flies (_mousches_). Albertus Magnus describes it as +_Vocatus fungus muscarum eo quidem lacte pulverisatus interficit +muscas_: and this seems to be the real source of the word, which +has by caprice become transmitted from a poisonous sort to the +wholesome kinds exclusively. The pileus of the Fly Agaric is broad, +convex, and of a rich orange scarlet [369] colour, with a striate +margin and white gills. It gets its name, as also that of Flybane, +from being used in milk to kill flies; and it is called Bug Agaric +from having been formerly employed to smear over bedsteads so as +to destroy bugs. It inhabits dry places, especially birchwoods, and +pinewoods, having a bright red upper surface studded with brown +warts; and when taken as a poisonous agent it causes intoxication, +delirium, and death through narcotism. It is more common in +Scotland than in England. This Mushroom is highly poisonous, and +therefore the remedial preparations are only to be given in a diluted +form. For medicinal purposes a tincture is made (H.) from the fresh +fungus: and a trituration of the dried fungus powdered and mixed +with inert sugar of milk also powdered. These preparations are kept +specially by the homoeopathic chemists: and the use of the Fly +Agaric has been adopted by the school which they represent for +curatively treating an irritable spinal cord, with soreness, twitching +of the limbs, dragging of the legs, unsteadiness of the head, +neuralgic pains in the arms and legs (as if caused by sharp ice), +some giddiness, a coating of yellow fur on the lining mucous +membranes, together with a crawling, or burning, and eruptive skin. +In fact for a lamentably depraved condition of all the bodily health, +such as characterises advanced locomotor ataxy, and allied spinal +degradations leading to general physical failure. Just such a totality +of symptoms has been recorded by provers after taking the fungus +for some length of time in toxical quantities. The tincture should be +used of the third decimal strength, five drops for a dose twice or +three times a day with a spoonful of water; or the trituration of the +third decimal strength, for each dose as much of the powder as will +lie on the flat surface of [370] a sixpence. Chilblains may be +mitigated by taking the tincture of this Agaric, and by applying +some of the stronger tincture on cotton wool over the swollen and +itching parts alt night. + +"Muscarin" is the leading active principle of the Fly Agaric, in +conjunction with agaricin, mycose, and mannite. It stimulates, when +swallowed in strong doses, certain nerves which tend to retard the +action of the heart. Both our Fly Agaric and the White Agaric of the +United States serve to relieve the night sweats of advanced +pulmonary consumption, and they have severally proved of supreme +palliative use against the cough, the sleeplessness, and the other +worst symptoms of this, wasting disease, as also for drying up the +milk in weaning. Each of these fungi when taken by mistake will +salivate profusely, and provoke both immoderate, and untimely +laughter. When the action of the heart is laboured and feeble +through lack of nervous power, muscarin, or the tincture of Fly +Agaric, in a much diluted potency will relieve this trouble. The dose +of Muscarin, or Agaricin, is from a sixth to half a grain in a pill. +These medicines increase the secretion of tears, saliva, bile, and +sweating, but they materially lessen the quantity of urine. +Belladonna is found to be the best antidote. From the Oak Agaric, +"touchwood," or "spunk,"--when cut into thin slices and beaten with +a hammer until soft,--is made "Amadou," or German tinder. This is +then soaked in a solution of nitre and dried; it afterwards forms an +excellent elastic astringent application for staying bleedings and for +bed sores. The Larch Agaric is powdered, and given in Germany as +a purgative, its dose being from twenty to sixty grains. + +In Belgium the _Polyporus Officinalis_ is used medicinally [371] as +an aperient, and to check profuse sweating. By the Malays the +_Polyporus Sanguineus_ is used outwardly for leprosy. + +Truffles (_Tuber cibarium_) may receive a passing notice whilst +treating of fungi, though they are really subterranean tubers of an +edible sort found in the earth, especially beneath beech trees, and +uprooted by dogs trained for the purpose. They somewhat resemble +our English "earth nuts," which swine discover by their scent. The +ancients called the Truffle _lycoperdon_, because supposing it to +spring from the dung of wolves. In Athens the children of Cherips +had the rights of citizenship granted them because their father had +invented a choice ragout concocted of Truffles. But delicate and +weak stomachs find them difficult to digest. Pliny said, "Those +kinds which remain hard after cooking are injurious; whilst others, +naturally harmful if they admit of being cooked thoroughly well, +and if eaten with saltpetre, or, still better, dressed with meat, or +with pear stalks, are safe and innocent." + +In Italy these tubers are fried in oil and dusted with pepper. For +epicures they are mixed with the liver of fattened geese in _pate de +foie gras_. Also, greedy swine are taught to discover and root them +out, "being of a chestnut colour and heavy rank hercline smell, and +found not seldom in England." Black Truffles are chiefly used: but +there are also red and white varieties, the best tubers being light of +weight in proportion to their size, with an agreeable odour, and +elastic to the touch. + +They are stimulating and heating, insomuch, that for delicate +children who are atrophied, and require a _multum in parvo_ of +fatty and nitrogenous food in a compact but light form, which is +fairly easy of digestion, [372] the _pate de foie gras_ on bread is a +capital prescription. Truffles grow in clusters several inches below +the soil, being found commonly on the downs of Wiltshire, +Hampshire and Kent; also in oak and chestnut forests. Dogs have +been trained to discriminate their scent below the surface of the soil, +and to assist in digging them out. There is a Garlic Truffle of a small +inferior sort which is put into stews; and the best Truffles are +frequently found full of perforations. The presence of the tubers +beneath the ground is denoted by the appearance above of a +beautiful little fly having a violet colour--this insect being never +seen except in the neighbourhood of Truffles. They are subject to +the depredations of certain animalcules, which excavate the tubers +so that they soon become riddled with worms. These, after passing +through a chrysalis state, develop into the violet flies. Gerard called +Truffles "Spanish fussebals." They were not known to English +epicures in Queen Elizabeth's day. Another appellation borne by +them formerly was "Swines' bread," and they were supposed to be +engendered by thunderbolts. In Northern France they were first +popularised four hundred and fifty years ago, by John, Duke of +Berry, a reprobate gambler, third son of John the Good. The +Perigord Truffle has a dark skin, and smells of violets. Piedmontese +truffles suggest garlic: those of Burgundy are a little resinous: the +Neapolitan specimens are redolent of sulphur: and in the Gard +Department (France) they have an odour of musk. The English +truffle is white, and best used in salads. Dr. Warton, Poet Laureate, +1750, said "Happy the grotto'ed hermit with his pulse, who wants no +truffles." A Girton girl under examination described the tuber as a +"sort of sea-anemone on land." When once dug up truffles soon +[373] lose their perfume and aroma, so they are imported bedded in +the very earth which produced them. + +The Earth Nut (_Bunium flexuosum_) is also catted Hog Nut, Pig +Nut, Jur Nut, St. Anthony's Nut, Earth Chesnut, and Kipper Nut. +Caliban says, in the Tempest, "I with my long nails-will dig thee Pig +Nuts." They are an excellent diuretic, serving to stimulate the +kidneys. + +Pliny talked of fungi in general as a great delicacy to be eaten with +amber knives and a service of silver. But Seneca called them +_voluptuaria venena_. The Russians take some which we think to be +deleterious; but they first soak these in vinegar, which (adds Pliny), +"being contrary to them neutralizes their dangerous qualities; also +they are rendered still more safe if cooked with pear stalks; indeed it +is good to eat pears immediately after all fungi." Almost every +species except the common Mushroom is characterized by the +majority of our countrymen as a toadstool; but this title really +appertains to the large group bearing the subgeneric name of +_Tricholoma_, which probably does not contain a single unwholesome +species. Other rustic names given to this group are "Puckstools" +and "Puckfists." They are further known as "Toad skeps" (toad's cap) +in the Eastern counties. + +Puck, the mischievous king of the fairies, has been commonly +identified with _pogge_, the toad, which was believed to sit upon most +of the unwholesome fungi; and the _Champignon_ (or Paddock Stool) +was said to owe its growth to "those wanton elves whose pastime is +to make midnight mushrooms." One of the "toad stoo's" (the +_Clathrus cancellatus_) is said to produce cancerous sores if +handled too freely. It has an abominably disgusting odour, and is +therefore named the "lattice stinkhorn." The toad was popularly +thought to [374] impersonate the devil; and the toad-stool, pixie +stool, or paddock stool was believed to spring from the devil's +droppings. + +The word Mushroom may have been derived from the French _Moucheron_, +or _Mousseron_, because of its growing among moss. The chief +chemical constituents of wholesome Mushrooms are albuminoids, +carbo-hydrates, fat, mineral matters, and water. When salted +they yield what is known as catsup, or ketchup (from the +Japanese _kitchap_). The second most edible fungus of this +nature is the Parasol Mushroom (_Lepcota procera_). + +Edible Mushrooms, if kept uncooked, become dangerous: they cannot +be sent to table too soon. In Rome our favourite _Pratiola_ is +held in very small esteem, and the worst wish an Italian can express +against his foe is "that he may die of a _Pratiola_." If this species +were exposed for sale in the Roman markets it would be certainly +condemned by the inspector of fungi. + +Fairy rings are produced by the spawn, or mycelium, beginning to +germinate where dropped by a bird or a beast, and exhausting the +soil of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, from the centre +continuously outwards; whilst immediately within the enlarging ring +there is constantly a band of coarse rank grass fed by the manure of +the penultimate dead spawn. The innermost starved ground remains +poor and barren. In this duplicate way the rings grow larger and +larger. + +Our edible Mushroom is a _Pratella_ of the subgenus _Psalliota_, +and the _Agaricus campestris_ of English botanists. In common +with the esculent Mushrooms of France it contains phosphate of +potassium--a cell salt essentially reparative of exhausted nerve +tissue and energy. + +The old practice of testing Mushrooms with a silver [375] spoon, +which is supposed to become tarnished only when the juices are of +an injurious quality (i.e., when sulphur is developed therein under +decomposition) is not to be trusted. In cases of poisoning by +injurious fungi after the most violent symptoms may have been +relieved, and the patient rescued from immediate danger, yet great +emaciation will often follow from the subsequent effects of the +poison: and the skin may exhibit an abundant outbreak of a +vesicular eruption, whilst the health will remain perhaps +permanently injured. Strong alcoholic drinks should never be taken +together with, or immediately after eating Mushrooms, or other +innocent fungi. Experienced fungus eaters (mycophagists) have +found themselves suffering from severe pains, and some swellings +through taking whiskey and water shortly after the meal: whereas +precisely the same fungus, minus the whiskey, could be eaten with +impunity by these identical experimentalists. + + + +MUSTARD. + +The wild Mustard (_Brassica Sinapistrum_), a Cruciferous herb +commonly called Chedlock, from _leac_, a weed, and _kiede_, to +annoy, grows abundantly as a product of waste places, and in newly +disturbed ground. + +The Field Mustard (_Arvensis_) is Charlock, or Brassock; its +botanical term, _Sinapis_, being referable to the Celtic _nap_, as a +general name for plants of the rape kind. Mustard was formerly +known as "senvie" in English. It has been long cultivated and +improved, especially in Darham. + +Now we have for commercial and officinal purposes two varieties of +the cultivated plant, the black Mustard (_Sinapis nigra_), and the +white Mustard (_Brassica_, or _Sinapis alba_). There is also a plain +plant of the hedges, [376] Hedge Mustard (_Sisymbrium officinale_) +which is a mere rustic Simple. It is the black Mustard which +yields by its seeds the condiment of our tables, and the +pungent yellow flour which we employ for the familiar stimulating +poultice, or sinapism. This black Mustard is a tall smooth plant, +having entire leaves, and smooth seed pods, being now grown for +the market on rich alluvial soil chiefly in Lincolnshire and +Yorkshire. In common with its kindred plants it gets its name from +_mustum_, the "must," or newly fermented grape juice, and +_ardens_, burning, because as a condiment, Mustard flour was +formerly mixed with home-made wine and sugar. The virtues of +black Mustard depend on the acrid volatile oil contained in its seeds. +These when unbruised and macerated in boiling water yield only a +tasteless mucilage which resides in their skin. But when bruised +they develop a very active, pungent, and highly stimulative principle +with a powerful penetrating odour which makes the eyes water. +From thence is perhaps derived the generic name of the herb +_Sinapis_ (_Para tou sinesthai tous hopous_, "because it irritates the +eyes"). This active principle contains sulphur abundantly, as is +proved by the discoloration of a silver spoon when left in the +mustard-pot, the black sulphuret of silver being formed. The +chemical basis of black Mustard is "sinnigrin" and its acid myronic. +The acridity of its oil is modified in the seeds by combination with +another fixed oil of a bland nature which can be readily separated by +pressure, then the cake left after the expression of this fixed oil is +far more pungent than the seeds. The bland oil expressed from the hulls +of the black seeds after the flour has been sifted away, promotes the +growth of the hair, and may be used with benefit externally for +[377] rheumatism. Whitehead's noted Essence of Mustard is made +with spirits of turpentine and rosemary, with which camphor and the +farina of black Mustard seed are mixed. This oil is very little +affected by frost or the atmosphere; and it is therefore specially +prized by clock makers, and for instruments of precision. + +A Mustard poultice from the farina of black Mustard made into a +paste with, or without wheaten flour commingled, constitutes one of +the most powerful external stimulating applications we can employ. +It quickly induces a sharp burning pain, and it excites a destructive +outward inflammation which enters much more into the true skin +than that which is caused by an old fashioned blister of Spanish fly. +This has therefore superseded the latter as more promptly and +reliably effective for the speedy relief of all active internal +congestions. If the application of Mustard has caused sores, these +may be best soothed and healed by lime-water liniment. + +Mustard flour is an infallible antiseptic and sterilising agent. It is +a capital deodoriser; and if rubbed thoroughly into the bands and nails +will take away all offensive stink when corrupt or dead tissues have +been manipulated. + +If a tablespoonful of Mustard flour is added to a pint of tepid water, +and taken at a draught it operates briskly as a stimulating and sure +emetic. Hot water poured on bruised seeds of black Mustard makes +a good stimulating footbath for helping to throw off a cold, or to +dispel a headache; and meantime the volatile oil given out as an +aroma, if not too strong, proves soporific. This oil contains erucic, +and sinapoleic acids. When properly mixed with spirit of wine, +twenty-four drops of the oil to an ounce of spirit, the essential oil +forms, [378] by reason of its stimulating properties and its contained +sulphur, a capital liniment for use in rheumatism, or for determining +blood to the surface from deeper parts. Caution should be used not +to apply a plaster made altogether of Mustard flour to the delicate +skin of young children, or females, because ulcers difficult to heal +may be the result, or even gangrenous destruction of the deeper skin +may follow. The effects of a Mustard bath, at about ninety degrees, +are singular; decided chills are felt at first throughout the whole +body, with some twitchings at times of the limbs; and later on, even +after the skin surface has become generally red, this sense of +coldness persists, until the person leaves the water, when reaction +becomes quickly established, with a glowing heat and redness of the +whole skin. + +For obstinate hiccough a teacupful of boiling water should be +poured on a teaspoonful of Mustard flour, and taken when sufficiently +cool, half at first, and the other half in ten minutes if still +needed. For congestive headache a small roll of Mustard paper or +Mustard leaf may be introduced into one or both nostrils, and left +there for a minute or more. It will relieve the headache promptly, +and may perhaps induce some nose bleeding. + +Admixture with vinegar checks the development of the pungent +principles of Mustard. This used to be practised for the table in +England, but is now discontinued, though some housewives add a +little salt to their made Mustard. + +Claims for the introduction of Mustard at Durham in 1720, have +been raised in favour of a Mrs. Clements, but they cannot be +substantiated. Shakespeare in the _Taming of the Shrew_ makes +Grumio ask Katherine "What say you to a piece of beef and +Mustard?" and speaks, in _Henry IV_., of Poins' wit being "as thick +[379] as Tewkesbury Mustard"; whilst Fuller in his _Worthies of +England_, written only a very few years after Shakespeare's death, +says "the best Mustard in England is made at Tewkesbury in the +county of Gloucester." Coles observes (1657), "in Gloucestershire +about Teuxbury they grind Mustard seed and make it up into balls, +which are brought to London and other remote places as being the +best that the world affords." George the First restored the popularity +of Mustard by his approval of it. Prior to 1720 no such condiment as +Mustard in its present form was used at table in this country. It +is not improbable that the Romans, who were great eaters of +Mustard-seed pounded and steeped in new wine, brought the condiment +with them to our shores, and taught the ancient Britons how to prepare +it. At Dijon in France where the best mixed continental Mustard is +made, the condiment is seasoned with various spices and savouries, +such as Anchovies, Capers, Tarragon, Catsup of Walnuts, or +Mushrooms, and the liquors of other pickles. Philip the Bold +granted armorial ensigns (1382) to Dijon, with the motto _moult me +tarde_ (I wish for ardently). The merchants of Sinapi copied this on +their wares, the middle word of the motto being accidentally +effaced. A well-known couplet of lines supposed to occur in +_Hudibras_ (but not to be found there), has long baffled the research +of quotation hunters: + + "Sympathy without relief + Is like to Mustard without beef." + +Mustard flour moistened with a little water into a paste has the +singular property of dispelling the odours of musk, camphor, and +the fetid gum resins. For deodorising vessels which have contained +the essences of turpentine, creasote, assafetida, or other such drugs, +it [380] will answer to introduce some bruised Mustard-seed, and +then a little water, shaking the vessel well for a minute or more, and +afterwards rinsing it out with plenty of water. + +The white Mustard grows when uncultivated on waste ground with +large yellow flowers, and does not yield under any circumstances a +pungent oil like the black Mustard. It is a hirsute plant, with stalked +leaves and hairy seed pods; and when produced in our gardens its +young leaves are eaten as a salad, or as "Mustard, with Cress." + +"When in the leaf," says John Evelyn in his _Acetaria_, "Mustard, +especially in young seedling plants, is of incomparable effect to +quicken and revive the spirits, strengthening the memory, expelling +heaviness, preventing the vertiginous palsy, and a laudable cephalic, +besides being an approved antiscorbutic." He tells further that the +Italians, in making Mustard as a condiment, mingle lemon and +orange peel with the (black) seeds. "In the composition of a sallet +the Mustard (a noble ingredient) should be of the best Tewkesbury +or else of the soundest and weightiest Yorkshire seed, tempered a +little by the fire to the consistence of a pap with vinegar, in which +some shavings of the horseradish have been steeped. Then, cutting +an onion, and putting it into a small earthen gally-pot, pour the +Mustard over it and close it very well with a cork. _Note_.--The +seeds should have been pounded in a mortar, or bruised with a +polished cannon bullet in a large wooden bowl dish." + +The active principle of white Mustard is "Sinapin," and the seed +germinates so rapidly that it has been said a salad of this may be +grown while the joint of meat is being roasted for dinner. Seeds of +the white Mustard have been employed medicinally from early +times. [381] Hippocrates advised their use both internally, and as a +counter-irritating poultice made with vinegar. When swallowed +whole in teaspoonful doses three or four times a day, they exercise a +laxative effect mechanically, and are voided without undergoing any +perceptible change, only the outer skin being a little softened and +mucilaginous. An infusion of the seed taken medicinally will relieve +chronic bronchitis, and confirmed rheumatism: also for a relaxed +sore throat a gargle of Mustard seed tea will be found of service. + +A French expression for trifling one's time away is _s'amuser a la +moutarde_. The essential oil is an admirable deodorant and +disinfectant, especially on an emergency. + +But the "grain of Mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds" (_Mark +_iv., 31), "which when it is grown up is the greatest among herbs," +was a tree of the East, very different from our Mustard, and bearing +branches of real wood. + +The Hedge Mustard (_Sisymbrium_, or _Erisymum_) grows by our +roadsides, and on waste grounds, where it seems to possess a +peculiar aptitude for collecting and retaining dust. The pods are +downy, close pressed to the stem, and the leaves hairy with their +points turned backwards. It is named by the French "St. Barbara's +Hedge Mustard," and the Singer's Plant, "_herbe au chantre_," or +"_herbe au chanteur_." Up to the time of Louis XIV, it was +considered an infallible remedy for loss of the voice. Racine writing +to Boileau recommended the syrup of _Erysimum_ to him when +visiting the waters of Bourbonne in order to be cured of +voicelessness. "Si les eaux de Bourbonne ne vous guerissent pas de +votre extinction de voix, le sirop d'Erysimum vous guerirait +infalliblement. Ne l'oubliez pas, et a l'occasion vingt grammes par +litre d'eau en tisane [382] matin et soir." It used to be called Flix, +or Flux weed from being given with benefit in dysentery, a disease +formerly known as the Flix. This herb has been commended for +chronic coughs and hoarseness, using the juice mixed with an equal +quantity of honey, or sugar. It has been designated "the most +excellent of all remedies for diseases of the throat, especially in +ulcerated sore throats, which it will serve to cure when all the advice +of physicians and surgeons has proved ineffectual." A strong +infusion of the herb is excellent in asthmas, and it may be made +with sugar into a syrup which will keep all the year round. The +Hedge Mustard contains chemically a soft resin, and a sulphuretted +volatile oil. This herb with the vervain is supposed to form Count +Mattaei's noted nostrum _Febrifugo_. + + + +NETTLE. + +No plant is more commonplace and plentiful in our fields and +hedges throughout an English summer than the familiar stinging +Nettle. And yet most persons unknowingly include under this single +appellation several distinct herbs. Actually as Nettles are to be +found: the annual _Urtica dioica_, or true Stinging Nettle; the +perennial _Urtica urens_ (burning); the White Dead Nettle; the +Archangel, or Yellow Weasel Snout, and the Purple Hedge Nettle. +This title "Urtica" comes _ab urendo_, "from burning." + +The plant which stings has a round hairy stalk, and carries only a +dull colourless bloom, whereas the others are labiate herbs with +square stems, and conspicuous lipped flowers. As Simples only the +great Stinging Nettle, the lesser Stinging Nettle, and the white Dead +Nettle call for observation. Also another variety of our Stinging +Nettle is the _Urtica pilulifera_, called by [383] corruption the +Roman Nettle, really because found abundantly at Romney in Kent. +But a legend obtains belief with some that Roman soldiers first +brought with them to England the seeds of this plant, and sowed it +about for their personal uses. They heard before coming that the +climate here was so cold that it might not be endured without some +friction to warm the blood, and to stir up the natural heat; and they +therefore bethought them to provide Nettles wherewith to chafe +their limbs when "stiffe and much benummed." Or, again, Lyte says, +"They do call al such strange herbes as be unknown of the common +people Romish, or Romayne herbes, although the same be brought +direct from Sweden or Norweigh." The cure for Nettle stings has +been from early times to rub the part with a dock leaf. The dead +Nettles are so named as having no sting, but possessing nettle-like +leaves. The stinging effect of the true Nettle is caused by an acrid +secretion contained in minute vesicles at the base of each of the stiff +hairs; and _urtication_, or flogging, with Nettles, is an old external +remedy, which was long practised for chronic rheumatism, and loss +of muscular power. _Tacta quod exurat digitos urtica tenentis_. +--Macer. Tea made from the young tops is a Devonshire cure for +Nettle-rash. Gerard says, "the Nettle is a good medicine for them +that cannot breathe unless they hold their necks upright: and being +eaten boiled with periwinkles it makes the body soluble." + +The word Nettle is derived from _net_, meaning something spun, or +sewn; and it indicates the thread made from the hairs of the plant, +and formerly used among Scandinavian nations. This was likewise +employed by Scotch weavers in the seventeenth century. Westmacott, +the historian, says, "Scotch cloth is only the [384] housewifery +of the Nettle." And the poet Campbell writes in one of his +letters, "I have slept in Nettle sheets, and dined off a Nettle table +cloth: and I have heard my mother say she thought Nettle cloth +more durable than any other linen." Goldsmith has recorded the +"rubbing of a cock's heart with stinging Nettles to make it hatch +hen's eggs." Some think the word "Nettle" an alteration of the +Anglo-Saxon "Needl," with reference to the needle-like stings. Spun +silk is now made in England from "Ramie" the decorticated fibre of +Nettles after washing away the glutinous juice from under their +bark. + +The seeds (_dioica_) contain a fine oil, and powerfully stimulate the +sexual functions. + +In Russia, as a recent mode of treatment, _urtication_ is now +enthusiastically commended, that is, slapping, or pricking with a +bundle of fresh Nettle twigs for one or more minutes, once, or +several times in the day. It is a superlative method of cure because +harmless (neither irritating the kidneys nor disfiguring the skin), +cleanly, simple in application, rapid in its effects, and cheap, though +perhaps somewhat rude. For sciatica, for incipient wasting, for the +difficult breathing of some heart troubles (where such stimulation +along the backbone affords more prompt and complete relief than +any other treatment), for some coughs palsy, suppression of the +monthly flow in women, rheumatism, and for lack of muscular +energy, this urtication is said to be an invaluable resuscitating +measure which has been successfully resorted to by the peasantry of +Russia from time immemorial. It will sometimes produce a crop of +small harmless blisters. + +The analysis of the fresh Nettle shows a presence of formic acid (the +irritating principle of the stinging hairs), with mucilage, salts, +ammonia, carbonic acid, and [385] water. A strong decoction of +Nettles drunk too freely by mistake has produced severe burning +over the whole body, with general redness, and a sense of being +stung. The features became swollen, and minute vesicles appeared +on the skin, which burst, and discharged a limpid fluid. No fever +accompanied the attack, and after five or six days the eruption dried +up. A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the entire plant with +spirit of wine: and this, as taught by the principle of similars, may +be confidently given in small diluted doses to mitigate such a +totality of symptoms as now described, whether coming on as an +attack of severe Nettle rash, or assuming some more pronounced +eruptive aspect, such as chicken pox. The same tincture also acts +admirably in cases of burns, when the deep skin is not destructively +involved. And again for relieving the itching of the fundament +caused by the presence of threadworms. + +"Burns," says Lucomsky, "may be rapidly cured by applying over +them linen cloths well wetted with an alcoholic tincture of the +Stinging Nettle prepared from the fresh plant, this being diluted with +an equal, or a double quantity of cold water. The cloths should be +frequently re-wetted, but without removing them, so as to prevent +pain from exposure." Dr. Burnett has shown conclusively that Nettle +tea, and Nettle tincture (ten drops for a dose in water), are curative +of feverish gout, as well as of intermittent fever and ague. Either +remedy will promote a speedy extrication of gravel through the +kidneys. Again the Nettle was a favourite old English remedy for +consumption, as already mentioned (see _Mugwort_), with reference +to the mermaid of the Clyde, when she beheld with regret the +untimely funeral of a young Glasgow maiden. + +[386] Fresh Nettle juice given in doses of from one to two +tablespoonfuls is a most serviceable remedy for all sorts of bleeding, +whether from the nose, the lungs, or some internal organ. Also the +decoction of the leaves and stalks taken in moderate quantities is +capital for many of the minor skin maladies. + +An alcoholic extract is made officinally from the entire young plant +gathered in the spring, and some of this if applied on cotton wool +will arrest bleeding from the nose, or after the extraction of a tooth, +when persistent. If a leaf of the plant be put upon the tongue and +pressed against the roof of the mouth, it will stop a bleeding from +the nose. Taken as a fresh young vegetable in the spring, or early +summer, Nettle tops make a very wholesome and succulent dish of +greens, which is slightly laxative; but during Autumn they are +hurtful. In Italy where herb soups are in high favour, "herb knodel" +(or round balls made like a dumpling in size and consistency) of +Nettles are esteemed as nourishing and medicinal. The greater +Nettle (_Urtica dioica_), and the lesser Nettle (_Urtica urens_) +possess stinging properties in common. + +A crystalline alkaloid which is fatal to frogs in a dose of one +centigramme, has been isolated from the common Stinging Nettle. +The watery extract has but little effect on mammals: but in the frog +it causes paralysis, beginning in the great nervous centres and +finally stopping the action of the heart. If planted in the +neighbourhood of beehives, the Nettle will serve to drive away +frogs. + +The expressed seeds yield an oil which may be used for burning in +lamps. Nettle leaves, rubbed into wooden vessels, such as tubs, &c., +will prevent their leaking. The juice of the leaves coagulates, and +fills up the [387] interstices of the wood. When dried the leaves will +often relieve asthma and similar bronchial troubles by inhalation, +although other means have failed. Eight or ten grains should be +burnt, and the fumes inspired at bedtime. + +The _Lamium album_ (white dead Nettle), a labiate plant, though +not of the stinging Nettle order, is likewise of special use for +arresting haemorrhage, as in spitting of blood, dysentery, and female +fluxes. Its name _Lamium_ is got from the Greek _laimos_, the +throat, because of the shape of its corollae. If the plant be macerated +in alcohol for a week, then cotton wool dipped in the liquid is as +efficacious for staying bleeding, when applied to the spot, as the +strongly astringent muriate of iron. Also, a tincture of the flowers is +made (H.) for internal use in similar cases. From five to ten drops of +this tincture should be given for a dose with a tablespoonful of cold +water. The Red Nettle, another _Lamium_, is also called Archangel, +because it blossoms on St. Michael's day, May 8th. If made into a +tea and sweetened with honey, it promotes perspiration, and acts on +the kidneys. The white dead Nettle is a degenerate form of this +purple herb as shown by still possessing on its petals the same +brown markings. Nevertheless, having disobeyed the laws of its growth, +it has lost its original colour, and, like the Lady of Shalott, it +is fain to complain "the curse has come upon me." Count Mattaei's +nostrum _Pettorale_ is thought to be got from the _Galeopsis_ +(hemp Nettle), another of the labiate herbs, with Nettle-like leaves, +but no stinging hairs, named from _galee_, a cat, or weazel, and +_opsis_, a countenance, because supposed to have a blossom +resembling the face of the animal specified. + + + +[388] NIGHT SHADE, DEADLY (_Belladonna_). + +This is a Solanaceous plant found native in Great Britain, and +growing generally on chalky soil under hedges, or about waste +grounds. It bears the botanical name of _Atropa_, being so called +from one of the classic Fates,--she who held the shears to cut the +thread of human life:-- + + "Clotho velum retinet, Lachesis net, et atropos occit." + +Its second title, _Belladonna_, was bestowed because the Spanish +ladies made use of the plant to dilate the pupils of their brilliant +black eyes. In this way their orbs appeared more attractively +lustrous: and the _donna_ became _bella_ (beautiful). The plant is +distinguished by a large leaf growing beside a small one about its +stems, whilst the solitary flowers, which droop, have a dark full +purple border, being paler downwards, and without scent. The +berries (in size like small cherries) are of a rich purplish black hue, +and possess most dangerously narcotic properties. They are +medicinally useful, but so deadly that only the skilled hands of the +apothecary should attempt to manipulate them; and they should not +be prescribed for a patient except by the competent physician. When +taken by accident their mischievous effects may be prevented by +swallowing as soon as possible a large glass of warm vinegar. + +A tincture of allied berries was used of old by ladies of fashion in +the land of the Pharaohs, as discovered among the mummy graves +by Professor Baeyer, of Munich. This had the property of imparting +a verdant sheen to the human iris; and, perhaps by the quaint +colour-effect it produced on the transparent cornea of some wily +Egyptian belle, it gave rise to the saying, "Do you see any +green in the white of my eye?" + +[389] At one time _Belladonna_ leaves were held to be curative of +cancer when applied externally as a poultice, either fresh, or dried, +and powdered. It is remarkable that sheep, rabbits, goats, and swine +can eat these leaves with impunity, though (as Boerhaave tells) a +single berry has been known to prove fatal to the human subject; +and a gardener was once hanged for neglecting to remove plants of +the deadly Night Shade from certain grounds which he knew. A +peculiar symptom in those poisoned by _Belladonna_ berries is the +complete loss of voice, together with frequent bending forward of +the trunk, and continual movements of the hands and fingers. +The Scotch under Macbeth sent bread and wine treacherously +impregnated with this poison to the troops of Sweno. + +The plant bears other titles, as "Dwale" (death's herb), "Great +Morel," and "Naughty Man's Cherry." The term "Morel" is applied +to the plant as a diminutive of _mora_, a Moor, on account of the +black-skinned berries. The _Belladonna_ grows especially near the +ruins of monasteries, and is so abundant around Furness Abbey that +this locality has been styled the "Vale of Night Shade." + +Hahnemann taught that, acting on the law of similars, Belladonna +given in very small doses of its tincture will protect from the +infection of scarlet fever. He confirmed this fact by experiments on +one hundred and sixty children. When taken by provers in actual +toxic doses the tincture, or the fresh juice, has induced sore throat, +feverishness, and a dry, red, hot skin, just as if symptomatic of +scarlet fever. The plant yields atropine and hyoscyamine from all its +parts. As a drug it specially affects the brain and the bladder. The +berries are known in Buckinghamshire as "Devil's cherries." + + + +[390] NUTMEG, CINNAMON, GINGER, and CLOVES. + +The spice box is such a constant source of ready domestic comforts +of a medicinal sort in every household that the more important, and +best known of its contents may well receive some consideration +when treating of Herbal Simples; though it will, of course, be +understood these spices are of foreign growth, and not indigenous +products. + +Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, and Cloves, claim particular notice in +this respect. + + "Sinament, Ginger, Nutmeg, and Cloves, + And that gave me my jolly red nose." + _Beaumont and Fletcher_. + +Cinnamon possesses positive medicinal as well as aromatic virtues. +What we employ as this spice consists of the inner bark of shoots +from the stocks of a Ceylon tree, first cultivated here in 1768. + +Such bark chemically contains cinnamic acid, tannin, a resin, and +sugar, so that its continued use will induce constipation. The +aromatic and stimulating effects of Cinnamon have been long +known. It was freely given in England during the epidemic scourges +of the early and middle centuries, nearly every monastery keeping a +store of the cordial for ready use. The monks administered it in +fever, dysentery, and contagious diseases. And recent discovery in +the laboratory of M. Pasteur, the noted French bacteriologist, has +shown that Cinnamon possesses the power of absolutely destroying +all disease germs. Our ancestors, it would appear, had hit upon a +valuable preservative against microbes, when they infused +Cinnamon with other spices in their mulled drinks. Mr. Chamberland +says, "no disease germ can long resist the antiseptic powder +of essence of Cinnamon, [391] which is as effective to destroy +microbes as corrosive sublimate." + +By its warming astringency, it exercises cordial properties which are +most useful in arresting passive diarrhoea, and in relieving flatulent +indigestion. + +Its volatile oil is procured from the bark, and likewise a tincture, +as well as an aromatic water of Cinnamon. For a sick qualmish +stomach either preparation is an excellent remedy, as the virtue of +the bark rests in this essential volatile oil. When obtained from the +_fruit_ it is extremely fragrant, of thick consistence, and sometimes +made into candles at Ceylon, for the sole use of the king. The doses +are of the powdered bark from ten to twenty grains; of the oil from +one to five drops; of the tincture from half to one teaspoonful, and +of the distilled water from one to two tablespoonfuls. Our Queen is +known to be partial to the use of Cinnamon. Keats, the poet, wrote +of "lucent syrups tinct. with Cinnamon." And Saint Francis of Sales +says in his _Devout Life_: "With respect to the labour of teaching, it +refreshes and revives the heart by the sweetness it brings to those +who are engaged in it, as the Cinnamon does in _Arabia Felix_ to +them who are laden with it." In toxic quantities of an injurious +amount, Cinnamon bark has produced haemorrhage from the bowels, +and nose bleeding. Therefore small doses of the diluted tincture +are well calculated to obviate these symptoms when presenting +themselves through illness. + +The bark was formerly thought to stimulate the functions of the +womb, and of late it has come again into medical use for this +purpose. To check fluxes from that organ a teaspoonful of the +bruised bark should be infused in half a pint of boiling water, and a +tablespoonful given frequently when cool. Lozenges made [392] +with the essential oil are also medicinally available for the speedy +relief of sickness, and as highly useful against influenza. It is well +known that persons who live in Cinnamon districts have an +immunity from malaria. + +Ginger (_Zingiberis radix_) is the root-stock of a plant grown in the +East and West Indies, and is scraped before importation. Its odour is +due to an essential oil, and its pungent hot taste to a resin. It was +known in Queen Elizabeth's reign, having been introduced by the +Dutch about 1566. "Grene Gynger of almondes" is mentioned in the +Paston Letters, 1444. "When condited," says Gerard, "it provoketh +venerie." + +This Green Ginger, which consists of the young shoots of the +rhizome, when boiled in syrup makes an excellent preserve. +Officinally from the dried and scraped _rhizome_ are prepared a +tincture, and a syrup. If a piece of the root is chewed it causes a +considerable flow of saliva, and an application of powdered Ginger, +made with water into paste, against the skin will produce intense +tingling and heat. To which end it may be spread on paper and +applied to the forehead as a means for relieving a headache from +passive fulness. In India, Europeans who suffer from languid +indigestion drink an infusion of Ginger as a substitute for tea. For +gouty dyspepsia the root may be powdered in a mortar: and a +heaped teaspoonful of it should be then infused in boiling milk; to +be taken when sufficiently cool, for supper or at breakfast. + +The dose of the powder is from ten to twenty grains; of the tincture +from a third of a teaspoonful to a teaspoonful, in water hot or cold; +of the syrup from one to two teaspoonfuls in water. Either +preparation is of service to correct diarrhoea, and to relieve weakly +chronic bronchitis. Also as admirably corrective of [393] chronic +constipation through general intestinal sluggishness, a vespertine +slice of good, old-fashioned Gingerbread made with brown treacle +and grated ginger may be eaten with zest, and reliance. There is a +street in Hull called "The land of Ginger." + +The habitat of the tree from which our Nutmeg comes is the +Molucca Islands, and the part of the nut which constitutes the Spice +is the kernel. This is called generically _Nux moschata_, or Mugget +(French _Musque_) a diminutive of musk, from its aromatic odour, +and properties. The Nutmeg is oval, or nearly round, of a brown +wrinkled aspect, with an aromatic smell, and a bitter fragrant taste. +Officinally the tree is named _Myristica officinalis_, and the oil +distilled from the Nutmeg in Britain is much superior to foreign oil. + +Ordinarily as a condiment of a warming character the Nutmeg is +employed to correct cold indigestible food, or as a cordial addition +to negus: and medicinally for languid digestion, with giddiness and +flatulence, causing oppressed breathing. Its activity depends on the +volatile oil, contained in the proportion of six per cent. in the nut. +This when given at all largely is essentially narcotic. Four Nutmegs +have been known to completely paralyse all nervous sensibility, and +have produced a sort of wakeful unconsciousness for three entire +days, with loss of memory afterwards, and with more or less +paralysis until after eight days. + +The Banda, or Nutmeg Islands in the Indian Ocean, are twelve in +number, and the strength of the Nutmeg in its season is said to +overcome birds of Paradise so that they fall helplessly intoxicated. + +When taken to any excess, whether as a spice, or as a medicine, the +Nutmeg and its preparations are apt to cause giddiness, oppression +of the chest, stupor, and [394] delirium. A moderate dose of the +powdered Nutmeg is from five to twenty grains, but persons with a +tendency to apoplexy should abstain from any free use of this spice. +From two to six drops of the essential oil may be taken on sugar to +relieve flatulent oppression and dyspepsia, or from half to one +teaspoonful of the spirit of Nutmeg made by mixing one part of the +oil with forty parts of spirit of wine; this dose being had with one +or two tablespoonfuls of hot water, sweetened if desired. + +A medicinal tincture is prepared (H.) from the kernel with spirit of +wine (not using the oil, nor the essence). This in small diluted doses +is highly useful for drowsiness connected with flatulent indigestion, +and a disposition to faintness: also for gout retrocedent to the +stomach. The dose is from five to ten drops with a spoonful of water +every half hour, or every hour until the symptoms are adequately +relieved. Against diarrhoea Nutmeg grated into warm water is very +helpful, and will prove an efficient substitute for opium in mild +cases. Externally the spirit of Nutmeg is a capital application to be +rubbed in for chronic rheumatism, and for paralysed limbs. The +"butter of Nutmegs," or their concrete oil, is used in making plasters +of a warming, and stimulating kind. A drink that was concocted by +our grandmothers was Nutmeg tea. One Nutmeg would make a pint +of this tea, two or three cupfuls of which would produce a sleep of +many hours' duration. The worthy old ladies were wont to carry a +silver grater and Nutmeg case suspended from the waist on their +chatelaines. But in any large quantity the Nutmeg may produce +sleep of such a profundity as to prove really dangerous. Two +drachms of the powder have brought on a comatose sleep with some +delirium. + +[395] The Nutmeg contains starch, protein, and other simple +constituents, in addition to its stimulating principles. Mace is the +aromatic envelope of the Nutmeg, and possesses the same qualities +in a minor degree. Its infusion is a good warming medicine against +chronic cough, and moist bronchial asthma in an old person. Mace +is a membranaceous structure enveloping the Nutmeg, having a +fleshy texture, and being of a light yellowish-brown colour. It +supplies an allied essential volatile principle, which is fragrant and +cordial. If given three or four times during the twenty-four hours, in +a dose of from eight to twelve grains, crushed, or powdered Mace +will prove serviceable against long-continued looseness of the +bowels; but this dose should not be exceeded for fear of inducing +narcotism. + +Cloves (from _clavus_, a nail), also found in the kitchen spice box, +and owning certain medicinal resources of a cordial sort, which are +quickly available, belong to the Myrtle family of plants, and are the +unexpanded flower buds of an aromatic tree (_Caryophyllus_), +cultivated at Penang and elsewhere. They contain a volatile oil +which, like that of Chamomile, although cordial, lowers nervous +sensibility, or irritability: also tannin, a gum resin, and woody +fibre. This volatile oil consists principally of "eugenin" with a +camphor, "caryophyllin." The "eugenic acid," with a strong odour of +cloves, is powerfully antiseptic and anti-putrescent. It reduces the +sensibility of the skin: and therefore the oil with lanolin is a +useful application for eczema. + +Dr Burnett has lately taught (1895) that a too free use of Cloves will +bring on albuminuria; and that when this disease has supervened +from other causes, the dilute tincture of Cloves, third decimal +strength, will frequently do much to lessen the quantity of albumen +[396] excreted by the kidneys. From five to ten drops of this tincture +should be given with water three times a day. + +Used in small quantities as a spice the Clove stimulates digestion, +but when taken more freely it deadens the susceptibility of the +stomach, lessens the appetite, and induces constipation. An infusion +of Cloves, made with half an ounce to a pint of water, and drank in +doses of a small wineglassful, will relieve the nausea and coldness +of flatulent indigestion. The oil put on cotton wool into the hollow +of a decayed tooth is a useful means for giving ease to toothache. +The dose of the oil is from one to five drops, on sugar, or in a +spoonful of milk. The odour of Cloves is aromatic, and the taste +pleasantly hot, but acrid. Half a tumbler of quite hot water poured +over half a dozen Cloves (which are to brew for a few minutes on +the hob, and then to be taken out), will often secure a good night to +a restless dyspeptic patient, if taken just before getting into bed. Or +if given cold before breakfast this dose will obviate constipation. In +Holland the oil of Cloves is prescribed with cinchona bark for ague. +Arthur Cecil's German medico in the Play advises his patient to "rub +your pelly mit a Clove." + +All-Spice (_Pimento_) is another common occupant of the domestic +spice box. It is popular as a warming cordial, of a sweet odour, and +a grateful aromatic taste; but being a native of South America, +grows with us only as a stove plant. The leaves and bark are full of +inflammable particles, whilst walks between Pimento trees are +odorous with a delicious scent. The name All-Spice is given because +the berries afford in smell and taste a combination of Cloves, +Juniper berries, Cinnamon and Pepper. The special qualities of the +Pimento reside in the rind of these berries; and this tree is the +_Bromelia ananas_, [397] named in Brazil Nana. An extract made +from the crushed berries by boiling them down to a thick liquor, is, +when spread on linen, a capital stimulating plaster for neuralgic or +rheumatic parts. About the physician in "les Francais" it was said +admiringly "c'est lui qui a invente la salade d'Ananas." The essential +oil, as well as the spirit and the distilled water of Pimento, are +useful against flatulent indigestion and for hysterical paroxysms. This +Spice was formerly added to our syrup of buckthorn to prevent it +from griping. The berries are put into curry powder, and added to +mulled wines. + + + +OAT. + +The Oat is a native of Britain in its wild and uncultivated form, and +is distinguished by the spikelets of its ears hanging on slender +pedicels. This is the _Avena fatua_, found in our cornfields, but not +indigenous in Scotland. When cultivated it is named _Avena +sativa_. As it needs less sunshine and solar warmth to ripen the +grain than wheat, it furnishes the principal grain food of cold +Northern Europe. With the addition of some fat this grain is capable +of supporting life for an indefinite period. Physicians formerly +recommended highly a diet-drink made from Oats, about which +Hoffman wrote a treatise at the end of the seventeenth century; and +Johannis de St. Catherine, who introduced the drink, lived by its use +to a hundred years free from any disease. Nevertheless the Oat did +not enjoy a good reputation among the old Romans; and Pliny said +"Primum omnis frumenti vitium avena est." + +American doctors have taken of late to extol the Oat (_Avena +sativa_) when made into a strong medicinal tincture with spirit of +wine, as a remarkable nervine stimulant and restorative: this being +"especially valuable in [398] all cases where there is a deficiency of +nervous power, for instance, among over-worked lawyers, public +speakers, and writers." + +The tincture is ordered to be given in a dose of from ten to twenty +drops, once or twice during the day, in hot water to act speedily; and +a somewhat increased dose in cold water at bedtime so as to produce +its beneficial effects more slowly then. It proves an admirable +remedy for sleeplessness from nervous exhaustion, and as prepared +in New York may be procured from any good druggist in England. +Oatmeal contains two per cent. of protein compounds, the largest +portion of which is avenin. A yeast poultice made by stirring +Oatmeal into the grounds of strong beer is a capital cleansing and +healing application to languid sloughing sores. + +Oatmeal supplies very little saccharine matter ready formed. It +cannot be made into light bread, and is therefore prepared when +baked in cakes; or, its more popular form for eating is that of +porridge, where the ground meal becomes thoroughly soft by +boiling, and is improved in taste by the addition of milk and salt. +"The halesome parritch, chief of Scotia's food," said Burns, with +fervid eloquence. Scotch people actually revel in their parritch and +bannocks. "We defy your wheaten bread," says one of their +favourite writers, "your home-made bread, your bakers' bread, your +baps, rolls, scones, muffins, crumpets, and cookies, your bath buns, +and your sally luns, your tea cakes, and slim cakes, your saffron +cakes, and girdle cakes, your shortbread, and singing hinnies: we +swear by the Oat cake, and the parritch, the bannock, and the brose." +Scotch beef brose is made by boiling Oatmeal in meat liquor, and +kail brose by cooking Oatmeal in cabbage-water. [399] Crushed +Oatmeal, from which the husk has been removed, is known as +"groats," and is employed for making gruel. At the latter end of the +seventeenth century this was a drink asked-for eagerly by the public +at London taverns. "Grantham gruel," says quaint old Fuller, in his +_History of the Worthies of England_, "consists of nine grits and a +gallon of water." When "thus made, it is wash rather, which one will +have little heart to eat, and yet as little heart by eating." But the +better gruel concocted elsewhere was "a wholesome Spoon meat, +though homely; physic for the sick, and food for persons in health; +grits the form thereof: and giving the being thereunto." In the border +forays of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries all the provision +carried by the Scotch was simply a bag of Oatmeal. But as a food it +is apt to undergo some fermentation in the stomach, and to provoke +sour eructations. Furthermore, it is somewhat laxative, because +containing a certain proportion of bran which mechanically +stimulates the intestinal membranes: and this insoluble bran is rather +apt to accumulate. Oatmeal gruel may be made by boiling from one +to two ounces of the meal with three pints of water down to two +pints, then straining the decoction, and pouring off the supernatant +liquid when cool. Its flavour may be improved by adding raisins +towards the end of boiling, or by means of sugar and nutmeg. +Because animals of speed use up, by the lungs, much heat-forming +material, Oats (which abound in carbonaceous constituents) are +specially suitable as food for the horse. + + + +ONION (_see_ Garlic, _page 209_). + + + +ORANGE. + +Though not of native British growth, except by way of a luxury in +the gardens of the wealthy, yet the Orange [400] is of such common +use amongst all classes of our people as a dietetic fruit, when of the +sweet China sort, and for tonic medicinal purposes when of the +bitter Seville kind, that some consideration may be fairly accorded +to it as a Curative Simple in these pages. + +The _Citrus aurantium_, or popular Orange, came originally from +India, and got its distinctive title of _Aurantium_, either (_ab aureo +colore corticis_) from the golden colour of its peel, or (_ab oppido +Achoeioe Arantium_) from Arantium, a town of Achaia. It now +comes to us chiefly from Portugal and Spain. This fruit is essentially +a product of cultivation extending over many years. It began in +Hindustan as a small bitter berry with seeds; then about the eighth +century it was imported into Persia, though held somewhat +accursed. During the tenth century it bore the name "Bigarade," and +became better known. But not until the sixteenth century was it +freely grown by the Spaniards, and brought into Mexico. Even at +that time the legend still prevailed that whoever partook of the +luscious juice was compelled to embrace the faith of the prophet. +Spenser and Milton tell of the orange as the veritable golden apple +presented by Jupiter to Juno on the day of their nuptials: and hence +perhaps arose its more modern association with marriage rites. + +Of the varieties the China Orange is the most juicy, being now +grown in the South of Europe; whilst the St. Michael Orange (a +descendant of the China sort, first produced in Syria), is now got +abundantly from the Azores, whence it derives its name. + +John Evelyn says the first China Orange which appeared in Europe, +was sent as a present to the old Conde Mellor; then Prime Minister +to the King of Portugal, when only one plant escaped sound and useful +[401] of the whole case which reached Lisbon, and this became the +parent of all the Orange trees cultivated by our gardeners, though +not without greatly degenerating. + +The Seville Orange is that which contains the medicinal properties, +more especially in its leaves, flowers, and fruit, though the China +sort possesses the same virtues in a minor degree. The leaves and +the flowers have been esteemed as beneficial against epilepsy, and +other convulsive disorders; and a tea is infused from the former +for hysterical sufferers. + +Two delicious perfumes are distilled from the flowers--oil of neroli, +and napha water,--of which the chemical hydro-carbon "hesperidin," is +mainly the active principle. This is secreted also as an aromatic +attribute of the leaves through their minute glands, causing them to +emit a fragrant odour when bruised. A scented water is largely prepared +in France from the flowers, _l'eau de fleur d'oranger_, which is +frequently taken by ladies as a gentle sedative at night, when +sufficiently diluted with sugared water. Thousands of gallons are +drunk in this way every year. As a pleasant and safely effective help +towards wooing sleep, from one to two teaspoonfuls of the French +_Eau de fleur d'oranger_, if taken at bedtime in a teacupful of hot +water, are to be highly commended for a nervous, or excitably +wakeful person. + +Orange buds are picked green from the trees in the gardens of +the Riviera, and when dried they retain the sweet smell of +the flowers. A teaspoonful of these buds is ordered to be infused +in a teacupful of quite hot water, and the liquid to be drunk shortly, +before going to bed. The effect is to induce a refreshing sleep, +without any subsequent headache or nausea. The dried berries may +be had from an English druggist. + +[402] A peeled Orange contains, some citric acid, with citrate of +potash; also albumen, cellulose, water, and about eight per cent. of +sugar. The white lining pith of the peel possesses likewise the +crystalline principle "hesperidin." Dr. Cullen showed that the acid +juice of oranges, by uniting with the bile, diminishes the bitterness +of that secretion; and hence it is that this fruit is of particular +service in illnesses which arise from a redundancy of bile, chiefly in +dark persons of a fibrous, or bilious temperament. But if the acids of +the Orange are greater in quantity than can be properly corrected by +the bile (as in persons with a small liver, and feeble digestive +powers), they seem, by some prejudicial union with that liquid, to +acquire a purgative quality, and to provoke diarrhoea, with colicky +pains. + +The rind or peel of the Seville Orange is darker in colour, and more +bitter of taste than that of the sweet China fruit. It affords a +considerable quantity of fragrant, aromatic oil, which partakes of the +characters exercised by the leaves and the flowers as affecting the +nervous system. Pereira records the death of a child which resulted +from eating the rind of a sweet China Orange. + +The small green fruits (windfalls) from the Orange trees of each +sort, which become blown off, or shaken down during the heats of +the summer, are collected and dried, forming the "orange berries" of +the shops. They are used for flavouring curacoa, and for making +issue peas. These berries furnish a fragrant oil, the _essence de petit +grain_, and contain citrates, and malates of lime and potash, with +"hesperidin," sulphur, and mineral salts. The Orange flowers yield a +volatile, odorous oil, acetic acid, and acetate of lime. The juice of +the Orange consists of citric and malic acids, with sugar; [403] +citrate of lime, and water. The peel furnishes hesperidin, a volatile +oil, gallic acid, and a bitter principle. + +By druggists, a confection of bitter orange peel is sold; also a syrup +of this orange peel, and a tincture of the same, made with spirit of +wine, to be given in doses of from one to two teaspoonfuls with +water, as an agreeable stomachic bitter. _Eau de Cologne_ contains +oil of neroli, oil of citron, and oil of orange. + +The fresh juice of Oranges is antiseptic, and will prevent scurvy if +taken in moderation daily. Common Oranges cut through the middle +while green, and dried in the air, being afterwards steeped for forty +days in oil, are used by the Arabs for preparing an essence famous +among their old women because it will restore a fresh dark, or +black colour to grey hair. The custom of a bride wearing Orange +blossoms, is probably due to the fact that flowers and fruit appear +together on the tree, in token of a wish that the bride may retain the +graces of maidenhood amid the cares of married life. This custom +has been derived from the Saracens, and was originally suggested +also by the fertility of the Orange tree. + +The rind of the Seville Orange has proved curative of ague, and +powerfully remedial to restrain the monthly flux of women when in +excess. Its infusion is of service also against flatulency. A drachm +of the powdered leaves may be given for a dose in nervous and +hysterical ailments. Finally, "the Orange," adds John Evelyn, +"sharpens appetite, exceedingly refreshes, and resists putrefaction." + +With respect to the fruit, it is said that workpeople engaged in the +orange trade enjoy a special immunity from influenza, whilst a free +partaking of the juice given largely, has been found preventive of +[404] pneumonia as complicating this epidemic. The benefit is said +to occur through lessening the fibrin of the blood. + +In the time of Shakespeare, it was the fashion to carry "pomanders," +these being oranges from which all the pulp had been scooped out, +whilst a circular hole was made at the top. Then after the peel had +become dry, the fruit was filled with spices, so as to make a sort of +scent-box. Orange lilies, Orangemen, and William of Orange, are all +more or less associated with this fruit. The Dutch Government had +no love for the House of Orange: and many a grave burgomaster +went so far as to banish from his garden the Orange lily, and +Marigold; also the sale of Oranges and Carrots was prohibited in the +markets on account of their aristocratic colour. + +There exists at Brighton a curious custom of bowling or throwing +Oranges along the high road on Boxing day. He whose Orange is hit +by that of another, forfeits the fruit to the successful hitter. + +In Henry the Eighth's reign Oranges were made into pies, or the +juice was squeezed out, and mixed with wine. This fruit when +peeled, and torn into sections, after removing the white pith, and the +pips, and sprinkling over it two or three spoonfuls of powdered loaf +sugar, makes a most wholesome salad. A few candied orange-flower +petals will impart a fine flavour to tea when infused with it. + + + +ORCHIDS. + +Our common English Orchids are the "Early Purple," which is +abundant in our woods and pastures; the "Meadow Orchis"; and the +"Spotted Orchis" of our heaths and commons. Less frequent are the +"Bee Orchis," the "Butterfly Orchis," "Lady's Tresses," and the +"Tway blade." + +[405] Two roundish tubers form the root of an Orchid, and give its +name to the plant from the Greek _orchis_, testicle. A nutritive +starchy product named Salep, or Saloop, is prepared from the roots +of the common Male Orchis, and its infusion or decoction was taken +generally in this country as a beverage before the introduction of tea +and coffee. Sassafras chips were sometimes added for giving the +drink a flavour. Salep obtained from the tubers of foreign Orchids +was specially esteemed; and even now that sold in Indian bazaars is +so highly valued for its fine qualities that most extravagant prices +are paid for it by wealthy Orientals. Also in Persia and Turkey it is +in great repute for recruiting the exhausted vitality of aged, and +enervated persons. In this country it may be purchased as a powder, +but not readily miscible with water, so that many persons fail in +making the decoction. The powder should be first stirred with a +little spirit of wine: then the water should be added suddenly, and +the mixture boiled. One dram by weight of the salep powder in a +fluid dram and a half of the spirit, to half-a-pint of water, are the +proper proportions. Sometimes amber, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger +are added. + +Dr. Lind, in the middle of the last century, strongly advised that +ships, and soldiers on long marches, should be provided with Salep +made into a paste or cake. This (with a little portable soup added) +will allay hunger and thirst if made liquid. An ounce in two quarts +of boiling water will sufficiently sustain a man for one day, being a +combination of animal and vegetable foods. Among the early +Romans the Orchis was often called "Satyrion," because it was +thought to be the food of the Satyrs, exciting them to their sexual +orgies. Hence the Orchis root became famous as all aphrodisiac +[406] medicine, and has been so described by all herbalists from the +time of Dioscorides. + +A tradition is ascribed to the English Orchis Mascula (early Purple), +of which the leaves are usually marked with purple spots. It is said +that these are stains of the precious blood which flowed from our +Lord's body on the cross at Calvary, where this species of Orchis is +reputed to have grown. Similarly in Cheshire, the plant bears the +name of Gethsemane. This early Orchis is the "long Purples," +mentioned by Shakespeare in Hamlet: and it is sometimes named +"Dead men's fingers," from the pale colour, and the hand-like shape +of its tubers. + + "That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, + But our cold maids do 'dead men's fingers' call them." + +It is further styled "Cain and Abel" and "Rams' horns," the odour +being offensive, especially in the evening. It thrives wherever the +wild hyacinth flourishes, and is believed by some to grow best +where the earth below is rich in metal. Country people in Yorkshire +call it "Crake feet," and in Kent "Keat legs," or "Neat legs." The +roots of this Orchis abound with a glutinous sweetish juice, of +which a Salep may be made which is quite equal to any brought +from the Levant. The new root should be washed in hot water, and +its thin brown skin rubbed off with a linen cloth. Having thus +prepared a sufficient number of roots, the operator should spread +them on a tin plate in a hot oven for eight or ten minutes, until they +get to look horny, but without shrinking in size: and being then +withdrawn, they may be dried with more gentle heat, or by exposure +to the air. Their concocted juice can be employed with the same +intentions and in the same complaints as gum arabic,--about which +we read that [407] not only has it served to sustain whole negro +towns during a scarcity of other provisions, but the Arabs who +collect it by the river Niger have nothing else to live upon for +months together. + +Salep is a most useful article of diet for those who suffer from +chronic diarrhoea. + + + +PARSLEY. + +Parsely is found in this country only as a cultivated plant, having +been introduced into England from Sardinia in the sixteenth century. +It is an umbelliferous herb, which has been long of garden growth +for kitchen uses. The name was formerly spelt "Percely," and the +herb was known as March, or Merich (in Anglo-Saxon, Merici). Its +adjective title, _Petroselinum_, signifies "growing on a rock." The +Greeks held Parsley in high esteem, making therewith the victor's +crown of dried and withered Parsley, at their Isthmian games, and +the wreath for adorning the tombs of their dead. Hence the proverb, +_Deeisthai selinon_ (to need only Parsley) was applied to persons +dangerously ill, and not expected to live. The herb was never +brought to table of old, being held sacred to oblivion and the +defunct. + +It is reputed to have sprung from the blood of a Greek hero, +Archemorus, the fore-runner of death; and Homer relates that +chariot horses were fed by warriors with this herb. Greek gardens +were often bordered with Parsley and Rue: and hence arose the +saying when an undertaking was in contemplation but not yet +commenced, "Oh! we are only at the Parsley and Rue." + +Garden Parsley was not cultivated in England until the second year +of Edward the Sixth's reign, 1548. In our modern times the domestic +herb is associated rather with those who come into the world than +with those [408] who go out of it. Proverbially the Parsley-bed is +propounded to our little people who ask awkward questions, as the +fruitful source of new-born brothers and sisters when suddenly +appearing within the limits of the family circle. In Suffolk there is +an old belief that to ensure the herb coming up "double," Parsley +seed must be sown on Good Friday. + +The root is faintly aromatic, and has a sweetish taste. It contains a +chemical principle, "apiin," sugar, starch, and a volatile oil. +Likewise the fruit furnishes the same volatile oil in larger +abundance, this oil comprising parsley-camphor, and "apiol," the +true essential oil of parsley, which may be now had from all leading +druggists. Apiol exercises all the virtues of the entire plant, and is +especially beneficial for women who are irregular as to their +monthly courses because of ovarian debility. From three to six drops +should be given on sugar, or in milk (or as a prepared capsule) twice +or three times in the day for some days together, at the times +indicated, beginning early at the expected date of each period. If too +large a dose of apiol be taken it will cause headache, giddiness, +staggering, and deafness; and if going still further, it will induce +epileptiform convulsions. For which reason, in small diluted doses, +the same medicament will curatively meet this train of symptoms +when occurring as a morbid state. And it is most likely on such +account Parsley has been popularly said to be "poison to men, and +salvation to women." Apiol was first obtained in 1849, by Drs. Joret +and Homolle, of Brittany, and proved an excellent remedy there for +a prevailing ague. It exercises a singular influence on the great +nervous centres within the head and spine. Bruised Parsley seeds +make a decoction which is likewise beneficial against [409] ague +and intermittent fever. They have gained a reputation in America as +having a special tendency to regulate the reproductive functions in +either sex. Country folk in many places think it unlucky to sow +Parsley, or to move its roots; and a rustic adage runs thus: "Fried +parsley brings a man to his saddle, and a Woman to her grave." +Taking Parsley in excess at table will impair the eyesight, especially +the tall Parsley; for which reason it was forbidden by Chrysippus +and Dionysius. + +The root acts more readily on the kidneys than other parts of the +herb; therefore its decoction is useful when the urine becomes +difficult through a chill, or because of gravel. The bruised leaves +applied externally will serve to soften hard breasts early in +lactation, and to resolve the glands in nursing, when they become +knotty and painful, with a threatened abscess. Sheep are fond of +the plant, which protects them from foot-rot; but it acts as a +deadly poison to parrots. + +In France a rustic application to scrofulous swellings is successfully +used, which consists of Parsley and snails pounded together in a +mortar to the thickness of an ointment. This is spread on coarse +linen and applied freely every day. Also on the Continent, and in +some parts of England, snails as well as slugs are thought to be +efficacious medicinally in consumption of the lungs, even more so +than cod-liver oil. The _Helix pomatia_ (or Apple Snail) is specially +used in France, being kept for the purpose in a snaillery, or +boarded-in space of which the floor is covered half-a-foot deep +with herbs. + +The Romans were very partial to these Apple Snails, and fattened +them for the table with bran soaked in wine until the creatures +attained almost a fabulous size. Even in this country shells of Apple +Snails have been [410] found which would hold a pound's worth of +silver. The large Snail was brought to England in the sixteenth +century, to the South downs of Surrey, and Sussex, and to Box Hill +by an Earl of Arundel for his Countess, who had them dressed, and +ate them because of her consumptive disease. Likewise in Pliny's +time Snails beaten up with warm water were commended for the +cure of coughs. Gipsies are great Snail eaters, but they first starve +the creatures, which are given to devour the deadly Night Shade, +and other poisonous plants. It is certain, that Snails retain the +flavour and odour of the vegetables which they consume. + +The chalky downs of the South of England are literally covered with +small snails, and many persons suppose that the superior flavour of +South Down mutton is due to the thousands of these snails which +the sheep consume together with the pasture on which they feed. In +1854 a medical writer set forth the curative virtues of _Helicin_, a +glutinous constituent principle derived from the Snail, and to be +given in broth as a remedy for pulmonary consumption. In France +the Apple Snail is known as the "great Escargot"; and the Snail +gardens in which the gasteropods are fattened, and reared, go by the +name of "Escargotoires." Throughout the winter the creatures +hybernate, shutting themselves up by their operculum whilst lying +among dead leaves, or having fixed themselves by their glutinous +secretion to a wall or tree. They are only taken for use whilst in this +state. According to a gipsy, the common English Snail is quite as +good to be eaten, and quite as beneficial as an Apple Snail, but there +is less of him. In Wiltshire, when collected whilst hybernating, +snails are soaked in salted water, and then grilled on the bars of the +grate. About France the Escargots are dried, and prepared as a +lozenge [411] for coughs. Our common garden Snail is the Helix +aspersa. On the Continent for many years past the large Apple Snail, +together with a reddish-brown slug, the Arion Rufus, has been +employed in medicine for colds, sore throats, and a tendency to +consumption of the lungs. These contain "limacine," and eight per +cent. of emollient mucilage, together with "helicin," and uric acid +just under the shell. Many quarts of cooked garden snails are sold +every week to the labouring classes in Bristol; and an annual Feast +of Snails is held in the neighbourhood of Newcastle. Mrs. Delaney +in 1708, recommended that "two or three snails should be boiled in +the barley-water which Mary takes who coughs at night. She must +know nothing of it; they give no manner of taste. Six or eight boiled +in water, and strained off, and put in a bottle would be a good way +of adding a spoonful of the same to every liquid thing she takes. +They must be fresh done every two or three days, otherwise they +grow too thick." The _London Gazette_, of March 23rd, 1739, tells +that Mrs. Joanna Stephens received from the Government five +thousand pounds for revealing the secret of her famous cure against +stone in the bladder, and gravel. This consisted chiefly of eggshells, +and snails, mixed with soap, honey and herbs. It was given in +powders, decoctions, and pills. To help weak eyes in South +Hampshire, snails and bread crust are made into a poultice. + +A moderate dose of Parsley oil when taken in health, induces a +sense of warmth at the pit of the stomach, and of general well-being. +The powdered seeds may be taken in doses of from ten to fifteen +grains. The bruised leaves have successfully resolved tumours of +hard (scirrhous) cancer when cicuta, and mercury had failed. + +Though used so commonly at table, facts have proved [412] that the +herb, especially when uncooked, may bring on epilepsy in certain +constitutions, or at least aggravate the fits in those who are subject +to them. Alston says: "I have observed after eating plentifully of raw +Parsley, a fulness of the vessels about the head, and a tenderness of +the eyes (somewhat inflamed) and face, as if the cravat were too +tight." + +The victors at the old Grecian games were crowned with chaplets of +Parsley leaves; and it is more than probable our present custom of +encircling a joint, and garnishing a dish with the herb had its origin +in this practice. The Romans named Parsley _Apium_, either +because their bee (_apis_) was specially fond of the herb, or from +_apex_, the head of a conqueror, who was crowned with it. The +tincture has a decided action on the lining membrane of the urinary +passages, and may be given usefully when this is inflamed, or +congested through catarrh, in doses of from five to ten drops three +times in the day with a spoonful or two of cold water. + +Wild Parsley is probably identical with our garden herb. It is called +in the Western counties Eltrot, perhaps because associated with the +gambols of the elves. + +The Fool's Parsley (_oethusa cynapium_) is a very common wayside +weed, and grows wild in our gardens. It differs botanically from all +other parsleys in having no bracts, but three narrow leaves at the +base of each umbel. This is a more or less poisonous herb, +producing, when eaten in a harmful quantity, convulsive and +epileptic symptoms; also an inflamed state of the eyelids, just such +as is seen in the scrofulous ophthalmia of children, the condition +being accompanied with swelling of glands and eruptions on the +skin. Therefore the tincture which is made (H.) of Fool's Parsley, +when given in small doses, and diluted, proves [413] very useful for +such ophthalmia, and for obviating the convulsive attacks of young +children, especially if connected with derangement of the digestive +organs. Also as a medicine it has done much good in some cases of +mental imbecility. And this tincture will correct the Summer +diarrhoea of infants, when the stools are watery, greenish, and +without smell. From three to ten drops of the tincture diluted to the +third decimal strength, should be given as a dose, and repeated at +intervals, for the symptoms just recited. + +This variety is named oethusa, because of its acridity, from the +Greek verb _aitho_ (to burn). "It has faculties," says Gerard, +"answerable to the common Hemlock," the poisonous effects being +inflamed stomach and bowels, giddiness, delirium, convulsions, and +insensibility. It is called also "Dog's Parsley" and "Kicks." + +The leaves of the Fool's Parsley are glossy beneath, with lanceolate +lobes, whereas the leaflets of other parsleys are woolly below. +Gerard calls it Dog's Parsley, and says: "The whole plant is of a +naughty smell." It contains a peculiar alkaloid "cynapina." The +tincture, third decimal strength, in half-drop doses, with a +teaspoonful of water, will prevent an infant from vomiting the breast +milk in thick curds. + +Another variety which grows in chalky districts, the Stone Parsley, +_Sison_, or breakstone, was formerly known as the "Hone-wort," +from curing a "hone," or boil, on the cheek. It was believed at one +time to break a glass goblet or tumbler if rubbed against this article. + + + +PARSNIP. + +The Wild Parsnip (_Pastinaca sativa_) grows on the borders of +ploughed fields and about hedgerows, being generally hairy, whilst +the Garden Parsnip is smooth, [414] with taller stems, and leaves of +a yellowish-green colour. This cultivated Parsnip has been produced +as a vegetable since Roman times. The roots furnish a good deal of +starch, and are very nutritious for warming and fattening, but when +long in the ground they are called in some places "Madnip," and are +said to cause insanity. + +Chemically, they contain also albumen, sugar, pectose, dextrin, fat, +cellulose, mineral matters, and water, but less sugar than turnips or +carrots. The volatile oil with which the cultivated root is furnished +causes it to disagree with persons of delicate stomach; otherwise it +is highly nutritive, and makes a capital supplement to salt fish, in +Lent. The seeds of the wild Parsnip (quite a common plant) are +aromatic, and are kept by druggists. They have been found curative +in ague, and for intermittent fever, by their volatile oil, or by its +essence given as a medicine. But the seeds of the garden Parsnip, +which are easier to get, though not nearly so efficacious, are often +substituted at the shops. A decoction of the wild root is good for a +sluggish liver, and in passive jaundice. + +In Gerard's time, Parsnips were known as Mypes. Marmalade made +with the roots, and a small quantity of sugar, will improve the +appetite, and serve as a restorative to invalids. + +From the mashed roots of the wild Parsnip in some parts of Ireland, +when boiled with hops, the peasants brew a beer. In Scotland a good +dish is prepared from Parsnips and potatoes, cooked and beaten +together, with butter. Parsnip wine, when properly concocted, is +particularly exhilarating and refreshing. + +The Water Parsnip (spelt also in old _Herbals_, Pasnep, and Pastnip, +and called Sium) is an umbelliferous plant, [415] common by the +sides of rivers, lakes, and ditches, with tender leaves which are "a +sovereign remedy against gravel in the kidney, and stone in the +bladder." It is known also as _Apium nodiflorum_, from _apon_, +water, and contains "pastinacina," in common with the wild Parsnip. +This is a volatile alkaloid which is not poisonous, and is thought to +be almost identical with ammonia. The fresh juice, in doses of one, +two, or three tablespoonfuls, twice a day, is of curative effect for +scrofulous eruptions on the face, neck, and other parts of children. +Dr. Withering tells of a child, aged six years, who was thus cured of +an obstinate and otherwise intractable skin disease. The juice may +be readily mixed with milk, and does not disagree in any way. + + + +PEA AND BEAN. + +Typical of leguminous plants (so called because they furnish +legumin, or vegetable cheese), whilst furthermore possessing certain +medicinal properties, the Bean and the Pea have a claim to be +classed with Herbal Simples. + +The common Kidney Bean (_Phaseolus vulgaris_) is a native of the +Indies, but widely cultivated all over Europe, and so well known as +not to need any detailed description as a plant. Because of the seed's +close resemblance to the kidney, as well as to the male testis, the +Egyptians made it an object of sacred worship, and would not +partake of it as food. They feared lest by so doing they should eat +what was human remaining after death in the Bean, or should +consume a soul. The Romans celebrated feasts (Lemuria) in honour +of their departed, when Beans were cast into the fire on the altar; +and the people threw black Beans on the graves of the deceased, +because the smell was thought disagreeable to any hostile Manes. In +Italy at the present day it is [416] customary to eat Beans, and to +distribute them among the poor, on the anniversary of a death. +Because of its decided tendency to cause sleepiness the Jewish High +Priest was forbidden to partake of Beans on the day of Atonement; +and there is now a common saying in Leicestershire that for bad +dreams, or to be driven crazy, one has only to sleep all night in a +Bean field. The philosopher, Pythagoras, warned his pupils against +eating Beans, the black spot thereon being typical of death; and the +disciples were ever mindful: "_Jurare in verba magistri_." When +bruised and boiled with garlic, Beans have been known to cure +coughs which were past other remedies. But the roots of the Kidney +Bean have proved themselves dangerously narcotic. + +The Pea (_Pisum sativum_) is a native of England, first taking its +botanical name from Pisa, a town of Elis, where Peas grew in +plenty. The English appellation was formerly Peason, or Pease, and +the plant has been cultivated in this country from time immemorial; +though not commonly, even in Elizabeth's day, when (as Fuller +informs us) "Peas were brought from Holland, and were fit dainties +for ladies, they came so far, and cost so dear." In Germany Peas are +thought good for many complaints, especially for wounds and +bruises; children affected with measles are washed there +systematically with water in which peas have been boiled. These, +together with Beans and lentils, etc., are included under the general +name of pulse, about which Cowper wrote thus:-- + + "Daniel ate pulse by choice: example rare! + Heaven blest the youth, and made him fresh and fair." + +Grey Peas were provided in the pits of the Greek and Roman +theatres, as we supply oranges and a bill of the Play. + +[417] "Hot Grey Pease and a suck of bacon" (tied to a string of +which the stall-keeper held the other end), was a popular street cry +in the London of James the First. + +Peas and Beans contain sulphur, and are richer in mineral salts, such +as potash and lime, than wheat, barley, or oats; but their constituents +are apt to provoke indigestion, whilst engendering flatulence +through sulphuretted hydrogen. They best suit persons who take +plenty of out-door exercise, but not those of sedentary habits. The +skins of parched Peas remain undigested when eaten cooked, and +are found in the excrements. These leguminous plants are less easily +assimilated than light animal food by persons who are not robust, or +laboriously employed, though vegetarians assert to the contrary. +Lord Tennyson wrote to such effect as the result of his personal +experience (in his dedication of _Tiresias_ to E. Fitzgerald):-- + + "Who live on meal, and milk, and grass:-- + And once for ten long weeks I tried + Your table of Pythagoras, + And seem'd at first 'a thing enskied' + (As Shakespeare has it)--airylight, + To float above the ways of men: + Then fell from that half spiritual height, + Until I tasted flesh again. + One night when earth was winter black, + And all the heavens were flashed in frost, + And on me--half asleep--came back + That wholesome heat the blood had lost." + +But none the less does a simple diet foster spirituality of mind. "In +milk"--says one of the oldest Vedas--"the finer part of the curds, +when shaken, rises and becomes butter. Just so, my child, the finer +part of food rises when it is eaten, and becomes mind." + +Old Fuller relates "In a general dearth all over [418] England +(1555), plenty of Pease did grow on the seashore, near Dunwich +(Suffolk), never set or sown by human industry; which being +gathered in full ripeness much abated the high prices in the markets, +and preserved many hungry families from famishing." "They do not +grow", says he, "among the bare stones, neither did they owe their +original to shipwrecks, or Pease cast out of ships." The Sea-side Pea +(_pisum maritimum_) is a rare plant. + + + +PEACH. + +The Peach (_Amygdabus Persica_), the apple of Persia, began to be +cultivated in England about 1562, or perhaps before then. Columella +tells of this fatal gift conveyed treacherously to Egypt in the first +century:-- + + "Apples, which most barbarous Persia sent, + With native poison armed." + +The Peach tree is so well known by its general characteristics as not +to need any particular description. Its young branches, flowers, and +seeds, after maceration in water, yield a volatile oil which is +chemically identical with that of the bitter almond. The flowers are +laxative, and have been used instead of manna. When distilled, they +furnish a white liquor which communicates a flavour resembling the +kernels of fruits. An infusion made from one drachm of the dried +flowers, or from half an ounce of the fresh flowers, has a purgative +effect. The fruit is wholesome, and seldom disagrees if eaten when +ripe and sound. Its quantity of sugar is only small, but the skin is +indigestible. + +The leaves possess the power of expelling worms if applied outside +a child's belly as a poultice, but in any medicinal form they must be +used with caution, as they contain some of the properties of prussic +acid, as found [419] also in the leaves of the laurel. A syrup +of Peach flowers was formerly a preparation recognised by +apothecaries. The leaves infused in white brandy, sweetened with +barley sugar, make a fine cordial similar to noyeau. Soyer says the +old Romans gave as much for their peaches as eighteen or nineteen +shillings each. + +Peach pie, owing to the abundance of the fruit, is as common fare in +an American farm-house, as apple pie in an English homestead. Our +English King John died at Swinestead Abbey from a surfeit of +peaches, and new ale. + +A tincture made from the flowers will allay the pain of colic caused +by gravel; but the kernels of the fruit, which yield an oil identical +with that of bitter almonds, have produced poisonous effects with +children. + +Gerard teaches "that a syrup or strong infusion of Peach flowers +doth singularly well purge the belly, and yet without grief or +trouble." Two tablespoonfuls of the infusion for a dose. + +In Sicily there is a belief that anyone afflicted with goitre, who eats +a Peach on the night of St. John, or the Ascension, will be cured, +provided only that the Peach tree dies at the same time. In Italy +Peach leaves are applied to a wart, and then buried, so that they and +the wart may perish simultaneously. + +Thackeray one day at dessert was taken to task by his colleague on +the _Punch_ staff, Angus B. Reach, whom he addressed as Mr. +Reach, instead of as Mr. (_Scottice_) Reach. With ready +promptitude, Thackeray replied: "Be good enough Mr. Re-ack to +pass me a pe-ack." + + + +PEAR. + +The Pear, also called Pyrrie, belongs to the same natural order of +plants (the _Rosacoe_) as the Apple. It is [420] sometimes called +the Pyerie, and when wild is so hard and austere as to bear the name +of Choke-pear. It grows wild in Britain, and abundantly in France +and Germany. The Barland Pear, which was chiefly cultivated in the +seventeenth century, still retains its health and vigour, "the +identical trees in Herefordshire which then supplied excellent +liquor, continuing to do so in this, the nineteenth century." + +This fruit caused the death of Drusus, a son of the Roman Emperor +Claudius, who caught in his mouth a Pear thrown into the air, and +by mischance attempted to swallow it, but the Pear was so +extremely hard that it stuck in his throat, and choked him. + +Pears gathered from gardens near old monasteries were formerly +held in the highest repute for flavour, and it was noted that the trees +which bore them continued fruitful for a great number of years. The +secret cause seems to have been, not the holy water with which the +trees were formally christened, but the fact that the sagacious monks +had planted them upon a layer of stones so as to prevent the roots +from penetrating deep into the ground, and so as thus to ensure their +proper drainage. + +The cellular tissue of which a Pear is composed differs from that of +the apple in containing minute stony concretions which make it, in +many varieties of the fruit, bite short and crisp; and its specific +gravity is therefore greater than that of the apple, so much so that by +taking a cube of each of equal size, that of the Pear will sink when +thrown into a vessel of water, while that of the apple will float. The +wood of the wild Pear is strong, and readily stained black, so as to +look like ebony. It is much employed by wood-engravers. Gerard +says "it serveth to be cut [421] up into many kinds of moulds; not +only such fruits as those seen in my Herbal are made of, but also +many sorts of pretty toies for coifes, breast plates, and such like; +used among our English gentlewomen." + +The good old black Pear of Worcester is represented in the civic +arms, or rather in the second of the two shields belonging to the +faithful city; Argent, a fesse between three Pears, sable. The date of +this shield coincides with that of the visit of Queen Elizabeth to +Worcester. + +Virgil names three kinds of Pears which he received as a present +from Cato:-- + + "Nec surculus idem, + Crustaneis, Syriisque pyris, gravibusque volemis." + +The two first of these were Bergamots and Pounder Pears, whilst the +last-named was called _a volemus_, because large enough to fill the +hollow of the hand, (_vola_). + +Mural paintings which have been disclosed at Pompeii represent the +Pear tree and its fruit. In Pliny's time there were "proud" Pears, so +called because they ripened early, and would not keep; and "winter" +pears for baking, etc. Again, in the time of Henry the Eighth, a +"warden" Pear, so named (Anglo-Saxon "wearden") from its +property of long keeping, was commonly cultivated. + + "Her cheek was like the Catherine Pear, + The side that's next the sun," + +says one of our old poets concerning a small fruit seen often +now-a-days in our London streets, handsome, but hard, and +ill-flavoured. + +The special taste of Pears is chemically due for the most part to their +containing amylacetate; and a [422] solution of this substance in +spirit is artificially prepared for making essence of Jargonelle Pears, +as used for flavouring Pear drops and other sweetmeats. The acetate +amyl is a compound ether got from vinegar and potato oil. Pears +contain also malic acid, pectose, gum, sugar, and albumen, with +mineral matter, cellulose, and water. Gerard says wine made of +the juice of Pears, called in English, Perry, "purgeth those that +are not accustomed to drinke thereof, especially when it is new; +notwithstanding, it is as wholesome a drink (being taken in small +quantity) as wine; it comforteth and warmeth the stomacke, and +causeth good digestion." + +Perry contains about one per cent. alcohol over cider, and a slightly +larger proportion of malic acid, so that it is rather more stimulating, +and somewhat better calculated to produce the healthful effects of +vegetable acids in the economy. How eminently beneficial fruits of +such sort are when ripe and sound, even to persons out of health, is +but little understood, though happily the British public is growing +wiser to-day in this respect. For instance, it has been lately +discovered that there is present in the juice of the Pine-apple a +vegetable digestive ferment, which, in its action, imitates almost +identically the gastric juices of the stomach; and a demand for +Bananas is developing rapidly in London since their wholesome +virtues have become generally recognised. It is a remarkable fact +that the epidemics of yellow fever in New Orleans have declined in +virulence almost incredibly since the Banana began to be eaten there +in considerable quantities. If a paste of its ripe pulp dried in the +sun be made with spice, and sugar, this will keep well for years. + +At Godstone, as is related in Bray's Survey, the water [423] from a +well sunk close to a wild Pear tree (which bore fruit as hard as iron) +proved so curative of gout, that large quantities of it were sent to +London and sold there at the rate of sixpence a quart. Pears were +deemed by the Romans an antidote to poisonous fungi; and for this +reason, which subsequent experience has confirmed, Perry is still +reckoned the best thing to be taken after eating freely of +mushrooms, as also Pear stalks cooked therewith. + +There is an old Continental saying: _Pome, pere, ed noce guastano +la voce_--"Apples, pears, and nuts spoil the voice," And an ancient +rhymed distich says:-- + + "For the cough take Judas eare, + With the parynge of a pear; + And drynke them without feare, + If ye will have remedy." + +All Pears are cold, and have a binding quality, with an earthy +substance in their composition. + +It should be noted that Pears dried in the oven, and kept without +syrup, will remain quite good, and eatable for a year or more. + +Most Pears depend on birds for the dispersion of their seeds, but one +striking variety prefers to attract bees, and the larger insects for +cross-fertilization, and it has therefore assumed brilliant crimson +petals of a broadly expanded sort, instead of bearing a succulent +edible fruit, This is the highly ornamental _Pyrus Japonica_, which +may so often be seen trained on the sunny walls of cottages. + + + +PELLITORY. + +A plant belonging to the order of Nettles, the Pellitory of the Wall, +or Paritory--_Parietaria_, from the Latin _parietes_, walls--is a +favourite Herbal Simple in many [424] rural districts. It grows +commonly on dry walls, and is in flower all the summer. The leaves +are narrow, hairy, and reddish; the stems are brittle, and the small +blossoms hairy, in clusters. Their filaments are so elastic that if +touched before the flower has expanded, they suddenly spring from +their in curved position, and scatter the pollen broadcast. + +An infusion of the plant is a popular medicine to stimulate the +kidneys, and promote a large flow of watery urine. The juice of the +herb acts in the same way when made into a thin syrup with sugar, +and given in doses of two tablespoonfuls three times in the day. +Dropsical effusions caused by an obstructed liver, or by a weak +dilated heart, may be thus carried off with marked relief. The +decoction of _Parietaria_, says Gerard, "helpeth such as are troubled +with an old cough." All parts of the plant contain nitre abundantly. +The leaves may be usefully applied as poultices. + +But another Pellitory, which is more widely used because of its +pungent efficacy in relieving toothache, and in provoking a free +flow of saliva, is a distinct plant, the _Pyrethrum_, or Spanish +Chamomile of the shops, and not a native of Great Britain, though +sometimes cultivated in our gardens. The title "Purethron" is from +_pur_, fire, because of its burning ardent taste. Its root is +scentless, but when chewed causes a pricking sensation (with heat, +and some numbness) in the mouth and tongue. Then an abundant flow of +saliva, and of mucus within the cheeks quickly ensues. These effects +are due to "pyrethrin" contained in the plant, which is an acid fixed +resin; also there are present a second resin, and a yellow, acrid oil, +whilst the root contains inulin, tannin, and other substances. When +sliced and applied to the skin it induces heat, [425] tingling, and +redness. A patient seeking relief from rheumatic or neuralgic +affections of the head and face, or for palsy of the tongue, should +chew the root of this _Pyrethrum_ for several minutes. + +The "Pelleter of Spain" (_Pyrethrum Anacyclus_), was so styled, +not because of being brought from Spain; but because it is grown +there. + +A gargle of _Pyrethrum_ infusion is prescribed for relaxed uvula, +and for a partial paralysis of the tongue and lips. The tincture made +from the dried root may be most helpfully applied on cotton wool to +the interior of a decayed tooth which is aching, or the milder +tincture of the wall Pellitory may be employed for the same +purpose. To make a gargle, two or three teaspoonfuls of the +tincture of _Pyrethrum_, which can be had from any druggist, +should be mixed with a pint of cold water, and sweetened with +honey, if desired. The powdered root forms a good snuff to cure +chronic catarrh of the head and nostrils, and to clear the brain by +exciting a free flow of nasal mucus and tears--_Purgatur cerebrum +mansa radice Pyrethri_. + +Incidentally, as a quaint but effective remedy for carious toothache, +may be mentioned the common lady bird insect, Coccinella, which +when captured secretes from its legs a yellow acrid fluid having a +disagreeable odour. This fluid will serve to ease the most violent +toothache, if the creature be placed alive in the cavity of the hollow +tooth. + +Gerard says this _Pyrethrurn_ (Pellitory of Spain, or Pelletor) "is +most singular for the surgeons of the hospitals to put into their +unctions _contra Neapolitanum morbum_, and such other diseases +that are cousin germanes thereunto." The _Parietaria_, or Pellitory +of the wall, is named Lichwort, from growing on stones. + +[426] Sir William Roberts, of Manchester, has advised jujubes, +made of gum arabic and pyrethrum, to be slowly masticated by +persons who suffer from acid fermentation in the stomach, a copious +flow of alkaline saliva being stimulated thereby in the mouth, which +is repeatedly swallowed during the sucking of one or more of the +jujubes, and which serves to neutralise the acid generated within the +stomach. Distressing heartburn is thus effectively relieved without +taking injurious alkalies, such as potash and soda. + + + +PENNYROYAL, _see_ MINT. + + + +PERIWINKLE. + +There are two British Periwinkles growing wild; the one _Vinca +major_, or greater, a doubtful native, and found only in the +neighbourhood of dwelling-houses; the other _Vinca minor_ lesser, +abounding in English woods, particularly in the Western counties, +and often entirely covering the ground with its prostrate evergreen +leaves. The common name of each is derived from _vincio_, to bind, +as it were by its stems resembling cord; or because bound in olden +times into festive garlands and funeral chaplets. Their title used also +to be Pervinca, and Pervinkle, Pervenkle, and Pucellage (or virgin +flower). + +This generic name has been derived either from _pervincire_, to +bind closely, or from _pervincere_, to overcome. Lord Bacon +observes that it was common in his time for persons to wear bands +of green Periwinkle about the calf of the leg to prevent cramp. +Now-a-days we use for the same purpose a garter of small new corks +strung on worsted. In Germany this plant is the emblem of +immortality. It bears the name [427] "Pennywinkles" in Hampshire, +probably by an inland confusion with the shell fish "winkles." + +Each of the two kinds possesses acrid astringent properties, but the +lesser Periwinkle, _Vinca minor_ or Winter-green, is the Herbal +Simple best known of the pair, for its medicinal virtues in domestic +use. The Periwinkle order is called _Apocynaceoe_, from the Greek +_apo_, against, and _kunos_, a dog; or dog's bane. + +The flowers of the greater Periwinkle are gently purgative, but lose +their effect by drying. If gathered in the Spring, and made into a +syrup, they will impart all their virtues, and this is excellent to +keep the bowels of children gently open, as well as to overcome +habitual constipation in grown persons. But the leaves are astringent, +contracting and strengthening the genitals if applied thereto either as +a decoction, or as the bruised leaves themselves. An infusion of the +greater Periwinkle, one part of the fresh plant to ten of water, may +be used for staying female fluxes, by giving a wine-glassful thereof +when cool, frequently; or of the liquid extract, half a teaspoonful for +a dose in water. On account of its striking colour, and its use for +magical purposes, the plant, when in bloom, has been named the +Sorcerer's Violet, and in some parts of Devon the flowers are known +as Cut Finger or Blue Buttons. The Italians use it in making +garlands for their dead infants, and so call it Death's flower. + +Simon Fraser, whose father was a faithful adherent of Sir William +Wallace, when on his way to be executed (in 1306) was crowned in +mockery with the Periwinkle, as he passed through the City +of London, with his legs tied under the horse's belly. In +Gloucestershire, the flowers of the greater Periwinkle are called +Cockles. + +The lesser Periwinkle is perennial, and is sometimes [428] +cultivated in gardens, where it has acquired variegated leaves. It has +no odour, but gives a bitterish taste which lasts in the mouth. Its +leaves are strongly astringent, and therefore very useful to be +applied for staying bleedings. If bruised and put into the nostrils, +they will arrest fluxes from the nose, and a decoction made from +them is of service for the diarrhoea of a weak subject, as well as for +chronic looseness of the bowels; likewise for bleeding piles, by +being applied externally, and by being taken internally. Again, the +decoction makes a capital gargle for relaxed sore throat, and for +sponginess of the mouth, of the tonsils, and the gums. + +This plant was also a noted Simple for increasing the milk of wet +nurses, and was advised for such purpose by physicians of repute. +Culpeper gravely says: "The leaves of the lesser Periwinkle, if eaten +by man and wife together, will cause love between them." + +A tincture is made (H.) from the said plant, the _Vinca minor_, with +spirit of wine. It is given medicinally for the milk-crust of infants, +as well as for internal haemorrhages, the dose being from two to ten +drops three or four times in the day, with a spoonful of water. + + + +PIMPERNEL. + +The "Poor Man's Weather Glass" or "Shepherd's Dial," is a very +well-known and favourite little flower, of brilliant scarlet hue, +expanding only in bright weather, and closing its petals at two +o'clock in the day. It occurs quite commonly in gardens and open +fields, being the scarlet Pimpernel, or _Anagallis arvensis_, and +belonging to the Primrose tribe of plants. Old authors called it +Burnet; which is quite a distinct herb, cultivated now for kitchen +use, the _Pimpinella Saxifraga_, of so cheery and exhilarating a +quality, and so generally commended, [429] that its excellence has +passed into a proverb, "_l'insolata non buon, ne betta ove non e +Pimpinella_." But this Burnet Pimpinella is of a different +(Umbelliferous) order, though similarly styled because its leaves are +likewise bipennate. + +The Scarlet Pimpernel is named _Anagallis_, from the Greek +_anagelao_, to laugh; either because, as Pliny says, the plant +removes obstructions of the liver, and spleen, which would +engender sadness, or because of the graceful beauty of its flowers:-- + + "No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell + The virtues of the Pimpernell." + +The little plant has no odour, but possesses a bitter taste, which is +rather astringent. Doctors used to consider the herb remedial in +melancholy, and in the allied forms of mental disease, the decoction, +or a tincture being employed. It was also prescribed for +hydrophobia, and linen cloths saturated with a decoction were kept +applied to the bitten part. + +Narcotic effects were certainly produced in animals by giving +considerable doses of an extract made from the herb. The flowers +have been found useful in epilepsy, twenty grains dried being given +four times a day. A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared with spirit of +wine. It is of approved utility for irritability of the main urinary +passage, with genital congestion, erotism, and dragging of the loins, +this tincture being then ordered of the third decimal strength, in +doses of from five to ten drops every three or four hours, with a +spoonful of water. + +A decoction of the plant is held in esteem by countryfolk as +checking pulmonary consumption in its early stages. Hill says there +are many authenticated cases of this dire disease being absolutely +cured by the herb, [430] The infusion is best made by pouring +boiling water on the fresh plant. It contains "saponin," such as the +Soapwort also specially furnishes. + +In France the Pimpernel (_Anagallis_) is thought to be a noxious +plant of drastic narcotico-acrid properties, and called _Mouron--qui +tue les petits oiseaux, et est un violent drastique pour l'homme, et +les grands animaux; a dose tres elevee le mouron peut meme leur +donner la mort_. In California a fluid extract of the herb is given for +rheumatism, in doses of one teaspoonful with water three times a +day. + +The _Burnet Pimpinella_ is more correctly the Burnet Saxifrage, +getting its first name because the leaves are brown, and the second +because supposed to break up stone in the bladder. It grows +abundantly in our dry chalky pastures, bearing terminal umbels of +white flowers. It contains an essential oil and a bitter resin, which +are useful as warmly carminative to relieve flatulent indigestion, and +to promote the monthly flow in women. An infusion of the herb is +made, and given in two tablespoonfuls for a dose. Cows which feed +on this plant have their flow of milk increased thereby. Small +bunches of the leaves and shoots when tied together and suspended +in a cask of beer impart to it an agreeable aromatic flavour, and are +thought to correct tart, or spoiled wines. The root, when fresh, +has a hot pungent bitterish taste, and may be usefully chewed for +tooth-ache, or to obviate paralysis of the tongue. In Germany a variety +of this Burnet yields a blue essential oil which is used for colouring +brandy. Again the herb is allied to the Anise (_Pimpinella +Anisum_). The term Burnet was formerly applied to a brown cloth. +Smaller than this Common Burnet is the Salad Burnet, _Poterium +sanguisorba, quod sanguineos fluxus sistat_, a useful [431] styptic, +which is also cordial, and promotes perspiration. It has the smell of +cucumber, and is, therefore, an ingredient of the salad bowl, or often +put into a cool tankard, whereto, says Gerard, "it gives a grace in the +drynkynge." Another larger sort of the Burnet Pimpinella +(_Magna_), which has broad upper leaves less divided, grows in our +woods and shady places. + +A bright blue variety of the true Scarlet Pimpernel (_Anagallis_) is +less frequent, and is thought by many to be a distinct species. +Gerard says, "the Pimpernel with the blue flower helpeth the +fundament that is fallen down: and, contrariwise, red Pimpernel +being applied bringeth it down." + +The Water Pimpernel (_Anagallis aquatica_) is more commonly +known as Brooklime, or Beccabunga, and belongs to a different +order of plants, the _Scrophulariaceoe_ (healers of scrofula). + +It grows quite commonly in brooks and ditches, as a succulent plant +with smooth leaves, and small flowers of bright blue, being found in +situations favourable to the growth of the watercress. It is the _brok +lempe_ of old writers, _Veronica beccabunga_, the syllable _bec_ +signifying a beck or brook; or perhaps the whole title comes from +the Flemish _beck pungen_, mouth-smart, in allusion to the pungent +taste of the plant. + +"It is eaten," says Gerard, "in salads, as watercresses are, and is +good against that _malum_ of such as dwell near the German seas, +which we term the scurvie, or skirby, being used after the same +manner that watercress and scurvy-grass is used, yet is it not of so +great operation and virtue." The leaves and stem are slightly acid +and astringent, with a somewhat bitter taste, and frequently +the former are mixed by sellers of water-cresses with their +stock-in-trade. + +[432] A full dose of the juice of fresh Brooklime is an easy purge; +and the plant has always been a popular Simple for scrofulous +affections, especially of the skin. Chemically, this Water Pimpernel +contains some tannin, and a special bitter principle; whilst, in +common with most of the Cruciferous plants, it is endowed with a +pungent volatile oil, and some sulphur. The bruised plant has been +applied externally for healing ulcers, burns, whitlows, and for the +mitigation of swollen piles. + +The Bog Pimpernel (_Anagallis tenella_), is common in boggy +ground, having erect rose-coloured leaves larger than those of the +Poor Man's Weather Glass. + + + +PINK. + +The Clove Pink, or Carnation of our gardens, though found +apparently wild on old castle walls in England, is a naturalised +flower in this country. It is, botanically, the _Dianthus +Caryophyllus_, being so named as _anthos_, the flower, _dios_, of +Jupiter: whilst redolent of _Caryophylli_, Cloves. The term Carnation +has been assigned to the Pink, either because the blossom has the +colour, _carnis_, of flesh: or, as more correctly spelt by our older +writers, Coronation, from the flowers being employed in making +chaplets, _coronoe_. Thus Spenser says:-- + + "Bring Coronations, and Sops in Wine, + Worn of paramours."--_Shepherd's Kalendar_. + +This second title, Sops in Wine, was given to the plant because the +flowers were infused in wine for the sake of their spicy flavour; +especially in that presented to brides after the marriage ceremony. +Further, this Pink is the Clove Gilly (or _July_) flower, and gives its +specific name to the natural order _Caryophyllaceoe_. The word +Pink is a corruption of the Greek Pentecost [433] (fiftieth), which +has now come to signify a festival of the Church. In former days the +blossoms were commended as highly cordial: their odour is sweet +and aromatic, so that an agreeable syrup may be made therefrom. +The dried petals, if powdered, and kept in a stoppered bottle, are of +service against heartburn and flatulence, being given in a dose of +from twenty to sixty grains. Gerard says, "a conserve made of the +flowers with sugar is exceeding cordiall, and wonderfully above +measure doth comfort the heart, being eaten now and then. A water +distilled from Pinks has been commended as excellent for curing +epilepsy, and if a conserve be composed of them, this is the life and +delight of the human race." The flower was at one time called +_ocellus_, from the eye-shaped markings of its corolla. It is nervine +and antispasmodic. By a mistake Turner designated the Pink +Incarnation. + + + +PLANTAIN. + +The Plantains (_Plantaginacecoe_), from _planta_, the sole of the +foot, are humble plants, well known as weeds in fields and by +roadsides, having ribbed leaves and spikes of flowers conspicuous +by their long stamens. As Herbal Simples, the Greater Plantain, the +Ribwort Plantain, and the Water Plantain, are to be specially +considered. + +The Greater Plantain of the waysides affords spikes of seeds which +are a favourite food of Canaries, and which, in common with the +seeds of other sorts, yield a tasteless mucilage, answering well as a +substitute for linseed. The leaves of the Plantains have a bitter +taste, and are somewhat astringent. + +The generic name _Plantago_ is probably derived from the Latin +_planta_, the sole of the foot, in allusion to the [434] broad, flat +leaves lying close on the ground, and ago, the old synonym for wort, +a cultivated plant. + +This greater Plantain (_Plantago major_) is also termed Waybred, +Waybread, or Waybroad, "spread on the way," and has followed our +colonists to all parts of the globe, being therefore styled "The +Englishman's Foot" and "Whiteman's Foot." The shape of the leaf in +the larger species resembles a footprint. The root has a sweet taste, +and gives the saliva a reddish tinge. + +Dioscorides advised that it should be applied externally for sores of +every kind, and taken internally against haemorrhages. In the +_Romeo and Juliet_ of Shakespeare, Romeo says, "Your Plantain +leaf is excellent for broken shin." Country persons apply these +leaves to open sores and wounds, or make a poultice of them, or +give fomentations with a hot decoction of the same, or prepare a +gargle from the decoction when cold. + +The expressed juice of the greater Plantain has proved of curative +effect in tubercular consumption, with spitting of blood. This herb is +said to furnish a cure for the venomous bite of the rattlesnake, as +discovered by the negro Caesar in South Carolina. + +It is of excellent curative use against the intermittent fevers of +Spring, but for counteracting autumnal (septic) fevers it is of no +avail. + +The virtues of the greater Plantain as an application to wounds and +sores were known of old. It possesses a widespread repute in +Switzerland as a local remedy for toothache, the root or leaves being +applied against the ear of the affected side. Those persons who +proved the plant by taking it experimentally in various doses, +suffered much pain in the teeth and jaws. Accordingly, Dr. Hale +found that, of all his remedies [435] for the toothache, none could +compare with the _Plantago major_. + +It gives rise to an active flow of urine when taken in considerable +doses, and when administered in small doses of the diluted tincture, +it has proved curative of bed wetting in young children. Gerard tells +that "Plantain leaves stuped stayeth the inordinate flux of the terms, +though it hath continued many years." For inflamed protruding +piles, a broad-leaved Plantain reduced to a pulp, and kept bound to +the parts by a compress, will give sure and speedy relief. +Highlanders call it _Slanlus_, the healing plant. + +The Ribwort Plantain (_Plantago lanceolata_), Ribgrass, Soldiers, or +Cocks and Hens, is named from the strong parallel veins in its +leaves. The flower stalks are termed Kemps, from _campa_, a +warrior. The leaves are astringent, and useful for healing sores when +applied thereto, and for dressing wounds. This Plantain is also +named Hardheads, Fighting Cocks, and in Germany, Devil's Head, +being used in divination. Children challenge one another to a game +of striking off the heads. + +Toads are thought to cure themselves of their ailments by eating its +leaves. In Sussex, it is known as Lamb's Tongue. The powdered root +of the Ribwort Plantain is of use for curing vernal ague, a +dessertspoonful being given for a dose, two or three times in a day. + +The Water Plantain (_Alisma Plantago_), belonging to a different +natural order, is common on the margins of our rivers and ditches, +getting its name from the Celtic _alos_, water, and being called also +the greater Thrumwort, from thrum, the warp end of a weaver's web. +The root and leaves contain an acrid juice, dispersed by heat, which +is of service for irritability of the bladder. After [436] the root is +boiled so as to dissipate this medicinal juice it makes an edible +starchy vegetable. + +This plant is commonly classed with the Plantains because its leaves +resemble theirs; but in general characteristics and qualities it more +properly belongs to the _Ranunculaceoe_. + +Its fresh leaves applied to the skin will raise a blister, and may be +used for such a purpose, especially to relieve the swollen legs of +dropsical subjects when the vesicles should be punctured and the +serum drawn off. They contain a pungent butyraceous volatile oil. +The seeds dislodged from the dry, ripe plant, by striking it smartly +on a table, are good in decoction against bleedings, and are +employed by country people for curing piles. About the Russian +Empire the Water Plantain is still regarded as efficacious against +hydrophobia. Dr. George Johnston says: "In the Government of +Isola it has never failed of a cure for the last twenty-five years." +Reduced to powder it is spread over bread and butter, and is eaten. +Likewise, cures of rabid dogs by this plant are reported; and in +America it is renowned as a remedy against the bite of the +rattlesnake. The tubers contain a nutritious substance, and are eaten +by the Tartars. + +_Apropos_ of this "Water Plantain" a Teesdale proverb says: "He's +nar a good weaver that leaves lang _thrums_." + +The small seeds of a Plantain grass which grows commonly in +Southern Europe, the Fleawort, or _Plantago Psyllium_, have been +known from time immemorial as an easy and popular aperient. In +France these Psyllium seeds, given in a dessertspoonful dose, are +widely prescribed as a laxative in lieu of mineral aperient waters, +or the morning Seidlitz. They act after being soaked for some hours +in cold water, by their mucilage, and [437] when swallowed, by +virtue of a laxative oil set free within the intestines. The grass is +well known in some parts as "Clammy Plantain," and it has leafless +heads with toothed leaves. These seeds are dispensed by the London +druggists who supply French medicines. + + + +POPPY. + +The Scarlet Poppy of our cornfields (_Papaver Rhoeas_) is one of +the most brilliant and familiar of English wild flowers, being +strikingly conspicuous as a weed by its blossoms rich in scarlet +petals, which are black at the base. The title _Papaver_ has been +derived from pap, a soft food given to young infants, in which it was +at one time customary to boil Poppy seeds for the purpose of +inducing sleep. Provincially this plant bears the titles of "Cop Rose" +(from its rose-like flowers, and the button-like form of its cop, or +capsule) and "Canker Rose," from its detriment to wheat crops. + +The generic term _Rhoeas_ comes from _reo_, to fall, because the +scarlet petals have so fragile a hold on their receptacles; and the +plant has been endowed with the sobriquet, "John Silver Pin, fair +without and foul within." In the Eastern counties of England any +article of finery brought out only occasionally, and worn with +ostentation by a person otherwise a slattern, is called "Joan Silver +Pin." After this sense the appellation has been applied to the Scarlet +Poppy. Its showy flower is so attractive to the eye, whilst its inner +juice is noxious, and stains the hands of those who thoughtlessly +crush it with their fingers. + + "And Poppies a sanguine mantle spread, + For the blood of the dragon St. Margaret shed." + +Robert Turner naively says, "The Red Poppy Flower (_Papaver +erraticum_) resembleth at its bottom the settling [438] of the 'Blood +in pleurisie'"; and, he adds, "how excellent is that flower in diseases +of the pleurisie with similar surfeits hath been sufficiently +experienced." + +It is further called Blindy Buff, Blind Eyes, Headwarke, and +Headache, from the stupefying effects of smelling it. Apothecaries +make a syrup of a splendid deep colour from its vividly red petals; +but this does not exercise any soporific action like that concocted +from the white Poppy, which is a sort of modified opiate, suitable +for infants under certain conditions, when sanctioned by a doctor. +Otherwise, all sedatives of a narcotic sort are to be strongly +condemned for use by mothers, or nurses:-- + + "But a child that bids the world 'Good-night' + In downright earnest, and cuts it quite, + (A cherub no art can copy), + 'Tis a perfect picture to see him lie, + As if he had supped on dormouse pie, + An ancient classical dish, by-the-bye, + With a sauce of syrup of Poppy." + +Petronius, in the time of Nero, A.D. 80, "delivered an odd receipt +for dressing dormouse sausages, and serving them up with Poppies +and honey, which must have been a very soporiferous dainty, and as +good as owl pye to such as want a nap after dinner." + +The white Poppy is specially cultivated in Britain for the sake of its +seed capsules, which possess attributes similar to opium, +but of a weaker strength. These capsules are commonly known as +Poppyheads, obtained from the druggist for use in domestic +fomentations to allay pain. Also from the capsules, without their +seeds, is made the customary syrup of White Poppies, which is so +familiar as a sedative for childhood; but it should be always +remembered that infants of tender years are highly susceptible to the +influence even of this mild form [439] of opium. The true gum +opium, and laudanum, which is its tincture, are derived from Eastern +Poppies (_Papaver somniferum_) by incisions made in the capsules +at a proper season of the year. The cultivated Poppy of the garden +will afford English opium in a like manner, but it is seldom used for +this purpose. A milky juice exudes when the capsules of these +cultivated flowers are cut, or bruised. They are familiar to most +children as drumsticks, plucked in the garden after the gaudy petals +of the flowers have fallen off. The leaves and stems likewise afford +some of the same juice, which, when inspissated, is known as +English opium. The seeds of the white Poppy yield by expression a +bland nutritive oil, which may be substituted for that of olives, or +sweet almonds, in cooking, and for similar uses. Dried Poppy-heads, +formerly in constant request for making hot soothing stupes, or for +application directly to a part in pain, are now superseded for the +most part by the many modern liquid preparations of opium handy +for the purpose, to be mixed with hot water, or applied in poultices. + +For outward use laudanum may be safely added to stupes, hot or +cold, a teaspoonful being usually sufficient for the purpose, or +perhaps two, if the pain is severe; and powdered opium may be +incorporated with one or another ointment for a similar object. If a +decoction of Poppy capsules is still preferred, it should be made by +adding to a quarter-of-a-pound of white Poppy heads (free from +seeds, and broken up in a mortar) three pints of boiling water; then +boil for ten or fifteen minutes, and strain off the decoction, which +should measure about two pints. + +Dr. Herbert Snow, resident physician at the Brompton Cancer +Hospital, says (1895) he has found: "after a [440] long experience, +Opium exhibits a strong inhibitive influence on the cancer elements, +retarding and checking the cell growth, which is a main feature of +the disease. Even when no surgical operation has been performed, +Opium is the only drug which markedly checks cancer growth: and +the early employment of this medicine will usually add years of +comfortable life to the otherwise shortened space of the sufferer's +existence." Opium gets its name from the Greek _apos_, juice. + +The seeds of the white Poppy are known us mawseed, or balewort, +and are given as food to singing birds. In old Egypt these seeds were +mixed with flour and honey, and made into cakes. + +Pliny says: "The rustical peasants of Greece glazed the upper crust +of their loaves with yolks of eggs, and then bestrewed them with +Poppy seeds," thus showing that the seeds were then considered free +from narcotic properties. And in Queen Elizabeth's time these seeds +were strewn over confectionery, whilst the oil expressed from them +was "delightful to be eaten when taken with bread." + +White Poppy capsules, when dried, furnish papaverine and +narcotine, with some mucilage, and a little waxy matter. The seeds +contained within the capsules yield Poppy seed oil, with a fixed oil, +and a very small quantity of morphia--about five grains in a pound +of white Poppy seeds. In some parts of Russia the seeds are put into +soups. + +The Poppy was cultivated by the Greeks before the time of +Hippocrates. It has long been a symbol of death, because sending +persons to sleep. Ovid says, concerning the Cave of Somnus:-- + + "Around whose entry nodding Poppies grow, + And all cool Simples that sweet rest bestow." + +[441] The common scarlet Poppy was called by the Anglo-Saxons +"Chesebolle," "Chebole," or "Chybolle," from the ripe capsule +resembling a round cheese. + +There is a Welsh Poppy, with yellow flowers; and a horned Poppy, +named after Glaucus, common on our sea coasts, with sea-green +leaves, and large blossoms of golden yellow. Glaucus, a fisherman +of Boeotia, observed that all the fishes which he caught received +fresh vigour when laid on the ground, and were immediately able to +leap back into the sea. He attributed these effects to some herb +growing in the grass, and upon tasting the leaves of the Sea Poppy +he found himself suddenly moved with an intense desire to live in +the sea; wherefore he was made a sea-god by Oceanus and Tethys. +Borlase says: "That in the Scilly Islands the root of the Sea Poppy is +so much valued for removing all pains in the breast, stomach, and +intestines, as well as so good for disordered lungs, whilst so much +better there than in other places, that the apothecaries of Cornwall +send thither for it; and some persons plant these roots in their +gardens in Cornwall, and will not part with them under sixpence a +root." The scarlet petals of the wild Poppy, very abundant in English +cornfields, when treated with sulphuric acid make a splendid red +dye. With gorgeous tapestry cut from these crimson petals, the +clever "drapery bee" (_Apis papaveris_) upholsters the walls of her +solitary cell. Bruised leaves of the wild, or the garden Poppy, if +applied to a part which has been stung by a bee or a wasp, will give +prompt relief. + + + +POTATO. + +Our invaluable Potato, which enters so largely into the dietary of all +classes, belongs to the Nightshade tribe of [442] dangerous plants, +though termed "solanaceous" as a natural order because of the +sedative properties which its several genera exercise to lull pain. + +This Potato, the _Solanum tuberosum_, is so universally known as a +plant that it needs no particular description. It is a native of Peru, +and was imported in 1586 by Thomas Heriot, mathematician and +colonist, being afterwards taken to Ireland from Virginia by Sir +Walter Raleigh, and passing from thence over into Lancashire. He +knew so little of its use that he tried to eat the fruit, or poisonous +berries, of the plant. These of course proved noxious, and he ordered +the new comers to be rooted out. The gardener obeyed, and in doing +so first learnt the value of their underground wholesome tubers. But +not until the middle of the eighteenth century, were they common in +this country as an edible vegetable. "During 1629," says Parkinson, +"the Potato from Virginia was roasted under the embers, peeled and +sliced: the tubers were put into sack with a little sugar, or were +baked with cream, marrow, sugar, spice, etc., in pies, or preserved +and candied by the comfit makers." But he most probably refers +here to the Batatas, or sweet Potato, a Convolvulus, which was a +popular esculent vegetable at that date, of tropical origin, and to +which our Potato has since been thought to bear a resemblance. + +This Batatas, or sweet Potato, had the reputation, like Eringo root, +of being able to restore decayed vigour, and so Falstaff is made by +Shakespeare to say: "Let the sky rain potatoes, hail kissing comfits, +and snow eringoes." For a considerable while after their +introduction the Potato tubers were grown only by men of fortune as +a delicacy; and the general cultivation of this vegetable was strongly +opposed by the public, [443] chiefly by the Puritans, because no +mention of it could be found in the Bible. + +Also in France great opposition was offered to the recognised use of +Potatoes: and it is said that Louis the Fifteenth, in order to bring +the plant into favour, wore a bunch of its flowers in the button hole +of his coat on a high festival. Later on during the Revolution quite a +mania prevailed for Potatoes. Crowds perambulated the streets of +Paris shouting for "la liberte, et des Batatas"; and when Louis the +Sixteenth had been dethroned the gardens of the Tuileries were +planted with Potatoes. Cobbett, in this country, exclaimed virulently +against the tuber as "hogs' food," and hated it as fiercely as he hated +tea. The stalks, leaves, and green berries of the plant share the +narcotic and poisonous attributes of the nightshades to which it +belongs; and the part which we eat, though often thought to be a +root, is really only an underground stem, which has not been acted +on by light so as to develop any poisonous tendencies, and in which +starch is stored up for the future use of the plant. + +The stalks, leaves, and unripe fruit yield an active principle +apparently very powerful, which has not yet been fully investigated. +There are two sorts of tubers, the red and the white. A roasted +Potato takes two hours to digest; a boiled one three hours and a half. +"After the Potato," says an old proverb, "cheese." + +Chemically the Potato contains citric acid, like that of the lemon, +which is admirable against scurvy: also potash, which is equally +antiscorbutic, and phosphoric acid, yielding phosphorus in a +quantity less only than that afforded by the apple, and by wheat. It is +of the first importance that the potash salts should be retained by the +potato during cooking: and the [444] tubers should therefore be +steamed with their coats on; else if peeled, and then steamed, they +lose respectively seven and five per cent. of potash, and phosphoric +acid. + +If boiled after peeling they lose as much as thirty-three per cent. of +potash, and twenty-three per cent. of phosphoric acid. "The roots," +says Gerard, "were forbidden in Burgundy, for that they were +persuaded the too frequent use of them causeth the leprosie." +Nevertheless it is now believed that the Potato has had much to do +with expelling leprosy from England. The affliction has become +confined to countries where the Potato is not grown. + +Boiled or steamed Potatoes should turn out floury, or mealy, by +reason of the starch granules swelling up and filling the cellular +tissue, whilst absorbing the albuminous contents of its cells. Then +the albumen coagulates, and forms irregular fibres between the +starch grains. The most active part of the tuber lies just beneath the +skin, as may be shown by pouring some tincture of guaiacum over +the cut surface of a Potato, when a ring of blue forms close to the +skin, and is darkest there while extending over the whole cut +surface. Abroad there is a belief the Potato thrives best if planted on +Maundy Thursday. Rustic names for it are: Taiders, Taities, Leather +Coats, Leather Jackets, Lapstones, Pinks, No Eyes, Flukes, Blue +Eyes, Red Eyes, and Murphies; in Lancashire Potatoes are called +Spruds, and small Potatoes, Sprots. + +The peel or rind of the tuber contains a poisonous substance called +"solanin," which is dissipated and rendered inert when the whole +Potato is boiled, or steamed. Stupes of hot Potato water are very +serviceable in some forms of rheumatism. To make the [445] +decoction for this purpose, boil one pound of Potatoes (not peeled, +and divided into quarters.) in two pints of water slowly down to one +pint; then foment the swollen and painful parts with this as hot as it +can be borne. Similarly some of the fresh stalks of the plant, and its +unripe berries, as well as the unpeeled tubers cut up as described, if +infused for some hours in cold water, will make a liquor in which +the folded linen of a compress may be loosely rung out, and applied +most serviceably under waterproof tissue, or a double layer of dry +flannel. The carriage of a small raw Potato in the trousers' pocket +has been often found preventive of rheumatism in a person +predisposed thereto, probably by reason of the sulphur, and the +narcotic principles contained in the peel. Ladies in former times had +their dresses supplied with special bags, or pockets, in which to +carry one or more small raw Potatoes about their person for +avoiding rheumatism. + +If peeled and pounded in a mortar, uncooked Potatoes applied cold +make a very soothing cataplasm to parts that have been scalded, or +burnt. In Derbyshire a hot boiled Potato is used against corns; and +for frost-bites the mealy flour of baked potatoes, when mixed with +sweet oil and applied, is very healing. + +The skin of the tuber contains corky wood which swells in boiling +with the jackets on, and which thus serves to keep in all the juices so +that the digestibility of the Potato is increased; at the same time +water is prevented from entering and spoiling the flavour of the +vegetable. The proportion of muscle-forming food (nitrogen) in the +Potato is very small, and it takes ten and a half pounds of the tubers +to equal one pound of butcher's meat in nutritive value. + +The Potato is composed mainly of starch, which [446] affords +animal heat and promotes fatness, The Irish think that these tubers +foster fertility; they prefer them with the jackets on, and somewhat +hard in the middle--"with the bones in." A potato pie is believed to +invigorate the sexual functions. + +New Potatoes contain as yet no citric acid, and are hard of digestion, +like sour crude apples; their nutriment, as Gerard says, "is sadly +windy," the starch being immature, and not readily acted on by the +saliva during mastication. "The longer I live," said shrewd Sidney +Smith, "the more I am convinced that half the unhappiness in the +world proceeds from a vexed stomach, or vicious bile: from small +stoppages, or from food pressing in the wrong place. Old +friendships may be destroyed by toasted cheese; and tough salted +meat has led a man not infrequently to suicide." + +A mature Potato yields enough citric acid even for commercial +purposes; and there is no better cleaner of silks, cottons, and +woollens, than ripe Potato juice. But even of ripe Potatoes those that +break into a watery meal in the boiling are always found to prove +greatly diuretic, and to much increase the quantity of urine. + +By fermentation mature Potatoes, through their starch and sugar, +yield a wine from which may be distilled a Potato spirit, and from it +a volatile oil can be extracted, called by the Germans, _Fuseloel_. +This is nauseous, and causes a heavy headache, with indigestion, +and biliary disorders together with nervous tremors. Chemically it is +amylic ether. + +Also when boiled with weak sulphuric acid, the Potato starch is +changed into glucose, or grape sugar, which by fermentation yields +alcohol: and this spirit is often sold under the name of British +brandy. + +A luminosity strong enough to enable a bystander to [447] read by +its light issues from the common Potato when in a state of +putrefaction. In Cumberland, to have "taities and point to dinner," is +a figurative expression which implies scanty fare. At a time when +the duty on salt made the condiment so dear that it was scarce in a +household, the persons at table were fain to point their Potatoes at +the salt cellar, and thus to cheat their imaginations. Carlyle asks in +_Sartor Resartus_ about "an unknown condiment named 'point,' into +the meaning of which I have vainly enquired; the victuals _potato +and point_ not appearing in any European cookery book whatever." + +German ladies, at their five o'clock tea, indulge in Potato talk +(_Kartoffel gesprach_) about table dainties, and the methods of +cooking them. Men likewise, from the four quarters of the globe, in +the days of our childhood, were given to hold similar domestic +conclaves, when:-- + + "Mr. East made a feast, + Mr. North laid the cloth, + Mr. West brought his best, + Mr. South burnt his mouth + Eating a cold Potato." + +With pleasant skill of poetic alliteration, Sidney Smith wrote in +ordering how to mix a sallet:-- + + "Two large Potatoes passed through kitchen sieve, + Unwonted softness to a salad give." + +And Sir Thomas Overbury wittily said about a dolt who took credit +for the merits of his ancestors: "Like the Potato, all that was good +about him was underground." + + + +PRIMROSE. + +The Common Primrose (_Primula veris_) is the most widely known +of our English wild flowers, and appears in the Spring as its earliest +herald. + +[448] It gets its name from the Latin _primus_, first, being named in +old books and M.S. _Pryme rolles_, and in the _Grete Herball_, +Primet, as shortened from Primprint. + +In North Devon it is styled the Butter Rose, and in the Eastern +counties it is named (in common with the Cowslip) Paigle, Peagle, +Pegyll, and Palsy plant. + +Medicinally also it possesses similar curative attributes, though in a +lesser degree, to those of the Cowslip. Both the root and the flowers +contain a volatile oil, and "primulin" which is identical with +mannite: whilst the acrid principle is "saponin." Alfred Austin, Poet +Laureate, teaches to "make healing salve with early Primroses." + +Pliny speaks of the Primrose as almost a panacea: _In aqua potam +omnibus morbis mederi tradunt_. An infusion of the flowers has +been always thought excellent against nervous disorders of the +hysterical sort. It should be made with from five to ten parts of the +petals to one hundred of water. "Primrose tea" says Gerard, "drunk +in the month of May, is famous for curing the phrensie." + +The whole plant is sedative and antispasmodic, being of service by +its preparations to relieve sleeplessness, nervous headache, and +muscular rheumatism. The juice if sniffed up into the nostrils will +provoke violent sneezing, and will induce a free flow of water from +the lining membranes of the nostrils for the mitigation of passive +headaches: though this should not be tried by a person of full habit +with a determination of blood to the head. A teaspoonful of +powdered dry Primrose root will act as an emetic. The whole herb is +somewhat expectorant. + +When the petals are collected and dried they become of a greenish +colour: whilst fresh they have a honey-like odour, and a sweetish +taste. + +[449] Within the last few years a political significance and +popularity have attached themselves to the Primrose beyond every +other British wild flower. It arouses the patriotism of the large +Conservative party, and enlists the favour of many others who +thoughtlessly follow an attractive fashion, and who love the first +fruits of early Spring. Botanically the Primrose has two varieties of +floral structure: one "pin-eyed," with a tall pistil, and short +stamens; the other "thrum-eyed," showing a rosette of tall stamens, +whilst the short pistil must be looked for, like the great Panjandrum +himself, "with a little round button at the top," half way down the +tube. Darwin was the first to explain that this diversity of structure +ensures cross fertilisation by bees and allied insects. Through +advanced cultivation at the hands of the horticulturist the Primula +acquires in some instances a noxious character. For instance, the +_Primula biconica_, which is often grown in dwelling rooms as a +window plant, and commonly sold as such, will provoke an +crysipelatous vesicular eruption of a very troublesome and inflamed +character on the hands and face of some persons who come in +contact with the plant by manipulating it to take cuttings, or in other +ways. A knowledge of this fact should suggest the probable +usefulness of the said Primula, when made into a tincture, and given +in small diluted doses thereof, to act curatively for such an eruption +if attacking the sufferer from idiopathic causes. + +The Latins named the Ligustrum (our Privet) Primrose. Coles says +concerning it (17th century): "This herbe is called Primrose; it is +good to 'Potage.'" They also applied the epithet, "Prime rose" to a +lady. + +The Evening Primrose (_OEnothera biennis_, or _odorata_) is found +in this country on sand banks in the West of England and Cornwall; +but it is then most probably a [450] garden scape, and an alien, its +native habitat being in Canada and the United States of America. +We cultivate it freely in our parterres as a brilliant, yellow, showy +flower. It belongs to the natural order, _Onagraceoe_, so called +because the food of wild asses; and was the "vini venator" of +Theophrastus, 350 B.C. The name signifies having the odour of +wine, _oinos_ and _theera_. Pliny said: "It is an herbe good as wine +to make the heart merrie. It groweth with leaves resembling those of +the almond tree, and beareth flowers like unto roses. Of such virtue +is this herbe that if it be given to drink to the wildest beast that +is, it will tame the same and make it gentle." The best variety of this +plant is the _OEnothera macrocarpa_. + +The bark of the Evening Primrose is mucilaginous, and a decoction +made therefrom is of service for bathing the skin eruptions of +infants and young children. To answer such purpose a decoction +should be made from the small twigs, and from the bark of the +larger branches, retaining the leaves. This has been found further of +use for diarrhoea associated with an irritable stomach, and asthma. +The infusion, or the liquid extract, acts as a mild but efficient +sedative in nervous indigestion, from twenty to thirty drops of the +latter being given for a dose. The ascertained chemical principle of +the plant, _OEnotherin_, is a compound body. Its flowers open in +the evening, and last only until the next noon; therefore this plant is +called the "Evening Primrose," or "Evening Star." + +Another of the Primrose tribe, the Cyclamen, or Sow-bread (_Panis +porcinus_), is often grown in our gardens, and for ornamenting our +rooms as a pot plant. Its name means (Greek) "a circle," and refers +to the reflected corolla, or to the spiral fruit-stalks; and again, +[451] from the tuber being the food of wild swine. Gerard said it was +reported in his day to grow wild on the Welsh mountains, and on the +Lincolnshire hills: but he failed to find it. Nevertheless it is now +almost naturalised in some parts of the South, and East of England. +As the petals die, the stalks roll up and carry the capsular berries +down to the surface of the ground. A medicinal tincture is made +(H.) from the fresh root when flowering. The ivy-leaved variety is +found in England, with nodding fresh-coloured blossoms, and a +brown intensely acrid root. Besides starch, gum, and pectin, it yields +chemically, "cyclamin," or "arthanatin," with an action like +"saponin," whilst the juice is poisonous to fish. When applied +externally as a liniment over the bowels, it causes them to be +purged. Gerard quaintly and suggestively declares "It is not good +for women with childe to touch, or take this herbe, or to come neere +unto it, or to stride over the same where it groweth: for the natural +attractive vertue therein contained is such that, without controversie, +they that attempt it in manner above said, shall be delivered before +their time; which danger and inconvenience to avoid, I have +fastened sticks in the ground about the place in my garden where it +groweth, and some other sticks also crosswaies over them, lest any +woman should by lamentable experiment find my words to be true +by stepping over the same. Again, the root hanged about women in +their extreme travail with childe, causeth them to be delivered +incontinent: and the leaves put into the place hath the like effect." +Inferentially a tincture of the plant should be good for falling and +displacement of the womb. "Furthermore, Sowbread, being beaten, +and made into little flat cakes, is reputed to be a good amorous +medicine, to make one in love." + +[452] In France, another Primula, the wild Pimpernel, occurs as a +noxious herb, and is therefore named Mouron. + + + +QUINCE. + +The Quince (_Cydonia_) is cultivated sparingly in our orchards for +the sake of its highly fragrant, and strong-smelling fruit, which +as an adjunct to apples is much esteemed for table uses. + +It may well be included among remedial Herbal Simples because of +the virtues possessed by the seeds within the fruit. The tree is a +native of Persia and Crete; bearing a pear-shaped fruit, golden +yellow when gathered, and with five cells in it, each containing +twelve closely packed seeds. These are mucilaginous when +unbroken, and afford the taste of bitter almonds. + +When immersed in water they swell up considerably, and the +mucilage will yield salts of lime with albumen. + +_Bandoline_ is the mucilage of Quince seeds to which some Eau de +Cologne is added: and this mixture is employed for keeping the hair +fixed when dressed by the _Coiffeur_. + +The mucilage of Quince seeds is soothing and protective to an +irritated or inflamed skin; it may also be given internally for +soreness of the lining mucous membranes of the stomach and +bowels, as in gastric catarrh, and for cough with a dry sore throat. +One dram of the seeds boiled slowly in half-a-pint of fresh water +until the liquor becomes thick, makes an excellent mucilage as a +basis for gargles and injections; or, one part of the seeds to fifty +parts of rosewater, shaken together for half-an-hour. + +From growing at first in Cydon, now Candia, the tree got its name +_Cydonia_: its old English title was Melicotone; and in ancient +Rome it was regarded as a sacred fruit, [453] being hung upon +statues in the houses of the great. Now we banish the tree, because +of its strong penetrating odour, to a corner of the garden. +Lord Bacon commended "quiddemy," a preserve of Quinces, for +strengthening the stomach; and old Fuller said of this fruit, "being +not more pleasant to the palate than restorative to the health, they +are accounted a great cordiall." Jam made from the Quince (_Malmelo_) +first took the name of Marmalade, which has since passed on +to other fruit conserves, particularly to that of the Seville +Orange. In France the Quince is made into a _compote_ which is +highly praised for increasing the digestive powers of weakly +persons. According to Plutarch Solon made a law that the Quince +should form the invariable feast of the bridegroom (and some add +likewise of the bride) before retiring to the nuptial couch. Columella +said: "Quinces yield not only pleasure but health." The Greeks +named the Quince "Chrysomelon," or the Golden Apple; so it is +asserted that the golden fruit of the Hesperides were Quinces, and +that these tempted Hercules to attack their guardian dragon. +Shakespeare makes Lady Capulet when ordering the wedding feast, + + "Call for dates, and Quinces in the pastry." + +In Persia the fruit ripens, and is eaten there as a dessert delicacy +which is much prized. If there be but a single Quince in a caravan, +no one who accompanies it can remain unconscious of its presence. +In Sussex at one time a popular wine was made of Quinces. They +are astringent to stay diarrhoea; and a syrup may be concocted from +their juice to answer this purpose. For thrush and for excoriations +within the mouth and upper throat, one drachm of the seeds should +[459] be boiled in eight fluid ounces of water until it acquires a +proper demulcent mucilaginous consistence. "Simon Sethi writeth," +says Gerard: "that the woman with child that eateth many Quinces +during the time of her breeding, shall bring forth wise children, and +of good understanding." Gerard says again: "The marmalad, or +Cotiniat made of Quinces and sugar is good and profitable to +strengthen the stomach that it may retain and keep the meat therein +until it be perfectly digested. It also stayeth all kinds of fluxes +both of the belly, and of other parts, and also of blood. Which +cotiniat is made in this manner. Take four Quinces, pare them, cut them +in pieces, and cast away the core: then put into every pound of Quinces +a pound of sugar, and to every pound of sugar a pint of water. These +must be boiled together over a still fire till they be very soft: next +let it be strained, or rather rubbed through a strainer, or a hairy +sieve, which is better. And then set it over the fire to boil again +until it be stiff: and so box it up: and as it cooleth, put thereto +a little rose water, and a few grains of musk mingled together, +which will give a goodly taste to the cotiniat. This is the way +to make marmalad." + +"The seed of Quinces tempered with water doth make a mucilage, or +a thing like jelly which, being held in the mouth is marvellous good +to take away the roughness of the tongue in hot burning fevers." +Lady Lisle sent some cotiniat of Quinces to Henry the Eighth by her +daughter Katharine. They were reputed a sexual stimulant. After +being boiled and preserved in syrup, Quinces give a well known +pleasant flavour to apple pie. As the fruit is free from acid, or +almost so; its marmalade may be eaten by the goutily disposed with more +impunity than that made with the Seville orange. An after taste +suggestive of [455] garlic is left on the palate by masticating Quince +marmalade. + +In the modern treatment of chronic dysentery the value of certain +kinds of fresh fruit has come to be medically recognised. Of these +may be specified strawberries, grapes, fresh figs, and tomatoes, all +of which are seed fruits as distinguished from stone fruit. It is +essential that they shall be absolutely sound, and in good condition. +Dr. Saumaurez Lacy, of Guernsey, has successfully practised this +treatment for many years, and it has been recently employed by +others for chronic dysentery, and diarrhoea, with most happy +results. + + + +RADISH. + +The common garden Radish (_Raphanus sativus_) is a Cruciferous +plant, and a cultivated variety of the Horse Radish. It came +originally from China, but has been grown allover Europe from time +immemorial. Radishes were celebrated by Dioscorides and Pliny as +above all roots whatsoever, insomuch, that in the Delphic temple +there was a Radish of solid gold, _raphanus ex auro dicatus_: and +Moschinus wrote a whole volume in their praise; but Hippocrates +condemned them as _vitiosas, innatantes, acoegre concoctiles._ + +Among the oblations offered to Apollo in his temple at Delphi, +turnips were dedicated in lead, beet in silver, and radishes in +wrought gold. The wild Radish is _Raphanus raphanistrum_. The +garden Radish was not grown in England before 1548. + +Later on John Evelyn wrote in his _Acetaria_: "And indeed (besides +that they decay the teeth) experience tells us that, as the Prince of +Physicians writes, it is hard of digestion, inimicous to the stomach, +causing nauseous eructations, and sometimes vomiting, though +[456] otherwise diuretic, and thought to repel the vapours of wine +when the wits were at their genial club." "The Radish," says Gerard, +"provoketh urine, and dissolveth cluttered sand." + +The roots, which are the edible part, consist of a watery fibrous +pulp, which is comparatively bland, and of an external skin +furnished with a pungent volatile aromatic oil which acts as a +condiment to the phlegmatic pulp. "Radishes are eaten with salt +alone as carrying their pepper in them." The oil contained in the +roots, and likewise in the seeds, is sulphuretted, and disagrees with +persons of weak digestion. A young Radish, which is quickly grown +and tender, will suit most stomachs, especially if some of the leaves +are masticated together with the root; but a Radish which is tough, +strong, and hollow, "_fait penser a l'ile d'Elbe: il revient_." + +The pulp is chemically composed chiefly of nitrogenous substance, +being fibrous and tough unless when the roots are young and +quickly grown. On this account they should not be eaten when at all +old and hard by persons of slow digestion, because apt to lodge in +the intestines, and to become entangled in their caecal pouch, or in +its appendix. But boiled Radishes are almost equal to asparagus +when served at table, provided they have been cooked long enough +to become tender, that is, for almost an hour. The syrup of radishes +is excellent for hoarseness, bronchial difficulty of breathing, +whooping cough, and other complaints of the chest. + +For the cure of corns, if after the feet have been bathed, and the +corns cut, a drop or two of juice be squeezed over the corn from the +fresh pulp of a radish on several consecutive days, this will wither +and [457] disappear. Also Radish roots sliced when fresh, and +applied to a carbuncle will promote its healing. An old Saxon +remedy against a woman's chatter was to "taste at night a root of +Radish when fasting, and the chatter will not be able to harm him." +In some places the Radish is called Rabone. + +From the fresh plant, choosing a large Spanish Radish, with a +turnip-shaped root, and a black outer skin, and collected in the +autumn, a medicinal tincture (H.) is made with spirit of wine. This +tincture has proved beneficial in cases of bilious diarrhoea, with +eructations, and mental depression, when a chronic cough is also +liable to be present. Four or five drops should be given with a +tablespoonful of cold water, twice or three times in the day. The +Black Radish is found useful against whooping cough, and is +employed for this purpose in Germany, by cutting off the top, and +then making a hole in the root. This is filled with treacle, or honey, +and allowed to stand for a day or two; then a teaspoonful of the +medicinal liquid is given two or three times in the day. Roman +physicians advised that Radishes should be eaten raw, with bread +and salt in the morning before any other food. And our poet +Thomson describes as an evening repast:-- + + "A Roman meal + Such as the mistress of the world once found + Delicious, when her patriots of high note, + Perhaps by moonlight at their humble doors, + Under an ancient Oak's domestic shade, + Enjoy'd spare feast, a RADISH AND AN EGG." + + + +RAGWORT. + +The Ragwort (_Senecio Jacoboea_) is a very common plant in our +meadows, and moist places, closely allied to the [458] Groundsel, +and well known by its daisy-like flowers, but of a golden yellow +colour, with rays in a circle surrounding the central receptacle, and +with a strong smell of honey. This plant goes popularly by the name +of St. James's wort, or Canker wort, or (near Liverpool) Fleawort, +and in Yorkshire, Seggrum; also Jacoby and Yellow Top. The term +Ragwort, or Ragweed, is a corruption of Ragewort, as expressing its +supposed stimulating effects on the sexual organs. For the same +reason the _pommes d'amour_ (Love Apples, or Tomatoes) are +sometimes caned Rage apples. The Ragwort was formerly thought +to cure the staggers in horses, and was hence named Stagger wort, +or because, says Dr. Prior, it was applied to heal freshly cut young +bulls, known as Seggs, or Staggs. So also it was called St. James's +wort, either because that great warrior and saint was the patron of +horses, or because it blossoms on his day, July 25th: sometimes also +the plant has been styled Stammer wort. Furthermore it possesses a +distinct reputation for the cure of cancer, and is known as +Cankerwort, being applied when bruised, either by itself, or +combined with Goosegrass. + +Probably the lime which the whole plant contains in a highly +elaborated state of subdivision has fairly credited it with +anti-cancerous powers. For just such a reason Sir Spencer Wens +commended powdered egg shells and powdered oyster shells as +efficacious in curing certain cases under his immediate observation +of long-standing cancer, when steadily given for some considerable +time. + +A poultice made of the fresh leaves, and applied externally two or +three times in succession "will cure, if ever so violent, the old ache +in the hucklebone known as sciatica." Chemically the active +principle of the [459] Ragwort is "senecin," a dark resinous +substance, of which two grains may be given twice or three times in +the day. + +Also the tincture, made with one part of the plant to ten parts of +spirit of wine (tenuior), may be taken in doses of from five to fifteen +drops, with a spoonful of water three times in the day. + +Either form of medicine will correct monthly irregularities of +women where the period is delayed, or difficult, or arrested by cold. +It must be given steadily three times a day for ten days or a fortnight +before the period becomes re-established. In suitable cases the +Senecio not only anticipates the period, but also increases the +quantity: and where the monthly time has never been established the +Ragwort is generally found useful. + +This herb--like its congener, the common Groundsel--has lancinated, +juicy leaves, which possess a bitter saline taste, and yield +earthy potash salts abundantly. Each plant is named "Senecio" +because of the grey woolly pappus of its seeds, which resemble the +silvered hair of old age. In Ireland the Ragwort is dedicated to the +fairies, and is known as the Fairies' Horse, on the golden blossoms +of which the good little people are thought to gallop about at +midnight. + + + +RASPBERRY. + +The Raspberry (_Rubus Idoeus_) occurs wild plentifully in the +woods of Scotland, where children gather the fruit early in summer. +It is also found growing freely in some parts of England--as in the +Sussex woods--and bearing berries of as good a quality as that of +the cultivated Raspberry, though not so large in size. + +Another name for the fruit is _Framboise_, which is [460] a French +corruption of the Dutch word _brambezie_, or brambleberry. + +Again, the Respis, or Raspberry, was at one time commonly known +in this country as Hindberry, or the gentler berry, as distinguished +from one of a harsher and coarser sort, the Hartberry. "Respberry" +signifies in the Eastern Counties of England a shoot, or sucker, this +name being probably applied because the fruit grows on the young +shoots of the previous year. Raspberry fruit is fragrant and cooling, +but sugar improves its flavour. Like the strawberry, if eaten without +sugar and cream, it does not undergo any acetous fermentation in +the stomach, even with gouty or strumous persons. When combined +with vinegar and sugar it makes a liqueur which, if diluted with +water, is most useful in febrile disorders, and which is all excellent +addition to sea stores as preventive of scurvy. + +The Latins named this shrub "the bramble of Ida," because it grew +in abundance on that classic mountain where the shepherd Paris +adjudged to Venus the prize for beauty--a golden apple--on which +was divinely inscribed the words, _Detur pulchriori_--"Let this be +awarded to the fairest of womankind." + +The fresh leaves of the Raspberry are the favourite food of kids. +There are red, white, yellow, and purple varieties of this fruit. Heat +develops the richness of its flavour; and Raspberry jam is the prince +of preserves. + +Again, a wine can be brewed from the fermented juice, which is +excellent against scurvy because of its salts of potash--the citrate +and malate. + +Raspberry vinegar, made by pouring vinegar repeatedly over +successive quantities of the fresh fruit, is a capital remedy for sore +throat from cold, or of the [461] relaxed kind; and when mixed with +water it furnishes a most refreshing drink in fevers. But the berries +should be used immediately after being gathered, as they quickly +spoil, and their fine flavour is very evanescent. The vinegar can be +extemporised by diluting Raspberry jelly with hot vinegar, or by +mixing syrup of the fruit with vinegar. + +In Germany a conserve of Raspberries which has astringent effects +is concocted with two parts of sugar to one of juice expressed from +the fruit. Besides containing citric and malic acids, the Raspberry +affords a volatile oil of aromatic flavour, with crystallisable sugar, +pectin, colouring matter, mucus, some mineral salts, and water. + +Gerard says: "The fruit is good to be given to them that have weake, +and queasie stomackes." + +A playful example of the declension of a Latin substantive is given +thus:-- + + _Musa, Musoe_, + The Gods were at tea: + _Musoe, Musam_, + Eating Raspberry jam: + _Musa, Musah_, + Made by Cupid's mamma. + + + +RHUBARB (Garden). _see_ Dock, _page_ 159. + + + +RICE. + +Rice, or Ryse, the grain of _Oryza sativa_, a native cereal of India, +is considered here scarcely as a Herbal Simple, but rather as a +common article of some medicinal resource in the store cupboard of +every English house-hold, and therefore always at band as a +vegetable remedy. + +Among the Arabs Rice is considered a sacred food: [462] and their +tradition runs that it first sprang from a drop of Mahomet's +perspiration in Paradise. + +Being composed almost exclusively of starch, and poorer in +nitrogen, as well as in phosphoric acid, than other cereals, it is less +laxative, and is of value as a demulcent to palliate irritative +diarrhoea, and to allay intestinal distress. + +A mucilage of Rice made by boiling the well-washed grain for some +time in water, and straining, contains starch and phosphate of lime +in solution, and is therefore a serviceable emollient. But when +needed for food the grain should be steamed, because in boiling it +loses the little nitrogen, and the greater part of the lime phosphate +which it has scantily contained. + +Rice bread and Rice cakes, simply made, are very light and easy of +digestion. The gluten confers the property of rising on dough or +paste made of Rice flour. But as an article of sustenance Rice is not +well suited for persons of fermentative tendencies during the +digestion of their food, because its starch is liable to undergo this +chemical change in the stomach. + +Dr. Tytler reported in the _Lancet_ (1833), cases resembling +malignant cholera from what he termed the _morbus oryzoeus_, as +provoked by the free and continued use of Rice as food. And +Boutins, in 1769, published an account of the diseases common to +the East Indies, in which he stated that when Rice is eaten more or +less exclusively, the vision becomes impaired. But neither of these +allegations seems to have been afterwards authoritatively confirmed. + +Chemically, Rice consists of starch, fat, fibrin, mineral matter such +as phosphate of lime, cellulose, and water. + +A spirituous liquor is made in China from the grain of Rice, and +bears the name "arrack." + +[463] Rice cannot be properly substituted in place of succulent +green vegetables dietetically for any length of time, or it would +induce scurvy. The Indians take stewed Rice to cure dysentery, and +a decoction of the grain for the purpose of subduing inflammatory +disorders. + +Paddy, or Paddee, is Rice from which the husk has not been +removed before crushing. It has been said by some that the +cultivation of Rice lowers vitality, and shortens life. + +In Java a special Rice-pudding is made by first putting some raw +Rice in a conical earthen pot wide at the top, and perforated in its +body with holes. This is placed inside another earthen pot of a +similar shape but not perforated, and containing boiling water. The +swollen Rice soon stops up the holes of the inner pot, and the Rice +within becomes of a firm consistence, like pudding, and is eaten +with butter, sugar, and spices. + +An ordinary Rice-pudding is much improved by adding some +rosewater to it before it is baked. + +This grain has been long considered of a pectoral nature, and useful +for persons troubled with lung disease, and spitting of blood, as in +pulmonary consumption. The custom of throwing a shower of Rice +after and over a newly married couple is very old, though wheat was +at first the chosen grain as an augury of plenty. The bride wore a +garland of ears of corn in the time of Henry the Eighth. + + + +ROSES. + +Certain curative properties are possessed both by the Briar, or wild +Dog Rose of our country hedges, and by the cultivated varieties of +this queen of flowers in our Roseries. The word Rose means red, +from the Greek [464] _rodon_, connected also with _rota_, a wheel, +which resembles the outline of a Rose. The name Briar is from the +Latin _bruarium_, the waste land on which it grows. The first Rose +of a dark red colour, is held to have sprung from the blood of +Adonis. The fruit of the wild Rose, which is so familiar to every +admirer of our hedgerows in the summer, and which is the common +progenitor of all Roses, is named Hips. "Heps maketh," says Gerard, +"most pleasant meats or banquetting dishes, as tarts and such like, +the concoction whereof I commit to the cunning cook, and teeth to +eat them in the rich man's mouth." + +Hips, derived from the old Saxon, _hiupa, jupe_, signifies the Briar +rather than its fruit. They are called in some parts, "choops," or +"hoops." The woolly down which surrounds the seeds within the +Hips serves admirably for dispelling round worms, on which it acts +mechanically without irritating the mucous membrane which lines +the bowels. + +When fully ripe and softened by frost, the Hips, after removal of +their hard seeds, and when plenty of sugar is added, make a very +nice confection, which the Swiss and Germans eat at dessert, and +which forms an agreeable substitute for tomato sauce. Apothecaries +employ this conserve in the preparing of electuaries, and as a basis +for pills. They also officinally use the petals of the Cabbage Rose +(_Centifolia_) for making Rose water, and the petals of the Red +Rose (_Gallica_) for a cooling infusion, the brilliant colour of which +is much improved by adding some diluted sulphuric acid; and of +these petals they further direct a syrup to be concocted. + +Next in development to the Dog Rose, or Hound's Rose, comes the +Sweetbriar (Eglantine), with a delicate perfume contained under its +glandular leaves. [465] "_Fragrantia ejus olei omnia alia odoramenta +superest_." This (_Rosa rubiginosa_) grows chiefly on chalk as a +bushy shrub. Its poetic title, Eglantine, is a corruption of the Latin +_aculeius_, prickly. A legend tells that Christ's crown of thorns was +made from the Rose-briar, about which it has been beautifully +said:-- + + "Men sow the thorns on Jesus' brow, + But Angels saw the Roses." + +Pliny tells a remarkable story of a soldier of the Praetorian guard, +who was cured of hydrophobia, against all hope, by taking an +extract of the root of the _Kunoroddon_, Dog Rose, in obedience to +the prayer of his mother, to whom the remedy was revealed in a +dream; and he says further, that it likewise restored whoever tried +it afterwards. Hence came the title _Canina_. "_Parceque elle a +longtemps ete en vogue pour guerir de la rage_." + +But the term, Dog Rose, is generally thought to merely signify a +flower of lower quality than the nobler Roses of garden culture. + +The five graceful fringed leaflets which form the special beauty of +the Eglantine flower and bud, have given rise to the following Latin +enigma (translated):-- + + "Of us five brothers at the same time born, + Two from our birthday always beards have worn: + On other two none ever have appeared, + While our fifth brother wears but half a beard." + +From Roses the Romans prepared wine and confections, also subtle +scents, sweet-smelling oil, and medicines. The petals of the crimson +French Rose, which is grown freely in our gardens, have been +esteemed of signal efficacy in consumption of the lungs [466] since +the time of Avicenna, A.D. 1020, who states that he cured many +patients by prescribing as much of the conserve as they could +manage to swallow daily. It was combined with milk, or with some +other light nutriment; and generally from thirty to forty pounds of +this medicine had to be consumed before the cure was complete. +Julius Caesar hid his baldness at the age of thirty with Roman Roses. + +"Take," says an old MS. recipe of Lady Somerset's, "Red Rose buds, +and clyp of the tops, and put them in a mortar with ye waight of +double refined sugar; beat them very small together, then put it up; +must rest three full months, stirring onces a day. This is good +against the falling sickness." + +It is remarkable that while the blossoms of the Rose Order present +various shades of yellow, white, and red, blue is altogether foreign +to them, and unknown among them. + +As the Thistle is symbolical of Scotland, the Leek of Wales, and the +Shamrock of Ireland: so the sweet, pure, simple, honest Rose of our +woods is the apt-chosen emblem of Saint George, and the frank, +bonny, blushing badge of Merrie England. + +The petals of the Cabbage Rose (_Centifolia_), which are closely +folded over each other like the leaves of a cabbage, have a slight +laxative action, and are used for making Rose-water by distillation, +whether when fresh, or after being preserved by admixture with +common salt. This perfumed water has long enjoyed a reputation for +the cure of inflamed eyes, more commonly when combined with +zinc, or with sugar of lead. Hahnemann quotes the same established +practice as a tacit avowal that there exists in the leaves of the Rose +some healing power for certain diseased conditions of [567] the +eyes, which virtue is really founded on the homoeopathic property +possessed by the Rose, of exciting a species of ophthalmia in +healthy persons; as was observed by Echtius, Ledelius, and Rau. + +It is recorded also in his _Organon of Medicine_, that persons are +sometimes found to faint at the smell of Roses (or, as Pope puts it, +to "die of a rose in aromatic pain"); whereas the Princess Maria, +cured her brother, the Emperor Alexius, who suffered from +faintings, by sprinkling him with Rose-water, in the presence of his +aunt Eudoxia. + +The wealthy Greeks and Romans strewed Roses on the tombs of +departed friends, whilst poorer persona could only afford a tablet +at the grave bearing the prayer: + + "Sparge, precor, rosas super mea busta, viator." + + "Scatter Roses, I beseech you, over my ashes, O pitiful passer-by." + +But nowadays many persons have an aversion to throwing a Rose +into a grave, or even letting one fall in. + +Roses and reticence of speech have been linked together since the +time of Harpocrates, whom Cupid bribed to silence by the gift of a +golden Rose-bud; and therefore it became customary at Roman +feasts to suspend over the table a flower of this kind as a hint that +the convivial sayings which were then interchanged wore not to be +talked of outside. What was spoken "sub vino" was not to be +published "sub divo": + + "Est rosa flos veneris, cujus quo facta laterent + Harpocrati, matris dona, dicavit amor: + Inde rosam mensis hospes suspendid amicis, + Conviva ut sub ea dicta tacenda sciat." + +[468] For the same reason the Rose is found sculptured on the +ceilings of banqueting rooms; and in 1526 it began to be placed over +Confessionals. Thus it has come about that the Rose is held to be the +symbol of secrecy, as well as the flower of love, and the emblem of +beauty: so that the significant phrase "sub rosa,"--under the Rose,-- +conveys a recognised meaning, understood, and respected by +everyone. The bed of Roses is not altogether a poetic fiction. In old +days the Sybarites slept upon mattresses which were stuffed with +Rose petals: and the like are now made for persons of rank on the +Nile. + +A memorial brass over the tomb of Abbot Kirton, in Westminster +Abbey, bears testimony to the high value he attached during life to +Roses curatively:-- + + "Sis, Rosa, flos florum, morbis medicina meoium." + +Many country persons believe, that if Roses and Violets are +plentiful in the autumn, some epidemic may be expected presently. +But this conclusion must be founded like that which says, "a green +winter makes a fat churchyard," on the fact that humid warmth +continued on late in the year tends to engender putrid ferments, and +to weaken the bodily vigour. + +Attar of Roses is a costly product, because consisting of the +comparatively few oil globules found floating on the surface of a +considerable volume of Rose water thrice distilled. It takes five +hundredweight of Rose petals to produce one drachm by weight of +the finest Attar, which is preserved in small bottles made of rock +crystal. The scent of the minutest particle of the genuine essence is +very powerful and enduring:-- + + "You may break, you may ruin, the vase if you will, + But the scent of the Roses will hang round it still." + +The inscription, _Rosamundi, non Rosa munda,_ was graven on the +tomb of fair Rosamund, the inamorata of Henry the Seventh:-- + + "Hic jacet in tomba Rosa Mundi, non Rosa munda; + Non redolet, sed olet quae redolere solet." + + "Here Rose the graced, not Rose the chaste, reposes; + The smell that rises is no smell of Roses." + +In Sussex, the peculiar excrescence which is often found on the +Briar, as caused by the puncture of an insect, and which is known as +the canker, or "robin redbreast's cushion," is frequently worn round +the neck as a protective amulet against whooping cough. This was +called in the old Pharmacopeias "Bedeguar," and was famous for its +astringent properties. Hans Andersen names it the "Rose King's +beard." + +The Rosary was introduced by St. Dominick to commemorate his +having been shown a chaplet of Roses by the Blessed Virgin. It +consisted formerly of a string of beads made of Rose leaves tightly +pressed into round moulds and strung together, when real Roses +could not be had. The use of a chaplet of beads for recording the +number of prayers recited is of Eastern origin from the time of the +Egyptian Anchorites. + +The Rock Rose (a _Cistus_), grows commonly in our hilly pastures on +a soil of chalk, or gravel, bearing clusters of large, bright, yellow +flowers, from a small branching shrub. These flowers expand only +in the sunshine, and have stamens which, if lightly touched, spread +out, and lie down on the petals. The plant proves medicinally useful, +particularly if grown in a soil containing magnesia. A tincture is +prepared (H.) from the whole plant, English or Canadian, which is +useful for curing shingles, on the principle of its producing, when +taken by healthy provers in doses of various [470] potencies, a +cutaneous outbreak on the trunk of the body closely resembling the +characteristic symptoms of shingles, whilst attended with nervous +distress, and with much burning of the affected skin. The plant has +likewise a popular reputation for healing scrofula, and its tincture is +beneficial for reducing enlarged glands, as of the neck and throat; +also for strumous swelling of the knee joint, as well as of other +joints. It is a "helianthemum" of the Sunflower tribe. + +The Canadian Rock Rose is called Frostwort and Frostweed, +because crystals of ice shoot from the cracked bark below the stem +during freezing weather in the autumn. + +A decoction of our plant has proved useful in prurigo (itching), and +as a gargle for the sore throat of scarlet fever. For shingles, from +five to ten drops of the tincture, third decimal strength, should be +given with a spoonful of water three times a day. + + + +ROSEMARY. + +The Rosemary is a well-known, sweet-scented shrub, cultivated in +our gardens, and herb beds on account of its fragrancy and its +aromatic virtues. It came originally from the South of Europe and +the Levant, and was introduced into England before the Norman +Conquest. The shrub (_Rosmarinus_) takes its compound name +from _ros_, dew, _marinus_, belonging to the sea; in allusion to the +grey, glistening appearance of the plant, and its natural locality, as +well as its odour, like that of the sea. It is ever green, and bears +small, pale, blue flowers. + +Rosemary was thought by the ancients to refresh the memory and +comfort the brain. Being a cordial herb it was often mentioned in the +lays, or amorous ballads, of the Troubadours; and was called +"Coronaria" [471] because women were accustomed to make +crowns and garlands thereof. + + "What flower is that which regal honour craves? + Adjoin the Virgin: and 'tis strewn o'er graves." + +In some parts of England Rosemary is put with the corpse into the +coffin, and sprigs of it are distributed among the mourners at a +funeral, to be thrown into the grave, Gay alludes to this practice +when describing the burial of a country lass who had met with an +untimely death:-- + + "To show their love, the neighbours far and near + Followed, with wistful looks, the damsel's bier; + Sprigged Rosemary the lads and lasses bore, + While dismally the Parson walked before; + Upon her grave the Rosemary they threw, + The Daisy, Butter flower, and Endive blue," + +In _Romeo and Juliet_, Father Lawrence says:-- + + "Dry up your tears, and stick your Rosemary + On this fair corse." + +The herb has a pleasant scent and a bitter, pungent taste, whilst +much of its volatile, active principle resides in the calices of the +flowers; therefore, in storing or using the plant these parts must be +retained. It yields its virtues partially to water, and entirely to +rectified spirit of wine. + +In early times Rosemary was grown largely in kitchen gardens, and +it came to signify the strong influence of the matron who dwelt +there:-- + + "Where Rosemary flourishes the woman rules," + +The leaves and tops afford an essential volatile oil, but not so much +as the flowers. + +A spirit made from this essential oil with spirit of wine will help to +renovate the vitality of paralyzed limbs, if rubbed in with brisk +friction. The volatile oil [472] includes a special camphor similar to +that possessed by the myrtle. The plant also contains some tannin, +with a resin and a bitter principle. By old writers it was said to +increase the flow of milk. + +The oil is used officinally for making a spirit of Rosemary, and is +added to the compound tincture of Lavender, as well as to Soap +liniment. By common consent it is agreed that the volatile oil (or the +spirit) when mixed in washes will specially stimulate growth of the +hair. The famous Hungary water, first concocted for a Queen of +Hungary who, by its continual use, became effectually cured of +paralysis, was prepared by putting a pound and a half of the fresh +tops of Rosemary, when in full flower, into a gallon of proof spirit, +which had to stand for four days, and was then distilled. + +Hungary water (_l'eau de la reine d'Hongrie_) was formerly very +famous for gout in the hands and feet. Hoyes says, the formula for +composing this water, written by Queen Elizabeth's own hand in +golden characters, is still preserved in the Imperial Library at +Vienna. + +An ounce of the dried leaves and flowers treated with a pint of +boiling water, and allowed to stand until cold, makes one of the best +hair washes known. It has the singular power of preventing the hair +from uncurling when exposed to a damp atmosphere. The herb is +used in the preparation of _Eau de Cologne_. + +Rosemary wine, taken in small quantities, acts as a quieting cordial +to a heart of which the action is excitable or palpitating, and it +relieves ally accompanying dropsy by stimulating the kidneys. This +wine may be made by chopping up sprigs of Rosemary, and pouring +on them some sound white wine, which after two or [473] three +days, may be strained off and used. By stimulating the nervous +system it proves useful against the headaches of weak circulation +and of languid health. "If a garlande of the tree be put around the +heade it is a remedy for the stuffing of the head that cometh from +coldness." + +The green-leaved variety of Rosemary is the sort to be used +medicinally. There are also silver and gold-leaved diversities. Sprigs +of the herb were formerly stuck into beef whilst roasting as an +excellent relish. A writer of 1707 tells of "Rosemary-preserve to +dress your beef." + +The toilet of the Ancients was never considered complete without +an infusion, or spirit of Rosemary; and in olden times Rosemary +was entwined in the wreath worn by the bride at the altar, being first +dipped in scented water. Anne of Cleves, one of Henry the Eighth's +wives, wore such a wreath at her wedding; and when people could +afford it, the Rosemary branch presented to each guest was richly +gilded. + +The custom which prevailed in olden times of carrying a sprig of +Rosemary in the hand at a funeral, took its rise from the notion of an +alexipharmick or preservative powder in this herb against +pestilential disorders; and hence it was thought that the smelling +thereof was a powerful defence against any morbid effluvia from the +corpse. + +For the same reason it was usual to burn Rosemary in the chambers +of the sick, just as was formerly done with frankincense, which gave +the Greeks occasion to call the Rosemary _Libanotis_. In the French +language of flowers this herb represents the power of rekindling lost +energy. "The flowers of Rosemary," says an old author, "made up +into plates (lozenges), with sugar, [474] and eaten, comfort the +heart, and make it merry, quicken the spirits, and make them more +lively." "There's Rosemary for you--that's for remembrance! Pray +you, love, remember!" says Ophelia in _Hamlet_. The spirit of +Rosemary is kept by all druggists, and may be safely taken in doses +of from twenty to thirty drops with a spoonful or two of water. +Rosemary tea will soon relieve hysterical depression. Some persons +drink it as a restorative at breakfast. It will help to regulate the +monthly flow of women. An infusion of the herb mixed with poplar +bark, and used every night, will make the hair soft, glossy, and +strong. + +In Northern Ireland is found the Wild Rosemary, or Marsh Tea +(_Ledum palustre_), which has admirable curative uses, and from +which, therefore, though it is not a common plant in England, a +medicinal tincture (H.) is made with spirit of wine. + +The herb belongs to the Rock Rose tribe, and contains citric acid, +leditannic acid, resin, wax, and a volatile principle called +"ericinol." + +This plant is of singular use as a remedy for chilblains, as well as to +subdue the painful effects of a sting from a wasp or bee; also to +relieve gouty pains, which attack severely, but do not cause swelling +of the part, especially as regards the fingers and toes. Four or five +drops of the tincture should be taken for a dose with a tablespoonful +of cold water, three or four times in the day; and linen rags soaked +in a lotion made with a teaspoonful of the tincture added to half a +tumblerful of cold water, should be kept applied over the affected +part. + +It equally relieves whitlows; and will heal punctured wounds, if +arnica, or the Marigold, or St. John's Wort is not indicated, or of +use. When tested by provers in large doses, it has caused a +widespread eruption of [475] eczema, with itching and tingling of +the whole skin, extending into the mouth and air passages, and +occasioning a violent spasmodic cough. Hence, one may fairly +assume (and this has been found to hold good), that a gouty, +spasmodic cough of the bronchial tubes, attended with gouty +eczema, and with pains in the smaller joints, will be generally cured +by tincture or infusion of the Wild Rosemary in small doses of a +diluted strength, given several times a day, the diet at the same time +being properly regulated. Formerly this herb was used in Germany +for making beer heady; but it is now forbidden by law. + + + +RUE. + +The wild Rue is found on the hills of Lancashire and Yorkshire, +being more vehement in smell and in operation than the garden Rue. +This latter, _Ruta graveolens,_ (powerfully redolent), the common +cultivated Rue of our kitchen gardens, is a shrub with a pungent +aromatic odour, and a bitter, hot, penetrating taste, having leaves of +a bluish-green colour, and remaining verdant all the year round. It is +first mentioned as cultivated in England by Turner, in his _Herbal_, +1562, and has since become one of the best known and most widely +grown Simples for medicinal and homely uses. The name _Ruta_ is +from the Greek _reuo_, to set free, because this herb is so efficacious +in various diseases. The Greeks regarded Rue as an anti-magical +herb, since it served to remedy the nervous indigestion and +flatulence from which they suffered when eating before strangers: +which infirmity they attributed to witchcraft. This herb was further +termed of old "Serving men's joy," because of the multiplicity of +common ailments which it was warranted to cure. It constituted a +chief ingredient of the famous antidote of Mithridates to poisons, +the formula of which [476] was found by Pompey in the satchel of +the conquered King. The leaves are so acrid, that if they be much +handled they inflame the skin; and the wild plant possesses this +acridity still more strongly. + +Water serves to extract the virtues of the cultivated shrub better than +spirit of wine is able to do. The juice of Rue is of great efficacy in +some forms of epilepsy, operating for the most part insensibly, +though sometimes causing vomiting or purging. + +Piperno, a Neapolitan physician, in 1625, commended Rue as a +specific against epilepsy and vertigo. For the former malady at one +time some of this herb was suspended round the neck of the +sufferer, whilst "forsaking the devil with all his works, and invoking +the Lord Jesus." Goat's Rue, _Galega_, is likewise of service in +epilepsy and convulsions. + +If a leaf or two of Rue be chewed, a refreshing aromatic flavour will +pervade the mouth, and any nervous headache, giddiness, hysterical +spasm, or palpitation, will be quickly relieved. Two drachms of +powdered Rue, if taken every day regularly as a dose for a long +while together, will often do wonders. It was much used by the +ancients, and Hippocrates commended it. The herb is strongly +stimulating and anti-spasmodic; its most important constituent being +the volatile oil, which contains caprinic, pelargonic, caprylic, and +oenanthylic acids. The oxygenated portion is caprinic aldehyde. In +too full doses the oil causes aching of the loins, frequent urination, +dulness and weight of mind, flushes of heat, unsteadiness of gait, +and increased frequency of the pulse, but with diminished force. +Similar symptoms are produced during an attack of the modern +epidemical influenza; as like-wise by oil of wormwood, and some +other essential oils. + +[477] Externally, Rue is an active irritant to the skin, the bruised +leaves blistering the hands, and causing a pustular eruption. Gerard +says, "The wild Rue venometh the hands that touch it, and will also +infect the face; therefore it is not to be admitted to meat, or +medicine." It stimulates the monthly function in women, but must +be used with caution. + +The decoction and infusion are to be made from the fresh plant, or +(when this plant cannot be got), the oil may be given in a dose of +from one to five drops. Externally, compresses saturated with a +strong decoction of the plant when applied to the chest, have been +used beneficially for chronic bronchitis. + +Rue is best adapted to those of phlegmatic habit, and of languid +constitutional energies. It is often employed in the form of tea. The +_Schola Salernitana_ says about this plant:-- + + "Ruta viris minuit venerem, mulieribus addit + Ruta facit castum, dat lumen, et ingerit astum + Coctaque ruta facit de pulicibus loca tuta." + + "Rue maketh chaste: and eke preserveth sight; + Infuseth wit, and putteth fleas to flight." + +The leaves promote the menses, being given in doses of from fifteen +to twenty grains. "Pliny," says John Evelyn, "reports Rue to be of +such effect for the preservation of sight that the painters of his time +used to devour a great quantity of it; and the herb is still eaten by +the Italians frequently mingled amongst their salads." With respect to +its use in epilepsy, Julius Caesar Baricellus said: "I gave to my own +children two scruples of the juice of Rue, and a small matter of +gold; and, by the blessing of God, they were freed from their fits." +The essential oil of Rue may be used for the same purpose, and in +like manner. + +[478] Formerly this plant was thought to bestow second sight; and +so sacred a regard was at one time felt for it in our islands, that the +missionaries sprinkled their holy water from brushes made of the +Rue; for which cause it was named "Herb of Grace." + +Gerard tells us: "The garden Rue, which is better than the wild Rue +for physic's use, grows most profitably (as Dioscorides said) under a +fig tree." Country people boil its leaves with treacle, thus making a +conserve of them. These leaves are curative of croup in poultry. + +In the early part of the present century it was customary for judges, +sitting at Assize, to have sprigs of Rue placed on the bench of the +dock, as defensive against the pestilential infection brought into +court from gaol by the prisoners. The herb was supposed to afford +powerful protection from contagion. + +At the present time the medicinal tincture (H.) is used for the +treatment of rheumatism when developed in the membranes which +invest the bones. If bruised and applied, the leaves will ease the +severe pain of sciatica. The expressed juice taken in small quantities +is a noted remedy for nervous nightmare. A quaint old rhyme says +of the plant:-- + + "Nobilis est ruta quia lumina reddit acuta." + + "Noble is Rue! it makes the sight of eyes both sharp and clear; + With help of Rue, oh! blear-eyed man I thou shalt see far and + near." + +This is essentially the case when the vision has become dim through +over exertion of the eyes. It was with "Euphrasy and Rue" the visual +nerve of Adam was purged by Milton's Angel. + +As a preserver of chastity Ophelia was made by Shakespeare to give +Rue to Hamlet's mother, the Queen of Denmark. + + + +[479] RUSHES. + +The true Rushes (_Juncaceoe_) include the Soft Rush (_effusus_); +the Hard Rush (_glaucus_); and the Common Rush (_conglomeratus_). +The Bulrush (Pool Rush) is a Sedge; the Club Rush is a Typha; +and the flowering Rush, a Butomus. "Rish" was the old method +of spelling the name. + +A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the fresh root of the _juncus +effusus_. It will be found helpful against spinal irritability, with +some crampy tightness felt in the arms and legs, together with +headache and flatulent indigestion. Four or five drops should be +given for a dose, with a spoonful of water, three or four times in the +day. + +This, the Soft Rush, is commonly used for tying the bines of hops to +the poles; and, as these bines grow larger in size, the rushes wither, +setting the bines free in a timely fashion. To find a green-topped +Seave, or Rush, and a four-leaved Clover, is, in rural estimation, +equally lucky. + +The generic title, _Juncus_, has been applied because Rushes are _in +conjunction_ when planted together for making cordage. + +The common Rush is found by roadsides in damp pastures, and is +readily known by its long, slender, round, naked stem, containing +pith, and showing about the middle of July a dense globular bead of +brown flowers. Rushes of this sort were employed by our remote +ancestors for strewing, when fresh and green, about the floor of the +hall after discontinuing its big fire at Eastertide. Shakespeare says +in _Romeo and Juliet:_-- + + "Wantons, light of heart, + Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels." + +[480] In obedience to a bequest (1494); Rushes are still +strewn about the pavement of Redcliff Church at Bristol every +Whit-Sunday. The common phrase, "not worth a Rush," took its origin +from this general practice. Distinguished guests were honoured in +mediaeval times with clean fresh Rushes; but those of inferior rank +had either the Rushes left by their superiors, or none at all. + +The sweet-scented "Flag," or Rush (_Acorus calamus_), was always +used by preference where it could be procured. It is a native of this +country, growing on watery banks, and very plentiful in the river's +of Norfolk, from whence the London market is supplied. The roots +have a warm, bitter taste, and the essential oil is highly aromatic, +this being used for preparing aromatic vinegar. In Norfolk the +powdered dry rhizome is given for ague. With sugar it makes an +agreeable cordial conserve. (See _Flag (Sweet)_, _page_ 201 ). For +preserving the aromatic qualities within the dried rhizome; or root, it +should be kept in stock unpeeled. This contains "oleum calami," and +the bitter principle "acorin." Some of the root may be habitually +chewed for the relief of chronic indigestion. The odorous delights of +a pastoral time passed near these sweetly-fragrant plants have been +happily alluded to in the well-known lines of idyllic verse:-- + + "Green grow the Rushes, oh! + Green grow the Rushes, oh! + The sweetest hours that e'er I spent + Were spent among the lasses, oh!" + + "Virent junci fluviales, + Junci prope lymphas: + Ah! quain ridet quoe me videt + Hora inter Nymphas!" + +[481] The old saying, "As fit as Tib's Rush for Tom's fore-finger," +alludes to an ancient custom of making spurious marriages with a +ring constructed from a Rush. Tom and Tib were vulgar epithets +applied in Shakespeare's time to the rogue, and the wanton. + +The Bulrush (_Scirpus lacustris_) is a tall, aquatic plant, which +belongs to the Sedge tribe. It name was formerly spelt "Pole Rush," +and was given because this grows in pools of water, and not like +other Rushes, in mire. Bottoms of chairs are frequently made with +its stems. Its seed is prepared medicinally, being astringent and +somewhat sedative; "So soporiferous," says Gerard, "that care must +be had in the administration thereof, lest in provoking sleep you +induce a drowsiness, or dead sleep." Street hawkers, in Autumn, +offer as Bulrushes the tall, round spikes of the Great Reed Mace, +which is not a true Rush. Artists are responsible in the first instance +for the mistake--notably Paul De la Roche, in his famous picture of +"The Finding of Moses." The future great leader of the Israelites is +there depicted in an ark amid a forest of Great Cat's-tail Reeds. + +The flowering Rush, or water gladiole, which grows by the banks of +rivers is called botanically "butomus," from the Greek, _bous_, an +ox, and _temno_, to cut, because the sharp edges of the erect +three-cornered leaf-blades wound the cattle which come in contact with +them, or try to eat them. Its root is highly esteemed in Russia for the +cure of hydrophobia, being regarded by the doctors as a specific for +that disease. Its flowers are large, and of a splendid rose colour. The +seeds promote the monthly flow in women, act on disordered +kidneys, prove astringent against fluxes, and serve to woo sleep in +nervous wakefulness. Gerard tells that "the seed [482] of Rushes +drieth the overmuch flowing of women's termes." + +The Reed Mace, or Cat's-tail, is often incorrectly called Bulrush, +though it is a typha (_tuphos_, marsh) plant. + +The Bog Asphodel (_Narthecium ossifragum_) grows in bogs, and +bears a spike of yellow, star-like flowers. Its second nominative was +given to signify its causing the bones of cattle which feed thereon +to become soft; but probably this morbid state is incurred rather +through the exhalations arising from the bogs where the cattle are +pastured. To the same plant has been given also the name "Mayden +heere," because young damsels formerly used it for making their +hair yellow. + +The Great Cat's-tail (_Typha palustris_), or Great Reed Mace, a +perennial reed common in Great Britain, affords by the tender white +part of its stalks when peeled near the root, a crisp, cooling, +pleasant article of food. This is eaten raw with avidity by the +Cossacks. Aristophanes makes mention of the Mace in his comedy of +frogs who were glad to have spent their day skipping about _inter +Cyperum et Phleum_, among Galingale and Cat's-tail. Sacred +pictures which represent our Saviour wearing the crown of thorns, +place this reed in His hands as given Him in mockery for a kingly +Mace. The same _Typha_ has been further called "Dunse-down," +from making persons "dunch," or deaf, if its soft spikes accidentally +run into the ears. "_Ejus enim paniculoe flos si aures intraverit, +exsurdat_." It is reasonable to suppose that, on the principle of +similars, a preparation of this plant, if applied topically within the +ear, as well as taken medicinally, will be curative of a like deafness. +Most probably the injury to the hearing caused by the spikes at first +is toxic as well as of the nature of an injury. The Poet Laureate sings +of "Sleepy breath made sweet [483] with Galingale" (_Cyperus +longus_). Other names again are, "Chimney-sweeper's brush"; +"Blackheads" until ripe, then "Whiteheads"; and "Water torch," +because its panicles, if soaked in oil, will burn like a torch. + + + +SAFFRON (Meadow and Cultivated). + +The Meadow Saffron (_Colchicum autumnale_) is a common wild +Crocus found in English meadows, especially about the Midland +districts. The flower appears in the autumn before the leaves and +fruit, which are not produced until the following spring. Its corollae +resemble those of the true Saffron, a native of the East, but long +cultivated in Great Britain, where it is sometimes found apparently +wild. They are plants of the Iris order. + +From the Meadow Saffron is obtained a corm or bulb, dug up in the +spring, of which the well-known tincture of colchicum, a specific +for rheumatism, is made; and from the true Saffron flowers are +taken the familiar orange red stigmata, which furnish the fragrant +colouring matter used by confectioners in cakes, and by the +apothecary for his syrup of Saffron, etc. + +The flower of the Meadow Saffron rises bare from the earth, and is, +therefore, called "Upstart" and "Naked Lady." This plant owes its +botanical name _Colchicum_, to Colchis, in Natalia, which +abounded in poisonous vegetables, and gave rise to the fiction about +the enchantress Medea. She renewed the vitality of her aged father, +AEneas, by drawing blood out of his veins and refilling them with +the juices of certain herbs. The fabled origin of the Saffron plant ran +thus. A certain young man named Crocus went to play at quoits in a +field with Mercurie, when the quoit of his companion happened by +misfortune to hit him on the head, whereby, before long, he died, to +the great sorrow of [484] his friends. Finally, in the place where he +had bled, Saffron was found to be growing: whereupon, the people, +seeing the colour of the chine as it stood, adjusted it to come of the +blood of Crocus, and therefore they gave it his name. The medicinal +properties of Colchicum have been known from a very early period. +In the reign of James the First (1615), Sir Theodore Mayerne +administered the bulb to his majesty together with the powder of +unburied skulls. In France, it has always been a favourite specific +for gout; and during the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, it became very +fashionable under the name of _Eau Medicinale_; but the remedy is +somewhat dangerous, and should never be incautiously used. +Instances are on record where fatal results have followed too large a +medicinal dose, even on the following day, after taking sixty drops +of the wine of Colchicum overnight; and when given in much +smaller doses it sometimes acts as a powerfully irritating purgative, +or as an emetic. The medicine should not be employed except by a +doctor; its habitual use is very harmful. + +The acrimony of the bulb may be modified in a measure if it, or its +seeds, are steeped in vinegar before being taken as a medicine. + +The French designate the roots of the Meadow Saffron (_Colchicum_) +as "_Tue-chien_"; "_morte aux chiens_," "death to dogs." + +Alexander of Tralles, a Greek physician of the sixth century, was +the first to advise Colchicum (_Hermodactylon_) for gout, with the +effect that patients, immediately after its exhibition, found +themselves able to walk. "But," said he, and with shrewd truth, "it +has this bad property, that it disposes those who take it curatively +for gout or rheumatism, to be afterwards more frequently attacked +with the disease than before." + +[485] Our druggists supply an officinal tincture of Colchicum +(Meadow Saffron) made from the seeds, the dose of which is from +ten to thirty drops, with a spoonful of water; also a wine infused +from the bulb, of which the dose is the same as that of the tincture, +twice or three times a day; and an acetous extract prepared from the +thickened juice of the crushed bulbs, of which from half to two +grains may be given in a pilule, or dissolved in water, twice or three +times a day, until the active symptoms are subdued, and then less +often for another day or two afterwards. The most important +chemical constituent of the bulb, flowers, and seeds, is "Colchicin." +Besides this there are contained starch, gum, sugar, tannin, and +some fatty resinous matter. There is also a fixed oil in the seeds. + +_Crocus vernus_, the True Saffron, grows wild about Halifax, and +in the neighbourhood of Derby; but for commercial uses the supply +of stigmata is had from Greece, and Asia Minor. This plant was +cultivated in England as far back as during the reign of Edward the +Third. It is said that a pilgrim then brought from the Levant to +England the first root of Saffron, concealed in a hollow staff, doing +the same thing at the peril of his life, and planting such root at +Saffron Walden, in Essex, whence the place has derived its name. + +The stigmata are picked out, then dried in a kiln, over a hair cloth, +and pressed afterwards into cakes, of which the aromatic quality is +very volatile. The plant was formerly cultivated at Saffron Walden, +where it was presented in silver cups by the Corporation to some of +our sovereigns, who visited Walden for the ceremony. Five guineas +were paid by the Corporation for the pound of Saffron which they +purchased for Queen Elizabeth; and to constitute this quantity forty +[486] thousand flowers were required. The City Arms of Walden +bears three Saffron plants, as given by a Charter of Edward the +Sixth. Saffron Hill, in Holborn, London, belonged formerly to Ely +House, and got its name from the crops of saffron which were +grown there: "_Occult? Spolia hi Croceo de colle ferebant_" (Comic +Latin Grammar). + +In our rural districts there is a popular custom of giving Saffron tea +in measles, on the doctrine of colour analogy; to which notion may +likewise be referred the practice of adding Saffron to the drinking +water of canaries when they are moulting. + +In England, it was fashionable during the seventh century to make +use of starch stained yellow with Saffron; and in an old cookery +book of that period, it is directed that "Saffron must be put into all +Lenten soups, sauces, and dishes; also that without Saffron we +cannot have well-cooled peas." Confectioners were wont to make +their pastry attractive with Saffron. So the Clown says in +Shakespeare's _Winter's Tale_, "I must have Saffron to colour the +warden pies." We read of a Saffron-tub in the kitchen of Bishop +Swinfield, 1296. During the fourteenth century Saffron was +cultivated in the herbarium of the manor-house, and the castle. +Throughout Devonshire this product is quoted to signify anything +costly. + +Henry the Eighth forbade persons to colour with Saffron the long +locks of hair worn then, and called Glibbes. Lord Bacon said, "the +English are rendered sprightly by a liberal use of Saffron in +sweetmeats and broth": also, "Saffron conveys medicine to the +heart, cures its palpitation, removes melancholy and uneasiness, +revives the brain, renders the mind cheerful, and generates +boldness." The restorative plant has been termed "_Cor hominis_;" +"_Anima_ [487] _pulmonum_," "the Heart of Man"; and there is an +old saying alluding to one of a merry temper, "_Dormivit in sacco +Croci_," "he has slept in a sack of Saffron." It was called by the +ancients "_Aurum philosophorum_," contracted to "_Aroph_." Also, +_Sanguis Herculis_, and _Rex Vegetabilium_, "being given with +good success to procure bodily lust." The English word Saffron +comes from the Arabian--_Zahafram_--whilst the name Crocus of +this golden plant is taken from the Greek_ krokee_--a thread-- +signifying the dry thin stigmata of the flower. Old Fuller wrote "the +Crocodile's tears are never true save when he is forced where +Saffron groweth (whence he hath his name of _Croco-deilos_, or the +Saffron-fearer), knowing himself to be all poison, and it all +antidote." Frequently Marigold stigmata are cheaply used for +adulterating the true Saffron. + +Homer introduces Saffron as one of the flowers which formed the +nuptial couch of Jupiter: and Solomon mentioned it as growing in +his garden: "Spikenard and saffron: calamus, and cinnamon" +(_Canticles_ iv., 14). Pliny states that wine in which Saffron was +macerated gave a fragrant odour to theatres about which it was +sprinkled. The Cilician doctors advised Cleopatra to take Saffron for +clearing her complexion. + +The medicinal use of Saffron has always obtained amongst the +Orientals. According to a treatise, _Croco-logia_ (1670), by +Hartodt, it was then employed as a medicine, as a pigment, and for +seasoning various kinds of food. The colouring matter of Saffron is +a substance called polychroite, or crocin; and its slightly stimulating +properties depend upon a volatile oil. + +Boerhaave said that Saffron possesses the power of liquefying the +blood; hence, "Women who use it too freely suffer from immoderate +menses." A tincture is [488] made (H.) from the Saffron of +commerce, which is of essential use for controlling female +haemorrhages. Four or five drops of the tincture may be given with a +spoonful of water every three or four hours for this purpose. The +same tincture is good for impaired vision, when there is a sense of +gauze before the eyes, which the person tries to wink, or wipe away. +Smelling strongly and frequently at the Hay Saffron of commerce +(obtained from Spain and France), will cause headache, stupor, and +heavy sleep; whilst, during its internal use, the urine becomes of a +deep yellow colour. + +Of the syrup of Saffron, which is a slightly stimulating exhilarant, +and which possesses a rich colour, from one to two teaspoonfuls +may be given for a dose, with two tablespoonfuls of cold water. It +serves to energise the organs within the middle trunk of both males +and females; also to recruit an exhausted brain. + +In Devonshire, Saffron used to be regarded as a most valuable +remedy to restore consumptive patients, even when far advanced in +the disease, and it was, therefore, esteemed of great worth:-- + + "Nec poteris croci dotes numerare, nec usus." + +Saffron is such a special remedy for those that have consumption of +the lungs, and are--as we term it--at death's door, and almost past +breathing, "that it bringeth breath again, and prolongeth life for +certain days, if ten, or twenty grains at most, be given in new, or +sweet wine. It presently, and in a moment, removeth away difficulty +of breathing, which most dangerously and suddenly happeneth." + +In Westphalia, an apple mixed with Saffron, on the doctrine of +signatures, is given on Easter Monday, against jaundice. Evelyn +tells us: "The German [489] housewives have a way of forming +Saffron into balls; by mingling it with a little honey, which, when +thoroughly dried, they reduce to powder, and sprinkle it over their +sallets for a noble cordial." Those of Spain and Italy, we know, +generally make use of this flower, mingling its golden tincture with +almost everything they eat. But, an excessive use of Saffron proves +harmful. It will produce an intense pain in the head, and imperil the +reason. Half-a-scruple, _i.e._, ten grains, should be the largest dose. +In fuller doses this tincture will provoke a determination of blood to +the head, with bleeding from the nose, and sometimes with a +disposition to immoderate laughter. Small doses, therefore, of the +diluted tincture, ought to relieve these symptoms when they occur as +spontaneous illness. The inhabitants of Eastern countries regard +Saffron as a fine restorative, and nuptial invitations are often +powdered by them with this medicament. + +In Ireland women dye their sheets with Saffron to preserve them +from vermin, and to strengthen their own limbs. + + "Green herbs, red pepper, mussels, _Saffron_, + Soles, onions, garlic, roach and dace; + All these you eat at Ferre's tavern + In that one dish of bouillabaisse." + --_Thackeray_. + + + +SAGE. + +Our garden Sage, a familiar occupant of the English herb bed, was +formerly celebrated as a medicine of great virtue. This was the +_Elalisphakos_ of the Greeks, so called from its dry and withered +looking leaves. It grows wild in the South of Europe, but is a +cultivated Simple in England, France, and Germany. Like other +labiate herbs [490] it is aromatic and fragrant, because containing a +volatile, camphoraceous, essential oil. + +All parts of the plant have a strong-scented odour, and a warm, +bitter, astringent taste. The Latin name, _Salvia_, has become +corrupted through _Sauja_, _sauge_, to Sage, and is derived from +_salvere_, "to be sound," in reference to the medicinally curative +properties of the plant. + +A well-known monkish line about it ran to this effect: _Cur moriatur +homo cui Salvia crescit in horto_? "Why should a man die whilst +Sage grows in his garden?" And even at this time, in many parts of +England, the following piece of advice is carefully adopted every +year:-- + + "He that would live for aye + Must eat Sage in May." + +During the time of Charlemagne, the school of Salerno thought so +highly of Sage that they originated the dictum quoted above of +Saracenic old pharmacy, but they wisely added a second line:-- + + "Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis." + +The essential oil of the herb may be more readily dissolved in a +spirituous than in a watery vehicle. Of this, the active principle is +"salviol," which confers the power of resisting putrefaction on +animal substances; whilst the bitterness and condimentary pungency +of the herb enable the stomach to digest rich, luscious meats and +gravies, if it be eaten therewith. + +Hence has arisen the custom of stuffing ducks for the table, and +geese, with the conventional Sage and onions. Or there is no better +way of taking Sage as a stomachic wholesome herb than by eating it +with bread and butter. In Buckinghamshire a tradition maintains +[491] that the wife rules where Sage grows vigorously in the garden: +and it is believed that this plant will thrive or wither, just as the +owner's business prospers or fails. George Whitfield, when at +Oxford (1733), took only Sage-tea, with sugar, and coarse bread. + +Old sayings tell of the herb, as _Salvia salvatrix; naturoe +conciliatrix_; and the line runs:-- + + "Salvia cum ruta faciunt tibi pocula tuta." + +recommending to plant Rue among the Sage so as to keep away +noxious toads. + +The Chinese are as fond of Sage as we are of their fragrant teas; +and the Dutch once carried on a profitable trade with them, by +exchanging a pound of Sage leaves for each three-pound parcel of +tea. + +It was formerly thought that Sage, if used in the making of cheese, +improved its flavour. + + "Marbled with Sage the hardening cheese she pressed." + --_Gay_. + +"Sage," says Gerard, "is singular good for the head and brain; it +quickeneth the senses and memory; strengtheneth the sinews; +restoreth health to those that hath the palsy; and takes away shaky +trembling of the members." Agrippa called it "the holy herb," +because women with child, if they be likely to come before their +time, "do eat thereof to their great good." + +Pepys, in his well-known Diary says, "between Gosport and +Southampton we observed a little churchyard where it is customary +to sow all the graves with Sage." In _Franche Comte_ the herb is +supposed to mitigate grief, mental and bodily. + + "Salvia comfortat nervos, manuumque tremorem + Tollit; et ejus ope febris acuta fugit." + + "Sage helps the nerves, and by its powerful might + Palsy is cured, and fever put to flight." + +[492] But if Sage be smelt for some time it will cause a sort of +intoxication, and giddiness. The leaves, when dried and smoked in a +pipe as tobacco, will lighten the brain. + +In Sussex, a peasant will munch Sage leaves on nine consecutive +mornings, whilst fasting, to cure ague. + +A strong infusion of the herb has been used with success to dry up +the breast milk for weaning; and as a gargle Sage leaf tea, when +sweetened with honey, serves admirably. This decoction, when +made strong, is an excellent lotion for ulcers, and to heal raw +abrasions of the skin. The herb may be applied externally ill bags as +a hot fomentation. Some persons value the Wormwood Sage more +highly than either of the other varieties. + +In the Sage flower the stamens swing round their loosely-connected +anther cells against the back of any blundering bee who is in search +of honey, just as in olden days the bag of sand caught the shoulders +of a clumsy youth when tilting at the Quintin. + +Wild Meadow Sage (_Salvia verbenaca_), or Meadow Clary, grows +in our dry pastures, but somewhat rarely, though it is better known +as a cultivated herb in our kitchen gardens. The leaves and flowers +afford a volatile oil, which is fragrant and aromatic. + +Some have attributed the name _Salvia sclarea_, Clary (Clear eye) +to the fact of the seeds being so mucilaginous, that when the eye is +invaded by any small foreign body, their decoction will remove the +same by acting as an emulsion to lubricate it away. The leaves and +flowers may be usefully given in an infusion for hysterical colic and +similar troubles connected with nervous weakness. Also they make +a pleasant fermented wine. The Wood Sage is the Wood Germander, +[493] _Teucrium scorodinia_, a woodland plant with sage-like +leaves, containing a volatile oil, some tannin, and a bitter principle. +This plant has been used as a substitute for hops. It was called "hind +heal" from curing the hind when sick, or wounded, and was +probably the same herb as _Elaphoboscum_, the Dittany, taken by +harts in Crete. A snuff has been made from its powder to cure nasal +polypi: also the infusion (freshly prepared), should be given +medicinally, two tablespoonfuls for a dose: or, of the powder, from +thirty to forty grains. The name "Germander" is a corruption from +Chamoedrys, _chamai_, ground, and _drus_, oak, because the +leaves are like those of the oak. + + + +SAINT JOHN'S WORT (_see page_ 287) + + + +SAVIN. + +Savin, the Juniper Savin (_Sabina_), or Saffern, is a herb which +grows freely in our bed of garden Simples, if properly cared for, and +which possesses medicinal virtues of a potential nature. The shrub is +a native of southern Europe, being a small evergreen plant, the twigs +of which are densely covered with little leaves in four rows, having +a strong, peculiar, unpleasant odour of turpentine, with a bitter, +acrid, resinous taste. The young branchlets are collected for +medicinal use. They contain tannin, resin, a special volatile oil, and +extractive matters. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the fresh leaves, and the +points of the shoots of the cultivated Savin. But this is a powerful +medicine, and must be used with caution. In small doses of two or +three drops with a tablespoonful of cold water it is of singular +efficacy for arresting an active florid flux from the [494] womb at +the monthly times of women when occurring too profusely, the +remedy being given every two, three, or four hours. Or from one to +four grains of powdered Savin may be taken instead of each dose of +the tincture. + +The stimulating virtues of Savin befit it for cleansing carbuncles, +and for benefiting baldness. When mixed with honey it has removed +freckles with success; the leaves, dried and powdered, serve, when +applied, to dispel obstinate warty excrescences about the genitals. + +Rubbed together with cerate, or lard, powdered Savin is used for +maintaining the sores of blisters, and of issues, open when it is +desired to keep up their derivative action. + +The essential oil will stimulate the womb to functional activity +when it is passively congested and torpid. As to its elementary +composition this oil closely resembles the spirit of turpentine; and +when given in small well diluted doses as a tincture (made of the oil +mixed with spirit of wine), such medicine does good service in +relieving rheumatic pains and swellings connected with impaired +health of the womb. For these purposes the ordinary tincture (H.) of +Savin should be mixed, one part thereof with nine parts of spirit of +wine, and given in doses of from six to ten drops with a +tablespoonful of water. Dr. Pereira says about the herb: "According +to my own observation, Savin is the most certain and powerful +stimulator of the monthly courses in the whole of our _Materia +Medica_; and I never saw any ill effects result from its +administration." The essential oil may be preferred in a dose of from +one to four drops on sugar, or in milk, when this functional activity +is sought. + +Savin was known of old as the "Devil's Tree," and the "Magician's +Cypress," because much affected by witches and sorcerers when +working their spells. + + + +[495] SCURVY GRASS. + +One of the roost useful, but not best known, of the Cruciferous wild +plants which are specifics against Scrofula is our English Scurvy +Grass. + +It grows by choice near the sea shore, or in mountainous places; and +even when found many miles from the sea its taste is Salt. It occurs +along the muddy banks of the Avon; also in Wales, and in +Cumberland, more commonly near the coast, and likewise on the +mountains of Scotland; again it may be readily cultivated in the +garden for medicinal uses. If eaten as a salad in its fresh state it +is the most effectual of all the antiscorbutic plants. + +The herb is produced with an angular smooth shilling stem, twelve +or fourteen inches high, having narrow green leaves, and +terminating in thick clusters of white flowers. Its leaves are good +and wholesome when eaten in spring with bread and butter. The +juice, when diluted with water, makes a good mouth-wash for +spongy gums. + +The whole plant contains tannin, and a bitter principle, which is +butyl-mustard oil, and on which the medicinal properties depend. +This oil is of great volatility and penetrating power; one drop +instilled on sugar, or dissolved in spirit, communicates to a quart of +wine the taste and smell of Scurvy Grass. + +The fresh plant taken as such, or the expressed fresh juice, confers +the benefits of the herb in by far the most effectual way. A distilled +water, and a conserve prepared with the leaves, were formerly +dispensed by druggists; and the fresh juice mixed with that of +Seville oranges went by the name of "spring drinks," or "juices." + +The plant is found in large quantities at Lymington [496] (Hants), +on low banks almost dipping into the sea. Its expressed juice was +formerly taken in beer, or boiled in milk as a decoction, flavoured +with pepper, aniseed, etc. + +This Scurvy Grass has the botanical name _Cochlearia_, or, in +English, Spoonwort, so named from its leaves resembling in shape +the bowl of an old-fashioned spoon. It is supposed to be the famous +_Herba Britannica_ of the ancients. Our great navigators have borne +unanimous testimony to its never-failing value in scurvy; and it has +been justly noticed that the plant grows most plentifully in altitudes +where scurvy is specially troublesome and frequent. The green herb +bruised may be applied as a poultice. + +For making a decoction of the plant as a blood purifier, and against +scurvy, put two ounces of the whole plant and its roots into a quart +jug, and fill up with boiling water, taking care to keep this well +covered. When it is cold take a wineglassful thereof three, or four +times in the day. + +Another name for the plant is Scruby grass. The fresh herb has a +strong pungent odour when bruised, and a warm bitter taste. Its +beneficial uses in scurvy, are due to the potash salts which it +contains. Externally, the juice will cleanse and heal foul ulcers, +and ill-favoured eruptions. + + + +SEA PLANTS and SEA WEEDS. + +Of marine plants commonly found, the Samphire and the Sea Holly +have certain domestic and medicinal uses which give them +a position as Simples; and of the more ordinary Sea Weeds +(cryptogamous, or flowerless plants) some few are edible, though +sparingly nutritious, whilst curative and medicinal virtues are +attributed to several others, as Irish Moss, Scotch Dulse, Sea Tang, +and the [497] Bladderwrack. It may be stated broadly that the Sea +Weeds employed as remedial Simples owe their powers to the +bromine, iodine, and sulphate of soda which they contain. Pliny and +Dioscorides in their days extolled the qualities of various Sea +Weeds; and practitioners of medicine on our sea coasts are now +unanimous in pronouncing Sea Weed liniments, and poultices, as of +undoubted value in reducing glandular swellings, and in curing +obstinate sprains; whilst they administer the Bladderwrack, etc., +internally for alterative purposes with no little success. Bits of Sea +Weed, called Ladies' trees, are still to be seen as chimney ornaments +in many a Cornish cottage, being fixed on small stands, and +supposed to protect the dwelling from fire, or other mishaps. + +Samphire, of the true sort, is a herb difficult to be gathered, because +it grows only out of the crevices of lofty perpendicular rocks which +cannot be easily scaled. This genuine Samphire (_Crithmum +maritimum_) is a small plant, bearing yellow flowers in circular +umbels on the tops of the stalks, which flowers are followed by +seeds like those of the Fennel, but larger. + +The leaves are juicy, with a warm aromatic taste, and may be put +into sauce; or they make a good appetising condimentary pickle, +which is wholesome for scrofulous subjects. Persons living by the +coast cook this plant as a pot herb. Formerly, it was regularly cried +in the London streets, and was then called Crest Marine. + +Shakespeare alludes in well-known lines to the hazardous +proceedings of the Samphire gatherer's "dreadful trade":-- + + "How fearful + And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low! + The crows and choughs that wing the midway air + Show scarce so gross as beetles: half-way down + _Hangs one that gathers Samphire_: dreadful trade! + Methinks he seems to bigger than his head."--_King Lear_. + +[498] And Evelyn has praised the plant for excellence of flavour, as +well as for aromatic virtues against the spleen. Pliny says Samphire +is the very herb that the good country wife Hecate prepared for +Theseus when going against the Bull of Marathon. + +Its botanic name is from the Greek _crithe_, "barley," because the +seeds are thought to resemble that grain. The title Samphire is +derived from the French _Herbe de St. Pierre_, because the roots +strike deep in the crevices of rocks. St. Peter's Wort has become +corrupted to Sampetre, Sampier, and Samphire. + +A spurious Samphire, the _Inula crithmoides_, or Golden Samphire, +is often supplied in lieu of the real plant, though it has a different +flavour, and few of the proper virtues. This grows more abundantly +on low rocks, and on ground washed by salt water. Also a Salicornia, +or jointed Glasswort, or Saltwort, or Crabgrass, is sold as +Samphire for a pickle, in the Italian oil shops. + +Gerard says of Samphire: "It is the pleasantest sauce, most familiar, +and best agreeing with man's body." "Preferable," adds Evelyn, "for +cleansing the passages, and sharpening appetite, to most of our +hotter herbs, and salad ingredients." + +The Sea Holly (_Eryngium maritimum_), or Sea Hulver, is a +well-known prickly sea-green plant, growing in the sand on many parts +of our coasts, or on stony ground, with stiff leaves, and roots which +run to a great length among the sand, whilst charged with a sweetish +juice. + +A manufactory for making candied roots of the Sea Holly was +established at Colchester, by Robert Burton, an apothecary, in the +seventeenth century, as they were considered both antiscorbutic, and +excellent for health. + +[499] Gerard says: "The roots, if eaten, are good for those that be +liver sick; and they ease cramps, convulsions, and the falling +sickness. If condited, or preserved with sugar, they are exceeding +good to be given to old and aged people that are consumed and +withered with age, and which want natural moisture." He goes on to +give an elaborate receipt how to condite the roots of Sea Holly, or +Eringos (which title is, according to Liddell and Scott, the +diminutive of _eerungos_, "the beard of a goat." Or, Eryngo has +been derived from the Greek _eruggarein_, to eructate, because the +plant is, according to herbalists, a specific against belching). With +healthy provers, who have taken the Sea Holly experimentally in +toxical doses of varying strength the sexual energies and instincts +became always depressed. This accounts for the fact that during the +Elizabethan era, the roots of the plant used _in moderation_ were +highly valued for renovating masculine vigour, such as Falstaff +invoked, and which classic writers have extolled:-- + + "Non male turn graiis florens eryngus in hortis + Quaeritur; hunc gremio portet si nupta virentem + Nunquam inconcessos conjux meditabitur ignes." + --_Rapinus_. + +These Eryngo roots, prepared with sugar, were then called "Kissing +Comfits." Lord Bacon when recommending the yolks of eggs for +giving strength if taken with Malmsey, or sweet wine, says: "You +shall doe well to put in some few slices of Eringium roots, and a +little Ambergrice: for by this means, besides the immediate facultie +of nourishment, such drinke will strengthen the back." + +Plutarch writes: "They report of the Sea Holly, if one goat taketh it +into her mouth, it causeth her first to stand still, and afterwards the +whole flock, until such [500] time as the shepherd takes it from her." +Boerhaave thought the root "a principal aperient." + +Irish Moss, or _Carraigeen_, is abundant on our rocky coasts, and is +collected on the north western shores of Ireland, while some of it +comes to us from Hamburg. Its chief constituent is a kind of +mucilage, which dissolves to a stiff paste in boiling water, this +containing some iodine, and much sulphur. But before being boiled +in water or milk, the Moss should be soaked for an hour or more in +cold water. Officinally, a decoction is ordered to be made with an +ounce of the Moss to a pint of water: of which from one to four fluid +ounces may be taken for a dose. + +This Lichen contains starchy, heat-giving nourishment, about six +parts of the same to one of flesh-forming food; therefore its jelly is +found to be specially sustaining to persons suffering from +pulmonary consumption, with an excessive waste of the bodily heat. +At one time the Irish Moss fetched as high a price as half-a-crown +for the pound. It bears the botanical name of _Chondrus crispus_, +and varies much in size and colour. When growing in small pools, it +is shallow, pale, and stunted; whilst when found at the bottom of a +deep pool, or in the shadow of a great rock, it occurs in dense +masses of rich ruddy purple, with reddish green thick fronds. + +Iceland Moss contains the form of starch called "lichenin." It is a +British lichen found especially in Wales and Scotland. Most +probably the Icelanders were the first to learn its helpful properties. +In two kinds of pulmonary consumption this lichen best promotes a +cure-that with active bleeding from the lungs, and that with profuse +purulent expectoration. The Icelanders boil the Moss in broth, or dry +it in cakes used as bread. They likewise make gruel of it mixed +[501] with milk: but the first decoction of it in water, being +purgative, is always thrown away. An ounce of the Iceland Moss +boiled for a quarter-of-an-hour in a pint of milk, or water, will yield +seven ounces of thick mucilage. This has been found particularly +useful in dysentery. Also contained in the Moss are cetrarin, +uncrystallizable sugar, gum, and green wax; with potash, and +phosphate of lime. It affords help in diabetes, and for general +atrophy; being given also in powder, or syrup, or mixed with +chocolate. Francatelli directs for making _Iceland Moss Jelly_. Boil +four ounces of the Moss in one quart of water: then add the juice of +two lemons, and a bit of the rind, with four ounces of sugar (and +perhaps a gill of sherry?). Boil up and remove the scum from the +surface. Strain the jelly through a muslin bag into a basin, and set it +aside to become cold. It may be eaten thus, but it is more efficacious +when taken warm. A Sea-Moss, the _Lichen marinum_, is "a singular +remedy to strengthen the weakness of the back." It is called +"Oister-green." + +In New England the generic term "Moss" is a cant word signifying +money: perhaps as a contraction of Mopuses, or as a play on the +proverb, "a rolling stone gathers no moss." + +The Dulse is used in Scotland and Ireland both as food and +medicine. Botanically it bears the name of _Iridea edulis_, or +_Rhodymenia palmata_ (the sugar _Fucus_ of Iceland). + +There is a saying in Scotland: "He who eats of the Dulse of Guerdie, +and drinks of the wells Kindingie, will escape all maladies except +black death." This marine weed contains within its cellular structure +much iodine, which makes it a specific remedy for scrofulous +glandular enlargements, or morbid deposits. + +[502] In Ireland the Dulse is first well washed in fresh water, and +exposed in the air to dry, when it gives out a white powdery +substance, which is sweet and palatable, covering the whole plant. +The weed is presently packed in cases, and protected from the air, so +that being thus preserved, it may either be eaten as it is, or boiled +in milk, and mixed with flour of rye. The powdery substance is +"mannite," which is abundant likewise on many of our Sea Weeds. + +Cattle and sheep are very fond of Dulse, for which reason in +Norway it is known as Soudsell, or Sheep's Weed. This _Iridea +edulis_ is pinched with hot irons by the fishermen in the south west +of England, So as to make it taste like an oyster. In Scotland it is +roasted in the frying-pan. + +The Maritime Sea Tang (_Laminaria digitata_) was belauded in the +_Proverbial Philosophy_ of Martin Tupper:-- + + "Health is in the freshness of its savour; and it cumbereth the + beach with wealth; + Comforting the tossings of pain with its violet tinctured Essence." + +Tang signifies Anglo-Saxon "thatch," from Sea Weed having been +formerly used instead of straw to cover the roofs of houses. When +bruised and applied by way of a poultice to scrofulous swellings and +glandular tumours, the Sea Tang has been found very valuable. The +famous John Hunter was accustomed to employ a poultice of sea-water +and oatmeal. + +This weed is of common marine growth, consisting of a wide +smooth-brown frond, with a thick round stem, and broad brown +ribbons like a flag at the end of it. It is familiarly known as +Seagirdles, Tangle, Sea Staff, Sea Wand, and Cows' Tails. Fisher +boys cut up the stems as handles for knives, or hooks, because, after +the haft of [503] the blade is inserted within the stem, this dries, +and contracts on the iron staple, becoming densely hard and firm. + +The absorbent stem power of the _Laminaria_ for taking up iodine +is very large; and this element is afterwards brought out by fire in +the kelp kilns of Ireland and Scotland. Sea Tang acts most +beneficially against the various forms of scrofulous disease; and +signally relieves some rheumatic affections. It is also used largely +in the making of glass. + +Likewise for scrofula, seawater, being rich in chlorides and iodides, +has proved both curative and preventive. Dr. Sena, of Valencia, +gave bread made with sea-water in the Misericordia Hospital for +cases of scrofulous disease, and other states of defective nutrition, +with singular success. + +Another Laminaria (_Saccharina_), with a single olive yellow +semi-transparent frond, yields an abundance of sweet "mannit" when +boiled and evaporated. + +The Bladderwrack (_Fucus vesiculosus_), Kelpware, or Our Lady's +Wrack, is found on most of our sea coasts in heavy brown masses of +coarse-looking Sea Weed, which cover, and shelter many small +algae. Kelp is an impure carbonate of soda containing sulphate, and +chloride of sodium, with a little charcoal. + +By its characteristic bladders, or vesicles studded about the blades +of the branched narrowish fronds, this Sea Weed may be easily +known. + +These bladders are full of a glutinous substance, which makes the +weed valuable both as a remedy for the glandular troubles of +scrofula, and, when bottled in rum, as an embrocation, such as is +specially useful for strengthening the limbs of rickety, or +bandy-legged children. Against glandular swellings also the weed is +[504] taken internally as a medicine, when burnt to a black powder. +An analysis of the Bladderwrack has shown it to contain an +empyreumatic oil, sulphur, earthy salts, some iron, and iodine +freely. Thus it is very rich in anti-scrofulous elements. + +The fluid extract of this Sea Weed has the long standing reputation +of safely diminishing an excess of personal fat. It is given for such +a purpose three times a day, shortly after meals, in doses of +from one to four teaspoonfuls. The remedy should be continued +perseveringly, whilst cutting down the supplies of fat, starchy foods, +sugar, and malt liquors. When thus taken (as likewise in the +concentrated form of a pill, if preferred) the Bladderwrack will +especially relieve rheumatic pains; and the sea pod liniment +dispensed by many druggists at our chief marine health resorts, +proves signally efficacious towards the same end. Furthermore, they +prepare a sea-pod essence for applying on a wet compress beneath +waterproof tissue to strumous tumours, goitre, and bronchocele; also +for old strains and bruises. + +This Sea Weed should not be obtained when too fully matured, as it +quickly undergoes decomposition. + +Wrack is Sea Weed thrown ashore, from _Vrage_, to reject. Wrack +Grass (_Zostera Marina_), is a marine plant with long grass-like +leaves. + +There are four common Fuci on our coasts--the _Nodosus_ (Knobbed +Wrack), the _Vesiculosus_ (Bladder Wrack), the _Serratus_ +(Saw-edged Sea Weed), and the _Caniculatus_ (Channeled Sea Weed). + +It is by reason of its contained bromine and iodine as safe medicinal +elements, the _Fucus vesiculosus_ acts in reducing fatness; these +elements stimulating all the absorbent glands of the body to +increased activity. [505] In common with the other Fuci it furnishes +mannite, an odorous oil, a bitter principle, mucilage, and ash, this +last constituent abounding in the bromine and iodine. + +For internal use, a decoction may be made with from two to four +drachms of the weed to a pint of water, boiled together for a few +minutes; and for external application to enlarged or hardened +glands, the bruised weed may be applied as a cold poultice. + +This Bladder Wrack is reputed to be the _Anti-polyscarcique_ +nostrum of Count Mattaei. + +Although diminishing fat it does no harm by inducing any atrophied +wasting of the breast glands, or of the testicles. + +The Bladderwrack yields a rich produce to the seaside agriculturist +highly useful as manure for the potato field and for other crops: and +it is gathered for this purpose all along the British coast. In Jersey +and Guernsey it is called _vraic_. Among the Hebrides, cheeses, +whilst drying, are covered with the ashes of this weed which +abounds in salt. Patients who have previously suffered much from +rheumatism about the body and limbs have found themselves +entirely free from any such pains or trouble whilst taking the extract +of _Fucus Vesiculosus_ (Bladderwrack). This Sea Weed is in +perfection only during early and middle summer. For fresh sprains +and bruises a hot decoction of the Bladderwrack should be used at +first as a fomentation; and, afterwards, a cold essence of the weed +should be rubbed in, or applied on wet lint beneath light thin +waterproof tissue, or oiled silk, as a compress: this to be changed as +often as hot or dry. + +Laver is the popular name given to some edible Sea Weeds--the +_Porphyra lanciniata_, and the _Ulva latissima_. The same title was +formerly bestowed by Pliny on an [506] aquatic plant now +unknown, and called also Sloke, or Sloken. + +_Porphyra_, from a Greek word meaning "purple," is the true Laver, +or Sloke. It is slimy, or semi-gelatinous of consistence when served +at table, having been stewed for several hours until quite tender, and +then being eaten with butter, vinegar, and pepper. At the London +Reform Club Laver is provided every day in a silver saucepan at +dinner, garnished with lemons, to flank the roast leg of mutton. +Others prefer it cooked with leeks and onions, or pickled, and eaten +with oil and lemon juice. The Englishman calls this Sea Weed, +Laver; the Irishman, Sloke; the Scotchman, Slack; and the student, +_Porphyra_. It varies in size and colour between tidemarks, being +sometimes long and ribbon-like, of a violet or purple hue; +sometimes long and broad, whilst changing to a reddish purple, or +yellow. + +It is very wholesome, and preventive of scurvy, being therefore +valuable on sea voyages, as it will keep good for a long time in +closed tin vessels. + +The _Ulva latissima_ is a deep-green Sea Weed, called by the +fishermen Oyster Green, because employed to cover over oysters. +This is likewise known as Laver, because sometimes substituted by +epicures for the true Laver (_Porphyra_) when the latter cannot be +got; but it is not by any means as good. The name _Ulva_ is from +_ul_, meaning "water." + +Sea Spinach (_Satsolacea--Spirolobea_) is a Saltwort found growing +on the shore in Hampshire and other parts of England, the best of all +wild vegetables for the table, having succulent leaves shaped like +worms, and being esteemed as an excellent antiscorbutic. + +The Sea Beet--a Chenopod--which grows plentifully on our shores, +gave origin to the cultivated Beetroot of [507] our gardens. Its name +was derived from a fancied resemblance borne by its seed vessels +when swollen with seed to the Greek letter B (_beta_). + + "Nomine cum Graio cui litera proxima primoe + Pangitur in cera doeti mucrone magistri." + + "The Greeks gave its name to the Beet from their alphabet's + second letter, + As an Attic teacher wrote it on wax with a sharp stiletto." + +By the Grecians the Beet was offered on silver to Apollo in his +temple at Delphi. A pleasant wine may be made from its roots, and +its juice when applied with a brush is an excellent cosmetic. The +Mangel Wurzel, also a variety of Beet, means literally, "scarcity +root." + +Another Sea Weed, the Bladderlocks (_Alaria esculenta_), +"henware," "honeyware," "murlins," is edible, the thick rib which +runs through the frond being the part chosen. This abounds on the +Northern coasts of England and Scotland, being of a clear olive +yellow colour, with a stem as thick as a small goosequill, varying in +length, with its fronds, from three to twenty feet. The fruit appears +as if partially covered with a brown crust consisting of transparent +spore cases set on a stalk in a cruciform manner. + +Common Coraline (_Corallina Anglica_), a Sea Weed of a whitish +colour, tinged with purple and green, and of a firm substance, is +famous for curing Worms. + +The presence of gold in sea water, even as surrounding our own +islands, has been sufficiently proved; though, as yet, its extraction +is a costly and uncertain process. One analyst has estimated that the +amount of gold contained in the oceans of the globe must be ten +million tons, without counting the possible quantity locked up in +floating icebergs about the Poles. + +Professor Liveredge, of the Sydney University, [508] examined sea +water collected off the Australian coast, as also some from Northern +shores, and obtained gold, from five-tenths to eight-tenths of a grain +per ton of the sea water. It occurs as the chloride, and the bromide of +gold; which salts, as recently shown by Dr. Compton Burnett, when +administered in doses almost infinitesimally small, are of supreme +value for the cure of epilepsy, secondary syphilis, sexual debility, +and some disorders of the heart. + +Dr. Russell wrote on the uses of sea water in diseases of the glands. +He found the soapy mucus within the vesicles of the Bladderwrack +an excellent resolvent, and most useful in dispersing scrofulous +swellings. He advises rubbing the tumour with these vesicles +bruised in the hand, and afterwards washing the part with sea water. + + + +SELFHEAL. + +Several Herbal Simples go by the name of Selfheal among our wild +hedge plants, more especially the Sanicle, the common Prunella, +and the Bugle. + +The first of these is an umbelliferous herb, growing frequently in +woods, having dull white flowers, in panicled heads, which are +succeeded by roundish seeds covered with hooked prickles: the +Wood Sanicle (_Europoea_). + +It gets its name Sanicle, perhaps, from the Latin verb _sanare_, "to +heal, or make sound;" or, possibly, as a corruption of St. Nicholas, +called in German St. Nickel, who, in the _Tale of a Tub_, is said to +have interceded with God in favour of two children whom an +innkeeper had murdered and pickled in a pork tub; and he obtained +their restoration to life. + +Anyhow, the name Sanicle was supposed in the middle ages to +mean "curative," whatever its origin: [509] thus, _Qui a la Bugle, et +la Sanicle fait aux chirurgiens la nicle_--"He who uses Sanicle and +Bugle need have no dealings with the doctor." Lyte and other +herbalists say concerning the Sanicle: "It makes whole and sound all +wounds and hurts, both inward and outward." + + "Celui qui Sanicle a + De plaie affaire il n'a." + + "Who the Sanicle hath + At the surgeon may laugh." + +The name Prunella (which belongs more rightly to another herb) has +been given to the Sanicle, perhaps, through its having been +originally known as Brunella, Brownwort, both because of the +brown colour of its spikes, and from its being supposed to cure the +disease called in Germany _die braune_, a kind of quinsy; on the +doctrine of signatures, because the corolla resembles a throat with +swollen glands. + +The Sanicle is popularly employed in Germany and France as a +remedy for profuse bleeding from the lungs, bowels, womb, and +urinary organs; also for the staying of dysenteric diarrhoea. The +fresh juice of the herb may be given in tablespoonful doses. + +As yet no analysis has been made of this plant; but evidence of +tannin in its several parts is afforded by the effects produced when +these are remedially applied. + +The _Prunella vulgaris_ is a distinct plant from the Self Heal, or +Sanicle, and belongs to the labiate order of herbs. It grows +commonly in waste places about England, and bears pink flowers, +being sometimes called Slough heal. This is incorrect, as the +surgical term "slough" was not used until long after the Prunella and +the Sanicle became named Self-heal. Each of these was applied as a +vulnerary, not to sloughing sores, but to fresh cut wounds. + +[510] The _Prunella Vulgaris_ has a flattened calyx, and whorls of +purplish blue flowers, which are collected in a head. It is also +known as Carpenter's Herb, perhaps, from its corolla, when seen in +profile, being shaped like a bill hook; and therefore, on the doctrine +of signatures, it was supposed to heal wounds inflicted by edge +tools; whence it was likewise termed Hook-heal and Sicklewort, +arid in Yorkshire, Black man. + +By virtue of its properties as a vulnerary it has also been called +_Consolida_; but the daisy is the true _Consolida minor_. + +"The decoction of Prunell," says Gerard, "made with wine and +water, doth join together and make whole and sound all wounds, +both inward and outward, even as Bugle doth. To be short, it serveth +for the same that the Bugle serveth; and in the world there are not +two better wound herbs, as bath been often proved." + +The Bugle, or middle Comfrey, is also a Sanicle, because of its +excellence for healing wounds, in common with the Prunella and the +true Sanicle. It grows in almost every wood, and copse, and moist +shadowy place, being constantly reckoned among the Consounds. + +This herb (_Ajuga reptans_) is of the labiate order, bearing dark +blue or purple flowers, whorled, and crowded into a spike. Its +decoction, "when drunk, healeth and maketh sound all wounds of +the body." "It is so singular good for all sorts of hurts that none who +know its usefulness will be ever without it. If the virtues of it make +you fall in love with it (as they will if you be wise), keep a syrup of +it, to take inwardly, and an ointment and plaister of it to use +outwardly, always by you." + +The chemical principles of the Prunella and the Bugle [511] +resemble those of other Labiate herbs, comprising a volatile +oil, some bitter principle, tannin, sugar, and cellulose. The +Ladies' Mantle, Alchemilla--a common inconspicuous weed, found +everywhere--is called Great Sanicle, also Parsley-breakstone, or +Piercestone, because supposed to be of great use against stone in the +bladder. It contains tannin abundantly, and is said to promote quiet +sleep if placed under the pillow at night. "_Endymionis somnum +dormire_." + + + +SHEPHERD'S PURSE. + +The small Shepherd's Purse (_Bursa Capsella Pastoris_) is one of +the most common of wayside English weeds. The name _Capsella_ +signifies a little box, in allusion to the seed pods. It is a +Cruciferous plant, made familiar by the diminutive pouches, or +flattened pods at the end of its branching stems. This herb is of +natural growth in most parts of the world, but varies in luxuriance +according to soil and situation, whilst thickly strewn over the +whole surface of the earth, facing alike the heat of the tropics, +and the rigours of the arctic regions; even, if trodden underfoot, +it rises again and again with ever enduring vitality, as if +designed to fulfil some special purpose in the far-seeing economy +of nature. It lacks the winged valves of the _Thlaspi_. + +Our old herbalists called it St. James's Wort, as a gift from that +Saint to the people for the cure of various diseases, St. Anthony's +Fire, and several skin eruptions. In France, too, the plant goes by +the title of _Fleur de Saint Jacques_. It flowers from early in +Spring until Autumn, and has, particularly in Summer, an acrid +bitter taste. Other names for the herb are, "Case weed," "Pick +pocket," and "Mother's heart," as called so by [512] children. +If a pod is picked they raise the cry, "You've plucked out +your mother's heart." Small birds are fond of the seeds. + +Bombelon, a French chemist, has reported most favourably about +this herb as of prompt use to arrest bleedings and floodings, when +given in the form of a fluid extract, one or two teaspoonfuls for a +dose. He explains that our hedge-row Simple contains a tannate, an +alkaloid "bursine," (which resembles sulphocyansinapine), and +bursinic acid, this last constituent being the active medicinal +principle. English chemists now prepare and dispense the fluid +extract of the herb. This is given for dropsy in the U. S. America as +a diuretic; from half to one teaspoonful in water for a dose. + +Dr. Von Ehrenwall relates a recent case of female flooding, which +had defied all the ordinary remedies, and for which, at the +suggestion of a neighbour, he tried an infusion of the Shepherd's +Purse weed, with the result that the bleeding stopped after the first +teacupful of the infusion had been taken a few minutes. Since then +he has used the plant in various forms of haemorrhage with such +success that he considers it the most reliable of our medicines for +staying fluxes of blood. "Shepherd's Purse stayeth bleeding in any +part of the body, whether the juice thereof be drunk, or whether it be +used poultice-like, or in bath, or any way else." + +Besides the ordinary constituents of herbs, it is found to contain six +per cent. of soft resin, together with a sulphuretted volatile oil, +which is identical with that of Mustard, as obtained likewise from +the bitter Candytuft, _Iberis amara_. + +Its medicinal infusion should be made with an ounce of the plant to +twelve ounces of water, reduced by [513] boiling to half-a-pint; then +a wineglassful may be given for a dose. + +The herb and its seeds were employed in former times to promote +the regular monthly flow in women. + +It bears, further, the name of Poor Man's Permacetty (or +Spermaceti), "the sovereignst remedy for bruises;"--"perhaps," says +Dr. Prior, "as a joke on the Latin name _Bursa pastoris_, or 'Purse,' +because to the poor man this is always his best remedy." And in +some parts of England the Shepherd's Purse is known as Clapper +Pouch, in allusion to the licensed begging of lepers at our crossways +in olden times with a bell and a clapper. They would call the +attention of passers-by with the bell, or with the clapper, and would +receive their alms in a cup, or a basin, at the end of a long pole. The +clapper was an instrument made of two or three boards, by rattling +which the wretched lepers incited people to relieve them. Thus they +obtained the name of Rattle Pouches, which appellation has been +extended to this small plant, in allusion to the little purses which it +hangs out by the wayside. Because of these miniature pockets the +herb is also named Toy Wort; and Pick Purse, through being +supposed to steal the goodness of the land from the farmer. In +Queen Elizabeth's time leper hospitals were common throughout +England; and many of the sufferers were banished to the Lizard, in +Cornwall. + +The Shepherd's Purse is now announced as the chief remedy of the +seven "marvellous medicines" prepared by Count Mattaei, of +Bologna, which are believed by his disciples to be curative of +diseases otherwise intractable, such as cancer, internal aneurism, +and destructive leprosy. + +Count Mattaei professed to extract certain vegetable [514] +electricities found stored up in this, and some other plants, and to +utilize them for curative purposes with almost miraculous success. +His other herbs, as revealed by a colleague, Count Manzetti, are the +Knotgrass, the Water Betony, the Cabbage, the Stonecrop, the +Houseleek, the Feverfew, and the Watercress. Lady Paget, when +interviewing Count Mattaei, gathered that Shepherd's Purse is the +herb which furnishes the so-called "blue electricity," of +extraordinary efficacy in controlling haemorrhages. Small birds are +fond of the seeds: and the young radical leaves are sold in +Philadelphia as greens in the Spring. + + + +SILVERWEED. + +Two _Potentillas_ occur among our common native plants, and +possess certain curative virtues (as popularly supposed), the +Silverweed and the Cinquefoil. They belong to the Rose tribe, and +grow abundantly on our roadsides, being useful as mild astringents. + + +The _Potentilla anserina_ (Silverweed) is found, as its adjective +suggests, where geese are put to feed. + +Country folk often call it Cramp Weed: but it is more generally +known as Goose Tansy, or Goose Gray, because it is a spurious +Tansy, fit only for a goose; or, perhaps, because eaten by geese. +Other names for the herb are Silvery Cinquefoil, and Moorgrass. It +occurs especially on clay soils, being recognised by its pinnate +white silvery leaves, and its conspicuous golden flowers. + +In Yorkshire the roots are known as "moors," which boys dig up and +eat in the winter; whilst swine will also devour them greedily. They +have then a sweet taste like parsnips. In Scotland, also, they are +eaten roasted, or boiled; and sometimes, in hard seasons, [515] +when other provisions were scanty, these roots have been known to +support the inhabitants of certain islands for months together. + +Both the roots and the leaves are mildly astringent; so that their +infusion helps to stay diarrhoea, and the fluxes of women; making +also with honey a useful gargle. The leaf is of an exquisitely +beautiful shape, and may be seen carved on the head of many an old +stall in Church, or Cathedral. By reason of its five leaflets, this +gives to the plant the title "five leaf," or five fingered grass, +_Pentedaktulon_. _Potentilla_ comes from the Latin _potens_, as +alluding to the medicinal virtues of the species. + +In former days the Cinquefoil was much affected as a heraldic +device through the number of the leaflets answering to the five +senses of man; whilst the right to bear Cinquefoil was considered an +honourable distinction to him who had worthily mastered his senses, +and conquered his passions. + +Silverweed tea is excellent to relieve cramps of the belly; and +compresses, wrung out of a hot decoction of the herb, may at the +same time be helpfully applied over the seat of the cramps. A potent +Anglo-Saxon charm against crampy bellyache was to wear a gold +ring with a Dolphin engraved on it, and bearing in Greek the mystic +words:--"Theos keleuei mee keneoon ponois," "_God forbids the +pains of colic_." This acted doubtless by mental suggestion, as in +the cure of warts. The knee-cap bone, or patella, of a sheep, known +locally as the "cramp-bone," is worn in Northamptonshire for a like +purpose; also the application of a gold wedding ring (first wetted +with saliva, an ingredient in the holy salve of the Saxons), to a stye +threatened in an eyelid is often found to disperse the swelling; but in +this case [516] it may be, that a sulphocyanide of gold is formed +with the spittle, which promotes the cure by absorption. + +A strong infusion, if used as a lotion, will check the bleeding of +piles, the ordinary infusion being meantime taken as a medicine. + +The good people of Leicestershire were accustomed in bygone days +to prevent pitting by small-pox with the use of Silverweed +fomentations. A distilled water of the herb takes away freckles, +spots, pimples in the face, and sunburnings; whilst all parts of the +plant are found to contain tannin. + +The Creeping Cinquefoil (_Potentilla replans_) grows also +abundantly on meadow banks, having astringent roots, which have +been used medicinally since the times of Hippocrates and +Dioscorides. + +They were found to cure intermittent fevers, such as used to prevail +in marshy or ill-drained lands much more commonly than now in +Great Britain; though country folk still use the infusion or decoction +for the same purpose in some districts; also for jaundice. + +Likewise, because of the tannin contained in the outer bark of the +roots, their decoction is useful against diarrhoea; and their infusion +as a gargle for relaxed sore throats. But, except in mild cases, other +more positively astringent herbs are to be preferred. The roots afford +a useful red dye. + + + +SKULLCAP. + +A useful medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the Skullcap +(_Scutellaria_), which is a Labiate plant of frequent growth on the +banks of our rivers and ponds, having bright blue flowers, with +a tube longer than the calyx. This is the greater variety +(_Galericulata_). There is a lesser variety (_Scutellaria minor_), +which is [517] infrequent, and grows in bogs about the West of +England, with flowers of a dull purple colour. Each kind gets its +name from the Latin _scutella_, "a little cap," which the calyx +resembles, and is therefore called Hood Wort, or Helmet flower. +The upper lip of the calyx bulges outward about its middle, and +finally closes down like a lid over the fruit. When the seed is ripe +it opens again. + +Provers of the tincture (H.) in toxic doses experienced giddiness, +stupor, and confusion of mind, twitchings of the limbs, intermission +of the pulse, and other symptoms indicative of the epileptiform +"petit mal"; for which morbid affection, and the disposition thereto, +the said tincture, of a diluted strength, in small doses, has been +successfully given. + +The greater Skullcap contains, in common with most other plants of +the same order, a volatile oil, tannin, fat, some bitter principle, +sugar, and cellulose. + +If a decoction of the plant is made with two ounces of the herb to +eight ounces of water, and is taken for some weeks continuously in +recent epilepsy, or when the disease has only functional causes, it +will often prove very beneficial. Likewise, this decoction, in +common with an extract of the herb, has been given curatively for +intermittent fever and ague, as well as for some depressed, and +disordered states of the nervous system. + +A dried extract of the lesser Skullcap (_Lateriflora_) is made by +chemists, and given in doses of from one to three grains as a pill to +relieve severe hiccough, and as a nervine stimulant; also for the +sleeplessness of an exhausted brain. + + + +SLOE. + +The parent tree which produces the Sloe is the Blackthorn, our +hardy, thorny hedgerow shrub (_Prunus_ [518] _spinosa_), Greek +_Prounee_, common everywhere, and starting into blossom of a +pinky white about the middle of March before a leaf appears, each +branchlet ending in a long thorn projecting beyond the flowers at +right angles to the stem. From the conspicuous blackness of its rind +at the time of flowering, the tree is named Blackthorn, and the spell +of harsh unkindly cold weather which prevails about then goes by +the name of "blackthorn winter." + +The term Sloe, or Sla, means not the fruit but the hard trunk, being +connected with a verb signifying to slay, or strike, probably because +the wood of this tree was used as a flail, and nowadays makes a +bludgeon. + +In the Autumn every branch becomes clustered with the oval +blue-black fruit presently covered with a fine purple bloom; and +until mellowed by the early frosts, this fruit is very harsh and +sour. + +The leaves, when they unfold late in the spring, are small and +narrow. If dried, they make a very fair substitute for tea, and when +high duties were placed on imported tea, it was usual to find the sloe +trees stripped of their marketable foliage. + +Furthermore, the dark ruby juice of Sloes enters largely into the +manufacture of British port wine, to which it communicates a +beautiful deep red colour, and a pleasant sub-acid roughness. Letters +marked upon linen fabric with this juice, when used fresh, will not +wash out. + +If obtained by expression from the unripe fruit, it is very useful as +an astringent medicine, and is a popular remedy for stopping a flow +of blood from the nose. It may be gently boiled to a thick +consistence, and will then keep throughout the year without losing +its virtues. Winter-picks is a provincial name for the Sloe fruit, +[519] and winter-pick wine takes the place of port in the rustic +cellar. The French call them Prunelles. + +Sloe-blossoms make a safe, harmless, laxative medicine. To use +these, "Boil them up, and drink a cup of the tea daily for three or +four days; it will act gently, painlessly, but thoroughly." The syrup +is especially useful for children. + +Country people bury the Sloes in jars to preserve them for winter +use; and the bush which bears this fruit is sometimes called, +provincially, Scroggs. + +Sloes may be gathered when ripe on a dry day, picked clean, and put +into jars or bottles, without any boiling or other process, and then +covered with loaf sugar; a tablespoonful of brandy should presently +be added, and the jar sealed. By Christmas, the syrup formed from +the juice, the sugar, and the spirit, will have covered and saturated +the fruit, and then a couple of tablespoonfuls will not only make an +agreeable dessert liqueur, but will act as an astringent cordial of a +very pleasant sort. + +In Somersetshire the Sloe is named Snag (as corrupted from "Slag," +i.e., Sloe). The juice is viscid, and when thickened to dryness, is the +German Gum Acacia. + +Those provers who have taken experimentally a tincture made from +the wood and bark and leaves of the Blackthorn, all had to complain +of sharp pains in the right eyeball and accordingly the diluted +tincture is found, when administered in small quantities, to give +signal relief for ciliary neuralgia, arising from a functional disorder +of the structures within the eyeball. Dr. Hughes says: "It not only +relieves such pains, but also checks the inflammation, and clears the +vision." The medicinal tincture is made (H.) with proof spirit of +wine from the flower buds collected in early spring [520] before +they expand. The Sloe has been employed as a styptic ever since the +time of Dioscorides. "From the effects," says Withering, "which I +have repeatedly observed to follow a wound from the thorns, I find +reason for believing that there is something poisonous in their +nature, particularly in the autumn." + +Next to the Sloe in order of development comes the Bullace +(_Prunus insititia_), a shrub with fewer thorns, and bearing its +flowers after the leaves have begun to unfold. + +The fruit is five times as big as the Sloe, but likewise of a delicate +bluish colour. It is named from the Latin plural bullas, meaning the +round bosses which the Romans put on their bridles. Lydgate (1440) +used the phrase, "As bright as Bullaces," in one of his poems. In +Lincolnshire the blossom is known as "Bully bloom," and the fruit +are "Bullies." After harvest the women and children go out +gathering them for Bullace-wine. Boys in France call Slot's +"_Sibarelles_," because it is impossible to whistle immediately after +eating them. Some writers say the signification of "Sloe" is "that +which sets the teeth on edge." + +Finally comes the true Wild Plum (_Prunus domestica_), which is +far less common than the two preceding sorts. Its flowers are large, +and in small clusters, whilst the leaves unfold with the blossom. The +fruit is a small brownish plum, intensely sharp and acrid to the taste, +and the tree is thorny. Only in this latter respect does it differ from +an inferior kind of garden plum of which the cultivation has been +neglected. + +The cultivated Plum has been developed from the Wild Plum, and +has been made to exhibit some fifty varieties of form and character. +The fruit of Damascus was formerly much valued, being now +known as Damascenes, (damsons), Damasin, or Damask prune. + +[521] All the Wild Plums develop thorns; but the cultivated kinds +have entirely cast them off. The Plum, as a fruit, was known to the +Romans in Cato's time, but not the tree. + +"Little Jack Horner," says the familiar nursery rhyme, "sat in a +corner, eating a Christmas pie; he put in his thumb, and he pulled +out a plum, and said 'What a good boy am I.'" + + "Inquit, et unum extraheus prunum, + Horner, quam fueris nobile pueris + Exemplar imitabile"! + +When ripe, cultivated Plums are cooling and slightly laxative, +especially the French fruit, which is dried and bottled for dessert. +They are useful for costive habits, and may be made into an +electuary; but, when unripe, Plums provoke choleraic diarrhoea. The +garden fruit contains less sugar than cherries, but a large amount of +gelatinising pectose. Dr. Johnson was specially fond of veal pie with +plums and sugar. He taunted Boswell about the need of gardeners to +produce in Scotland what grows wild in England. "Pray, Sir," said +he, "are you ever able to bring the Sloe to perfection there?" On +Change a hundred thousand pounds are whimsically known as "a +plum," and a million of money is "a marigold." Lately a Chicago +physician whilst officiating at a Reformatory found that the boys +behaved themselves much better when taking prunes in their diet +than at any other time. These act, he supposes, on certain organs +which are the seats, and centres of the passions. + +From France comes the Greengage, named in that country (out of +compliment to the Queen of Francis the First) _La Reine Claude_. It +was brought to England from [522] the Monastery of La Grande +Chartreuse, about the middle of the eighteenth century, by the Rev. +John Gage, brother to the owner of Hengrave Hall, near Coldham, +Suffolk; and taking his name this fruit soon became diffused +throughout England. + +French Prunes are conveyed to England in their dried state from +Marseilles. With their pulp, figs, tamarinds, and senna, the officinal +"lenitive electuary" is made; and apothecaries prepare a medicinal +tincture from the fresh flower-buds of the Blackthorn. + +Culpeper says: "All Plumbs are under Venus, and are like women-- +some better, some worse." + +In Sussex and some other counties, a superstitious fear attaches +itself to the Blackthorn in bloom, because of the apparent union of +life and death when the tree is clothed in early Spring with white +flowers, but is destitute of leaves; so that to carry, or wear a piece +of Blackthorn in blossom, is thought to signify bringing a death token. + + + +SOAPWORT. + +The Soapwort (_Saponaria officinalis_) grows commonly in +England near villages, on roadsides, and by the margins of woods, +in moist situations. It belongs to the _Caryophyllaceoe_, or Clove +and Pink tribe of plants; and a double flowered variety of it is met +with in gardens. This is Miss Mitford's "Spicer" in _Our Village_. It +is sometimes named "Bouncing Bet," and "Fuller's herb." + +The root has a sweetish bitter taste, but no odour. It contains resin +and mucilage, in addition to saponin, which is its leading principle, +and by virtue of which decoctions of the root produce a soapy froth. +Saponin is likewise found in the nuts of the Horse-chestnut tree, and +in the Scarlet Pimpernel. + +[523] A similar soapy quality is also observed in the leaves, so +much so that they have been used by mendicant monks as a +substitute for soap in washing their clothes. This "saponin" has +considerable medicinal efficacy, being especially useful for the +cure of inveterate syphilis without giving mercury. Several writers +of note aver that such cases have been cured by a decoction of +the plant; though perhaps the conclusion has been arrived at +through the resemblance between the roots of Soapwort and those of +Sarsaparilla. + +Gerard says: "Ludovicus Septalius, when treating of decoctions in +use against the French poxes, mentions the singular effect of the +Soapwort against that filthy disease"; but, he adds, "it is somewhat +of an ungrateful taste, and therefore must be reserved for the poorer +sort of patients." He employed it _soepe et soepius_. + +The _Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica_ of 1794, teaches: "A decoction of +this plant has been found useful for scrofulous, impetiginous, and +syphilitic affections. Boil down half a pound of the bruised fresh +herb in a gallon of distilled water to two quarts, and give from one +to three pints in the twenty-four hours." + +Formerly the herb was called Bruisewort, and was thought of +service for contusions. It will remove stains, or grease almost as +well as soap, but contains no starch. + +Saponin, when smelt, excites long-continued sneezing; if injected or +administered, it reduces the frequency and force of the heart's +pulsations, paralyzing the cardiac nerves, and acting speedily on the +vaso-motor centres, so as to arrest the movements of the heart, on +which principle, when given in a diluted form, and in doses short of +all toxic effects, it has proved of signal use in low typhoid +inflammation of the lungs, where restorative stimulation of the heart +is to be aimed at. + +[524] Also, likewise for passive suppression of the female monthly +flow, it will act beneficially as a stimulant of the womb to incite its +periodical function. + +In a patient who took a poisonous quantity of Saponin at Saint +Petersburg all the muscular contractile sensitiveness was completely +abolished; whilst, nevertheless, all the bodily functions were +normally performed. Per contra, this effect should be a curative +guide in the use of Soapwort as a Simple. + +Saponin is found again in the root and unripe seeds of the Corn +Cockle, and in all parts of the Nottingham Catch-fly except the +seeds; also in the wild Lychnis, and some others of the Pink tribe. + + + +SOLOMON'S SEAL. + +The Solomon's Seal (_Convallaria polygonatum_) is a handsome +woodland plant by no means uncommon throughout England, particularly +in Berkshire, Bucks, Rants, Kent, and Suffolk. + +It grows to the height of about two feet, bearing along its curved +drooping branches handsome bells of pure white, which hang down +all along the lower side of the gracefully weeping flower stalks. + +The oval leaves are ribbed, and grow alternately from the stem, for +which reason the plant is called Ladder-to-heaven; or, "more +probably," says Dr. Prior, "from a confusion of _Seal de notre +Dame_ (our Lady's Seal), with _Echelle de notre Dame_ (our Lady's +Ladder)." The round depressions resembling seal marks, which are +found on the root, or the characters which appear when it is cut +transversely, gave rise to the notion that Solomon, "who knew the +diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots," had set his seal upon +this in testimony of its value to man as a medicinal root. The +rhizome and [525] herb contain convallarin, asparagin, gum, sugar, +starch, and pectin. + +In Galen's time the distilled water was used by ladies as a cosmetic +for removing pimples and freckles from the skin, "leaving the place +fresh, fair, and lovely." During the reign of Elizabeth it had great +medical celebrity, so that, as we learn from a contemporary writer, +"The roots of Solomon's Seal, stamped whilst fresh and green, and +applied, taketh away, in one night, or two at the most, any bruise, +black or blue spots gotten by falls, or woman's wilfulness in +stumbling upon their hasty husband's fists, or such like," and "that +which might be trewly written of this herb as touching the knitting +of bones, would seem to some well nigh incredible; yea, although +they be but slenderly, and unhandsomely wrapped-up; but common +experience teacheth that in the worlde there is not to be found +another herbe comparable for the purpose aforesaid. It was given to +the patients in ale to drink--as well unto themselves as to their +cattle--and applied outwardly in the manner of a pultis." + +The name Lady's Seal was conferred on this plant by old writers, as +also St. Mary's Seal, _Sigillum sanctoe Marioe_. + +The Arabs understand by Solomon's Seal the figure of a six-pointed +star, formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting each other, as +frequently mentioned in Oriental tales. Gerard maintains that the +name, _Sigillum Solomunis_, was given to the root "partly because +it bears marks something like the stamp of a seal, but still more +because of the virtue the root hath in sealing or healing up green +wounds, broken bones, and such like, being stamp't and laid +thereon." + +The bottle of brass told of in the _Arabian Nights_ as fished up was +closed with a stopper of lead bearing the [526] "Seal of our Lord +Suleyman." This was a wonderful talisman which was said to have +come down from heaven with the great name of God engraved upon +it, being composed of brass for the good genii, and iron for the evil +jinn. + +The names _Convallaria polygonatum_ signify "growth in a valley," +and "many jointed." Other titles of the plant are Many Knees, +Jacob's Ladder, Lily of the Mountain, White wort, and Seal wort. + +The Turks eat the young shoots of this plant just as we eat +Asparagus. + + + +SORREL. +(_See_ "Dock," _page_ 157.) + + + +SOUTHERNWOOD. + +Southernwood, or Southern Wormwood, though it does not flower +in this country, is well known as grown in every cottage garden for +its aromatic fragrance. It is the _Artemisia Abrotanum_, a +Composite plant of the Wormwood tribe, commonly known as "Old +Man." Pliny explains that this title is borne because of the plant +being a sexual restorative to those in advanced years, as explained +by Macer:-- + +"Hoec etiam venerem pulvino subdita tantum Incitat." + +Pliny says further that this herb is potent against syphilis, and +_veneficia quibus coitus inhibeatur_. Its odour is lemon-like, and +depends on a volatile essential oil which consists chiefly of +absinthol, and is common to the other Wormwoods. "Abrotanum" is +a Greek term. Another appellation of this plant is "Lad's love," and +"Boy's love," from the making of an ointment with its [527] ashes, +to be used by youngsters for promoting the growth of the beard. +"Cinis Abrotani barbam segnius tardiusque enascentem cum aliquo +dictorum oleorum elicit." The plant is found in Spain and Italy as an +indigenous herb. Its leaves and tops have a strong aromatic odour, +and a penetrating warms bitterish taste which is rather nauseous. An +infusion, or tea, of the herb is agreeable: but a decoction is +distasteful, having lost much of the aroma. The plant was formerly +in great repute as a cordial against hysterics, and to strengthen the +stomach of a weakly person. It will expel both round worms and +thread worms, whilst its presence is hostile to moths; and hence has +been got one of its French names, "Garde robe." Externally it will +promote the growth of the hair. In Lincolnshire it is known as +"Motherwood." + + + +SOWBREAD, or CYCLAMEN. +(_See page_ 450, "Primrose.") + + + +SPEEDWELL. + +This little plant, with its exquisite flowers of celestial blue, grows +most familiarly in our hedgerows throughout the Spring, and early +Summer. Its brilliant, gemlike blossoms show a border of pale +purple, or delicate violet, marked with deeper veins or streaks. But +the lovely circlet of petals is most fragile, and falls off at a touch; +whence are derived the names Speedwell, Farewell, Good-bye, and +Forget-me-not. + +Speedwell is a Veronica (_fero_, "I bring," _nikee_, "victory"), +which tribe was believed to belong especially to birds. So the plant +bears the name "Birds' Eyes," as well as "Blue Eyes," "Strike Fires," +and "Mammy Die" (because of the belief that if the herb were +brought [528] into a family the mother would die within the year). +Turner calls the plant "Fluellin," or "Lluellin," a name "the +shentleman of Wales have given it because it saved her nose, which +a disease had almost gotten from her." Further, it is the Paul's +Betony, called after Paulus OEgineta. The plant belongs to the +Scroflua-curing order. + +It is related that a shepherd observed how a stag, whose +hind-quarters were covered with a scabby eruption brought about through +the bite of a wolf, cured itself by rolling on plants of the Speedwell, +and by eating its leaves. Thereupon he commended the plant to his +king, and thus promoted his majesty's restoration to health. + +In Germany it bears the title _Grundheele_, from having cured a +king of France who suffered from a leprosy for eight years, which +disease is named _grund_ in German. At one time the herb was held +in high esteem as a specific for gout in this country, but it became +adulterated, and its fame suffered a downfall. + +The only sensible quality of the Speedwell is the powerful +astringency of its leaves, and this property serves to protect it +from herbivorous foes. + +It has been long held famous among countryfolk as an excellent +plant for coughs, asthma, and pulmonary consumption. The leaves +are bitter, with a rough taste; and a decoction of the whole plant +stimulates the kidneys. The infusion promotes perspiration, and +reduces feverishness. The juice may be boiled into a syrup with +honey, for asthma and catarrhs. + +When applied outwardly, it is said to cure the itch; and by some it +has been asserted that a continued use of the infusion will overcome +sterility, if taken daily as a tea. The French still distinguish the +plant as the [529] _The d'Europe_; and a century ago it was used +commonly in Germany in substitution for tea. As a medicine, by +reason of its astringency, it became called _Polychresta herba +veronica_. + +"My freckles with the Speedwell's juices washed," says Alfred +Austin, our Poet Laureate. + +The Germans also name this plant _Ehren-preis_, or Prize of +Honour; which fact favours the supposition of its being the true +"Forget-me-not," or _souveigne vous de moy_, as legendary on +knightly collars of yore to commemorate a famous joust fought in +1465 between the most accomplished champions of England and +France. + +The present Forget-me-not is a _Myosotis_, or Mouse Ear, or +Scorpion Grass. + +In Somersetshire, the pretty little Germander Speedwell is known as +Cat's Eye: and because seeming to reflect by its azure colour the +beautiful blue firmament above, this pure-tinted blossom has got its +name of _veron eikon_, the "true image" (_Veronica_); just as the +napkin with which a compassionate maiden wiped the face of Christ +on the morning of His crucifixion, held imprinted for ever on its +fabric a miraculous portrait, which led to her being afterwards +canonised on this account as Saint Veronica. + +The Emperor Charles the Fifth of Spain is said to have derived +much relief to his gout from the use of this herb. It contains +tannin, and a particular bitter principle. + + + +SPINACH. + +Spinach (_Lapathum hortense_) is a Persian plant which has been +cultivated in our gardens for about two hundred years; and +considerably longer on the Continent. Some say the Spinach was +originally brought [530] from Spain. It was produced by monks in +France at the middle of the 14th century. + +This is a light vegetable, easily digested, and rather laxative, +besides having some wonderful properties ascribed to its use. Its +sub-order, the Saltworts (_Salsolaceoe_), are found growing in +marshes by the seashore, and as weeds by waste places, serving +some of them to expel worms. + +"Spinach," says John Evelyn, "if crude, the oft'ner kept out of +Sallets the better; but being boiled to a pulp; and without other +water than its own moisture, is a most excellent condiment with +butter, vinegar, or lemon, for almost all sorts of boiled flesh, and +may accompany a sick man's diet. 'Tis laxative and emollient, and +therefore profitable for the aged." Spinach is richer in iron than the +yolk of the egg, which contains more than beef. Its juice produced +in cooking the leaves without adding any water is a wholesome +drink, and improves the complexion. + +It was with a delicate offering of "gammon and spinach" in his +hands, Mr. Anthony Roley, of nursery fame, went so sadly a +wooing:-- + + "Ranula furtivos statuebat quaoerere amores: + Me miserum! tristi Rolius ore gemit. + Ranula furtivos statuebat quoerere amores, + Mater sive daret, sive negaret iter." + +A wild species of Spinach, the "Good King Henry," grows in +England, and is popular as a pot herb in Lincolnshire. + + + +SPINDLE TREE (Celastracoe). + +During the autumn, in our woody hedgerows a shrub becomes very +conspicuous by bearing numerous rose-coloured floral capsules, +strikingly brilliant, each with a [531] scarlet and orange-coloured +centre. This is the Spindle Tree (_Euonymus_), so called because it +furnishes wood for spindles, or skewers, whence it is also named +Prickwood, Skewerwood, and Gadrise, or Gad Rouge. The word +"gad" is used in our western counties for a stick pointed at both ends +to fasten down thatch. The Spindle Tree has a green bark, and +glossy leaves, producing only small greenish flowers: whilst the +pendulous ornaments so brilliantly borne in autumn are four-lobed +capsules of a pale red hue, which open out and disclose ruddy +orange-coloured seeds wrapped in a scarlet arillus. It is further +known as the Louseberry Tree, from the fruit being applied to +destroy lice in children's heads, whilst its powdered bark will kill +nits, and serve to remove scurf. Other popular titles owned by this +shrub are "gatter," "gatten," and "gatteridge." The ripe fruit, from +which a medicinal tincture is prepared, furnishes euonymin, a +golden resin, which is purgative and emetic. This acts specially on +the liver, and promotes a free flow of bile. The plant also yields +asparagin, and euonic acid. An ointment is made with the fruits: and +the powdered resin is given in doses of from half-a-grain to two +grains. + +In the United States of America, this tree is the Wahoo, or Burning +Bush. The green leaves of one species are eaten by the Arabs to +induce watchfulness. In allusion to the actively irritating properties +of the shrub, its name, _Euonymus_, is associated with that of +Euonyme, the Mother of the Furies. The bark is mildly aperient and +causes no nausea, whilst at the same time stimulating the liver +somewhat freely. To make its decoction add an ounce to a pint of +water, and boil together slowly. A small wineglassful may be given, +when cool, for a dose two or three times in the day. Of the +medicinal tincture made from the bark with spirit [532] of wine, a +dose of from five to ten drops may be taken with water in the same +way. French doctors call the shrub Fusain, or _bonnet de pretre_ +(birretta). They give the fruit, three or four for a dose, as a +purgative in rural districts: and employ the decoction, whilst +adding some vinegar, as a lotion against mange in horses and cattle. +Also, they make from the wood when slightly charred a delicate +crayon for artists. + + + +SPURGE. + +Conspicuous in Summer by their golden green leaves, and their +striking epergnes of bright emerald blossoms, the Wood Spurge, and +the Petty Spurge, adorn our woodlands and gardens commonly and +very remarkably. Together with many other allied plants, foreign +and indigenous, they yield from their severed stems a milky juice of +medicinal properties. The name _Euphorbioe _has been given to +this order from Euphorbus, the favourite physician of Juba, King of +Mauritania. All the Spurges possess the same poisonous principle, +which may, however, be readily dissipated by heat; and then, in +many instances, the root becomes a nourishing and palatable food. +For example, the Manioc, a South American Spurge, furnishes a +juice which has been known to kill in a few minutes. Nevertheless, +its root baked, after first draining away the juice, makes a +wholesome bread: and by washing the fresh pulp a starch is +produced which we know as Tapioca for our table. This is so +sustaining that half-a-pound a day is said to be sufficient of itself +to support a healthy man. The Indian rubber and Castor oil plants +belong also to this order of Euphorbioe. + +The Wood Spurge, seen so frequently during our country rambles, +suggests by its spreading aspect a [533] clever juggler balancing on +his upturned chin a widely-branched series of delicate green saucers +on fragile stems, which ramify below from a single rod. Each saucer +is the bearer again of sub-divided pedicels which stretch out to +support other brightly verdant little leafy dishes; so that the whole +system of well poised flowering perianths forms a specially +handsome candelabrum of emerald (cup-like) bloom. The botanical +title Spurge is derived from _expurgare_, to act as a purgative, +because of the acrid juice possessing this property. Gerard says "the +juice of the Wood Spurge, if given as physic, must be ministered +with discretion, and prepared with correctories by some honest +apothecary." Furthermore, this juice, "if mixed with honey causeth +hair to fall from that part which is anointed therewith, if it be done +in the sun." Therefore, what better place may there be than a +wooded English meadow on a sunny day for a clean and convenient +natural shave by those of the fair sex who, unhappily, own hirsute +facial appendages of which they would gladly be rid? _Euphorbia +Peplus_, the Petty Spurge, is equally common, and often called +"wart weed." It signifies, "Welcome to our house," and turns its +flowers towards the sun. The Irish Spurge (_Hiberna_), is so powerful +that a small bundle of its bruised plant will kill the fish for +several miles down a river. Yet another Spurge (_Lathyris_), a twin +brother, bears caper-like seeds which are sometimes dishonestly +pickled and sold as a (dangerous) substitute for the toothsome +flowerbuds taken in sauce with our boiled mutton. The whole tribe +of Spurges contains two hundred genera, and forms, what we call +now-a-days, "a large order." The roots of several common kinds are +used in making quack medicines, which are unsafe, [534] and +violent in action. Because of its milk-white sap the Wood Spurge +bears the name in Somersetshire of Virgin Mary's Nipple: and yet in +other parts, for the like reason, this plant is known as Devil's Milk. +Chemically, most of the Spurges contain caoutchouc, resin, gallic +acid, and their particular acrid principle which has not been fully +defined. In France the rustics sometimes purge themselves with a +dose of from six to twelve grains of the dried Wood Spurge: and its +juice is used in this country as an application to destroy warts; +also, to be rubbed in behind the ear for ear-ache, or face-ache. The +famous surgeon, Cheselden, employed a noted plaster made with the +resin of Spurge for relieving disease of the hip joint by +counterstimulation. But, to sum up, I would say with wise Gerard, +"these herbes by mine advice should not be received into the body, +considering there be so many other good and wholesome potions to +be made with other herbes that may be taken without peril." +Nevertheless, a tincture prepared (H.) from the Wood Spurge, with +spirit of wine, may be given admirably in much diluted doses for +curing the same severe symptoms which the plant produces when +taken to a toxical degree. Offensive diarrhoea, with prolapse of the +lowest bowel, will be certainly remedied by four or five drops of +this tincture, first decimal strength, with water, every two or three +hours: especially if, at the same time, there be a burning and +stinging soreness of the throat. Said young Rosamond Berew +(1460), in _Malvern Chase_, concerning "a tall gaunt figure," noted +for her knowledge of herbs, sometimes called the Witch, but +worshipped by the hinds and their children:--"There is Mary, of +Eldersfield; I expect she has been on Berthill after Nettles to make a +capon sit, or to gather Spurges for ointments." [535] + + + +STITCHWORT. + +The Stitchworts, greater and less (_Stellaria holostea_), grow very +abundantly as herbal weeds in all our dry hedges and woods, having +tough stems which run closely together, and small white star-like +(_stellaria_) blossoms. + +These plants are of the same order (Chickweed) as the Alsine and +the small Chickweed. Their second name, Holostea, signifies "all +bones," because the whole plant is very brittle from the flinty +elements which its structures contain. + +As its title declares, the great Stitchwort has a widespread reputation +for curing the stitch, or sharp muscular pain, which often attacks one +or other side of the body about the lower ribs. + +In the days of the old Saxon leechdoms it was customary against a +stitch to make the sign of the cross, and to sing three times over the +part:-- + + "Longinus miles lancea pinxit dominum: + Restet sanguis, et recedat dolor!" + + "The spear of Longinus, the soldier, pierced our Saviour's side: + May the blood, therefore, quicken: and the pain no longer abide!" + +Or some similar form of charm. + +Gerard said of folk, in his day: "They are wont to drink it in wine +(with the powder of acorns) against the pain in the side, stitches, and +such like." But according to Dr. Prior, the herb is named rather +because curing the sting (in German _stich_) of venomous reptiles. +In country places the Stitchwort is known as Adder's meat, and the +Satin Flower: also Miller's Star, Shirtbutton, and Milk Maid, in +Yorkshire: the early English name was Bird's Tongue. + +[536] About, Plymouth, it is dedicated to the Pixies; whilst the +lesser variety is called White Sunday, because of its delicate white +blossoms, with golden-dusted stamens. These were associated with +the new converts baptised in white garments on Low Sunday--the +first Sunday after Easter--named, therefore, White Sunday. + +But in some parts of Wales the Stitchwort bears the names of +Devil's-eyes and Devil's-corn. Boys in Devonshire nickname the +herb Snapjack, Snapcrackers, and Snappers. + +Parkinson tells us that in former days it was much commended by +some to clear the eyes of dimness by dropping the fresh juice into +them. Again, Galen said: "The seed is sharp and biting to him that +tastes it." + +As a modern curative Simple, the Stitchworts, greater and less, +stand related to silica, a powerfully remedial preparation of highly +pulverised flint. This is because of the exquisitely subdivided flint +found abundantly dispersed throughout the structures of Stitchwort +plants; which curative principle is eminently useful in chronic +diseases, such as cancer, rickets, and scrofula. It exercises a deep +and slow action, such as is remedially brought to bear by the +Bethesda waters of America, and the powdered oyster shells of Sir +Spencer Wells. + +The fresh infusion should be steadily taken, a tea-cupful three times +daily, for weeks or months together. It may be made with a pint of +boiling water to an ounce of the fresh herb. Likewise, the fresh plant +should be boiled and eaten as "greens," so as to secure medicinally +the insoluble parts of the silica. This further serves against albumen, +and sugar in the urine. + + + +[537] STONE CROP (_See House Leek, page 273_). + + + +STRAWBERRY. + +Properly, our familiar Strawberry plant is a native of cold climates, +and so hardy that it bears fruit freely in Lapland. When mixed with +reindeer cream, and dried in the form of a sausage, this constitutes +Kappatialmas, the plum pudding of the Polar regions. + +"Strawberry" is from the Anglo-Saxon _Strowberige_, of which the +first syllable refers to anything strewn. The wild woodland +Strawberry (_Fragaria vesca_) is the progenitor of our highly +cultivated and delicious fruit. This little hedgerow and sylvan plant +has a root which is very astringent, so that when held in the mouth it +will stay any flow of blood from the nostrils. Its berries are more +acid than the garden Strawberry, and make an excellent cleanser of +the teeth, the acid juice dissolving incrustations of tartar without +injuring the enamel. + +A medicinal tincture is ordered (H.) from the berries of this +Woodland Strawberry, which is of excellent service for nettle rash, +or allied erysipelas: also for a suffocative swelling of the +swallowing throat. "_Ipsa tuis manibus sylvestri nata sub umbraa: +mollia fraga leges_," says Ovid. An infusion of the leaves is of +excellent service in Dysentery. + +It is incorrect to call the fruit a berry, because the edible, +succulent pulp is really a juicy cushion over which numerous small +seeds are plentifully dotted; whilst the name Strawberry is a +corruption of Strayberry, in allusion to the trailing runners, +which stray in all directions from the parent stock. + +Being of very ancient date, the Strawberry is found widely diffused +throughout most parts of the world. [538] Among the Greeks its +name _Komaros_, "a mouthful," indicated the compact size of the +fruit. By the Latins it was termed _Fragaria_, because of its delicate +perfume. + +Virgil ranked it with sweet-smelling flowers; Ovid gave it a tender +epithet; Pliny mentions the Strawberry as one of the native fruits of +Italy; Linnaeus declared he kept himself free from gout by eating +plentifully of the fruit; and Hoffman says he has known consumption +cured by the same means. + +From Shakespeare we learn that in his day the fruit was grown in +Holborn, now the centre of London. Gloster, when contemplating +the death of Hastings, wishes to get the Bishop of Ely temporarily +out of the way, and thus addresses him:-- + + "My Lord of Ely--when I was last in Holborn + I saw good Strawberries in your garden there; + I do beseech you send for some of them." + +In Elizabeth's time doctors made a tea from the leaves to act on the +kidneys, and used the roots as astringent. + +All former Herbalists agreed in pronouncing strawberries +wholesome and beneficial beyond every other English fruit. Their +smell is refreshing to the spirits; they abate fever, promote urine, +and are gently laxative. The leaves may be used in gargles for +quinsies and sore mouths, but, "if anyone suffering from a wound in +the head should partake of this fruit, it would certainly prove fatal," +in accordance with a widespread superstition. + +So wholesome are Strawberries, that if laid in a heap and left by +themselves to decompose, they will decay without undergoing any +acetous fermentation; nor can their kindly temperature be soured +even by exposure to the acids of the stomach. They are constituted +entirely of soluble matter, and leave no residuum to [539] hinder +digestion. It is probably for this reason, and because the fruit does +not contain any actual nutriment as food, that a custom has arisen of +combining rich clotted cream with it at table, whilst at the same time +the sharp juices are thus agreeably modified. + + "Mella que erunt epulis, et lacte fluentia fraga":-- + + "Then sit on a cushion, and sew up a seam; + And thou shalt have Strawberries, sugar, and cream." + +Cardinal Wolsey regaled off this delicate confection with the Lords +of the Star Chamber; and Charles Lamb is reported to have said, +"Doubtless, God Almighty could have made a better berry, but He +never did." + +Parkinson advised that water distilled from strawberries is good for +perturbation of the spirits, and maketh the heart merry. + +The fruit especially suits persons of a bilious temperament, being "a +surprising remedy for the jaundice of children, and particularly +helping the liver of pot companions, wetters, and drammers." "Some +also do use thereof to make a water for hot inflammations in the +eyes, and to take away any film that beginneth to grow over them. +Into a closed glass vessel they put so many strawberries as they +think meet for their purpose, and let this be set in a bed of hot horse +manure for twelve or fourteen days, being afterwards distilled +carefully, and the water kept for use." + +The chemical constituents of the Strawberry are--a peculiar volatile +aroma, sugar, mucilage, pectin, citric and malic acids in equal parts, +woody fibre, and water. + +The fruit is mucilaginous, somewhat tart and saccharine. It +stimulates perspiration, and imparts a violet scent to the urine. +When fermented for the purpose it yields an ardent spirit. If beaten +into a pulp [540] when ripe, and with water poured thereupon, it +makes a capital cooling drink which is purifying, and somewhat +laxative. + +Strawberries are especially suitable in inflammatory and putrid +fevers, and for catarrhal sore throats. French herbalists direct that +when fresh, and recently crushed, the fruit shall be applied on the +face at night for heat spots and freckles by the sun. From the juice, +with lemon, sugar, and water, they concoct a most agreeable drink, +_Bavaroise a la grecque_; also they employ the roots and leaves +against passive hemorrhages, and in chronic diarrhoea. + +In Germany, stewed strawberries, and strawberry jam are taken at +dinner with roasted meats, or with chicken. This jam promotes a +free flow of urine. + +It is to be noticed that though most commonly wholesome and +refreshing, yet with some persons, particularly those of a strumous +bodily habit, Strawberries will often disagree. The late Dr. +Armstrong held a very strong opinion that the seed grains which lie +sprinkled allover the outer surface of each pulpy berry are prone to +excite much intestinal irritation, and he advised his patients to suck +their Strawberries through muslin, in order to prevent these +diminutive seeds from being swallowed. + +German legends dedicate Strawberries to the Virgin, with whom +they are reputed to have been a favourite fruit. She went a berrying +with the children on St. John's morning; and therefore no mother +who has lost a young child, will taste the delicacy then. The +Strawberries symbolise little children who have died when young, +and the mothers suppose they ascend to heaven concealed in the +fragrant pulp. + +From the French, _fraise_, signifying the Strawberry [541] leaves +borne on the family shield, is derived in Scotland the name of the +Frazers. And eight of these (so called) leaves wrought in ornamental +gold form a part of the coronet which our English dukes claim as +one of their proud insignia, conferred by Henry the Fourth. Being +desirous of adding fresh splendour to the Coronation of a +Lancastrian Prince he introduced these leaves into the regal Crown. +An earl's coronet has eight leaves: that of a marquis four. + + + +SUCCORY. + +The Wild Succory (_Cichorium intybus_) is a common roadside +English plant, white or blue, belonging to the Composite order, and +called also Turnsole, because it always turns its flowers towards the +sun. + +It blows with a blue blossom somewhat paler than the Cornflower, +but "bearing a golden heart." + +Its fresh root is bitter, and a milky juice flows from the rind, which +is somewhat aperient and slightly sedative, so that this specially +suits persons troubled with bilious torpor, and jaundice combined +with melancholy. An infusion of the herb is useful for skin eruptions +connected with gout. If the root and leaves are taken freely, they +will produce a gentle diarrhoea, their virtue lying chiefly in the +milky juice; and on good authority the plant has been pronounced +useful against pulmonary consumption. In Germany it is called +Wegwort, or "waiting on the way." The Syrup of Succory is an +excellent laxative for children. + +The Succory or Cichorium was known to the Romans, and was +eaten by them as a vegetable, or in salads. Horace writes (_Ode_ +31): + + "Me pascunt olivae, + Me chicorea, levesque malvae." + +[542] And Virgil, in his first _Georgic_, speaks of _Amaris intuba +fibris_. When cultivated it becomes large, and constitutes Chicory, +of which the taproot is used extensively in France for blending with +coffee, being closely allied to the Endive and the Dandelion. + +This is the _Chicoree frisee_ when bleached, or the _Barbe de +Capucin_. The cortical part of the root yields a milky saponaceous +juice which is very bitter and slightly sedative. Some writers +suppose the Succory to be the Horehound of the Bible. In the +German story, _The Watcher of the Road_, a lovely princess, +abandoned for a rival, pines away, and asking only to die where she +can be constantly on the watch, becomes transformed into the +wayside Succory. + +This Succory plant bears also the name of _Rostrum porcinum_. Its +leaves, when bruised, make a good poultice for inflamed eyes, being +outwardly applied to the grieved place. Also the leaves when boiled +in pottage or broths for sick and feeble persons that have hot, weak, +and feeble stomachs, do strengthen the same. + +It is said that the roots, if put into heaps and dried, are liable to +spontaneous combustion. The taproot of the cultivated plant is +roasted in France, and mixed with coffee, to which, when infused, it +gives a bitterish taste and a dark colour. + +The chemical constituents of Succory and Chicory are--in addition +to those ordinarily appertaining to vegetables--inulin, and a special +bitter principle not named. + +Chicory, when taken too habitually or too freely, causes venous +passive congestion in the digestive organs within the abdomen, and +a fulness of blood in the head. Both it and Succory, if used in excess +as a medicine, will bring about amaurosis, or loss of visual power in +[543] the retina of the eyes. Therefore, when given in a much +diluted form they are remedial for these affections. + +The only benefit of quality which Chicory gives to coffee is by +increase of colour and body, with some bitterness, but not by +possessing any aroma, or fragrant oil, or stimulating virtue. French +writers say it is _contra-stimulante_, and serving to correct the +excitation caused by the active principles of coffee, and therefore it +suits sanguineo-bilious subjects who suffer from habitual tonic +constipation. But it is ill adapted for persons whose vital energy +soon flags; and for lymphatic, or bloodless people its use should be +altogether forbidden. + +The flowers of Succory used to rank among the four cordial flowers, +and a water was distilled from them to allay inflammation of the +eyes. The seeds contain abundantly a demulcent oil, whilst the +petals furnish a glucoside which is colourless unless treated with +alkalies, when it becomes of a golden yellow. + + + +SUNDEW. + +The Sundew (_Ros solis_, or _Drosera rotundifolia_) is a little plant +always eagerly recognised in marshy and heathy grounds by ardent +young botanists. In the sun its leaves seem tipped with dew +(_drosos_). It grows plentifully in Hampshire and the New Forest, +bearing a cluster of hairy leaves in a stellate form, at the top of a +slender stem. These leaves either from lack of other sustenance in so +barren a soil, or more probably as an advance in plant evolution to a +higher grade of development, excrete a sticky moisture or dew, +which entangles unwary flies settling on the plant, and which serves +to digest these victims therewith. Each of the long red [544] hairs on +the leaves is viscid, and possesses a small secreting gland at its top. + +Some writers say the word Sundew means "sin" ever, moist (dew). +The plant is also called Redrot, and Moor Grass, because the soil in +which it grows is unwholesome for sheep. + +It goes further by the additional names of Youthwort, and +Lustwort--_quia acrimonia sua sopitum veneris desiderium excitat_ +(Dodoeus). The fresh juice of the herb contains malic acid in a free +state, various salts, and a red colouring matter; also glucose, and a +peculiar crystallisable acid. Cattle of the female gender are said to +have their copulative instincts excited by eating even a small +quantity of the plant. Throughout Europe it has long been esteemed +a remedy of repute for chronic bronchitis and asthma; and more +recently, in the hands of homoeopathic practitioners, it has acquired +a fame for specifically curing whooping cough in its spasmodic +stages, after the first feverishness of this malady has become +subdued. It signally lessens the frequency and force of the +spasmodic attacks, besides diminishing the sickness. + +Provers who have pushed on themselves the administration of the +Sundew in toxical quantities, developed hoarseness, with +expectoration of yellow mucus from the throat and upper lungs, as +well as a hacking cough, and loss of flesh, this combination of +symptoms closely resembling the form of tubercular consumption +which begins in the throat, and extends mischievously to the lungs. +Regarded from such point the Sundew may be justly pronounced a +homoeopathic antidote to consumptive disease of the nature here +indicated, when attacking spontaneously from constitutional causes. + +[545] Moreover, country folk notice that sheep who eat the Sundew +in their pasturage have often a violent cough, and waste away. Dr. +Curie, of Paris, fed cats with this plant, and they died subsequently +with all the symptoms of lung consumption, their chest organs being +afterwards found studded with tubercular deposit though cats are not +ordinarily liable to tubercle. + +So the Sundew may fairly be accepted as a medicinal Simple for +laryngeal and pulmonary consumption in its early stages, as well as +for whooping-cough, after the manner already explained. A tincture +is made (H.) from the entire fresh plant, with spirit of wine, of +which a couple of drops may be given in water several times a day, +to a child of from four to eight years old, for confirmed +whooping-cough; and if this dose seems to aggravate the paroxysms, +or to provoke sickness, it must be reduced in strength, and dilution. + +Also from four to ten drops of the tincture may be administered with +a tablespoonful of cold water, two or three times a day, for several +consecutive weeks, to a consumptive adult, in the early stages of +this disease. Dr. Hughes (Brighton) has employed a diluted tincture +of the Sundew (one part of this tincture admixed with nine parts of +spirit of wine) in doses of from three to five drops with water, +to a child of from three to eight years of age, for spasmodic +whooping-cough, several times in the day, with marked success; whilst +a larger dose or the stronger tincture served only to increase the +cough in violence and frequency. The same results may perhaps follow +too strong or full a dose to a consumptive patient, so that it must be +regulated by the effects produced. Externally, the juice [546] of the +fresh Sundew has been used for destroying warts. + + + +SUNFLOWER. + +The Sunflower (_Helianthus annuus_) which is so popular and +brilliant an ornament of cottage gardens throughout England in +summer and autumn, is an importation of long standing, and has +been called the Marigold of Peru. + +Its general nature and appearance are so well known as scarcely to +need any description. The plant is of the Composite order, +indigenous to tropical America, but flourishing well in this country, +whilst bearing the name of _Heli-anthus_ (Sunflower), and smelling +of turpentine when the disc of the flower is broken across. + +The growing herb is highly useful for drying damp soils, because of +its remarkable power of absorbing water; for which reason several +acres of Sunflowers are now planted in the Thames Valley. Swampy +districts in Holland have been made habitable by an extensive +culture of the Sunflower, the malarial miasmata being absorbed and +nullified, whilst pure oxygen is emitted abundantly. + +An old rhyme declares, for some unknown reason:-- + + "The full Sunflower blew + And became a starre of Bartholomew." + +The name Sunflower has been given as most persons think because +the flowers follow the sun by day turning always towards its shining +face. But Gerard says, about this alleged fact, he never could +observe it to happen, though he spared no pains to observe the +matter; he rather thought the flower to have got its title because +resembling the radiant beams of the sun. Likewise, [547] some have +called it Corona Solis, and Sol Indianus, the Indian Sunne-floure: by +others it is termed Chrysanthemum Peruvianum. In Peru this flower +was much reverenced because of its resemblance to the radiant sun, +which luminary was worshipped there. In their Temples of the Sun +the priestesses were crowned with Sunflowers, and wore them in +their bosoms, and carried them in their hands. The early Spanish +invaders found in these temples numerous representations of the +Sunflower wrought in pure virgin gold, the workmanship of which +was so exquisite that it far out-valued the precious metal whereof +they were made. Some country folk call it "Lady eleven o'clock." + +If the buds of the Sunflower before expanding be boiled, and eaten +with butter, vinegar and pepper, after the manner of serving the +Jerusalem Artichoke, they are exceeding pleasant meat, surpassing +the artichoke moreover in provoking the _desiderium veneris_. The +Chinese make their finest yellow dye from the Sunflower, which +they worship because resembling the sun. + +All parts of the plant contain much carbonate of potash; and the +fruit, or seed, furnishes a fixed oil in abundance. The kernels of the +seeds contain helianthic acid, and the pith of the plant will yield +nine per cent. of carbonate of potash. The oil of the Sunflower may +be used as olive oil, and the cake after expressing away this oil +makes a good food for cattle. A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared +from the seed with rectified spirit of wine; also from the fresh juice +with diluted spirit. Each of these serves admirably against +intermittent fever and ague, instead of quinine. The Sunflower is +adored by the Chinese as the most useful of all vegetables. From its +seeds the best oil is [548] extracted, and an excellent soap is made. +This oil burns longer than any other vegetable oil, and Sunflower +cake is more fattening to cattle than linseed cake. + +The flowers furnish capital food for bees, and the leaves are of use +for blending with tobacco. The stalk yields a fine fibre employed in +weaving Chinese silk, and Evelyn tells of "The large Sunflower, ere +it comes to expand and show its golden face, being dressed as an +artichoke, and eaten as a dainty." + +The plant is closely allied in its species to the Globe Artichoke, and +the Jerusalom Artichoke (_girasole_), so named from turning _vers +le soleil_, or _au soleil_, this being corrupted to "Jerusalem," and +its soup by further perversion to "Palestine" soup. The original +Moorish name was Archichocke, or Earththorn. + +The Globe Artichoke (_Cinara maxima anglicana_) of our kitchen +gardens, when boiled and brought to table, has a middle pulp which +is eaten as well as the soft delicate pulp at the base of each prickly +floret. "This middle pulp," says Gerard, "when boiled with the broth +of fat flesh, and with pepper added, makes a dainty dish being +pleasant to the taste, and accounted good to procure bodily desire. +(It stayeth the involuntary course of the natural seed)." Evelyn tells +us: "This noble thistle brought from Italy was at first so rare in +England that they were commonly sold for crowns apiece." Pliny +says: "Carthage spent three thousand pounds sterling a year in +them." The plant is named Cinara, from _cinis_, "ashes," because +land should be manured with these. It contains phosphoric acid, and +is, therefore, stimulating. + +The leaves of the Globe Artichoke afford somewhat freely on +expression a juice which is bitter, and acts as [549] a brisk diuretic +in many dropsies. Such a constituent in the plant was known to the +Arabians for curdling milk. + +The Jerusalem Artichoke (_Helianthus tuberosus_) is of the +Sunflower genus, having been brought at first from Brazil, and +being now commonly cultivated in England for its edible tubers. +These are red outside, and white within; they contain sugar, and +albumen, with all aromatic volatile principle, and water. The tuber is +the _Topinambour_, and _Pois de terre_ of the French; having been +brought to Europe in 1617. It furnishes more sugar and less starch +than the Potato. + +In 1620 the Jerusalem Artichoke was quite common as a vegetable +in London: though, says Parkinson, when first introduced, it was "a +dainty for a queen." Formerly, it was baked in pies with beef +marrow, dates, ginger, raisins, and sack. The juice pressed out +before the plant blossoms was used by the ancients for restoring the +hair of the head, even when the person was quite bald. + +The Sunflower has been from time immemorial a popular remedy +for malarial fevers in Russia, Turkey, and Persia, being employed as +a tincture made by steeping the stems and leaves in brandy. It is +considered even preferable to quinine, sometimes succeeding when +this has failed, and being free from any of the inconveniences which +often arise from giving large doses of the drug: whilst the pleasant +taste of the plant is of no small advantage in the case of children. + +Cases in which both quinine and arsenic proved useless have been +completely cured by the tincture of Sunflower in a week or ten days. + +Golden Sunflowers are introduced at Rheims into the stained glass +of an Apse window in the church of St. Remi, with the Virgin and +St. John on either side of [550] the Cross, the head of each being +encircled with an aureole having a Sunflower inserted in its outer +circle. The flowers are turned towards the Saviour on the Cross as +towards their true Sun. + + +TAMARIND. + +The Tamarind pod, though of foreign growth, has been much valued +by our immediate ancestors as a household medicinal Simple; and a +well stocked jar of its useful curative pulp was always found in the +store cupboard of a prudent housewife. But of late years this +serviceable fruit has fallen into the background of remedial +resources, from which it may be now brought forward again with +advantage. The natives of India have a prejudice against sleeping +under the Tamarind; and the acid damp from the trees is known to +affect the cloth of tents pitched under them for any length of time. +So strong is this prejudice of the natives against the Tamarind tree +that it is difficult to prevent them from destroying it, as they +believe it hurtful to vegetation. The parent tree, Tamar Hindee, +"Indian date," is of East, or West Indian growth; but the sweet pulpy +jam containing shining stony seeds, and connected together by tough +stringy fibres, may be readily obtained at the present time from the +leading druggists, or the general provision merchant. It fulfils +medicinal purposes which entitle it to high esteem as a Simple for +use in the sick-room. Large quantities of this luscious date are +brought to our shores from the Levant and Persia, but before +importation the shell of the pod is removed; and the pulp ought not +to exhibit any presence of copper, as shown on a clean steel +knife-blade held within the same, though the fruit by nature possesses +traces of gold in its composition. Chemically, this pulp contains +citric, tartaric, [551] and malic acids, as compounds of potassium; +with gum, pectin and starch. Boiled syrup has been poured over it as +a preliminary. The fruit is sharply acid, and may be made into an +excellent cooling drink by infusion with boiling water, being +allowed to become cold, and then strained off as an agreeable tea, +which proves highly grateful to a fevered patient. + +The Arabians first taught the use of Tamarinds, which contain an +unusual proportion of acids to the sweet constituents. They are +anti-putrescent, and exert a laxative action corrective of bilious +sluggishness. A capital whey may be made by boiling two ounces of +the fruit with two pints of milk, and then straining. Gerard tells that +"travellers carry with them the pulp mixed with sugar throughout +the desert places of Africa." + +Tamarinds are an efficient laxative if enough (from one to two +ounces) can be taken at a time: but this quantity is inconvenient, and +apt to clog by its excess of sweetness. Therefore a compressed form +of the pulp is now in the market, known as Tamar Indien lozenges, +coated with chocolate. These are combined, however, with a +purgative of greater activity, most probably jalap. + +The fruit of the Tamarind is certainly antibilious, and by the virtue +of its potash salts it tends to heal any sore places within the mouth. +In India it is added as an ingredient to punch; but the tree is +superstitiously regarded as the messenger of the God of death. + +When acids are indicated, to counteract septic fever, and to cool the +blood, whilst in natural harmony with the digestive functions, the +Tamarind will be found exceptionally helpful; and towards +obviating [552] constipation a dessertspoonful, or more, of the pulp +may be taken with benefit as a compote at table, together with +boiled rice, or sago. The name Tamarind is derived from _tamar_, +the date palm; and _indus_, of Indian origin. Formerly this fruit was +known as Oxyphoenica (sour date). Officinally apothecaries mix the +pulp with senna as an aperient confection. It is further used in +flavouring curries on account of its acid. + + + +TANSY. + +The Tansy (_Tanacetum vulgare_--"buttons,"--bed of Tansy), a +Composite plant very familiar in our hedgerows and waste places, +being conspicuous by its heads of brilliant yellow flowers, is often +naturalized in our gardens for ornamental cultivation. Its leaves +smell like camphor, and possess a bitter aromatic taste; whilst young +they were commonly used in times past, and are still employed, +when shredded, for flavouring cakes, puddings, and omelets. The +roots when preserved with honey, or sugar, are reputed to be of +special service against the gout, if a reasonable quantity thereof be +eaten fasting every day for a certain space. The fruit is destructive +to round worms. + +The seed also of the Tansy is a singular and appropriate medicine +against worms: for "in whatsoever sort taken it killeth and driveth +them forth." In Sussex a peasant will put Tansy leaves in his shoes +to cure ague; and the plant has a rural celebrity for correcting female +irregularities of the functional health. The name Tansy is +probably derived from the Greek word _athanasia_ which signifies +immortality, either, as, says Dodoeus, _quia non cito flos +inflorescit_, "because it lasts so long in flower," or, _quia ejus +succus, vel oleum extractum cadavera a putredine conservat_ (as +Ambrosius writes), "because it is so capital [558] for preserving +dead bodies from corruption." It was said to have been given to +Ganymede to make him immortal. The whole herb contains resin, +mucilage, sugar, a fixed oil, tannin, a colouring matter, malic or +tanacetic acid, and water. When the camphoraceous bitter oil is +taken in any excess it induces venous congestion of the abdominal +organs, and increases the flow of urine. + +If given in moderate doses the plant and its essential oil are +stomachic and cordial, whether the leaves, flowers, or seeds be +administered, serving to allay spasm, and helping to promote the +monthly flow of women; the seeds being also of particular use +against worms, and relieving the flatulent colic of hysteria. This +herb will drive away bugs from a bed in which it is placed. Meat +rubbed with the bitter Tansy will be protected from the visits of +carrion flies. + +Ten drops of the essential oil will produce much flushing of the +head and face, with giddiness, and with beat of stomach; whilst half +a drachm of the oil has been followed by a serious result. But from +one to four drops may be safely given for a dose according to the +symptoms it is desired to relieve. Cases of epilepsy (not inherited) +have been successfully treated with the liquid extract of Tansy in +doses of a drop with water four times in the day. The essential oil +will toxically produce epileptic seizures. + +The plant has been used externally with benefit for some eruptive +diseases of the skin; and a hot infusion of it to sprained, or +rheumatic parts will give relief from pain by way of a fomentation. +In Scotland the dried flowers are given for gout, from half to one +teaspoonful for a dose two or three times in the day; or an infusion +is drank prepared from the flowers and seeds. This has kept +inveterate gout at bay for years. + +[554] A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the fresh plant with +spirit of wine. From eight to ten drops of the same may be given +with a tablespoonful of cold water to an adult twice or three times in +the day. + +Formerly this was one of the native plants dedicated to the Virgin +Mary; and the "good wives" used to take a syrup of Tansy for +preventing miscarriage. "The Laplanders," says Linnoeus, "use +Tansy in their baths to facilitate parturition." + +At Easter also it was the custom, even, by the Archbishops, the +Bishops, and the clergy of some churches, to play at handball (so +say the old chroniclers), with men of their congregations, whilst a +Tansy cake was the reward of the victors, this being a confection +with which the bitter herb Tansy was mixed. Some such a corrective +was supposed to be of benefit after having eaten much fish during +Lent. + +The Tansy cake was made from the young leaves of the plant mixed +with eggs, and was thought to purify the humours of the body. "This +Balsamic plant" said Boerhaave, "will supply the place of nutmegs +and cinnamon." In Lyte's time the Tansy was sold in the shops +under the name of Athanasia. + + + +TARRAGON. + +The kitchen herb Tarragon (_Artemisia dracunculus_) is cultivated +in England, and more commonly in France, for uses in salads, and +other condimentary purposes. It is the "little Dragon Mugwort: in +French, _Herbe au Dragon_"; to which, as to other Dragon herbs, +was ascribed the faculty of curing the bites and stings of venomous +beasts, and of mad dogs. The plant does not fructify in France. + +It is of the Composite order, and closely related to [555] our +common Wormwood, and Southernwood, but its leaves are not +divided. This herb is a native of Siberia, but has been long grown +largely by French gardeners, and has since become widespread in +this country as a popular fruit, also for making a vinegar, and for +adding to salads. The word Tarragon is by corruption "a little +dragon." French cooks commonly mix their table mustard with the +vinegar of the herb. + +Many strange tales have been told about the origin of the plant, one +of which, scarce worth the noting, runs that the seed of flax put into +a radish root, or a sea onion, and being thus set doth bring forth this +herb Tarragon (so says Gerard). + +In Continental cookery the use of Tarragon is advised to temper the +coldness of other herbs in salads, like as a Rocket doth. "Neither," +say the authorities, "do we know what other use this herb hath." + +The volatile essential oil of Tarragon is chemically identical with +that of Anise, and it is found to be sexually stimulating. Probably by +virtue of its finely elaborated camphor it exercises its specific +effects, the fact being established that too much camphor acts in the +opposite direction. + +John Evelyn says of the plant "'Tis highly cordial and friendly to the +head, heart, and liver." + + + +THISTLES. + +Thistles are comprised in a large mixed genus of our English weeds, +and wild plants, several of them possessing attributed medicinal +virtues. Some of these are Thistles proper, as the _Carduus_, the +_Cnicus_, and the _Carlina_: others are Teasels, Eryngiums, and +Globe Thistles, etc. Consideration should be given here to the +_Carduus marianus_, or Lady's Thistle, the common [556] Carline +Thistle, the _Carduus benedictus_ (Blessed Thistle), the wild Teasel +(_Dipsacus_), and the Fuller's Teasel, as Herbal Simples; whilst +others of minor curative usefulness are to be incidentally mentioned. + +As a class Thistles have been held sacred to Thor, because, say the +old authors, receiving their bright colours from the lightning, and +because protecting those who cultivate them from its destructive +effects. + +In Devon and Cornwall Thistles are commonly known as Dazzels, +or Dashel flowers. As a rule they flourish best in hot dry climates. + +The _Carduus marianus_ (Lady's Thistle), Milk Thistle, or Holy +Thistle, grows abundantly in waste places, and near gardens +throughout the British Isles, but it is not a native plant. The term +_Carduus_, or Cardinal, refers to its spring leaves, and the +adjectives "Marianus," "Milk," and "Holy," have been assigned +through a tradition that some drops of the Virgin Mary's milk fell on +the herb, and became exhibited in the white veins of its leaves. By +some persons this Thistle is taken as the emblem of Scotland. + +Dioscorides told of the Milk Thistle, "the seeds being drunk are a +remedy for infants that have their sinews drawn together." He +further said: "The root if borne about one doth expel melancholy, +and remove all diseases connected therewith." Modern writers do +laugh at this: "Let them laugh that win! My opinion is that this is the +best remedy that grows against all melancholy diseases." + +The fruit of the _Carduus marianus_ contains an oily bitter seed: the +tender leaves in spring may be eaten as a salad; and the young +peeled stalks, after being soaked, are excellent boiled, or baked in +pies. The heads of this Thistle before the flowers open may be [557] +cooked like artichokes. The seeds were formerly thought to cure +hydrophobia. They act as a demulcent in catarrh and pleurisy, being +also a favourite food of Goldfinches. A decoction of the seeds when +applied externally is said to have proved beneficial in cases of +cancer. + +Thistle down was at one time gathered by poor persons and sold for +stuffing pillows. It is very prolific in germination, and an old saying +runs on this score:-- + + "Cut your Thistles before St. John, + Or you'll have two instead of one." + +This Milk Thistle (_Carduus marianus_) is said to be the empirical +nostrum, _anti-glaireux_, of Count Mattaei. + +"Disarmed of its prickles," writes John Evelyn, "and boiled, it is +worth esteem, and thought to be a great breeder of milk, and proper +diet for women who are nurses." + +In Germany it is very popular for curing jaundice and kindred +biliary derangements. When taken by healthy provers in varying +quantities to test its toxic effects the plant has caused distension of +the whole abdomen, especially on the right side, with tenderness on +pressure over the liver, and with a deficiency of bile in hard knotty +stools, the colouring matter of the faeces being found by chemical +tests present in the urine: so that a preparation of this Thistle +modified in strength, and considerably diluted in its doses proves +truly homoeopathic to simple obstructive jaundice through inaction +of the liver, and readily cures the disorder. A tincture is prepared +(H.) for medicinal use from equal parts of the root, and the seeds +(with the hull on) together with spirit of wine. + +The _Carduus benedictus_ (Blessed Thistle) was first [558] +cultivated by Gerard in 1597, and has since become a common +medicinal Simple. It was at one time considered to be almost a +panacea, and capable of curing even the plague by its antiseptic +virtues. + +This Thistle was a herb of Mars, and, as Gerard says: "It helpeth +giddiness of the head: also it is an excellent remedy against the +yellow jaundice. It strengthens the memory, cures deafness, and +helps the bitings of mad dogs and venomous beasts." It contains a +bitter principle "cnicin," resembling the similar tonic constituent of +the Dandelion, this being likewise useful for stimulating a sluggish +liver to more healthy action. + +The infusion should be made with cold water: when kept it forms a +salt on its surface like nitre. The herb does not yield its virtues to +spirit of wine as a tincture. Its taste is intensely bitter. + +The Carline Thistle (_Carlina vulgaris_) was formerly used in +magical incantations. It possesses medicinal qualities very like those +of Elecampane, being diaphoretic, and in larger doses purgative. +The herb contains some resin, and a volatile essential oil of a +camphoraceous nature, like that of Elecampane, and useful for +similar purposes, as cordial and antiseptic. This Thistle grows on +dry heaths especially near the sea, and is easily distinguished from +other Thistles by the straw-coloured glossy radiate long inner scales +of its outer floral cup. They rise up over the florets in wet weather. +The whole plant is very durable, like that of the "everlasting +flowers:" Cudweed (_Antennaria_). + +The name Carlina was given because the Thistle was used by +Charles the Great as a remedy against the plague. It was revealed to +him when praying for some means to stay this pestilence which was +destroying his army. In his sleep there appeared to him an angel +who shot [559] an arrow from a cross bow, telling him to mark the +plant upon which it fell: for that with such plant he might cure his +soldiers of the dire epidemic: which event really happened, the herb +thus indicated being the said thistle. In Anglo-Saxon it was the +ever-throat, or boar-throat. + +On the Continent a large white blossom of this species is nailed +upon cottage doors by way of a barometer to indicate the weather if +remaining open or closing. + +The wild Teasel (_Dipsacus sylvestris_) grows commonly in waste +places, having tall stems or stalks, at the bottom of which are leaves +(like bracts) united at their sides so as to form a cup, open upwards, +around the base of the stalk, and hence the term "_Dipsacus_," +thirsty. This cup serves to retain rain water, which is thought to +acquire curative properties, being used, for one purpose, to remove +warts. The cup is called Venus' basin, and its contents, says Ray, are +of service _ad verrucas abigendas_; also it is named Barber's Brush, +and Church Broom. + +The Fuller's Teasel, or Thistle (_Dipsacus fullonum_) is so termed +from its use in combing and dressing cloth,--_teasan_, to tease,-- +three Teaselheads being the arms of the Cloth Weavers' Company. +This is found in the neighbourhood of the cloth districts, but is not +considered to be a British plant. It is probably a cultivated variety of +the wild Teasel, but differs by having the bristles of its receptacles +hooked. + +The Sow Thistle (_Sonchus oleraceus_), named _sonchus_ because +of its soft spikes instead of prickles, grows commonly as a weed in +gardens, and having milky stalks which are reputed good for +wheezy and short-winded folk, whilst the milk may be used as a +wash for the face. It is named also "turn sole" because always facing +the sun, and Hare's Thistle (the hare's panacea, [560] says an old +writer, is the Sow Thistle), or Hare's Lettuce because "when fainting +with the heat she recruits her strength with the herb; or if a hare eat +of this herb in the summer when he is mad he shall become whole." +Another similar title of the herb is Hare's palace, since the creature +was thought to get shelter and courage from it. Some suppose that +the botanical term _Sonchus_ signifies _apo ton soon ekein_, from +its yielding a salubrious juice. + +The Sow thistle has been named also Milkweed. According to +tradition it sometimes conceals marvels, or treasures; and in Italian +stories the words, "Open Sow Thistle" are used as of like +significance with the magical invocation "Open sesame." Another +name is "Du Tistel" or Sprout Thistle; because the plant may be +used for its edible sprouts, which Evelyn says, were eaten by Galen +as a lettuce. And Matthiolus told of the Tuscans in his day "_Soncho +nostri utuntur hyeme in acetariis_." + +The Melancholy Thistle (_Carduus heterophyllus_) has been held +curative of melancholy. It grows most frequently in Scotland and +the North of England, and is a non-prickly plant. + + + +THYME. + +The Wild English thyme (_Thymus serpyllum_) belongs to the +Labiate plants, and takes its second title from a Greek verb +signifying "to creep," which has reference to the procumbent habit +of the plant. It bears the appellation "Brotherwort." + +Typically the _Thymus serpyllum_ flourishes abundantly on hills, +heaths, and grassy places, having woody stems, small fringed +leaves, and heads of purple flowers which diffuse a sweet perfume +into the surrounding air, [561] especially in hot weather. +Shakespeare's well known line alludes to this pleasant fact: "I know +a bank where the wild Thyme grows." + +The name Thyme is derived from the Greek _thumos_, as identical +with the Latin _fumus_, smoke, having reference to the ancient use +of Thyme in sacrifices, because of its fragrant odour; or, it may be, +as signifying courage (_thumos_), which its cordial qualities inspire. +With the Greeks Thyme was an emblem of bravery, and activity; +also the ladies of chivalrous days embroidered on the scarves which +they presented to their knights the device of a bee hovering about a +spray of Thyme, as teaching the union of the amiable and the active. + +Horace has said concerning Wild Thyme:-- + + "Impune tutum per nemus arbutos + Quaerunt latentes, et thyma deviae + Olentis uxores mariti." + +Wild Thyme is subject to variations in the size and colour of its +flowers, as well as in the habits of the varieties. + +This wild Thyme bears also the appellation, "Mother of Thyme," +which should be "Mother Thyme," in allusion to its medicinal +influence on the womb, an organ which the older writers always +termed the "Mother." Isidore tells that the wild Thyme was called +in Latin, _Matris animula, quod menstrua movet_. Platearius +says of it: _Serpyllum matricem comfortat et mundificat. Mulieres +Saliternitanoe hoc fomento multum utuntur_. + +Dr. Neovius writes enthusiastically in a Finnish Journal on the +virtues of common Thyme in combating whooping cough. He has +found that if given _fresh_, from an ounce and a half to six ounces a +day, mixed [562] with a little syrup, regularly for some weeks, it is +practically a specific. If taken from the first, the symptoms vanish in +two or three days, and in a fortnight the disease is expelled. The +simplicity, harmlessness, and cheapness of this remedy are great +supporters of its claims. + +Other titles of the herb are Pulial mountain, and creeping Thyme. It +is anti-spasmodic, and good for nervous or hysterical headaches, for +flatulence, and the headache which follows inebriation. The infusion +may be profitably applied for healing skin eruptions of various +characters. + +Virgil mentions (in _Eclogue_ xi., lines 10, 11) the restorative value +of Thyme against fatigue:-- + + "Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus oestu + Allia, Serpyllumque herbas contundit olentes." + +Or, + + "Thestlis for mowers tired with parching heat + Garlic and Thyme, strong smelling herbs, doth beat." + +Tournefort writes: "A conserve made from the flowers and leaves of +wild Thyme (_Serpyllum_) relieves those troubled with the falling +sickness, whilst the distilled oil promotes the monthly flow in +women." + +The delicious flavour of the noted honey of Hymettus was said to be +derived from the wild Thyme there visited by the bees. Likewise the +flesh of sheep fed on pasturage where the wild Thyme grows freely +has been said to gain a delicate flavour and taste from this source: +but herein a mistake is committed, because sheep are really averse +to such pasturage, and refuse it if they can get other food. + +An infusion of the leaves of Thyme, whether wild, or cultivated, +makes an excellent aromatic tea, the odour of which is sweet and +fragrant, whilst the taste of the [563] plant is bitter and +camphoraceous. There is in some districts an old superstition that to +bring wild Thyme into the house conveys severe illness, or death to +some member of the family. + +In Grecian days the Attic elegance of style was said to show an +odour of Thyme. Shenstone's schoolmistress had a garden:-- + + "Where herbs for use and physic not a few + Of grey renown within those borders grew, + The tufted Basil,--_pun provoking_ Thyme, + The lordly Gill that never dares to climb." + +Bacon in his _Essay on Gardens_ recommends to set whole alleys +of Thyme for the pleasure of its perfume when treading on the plant. +And Dioscorides said Thyme used in food helps dimness of sight. + +Gerard adds: "Wild Thyme boiled in wine and drunk is good against +the wamblings and gripings of the belly": whilst Culpeper describes +it as "a strengthener of the lungs, as notable a one as grows." "The +Thyme of Candy, Musk Thyme, or Garden Thyme is good against +the sciatica, and to be given to those that have the falling sickness, +to smell to." + +The volatile essential oil of Wild Thyme (as well as of Garden +Thyme) consists of two hydrocarbons, with thymol as the fatty base, +this thymol being readily soluble in fats and oils when heated, and +taking high modern rank as an antiseptic. It will arrest gastric +fermentation when given judiciously as a medicine, though an +overdose will bring on somnolence, with a ringing in the ears. +Officinally Thymol, the stearoptene obtained from the volatile oil of +_Thymus vulgaris_, is directed to be given in a dose of from half to +two grains. + +[564] Thymol is valued by some authorities more highly even than +carbolic acid for destroying the germs of disease, or for disinfecting +them. It is of equal service with tar for treating such skin affections +as psoriasis, and eczema. When inhaled thymol is most useful +against septic sore throat, especially during scarlet fever. At the +hospital for throat diseases the following formula is ordered: +Thymol twenty grains to rectified spirit of wine three drachms, and +carbonate of magnesia ten grains, with water to three ounces; a +teaspoonful to be used in a pint of water at 150 deg. Fahrenheit for each +inhalation. + +Against ringworm an ointment made with one drachm of thymol to +an ounce of soft paraffin is found to be a sure specific. + +The spirit of thymol should consist of one part of thymol to ten parts +of spirit of wine; and this is a convenient form for use to medicate +the wool of antiseptic respirators. As a purifying and cleansing +lotion for wounds and sores, thymol should be mixed in the +proportion of five grains thereof to an ounce of spirit of wine, an +ounce of glycerine, and six ounces of water. + +The common Garden Thyme is an imported sort from the South of +Europe. Its odour and taste depend on an essential oil known +commercially as oil of origanum. + +Another variety of the Wild Thyme is Lemon Thyme (_Thymus +citriodorus_), distinguished by its parti-coloured leaves, and by its +lilac flowers. Small beds of this Thyme, together with mint, are +cultivated at Penzance, in which to rear millepedes, or hoglice, +administered as pills for several forms of scrofulous disease. The +woodlouse, sowpig, or hoglouse abounds with a nitrous salt which +has long found favour for curing scrofulous [565] disease, and +inveterate struma, as also against some kinds of stone in the bladder. + +The Hoglouse, or Millepede was the primitive medicinal pill. It is +found in dry gardens under stones, etc., and rolls itself up into a +ball when touched. These are also called Chiselbobs, and Cudworms. +From three to twelve were formerly given in Rhenish wine for a +hundred days together to cure all kinds of cancers; or they were +sometimes worn round the neck in a small bag (which was absurd!). +In the Eastern counties they are known as "Old Sows," or "St. +Anthony's Hogs." Their Latin name is _Porcellus Scaber_. The +Welsh call this small creature the "withered old woman of the +wood," "the little pig of the wood," and "the little grey hog," also +"Grammar Sows." Their word "gurach" like "grammar" means a +dried up old dame. + +Cat Thyme (_Teucrium marum verum_) was imported from Spain, +and is cultivated in our gardens as a cordial aromatic herb, useful in +nervous disorders. Its flowers are crimson, and its bark is astringent. +The dried leaves may be given in powder or used in snuff. A +tincture (H.) is made from the whole herb which is effectual against +small thread worms. Provers of the herb in material toxic quantities +have experienced troublesome itching and irritation of the +fundament. For similar conditions, and to expel thread worms, two +or three drops of the tincture diluted to its first decimal strength +should be given with a spoonful of water three or four times in the +day to a child of from four to six years. + + + +TOADFLAX. + +The Toadflax, or Flaxweed (_Linaria vulgaris_) belongs to the +scrofula-curing order of plants, getting its name from _linum_, flax, +and being termed "toad" by a [566] mistaken translation of its Latin +title _Bubonio_, this having been wrongly read _bufonio_,-- +belonging to a toad,--or because having a flower (as the +Snapdragon) like a toad's mouth: whereas "bubonio" means "useful +for the groins." + +It is an upright herbaceous plant most common in hedges, having +leaves like grass of a dull sea green aspect, and bearing dense +clusters of yellow flowers shaped like those of the garden +Snapdragon, with spurs at their base. It continues in flower until the +late autumn. The Russians cultivate the Snapdragon for the oil +yielded by its seeds. + +The Toadflax has a faint disagreeable smell, and a bitter saline taste. +It acts medicinally as a powerful purge, and promoter of urine, and +therefore it is employed for carrying off the water of dropsies, being +in this respect a well known rural Simple. Waller says: "Country +people boil the whole plant in ale, and drink the decoction; but the +expressed juice of the fresh plant acts still more powerfully." + +In many districts the herb is familiarly known as "butter and eggs;" +and in Germany though dedicated to the Virgin it is called "devil's +band." + +Again in Devonshire it goes by the names of "Rambling," or +"Wandering Sailor," "Pedler's Basket," "Mother of Millions" (the +ivy-leaved sort), "Lion's Mouth" and "Flaxweed." + +When used externally an infusion of the herb acts as an anodyne to +subdue irritation of the skin, and it may be taken as a medicine to +modify skin diseases. The fresh juice is attractive to flies, but at +the same time it serves to poison them: so if it be mixed with milk, +and placed where flies resort they will drink it and perish at the +first sip. + +[567] As promoting a free flow of urine, the herb has been named +"Urinalis," or sometimes "Ramsted." The flowers contain a yellow +colouring matter, mucilage, and sugar. In Germany they are given +with the rest of the plant for dropsy, jaundice, piles, and some +diseases of the skin. Gerard says: "The decoction openeth the +stoppings of the liver, and spleen: and is singular good against the +jaundice which is of long continuance." He advises an ointment +made from the plant stampt with lard for certain skin eruptions, and +a decoction made with four drachms of the herb in eight ounces of +boiling water. The bruised leaves are useful externally for curing +blotches on the face, and for piles. + +An old distich says of the Toadflax as compared with the +Larkspur:-- + + "Esula lactescit: sine lacte Linaria crescit;" + +or, + + "Larkspur with milk doth flow: + Toadflax without milk doth grow," + +(alluding to the dry nature of the toadflax). To which the Hereditary +Marshal of Hesse added the following line:-- + + "Esoula nil nobis, sed dat linaria _taurum_," + +implying that the herb was of old valued for its good effects when +applied externally to piles as an ointment, a fomentation, or a +poultice, each being made from the leaves and the flowers. The +originator of this ointment was a Dr. Wolph, physician to the +Landgrave of Hesse, who only divulged its formula on the prince +promising to give him _a fat ox_ annually for the discovery. + + + +TOMATO (or LOVE APPLE). + +Though only of recent introduction as a common vegetable in this +country, and though grown chiefly [568] under glass for the table in +England, yet the Tomato is so abundantly imported, and so +extensively used by all classes now-a-days throughout the British +Isles that it may fairly take consideration for whatever claims it can +advance as a curative Simple. Imported early in the present century +from South America it remained for a while an exclusive luxury +produced for the rich like pine apples and melons. But gradually +since then the Tomato has steadily acquired an increasing +popularity, and now large crops of the profitable fruit are brought +from Bordeaux and the Channel Islands, to meet the demands of our +English markets. Much of the favour which has become attached to +this ruddy, polished, attractive-looking fruit is due to a widespread +impression that it is good for the liver, and a preventive of +biliousness. Nevertheless, rumours have also gone abroad that +habitual Tomato-eaters are especially liable to cancerous disease in +this, or that organ. + +Belonging to the Solanums the Tomato (_Lycopersicum_) is a plant +of Mexican origin. Its brilliant fruit was first known as _Mala +oethiopica_, or the Apples of the Moors, and bearing the Italian +designation _Pomi dei Mori_. This name was presently corrupted in +the French to _Pommes d'amour_; and thence in English to the +epithet Love Apples, a perversion which shows by what curious +methods primary names may become incongruously changed. They +are also called Gold Apples from their bright yellow colour before +getting ripe. The term _Lycopersicum_ signifies a "wolf's peach," +because some parts of the plant are thought to excite animal +passions. + +The best fruit is supposed to grow within sight, or smell of the sea. +It needs plenty of sunlight and heat. The quicker it is produced the +fewer will be the seeds discoverable in its pulp. + +[568] Green when young, Tomatoes acquire a bright yellow hue +before reaching maturity, and when ripe they are smooth, shining, +furrowed, and of a handsome red. + +Chemically this Love Apple contains citric and malic acids: and it +further possesses oxalic acid, or oxalate of potash, in common with +the Sorrel of our fields, and the Rhubarb of our kitchen gardens. On +which account each of this vegetable triad is ill suited for gouty +constitutions disposed to the formation of irritating oxalate of lime +in the blood. With such persons a single indulgence in Tomatoes, +particularly when eaten raw, may provoke a sharp attack of gout. + +Otherwise there are special reasons for supposing the Tomato to be +a wholesome fruit of remarkable purifying value. + +Dr. King Chambers classifies it among remedies against scurvy, +telling us that Tomatoes mixed with brown bread make a capital +sauce for costive persons. And the fruit owns a singular property in +connection with diseases of plants, suggesting its probable worth as +protective against bacterial germs, and microbes of disease in our +bodies when it is taken as food, or medicinally. If a Tomato shrub +be uprooted at the end of the summer, and allowed to wither on the +bough of a fruit tree, or if it be burnt beneath the fruit tree, it +will not only kill any blight which may be present, but will also +preserve the tree against any future invasion by blight. The hostility +thus evinced by the plant to low organisms is due to the presence of +sulphur, which the Tomato shrub largely contains, and which is +rendered up in an active state by decay, or by burning. Now +remembering that digestion likewise splits up the Tomato into its +chemical constituents, and releases its sulphur within us, we may +fairly assume that persons [570] who eat Tomatoes habitually are +likely to have a particular immunity from bacterial and putrefactive +diseases. + +Wherefore it is altogether improbable that Tomatoes will engender +cancer, which is essentially a disease of vitiated blood, and of +degenerate cell tissue. Possibly the old exploded doctrine of +signatures may have suggested, or started this accusation against the +maligned, though unguarded Tomato: for it cannot be denied the +guileless fruit bears a nodulated tumour-like appearance, whilst +showing, when cut, an aspect of red raw morbid fleshy structure +strangely resembling cancerous disease. + +Vegetarians who eat Tomatoes constantly and freely claim that +cancer is a disease almost unknown among their ranks; but an +Italian doctor writing from Rome gives it as the experience of +himself and his medical brethren that cancer is as common in Italy +and Sicily among vegetarians as with mixed eaters. Most of our +American cousins, who are the enterprising fathers of this medicinal +fruit, persuade themselves that they are never in perfect health +except during the Tomato season. And with us the ruddy Solanum +has obtained a wide popularity not simply at table as a tasty cooling +sallet, or an appetising stew, but essentially as a supposed +antibilious purifier of the blood. When uncooked it contains a +notable quantity of Solanin, and it would be dangerous to let +animals drink water in which the plant had been boiled. The Staff of +the Cancer Hospital at Brompton have emphatically declared "they +see no ground whatever for supposing that the eating of Tomatoes +predisposes to cancer." + +Nevertheless some country people in the remote American States +attribute cancer to an excessively free use of the wild uncultivated +tomato as food. + +[571] The first mention of this fruit by the London Horticultural +Society occurred in 1818. + +Chemically in addition to the acids already named the Tomato +contains a volatile oil, a brown resinous extractive matter very +fragrant, a vegeto-mineral matter, muco-saccharin, some salts, and +in all probability an alkaloid. The whole plant smells unpleasantly, +and its juices when subjected to heat by the action of fire emit a +vapour so powerful as to provoke vertigo and vomiting. + +The specific principles furnished by the Tomato will, when +concentrated, produce, if taken medicinally, effects very similar +to those brought about by taking mercurial salts, viz., an +ulcerative-state of the mouth, with a profuse flow of saliva, and +with excessive stimulation of the liver: peevishness also on the +following day, with a depressing backache in men, suggesting +paralysis, and with a profuse fluor albus in women. When given +in moderation as food, or as physic, the fruit will remedy +this chain of symptoms. + +By reason of its efficacy in promoting an increased flow of bile if +judiciously taken, the Tomato bears the name in America of +Vegetable Mercury, and it has almost superseded calomel there as a +biliary medicinal provocative. Dr. Bennett declares the Tomato to +be the most useful and the least harmful of all known medicines for +correcting derangements of the liver. He prepares a chemical extract +of the fruit and plant which will, he feels assured, depose calomel +for the future. + +Across the Atlantic an officinal tincture is made from the Tomato +for curative purposes by treating the apples, and the bruised fresh +plant with alcohol, and letting this stand for eight days before it +is filtered and strained. + +A teaspoonful of the tincture is a sufficient dose with one or two +tablespoonfuls of cold water, three times in the day. + +[572] The fluid extract made from the plant is curative of any +ulcerative soreness within the mouth, such as nurses' sore mouth, or +canker. It should be given internally, and applied locally to the +sore parts. + +Spaniards and Italians eat Tomatoes with pepper and oil. We take +them as a salad, or stewed with butter, after slicing and stuffing +them with bread crumb, and a spice of garlic. + +The green Tomato makes a good pickle, and in its unripe state is +esteemed an excellent sauce with rich roast pork, or goose. The fruit +when cooked no longer exercises active medicinal effects, as its +volatile principles have now become dispelled through heat. + +By the late Mr. Shirley Hibberd, who was a good naturalist, it was +asserted with seeming veracity that the cannibal inhabitants of the +Fiji Islands hold in high repute a native Tomato which is named by +them the _Solanum anthropophagorutm_, and which they eat, _par +excellence_, with "Cold Missionary." Nearer home a worthy dame +has been known with pious aspirations to enquire at the stationer's +for "Foxe's book of To-Martyrs." + +"Chops and Tomato sauce" were ordered from Mrs. Bardell, in +Pickwick's famous letter. "Gentlemen!" says Serjeant Buzfuz, in his +address to the jury, "What does this mean?" But he missed a point in +not going on to add--"I need not tell you, gentlemen, the popular +name for the Tomato is _love apple_! Is it not manifest, therefore, +what the base deceiver intended?" + + "A cucumber in early spring + Might please a sated Caesar, + Rapture asparagus can bring, + And dearer still green peas are: + Oh! far and wide, where mushrooms hide, + I'll search, as wide and far too + For watercress; but all their pride + Must stoop to thee,--Tomato!" + + + +[573] TORMENTIL. + +The Tormentil (_Potentilla Tormentilla_) belongs to the tribe of +wild Roses, and is a common plant on our heaths, banks, and dry +pastures. It is closely allied to the _Potentilla_, but bears only four +petals on its flowers, which are of bright yellow. The woody roots +are medicinally useful because of their astringent properties. +Sometimes the stem is trailing, making this the _Tormentilla +Reptans_, but more commonly it ascends. The name comes from +_tormina_, which signifies such griping of the intestines as the herb +will serve to relieve, as likewise the twinges of toothache. The root +is employed both for tanning leather, and for dyeing it by the +thickened red juice. Furthermore through its astringency this root is +admirable for arresting bleedings. Vesalius considered it to be as +useful against syphilis as Guiacum, and Sarsaparilla. A decoction of +Tormentil makes a capital gargle, and will heal ulcers of the mouth +if used as a wash. If a piece of lint soaked therein be kept applied to +warts, they will wither and disappear. Chemically the herb contains +"_Tormentilla Red_," identical with that of the Horse Chestnut, also +tannic, and kinoric acids. The decoction should be made with four +drams to half-a-pint of water boiled together for ten minutes, adding +half a dram of Cinnamon stick at the end of boiling; one or two +tablespoonfuls will be the dose, or of the powdered root (dried) the +dose will be from five to thirty grains. + +"_In fluxu sanguinis, fluore albo, et mictu involuntario Tormentilla +valet_." Dr. Thornton (1810) tells of a labouring botanist who learnt +the powers of this root, and by its decoction, sweetened with honey, +cured intractable agues, severe diarrhoeas, and scorbutic ulcers +(which had been turned out of hospitals as inveterate), [578] also +many fluxes. Lord William Russell heard about this, and allowed +the poor man a piece of his park in which to cultivate the herb, +"_Non est vegetabile quod in fluxionibus alvi efficacius est_." The +root is so rich in tannin that it may be used instead of oak bark. + + + +TURNIP. + +The Turnip (_Brassica Rapa_) belongs to the Cruciferous Cabbage +tribe, being often found growing in waste places, though not truly +wild. In this state it is worth nothing to man or beast; but, by +cultivation, it becomes a most valuable food for cattle in the winter, +and a good vegetable for our domestic uses. It exercises some +aperient action, and the liquid in which turnips are boiled will +increase the flow of urine. It is called also "bagie," and was the +"gongyle" of the Greeks, so named from the roundness of the root. + +When mashed, and mixed with bread and milk, the Turnip makes an +excellent cleansing and stimulating poultice for indolent abscesses +or sores. + +The Scotch eat small, yellow-rooted Turnips as we do radishes. +"Tastes and Turnips proverbially differ." At Plymouth, and some +other places, when a girl rejects a suitor, she is said to "give him +turnips," probably with reference to his sickly pallor of +disappointment. + +The seventeenth of June--as the day of St. Botolph, the old turnip +man,--is distinguished by various uses of a Turnip, because in the +Saga, which figuratively represents the seasons, the seeds were +sown on that day. + +It is told that the King of Bithynia in some expedition against the +Scythians during the winter, and when at a great distance from the +sea, had a violent [575] longing for a small fish known as _aphy_--a +pilchard, or anchovy. His cook cut a Turnip to a perfect imitation of +its shape, which, when fried in oil, well salted, and powdered with +the seeds of a dozen black poppies, so deceived the king that he +praised the root at table as an excellent fish. + +Being likely to provoke flatulent distension of the bowels, Turnips +are not a proper vegetable for hysterical persons, or for pregnant +women. The rind is acrimonious, but the tops, when young and +tender, may be boiled for the table as a succulent source of potash, +and other mineral salts in the Spring. + +The fermented juice of Turnips will yield an ardent spirit. When +properly cooked they serve to sweeten the blood. An essential +volatile oil contained in the root, chiefly in the rind, disagrees, by +provoking flatulent distension. This root is sometimes cut up and +partly substituted for the peel and pulp of oranges in marmalade. + +If Turnips are properly grown in dry, lean, sandy earth, a +wholesome, agreeable sort of bread can be made from them, "of +which we have eaten at the greatest persons' tables, and which is +hardly to be distinguished from the best of wheat." Some persons +roast Turnips in paper under the embers, and serve them with butter +and sugar. The juice made into syrup is an old domestic remedy for +coughs and hoarseness. + +A nice wholesome dish of Piedmontese Turnips is thus prepared: +Half boil your Turnip, and cut it in slices like half-crowns; butter a +pie dish, and put in the slices, moisten them with a little milk and +weak broth, sprinkle over lightly with bread crumbs, adding pepper +and salt; then bake in the oven until the Turnips become of a light +golden colour. + +[576] The Turnip, a navew, or variety of Rape (_navus_), should +never be sown in a rich soil, wherein it would become degenerate +and lose its shape as well as its dry agreeable relish. Horace advised +field-grown Turnips as preferable at a banquet to those of garden +culture. They may be safely eaten when raw, having been at one +time much consumed in Russia by the upper classes. + +Turnips have been introduced into armorial bearings to represent a +person of liberal disposition who relieves the poor. + +Dr. Johnson's famous illustration of false logic ran thus:-- + + "If a man fresh Turnips cries: + But cries not when his father dies, + Is this a proof the man would rather + Possess fresh Turnips than a father?" + + + +TURPENTINE. + +From our English Pines, if their stems be wounded, the oleo-resin +known as Turpentine, can be procured. This is so truly a vegetable +product, and so readily available for medical uses in every +household, being withal so valuable for its remedial and curative +virtues that no apology is needed for giving it notice as a Herbal +Simple. The said oleo-resin which exudes on incising the bark +furnishes our oil, or so-called spirit of Turpentine. But larger +quantities, and of a richer resin, can be had from abroad than it is +practicable for England to provide, so that our Turpentine of +commerce is mainly got from American and French sources. + +The oleo-resin consists of a resinous base and a volatile essential +oil, which is usually termed the spirit. + +The _Pinus Picra_, or Silver Fir-tree, yields common [577] +Turpentine; and to sleep on a pillow made from its yellow shavings +is a capital American device for relieving asthma. Fir cones are +called "buntins," and "oysters." + +"Tears," or resin drops, which trickle out on the stems of the Pine, if +taken, five or six of these tears in a day, will benefit chronic +bronchitis, and will prove useful to lessen the cough of +consumption. + +When swallowed in a full dose, Turpentine gives a sensation of +warmth, and excites the secretion of urine, to which it imparts a +violet hue. It also promotes perspiration, and stimulates the +bronchial mucous membrane. From eight to twenty drops may be +given as a dose to produce these effects; but an immoderate dose +will purge, or intoxicate, and stupefy, causing strangury, and +congestion of the kidneys. + +For bleeding from the lungs, five drops may be given, and repeated +at intervals of not less than half-an-hour, whilst needed. The dose +may be taken in milk, or on sugar, or bread. + +With the object of meeting for a curative purpose such symptoms +occurring as disease which large doses of this particular drug will +produce, as if by poisoning, in a healthy person, quite small doses of +Turpentine oil will promptly relieve simple congestion of the +kidneys, when occurring as illness, it may be from exposure to cold, +and accompanied by some feverishness, with frequent urination, as +well as a dragging of the loins. On which principle three or four +drops of a diluted tincture of Turpentine (made with one part of +Turpentine to nine parts of spirit of wine), given in a spoonful of +milk every four hours, will speedily dispel the congestion, thus +acting as an infallible specific, and a similar dose of the same +tincture will quickly subdue rheumatic inflammation of the eyes. + +[578] A pleasant form in which to administer Turpentine, whether +for chronic bronchitis or for kidney congestion from cold, is a +confection. This may be made by rubbing up one part of oil of +turpentine, with one part of liquorice powder, and with two parts of +clarified honey. Combine the first two together, then add the honey. +If the Turpentine separates, pour it off, and add it again with plenty +of rubbing until it unites. From half to one teaspoonful of this +confection, when mixed with two tablespoonfuls of peppermint-water, +will be found palatable, and may be repeated two or three +times in the day. + +What is called Terebene, a most useful medicine for winter cough, +is produced by the action of sulphuric acid on Turpentine. From five +to ten drops may be taken on sugar three or four times in the day, +and its vapour acts by inhalation as a very useful antiseptic sedative +in consumptive disease of the lungs. + +Externally, Turpentine is stimulating and counter-irritating, and +derivative. When applied to the skin, unless properly diluted, +Turpentine will cause redness and smarting to a painful degree, with +an outbreak of small blisters. As an embrocation, the oil of +turpentine mixed with spirit of wine and camphor, together with +soap liniment, proves very efficacious for the relief of sciatica, and +for the chronic rheumatism of joints. Also, when compounded with +wax and resin, it makes an excellent healing ointment for indolent, +and unhealthy sores. + +In Dublin, Turpentine is commingled with peppermint water, and +used as an external stimulant for chronic bronchitis. + +The famous liniment of St. John Long consisted of oil of turpentine +one part, acetic acid one part, and liniment of camphor one part. +This was of admirable [579] service for rubbing along the spine to +relieve the irritability of the spinal nerves, and it has proved +effectual to modify or prevent epileptic attacks, by being thus +applied. In cases of colic attending obstinate constipation, with +strengthless distension of the bowels, Turpentine mixed with starch +or thin gruel, an ounce to the pint, and administered as a clyster, +makes one of the most reliable and safe evacuants. Also as a +remedy for round worms, six or eight drops (more or less according +to age) may be safely and effectively given to a child on one or +more nights in milk. + +Pills made from Chian Turpentine, which is got from Cyprus, were +extolled by Dr. Clay of Manchester, in 1880, as a cure for cancer of +the womb, and for some other forms of cancerous disease. From +five to ten grains were to be given in a pill, or mixed with mucilage +as an emulsion, so that in all daily, after food, and in divided doses, +one hundred and eighty grains of this Turpentine were swallowed; +and the quantity was gradually increased until five hundred grains a +day were taken. In many cases this method of treatment proved +undoubtedly useful. + +A small quantity of powdered sulphur was also incorporated by Dr. +Clay in his Chian pills. About the fourth day the pain was relieved, +and the cancerous growth would melt away in a period of from four +to thirteen weeks. The arrest of bleeding and the continued freedom +from glandular infection after a prolonged use of this Chian +Turpentine were highly important points in the improvement +produced. + +From the _Pinus Sylvestris_ an oil is distilled by steam, and of this +from ten drops to a teaspoonful may be given for a dose, in milk, for +chronic rheumatism or chronic bronchitis. + +[580] It is most useful in the treatment of diphtheria to burn in the +room, near the patient, a mixture of turpentine and tar in a pan or +deep dish. The fumes serve to dissolve the false membrane, and +have helped to effect a cure in desperate cases. + +This tree had the Anglo-Saxon name Pimm, from pen, or pin, a +sharp rock,--"_ab acumine foliorum_," or perhaps as a contraction +of _picinus_--pitchy. It furnishes from its leaves an extract, and the +volatile oil. Wool is saturated with the latter, and dried, being then +made into blankets, jackets, spencers, and stockings, for the use of +rheumatic sufferers. There are establishments in Germany where the +Pine Cure is pursued by the above means, together with medicated +baths. Pine cones were regarded of old by the Assyrians as sacred +symbols, and were employed as such in the decoration of their +temples. From the tops of the Norway Spruce fir a favourite +invigorating drink is brewed which is known in the north as spruce +beer. This has an excellent reputation for curing scurvy, chronic +rheumatism, and cutaneous maladies. Laplanders make a bread from +the inner bark of the Pine. + +Tar (_pix liquida_) is furnished abundantly by the _Pinus +Sylvestris_, or Scotch Fir, and is extracted by heat. The tree is cut +into pieces, which are enclosed in a large oven constructed for the +purpose: fire is applied, and the liquid tar runs out through an +opening at the bottom. It is properly an empyreumatic oil of +turpentine, and has been much used in medicine both externally and +internally. Tar water was extolled in 1744, by Bishop Berkley, +almost as a panacea. He gave it for scurvy, skin eruptions, ulcers, +asthma, and rheumatism. It evidently promotes the secretions, +especially the urine. + +[581] Tar yields pyroligneous acid, oil of tar, and pitch: as well as +guiacol and creasote. + +Syrup of tar is an officinal medicine in the United States of America +for chronic bronchitis, and winter cough. By this the expectoration +is made easier, and the sleep at night improved. From one to two +teaspoonfuls are given as a dose, with or without water. Also tar +pills are prepared of pitch and liquorice powder in equal parts, five +grains in the whole pill. Two or three of these may be taken twice or +three times in the day. + +Tar ointment is highly efficacious against some forms of skin +disease; but in eczema and allied maladies of the skin, no +preparation of tar should be employed as long as the skin is actively +inflamed, or any exudation of moisture is secreted by it. + +Dr. Cullen met with a singular practice respecting Tar. A leg of +mutton was put to roast, being basted during the whole process with +tar instead of butter. Whilst roasting, a sharp skewer was frequently +thrust into the substance of the meat to let the juices escape, and +with the mixture of tar and gravy found in the dripping pan, the +body of the patient was anointed all over for three or four nights +consecutively, throughout all this time the same body linen being +worn. The plan proved quite successful in curing obstinate lepra. + +A famous liquor called "mum" was concocted by the House of +Brunswick, some of which was sent to General Monk. It was chiefly +brewed from the rind and tops of firs, and was esteemed very +powerful against the formation of stone, and to cure all scorbutick +distempers. Various herbs, as best approved by the maker, were +infused with the mum in concocting it, such as betony, birch, burnet, +brooklime, elder-flowers, horse-radish, [582] marjoram, thyme, +water-cress, pennyroyal, etc., together with several eggs, "the shells +not cracked or broken"! The Germans, especially in Saxony, have so +great a veneration for mum that they fancy their bodies can never +decay as long as they are lined, and embalmed with so powerful a +preserver. The Swedes call the fir "the scorbutick tree" to this day. + +Tar is soluble in its own bulk of spirit of wine, rectified, but +separates when water is added. Inhaled, its vapour is very useful in +chronic bronchitis. + +Tar water should be made by stirring a pint of tar with half a gallon +of water for fifteen minutes, and then decanting it. From half-a-pint +to a pint may be taken daily, and it may be used as a wash. Or from +twenty to sixty drops of tar are to be swallowed for a dose several +times in the day, whether for chronic catarrhal affections, or for +irritable urinary passages. Tar ointment is prepared with five parts +of tar to two pounds of yellow wax. It is an excellent application for +scald head in a child. + +Juniper tar oil is known as "oil of Cade," and Birch tar is got from +the Butcher's Broom. A recognised plaster and an ointment are +made with Burgundy pitch (from the _Picus Picea_) and yellow +wax. + +Probably the modern employment of carbolic acid, and its various +combinations--all derived from tar--for neutralising the septic +elements of disease, and for acting as germicides, was unknowingly +forestalled by the sagacious Right Reverend Lord Bishop of Cloyne, +in his _Philosophical Reflections and Inquiries concerning the +virtues of Tar Water_, two centuries ago, when the cup which +"cheers but not inebriates" was first told of by him, long before +Cowper. Bishop Berkley said, "I do, verily, think there is not any +other medicine whatsoever [583] so effectual to restore a crazy +constitution and to cheer a dreary mind: or so likely to subvert that +gloomy empire of the spleen which tyranniseth over the better sort." + +In _Great Expectations_, by Charles Dickens, the wife of Joe +Gargery is described as possessed of great faith in the curative +virtues of Tar water. + + + +VALERIAN. + +The great Wild Valerian, or Heal-all (from _valere_, to be well), +grows abundantly throughout this country in moist woods, and on +the banks of streams. It is a Benedicta, or blessed herb, being +dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as preservative against poisons; and it +bears the name of Capon's tail, from its spreading flowers. + +When found among bushes, in high pastures, and on dry heaths, it is +smaller, with the leaves narrower, but the roots more aromatic, and +less nauseous. + +The Valerian family of plants is remarkable for producing aromatic +and scented genera, which are known as "Nards" (the Spikenard of +Scripture), and which are much favoured in Asiatic harems under +several varieties, according to the situation of growth. Judas valued +the box of ointment made from the Spikenard (_Valeriana +Jatamansi_), with which Mary anointed the feet of our Saviour at +two hundred denarii (L6: 9s: 2d.). + +We have also the small Marsh Valerian, which is wild, and the +cultivated Red Valerian, of our cottage gardens. + +The roots of our Wild Valerian exercise a strange fascination over +cats, causing an ecstasy of delight in these animals, who become +almost intoxicated when brought into contact with the Simple. And +rats strangely exhibit the same fondness for these roots [584] which +they grub up. It has been suggested that the Pied Piper of Hamelin +may have carried one of such roots in his wallet. + +They have been given from an early period with much success for +hysterical affections, and for epileptic attacks induced by strong +emotional excitement, as anger or fear: likewise, they serve as a safe +and effectual remedy against habitual constipation when active +purgatives have failed to overcome this difficulty. + +The plant is largely cultivated for the apothecary's uses about the +villages near Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. It is named Setwall in the +North of England; and, says Gerard, "No broths, pottage, or +physicall meats be worth anything if Setwall (a corruption from +Zedoar), be not there":-- + + "They that will have their heale, + Must put Setwall in their keale." + +The Greeks employed one kind of Valerian named _Phu_ for +hanging on doors and windows as a protective charm. But some +suppose this to have been a title of aversion, like our English +"faugh" against any thing which stinks. Dr. Uvedale introduced the +Valerian into his garden, at Eltham Palace, before 1722; and +Uvedale House still exists in Church Street, at Chelsea. +The herb is sometimes called Cut-heal, not because, as Gerard +thought, it is "useful for slight cuts and wounds," but from its +attributed efficacy in disorders of the womb (kutte cowth). Joined +with Manna, Valerian has proved most useful in epilepsy; and when +combined with Guiacum it has resolved scrofulous tumours. In +Germany imps are thought to be afraid of it. + +At Plymouth, the broad-leaved Red Valerian goes by the name of +Drunken Sailor, and Bovisand soldier, the [585] larger sort being +distinguished as Bouncing Bess, whilst the smaller, paler kind is +known as Delicate Bess throughout the West of Devon. + +An officinal tincture is made from the rhizome of Valerian with +spirit of wine, of which from one to two teaspoonfuls may be given +for a dose, with a little water. Also a tincture (ammoniated) is +prepared with aromatic spirit of ammonia on the rhizome, and this is +considerably stronger; from twenty to forty drops is a sufficient +dose with a spoonful or two of water. + +The essential oil of Valerian lessens the sensibility of the spinal +cord after primary stimulation of its nervous substance. A drop of +this oil in a spoonful of milk will be a proper dose: especially +in some forms of constipation. + +Used externally, by friction, the volatile oil of Valerian has proved +beneficial as a liniment for paralyzed limbs. The powdered root +mixed in snuff is of efficacy for weak eyes. + +The cultivated plant is less rich in the volatile oil than the wild +herb. On exposure to the air Valerian oil becomes oxidised, and forms +valerianic acid, which together with an alcohol, "borneol," +constitutes the active medicinal part of the plant. + +The root also contains malic, acetic, and formic acids, with a resin, +tannin, starch, and mucilage. It is by first arousing and then blunting +the reflex nervous activities of the spinal cord, that the oil of +Valerian overcomes chronic constipation. + +Preparations of Valerian act admirably for the relief of nervous +headache associated with flatulence, and in a person of sensitive +temperament. They likewise do good for infantine colic, and they +diminish the urea; when the urine contains it in excess. + +[586] The Greek Valerian is another British species, found growing +occasionally in the North of England and in Scotland, being known +as the blue Jacob's Ladder. It is also named "Make bate," because +said to set a married couple quarrelling if put in their bed. This must +be a play on its botanical name _Polemonium_, from the Greek +_polemos_, war. It is called Jacob's Ladder from its successive pairs +of leaflets. + + + +VERBENA. + +The Verbena, or Common Vervain, is a very familiar herb on waste +ground throughout England, limited to no soil, and growing at the +entrance into towns and villages, always within a quarter of a mile +of a house, and hence called formerly the Simpler's joy. Of old, +much credit for curative virtues attached itself to this plant, though +it is without odour, and has no taste other than that of slight +astringency. But a reputation clings to the vervain because it used to +be held sacred, as "Holy Herb," and was employed in sacrificial +rites, being worn also around the neck as an amulet. It was called +"Tears of Isis" "Tears of Juno" "Persephonion" and "Demetria." The +juice was given as a remedy for the plague. Vervain grew on +Calvary: and Gerard says "the devil did reveal it as a secret, and +divine medicine." + +It is a slender plant with but few leaves, and spikes of small lilac +flowers, when wild; but its cultivated varieties, developed by the +gardener, are showy plants, remarkable for their brilliant colours. + +The name Frogfoot has been applied to the Vervain because its leaf +somewhat resembles in outline the foot of that creature. Old writers +called the plant _Verbinaca_ and _Peristerium_:-- + + "Frossis fot men call it, + For his levys are like the frossy's fet." + +[587] The practice of wearing it round the neck became changed +from a religious observance to a medicinal proceeding, for which +reason it was ordered that the plant should be _bruised_ before +being appended to the person; and thus it gained a name for curing +inveterate headaches. Presently also it was applied to other parts as a +cataplasm. + +Nevertheless, the Vervain has fallen of late years into disfavour as a +British Herbal Simple, though a pamphlet has recently appeared, +written by a Mr. Morley, who strongly advises the revived use of +the herb for benefiting scrofulous disease. Therein it is ordered that +the root of Vervain shall be tied with a yard of white satin ribband +round the neck of the patient until he recovers. Also an infusion and +an ointment are to be prepared from the leaves of the plant. + +The expressed juice of Verbena will act as a febrifuge; and the +infusion by its astringency makes a good lotion for weak and +inflamed eyes, also for indolent ulcers, and as a gargle for a relaxed +sore throat. The Druids gathered it with as much reverence as they +paid to the Mistletoe. It was dedicated to Isis, the goddess of birth, +and formed a famous ingredient in love philtres. Pliny saith: "They +report that if the dining chamber be sprinkled with water in which +the herb Verbena has been steeped, the guests will be the merrier." + +Geoffrey St. Hilaire and Pasteur praise the Vervain highly as +beneficial against ailments of the hair, the fresh juice being +especially used. + +Other names of the plant are Juno's tears, Mercury's moist blood, +Pigeons' grass, and Columbine--the two latter being assigned +because pigeons show a partiality for the herb. + +Verbena plants were named _Sagmina_ of old, because [588] cut up +by the Praetor in the Capitol. When borne by an Ambassador +Verbena rendered his person inviolable. All herbs used in sacred +rites were probably known as Verbena. They were reported as of +singular force against the tertian and quartan agues; "but one must +observe Mother Bombie's rules--to take just so many knots, or +sprigs, and no more, lest it fallout that it do you no good, if you +catch no harm by it." + + + +VINE. + +The fruit of the Vine (_Vitis vinifera_) has already been treated of +here under the heading "Grapes," as employed medicinally whether +for the purgation of the bilious--being then taken crude, and scarcely +ripe,--or for imparting fat and bodily warmth in wasting disease by +eating the luscious and richly-saccharine berries. + +It should be added that the fumes exhaled from the wine-presses +whilst the juice is fermenting, prove highly beneficial as a +restorative for weakly and delicate young persons (an example +which might be followed perhaps at our home breweries). + +Consumptive patients are sent with this view to the Gironde, where +the vapour from the wine vats is more stimulating and curative than +in Burgundy. Young girls who suffer from atrophy are first made to +stand for some hours daily in the sheds when the wine pressing is +going forward. After a while, as they become less weak, they are +directed to jump into the wine press, where, with the vintagers and +labourers they skip about and inhale the fumes of the fermenting +juice, until they sometimes become intoxicated, and even senseless. +This effect passes off after one or two trials, and the girls return to +their labour with renewed strength and heightened colour, hopeful, +joyous, and robust. The [589] vats of the famous Chateau d'yquem +are the most celebrated of all for the wondrous cures they have +effected even in cases considered past human aid. + + + +VIOLET. + +The Wild violet or Pansy (_Viola tricolor_) is found commonly +throughout Great Britain on banks and in hilly pastures, from +whence it has come to be cultivated in our gardens. + +_Viola_, a corruption of "Ion," is a name extended by old writers to +several other different plants. But the true indigenous representative +of the Violet tribe is our Wild Pansy, or Paunce, or Pance, or Heart's +ease; called also "John of my Pink," "Gentleman John," "Meet her i' +th' entry; kiss her i' th' buttery" (the longest plant name in the +English language), and "Love in idleness." + + "A little Western flower, + Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound, + And maidens call it--'Love in idleness.'" + +From its coquettishly half hiding its face, as well as from some +fancied picture in the throat of the corolla it has received various +other amatory designations, such as "cuddle me to you," "tittle my +fancy," "jump up and kiss me," and "garden gate": also it is called +"Flamy," because its colours are seen in the flame of burning wood, +and Flame Flower. + +The term "heart's ease" has signified a cordial which is comforting +to the heart. But the fact is that Pansies, "pretty little Puritans," +produce anything but heart's ease if eaten, and their roots provoke +sickness so speedily that these are sometimes employed as an +emetic. + +Dr. Johnson derived the word Pansy from Panacea, [590] as curing +all diseases; but this was a mistake, The true derivation is from the +French _pensee_, "thoughts," as Shakespeare knew, when making +Ophelia say: "There is pansies--that's for thoughts." + +From its three colours it has been called the herb Trinity. A +medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the _Viola tricolor_ with spirit +of wine, using the entire plant. Hahnemann found that the Pansy +violet, when taken by provers, served to induce cutaneous eruptions, +or to aggravate them, and he reasoned out the curative action of the +plant in small diluted doses for the cure of these symptoms, when +occurring as disease. + +"For milk crust and scald head," says Dr. Hughes (Brighton)--the +plague of children, "I have rarely needed any other medicine than +this _Viola tricolor_; and I have more than once given it in recent +impetigo (pustular eczema) for adults, with very satisfactory +effects." For the first of these maladies the tincture should be given +in doses of from three to six drops, to a child of from two to six or +eight years, three times a day in water. + +Again, "for curing scalled (from _scall_, a shell) head in children, a +small handful of the fresh plant, or half a drachm of the dried herb, +boiled for two hours in milk, is to be taken each night and morning; +also a bread poultice made with this decoction should be applied to +the affected part. + +"During the first eight days the eruption increases, and the urine, +when the medicine succeeds, has a nauseous odour like that of the +cat, which presently passes off; then, as the use of the plant is +continued, the scabs disappear, and the skin recovers its natural +clean condition." + +The root of the _Viola tricolor_ has similar properties [591] to that +of Ipecacuanha, and is often used beneficially as a substitute by +country doctors. An infusion thereof is admirable for the dysentery +of young children. It loves a mixture of chalk in the soil where it +grows. + +The Pansy contains an active chemical principle, "violin," resin, +mucilage, sugar, and the other ordinary constituents of plants. When +bruised the plant, and especially its root, smells like peach kernels, +or prussic acid. It acts as a slight laxative: and "the distilled +water of the flowers" says Gerard--"cureth the French disease." + +The Germans style the Pansy _Stief-mutter_, because figuratively +the mother-in-law appears in the flower predominant in purple +velvet, and her own two daughters gay in purple and yellow, whilst +the two poor little Cinderellas, more soberly and scantily attired, are +squeezed in between. Again, another fable says, with respect to the +five petals and the five sepals of the Pansy, two of which petals are +plain in colour, whilst each has a single sepal, the three other petals +being gay of hue, one of these (the largest of all) having two sepals; +that the Pansy represents a family of husband, wife, and four +daughters, two of the latter being step-children of the wife. + +The plain petals are the step-children, with only one chair; the two +small gay petals are the daughters, with a chair each; and the large +gay petal is the wife, with two chairs. To find the father, one must +strip away the petals until the stamens and pistils are bare. These +then bear a fanciful resemblance to an old man with a flannel +wrapper about his neck, having his shoulders upraised, and his feet +in a bath tub. The French also call the Pansy "The Step-mother." + +The chemical principle, "violin," contained in the [592] flowering +Wild Pansy resembles emetin in action. If the dried plant is given +medicinally, from ten to sixty grains may be taken as a dose, in +infusion. + +The Sweet Violet (_Viola odorata_) is well known for its delicious +fragrance of perfume when growing in our woods, pastures, and +hedge banks. The odour of its petals is lost in drying, but a pleasant +syrup is made from the flowers which is a suitable laxative for +children. + +A conserve, called "violet sugar," prepared from the flowers, has +proved of excellent use in consumption. This conserve was made in +the time of Charles the Second, being named "Violet plate." Also, +the Sweet Violet is thought to possess admirable virtues as a +cosmetic. Lightfoot gives a translation from a Highland recipe in +Gaelic, for its use in this capacity, rendered thus: "Anoint thy face +with goat's milk in which violets have been infused, and there is not +a young prince upon earth who will not be charmed with thy +beauty." + +There is a legend that Mahomet once compared the excellence of +Violet perfume above all other sweet odours to himself above all the +rest of creation: it refreshes in summer by its coolness, and revives +in winter by its warmth. + +The Syrup of Sweet Violets should be made as follows: To one +pound of sweet violet flowers freshly picked, add two-and-a-half +pints of boiling water: infuse these for twenty-four hours in a glazed +china vessel, then pour off the liquid, and strain it gently through +muslin; afterwards add double its weight of the finest loaf sugar, +and make it into a syrup, but without letting it boil. + +Violets are cultivated largely at Stratford-on-Avon for the purpose +of making the syrup, which when mixed with almond oil, is a +capital laxative for children, [593] and will help to soothe irritative +coughs, or to relieve a sore throat. + +The flowers have been commended for the cure of epilepsy and +nervous disorders; they are laxative when eaten in a salad. The seeds +are diuretic, and will correct gravel. The Sweet Violet contains the +chemical principle "violin" in all its parts. A medicinal tincture (H.) +is made from the entire fresh plant with proof spirit. It acts usefully +for a spasmodic cough, with hard breathing; also for rheumatism of +the wrists especially the right one. + +This Violet is highly esteemed likewise in Syria, chiefly because of +its being chosen for making the violet sugar used in sherbet. That +which is drunk by the Grand Signior himself is compounded of +sweet violets, and sugar. + +From the flower may be pleasantly contrived a pretty miniature bird, +by carefully removing the calyx and corolla, leaving only the +stamens and pistil attached to the receptacle; then the stigma forms +the bead and neck, whilst the anthers make a golden breast, and their +tongues appear like a pair of green wings. + +Mademoiselle Clarion, a noted French actress, had a nosegay of +violets sent her every morning of the season for thirty years; and to +enhance the value of the gift, she stripped off the petals every +evening, being passionately devoted to the flower, and took them in +an infusion as tea. + +Pliny recommended a garland of sweet violets as a cure for +headache. The Romans made wine of the flowers; and Napoleon the +Great claimed the Violet as _par excellence_ his own, for which +reason he was often styled, _Le pere du violette_. This floral +association took date from the time of his exile to Elba. The +Emperor's return was alluded to among his adherents by a pass +[594] word, "_Aimez vous la Violette? Eh, bien! reparaitra au +printemps_." + +The scentless Dog Violet (_Viola canina_) is likewise mildly +laxative, and possesses the virtues of the _Viola odorata_ in a lesser +degree. + +The Water Violet is "feather foil" (_Hottonia palustris_). + + + +VIPER'S BUGLOSS. + +The Simpler's passing consideration should be given to this tall +handsome English herb which grows frequently in gravel pits, and +on walls. It belongs to the Borage tribe (see page 60), and, in +common with the Lungwort (_Pulmonaria_), the Comfrey, and the +ordinary Bugloss, abounds in a soft mucilaginous saline juice. This +is demulcent to the chest, or to the urinary passages, being also +slightly laxative. Bees favour the said plants, which are rich in +honey. Each herb goes by the rustic name of "Abraham, Isaac, and +Jacob," because bearing spires of tricoloured flowers, blue, purple, +and red. The Viper's Bugloss is called botanically _Echium_, having +been formerly considered antidotal to the bite of (_Echis_) a viper: +and its seed was thought to resemble the reptile's head: wherefore +such a curative virtue became attributed to it after the doctrine of +signatures. "_In Echio, herba contra viperarum morsus celeberrima, +natura semen viperinis capitibus simile procreavit_." Similarly the +Lungwort (or Jerusalem Cowslip), because of its spotted leaves, was +held to be a remedy for diseased lungs. This rarely grows wild, but +it is of frequent cultivation in cottage gardens, bearing also the +rustic name, "Soldiers and Sailors," "To-day and to-morrow," and +"Virgin Mary." From either of these herbs a fomentation of the +flowers, or a decoction of the whole bruised plant, may be employed +with benefit locally to sore or raw surfaces: [595] whilst an infusion +made with three drams of the dried herb to a pint of boiling water +will be good in feverish pulmonary catarrh. By our ancestors viper +broth was thought to be highly invigorating: and vipers cooked like +eels were given to patients suffering from ulcers. The Sardinians +still take them in soup. Marvellous powers were supposed to be +acquired by the Druids through their possession of a viper's egg, laid +in the air, and caught before reaching the earth. All herbs of the +Borage order are indifferently "of force and virtue to drive away +sorrow and pensiveness of the mind: also to comfort and strengthen +the heart." With respect to the Comfrey (see page 120), quite +recently the President of the Irish College of Surgeons has reported +the gradual disappearance of a growth ("malignant, sarcomatous, +twice recurrent, and of a bad type"), since steadily applying +poultices of this root to the tumour. "I know nothing," says +Professor Thomson, "of the effects of Comfrey root: but the fact that +this growth has simply disappeared is one of the greatest surprises +and puzzles I have met with." + + + +WALLFLOWER. + +The Wallflower, or Handfiower (_Cheiranthus cheiri_), or +Wall-gilliflower, has been cultivated in this country almost from time +immemorial, for its fragrance and bright colouring. It is found wild +in France, Switzerland, and Spain, as the Keiri or Wallstock. +Formerly this flower was carried in the hand at classic festivals. +Herrick, in 1647, gave a more romantic origin to the name +Wallflower:-- + + "Why this flower is now called so + List, sweet maids, and you shall know: + Understand this wilding was + Once a bright and bonny lad + [596] Who a sprightly springal loved, + And to have it fully proved + Up she got upon a wall + Tempting to slide down withal: + But the silken twist untied, + So she fell: and, bruised, she died. + Love, in pity of the deed, + And such luckless eager speed, + Turned her to this plant we call + Now the 'Floweret of the Wall.'" + +It is the only British species belonging to the Cruciferous order of +plants, and flourishes best on the walls of old buildings, flowering +nearly all the summer, though scantily supplied with moisture. We +may presume it was one of the earliest cultivated flowers in English +gardens, as it is discovered on the most ancient houses. + +Turner, an early writer on Plants, calls it Wallgelouer, or +"Hartisease;" and by Spencer it was termed Cherisaunce, as +meaning a cordial to the heart, this being really the herb to which +the name Heart's-ease was originally given. By rustics it is known +also as the "Beeflower." + +But the common Stock likewise bore the appellation, "Gilliflower": +and the probability is, there was in old days, as Cotgrave suggests, a +popular medicine or food "for the passions of the heart," called +"gariofile," from the cloves which it contained, the Latin for a clove +being _caryophyllum_. Hence it came about that the Wallflower, the +Pansy, and the Stock, by virtue of their cordial qualities, were alike +called Gilliflowers, or Heart's-ease. + +There are two varieties of the cultivated Wallflower, the Yellow and +the Red; those of a deep colour growing on old rockeries and similar +places, are often termed [597] Bloody Warriors, and Bleeding Heart. +The double Wallflower has been produced for more than two +centuries. If the flowers are steeped in oil for some weeks, they +contribute thereto a stimulating warming property useful for friction +to limbs which are rheumatic, or neuralgic. Gerard suggests that the +"oyle of Wallflowers is good for use to annoint a paralyticke." An +infusion of the flowers, made with boiling water, will relieve the +headache of debility, and is cordial in nervous disorders, by taking a +small wine-glassful immediately, and repeating it every half-hour +whilst required. The aromatic volatile principles of the flowers are +_caryophyllin_ and _eugenol_. "This Wallflower," adds Gerard, +"and the Stock Gilliflower are used by certain empiricks and quack +salvers about love and lust,--matters which for modesty I omit." + + + +WALNUT. + +The Walnut tree is known of aspect to most persons throughout +Great Britain as of stately handsome culture, having many spreading +branches covered with a silvery grey bark, which is smooth when +young, though thick and cracked when old. + +The flowers occur in long, hanging, inconspicuous spikes or catkins, +of a brownish green colour. + +This tree is a native of Asia Minor, but is largely grown in England. +The Greeks called it "Karuon," and the Latins "Nux." Its botanical +title is _Juglans regia_, a corruption of _glans_, the acorn, _jovis_, +of Jupiter, or the "royal nut of Jupiter," food fit for the Gods! Its +fruit is also named Ban nut, or Ball nut, and Welsh nut, or Walnut-- +the word Wal, or Welsh, being Teutonic for "stranger." "As for the +timber," said Fuller, "it may be termed the English Shittim Wood." + +[598] The London Society of Apothecaries has directed that the +unripe fruit of the Walnut should be used pharmaceutically on +account of its worm-destroying virtues. + +It is remarkable that no insects will prey on the leaves of this tree. +In good seasons the produce of nuts is weighty enough to pay the rent +of the land occupied by the trees. + +The vinegar of the pickled fruit makes a very useful gargle for sore +throats, even when slightly ulcerated: and the green husks, or early +buds of the blossom, being dried to powder, serve in some places +for pepper. + +The kernel of the nut (or the part of the inside taken at dessert) +affords an oil which does not congeal by cold, and which painters +find very useful on such account. + +This oil has proved useful when applied externally for troublesome +skin diseases of the leprous type. Indeed, the Walnut has been justly +termed vegetable arsenic, because of its curative virtues in eczema, +and other obstinately diseased conditions of the skin. + +The tincture when made (H.) from the rind of the green fruit and the +fresh leaves, with spirit of wine, and given in material doses, will +determine in a sound person a burning itching eruption of the skin, +of an eczematous character, lasting a long time, and leaving the +parts which have been affected afterwards blue and swollen. +Reasoning from which it has been found that the tincture, in a +reduced form, and of a diminished strength, proves admirably +curative of eczema, impetigo, and ecthyma. + +The unripe fruit is laxative, and of beneficial use in thrush, and in +ulcerative sore throat. The leaves are said to be anti-syphilitic: +likewise the green husk, and unripe shell. Obstinate ulcers may be +cured with sugar well moistened in a strong decoction of the leaves. + +[599] Well kept, kiln-dried Walnuts, of some age, are better +digested than newer fruit; in contrast to old gherkins, about which +it has been humorously said, "avoid stale Q-cumbers: they will +W-up." In many parts of Germany the peasants literally subsist on +Walnuts for several months together; and a young farmer before he +marries has to own a certain number of flourishing Walnut trees. + +The bark or yellow skin which clothes the inner nut is a notable +remedy for colic, being given when dried and powdered, in a dose +of thirty or forty grains mixed with some carminative water; and the +same powder will help to expel worms. + +According to the Salernitan maxim, if the fruit of the Walnut be +eaten after fish, the digestion of the latter is promoted:-- + + Post pisces nux sit: post carnes case us esto. + +Or, + + "Take Welsh nuts after fish: take cheese after flesh meat." + +But with some persons coughing is excited by eating Walnuts. + +The roots, leaves, and rind yield a brown dye which is supposed to +contain iodine, and which gipsies employ for staining their skins. It +also serves to turn the hair black. A custom prevails (says a Latin +sentence) among certain country folk to thrash the nuts out of their +husks while still on the trees, so that they may grow more +abundantly the following year. In allusion to which practice the +lines run thus:-- + + "Nux, asinus, mulier, simili sunt lege ligata; + Haec trieo nil fructus faciunt si verbera cessant." + + "A woman, a donkey, a walnut tree-- + The more you beat them, the better they be." + +[600] It is a fact, that by acting in this way, the barren ends of the +branches are knocked off, and fresh fruit-bearing twigs spring out at +each side in their stead. + +Walnut cake, after expressing out the oil from the kernels, is a good +food for cattle, these kernels being the crumpled cotyledons or seed +leaves. They contain oil, mucilage, albumen, mineral matter, +cellulose, and water. + +The rook has a most abiding affection for Walnuts. As soon as there +is any fruit on the trees worth eating, this bird finds it out, and +brings it to the ground, choosing only those nuts which are soft +enough for him to penetrate. + +Ovid has left a charming little poem, _Nucis Elegia_--the plaint of +the Walnut tree--because beaten with sticks and pelted with stones, +in return for the generosity with which it bestows on mankind its +fair produce. + +A valuable medicinal Spirit is distilled by druggists from the fruit of +the Walnut. It is an admirable remedy for spasmodic indigestion, +and to relieve the morning sickness of pregnancy. A teaspoonful of +the spirit (_Spiritus nucis juglandis_) may be given with half a +wine-glassful of water every hour or two, for most forms of +sickness, and the dose may be increased if necessary. + +"Nucin," or "juglon," is the active chemical principle of the several +parts of the tree and its fruit. + +The leaves, when slightly rubbed, emit a rich aromatic odour, which +renders them proof against the attacks of insects. Qualities of this +odoriferous sort commended the tree to King Solomon, whose +"garden of nuts" was clearly one of Walnuts, according to the +Hebrew word _eghoz_. The longevity of the tree is very great. There is +at Balaclava, in the Crimea, a Walnut tree believed to be a thousand +years old. + +[601] The shade of the Walnut tree was held by the Romans to be +baneful, but the nuts were thought propitious, and favourable to +marriage as a symbol of fecundity. The ceremony of throwing nuts, +for which boys scrambled at a wedding, was of Athenian origin:-- + + "Let the air with Hymen ring + Hymen! Io! Hymen sing! + Soon the nuts will now be flung: + Soon the wanton verses sung." + --_Catullus_. + +In Italy this is known as the "Witches tree." It is hostile to the oak. + +The leaves of the American Black Walnut tree, which grows +naturally in Virginia, are of the highest curative value for scrofulous +diseases and for strumous eruptions. Chronic, indolent sores have +been healed by these after every other remedy has failed. The parts +should be washed several times a day with a strong decoction of the +leaves, and an infusion of the same should be taken internally; also +of the extract made from the leaves, four grains in a pill each night +and morning. For such purposes the leaves of our English Walnut +are almost equally efficacious. To make an infusion one ounce +should be used to twelve ounces of boiling water. For a syrup mix +eight grains of the extract with an ounce of simple syrup: and give +one teaspoonful of this twice a day with water. Also apply to any +sore some of the powdered leaves on lint soaked in the decoction. +For scrofulous joints, or glands, this treatment is invaluable. A green +English Walnut, boiled in syrup and preserved in the same, is an +excellent homely remedy for constipation. It will be noticed that the +fruit becomes black by boiling. The Chinese put the raw kernels into +their tea to give it a flavour. + +[602] By the Romans Walnuts were scattered among the people +when a marriage was celebrated, as an intimation that the wedded +couple henceforth abandoned the frivolities of youth. + +The "titmouse" walnut produces very delicate fruit, rich in oil, and +with thin shells, so that the little creatures can pierce the husks and +shells while the fruit is still on the bough. + +Nuts of various kinds, being charged with carbon and oil, are highly +nutritious, but on account of this oil abounding, they are not readily +digested by some persons. In Southern Europe, the Chestnut is a +staple article of food, The title "nut" signifies a hard round lump, +from _nodus_, a knot. + +Leigh Hunt wrote meaningly of the "inexorably hard cocoa nut-- +milky at heart." In Devonshire a plentiful crop of hazel nuts is +believed to portend an unhealthy year:-- + + "Many nits (nuts) + Many pits (graves)." + +When eating almonds and raisins at dessert we get the nitrogenous +food of the nuts with the saccharine nourishment of the grapes. + + + +WART-WORT, OR WART-WEED. + +This name has been commonly applied to the Petty Spurge, or to the +Sun Spurge, a familiar little weed growing abundantly in English +gardens, with umbels of a golden green colour which "turn towards +the sun." Its stem and leaves yield, when wounded, an acrid milky +juice which is popularly applied for destroying warts, and corns. But +our Greater Celandine (see page 92) or Swallow-wort is better +known abroad as the Wart-wort: and its sap is widely given in +Russia for the cure, not only of [603] warts, but likewise of +cancerous outgrowths, whether occurring on the skin surface, or +assailing membranes inside the body. Conclusive evidence has been +adduced of cancerous disease within the gullet and the stomach--as +well as on the external skin--being healed by this herb. Its sap, or +juice, contains chemically, "chelidonine," and "sanguinarine," which +latter principle (obtained heretofore from the Canadian "blood +root"), is of long established repute for repressing fungoid +granulations of indolent ulcers, when powdered over them, and of +quickly advancing their cure. Each principle exercises a narcotic +influence on the nervous system, and will, thereby, relieve +spasmodic coughs. Healthy provers have taken the fresh juice of the +Greater Celandine in doses of from twenty to two hundred drops, at +repeated intervals; the results of the larger portions being drastic +purgation, with persistent nervous torpor, and with an outbreak on +the skin of irritating, sore, itching eruptions. In some of the provers +active inflammatory congestion of the right lung ensued, with +turgidity of the liver. The root beaten into a conserve with sugar will +operate by stool, and by urine. For cancerous excrescences from five +to ten drops of the fresh juice, or of the mother tincture (H.) should +be given steadily three times a day, this quantity being reduced if it +should move the bowels too freely. Some of the sap, or tincture, +should be also used outwardly as a lotion, either by itself, or diluted +with an equal quantity of cold water. + + + +WATER PLANTS (Other). + +(Water Dropwort, Water Lily, Water Pepper.) + +The Water Dropwort--Hemlock (_oenanthe crocata_) is an umbelliferous +plant, frequent in our marshes and ditches. [604] It is named +from _oinos_, wine, and _anthos_, a flower, because its blossoms +have a vinous smell. A medicinal tincture is made (H.) from the +ripe fruit. + +The leaves look like Celery, and the roots like parsnips. A country +name of this plant is Dead-tongue, from its paralyzing effects on the +organs of the voice. Of eight lads who were poisoned by eating the +root, says Mr. Vaughan, five died before morning, not one of them +having spoken a word. Other names are Horsebane, from its being +thought in Sweden to cause in horses a kind of palsy; (due, as +Linnaeus thought, to an insect, _curculio paraplecticus_, which +breeds in the stem); and Five-fingered-root, from its five leaflets. +The roots contain a poisonous, milky juice, which becomes yellow +on exposure to the air, and which exudes from all parts of the plant +when wounded. It will be readily seen that because of so virulent a +nature the plant is too dangerous for use as a Herbal Simple, though +the juice has been known to cure obstinate and severe skin disease. +It yields an acrid emetic principle. The root is sometimes applied by +country folk to whitlows, but this has proved an unsafe proceeding. +The plant has a pleasant odour. Its leaves have been mistaken for +Parsley, and its root for the Skirret. + +The _OEnanthe Phellandrium_ (Water Fennel) is a variety of the +same species, but with finer leaves. Pliny gave the seeds, twenty +grains for a dose, against stone, and disorders of the bladder. Also +they have been commended for cancer. + +In this country Water Lilies, or Pond Lilies, comprise the White +Water Lily--a large native flower inhabiting clear pools and slow +rivers--and the Yellow Water Lily, frequent in rivers and ditches, +with a yellow, globose flower smelling like brandy, so that it is +called "Brandy [605] bottle" in Norfolk and other parts. Its root and +stalks contain much tannin. + +This latter Yellow Lily (_Nuphar lutea_) possesses medicinal +virtues against diarrhoea, such as is aggravated in the morning, and +against sexual weakness. A tincture is made (H.) from the whole +plant with spirit of wine. The second title, _lutea_, signifies +growing in the mud; whilst the large white Water Lily is called +_Nymphoea_, from occurring in the supposed haunts of the +nymphs: and Flatter-dock. + +The root stocks of the Yellow Water Lily, when bruised, and +infused in milk, will destroy beetles and cockroaches. The smoke of +the same when burnt will get rid of crickets. + +The small Yellow Pond Lily bears the name of Candock, from the +shape of its seed vessel, like that of a silver can or flagon, and this +perhaps has likewise to do with the appellations, "Brandy bottle" +and "Water can:" which latter may be given because of the half +unfolded leaves floating on the water like cans. + +The root of the larger white Water Lily is acrid, and will redden the +skill if the juice is applied thereto. + +An Ointment may be made with this juice to stimulate the scalp so +as to prevent falling out of the hair. The root contains tannin and +mucilage, it is therefore astringent and demulcent. Also the +expressed juice from the fresh leaves of this white Water Lily, the +"one sinless flower," if used as a head wash, will preserve the hair. + +"Oh, destinee des choses d'ici bas! Descendre des austerities du +Cloitre dans l'officine Cancaniere du perruquier!" + +Dutch boys are said to be extremely careful about plucking or +handling the Water Lily, for, if a boy fall [606] with the flowers in +his possession, he is thought to immediately become subject to fits. + +The Water Pepper (_Polygonum Hydropiper_) or Arsmart, Grows +abundantly by the sides of lakes and ditches in Great Britain. It +bears a vulgar English name signifying the irritation which it causes +when applied to the fundament; and its French sobriquet, _Culrage_, +conveys the same meaning:-- + + "An erbe is the cause of all this rage, + In our tongue called Culrage." + +The plant is further known to rustics as Cyderach, or Ciderage, and +as Red-knees, from its red angular points. It possesses an acrid, +biting taste, somewhat like that of the Peppermint, which resides in +the glandular dots sprinkled about its surface, and which is lost in +drying. Fleas will not come into rooms where this herb is kept. It is +called also "lake weed." A tradition says that the plant when placed +under the saddle will enable a horse to travel for some long time +without becoming hungry or thirsty. The Scythians knew this herb +(_Hippice_) to be useful for such a purpose. + +The Water Pepper has its virtues first taught by a beggar of Savoy. +It is admirable against syphilis, and to arrest sexual losses: being +long adored because "healing the original sin." + +Farriers use it for curing proud flesh in the sores of animals, and +when applied to the human skin, the leaves will serve the purpose of +a mustard poultice. Also, a piece of the plant may be chewed to +relieve toothache, as well as to cure small ulcers of thrush in the +mouth, and pimples on the tongue. + +The expressed juice of the freshly-gathered plant has been found +very useful in jaundice. From one to three [607] tablespoonfuls may +be taken for a dose. A hot decoction made from the whole herb +(Water Persicaria) has a sheet soaked in it as an American remedy +for cholera, the patient being wrapped therein immediately when +seized. This herb, together with the _Thuja Occidentalis_ (_Arbor +vitoe_) makes the _Anti-venereo_ of Count Mattaei. + +Another Polygonum, the great Bistort, or Snakeweed, and +Adderswort, is a common wild plant in the northern parts of Great +Britain, having bent or crooked roots, which are difficult to be +extirpated, and are strongly astringent. + +This Bistort, "twice twisted," on account of its snake-like +root, was at one time called _Serpentaria_, _Columbrina_, and +_Dracunculus_. + +It has been thought to be the _Oxylapathum Britannicum_ and +_Limonium_ of the ancients. + +The dose of the root in substance is from twenty to sixty grains. In +the North of England the plant is known as Easter Giant, and its +young shoots are eaten in herb pudding. About Manchester they are +substituted for greens, under the name of Passion's dock. The root +may be employed both externally as a poultice, and inwardly as a +decoction, when an astringent is needed. It is most useful for a +spongy state of the gums, attended with looseness of the teeth. + +This plant grows in moist meadows, but is not common. Its roots are +reddish of colour inside. + +The Bistort contains starch, and much tannin; likewise its rhizome +(crooked root) furnishes gallic acid. The decoction is to be made +with an ounce of the bruised root boiled in a pint of water; one +tablespoonful of this may be given every two hours in passive +bleedings, and for simple diarrhoea. Other names for the [608] plant +are Osterick, and Twice writhen (_bis tort_), Red legs, and Man +giant, from the French _mangeant_, eatable. + + + +WHITETHORN. +(_See_ "Hawthorn," _page 245_.) + + + +WHORTLEBERRY. +(_See_ "Bilberry," _page 52_.) + + + +WOODRUFF. + +Concerning the Sweet Woodruff (_Asperula odorata_), it is a +favourite little plant growing commonly in our woods and gardens, +with a pleasant smell which, like the good deeds of the worthiest +persons, delights by its fragrance most after death. This herb is of +the Rubiaceous order, and gets its botanical name from the Latin +_asper_, rough, in allusion to the rough leaves possessed by its +species. + +It may be readily recognised by its small white flowers set on a +slender stalk, with narrow leaves growing round it in successive +whorls, just as in the Cleaver (Goosegrass), which belongs to the +same order. + +The name Woodruffe has been whimsically spelt Woodderowffe, +thus:-- + + Double U, double O, double D, E + R, O, double U, double F, E. + +Its terminal syllable, "ruff," is derived from _rofe_, a wheel,--with +the diminutive _rouelle_, a little wheel or rowel, like that of an +ancient spur,--which the verticillate leaves of this herb closely +resemble. They serve to remind us also of good Queen Bess, and of +the high, starched, old-fashioned ruff which she is shown to wear +[609] in her portraits. Therefore, the plant is known as Woodrowel. + +When freshly gathered, it has but little odour, but when dried it +exhales a delightful and lasting aroma, like the scent of meadow +grass, or of peach blossoms. + +A fragrant and exhilarating tea may be made from the leaves and +blossoms of the sweet Woodruffe, and this is found to be of service +in correcting sluggishness of the liver. "When it is desired," says +Mr. Johns, "to preserve the leaves merely for their scent, the stem +should be cut through just below and above a joint, and the leaves +pressed in such a way as not to destroy their star-like arrangement." + +Gerard tells us: "The flowers are of a very sweet smell, as is the rest +of the herb, which, being made up into garlands or bundles, and +hanged up in houses, in the heat of summer, doth very well attemper +the air, cool and make fresh the place, to the delight and comfort of +such as are therein." + +The agreeable odour of this sweet Woodruffe is due to a chemical +principle named "coumarin," which powerfully affects the brain; +and the plant further contains citric, malic, and rubichloric acids, +together with some tannic acid. + +Another species of the same genus is the Squinancy Woodruff +(_Asperula cynanchica_), so called from the Greek _cynanche_, +which means quinsy, because an excellent gargle may be made from +this herb for the troublesome throat affection here specified, and for +any severe sore throat. Quinsy is called cynanche, from the Greek +words, _kuon_, a dog, and _ancho_, to strangle, because the +distressed patient is compelled by the swollen state of his highly +inflamed throat, to gasp with his mouth open like a choking dog. + +[610] This plant is found growing in dry pastures, especially on a +chalky or limestone soil, but it is not common; it has very narrow +leaves, and tufts of lilac flowers. + +Reverting to the Sweet Woodruff, the dried herb may be kept +amongst linen, like lavender, to preserve it from insects. + + She--"Fresh Woodruff soaks + To brew cool drink, and keep away the moth." + --_A. Austin, Poet Laureate_. + +It was formerly employed for strewing churches, littering chambers, +and stuffing beds. Withering declares that its strongly aromatic +flowers make an infusion which far exceeds even the choice teas of +China. The powdered leaves are mixed with fancy snuffs, because +of their enduring fragrance. + + + +WOODSORRELL (_See also "Docks."_) + +This elegant little herb, called also French Sorrel, Rabbits' food, +Shamrock, and Wood Sour (_Oxalis acetosella_), is abundant +throughout our woods, and in other moist, shady places. It belongs +to the natural order of Geraniums, and bears the provincial names of +Sour trefoil, Cuckoo's bread, or Gowk's-meat, and Stubwort (from +growing about the stubs of hewn trees). Its botanical title is got from +the Greek word _oxus_, sharp, or acid, because of its penetrating +sour taste. This is due to the acid oxalate of potash which it contains +abundantly, in common with the Dock Sorrel, and the Garden +Rhubarb. + +By reason of this chemical salt being present in combination with +less leafy matter than in the other plants which are akin to it, the +Wood Sorrel makes a lighter and more palatable salad. + +In olden days the Monks named this pretty little [611] woodland +plant _Alleluia_, because it blossoms between Easter and +Whitsuntide, when the Psalms--from the 113th to the 117th, +inclusive--which end with the aspiration, "Hallelujah!" were sung. + +St. Patrick is said to have shown on the ternate leaf of the Wood +Sorrel to his rude audience the possibility of a Trinity in Unity. + +The herb has been long popular as a Simple for making a fever +drink, which is thought to be somewhat sedative to the heart, and for +helping to cure scurvy. Also, it has proved useful against +intermittent fever. + +Towards assisting to digest, by their free acid, the immature fibre of +young flesh meats, the Wood Sorrel leaves are commonly eaten as a +dressing with veal, and lamb. But too habitual use of such a salad or +sauce has led to the formation of gouty crystals (oxalate of lime) in +the urine, with considerable irritation of the kidneys. Externally, the +bruised leaves are of excellent service for cleansing and stimulating +foul sores and ulcers, being first macerated in a Cabbage leaf with +warmth. + +This familiar harbinger of Spring, with its three delicate leaflets on +a long stalk, and its tiny white flowers, having purple veins like +those of the Wood Anemone, bears the fanciful name of Fairy-bells in +Welsh districts. + +Fra Angelico placed the claret-stained flowers in the foreground of +his pictures representing the Crucifixion. After the doctrine of +signatures, because of its shape like a heart, the leaf of the Wood +Sorrel was formerly esteemed as a cordial medicine. It was called in +Latin _Panis Cuculi_, meaning the "Cuckoo's bread and cheese." +The leaves, when bruised, make with sugar a capital conserve which +is refreshing to a fevered stomach, or, if boiled in milk, they form an +agreeable sub-acid whey. [612] Twenty pounds of the fresh plant +will yield four ounces of the oxalate of potash, commonly known as +salt of lemons or salt of sorrel, which is often used for taking ink +stains out of linen. Francus, an old classical author, concluded by +experiment that the herb is of value (_cordis vires reparare_) to +recruit the energies of the heart, and (_anginum abigere_) to dispel +the quinsy. Its infusion makes an excellent anti-putrescent gargle. +There is also a yellow variety of the Wood Sorrel. + + + +WORMWOOD. + +The common Wormwood (_Artemisia absinthium_) has been partly +considered here together with Mugwort, to which it is closely allied. +It is a Composite herb of frequent growth on waste ground, being a +bushy plant with silky stems, and collections of numerous small +heads of dull yellow flowers. The name Wormwood is from +_wehren_, to keep off--_mought_, a maggot or moth; and +_absinthium_, from-a-negative--_psinthos_, delight, in allusion to +the very bitter taste. + +The whole plant is of an aromatic smell and bitter flavour. The +flowers, when dried and powdered, destroy worms more effectually +than worm seed, whilst the leaves resist putrefaction and help to +make capital antiseptic fomentations. + +Wormwood tea, or the powdered herb in small doses, mixed in a +little soup, will serve to relieve bilious melancholia, and will help +to disperse the yellow hue of jaundice from the skin. + +This herb was formerly thought to possess the power of dispelling +demons, and was thus associated with the ceremonials of St. John's +Eve, owning the name, on the Continent, of St. John's Herb, or St. +John's Girdle. Both it, and the Mugwort were dedicated to Diana: +[613] and Venus gave thereof (Ambrose) to AEneas. It bears the +provincial name "old woman." The smell of common Wormwood is +very refreshing, and its reviving qualities in heated Courts are +almost equal to a change of air. + +Dioscorides declared it a preventive of intoxication, and a remedy +for the ill-effects of any such excess; for which reason the _poculum +absinthiacum_ was a favourite beverage. + +Gerard says: "The plant voideth away the worms, not only taken +inwardly, but applied outwardly; it withstandeth all putrefactions, +and is good against the stinking breath." It keepeth garments also +from the moths--_A tineis tutam reddit qua conditur arcam_ +(Macer); and Dr. W. Bulleyne says "it keepeth clothes from +moths and wormes." This is the great preventive used by cloth +manufacturers. "Furthermore," adds Gerard, "taken in wine it is +good against the biting of the shrew mouse, and of the sea dragon. It +may be applied against the Squincie, or inflammation of the throat, +with honey and water: likewise, after the same manner, to dim eyes, +and mattery ears." + +The characteristic odour of the plant is due to a volatile oil which +consists mainly of absinthol; and the intensely bitter taste resides +in "absinthin." + +The plant also contains tannin, resin, starch, succinic, malic, and +acetic acids, with nitrate of potash, and other salts. In some +districts it is popularly called "green ginger." + +Wormwood is of benefit for strengthless flatulent indigestion. An +infusion may be made of an ounce of the dried plant to a pint of +boiling water, and given in doses of from one to two tablespoonfuls +three times during the day. + +[614] This infusion with a few drops of the essential oil will prevent +the hair from falling off. + +Absinthe, a liqueur concocted from Wormwood, is used largely in +France, and the medical verdict pronounced there about its effects +shows that it exercises through the pneumogastric nerve a painful +sensation, which has been taken for that of extreme hunger. This +feeling goes off quickly if a little alcohol is given, though it is +aggravated by coffee, whilst an excessive use of absinthe from day +to day is not slow in producing serious symptoms: the stomach +ceases to perform its duty, there is an irritative reaction in the +brain, and the effects of blind drunkenness come on after each debauch. +The French Military call absinthe _un perroquet_. The daily taking +even for a short while only of a watery infusion of Wormwood +shows its bad effects by a general languor, with obscurities of the +sight, giddiness, want of appetite, and painful indigestion. + +When indulged-in as an appetiser by connoisseurs, absinthe, the +"fairy with the green eyes," is modified by admixture with anisette, +noted as an "agreeable and bronchitis-palliating" liqueur. + +As a result of his experiments on animals, Dr. Maignan has come to +the conclusion that absinthe (Wormwood) determines tremblings, +dulness of thought, and epileptiform convulsions,--symptoms which +alcohol alone will not produce. Hence it may be inferred that +absinthe contains really a narcotic poison which should prevent its +being employed as a liqueur, or as a homely medicament, to any +excess. + +Dogs are given to eat the Wormwood as a remedy for their ailments. +Its medicinal and curative uses have been already partly discussed, +together with those of _Mugwort_. + + + +[615] WOUNDWORT. + +The Hedge Woundwort (_Stachys sylvatica_) is a common Labiate +plant in our hedges and woods, branched and hairy, with whorls of +small dull purple flowers on a spike two feet high or more. There +are other varieties of the herb, such as the Marsh (March) +Woundwort, the Corn Woundwort, and the Downy Woundwort. + +The Hedge Woundwort was named by Gerard, Clown's all heal, or +the Husbandman's Woundwort, because a countryman who had cut +his hand to the bone with a scythe, healed the wound in seven days +with this plant. + +It is called by some the Hedge Dead Nettle, from its nettle-like +leaves, and the place of its growth. + +"The leaves," says Gerard, "stampt (pounded) with hog's grease, and +applied unto green wounds in the manner of a poultice, heal them in +such short time and such absolute manner, that it is hard for anyone +that hath not had the experience thereof to believe. For instance, a +deep and grievous wound in the breast with a dagger, and two others +in the abdomen (or nether belly), so that the fat commonly named +the caul, issued forth, the which mortal wounds, by God's +permission, and the virtues of this herb, I perfectly cured within +twenty days--for the which the name of God be praised." + +The name _Stachys_ given to this herb, is from the Greek _stakos_, +a bunch, because of the arrangement of the flowers. It contains a +volatile oil, and a bitter principle undetermined. + +The _Stachys Germanica_ (Downy Woundwort) is so called from +its soft, downy leaves having been employed instead of lint as a +surgical dressing to wounds. The plant grows on a chalky soil in +Bedfordshire, [616] Berkshire, and Oxfordshire: being named also +"Lamb's Ear." + +This _Stachys lanata_ (Woolly Woundwort) is known as Saviour's +blanket, in Sussex; also in Devonshire and Somersetshire, as +Mouse's ear, Donkey's ear, and Lamb's tongue. + +The Knights' Water Woundwort (_Statiotes aloides_) was supposed +from its blade-like leaves, acting on the doctrine of signatures, +to heal sword wounds. + + + +YARROW. + +The Yarrow, from _hiera_, holy herb (_Achillea millefolium_), or +Milfoil, is so called from the very numerous fine segments of its +leaves. It is a Composite plant very common on waysides and in +pastures throughout Britain. + +The name _Achillea_ has been bestowed thereupon because the +Greek warrior, Achilles, is said to have disclosed its virtues which +he had been taught by Chiron, the Centaur. This herb is the +_Stratiotes chiliophullos _of the Greek botanists, by whom it was +valued as an excellent astringent and vulnerary. But Gerard +supposes it may have been the _Achillea millefolium nobile_, which +grows with a thick root and longer leaves, on a fat and fruitful soil, +a stranger in England, "and the very same with which Achilles cured +the wounds of his soldiers." But, he adds, "the virtues of each sort +of Milfoil are set to be both alike." + +The flowers of the Common Yarrow or Nosebleed are white or +pink; those of the _Nobile_ are yellow. + +The popular name of Nosebleed has been given to the Yarrow +because the hairy filaments of the leaves, when put up the nose, +provoke an exudation of blood, and will thus afford relief to +headache, caused by a passive fulness of the vessels. Parkinson says +"if it be [617] pat into the nose, assuredly it will stay the bleeding +of it," which mast be the' effect of action according to similars. Or +if using Yarrow in the same way as a love charm, the following lines +were repeated:-- + + "Green arrow! green arrow! + You bear a white blow; + If my love love me + My nose will bleed now." + +The leaves have a somewhat fragrant smell, and a bitterish taste. +The odour of the flowers, when rubbed between the fingers, is +aromatic. In consequence of this pungent, volatile principle, the herb +has proved useful in hysteria, flatulence, heartburn, colic, and +epilepsy; also, it is employed in Norway for the cure of rheumatism, +and sometimes chewed for toothache. + +Yarrow is one of the few aboriginal English plants, having held the +primitive title, _Gearwe_. Greek botanists seem to have known the +identical species which we now possess, and to have used it against +haemorrhagic losses. It yields, chemically, a dark-green volatile oil, +and achilleic acid, which is said to be identical with aconitic acid; +also resin, tannin, gum; and earthy ash consisting of nitrates, +phosphates, and chlorides of potash and lime. + +For preparing an infusion of the plant, half an ounce should be +boiled down in half a pint of water to six ounces; one tablespoonful +for a dose. + +Sir John Hill says the best way of giving Yarrow is in a strong +decoction of the whole plant. A hot infusion of the herb taken freely +on going to bed at night seldom fails to make short work of a cold. + +A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared from the whole plant with +spirit of wine. This, when employed in a diluted form of the first or +third decimal strength, and [618] in small doses of from five to ten +drops in a tablespoonful of cold water, will act admirably in +arresting nocturnal losses in the male; likewise bleeding from the +lungs, the kidneys, or the nose, especially in florid, hectic subjects. +It has been found by healthy provers that stronger, and larger doses +of any preparation of the herb will induce or aggravate one or +another of these bleedings. + +The fresh juice of the plant may be had, a dessert-spoonful three +times in the day; or of the volatile essential oil, from three to five +drops for a dose. These medicines greatly stimulate and promote the +appetite. "For ague," says Parkinson, "drink a decoction of the herb +warm before the fit, and so for two or three fits together." + +Externally, a strong decoction of the leaves has been used as an +injection into the nostrils to stay bleeding from the nose. It is +similarly of service for piles, and for female floodings, because +exerting a special local action on the organs within the middle trunk. +The bruised herb, or an ointment made from it, is applied by rustics +to heal fresh cuts and contusions. + +Even in ancient times it was famous as a topical remedy for piles. It +is further of benefit for sore nipples as a lotion, and for a relaxed +sore throat as a gargle: also as a hair wash. + +The leaves were applied in former days as a poultice to wounds; and +because of its healing and astringent virtues when so used, the plant +gained the names Sanguinary, Thousand leaf, Old Man's pepper, +Soldiers' Woundwort. Other local names for it are Staunch grass, +Carpenters' weed, and Bloodwort: also, "Old Man's Mustard," "Bad +Man's Plaything," and "Devil's Plaything." In Gloucestershire and +some other parts, the double-flowered Yarrow is brought to a +wedding by [619] bridesmaids as "seven years' love." In Cheshire, +children draw the herb across the face to produce a tingling +sensation, and they call it "Devil's nettle." + +Culpeper spoke of the same as a profitable herb in cramps, and +therefore called _Militaris_. + +Yarrow, worn in a little bag over the stomach, was the secret +(confided to Boyle) of a great lord against ague. A famous physician +had used it with strange efficacy. + +Similarly a charmed packet containing dried Yarrow has been +credited with bringing success to its bearer, if at the same time he +were admitted to the knowledge of a traditional secret (only +whispered to the initiated) that this was the first herb our Saviour +had put into His hand when a child. + +Again, Elspeth Reoch, in 1616, when tried for witchcraft, +acknowledged to having employed the Yarrow in her incantations. +She "plucked one herbe called Meleflower, sitting on her right knee, +and pulling it betwixt the mid-finger and thumbe, and saying: _In +nominee Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti_." The Meleflower is the +_Achilloea Ptarmica_ or Sneezewort. + +By the plant so gathered, she was enabled to cure distempers, and to +impart the faculty of prediction. + + + +YEW. + +Although the Yew--a Conifer--which is so thoroughly English a +tree, is known to be highly poisonous as regards its leaves to the +humans subject, and as concerning its loppings or half-dead +branches, to oxen, horses, and asses, yet a medicinal tincture (H.) is +made from the young shoots, which has distinct and curative uses. +Both the Yew and the Ivy were called _abiga_, because [620] +causing abortion. From which word when corrupted was formed +_iua_; and under this latter name, says Dr. Prior, the Ivy and the +Yew became inextricably mixed up. + +Moreover, the red berries, or their coloured fleshy cups, are not +poisonous when taken in moderation, but rejecting the seeds. + +Gerard says: "When I was yong, and went to schoole, divers of my +school-fellows and likewise myself, did eat our fils of the berries of +this tree, and have not only slept under the shadow thereof, but +among the branches also, without any hurt at all, and that not one +time, but many times." + +Yet Leo Grindon says, much more recently: "Though the juice and +pulp of the sweet and viscid berries are not harmful, still the _seeds_ +of the Yew, and the _leaves_ are deadly poison." + +In the _Herbal_ of 1578, Lyte tells us the Yew is altogether +venomous, and against man's nature. "Such as do but only sleep +under the shadow thereof become sick, and sometimes they die;" +and, "the extract of yew is used by ignorant apothecaries to the great +peril and danger of the poor diseased people." + +The Yew tree (_Taxus baccata_) occurs in mountainous woods and +rocky glens about Britain, but is rare as of native growth. Its name, +Taxus, is a corruption of toxos, an arrow, since arrows in the old +time were poisoned with the juice of yew. + +The tree was planted frequently by our forefathers in churchyards, +because of its value in the manufacture of bows. It is exceedingly +long lived, and often attains great magnitude of girth. + +A ghastly superstition was attached to the Yew when thus growing +in a churchyard, that it would prey upon [621] the dead bodies lying +beneath its sombre shade. So Tennyson writes (_In Memoriam_):-- + + "Old Yew! which graspest at the stones + That name the underlying dead, + Thy fibres net the dreamless head, + Thy roots are wrapped about the bones." + +The juice of the tree and of its leaves is a rapidly fatal poison, +the symptoms corresponding in a very remarkable way with those +which follow the bites of venomous snakes. + +No known poison but the Yew produces the lazar-like ulcerations +upon the body, on which Marlowe lays such stress--(Jew of +Malta):-- + + "In few, the blood of Hydra--Herne's bane, + The juice of _Hebron_, and Cocytus' breath, + And all the poisons of the Stygian pool." + +The witches in _Macbeth_ include it in their accursed brew:-- + + "Liver of blaspheming Jew, + Gall of goat, and _Slips of Yew_." + +The Yew tree is called "Hebon" by Spencer, and "Jew of Malta" by +other writers of Shakespeare's time. The leaves are bitter, nauseous, +and acrid. The succulent covering of the fruit is soft and slimy, +mawkishly sweet, and mucilaginous. The leaves have a dangerous +effect on the circulation of the heart, and when taken with any +freedom are as fatal as the Foxglove. + +Before the new Shakespeare Society, 1882, it was contended and +proved to the satisfaction of the Society, that "the cursed Hebena," +the "leperous distilment poured into the chambers of mine ears," +told of, so pathetically, by the sad ghost of Hamlet's father, was the +[622] poison of the Yew, and identical with Marlow[e]'s juice of +Hebron. + +Ray mentions that a gardener employed in clipping a Yew tree at +Pisa, could not proceed with his work for more than half-an-hour at +a time without being seized with a violent pain in the head. +Nevertheless, deer, sheep, and goats can eat the foliage with +impunity. + +The fresh leaves were administered to three children near +Manchester for worms. Yawning and listlessness came on, and the +eldest vomited a little, but neither of them complained of any pain. +They all died within a few hours of each other. + +Because being then green, on the Sunday next before Easter, the +branches of the Yew tree have been used as a substitute for the +Palms which symbolise the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. + +The symptoms induced by provings of the leaves and juice in toxic +quantities, have been sick headache, with giddiness, feeble, faltering +pulse, coldness of the extremities, diarrhoea, and general +prostration. So that for this combination of symptoms, as in severe +biliousness, or as in the auditory vertigo of Meniere's disease, small +doses of the diluted tincture are found to give prompt and effectual +relief. The leaves contain a volatile oil, tannin, and a bitter +principle "taxina," which is also furnished by the seeds. An extract +of Yew has been pronounced a useful narcotic by more than one physician +of repute: and in some parts of Germany a decoction of the wood is +a well-known remedy against hydrophobia. + +A jelly prepared from the berries has been given for chronic +bronchitis, and the leaves have been used for epilepsy; likewise they +have been taken by ignorant persons to induce abortion, but with +serious injury to the experimenter. In some rural districts the berries +[623] are known as "Snots"; whilst the wood and roots are "Wire +thorn." + +By an old statute of Edward the First, trees were required to be +placed in churchyards to defend the church from high winds, the +clergy being allowed to cut them down for repairing the chancel +when necessary. Perhaps, partly for this reason, the Yew was +commonly planted by the side of a newly-built church. That its +wood was certainly employed for making bows, we learn from +Shakespeare:-- + + "Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows + Of double-fatal Yew against thy state." + +It was "double-fatal," because the leaves and fruit seeds are +poisonous, and the bows made from its branches, as well as arrows +armed with its deadly juice, were instruments of death. + +Against the maladies which have been specified as indicating the +tincture of Yew for their cure, from five to ten drops of the third +decimal tincture should be given, with a spoonful of water, every +two, three, or four hours, whilst required. In Switzerland the Yew is +known as William's tree, in memory of Tell. Formerly the name was +spelt "Eugh," "Yeugh," and "Ewgh." + +Spenser says:-- + + "The Eugh--obedient to the bender's will." + + + +In olden times the Olitory, or Herb-garden, formed an important +annex to all demesnes having any pretensions to completeness, and +was under "My Lady's" [624] special charge. In fact, the culture and +preparing of Simples formed a part of every lady's education. "My +Lord's" retainers and tenants, when out of sorts, were treated with +these wholesome remedies, and were directed to find in Simples the +cure for all ordinary ailments. + + + +Good George Herbert, of Country Parson celebrity, taught, 1620:-- +"In the knowledge of Simples, wherein the manifold wisdom of God +is wonderfully to be seen, one thing should be carefully observed, +which is, to know what herbs may be used instead of drugs of the +same nature, and to make the garden the shop; for, home-bred +medicines are both more easy for the Parson's purse, and more +familiar for all men's bodies. So where the Apothecary useth either +for loosing, Rhubarb, or for binding, Bole Armena; the Parson useth +Damask, or White Roses for the one, and Plantain, Shepherd's +Purse, or Knotgrass for the other: and that with better success. As +for Spices, he doth not only prefer home-bred things before them, +but condemns them for vanities, and so shuts them out of his family, +esteeming that there is no spice comparable of herbs to Rosemary, +Thyme, Savory, Mints: and of seeds to Fennel and Carraway. +Accordingly for salves his wife seeks not the city, but prefers her +garden and fields, before all outlandish gums. And, surely, Hyssop, +Valerian, Mercury, Adder's tongue, Yarrow, Melilot, and St. John's +Wort, made into a salve, and Elder, Camomile, Mallows, Comphrey, +and Smallage, made into a poultice have done great, and rare cures!" + + + +[625] INDEX. + +AGE, Old, to Promote. +Agrimony, Hemp . . . 19 +Apples . . . 27-31 +Chamomile . . . 86 +Chervil . . . 101 +Cider . . . 81 +Elder . . . 168 +Fennel . . . 182 +Fig . . . 196 +Honey . . . 258 +Lemon . . . 303 +Mountain Ash . . . 350 +Oat drink . . . 397 +Orchis Salep . . . 405 +Sage . . . 490 +Sago . . . 155 +Sea Holly (Eryngo) . . . 499 +Sugar . . . 257 + +AGUE, and Intermittent Fever. +Agrimony, Hemp . . . 19 +Chestnut, Horse . . . 102 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 515 +Cloves oil . . . 396 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Flag, Sweet . . . 202 +Lemon . . . 302 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 332 +Nettle . . . 385 +Parsley seed . . . 409 +Parsnip, Wild . . . 414 +Plantain, Ribwort . . . 435 +Rush, sweet-scented . . . 480 +Sage . . . 492 +Skullcap, Greater . . . 517 +Sunflower . . . 547-549 +Verbena-vervain . . . 588 +Woodsorrel . . . 611 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +ALBUMINURIA, _see_ URINE. + +ANEURISM of Heart. +Club moss . . . 115 + +ANTISEPTIC and Germ Destroying. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Angelica . . . 24 +Camphor . . . 338 +Carrot . . . 88 +Centaury . . . 97 +Cinnamon bark . . . 390 +Clove . . . 395 +Currant, Red, juice . . . 138 +Elecampane . . . 173 +Garlic . . . 215 +Hop . . . 266 +Juniper . . . 294 +Mountain Ash jelly . . . 350 +Mustard flour . . . 377 +Onion tribe . . . 211 +Orange . . . 403 +Peppermint . . . 340 +Rosemary . . . 473 +Rue . . . 478 +Sage . . . 490 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Tansy . . . 554 +Tar . . . 582 +Thistle, Sow . . . 558 +--Carline . . . 558 +Thymol . . . 563 +Tomato . . . 569 +Wormwood . . . 355,612 + +[626] APPETITE, to Improve. +Asafetida (Garlic) . . . 220 +Lettuce . . . 309 +Orange . . . 403 +Parsnip . . . 414 +Samphire . . . 497 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +ASTHMA. +Anise . . . 26 +Bee propolis . . . 260 +Cabbage, Red . . . 75 +Coltsfoot (to smoke) . . . 118 +Elder . . . 166 +Elecampane candy . . . 173 +Garlic . . . 215 +Horehound, white . . . 267 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Mace . . . 395 +Mullein . . . 361 +Mustard, Hedge . . . 382 +Nettle . . . 387 +Onion tincture . . . 212 +Pine, yellow (pillow) . . . 577 +Primrose, Evening (with diarrhoea) . . . 450 +Rosemary, wild (gouty) . . . 475 +Sow Thistle . . . 559 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Vernal grass (Hay) . . . 241 + +ATROPHY and Wasting. +Acorn (of children) . . . 16 +Daisy (from youthful indiscretions) . . . 144 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Iceland Moss . . . 501 +Truffle . . . 371 +Vine (of young women) . . . 588 + +BACK, Injury to Spine. +Saint John's Wort . . . 289 + +BILIOUS Disorders, and Jaundice. +Agrimony . . . 18 +Apple (sluggish liver) . . . 27 +Asparagus . . . 37 +Barberry . . . 42 +Carrot . . . 89 +Celandine, Greater . . . 99, 603 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 516 +Dandelion . . . 149 +Egg . . . 150 +Flag, blue (bilious sickness) . . . 199 +Gooseberry, red . . . 225 +Grape cure . . . 239, 588 +Hemp Agrimony . . . 20 +Hop . . . 264 +Hyssop, Hedge . . . 280 +Ivy cup (spleen congested) . . . 282 +Knapweed . . . 296 +Lemon juice . . . 301 +Lime . . . 317 +Marigold . . . 327 +Mullein (with megrims) . . . 361 +Orach . . . 229 +Orange . . . 402 +Parsnip, wild . . . 414 +Radish tincture . . . 487 +Samphire (spleen congested) . . . 498 +Spindle . . . 531 +Spleenwort fern . . . 190 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Succory (melancholy) . . . 541 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Thistle, Blessed . . . 558 +--Milk . . . 557 +Toadflax . . . 567 +Tomato . . . 571 +Water Pepper (with sore fundament) . . . 606 +Woodruff . . . 609 +Wormwood (with melancholy) . . . 612 +Yew (severe) . . . 622 + +BLADDER, _see_ Urine. + +BLEEDING. +Acorn . . . 17 +Agaric, Oak (amadou) . . . 370 +[627] Bistort, great . . . 607 +Bramble . . . 54 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 431 +Cinnamon (from bowels) . . . 392 +Comfrey . . . 120 +Fern, Hart's tongue . . . 187 +Goosegrass . . . 233 +John's Wort, Saint . . . 288 +Lavender, Sea (from kidney) . . . 300 +Lemon . . . 303 +Mistletoe (from womb) . . . 348 +Moss, Iceland (from lungs) . . . 500 +Nettle, White . . . 386 +Periwinkle, Lesser . . . 428 +Plantain, Water . . . 436 +Puff-ball . . . 366 +Quince . . . 454 +Saffron (from nose) . . . 489 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 514 +Sloe . . . 518 +Strawberry (root and leaf) . . . 537 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Turpentine (from lungs, or kidneys) . . . 577 +Yarrow (from nose) . . . 618 + +BLOODLESSNESS. +Marigold, Marsh . . . 330 + +BOILS. +Daisy . . . 144 +Dock . . . 159 +Fig . . . 196 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Honey . . . 259 +Parsley, Stone . . . 413 +Radish (carbuncle) . . . 457 + +BOWELS and Stomach. +CATARRH-- +Grape . . . 239 +Quince seed . . . 452 + +BRAIN. +TO STRENGTHEN-- +Apple . . . 27 +Balm . . . 41 +Cress . . . 127 +Oat . . . 154 +Rosemary . . . 470 +Sage . . . 491 + +CONGESTION OF-- +Darnel (active) . . . 243 +Lettuce, wild . . . 311 +Saffron . . . 488 + +ANGRY EXCITABILITY-- +Cat Mint . . . 345 + +BREAST. +CANCER OF-- +Goosegrass . . . 233 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Parsley . . . 411 + +SWOLLEN WITH MILK-- +Parsley leaves . . . 409 +Yarrow (sore nipples) . . . 618 + +BRONCHITIS. +RECENT CATARRH-- +Daffodil (children) . . . 143 +Eyebright . . . 176 +Fig . . . 197 +Flax, Linseed . . . 263 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +CHRONIC-- +Angelica . . . 24 +Anise (of children) . . . 25 +Coltsfoot . . . 119 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Garlic . . . 215 +Ginger . . . 392 +Horehound, white . . . 267 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Ivy, Ground . . . 284 +Mace . . . 395 +Moon Daisy . . . 147 +Mustard, white . . . 381 +Onion . . . 210 +Radish . . . 456 +Rue compress . . . 477 +[628] Sow Thistle (wheezy) . . . 559 +Sundew . . . 544 +Tar . . . 581 +Turpentine . . . 577 +Yew . . . 622 + +BRUISES. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bryony, white (black eye) . . . 66 +Caraway poultice . . . 83 +Chervil . . . 101 +Comfrey . . . 120 +Daisy . . . 145 +Elder, Dwarf . . . 172 +Fern, Royal . . . 186 +Hyssop (black eye) . . . 279 +Mullein oil . . . 362 +Pea . . . 416 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 513 +Solomon's Seal (broken bones) . . . 525 +Verjuice . . . 238 +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +BUGS, to Expel. +Agaric . . . 369 +Lavender . . . 297 +Tansy . . . 553 + +BUNION. +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 + +BURRS and SCALDS. +Bilberry . . . 53 +Blackberry . . . 54 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Dock, Wayside . . . 158 +Elder . . . 168 +Fern, Hart's tongue . . . 187 +House Leek . . . 275 +Lettuce leaf . . . 311 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Linseed Flax . . . 203 +Marigold . . . 329 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Nettle . . . 385 +Potato, raw . . . 445 + +CANCER. +Belladonna (external) . . . 389 +Clover, red . . . 110 +Comfrey root . . . 595 +Crowfoot, Ranunculus . . . 73 +Egg shells . . . 150, 458 +Goosegrass . . . 232 +Hemlock juice (external) . . . 251 +Hoglouse . . . 565 +Lemon juice (of tongue) . . . 301 +Livelong Sedum . . . 276 +Marjoram (of breast) . . . 332 +Marigold . . . 328 +Opium . . . 440 +Parsley leaves (tumours) . . . 411 +Ragwort . . . 458 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 513 +Stitchwort . . . 536 +Stone crop . . . 277 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 +Tomato (for, or against) . . . 570 +Turpentine Chian (of womb) . . . 579 +Wartwort (Celandine, greater) . . . 603 +Water Fennel . . . 604 +Water Hemlock . . . 251 + +CARBUNCLE. +Radish juice . . . 457 +Savin . . . 494 + +CHAPPED HANDS. +Fern, Polypody . . . 190 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Juniper gum . . . 294 +Leek . . . 220 +Spearmint . . . 342 + +CHICKEN POCK. +Nettle . . . 885 + +CHILBLAINS. +Agaric, Fly mushroom . . . 870 +Bryony, black . . . 68 +Butcher's Broom . . . 65 +Capsicum friction . . . 80 +[629] Leek . . . 220 +Onion (to unbroken) . . . 211 +Potato (frost bite) . . . 445 +Rosemary, wild . . . 474 + +CHOLERA. +Camphor . . . 338 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Water pepper . . . 607 + +COLD and CATARRH. +FOR FRESH COLD-- +Anemone, Wood . . . 21 +Balm tea . . . 41 +Barley water . . . 48 +Borage . . . 61 +Camphor . . . 337 +Herb Bennet . . . 48 +Ivy, ground . . . 285 +Lime, sweet tea . . . 317 +Linseed Flax . . . 203 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +FOR CONTINUED CATARRH-- +Anise (of infants) . . . 25 +Borage (feverish) . . . 61 +Dog's Mercury . . . 333 +Elder . . . 167 +Eyebright . . . 176 +Fig pulp . . . 197 +Hemp Agrimony . . . 20 +Honey . . . 260 +Lemon . . . 303 +Maiden-hair fern . . . 189 +Mustard (apply) . . . 377 +Onion (tincture and broth) . . . 212 +Pellitory, Spanish (of head) . . . 425 +Peppermint spray . . . 339 +Poppy, red (pleurisy) . . . 438 +Quince . . . 452 +Saint John's Wort . . . 288 +Soapwort (inflamed lungs) . . . 523 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 +Turnip (with hoarseness) . . . 575 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 595 + +COLIC of Bowels. +Chamomile . . . 85 +Fennel (of infants) . . . 181 +Ground Ivy (lead colic) . . . 286 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Poppy (foment) . . . 439 +Rice . . . 462 +Silver-weed . . . 515 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Turpentine . . . 579 +Walnut (inner skin) . . . 599 + +CONSTIPATION of Bowels. +Apple . . . 28 +Barberry . . . 42 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Bryony, white . . . 66 +Buckthorn (black alder) . . . 70 +Bugloss . . . 594 +Clove . . . 396 +Dill seed . . . 157 +Dock, Herb Patience . . . 159 +--Water, great . . . 164 +Dodder . . . 112 +Dwarf, Elder . . . 171 +Elder . . . 167 +Fig . . . 197 +Flag, Stinking . . . 201 +Flax seed . . . 203 +Flax, Purging . . . 204 +Gingerbread . . . 393 +Grape . . . 237 +Groundsel . . . 244 +Honey . . . 262 +Horse Chestnut . . . 102 +Hyssop, Hedge . . . 280 +Ivy, Gum . . . 282 +Lettuce, Wild . . . 308 +Liquorice . . . 319 +Maidenhair fern . . . 188 +Mallow . . . 323 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mulberry . . . 357 +Mustard, white seeds . . . 381 +Oatmeal . . . 398 +Peach flowers . . . 418 +[630] Periwinkle, greater (children) . . . 427 +Perry . . . 422 +Plantain . . . 436 +Plum, electuary . . . 521 +Polypody fern . . . 190 +Prune . . . 521 +Psyllium seeds . . . 430 +Sea Cabbage . . . 76 +Sea Holly . . . 500 +Sloe (gently laxative) . . . 519 +Sowbread . . . 451 +Spinach (for aged) . . . 530 +Spindle . . . 532 +Spurge, Wood . . . 533 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Succory (children) . . . 541 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Thistle, Carline . . . 558 +Toadflax . . . 566 +Tomato sauce . . . 569 +Turpentine (with colic) . . . 579 +Valerian (chronic) . . . 584 +Violet, Dog . . . 594 +Violet, Sweet . . . 591 +Walnut, green . . . 601 + +CONSUMPTION of Lungs. +Acorn, oak bark . . . 17 +Agaric, Fly (night sweats) . . . 370 +Balm . . . 41 +Carraigeen Moss . . . 500 +Carrot (children) . . . 89 +Cow . . . 126 +Cresses . . . 131 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Date . . . 152 +Elecampane . . . 175 +Grape cure . . . 239, 588 +Ground Ivy . . . 286 +Horehound . . . 268 +Iceland Moss . . . 500 +Marigold, Corn (night sweats) . . . 326 +Mugwort . . . 354 +Mullein milk . . . 359 +Nettle . . . 385 +Ox eye Daisy . . . 147 +Peppermint oil (inhale) . . . 341 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Plantain, Greater (blood spitting) . . . 434 +Poppy, Sea . . . 441 +Rice . . . 463 +Rose, French crimson . . . 465 +Saffron . . . 488 +Snails . . . 118, 409 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Succory . . . 541 +Sundew (of wind pipe) . . . 544 +Terebene . . . 578 +Thyme . . . 564 +Vine . . . 588 +Violet sugar . . . 591 +Watercress . . . 131 + +CONVULSIONS. +Chickweed (of children) . . . 106 +Henbane necklace . . . 253 +Mistletoe . . . 345 +Mugwort (children) . . . 354 +Orange . . . 401 +Parsley, Fool's . . . 413 + +CORDIAL. +Allspice . . . 396 +Asafetida . . . 219 +Balm . . . 39 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Borage . . . 60, 595 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 431 +Calamint . . . 344 +Caraway . . . 82 +Cat-thyme . . . 565 +Chervil . . . 101 +Cinnamon . . . 390 +Citron (restorative) . . . 301 +Coriander . . . 123 +Cumin . . . 135 +Elecampane . . . 173 +Fennel . . . 179 +Flag, Sweet . . . 201 +Grapes . . . 238 +[631] Horse Radish . . . 270 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Juniper berries . . . 291 +Lavender . . . 296 +Lime . . . 317 +Lupine . . . 306 +Marigold broth . . . 327 +Marjoram . . . 331 +Mead (honey) . . . 259 +Mint, Garden . . . 334 +Mustard . . . 380 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +Pansy . . . 589 +Parsnip . . . 414 +Peach . . . 419 +Pear, perry . . . 422 +Pennyroyal . . . 335 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Pink . . . 433 +Primrose, Evening . . . 450 +Quince . . . 453 +Rosemary . . . 470 +Saffron (noble) . . . 486 +Sage (for indigestion) . . . 490 +Sloe . . . 519 +Spearmint . . . 343 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Tansy . . . 553 +Tarragon . . . 555 +Thistle, Carline . . . 558 +Thyme, Wild . . . 562 +Verbena . . . 587 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 595 +Wallflower . . . 596 +Woodruff . . . 609 +Woodsorrel . . . 612 + +CORNS. +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +House leek . . . 275 +Ivy leaf . . . 282 +Potato, boiled . . . 445 +Radish juice . . . 456 + +COUGH. +Bean . . . 416 +Bryony, white (bronchial) . . . 67 +Cabbage . . . 75 +Chamomile (nervous) . . . 85 +Cherry, Wild . . . 99 +Coltsfoot . . . 117 +Dock, yellow curled (bronchial) . . . 163 +Elder (croupy) . . . 166 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Fennel (chronic) . . . 181 +Fern, Maidenhair . . . 189 +Fig . . . 197 +Hedge mustard . . . 381 +Hemlock vapour . . . 250 +Honey . . . 259 +Horehound, Water . . . 269 +Horehound, White . . . 267 +Lime, Sweet (hard cough) . . . 317 +Linseed Flax . . . 203 +Liquorice (if hoarse) . . . 319 +Marsh Mallow . . . 323 +Moon Daisy . . . 147 +Mullein (smoke) . . . 361 +Mustard, Hedge . . . 382 +Nutmeg (chronic) . . . 395 +Parietary (old cough) . . . 424 +Pear . . . 423 +Peppermint . . . 341 +Radish (chronic and bilious) . . . 457 +Rosemary, wild . . . 474 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Sundew . . . 544 +Turnip syrup . . . 575 +Turpentine (bronchial) . . . 578 +Violet (spasmodic) . . . 593 +Wall Rue (bronchial) . . . 191 +Wart-wort (spasmodic) . . . 603 + +CRAMP. +Cork . . . 426 +Mullein root . . . 361 +Periwinkle, lesser (legs) . . . 426 +Silverweed (belly) . . . 515 +Yarrow . . . 619 + +CROUP. +Elder . . . 166 + +[632] DEAFNESS, _see_ EAR. + +DEBILITY, General. +Chestnut, sweet . . . 105 +Fig . . . 196 +Hop . . . 264 +Lentil . . . 305 +Lily of the Valley (nervous) . . . 315 +Lupine . . . 306 +Mushroom, French . . . 374 +Nettle-urtication . . . 384 +Orange, bitter . . . 403 +Potato, sweet . . . 442 +Sage . . . 491 +Salep . . . 405 +Sea Holly . . . 499 +Spinach . . . 530 +Truffles (children) . . . 371 + +DELIRIUM TREMENS. +Capsicum . . . 79 +Chamomile . . . 87 + +DIABETES. +Apple bark . . . 29 +Asparagus . . . 36 +Fern, Hart's-tongue . . . 188 +Iceland Moss . . . 501 +Knapweed . . . 296 +Stitchwort, greater . . . 536 + +DIARRHOEA. +ACTIVE LOOSENESS-- +Barberry (bilious) . . . 42 +Camphor (choleraic) . . . 338 +Cinnamon . . . 391 +Fool's Parsley . . . 413 +Radish . . . 457 +Spurge, Wood . . . 534 + +CHRONIC LOOSENESS-- +Fruit, fresh . . . 455 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 187 +House Leek . . . 276 +Orchis (Salep) . . . 407 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Quince . . . 453 +Sloe . . . 519 +Strawberry . . . 540 +Water Lily, yellow (for morning looseness) . . . 605 + +SIMPLE LOOSENESS-- +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bilberry . . . 52 +Bistort, great . . . 607 +Blackberry . . . 54 +Chamomile (children) . . . 85 +Cinquefoil . . . 515 +Flag, Sweet . . . 200 +Flag, Yellow . . . 202 +Flax Purging . . . 204 +Ginger . . . 392 +Lime Blossom . . . 317 +Mace . . . 395 +Marsh Mallow . . . 323 +Mountain Ash . . . 351 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Pulsatilla (catarrhal) . . . 21 +Rice . . . 462 +Service tree . . . 352 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Tormentil . . . 573 + +DIPHTHERIA. +Betony, Stone-crop . . . 276 +Peppermint oil . . . 342 +Tar . . . 580 +Turpentine . . . 580 + +DISINFECTANTS, _see_ ANTI-SEPTICS. + +DIZZINESS, _see_ GIDDINESS. + +DRINK, Alcoholic. +EFFECTS TO DISPEL-- +Acorn spirit . . . 16 +Angelica . . . 24 +Cabbage . . . 77 +Capsicum . . . 79 +Chamomile . . . 87 +Darnel . . . 243 +Ivy . . . 283 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Watercress . . . 133 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +[633] DROPSY. +Artichoke, Globe . . . 549 +Asparagus (heart) . . . 36 +Bee sting . . . 261 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Broom (heart) . . . 62 +Butcher's broom . . . 65 +Cabbage . . . 77 +Christmas Rose . . . 108 +Currant, Black, leaves . . . 140 +Fennel . . . 181 +Hyssop, hedge . . . 279 +Juniper berries (kidney) . . . 292 +Lily of the Valley (heart) . . . 315 +Onion . . . 210 +Pellitory of Wall (heart) . . . 424 +Plantain, Water . . . 436 +Rosemary (heart) . . . 472 +Shepherd's Purse (kidney) . . . 512 +Toadflax . . . 566 + +DROWSINESS. +Nutmeg . . . 894 + +DYSENTERY. +Bilberry . . . 52 +Daffodil . . . 143 +Fruit, fresh . . . 455 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 187 +House Leek . . . 275 +Hyssop, Hedge . . . 280 +Iceland Moss . . . 501 +Marsh Mallow . . . 323 +Mustard, Hedge . . . 382 +Quince . . . 454 +Rice . . . 463 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Service Tree . . . 352 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 +Violet, sweet (infants) . . . 591 + +EARS. +EAR-ACHE, OR DEAFNESS-- +Cabbage . . . 75 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Caraway poultice . . . 82 +Cat's tail . . . 482 +Chamomile . . . 86 +Christmas Rose . . . 108 +Fennel . . . 182 +Feverfew (with headache) . . . 194 +Garlic . . . 216 +Ground Ivy . . . 286 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mullein (with eczema, or abscess) . . . 362 +Onion poultice . . . 211 +Plaintain, greater . . . 434 +Pulsatilla (catarrhal) . . . 21 +Spurge, Wood . . . 534 +Yew tincture (giddiness from ear) . . . 622 + +ECZEMA, _see_ SKIN. + +EPILEPSY, Falling Sickness. +Bryony, white . . . 66 +Carrot flower . . . 88 +Clover, sweet . . . 113 +Club Moss . . . 116 +Cuckoo flower . . . 134 +Daffodil . . . 143 +Elder flower . . . 171 +Fool's Parsley . . . 412 +Goose Grass . . . 234 +Juniper berries . . . 293 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Marsh Marigold . . . 331 +Mistletoe . . . 346 +Mugwort coals . . . 354 +Mullein . . . 360 +Orange flower . . . 401 +Parsley . . . 408, 412 +--Fool's . . . 412 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Pink . . . 433 +Rose, red . . . 466 +Rue . . . 476 +Skullcap, greater . . . 517 +Sea Holly . . . 499 +Sea water (gold) . . . 508 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Turpentine . . . 579 +Valerian . . . 584 +[634] Violet, sweet . . . 593 +Wormwood . . . 614 +Yarrow . . . 617 +Yew . . . 622 + +ERYSIPELAS. +Bee sting . . . 260 +House Leek . . . 275 +Primula . . . 449 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 + +EYES. +FOR WEAK OR INFLAMED-- +Apple poultice . . . 28 +Cabbage (scrofulous) . . . 78 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Clary . . . 492 +Eyebright . . . 177 +Fennel . . . 180 +Fool's Parsley (scrofulous) . . . 412 +House Leek . . . 275 +Ivy . . . 282 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Parsley . . . 409 +Rose water . . . 466 +Saint John's Wort . . . 288 +Saliva . . . 178 +Sloe . . . 519 +Snail poultice . . . 411 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Succory (amaurosis) . . . 541 +Turpentine (rheumatic) . . . 577 +Valerian . . . 585 +Verbena . . . 587 + +TO STRENGTHEN VISION-- +Asafetida . . . 219 +Blackthorn . . . 519 +Bogbean (amaurosis) . . . 59 +Caraway . . . 83 +Darnel . . . 243 +Fennel (for cataract) . . . 180 +Fumitory . . . 208 +Parsley . . . 409 +Puffball . . . 368 +Rice . . . 477 +Saffron . . . 488 +Stitchwort . . . 536 +Thyme, wild . . . 563 +Vine sap . . . 238 + +TO REDUCE A BLACK EYE-- +Bryony, white . . . 66 +Hyssop . . . 273 + +TO REMOVE SPECKS-- +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +Meadow sage . . . 492 + +SIGHT IMPAIRED BY THE USE OF-- +Chicory . . . 542 +Parsley . . . 409 +Rice (in excess) . . . 477 +Stye in eye (gold ring) . . . 515 + +FAINTING, For. +Dodder . . . 112 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Rosewater, sprinkle . . . 467 + +FAT, to Reduce. +Bladderwrack . . . 504 +Fennel seed . . . 181 +Goose Grass . . . 233 + +FATIGUE, to Lessen. +Grapes . . . 239 +Honey . . . 257 +Hop . . . 264 +Sorrel soup . . . 160 + +FERTILITY, to Promote. +Leek . . . 220 +Potato . . . 446 + +FEVER, to Allay. +Apple tea . . . 30 +Barley water . . . 45 +Currant, Red, juice . . . 138 +Fumitory (malarious) . . . 208 +Grapes . . . 236 +Lemon (intermittent) . . . 302 +Lettuce, garden 310 +[635] Marigold (low fever) . . . 328 +Quince . . . 454 +Raspberry vinegar . . . 460 +Rice . . . 463 +Rose, French crimson . . . 464 +Soapwort (low fever) . . . 523 +Sorrel, Wood . . . 162-611 +Strawberry (putrid) . . . 540 +Tamarind . . . 551 +Vernal Grass (hay fever) . . . 241 + +FLATULENCE. +Angelica . . . 23 +Aniseed . . . 25 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Capsicum . . . 81 +Caraway . . . 82 +Cinnamon . . . 391 +Clove . . . 396 +Club Moss . . . 114 +Coriander . . . 123 +Cumin . . . 136 +Dill (Infants) . . . 156 +Fennel seed . . . 181 +Flag, Sweet . . . 201 +Ginger . . . 392 +Juniper berries . . . 293 +Lavender . . . 297 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +Orange, Seville . . . 403 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Pink . . . 438 +Rice (to avoid) . . . 462 +Rue . . . 475 +Spearmint . . . 343 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Turnips (to avoid) . . . 575 +Valerian . . . 585 +Wormwood . . . 613 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +FLEAS, and other Insects, to destroy. +Lavender oil . . . 296 +Pennyroyal . . . 334 +Walnut . . . 600 +Water-lily, yellow . . . 605 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Wormwood . . . 355 + +FLIES, to destroy, or prevent. +Chamomile . . . 85 +Elder . . . 165 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Horehound . . . 268 +Toadflax . . . 566 + +FRECKLES, to Remove. +Anise . . . 26 +Cowslip . . . 125 +Fumitory . . . 208 +Savin . . . 494 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Solomon's Seal . . . 525 +Speedwell . . . 529 +Strawberry . . . 540 + +FROST-BITES, for +Potato flour . . . 445 + +FRUITS which do not turn Acid in Stomach. +Apple . . . 29 +Mulberry . . . 358 +Quince . . . 454 +Raspberry . . . 460 +Strawberry . . . 538 + +FUNDAMENT, SORE, _and see_ PILES. +Fig . . . 197 +Figwort water . . . 198 +Hemlock, apply . . . 249 +Nettle, (for itching of) . . . 385 +Thyme, Cat . . . 565 +Water Pepper . . . 606 + +GIDDINESS. +Chestnut, Horse . . . 103 +Cowslip . . . 125 +Lily of the Valley . . . 314 +Mistletoe (epileptiform) . . . 349 +Nutmeg . . . 393 +[636] Parsley . . . 408 +Rue . . . 476 +Spearmint . . . 343 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thistle, Blessed . . . 558 +Yew, (connected with ear) . . . 622 + +GLANDS, Scrofulous, Enlarged to Reduce. +Bladderwrack (goitre) . . . 503 +Burdock . . . 163 +Clover, sweet . . . 113 +Cresses . . . 130 +Cumin, plaster . . . 136 +Dock, yellow curled . . . 163 +Dodder . . . 112 +Dulse . . . 501 +Fennel . . . 182 +Foxglove ointment . . . 206 +Garlic . . . 215 +Goosegrass . . . 232 +Hemlock . . . 251 +House Leek . . . 275 +Linseed oil . . . 203 +Marjoram (of breast) . . . 332 +Mugwort . . . 356 +Parsley (and snails) . . . 409 +Peach (goitre) . . . 419 +Rose Rock . . . 470 +Sea Tang . . . 502 +Sea Weeds . . . 497 +Valerian . . . 584 +Walnut . . . 601 +Watercress . . . 131 +Water Figwort (of neck) . . . 198 + +GOLD. +In sea water . . . 507 + +GOUT. +Apple . . . 28 +Asparagus . . . 36 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Carrot (with gravel) . . . 88 +Currant, black . . . 139 +Daisy . . . 144 +Ginger . . . 392 +Goutweed . . . 236 +Grape cure . . . 239 +Hemlock, apply . . . 249 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Hungary water . . . 472 +Lily of the Valley . . . 316 +Meadow Saffron . . . 484 +Mugwort . . . 354 +Mullein . . . 360 +Nettle . . . 385 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Pear, wild . . . 423 +Rosemary, wild (with eczema) . . . 474 +Speedwell . . . 529 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Succory . . . 541 +Tansy . . . 552 + +FRUIT PROPER FOR GOUTY PERSONS-- +Apple . . . 29 +Mulberry . . . 358 +Quince . . . 454 +Raspberry . . . 460 +Strawberry . . . 538 + +FRUITS IMPROPER FOR THE GOUTY-- +Grapes, sweet . . . 236 +Rhubarb, garden . . . 160 +Sorrel . . . 160 +Tomato, uncooked . . . 569 +Wood Sorrel . . . 160, 611 + +GRAPE CURE. +Grape cure . . . 239 + +GRAVEL, _see_ URINE. + +GUM BOIL. +Fig, split . . . 196 + +HAIR. +TO PROMOTE THE GROWTH OF-- +Artichoke, Jerusalem . . . 549 +Daffodil . . . 143 +[637] Honey water . . . 260 +Lavender oil . . . 297 +Lemon juice (to remove dandriff) . . . 304 +Maidenhair Fern . . . 188 +Mullein . . . 361 +Mustard oil . . . 376 +Rosemary spirit . . . 472 +Saint John's Wort . . . 289 +Savin . . . 494 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Spindle (remove scurf) . . . 531 +Verbena . . . 587 +Wall Rue . . . 191 +Water Lily, yellow . . . 605 +Wormwood . . . 356, 614 + +TO DYE DARK-- +Bramble . . . 56 +Elder juice . . . 168 +Oranges, green . . . 403 +Walnut juice . . . 599 + +TO REMOVE SUPERFLUOUS HAIR-- +Fern Oak . . . 190 +Fumitory . . . 207 +Spurge, Wood . . . 533 + +FOR FIXING THE HAIR-- +Quince Bandoline . . . 452 + +HEADACHE. +FROM ACTIVE FULNESS, WITH HOT SKIN, AND FLUSHED FACE-- +Basil . . . 46 +Elder . . . 188 +Mustard paper . . . 378 +Parsley . . . 408 +Tansy . . . 553 + +PASSIVE FULNESS OF HEAD, WITH GENERAL COLDNESS AND PALLOR-- +Betony . . . 49 +Buttercup . . . 73 +Clover, sweet . . . 112 +Cowslip . . . 125 +Elecampane (costive) . . . 175 +Flag, yellow . . . 200 +Ginger . . . 392 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Lettuce, Wild (dull and striped) . . . 311 +Mustard . . . 377 +Primrose . . . 448 +Puffball powder . . . 367 +Tansy . . . 553 +Yarrow (for making nose bleed) . . . 616 + +NERVOUS HEADACHE AND HYSTERICAL-- +Asafetida . . . 218 +Balm . . . 41 +Basil . . . 46 +Betony . . . 48 +Camphor . . . 337 +Celery . . . 96 +Clover, sweet . . . 113 +Flag, blue (bilious) . . . 199 +Garlic . . . 218 +Ground Ivy (inveterate) . . . 285 +Ivy leaves (after hard drinking) . . . 283 +Lavender . . . 299 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Marjoram . . . 331 +Mullein (in the bilious) . . . 361 +Pennyroyal . . . 335 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rosemary . . . 473 +Rue (giddiness) . . . 476 +Saffron . . . 489 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Valerian . . . 585 +Verbena (inveterate) . . . 587 +Violet, sweet . . . 593 +Wallflower . . . 597 +Water Hemlock . . . 251 + +HEART. +TO STRENGTHEN A WEAK HEART-- +Fly, Agaric Mushroom . . . 370 +Lily of the Valley . . . 814 +[638] Mistletoe . . . 348 +Saffron . . . 486 +Sea water, gold in . . . 508 +Soapwort (in fever) . . . 523 + +FOR IRRITABLE HEART, WITH NERVOUS PALPITATIONS-- +Asparagus . . . 36 +Cherry, wild . . . 99 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Hemlock plaster . . . 249 +Lavender . . . 297 +Lemon juice . . . 301 +Lily of the Valley . . . 314 +Nettle, Stinging . . . 384 + +HEARTBURN, _see_ INDIGESTION. + +HICCOUGH. +Aniseed . . . 25 +Dill . . . 156 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Mustard . . . 378 +Skullcap, lesser . . . 517 +Spearmint . . . 343 + +HYDROPHOBIA. +Club Moss . . . 116 +Cress, garden . . . 128 +Figwort . . . 51 +Horehound, black . . . 268 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Plantain, Water . . . 436 +Rose, Dog root . . . 465 +Rush, flowering . . . 481 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 +Yew . . . 622 + +HYSTERIA. +Allspice . . . 397 +Caraway . . . 83 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Daffodil . . . 143 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Garlic . . . 215 +Goosefoot, Stinking . . . 229 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Lavender . . . 297 +Mistletoe (St. Vitus's dance) . . . 348 +Mugwort . . . 353 +Orange blossoms . . . 401 +Pennyroyal . . . 335 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rosemary . . . 474 +Rue . . . 476 +Sage, meadow (colic) . . . 492 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, wild . . . 562 +Turnip (injurious) . . . 575 +Valerian . . . 584 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +INDIGESTION. +Allspice (flatulent) . . . 397 +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 21 +Capsicum . . . 81 +Centaury (tonic) . . . 97 +Cinnamon . . . 391 +Clove . . . 396 +Club Moss (water brash) . . . 114 +Cumin . . . 136 +Currant, Red (torpor) . . . 138 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Flag, sweet . . . 201 +Ginger (gouty) . . . 392 +Good King Henry . . . 228 +Gooseberry (after rich food) . . . 224 +Hop . . . 264 +Horse Radish . . . 272 +Lavender . . . 299 +Lemon juice (heartburn) . . . 303 +Lettuce . . . 308 +Lupine . . . 306 +Nutmeg (drowsy) . . . 394 +Onion (if cold-blooded) . . . 210 +Primrose, Evening . . . 450 +Pyrethrum lozenges, (heartburn) . . . 426 +Quince . . . 455 +Raspberries . . . 461 +Sage (after rich meats) . . . 490 +[689] Sago . . . 155 +Samphire . . . 498 +Spearmint (infants after milk) . . . 343 +Walnut (after fish, and for colic) . . . 600 +Wood Sorrel (prevents) . . . 611 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +INFLUENZA. +Agrimony, Hemp . . . 20 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Cinnamon . . . 392 +Orange . . . 403 +Rue oil . . . 476 + +INSANITY. +ACTIVE-- +Rest Harrow . . . 321 +St. John's Wort . . . 287 + +MELANCHOLY-- +Borage . . . 61, 595 +Chervil . . . 101 +Elecampane . . . 173 +Fool's Parsley (imbecility) . . . 413 +Hop . . . 264 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Lavender . . . 299 +Maidenhair Fern (idiocy) . . . 188 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 332 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Polypody Fern . . . 189 +Radish (with cough) . . . 457 +Rose, Christmas (Hellebore) . . . 107 +Saffron . . . 486 +Saint John's Wort . . . 287 +Succory (bilious) . . . 541 +Tar water . . . 583 +Thistle, Melancholy . . . 560 +Thistle, Milk . . . 556 +Tutsan . . . 290 +Wormwood (bilious) . . . 612 + +INVISIBILITY, Supposed to Confer. +Fern Seed . . . 184 + +ITCHING, and the Itch. +Anise . . . 26 +Cat Thyme (fundament) . . . 565 +Dock, Yellow Curled . . . 163 +Henbane (of fundament) . . . 249 +Lemon juice (of genitals) . . . 303 +Nettle (of fundament) . . . 385 +Puffball . . . 368 +Rock Rose . . . 470 +Speedwell . . . 528 + +JAUNDICE, _see_ BILIOUS INDIGESTION. + +JOINTS, Affections of, _see_ SCROFULA. +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 + +KIDNEYS, _see_ also URINE. +ACTIVE CONGESTION-- +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Turpentine . . . 577 + +PASSIVE CONJESTION TO REMOVE-- +Asparagus . . . 36 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Gooseberry (gravel) . . . 225 +Honey and Bee Sting . . . 260 +Parsley . . . 409 +Peach flowers (and Colic) . . . 419 + +LEPROSY and LEPROUS ERUPTIONS, _see_ SKIN. + +LIFE, To Prolong, _see_ AGE. + +LIVER, Disorders of, _see_ BILIOUS INDIGESTION. + +LOCK JAW. +St. John's Wort . . . 289 + +LUMBAGO, _see_ RHEUMATISM. + +LUNGS, Diseases of, _see_ COLDS and CONSUMPTION. + +[640] MEASLES. +Marigold tea . . . 327 +Pea . . . 416 +Saffron tea . . . 486 + +MELANCHOLY, _see_ INSANITY. + +MEMORY, To Strengthen. +Eyebright . . . 177 + +MILK, BREAST. +TO PROMOTE FLOW-- +Borage . . . 61 +Caraway . . . 83 +Dill . . . 157 +Fennel seed . . . 179 +Lettuce . . . 312 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Rosemary . . . 472 +Thistle, Milk . . . 557 + +TO STAY FLOW-- +Hemlock . . . 249 +Sage . . . 492 + +MILK CRUST of Children, _see_ SKIN. + +MONTHLY FLOW OF WOMEN. +TO PROMOTE-- +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 21 +Angelica . . . 24 +Balm . . . 41 +Basil . . . 96 +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Calamint . . . 344 +Christmas Rose . . . 107 +Cumin . . . 136 +Dill . . . 156 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Fennel . . . 181 +Feverfew . . . 193 +Goosefoot, Stinking . . . 229 +Hyssop . . . 279 +Ivy gum . . . 282 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mugwort . . . 353 +Mullein . . . 360 +Nettle (urtication) . . . 384 +Parsley oil . . . 408 +Pennyroyal . . . 336 +Ragwort . . . 459 +Rosemary . . . 474 +Rue . . . 477 +Rush, flowering . . . 481 +Savin . . . 494 +Saxifrage, Burnet . . . 430 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 513 +Soapwort . . . 524 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, Wild . . . 561 +Valerian (with hysteria) . . . 584 +Wormwood . . . 356 + +TO ARREST WHEN EXCESSIVE-- +Cinnamon bark . . . 391 +Lemon juice . . . 303 +Lentil . . . 305 +Mistletoe . . . 348 +Orange, Seville . . . 403 +Periwinkle, greater . . . 427 +Plantain, greater . . . 435 +Saffron (with liquidity) . . . 488 +Savin . . . 494 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 512 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +TO EASE PAIN AT PERIODS-- +Peppermint (colic) . . . 339 +Savin . . . 494 + +MOTHS, to Drive Away. +Camphor . . . 338 +Mugwort . . . 353 +Sedum Livelong . . . 276 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Woodruff . . . 610 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +MOUTH, SORE, _see_ THRUSH. + +MUSHROOMS. +Not to take Alcohol with . . . 375 +To eat Pears after . . . 373, 423 + +[641] NERVES, to Strengthen. +Citron of Law . . . 304 +Hedge Hyssop . . . 279 +Oat . . . 397 +Saffron . . . 488 +Skullcap, greater . . . 517 +Valerian . . . 585 +Violet, sweet . . . 503 + +TO STIMULATE REFLEX NERVOUS ACTIVITY-- +Cumin . . . 137 + +TO QUIET REFLEX NERVOUS IRRITABILITY-- +Camphor . . . 338 +Chamomile . . . 85 +Clove . . . 395 +Lime flowers . . . 318 +Valerian . . . 347 + +NETTLE RASH, _see_ SKIN. + +NEURALGIA, to Relieve. +Allspice plaster . . . 397 +Arum . . . 35 +Buttercup (stitch) . . . 73 +Celandine, greater (face right side) . . . 93 +Chamomile (face and teeth) . . . 85 +Coltsfoot (back and loins) . . . 120 +Cuckoopint . . . 35 +Feverfew . . . 194 +Henbane poultice . . . 253 +Horse Radish (face) . . . 271 +Juniper berries . . . 292 +Lemon, cut . . . 303 +Pyrethrum (head and face) . . . 425 +Pennyroyal . . . 336 +Peppermint oil . . . 339 +Sloe tincture (right eyeball) . . . 519 +Wallflower oil (limbs) . . . 597 +Yarn (tic douloureux) . . . 204 + +NIPPLES, Chapped, or Sore. +Carrot . . . 89 +Comfrey . . . 121 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +NOSE, Ulceration inside. +Elecampane . . . 174 + +PAIN, Local, for. +Buttercup (stitch) . . . 73 +Chamomile fomentation . . . 86 +Elecampane (in elbow) . . . 175 +Hemlock, apply . . . 249 +Henbane poultice . . . 253 +Lavender . . . 291 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Mistletoe (stitch) . . . 347 +Mugwort . . . 355 +Peach (colic from gravel) . . . 419 +Poppy, White, fomentation . . . 439 +Stitch Wort . . . 535 +Wormwood . . . 355 + +PALPITATION, _see_ HEART. + +PARALYSIS. +Burnet Saxifrage (of tongue) . . . 430 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Daffodil (limbs) 141 +Horse Radish, scraped . . . 271 +Hungary water . . . 472 +Lavender oil . . . 296 +Mustard liniment . . . 378 +Nettle, Stinging . . . 384 +Nutmeg spirit (of limbs) . . . 394 +Pellitory of Spain (tongue and lips) . . . 425 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rosemary spirit (limbs) . . . 471 +Sage . . . 491 +Tomato (of back) . . . 571 +Valerian oil . . . 585 +Wallflower oil . . . 597 +Water Dropwort (voice) . . . 604 + +PERSPIRATION, to Promote. +Camphor . . . 338 +Ivy . . . 282 +Strawberry . . . 539 +Turpentine . . . 577 + +[642] PILES. +Blackberry . . . 55 +Brook lime . . . 431 +Celandine, lesser . . . 91 +Chestnut, Horse . . . 102 +Elderberry . . . 169 +Figwort . . . 51 +Mountain Ash (lower bowel relaxed) . . . 351 +Mullein . . . 362 +Oak Bark (prolapse of bowel) . . . 18 +Onion, raw (inflamed) . . . 214 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Pimpernel, blue (descent of bowel) . . . 431 +Plantain, Greater . . . 435 +Silverweed . . . 515 +Toadflax . . . 567 +Water Betony . . . 50 +Water Pepper (sore fundament) . . . 606 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +PLEURITIC PAIN IN SIDE. +Bryony, White (with inflammation) . . . 66 +Buttercup (neuralgic) . . . 72 +Stitchwort . . . 535 + +POLYPUS of Nose. +Polypody Fern . . . 190 +Sage, Wood . . . 498 + +POULTICES. +Carrot . . . 89 +Flax-linseed . . . 203 +Goosefoot . . . 229 +Hemlock . . . 250 +Marsh Mallow . . . 328 +Mustard . . . 377 +Turnip . . . 574 +Vinegar . . . 240 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Yeast (oat) . . . 398 + +PREGNANCY, and _see_ WOMB. +Gooseberry, green (longings to abate) . . . 226 +Quince (wise children to procreate) . . . 454 +Turnip (injurious during) . . . 575 + +PSORIASIS, _see_ SKIN. + +QUINSY, _see_ also SORE THROAT. +Currant, black . . . 139 +Prunella . . . 509 +Strawberry leaves . . . 537 +Woodruff Squinancy . . . 609 +Woodsorrel . . . 612 +Wormwood . . . 613 + +RHEUMATISM and LUMBAGO. +Allspice Plaster . . . 397 +Bee sting . . . 261 +Bryony, White 66 +Calamint (lumbago) . . . 344 +Chickweed (bilious) . . . 106 +Fern Royal (lumbago) . . . 87 +Meadow Saffron (Colchicum) . . . 483 +Nutmeg spirit . . . 394 +Yarn, hank of . . . 204 + +CHRONIC RHEUMATISM-- +Angelica . . . 24 +Asparagus . . . 36 +Bladderwrack, embrocation . . . 505 +Bryony, White . . . 66 +Buttercup . . . 72 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Celery . . . 95 +Centaury (muscular) . . . 97 +Cress, Garden . . . 129 +Garlic . . . 217 +Henbane liniment . . . 224 +Hop . . . 265 +Horse Radish . . . 271 +Hyssop . . . 278 +Ivy berries . . . 282 +Juniper berries . . . 292 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Mugwort (moxa) . . . 354 +[643] Mustard . . . 376-8 +Nettle, Stinging . . . 383 +Nutmeg spirit . . . 394 +Pellitory (head and face) . . . 425 +Peppermint . . . 340 +Pimpernel . . . 430 +Pine . . . 580 +Polypody Fern . . . 189 +Potato, raw . . . 444 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rue (periosteal) . . . 478 +Savin (of womb) . . . 494 +Sea Tang . . . 503 +Spruce beer . . . 580 +Tansy . . . 553 +Turpentine liniment . . . 578 +Violet, sweet (wrists) . . . 593 +Wallflower . . . 597 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +RICKETS, _see_ SCROFULA. + +RINGWORM, _see_ SKIN. + +RUPTURE of Children. +Wall Rue Fern . . . 191 + +SAINT VITUS'S DANCE (CHOREA). +Mistletoe berries . . . 348 + +SALIVATION, _see_ MOUTH, SORE. + +SCALDS, _see_ BURNS. + +SCALD HEAD, _see_ SKIN. + +SCARLET FEVER. +Belladonna (to prevent) . . . 389 +Rock Rose (sore throat of) . . . 470 + +SCIATICA. +Bracken (to smoke legs) . . . 185 +Elecampane . . . 174 +Goutweed . . . 235 +Horse Radish . . . 278 +Nettle (urtication) . . . 884 +Peppermint . . . 842 +Ragwort . . . 458 +Rue leaves, bruised . . . 478 +Thyme, Wild . . . 568 +Turpentine . . . 578 +Tutsan . . . 290 + +SCROFULA, _see also_ GLANDULAR SWELLINGS +Acorn . . . 10 +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bladderwrack in rum . . . 503 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Clover, Red . . . 111 +Coltsfoot . . . 118 +Cresses . . . 130 +Dock . . . 163 +Dodder (tumours) . . . 112 +Dulse . . . 501 +Fern, Royal (rickets) . . . 187 +Fig . . . 196 +Figwort, water . . . 198 +Garlic . . . 215 +Goosegrass . . . 233 +Hoglouse . . . 564 +Lavender oil . . . 296 +Marigold . . . 328 +Mugwort (moxa to joint) . . . 384 +Parsley . . . 411 +Poor Man's Garlic . . . 223 +Rock Rose (joints) . . . 469 +Samphire . . . 497 +Scurvy Grass. ...496 +Seapod Essence . . . 504 +Sea Tang . . . 503 +Sea Water in Bread . . . 503 +Spurge plaster . . . 534 +Stitchwort . . . 536 +Thyme (for Hoglice) . . . 564 +Verbena . . . 587 +Walnut, Black . . . 601 +Wall Rue Fern (Rickets) . . . 191 +Watercress . . . 168 + +[644] SCURVY. +Bogbean . . . 59 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Cabbage, Red . . . 76 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Cresses . . . 130 +Elder . . . 168 +Goosegrass . . . 233 +Horse Radish . . . 271 +Lamb's Lettuce . . . 312 +Laver . . . 506 +Lemon juice . . . 301 +Mum . . . 581 +Mustard, White . . . 380 +Nasturtium . . . 133 +Orange . . . 408 +Parsnip water . . . 415 +Potato . . . 443 +Raspberry liqueur . . . 460 +Saucealone . . . 228 +Scurvy Grass . . . 495 +Sea Holy (Candy) . . . 498 +Sea Spinach . . . 506 +Sorrel . . . 161 +Spruce beer . . . 580 +Stone Crop. Sedum . . . 277 +Watercress . . . 130 +Woodsorrel . . . 611 + +SEXUAL DISORDERS. +FUNCTIONS, TO STRENGTHEN-- +Artichoke, Globe . . . 548 +Asafetida . . . 219 +Bedstraw, Yellow . . . 234 +Camphor . . . 337 +Daisy (after excesses) . . . 144 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Lords and Ladies . . . 84 +Nettle (urtication) . . . 684 +Orchis . . . 405 +Periwinkle, greater . . . 427 +Potato . . . 446 +Potato, sweet . . . 442 +Quince . . . 454 +Rosemary (to renew energy) . . . 473 +Ragwort . . . 458 +Sea Holly (eryngo) . . . 499 +Sea Water (gold) . . . 508 +Southernwood . . . 526 +Sowbread . . . 451 +Sundew . . . 544 +Sunflower . . . 547 +Tarragon . . . 555 +Tomato (to stimulate) . . . 568 +Water Lily, Yellow . . . 605 + +EXCITEMENT, TO CONTROL-- +Camphor, full doses . . . 337 +Coriander . . . 123 +Hemlock . . . 251 +Hop . . . 264 +Lettuce . . . 308 +Parsley . . . 409 +Rue . . . 476 + +LOSSES, AND DISCHARGES, TO STAY-- +Artichoke, Globe . . . 548 +Hop-lupulin . . . 264 +Periwinkle, greater . . . 427 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +SHINGLES, _see_ SKIN. + +SICKNESS, to Relieve. +Cinnamon . . . 392 +Fool's Parsley (Infants) . . . 413 +Marigold (chronic) . . . 328 +Marjoram . . . 332 +Pansy . . . 589 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Walnut, spirit (of pregnancy) . . . 600 + +TO INDUCE-- +Mustard . . . 377 +Violet . . . 591 + +SIGHT, _see_ EYES. + +SKIN, Affections of. +FOR GENERAL CURE OF WHEN UNHEALTHY-- +Brooklime . . . 432 +Docks . . . 160-164 +Elder . . . 168 +[645] Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Lemon . . . 308 +Mushroom, Edible (vesicular outbreak) . . . 375 +Nettle . . . 385 +Parsnip water . . . 415 +Primula . . . 449 +Quince . . . 452 +Shepherd's Purse . . . 511 +Tansy . . . 553 +Thyme, Wild . . . 562 +Toadflax . . . 566 +Turnip juice . . . 575 +Walnut, Black . . . 601 +Water Dropwort (chronic) . . . 604 + +FOR ECZEMA-- +Bilberry . . . 53 +Clove . . . 395 +Goosegrass . . . 234 +Juniper Cade oil . . . 295 +Mullein (of ear) . . . 362 +Primula Biconica . . . 440 +Puffball powder . . . 367 +Rosemary, Wild (gouty) . . . 475 +Rue . . . 477 +Tar (if eruption dry) . . . 581 +Thymol . . . 564 +Violet (pustular) . . . 590 +Walnut . . . 598 + +FOR LEPROUS ERUPTIONS, SCALY-- +Fumitory . . . 208 +Garlic . . . 217 +Goosegrass . . . 234 +Potato . . . 444 +Soapwort (venereal) . . . 523 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Tar gravy and ointment . . . 581 +Walnut oil . . . 598 + +FOR MILK CRUST OF CHILDREN-- +Fumitory . . . 208 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Violet, Pansy . . . 590 + +FOR NETTLE RASH-- +Dandelion (bilious) . . . 149 +Nettle, stinging . . . 385 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 + +FOR PIMPLES AND "ACNE"-- +Horse Radish . . . 273 +Puffball powder . . . 367 + +FOR BRAN-LIKE PSORIASlS-- +Burdock . . . 162 +Goosegrass . . . 234 +Juniper Cade oil . . . 295 + +FOR RINGWORM-- +Arum . . . 34 +Horehound, Black . . . 269 +Mullein . . . 362 +Thymol . . . 564 + +FOR SCALD HEAD-- +Blackberry . . . 54 +Tar . . . 582 +Violet, Pansy . . . 590 + +FOR SHINGLES-- +Buttercup . . . 72 +House Leek . . . 275 +Rock Rose . . . 469 + +COSMETICS-- +Beet juice . . . 507 +Cowslip (freckles) . . . 125 +Cumin (for pallor) . . . 136 +Flag, Blue . . . 200 +Fumitory . . . 207 +Horse radish in milk . . . 271 +Lemon juice (for hands) . . . 304 +Pulse . . . 416 +Savin . . . 494 +Solomon's Seal . . . 525 +Speedwell (freckles) . . . 528 +Spinach water . . . 530 +Thistle, Sow . . . 559 +Toadflax . . . 566 +Violet, Sweet . . . 591 + +TO RAISE A BLISTER-- +Water Plantain . . . 436 + +[646] SLEEP +FOR SLEEPLESSNESS-- +Anise . . . 26 +Bean . . . 416 +Bulrush . . . 481 +Chamomile (nightmare) . . . 87 +Clove . . . 396 +Cowslip . . . 124 +Dill (of infants) . . . 156 +Fennel . . . 180 +Henbane (foot bath) . . . 253 +Hop (tea, and pillow) . . . 265 +House leek (with head-ache) . . . 275 +Lady's mantle . . . 511 +Lemon squash . . . 304 +Lettuce, Garden, gum (infants) . . . 307 +Lettuce, Wild, gum . . . 307 +Mushroom (in consumption) . . . 370 +Mustard foot-bath . . . 378 +Nutmeg . . . 394 +Oat . . . 398 +Onion . . . 211 +Orange buds . . . 401 +Orange flower water . . . 401 +Poppy, white . . . 438 +Primrose . . . 448 +Rue (nightmare) . . . 478 +Sea Tang essence . . . 502 +Skullcap, lesser (exhausted brain) . . . 517 +Water Figwort (nightmare) . . . 50 + +SORES, _see also_ ULCERS. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Amadou mushroom (bedsore) . . . 370 +Carrot (fetid and indolent) . . . 89 +Chickweed (on legs) . . . 107 +Cleavers . . . 232 +Clover, red . . . 111 +Club Moss powder (raw sores) . . . 15 +Fig . . . 206 +Foxglove ointment . . . 206 +Groundsel (sore legs) . . . 245 +Hemlock (cancerous) . . . 252 +House Leek . . . 275 +Marigold . . . 328 +Marsh Mallow . . . 328 +Peppermint oil . . . 342 +Plantain . . . 434 +Puff ball powder (weeping sore) . . . 366 +Resin ointment (Pine) . . . 578 +Saint John's Wort (bedsore) . . . 289 +Savin ointment (to keep sore open) . . . 494 +Thymol . . . 564 +Turnip poultice . . . 574 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 594 +Walnut, black, the leaves . . . 601 +Yeast poultice (oat) . . . 398 + +SPASMS, _see_ PAIN. + +SPINE, Irritable or Weak. +Agaric, Fly (locomotor ataxy) . . . 369 +Chamomile . . . 85 +Eryngo (to strengthen) . . . 499 +Garlic . . . 215 +Rush, Soft . . . 479 +Saint John's Wort oil (after injury) . . . 288 +Turpentine . . . 579 +Valerian . . . 585 +Water Hemlock . . . .252 + +SPLEEN, _see_ BILIOUS DISORDERS. + +SPRAINS. +Agrimony . . . 19 +Bladderwrack (old sprain) . . . 504 +Lavender Spike . . . 296 +Linseed oil . . . 203 +Rosemary . . . 472 +Sea weeds . . . 497 +[647] Verjuice of apple, pear, and vine . . . 29, 288 +Vinegar poultice . . . 240 + +STINGS and BITES. +PAIN AND SWELLING FROM-- +Dock, Wayside (nettle sting) . . . 158 +Feverfew . . . 193 +House Leek . . . 275 +Marigold . . . 328 +Plantain, greater (snake bite) . . . 434 +Onion, raw . . . 212 +Poppy leaf . . . 441 +Rosemary, wild . . . 474 +Stitchwort . . . 535 + +STITCH OF SIDE, _see_ PAIN. + +STONE IN BLADDER. +Apple cider . . . 31 +Carrot . . . 89 +Currant, White . . . 140 +Gorse seed . . . 64 +Juniper berries . . . 293 +Ladies' Mantle . . . 511 +Leek (phosphatic stone) . . . 220 +Parsnip water . . . 415 +Rest Harrow . . . 321 +Stephens', Joanna, remedy . . . 411 +Thyme, for Woodlouse . . . 565 +Water Fennel . . . 604 + +STYE, _see_ EYE. + +SWEATS, NIGHT, to Check, _see_ CONSUMPTION. + +SYPHILIS, VENEREAL DISEASE. +Burdock . . . 162 +Gold (in Sea Water) . . . 508 +Hemlock . . . 252 +Pellitory of Spain . . . 425 +Soapwort (inveterate) . . . 523 +Southernwood . . . 526 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Stonecrop, Sedum . . . 277 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Walnut leaves . . . 598 +Water Pepper . . . 606 + +TEETH. +FOR TOOTH-ACHE AND FACE-ACHE-- +Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 +Cabbage . . . 75 +Capsicum . . . 80 +Celandine, greater . . . 92 +Chamomile (of children) . . . 86 +Clove oil . . . 396 +Fennel . . . 182 +Groundsel . . . 245 +Henbane seeds, smoke . . . 254 +Ivy gum . . . 282 +Ladybird . . . 425 +Pellitory of Spain . . . 424 +Peppermint . . . 339 +Plantain, greater . . . 434 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Water Pepper . . . 606 +Yarrow . . . 617 + +LOOSE TEETH, TO TIGHTEN-- +Blackberry . . . 54 +Dock, Great Water . . . 164 +Great Bistort (with spongy gums) . . . 607 +Strawberry, wild . . . 537 + +FOR CHILDREN TO CUT TEETH ON-- +Marsh Mallow root . . . 325 + +TEMPER, Irritable, for. +Cat mint . . . 345 +Chamomile (of children) . . . 86 +Feverfew . . . 194 + +TESTICLE, Swollen, for. +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 20 + +[648] THROAT, Sore. +Agrimony . . . 18 +Arum (Lords and Ladies) . . . 34 +Barberry (relaxed) . . . 43 +Blackberry . . . 55 +Capsicum . . . 81 +Chestnut, Horse (with piles) . . . 102 +Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 515 +Currant, Black (quinsy) . . . 139 +Dock, Great Water . . . 164 +Elder . . . 169 +Fig . . . 198 +Flax, Linseed . . . 203 +Groundsel . . . 244 +Hart's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Hawthorn flowers . . . 246 +Honey . . . 259 +Horse Radish (with hoarseness) . . . 271 +Leek (loss of voice) . . . 221 +Lemon juice . . . 303 +Lime, sweet . . . 317 +Mountain Ash (relaxed) . . . 351 +Mulberry . . . 357 +Mustard, Hedge (ulcerated) . . . 381 +Mustard, White, seed . . . 381 +Pellitory . . . 425 +Peppermint, Menthol . . . 339 +Periwinkle, lesser . . . 428 +Quince . . . 452 +Raspberry vinegar . . . 460 +Rock Rose (of scarlet fever) . . . 470 +Sage . . . 492 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Sea Lavender . . . 300 +Sea Pod Essence (goitre) . . . 504 +Selfheal, Brownwort (quinsy) . . . 509 +Strawberry leaves (quinsy) . . . 537 +Thymol . . . 564 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Verbena . . . 587 +Walnut vinegar . . . 598 +Water Dock . . . 164 +Woodruff, Squinancy (quinsy) . . . 609 +Woodsorrel . . . 612 +Wormwood (quinsy) . . . 613 +Yarrow . . . 618 + +THRUSH and SORE MOUTH. +Currant, Black . . . 140 +Grapes . . . 241 +Honey . . . 261 +House Leek . . . 275 +Mercury, Dog's . . . 333 +Mulberry . . . 357 +Quince . . . 453 +Tomato (salivation) . . . 572 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Water Pepper . . . 606 + +TIC DOULOUREUX. +Flax Yarn . . . 204 + +TOOTHACHE, _see_ TEETH. + +TUMOURS, _see_ GLANDULAR SWELLINGS. + +ULCERS, to Heal. +Blackberry leaves . . . 55 +Brooklime . . . 431 +Dock, Water . . . 164 +Good King Henry . . . 228 +Goosegrass . . . 232 +Hemlock, apply . . . 251 +House Leek . . . 275 +Juniper Gum (deep ulcers) . . . 294 +Marigold . . . 328 +Sage (strong) . . . 492 +Saint John's Wort . . . 289 +Savin juice . . . 494 +Scurvy Grass . . . 496 +Sorrel (scrofulous) . . . 161 +Tormentil . . . 578 +Turpentine Resin . . . 578 +Tutsan (sore legs) . . . 290 +Verbena (indolent) . . . 587 +Walnut leaves . . . 598 +Wartwort . . . 603 +[649] Watercress leaves . . . 131 +Woodsorrel . . . 611 +Yew . . . 621 + +URINE, and KIDNEY DISORDERS. +TO PROMOTE FLOW OF URINE-- +Bee Tea . . . 261 +Broom . . . 62 +Butcher's Broom . . . 65 +Celery . . . 95 +Daffodil . . . 142 +Earth Nut . . . 373 +Grapes . . . 289 +Juniper . . . 291 +Lily of the Valley . . . 315 +Nettle tea . . . 387 +Onion . . . 210 +Parsley . . . 409 +Pellitory of Wall . . . 424 +Potato, watery . . . 446 +Radish . . . 456 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Strawberry . . . 538 +Tar . . . 580 +Toadflax . . . 567 +Violet seeds . . . 591 + +TO SOOTHE IRRITABLE BLADDER AND URINARY PASSAGES-- +Asparagus . . . 36 +Barley . . . 45 +Camphor . . . 338 +Chervil . . . 101 +Couch Grass . . . 242 +Henbane . . . 253 +Horehound . . . 267 +Marsh Mallow . . . 324 +Parsley tea . . . 412 +Pimpernel . . . 429 +Plantain, Water . . . 435 +Pulsatilla Anemone . . . 21 +Rest Harrow . . . 321 +Turpentine . . . 577 +Viper's Bugloss . . . 594 + +TO CORRECT DEPOSITS IN URINE-- +Barberry (gravel) . . . 43 +Carrot (gravel) . . . 88 +Couch Grass . . . 242 +Flag, Sweet . . . 202 +Gooseberry leaves . . . 225 +Valerian (urea) . . . 585 +Violet, Sweet . . . 593 +Water Parsnip . . . 415 + +OF MILKY PHOSPHATES-- +Burdock . . . 162 +Leek . . . 220 + +ALBUMINURIA-- +Barberry . . . 43 +Clove . . . 395 +Hart's tongue Fern . . . 187 +Stitchwort, greater . . . 536 + +BED-WETTING, TO PREVENT-- +Daffodil . . . 142 +Dandelion . . . 167 +Mullein Oil . . . 362 +Plantain, greater . . . 435 +Saint John's Wort . . . 287 + +VENEREAL DISEASE, _see_ SYPHILIS. + +VERMIN, to Destroy. +Agaric, Fly, mushroom . . . 36 +Aniseed (lice) . . . 24 +Cat mint (rats, keep away) . . . 345 +Ivy Leaf (lice) . . . . 282 +Spindletree . . . 531 +Tansy . . . 553 +Water Lily, Yellow . . . 605 + +WARTS, to Remove. +Apple juice . . . 29 +Cabbage, White . . . 76 +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +Chickweed . . . 106 +Dandelion . . . 151 +Elder . . . 170 +(Epsom Salts) . . . 80 +[650] Fig juice . . . 197 +Gooseberry Thorn . . . 226 +House Leek . . . 275 +Marsh Marigold . . . 331 +Peach leaf . . . 419 +Savin . . . 494 +Spurge Wood . . . 534 +Sundew . . . 546 +Teasel water . . . 559 +Tormentil . . . 573 +Watercress juice . . . 131 + +WATER BRASH, _see_ INDIGESTION. + +WHITES, _see_ WOMB. + +WHITLOW. +Brooklime . . . 431 +Rosemary, Wild . . . 474 +Water Dropwort . . . 604 + +WHOOPING COUGH. +Blackberry . . . 54 +Bog Bean . . . 59 +Celandine, greater . . . 94 +Chestnut, sweet . . . 104 +Clover, Red . . . 111 +Garlic . . . 215 +Hemlock vapour . . . 250 +Horse Radish . . . 273 +Ivy Cup . . . 282 +Pennyroyal . . . 336 +Radish, Black . . . 457 +Rose Canker . . . 469 +Sundew . . . 544 +Thyme, Wild . . . 561 + +WOMB, Disorders of, _and see_ MONTHLY FLOW. +FOR IRRITABLE WOMB-- +Anemone Pulsatilla . . . 21 +Groundsel bath . . . 215 +Parsley . . . 408 +Savin . . . 494 +Sowbread (falling womb) . . . 451 +Thyme, Wild . . . 561 +Valerian . . . 584 + +MONTHLY ILLNESSES, _see_ MENSTRUATION-- + +WHITES--LEUCORRHOEA--TO CURE-- +Burdock . . . 163 +Hyacinth, Wild (Blue Bell) . . . 57 +Tomato . . . 571 + +CANCER OF WOMB-- +Turpentine Chian . . . 579 + +TO PREVENT BARRENNESS-- +Leeks . . . 220 +Potato . . . 446 +Speedwell . . . 528 +Tansy (to prevent miscarriage) . . . 554 + +WORMS, to Expel. +Carrot, raw . . . 90 +Cat Thyme (thread worms) . . . 565 +Chamomile . . . 87 +Christmas Rose (round worms) . . . 108 +Coraline Sea Weed . . . 507 +Fern, Male, oil and root (tape worm) . . . 183 +Garlic, Clove . . . 216 +Goosefoot (round worms) . . . 223 +Groundsel (bot worms) . . . 244 +Hedge Hyssop . . . 280 +Lemon pips . . . 302 +Lettuce, unwashed (to guard against eating) . . . 381 +Mulberry root (tape worms) . . . 358 +Nettle . . . 385 +Peach leaves . . . 418 +Rose, Dog, hips (round worms) . . . 464 +Salt Worts . . . 506 +Sedum . . . 277 +Southernwood . . . 527 +Stinking Hellebore . . . 109 +Tansy seeds . . . 552 +[651] Turpentine (round worms) . . . 579 +Walnut, unripe fruit . . . 598 +Wormwood . . . 612 + +WOUNDS, to Heal. +Adder's-tongue Fern . . . 188 +Agrimony . . . 19 +Anemone, Wood . . . 21 +Balm . . . 40 +Bugle . . . 510 +Comfrey . . . 120 +Cow-dung poultice . . . 126 +Daisy . . . 145 +Fern, Royal . . . 186 +Figwort (gangrenous) . . . 51 +Good King Henry . . . 228 +Goosegrass . . . 238 +Hemlock, Water . . . 252 +House Leek . . . 275 +Hyssop, green . . . 279 +Marigold . . . 328 +Marsh Mallow . . . 328 +Pea . . . 416 +Peppermint, apply . . . 342 +Plantain, greater . . . 434 +Potato flour . . . 445 +Primrose salve . . . 418 +Prunella, Selfheal . . . 510 +Puff Ball powder (to stay bleeding) . . . 366 +Resin (Honey) . . . 260 +Rosemary, Wild . . . 474 +Saint John's Wort oil (deep wounds) . . . 288 +Sanicle . . . 509 +Solomon's Seal . . . 525 +Thymol . . . 564 +Turnip poultice . . . 574 +Tutsan . . . 290 +Valerian . . . 584 +Watercress poultice . . . 131 +Woundwort, Hedge . . . 615 + " Water . . . 616 +Yarrow . . . 618 + + + +[652] + + "Farewell, sweet flowers!--whose time is fitly spent + For all delights of colour, and of scent: + And after death for cures! + May I my days with equal uses fill, + Living to work some benefits: and still + Having an end like yours!" + _Robert Herrick_, 1650 + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN +USES OF CURE*** + + +******* This file should be named 19352.txt or 19352.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: 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