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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 o