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]