Our garden Carrot, or Dauke, is a cultivated variety of the
_Dalucus sylvestris_, or wild carrot, an umbelliferous plant, which
groweth of itself in untoiled places, and is called _philtron_,
because it serveth for love matters. This wild Carrot may be found
abundantly in our fields and on the sea shore; the term Carrot
being Celtic, and signifying "red of colour," or perhaps derived
from caro, flesh, because this is a fleshy vegetable. Daucus is from
the Greek _daio_, to burn, on account of the pungent and
stimulating qualities. It is common also on our roadsides, being
popularly known as "Bee's nest," because the stems of its
flowering head, or umbel, form a concave semi-circle, or nest,
which bees, when belated from the hive will use as a dormitory.
The small purple flower which grows in the middle of the umbel
has been found beneficial for the cure of epilepsy. The juice of the
Carrot contains "carotine" in red crystals; also pectin, albumen,
and a particular volatile oil, on which the medicinal properties of
the root depend. The seeds are warm and aromatic to the taste,
whilst they are slightly diuretic. A tea made from the whole plant,
and taken each night and morning, is excellent when the lithic
acid, or gouty disposition prevails, with the deposit of a brick-dust
sediment in the urine on its becoming cool.
The chief virtues of Carrots lie in the strong antiseptic qualities
they possess, which prevent all putrescent [89] changes within the
body. In Suffolk they were given long since as a secret specific for
preserving and restoring the wind of horses, but cows if fed long
on them will make bloody urine. Wild Carrots are superior
medicinally to those of the cultivated kind. Carrot sugar got from
the inspissated juice of the roots may be used at table, and is good
for the coughs of consumptive children. The seeds of the wild
Carrot were formerly esteemed as a specific remedy for jaundice;
and in Savoy the peasants now give an infusion of the roots for the
same purpose; whilst this infusion has served to prevent stone in
the bladder throughout several years when the patient had been
previously subject to frequent attacks.
Carrots boiled sufficiently, and mashed into a pulp, when applied
directly to a putrid, indolent sore, will sweeten and heal it. The
Carrot poultice was first used by Sulzer for mitigating the pain,
and correcting the stench of foul ulcers. Raw scraped Carrot is
an excellent plaster for chapped nipples. At Vichy, where
derangements of the liver and of the biliary digestion are
particularly treated, Carrots in one or another form are served at
every meal, whether in soup, or as a vegetable; and considerable
efficacy of cure is attributed to them. In the time of Parkinson
(1640) the leaves of the Carrot were thought to be so ornamental
that ladies wore them as a head-dress instead of feathers. A good
British wine may be brewed from the roots of the Carrot; and very
tolerable bread may be prepared for travellers from these roots
when dried and powdered. Pectic acid can be extracted by the
chemist from Carrots, which will solidify plain sugared water into
a wholesome appetising jelly. One part of this pectic acid
dissolved in a little hot water, and added to make three hundred
parts of warm water, [90] is soon converted into a mass of
trembling jelly. The yellow core of the Carrot is the part which is
difficult of digestion with some persons, not the outer red layer.
Before the French Revolution the sale of Carrots and oranges was
prohibited in the Dutch markets, because of the unpopular
aristocratic colour of these commodities. In one thousand parts of
a Carrot there are ninety-five of sugar, and (according to some
chemists) only three of starch. In country districts raw Carrots are
sometimes given to children for expelling worms, probably
because the vegetable matter passes mechanically through the
body unchanged, and scours it. "Remember, William," says Sir
Hugh Evans in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, "Focative is
Caret," "and that" replies Mrs. Quickly, "is a good root."
"The man in the moon drinks claret,
But he is a dull Jack-a-dandy;
Would he know a sheep's head from a Carrot
He should learn to drink cider and brandy."
Song of Mad Tom in _Midsummer Night's Dream_.
CELANDINE (Greater, and Lesser).
This latter flower is a conspicuous herald of spring, which is
strikingly welcome to everyone living in the country throughout
England, and a stranger to none. The Pilewort, or lesser Celandine,
bespangles all our banks with its brilliant, glossy, golden stars,
coming into blossom on or about March 7th, St. Perpetua's day.
They are a timely tocsin for five o'clock tea, because punctually at
that hour they shut up their showy petals until 9.0 a.m. on the
following morning. The well-known little herb, with its heart-shaped
leaves, is a Ranunculus, and bears the affix _ficaria_ from
its curative value in the malady called _ficus_--a "red sore in the
fundament". (Littleton, 1684).
[91] The popular title, Pilewort, from _Pila_, a ball, was probably
first acquired because, after the doctrine of signatures, the small
oval tubercles attached to its stringy roots were supposed to
resemble and to cure piles. Nevertheless, it has been since proved
practically that the whole plant, when bruised and made into an
ointment with fresh lard, is really useful for healing piles; as
likewise when applied to the part in the form of a poultice or hot
fomentation. "There be those also who thinke that if the herbe be
but carried about by one that hath the piles the paine forthwith
ceaseth." It has sometimes happened that the small white tubercles
collected about the roots of the plant, when washed bare by heavy
rains, and lying free on the ground, have given rise to a supposed
shower of wheat. After flowering the Pilewort withdraws its
substance of leaf and stem into a small rounded tube underground,
so as to withstand the heat of summer, and the cold of the
subsequent winter.
With the acrid juice of this herb, and of others belonging to the
same Ranunculous order, beggars in England used to produce
sores about their body for the sake of exciting pity, and getting
alms. They afterwards cured these sores by applying fresh mullein
leaves to heal them. The lesser Celandine furnishes a golden
yellow volatile oil, which is readily converted into anemonic acid.
Wordsworth specially loved this lesser Celandine, and turned his
lyre to sing its praises:--
"There is a flower that shall be mine,
'Tis the little Celandine;
I will sing as doth behove
Hymns in praise of what I love."
In token of which affectionate regard these flowers have been
carved on the white marble of his tomb.
[92] The greater Celandine, or _Coeli donum_ (_Chelidonium
majus_), though growing freely in our waste places and hedgerows,
is, perhaps, scarcely so well known as its diminutive namesake.
Yet most persons acquainted with our ordinary rural plants
have repeatedly come across this conspicuous herb, which
exudes a bright yellow juice when bruised. It has sharply cut vivid
leaves of a dull green, with a small blossom of brilliant yellow,
and is not altogether unlike a buttercup, though growing to the
height of a couple of feet. But this Celandine belongs to the Poppy
tribe, whilst the Buttercup is a Ranunculus. The technical name of
the greater Celandine (_Chelidonium_) comes from the Greek
word _Chelidon_, a swallow, because of an ancient tradition that
the bird makes use of this herb to open the eyes of its young, or to
restore their sight when it has been lost:--
"Caecatis pullis hac lumina mater hirundo
(Plinius ut scripsit) quamvis sint eruta, reddit."
The ancients entertained a strong belief that birds are gifted with a
knowledge of herbs; the woodpecker, for instance, seeking out the
Springwort to remove obstructions, and the linnet making use of
the Eyebright to restore its vision.
Queen Elizabeth in the forty-sixth year of her age was attacked
with such a grievous toothache that she could obtain no rest by
night or day because of the torture she endured. The lords of her
council decided on sending for an "outlandish physician" named
Penatus, who was famous for curing this agonising pain. He
advised that when all was said and done, if the tooth was hollow, it
were best to have it drawn; but as Her Majesty could not bring
herself to submit to the use of [93] chirugical instruments, he
suggested that the _Chelidonius major_--our greater Celandine--
should be put into the tooth, and this stopped with wax, which
would so loosen the tooth that in a short time it might be pulled
out with the fingers. Aylmer, Bishop of London, tried to
encourage the Queen by telling her that though he was an old man,
and had not many teeth to spare, she should see a practical
experiment made on himself. Thereupon he bade the surgeon who
was in attendance extract one of his teeth in Her Majesty's
presence.
This plant, the _Chelidonium majus_, is still used in Suffolk for
toothache by way of fomentation. It goes also by the name of
"Fenugreek" (_Foenum Groecum_), Yellow Spit, Grecian Hay,
and by that of Tetterwort. The root contains chemically "chelidonin"
and "sanguinarin."
On the doctrine of signatures the herb, because of its bright
orange-coloured juice, was formerly believed to be curative of
jaundice. A medicinal tincture (H.) made from the entire plant
with spirit of wine is at the present time held in high esteem by
many physicians for overcoming torpid conditions of the liver. Eight
or ten drops of this tincture, or of the fresh juice of the plant,
may be given for a dose three times in the day in sweetened water
when bilious yellowness of the skin is present, with itching, and
with clayey stools, dark thick urine, constipation, and a pain in the
right shoulder; also for neuralgia of the head and face on the right
side. It is certainly remarkable that though the fanciful theory of
choosing curative plants by their signatures has been long since
exploded, yet doctors of to-day select several yellow medicines for
treating biliary disorders--to wit, this greater Celandine with its
ochreous juice; the Yellow Barberry; the Dandelion; [94] the
Golden Seal (Hydrastis); the Marigold; Orange; Saffron; and
Tomato. Animals poisoned by the greater Celandine have developed
active and pernicious congestion of the lungs and liver.
Clusius found by experience that the juice of the greater
Celandine, when squeezed into small green wounds of what sort
so ever, wonderfully cured them. "If the juice to the bigness of a
pin's head be dropped into the eye in the morning in bed, it takes
away outward specks, and stops incipient suffusions." Also if the
yellow juice is applied to warts, or to corns, first gently scraped,
it will cure them promptly and painlessly. The greater Celandine is
by genus closely allied to the horned Poppy which grows so
abundantly on our coasts. Its tincture given in small doses proves
of considerable service in whooping-cough when very spasmodic.
Curious remedies for this complaint have found rustic favour: in
Yorkshire owl broth is considered to be a specific; again in
Gloucestershire a roasted mouse is given to be eaten by the
patient; and in Staffordshire the child is made to look at the new
moon whilst the right hand of the nurse is rubbed up and down its
bare belly.