Coriander comfits, sold by the confectioner as admirably warming
to the stomach, and corrective of flatulence, consist of small
aromatic seeds coated with white sugar. These are produced by the
Coriander, an umbelliferous herb cultivated in England from early
times for medicinal and culinary uses, though introduced at first
from the Mediterranean. It has now [123] become wild as an
escape, growing freely in our fields and waste places. Farmers
produce it, especially about Essex, under the name of Col, the
crops being mown down when ripe, and the fruits being then
thrashed out to procure the seeds. The generic name has been
derived from _koros_, a bug; alluding to the stinking odour of the
bruised leaves, though these, when dried, are fragrant, and
pleasant of smell. In some countries, as Egypt and Peru, they are
taken in soups. The seeds are cordial, but become narcotic if used
too freely. When distilled with water they yield a yellow essential
oil of a very aromatic and strong odour.
Coriander water was formerly much esteemed as a carminative for
windy colic. Being so aromatic and comfortably stimulating, the
fruit is commended for aiding the digestion of savoury pastry, and
to correct the griping tendencies of such medicines as senna and
rhubarb. It contains malic acid, tannin, the special volatile oil of
the herb, and some fatty matter.
Distillers of gin make use of this fruit, and veterinary surgeons
employ it as a drug for cattle and horses. Alston says, "The green
herb--seeds and all--stinks intolerably of bugs"; and Hoffman
admonishes, "_Si largius sumptura fuerit semen non sine periculo
e sua sede et statu demovet, et qui sumpsere varia dictu pudenda
blaterant_." The fruits are blended with curry powder, and are
chosen to flavour several liquors. By the Chinese a power of
conferring immortality is thought to be possessed by the seeds.
From a passage in the Book of Numbers where manna is likened
to Coriander seed, it would seem that this seed was familiar to the
Israelites and used by them for domestic purposes. Robert Turner
says when taken in wine it stimulates the animal passions.
[124] COWSLIP.
Our English pastures and meadows, especially where the soil is of
blue lias clay, become brilliantly gay, "with gaudy cowslips drest,"
quite early in the spring. But it is a mistake to suppose that these
flowers are a favourite food with cows, who, in fact, never eat
them if they can help it. The name Cowslip is really derived, says
Dr. Prior, from the Flemish words, _kous loppe_, meaning "hose
flap," a humble part of woollen nether garments. But Skeat thinks
it arose from the fact that the plant was supposed to spring up
where a patch of cow dung had fallen.
Originally, the Mullein--which has large, oval, woolly leaves--
and the Cowslip were included under one common Latin name,
_Verbascum_; for which reason the attributes of the Mullein still
remain accredited by mistake to the second plant. Former medical
writers called the Cowslip _herba paralysis_, or, "palsywort,"
because of its supposed efficacy in relieving paralysis. The whole
plant is known to be gently narcotic and somniferous. Pope
praised the herb and its flowers on account of their sedative
qualities:--
"For want of rest,
Lettuce and Cowslip wine--_Probatum est_."
Whilst Coleridge makes his _Christabel_ declare with reference to
the fragrant brew concocted from its petals, with lemons and
sugar:--
"It is a wine of virtuous powers,
My mother made it of wild flowers."
Physicians for the last two centuries have used the powdered roots
of the Cowslip (and the Primrose) for wakefulness, hysterical
attacks, and muscular rheumatism; and the cowslip root was
named of old both [124] _radix paralyseos_, and _radix arthritica_.
This root, and the flowers, have an odour of anise, which
is due to their containing some volatile oil identical with
mannite. Their more acrid principle is "saponin." Hill tells us that
when boiled in ale, the roots are taken by country persons for
giddiness, with no little success. "They be likewise in great request
among those that use to hunt after goats and roebucks on high
mountains, for the strengthening of the head when they pass by
fearful precipices and steep places, in following their game, so that
giddiness and swimming of the brain may not seize upon them."
The dose of the dried and powdered flowers is from fifteen to
twenty grains. A syrup of a fine yellow colour may also be made
from the petals, which answers the same purposes. Three pounds
of the fresh blossoms should be infused in five pints of boiling
water, and then simmered down to a proper consistence with
sugar.
Herbals of the Elizabethan date, say that an ointment made from
cowslip flowers "taketh away the spots and wrinkles of the skin,
and doth add beauty exceedingly, as divers ladies, gentlewomen,
and she citizens--whether wives or widows--know well enough."
The tiny people were then supposed to be fond of nestling in the
drooping bells of Cowslips, and hence the flowers were called
fairy cups; and, in accordance with the doctrine of signatures, they
were thought effective for removing freckles from the face.
"In their gold coats spots you see,
These be rubies: fairy favours.
In these freckles live their savours."
The cluster of blossoms on a single stalk sometimes bears the
name of "lady's keys" or "St. Peter's wort," either because it
resembles a bunch of keys as St. [126] Peter's badge, or because as
_primula veris_ it unlocks the treasures of spring.
Cowslip flowers are frequently done up by playful children into
balls, which they call tisty tosty, or simply a tosty. For this
purpose the umbels of blossoms fully blown are strung closely
together, and tied into a firm ball.
The leaves were at one time eaten in salad, and mixed with other
herbs to stuff meat, whilst the flowers were made into a delicate
conserve.
Yorkshire people call this plant the Cowstripling; and in
Devonshire, where it is scarcely to be found, because of the red
marl, it has come about that the foxglove goes by the name of
Cowslip. Again, in some provincial districts, the Cowslip is known
as Petty Mullein, and in others as Paigle (Palsywort). The old
English proverb, "As blake as a paigle," means, "As yellow as a
cowslip."
One word may be said here in medicinal favour of the poor cow, whose
association with the flower now under discussion has been so
unceremoniously disproved. The breath and smell of this sweet-odoured
animal are thought in Flintshire to be good against consumption.
Henderson tells of a blacksmith's apprentice who was restored
to health when far advanced in a decline, by taking the milk
of cows fed in a kirkyard. In the south of Hampshire, a useful
plaster of fresh cow-dung is applied to open wounds. And
even in its evolutionary development, the homely animal reads us
a lesson; for _Dat Deus immiti cornua curta bovi_, says the Latin
proverb--"Savage cattle have only short horns." So was it in "the
House that Jack built," where the fretful creature that tossed the
dog had but one horn, and this grew crumpled.
[127] CRESSES.
The Cress of the herbalist is a noun of multitude: it comprises
several sorts, differing in kind but possessing the common
properties of wholesomeness and pungency. Here "order in variety
we see"; and here, "though all things differ, all agree." The name
is thought by some to be derived from the Latin verb _crescere_,
to grow fast.
Each kind of Cress belongs to the Cruciferous genus of plants;
whence comes, perhaps, the common name The several varieties
of Cress are stimulating and anti-scorbutic, whilst each contains a
particular essential principle, of acrid flavour, and of sharp biting
qualities. The whole tribe is termed _lepidium_, or "siliquose,"
scaly, with reference to the shape of the seed-pouches. It includes
"Land Cress (formerly dedicated to St. Barbara); Broad-leaved
Cress (or the Poor-man's pepper); Penny Cress (_thlapsus_);
Garden, or Town Cress; and the well known edible Water Cress."
Formerly the Greeks attached much value to the whole order of
Cresses, which they thought very beneficial to the brain. A
favourite maxim with them was, "Eat Cresses, and get wit."
In England these plants have long been cultivated as a source of
profit; whence arose the saying that a graceless fellow is not worth
a "kurse" or cress--in German, _kers_. Thus Chaucer speaks about
a character in the _Canterbury Tales_, "Of paramours ne fraught
he not a kers." But some writers have referred this saying rather to
the wild cherry or kerse, making it of the same significance as our
common phrase, "Not worth a fig."
As Curative Herbal Simples we need only consider the Garden or
Town Cress, and the Water Cress: whilst regarding the other
varieties rather as condiments, and [128] salad herbs to be taken
by way of pleasant wholesome appetisers at table. These
aromatic herbs were employed to season the homely dishes of our
forefathers, before commerce had brought the spices of the East at
a cheap rate to our doors; and Cresses were held in common
favour by peasants for such a purpose. The black, or white pepper
of to-day, was then so costly that "to promise a saint yearly a
pound of it was considered a liberal bequest." And therefore the
leaves of wild Cresses were eaten as a substitute for giving
pungency to the food. Remarkable among these was the _Dittander
Sativus_, a species found chiefly near the sea, with foliage
so hot and acrid, that the plant then went by the name of
"Poor-man's Pepper," or "Pepper Wort." Pliny said, "It is of the
number of scorching and blistering Simples." "This herbe," says
Lyte, "is fondly and unlearnedly called in English Dittany. It were
better in following the Dutchmen to name it Pepperwort."
The _Garden Cress_, called _Sativum_ (from _satum_, a pasture),
is the sort commonly coupled with the herb Mustard in our
familiar "Mustard and Cress." It has been grown in England since
the middle of the sixteenth century, and its other name _Town_
Cress refers to its cultivation in "tounes," or enclosures. It was
also known as Passerage; from _passer_, to drive away--rage, or
madness, because of its reputed power to expel hydrophobia. "This
Garden Cress," said Wm. Coles in his _Paradise of Plants_, 1650,
"being green, and therefore more qualified by reason of its
humidity, is eaten by country people, either alone with butter, or
with lettice and purslane, in Sallets, or otherwise."
It contains sulphur, and a special ardent volatile medicinal oil. The
small leaves combined with those of [129] our white garden
Mustard are excellent against rheumatism and gout. Likewise it is
a preventive of scurvy by reason of its mineral salts. In which
salutary respects the twin plants, Mustard and Cress, are happily
consorted, and well play a capital common part, like the "two
single gentlemen rolled into one" of George Colman, the younger.
The _Water Cress_ (_Nasturtium officinale_) is among cresses, to
use an American simile, the "finest toad in the puddle." This is
because of its superlative medicinal worth, and its great popularity
at table. Early writers called the herb "Shamrock," and common
folk now-a-days term it the "Stertion." Zenophon advised the
Persians to feed their children on Water-cresses (_kardamon
esthie_) that they might grow in stature and have active minds.
The Latin name _Nasturtium_ was given to the Watercress because
of its volatile pungency when bruised and smelt; from _nasus_,
a nose, and _tortus_, turned away, it being so to say, "a herb
that wriths or twists the nose." For the same reason it is called
_Nasitord_ in France. When bruised its leaves affect the eyes and
nose almost like mustard. They have been usefully applied to the
scald head and tetters of children. In New Zealand the stems grow
as thick as a man's wrist, and nearly choke some of the rivers. Like
an oyster, the Water-cress is in proper season only when there is
an "r" in the month.
According to an analysis made recently in the School of Pharmacy
at Paris, the Water-cress contains a sulpho-nitrogenous oil, iodine,
iron, phosphates, potash, certain other earthy salts, a bitter extract,
and water. Its volatile oil which is rich in nitrogen and sulphur
(problematical) is the sulpho-cyanide of allyl. Anyhow [130] there
is much sulphur possessed by the whole plant in one form or
another, together with a considerable quantity of mineral matter.
Thus the popular plant is so constituted as to be particularly
curative of scrofulous affections, especially in the spring time,
when the bodily humours are on the ferment. Dr. King Chambers
writes (_Diet in Health and Disease_), "I feel sure that the
infertility, pallor, fetid breath, and bad teeth which characterise
some of our town populations are to a great extent due to their
inability to get fresh anti-scorbutic vegetables as articles of diet:
therefore I regard the Water-cress seller as one of the saviours of
her country." Culpeper said pithily long ago: "They that will live
in health may eat Water-cress if they please; and if they won't, I
cannot help it."
The scrofula to which the Water-cress and its allied plants are
antidotal, got its name from _scrofa_, "a burrowing pig,"
signifying the radical destruction of important glands in the body
by this undermining constitutional disease. Possibly the quaint
lines which nurses have long been given to repeat for the
amusement of babies while fondling their infantine fingers bear a
hidden meaning which pointedly imports the scrofulous taint. This
nursery distich, as we remember, personates the fingers one by one
as five little fabulous pigs:--the first small piggy doesn't feel well;
and the second one threatens the doctor to tell; the third little pig
has to linger at home; and the fourth small porker of meat has
none; then the fifth little pig, with a querulous note, cries "weak,
weak, weak" from its poor little throat.
"oegrotat multis doloribus porculus ille:
Ille rogat fratri medicum proferre salutem:
Debilis ille domi mansit vetitus abire;
Carnem digessit nunquam miser porculus ille;
'Eheu!' ter repetens, 'eheu!' perporculus, 'eheu!'
Vires exiguas luget plorante susurro."
[131] On account of its medicinal constituents the herb has
been deservedly extolled as a specific remedy for tubercular
consumption of the lungs. Haller says: "We have seen patients in
deep declines cured by living almost entirely on this plant;" and it
forms the chief ingredient of the _Sirop Antiscorbutique _given so
successfully by the French faculty in scrofula and other allied
diseases. Its active principles are at their best when the plant is in
flower; and the amount of essential oil increases according to the
quantity of sunlight which the leaves obtain, the proportion of iron
being determined according to the quality of the water, and the
measure of phosphates by the supply of dressing afforded. The
leaves remain green when grown in the shade, but become of a
purple brown because of their iron when exposed to the sun. The
expressed juice, which contains the peculiar taste and pungency of
the herb, may be taken in doses of from one to two fluid ounces at
each of the three principal meals, and it should always be had
fresh. When combined with the juice of Scurvy grass and of
Seville oranges it makes the popular antiscorbutic medicine known
as "Spring juices."
A Water-cress cataplasm applied cold in a single layer, and with a
pinch of salt sprinkled thereupon makes a most useful poultice to
heal foul scrofulous ulcers; and will also help to resolve glandular
swellings.
Water-cresses squeezed and laid against warts were said by the
Saxon leeches to work a certain cure on these excrescences. In
France the Water-cress is dipped in oil and vinegar to be eaten at
table with chicken or a steak. The Englishman takes it at his
morning or evening meal, with bread and butter, or at dinner in a
salad. It loses some of its pungent flavour and of its curative
qualities [132] when cultivated; and therefore it is more appetising
and useful when freshly gathered from natural streams. But these
streams ought to be free from contamination by sewage matter, or
any drainage which might convey the germs of fever, or other
blood poison: for, as we are admonished, the Water-cress plant
acts as a brush in impure running brooks to detain around its stalks
and leaves any dirty disease-bringing flocculi.
Some of our leading druggists now make for medicinal use a
liquid extract of the _Nasturtium officinale_, and a spirituous juice
(or _succus_) of the plant. These preparations are of marked
service in scorbutic cases, where weakness exists without wasting,
and often with spongy gums, or some skin eruption. They are best
when taken with lemon juice.
The leaf of the unwholesome Water parsnep, or Fool's Cress,
resembles that of the Water-cress, and grows near it not infrequently:
but the leaves of the true Water-cress never embrace the stem
of the plant as do the leaf stalks of its injurious imitators.
Herrick the joyous poet of "dull Devonshire" dearly loved the
Water-cress, and its kindred herbs. He piously and pleasantly
made them the subject of a quaint grace before meat:--
"Lord, I confess too when I dine
The pulse is Thine:
And all those other bits that be
There placed by Thee:
The wurts, the perslane, and the mess
of Water-cress."
The true _Nasturtium_ (_Tropoeolum majus_), or greater Indian
Cress grows and is cultivated in our flower gardens as a brilliant
ornamental creeper. It was brought from Peru to France in 1684, and
was called _La grande Capucine_, whilst the botanical title
_tropoeolum_, [133] a trophy, was conferred because of its
shield-like leaves, and its flowers resembling a golden helmet.
An old English name for the same plant was Yellow Lark's heels.
Two years later it was introduced into England. This partakes of
the sensible and useful qualities of the other cresses. The fresh
plant and the dark yellow flowers have an odour like that of the
Water-cress, and its bruised leaves emit a pungent smell. An
infusion made with water will bring out the antiscorbutic virtues of
the plant which are specially aromatic, and cordial. The flowers
make a pretty and palatable addition to salads, and the nuts or
capsules (which resemble the "cheeses" of Mallow) are esteemed
as a pickle, or as a substitute for Capers. Invalids have often
preferred this plant to the Scurvy grass as an antiscorbutic remedy.
In the warm summer months the flowers have been observed about
the time of sunset to give out sparks, as of an electrical kind,
which were first noticed by a daughter of Linnoeus.
The _Water-cress_ is justly popular with persons who drink freely
overnight, for its power of dissipating the fumes of the liquor, and
of clearing away lethargic inaptitude for work in the morning: also
for dispelling the tremors, and the foul taste induced by excessive
tobacco smoking.
Closely allied thereto is another cruciferous plant, the Scurvy
grass (_Cochleare_), named also "Spoon-wort" from its leaves
resembling in shape the bowl of an old-fashioned spoon. This is
thought to be the famous _Herba Britannica_ of the ancients. Our
great navigators have borne testimony to its never failing use in
scurvy, and, though often growing many miles from the sea, yet
the taste of the herb is always [134] found to be salt. If eaten in
its fresh state, as a salad, it is the most effectual of all the
antiscorbutic plants, the leaves being admirable also to cure
swollen and spongy gums. It grows along the muddy banks of the
Avon, likewise in Wales, and is found in Cumberland, more
commonly near the coast; and again on the mountains of Scotland.
It may be readily cultivated in the garden for medicinal use.
The Cuckoo flower, or "Ladies' Smock" (Cardamine) from _Cardia
damao_, "I strengthen the heart," is another wholesome Cress
with the same sensible properties as the Water-cress, only in
an inferior degree, while the strong pungency of its flavour
prevents it from being equally popular. This plant bears also the
names of "Lucy Locket," and "Smell Smocks." In Cornwall the
flowering tops have been employed for the cure of epilepsy
throughout several generations with singular success; though the
use of the leaves only for this purpose has caused disappointment.
From one to three drams of these flowering tops are to be taken
two or three times a day.
By the Rev. Mr. Gregor (1793) and by his descendants this
remedy was given for inveterate epilepsy with much benefit.
Lady Holt, and her sister Lady Bracebridge, of Aston Hall,
Warwickshire, were long famous for curing severe cases of the
same infirmity by administering this herb. They gave the
powdered heads of the flowers when in full bloom-twelve grains
three times a day for many weeks together.
Sir George Baker in 1767 read a paper before the London College
of Physicians on the value of these flowers in convulsive
disorders. He related five cures of St. Vitus' dance, spasmodic
convulsions, and spasmodic asthma. Formerly the flowers were
admitted into the [135] London Pharmacopoeia. The herb was
named Ladies' Smock in honour of the Virgin Mary, because it
comes first into flower about Lady Day, being abundant with its
delicate lilac blossoms in our moist meadows and marshes:
"Lady Smocks all silver white
Do paint the meadows with delight."
This plant is also named--"Milk Maids," "Bread and Milk," and
"Mayflower." Gerard says "it flowers in April and May when
the Cuckoo cloth begin to sing her pleasant notes without
stammering." One of his characters is made by the Poet Laureate
to--
"Steep for Danewulf leaves of Lady Smock,
For they keep strong the heart."
"And so much," as says William Cole, herbalist, in his _Paradise
of Plants_, 1650, "for such Plants as cure the Scurvy."