"Elecampane," writes William Coles, "is one of the plants whereof
England may boast as much as any, for there grows none better in
the world than in England, let apothecaries and druggists say what
they will." It is a tall, stout, downy plant, from three to five feet
high, of the Composite order, with broad leaves, and bright,
yellow flowers. Campania is the original source of the plant
(_Enula campana_), which is called also Elf-wort, and Elf-dock.
Its botanical title is _Helenium inula_, to commemorate Helen of
Troy, from whose tears the herb was thought to have sprung, or
whose hands were full of the leaves when Paris carried her off
from Menelaus. This title has become corrupted in some districts
to Horse-heal, or Horse-hele, or Horse-heel, through a double,
blunder, the word _inula_ being misunderstood for _hinnula_, a
colt; and the term _Hellenium_ being thought to have something
to do with healing, or [173] heels; and solely on this account the
Elecampane has been employed by farriers to cure horses of scabs
and sore heels. Though found wild only seldom, and as a local
production in our copses and meadows, it is cultivated in our
gardens as a medicinal and culinary herb. The name _inula_ is
only a corruption of the Greek _elenium_; and the herb is of
ancient repute, having been described by Dioscorides. An old
Latin distich thus celebrates its virtues: _Enula campana reddit
proecordia sana_--"Elecampane will the spirits sustain." "Julia
Augusta," said Pliny, "let no day pass without eating some of the
roots of _Enula_ condired, to help digestion, and cause mirth."