The cultivated Hyssop, now of frequent occurrence in the herb-bed,
and a favourite plant there because of its fragrance, belongs to the
labiate order, and possesses cordial qualities which give it rank as a
Simple. It has pleasantly odorous striped leaves which vary in
colour, and possess a camphoraceous odour, with a warm aromatic
bitter taste. This is of comparatively recent introduction into our
gardens, not having been [278] cultivated until Gerard's time, about
1568, and not being a native English herb.
The _Ussopos_ of Dioscorides, was named from _azob_, a holy
herb, because used for cleansing sacred places. Hence it is alluded
to in this sense scripturally: "Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be
clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm li. 7).
Solomon wrote "of all trees, from the Cedar in Lebanon to the
Hyssop that springeth out of the wall." The healing virtues of the
plant are due to a particular volatile oil which admirably promotes
expectoration in bronchial catarrh and asthma. Hyssop tea is a
grateful drink well adapted to improve the tone of a feeble stomach,
being brewed with the green tops of the herb. The same parts of the
plant are sometimes boiled in soup to be given for asthma. The
leaves and flowers are of a warm pungent taste, and of an agreeable
aromatic smell; therefore if the tops and blossoms are reduced to a
powder and added to cold salad herbs they give a comforting cordial
virtue.
There was formerly made a distilled water of Hyssop, which may
still be had from some druggists, it being deemed a good pectoral
medicine. In America an infusion of the leaves is used externally for
the relief of muscular rheumatism, as also for bruises and
discoloured contusions. The herb was sometimes called Rosemary
in the East, and was hung up to afford protection from the evil eye,
as well as to guard against witches.
To make Hyssop tea, one drachm of the herb should be infused in a
pint of boiling water, and allowed to become cool. Then a
wineglassful is to be given as a dose two or three times in the day.
Of the essential oil of Hyssop, from one to two drops [279] should
be the dose. Pliny said: "Hyssop mixed with figs, purges; with
honey, vomits." If the herb be steeped in boiling water and applied
hot to the part, it will quickly remove the blackness consequent
upon a bruise or blow, especially in the case of "black" or
blood-shot eyes.
Parkinson says that in his day "the golden hyssop was of so pleasant
a colour that it provoked every gentlewoman to wear them in their
heads, and on their arms with as much delight as many fine flowers
can give." The leaves are striped conspicuously with white or
yellow; for which reason, and because of their fragrance, the herb is
often chosen to be planted on graves. The green herb, bruised and
applied, will heal cuts promptly. Its tea will assist in promoting the
monthly courses for women. Hyssop grows wild in middle and
southern Europe.
The Hedge Hyssop (_Gratiola officinalis_), or Water Hyssop, is
quite a different plant from the garden pot-herb, and belongs to the
scrofula-curing order, with far more active medicinal properties than
the Hyssop proper. The commonly recognized Hedge Hyssop bears
a pale yellow, or a pale purple flower, like that of the Foxglove; and
the whole plant has a very bitter taste. A medicinal tincture (H.) is
made from the entire herb, of which from eight to ten drops may be
taken with a tablespoonful of cold water three times in the day. It
will afford relief against nervous weakness and shakiness, such as
occur after an excessive use of coffee or tobacco. The title
"gratiola," is from _dei gratia_, "by the grace of God."
The juice of the plant purges briskly, and may be usefully employed
in some forms of dropsy. Its decoction is milder of action, and
proves beneficial [280] in cases of jaundice. In France the plant is
cultivated as a perfume, and it is said to be an active ingredient in
the famous _Eau medicinale_ for gout.
Of the dried leaves from five to twenty-five grains will act as a
drastic vermifuge to expel worms. The root resembles ipecacuanha
in its effects, and in moderate quantities, as a powder or decoction,
helps to stay bloody fluxes and purgings. The flowers are sometimes
of a blood-red hue, and the whole plant contains a special essential
oil.
"Whoso taketh," says Parkinson, "but one scruple of _Gratiola_
(Hedge Hyssop) bruised, shall perceive evidently his effectual
operation and virtue in purging mightily, and that in great
abundance, watery, gross, and slimy tumours." _Caveat qui
sumpserit_. On the principle of affinities, small diluted doses of the
tincture, or decoction, or of the dried leaves, prove curative in cases
of fluxes from the lower bowels, where irritation within the
fundament is frequent, and where there is considerable nervous
exhaustion, especially in chronic cases of this sort.
IVY, Common (_Araliaceoe_).
The clergyman of fiction in the sixth chapter of Dickens' memorable
_Pickwick_, sings certain verses which he styles "indifferent" (the
only verse, by the way, to be found in all that great writer's
stories), and which relate to the Ivy, beginning thus:--
"Oh! a dainty plant is the Ivy green,
That creepeth o'er ruins old."
The well known common Ivy (_Hedera helix_), which clothes the
trunks of trees and the walls of old buildings so picturesquely
throughout Great Britain, gets its botanical name most probably
from the Celtic word _hoedra _[281] "a cord," or from the Greek
_hedra_ "a seat," because sitting close, and its vernacular title from
_iw_ "green," which is also the parent of "yew." In Latin it is termed
_abiga_, easily corrupted to "iva"; and the Danes knew it as
Winter-grunt, or Winter-green, to which appellation it may still lay a
rightful claim, being so conspicuously green at the coldest times of
the year when trees are of themselves bare and brown.
By the ancients the Ivy was dedicated to Bacchus, whose statues
were crowned with a wreath of the plant, under the name Kissos,
and whose worshippers decorated themselves with its garlands. The
leaves have a peculiar faintly nauseous odour, whilst they are
somewhat bitter, and rough of taste. The fresh berries are rather
acid, and become bitter when dried. They are much eaten by our
woodland birds in the spring.
A crown of Ivy was likewise given to the classic poets of
distinction, and the Greek priests presented a wreath of the same to
newly married persons. The custom of decorating houses and
churches with Ivy at Christmastide, was forbidden by one of the
early councils on account of its Pagan associations. Prynne wrote
with reference to this decree:--
"At Christmas men do always Ivy get,
And in each corner of the house it set,
But why make use then of that Bacchus weed?
Because they purpose Bacchus-like to feed."
The Ivy, though sending out innumerable small rootlets, like
suckers, in every direction (which are really for support) is not a
parasite. The plant is rooted in the soil and gets its sustenance
therefrom.
Chemically, its medicinal principles depend on the special balsamic
resin contained in the leaves and stems, as well as constituting the
aromatic gum.
[282] Ivy flowers have little or no scent, but their yield of nectar is
particularly abundant.
When the bark of the main stems is wounded, a gum will exude, and
may be collected: it possesses astringent and mildly aperient
properties. This was at one time included as a medicine in the
Edinburgh _Pharmacopoeia_, but it has now fallen out of such
authoritative use. Its chemical principle is "hederin." The gum is
anti-spasmodic, and promotes the monthly flow of women.
An infusion of the berries will relieve rheumatism, and a decoction
of the leaves applied externally will destroy vermin in the heads of
children.
Fresh Ivy leaves will afford signal relief to corns when they shoot,
and are painful. Good John Wesley, who dabbled in "domestic
medicine," and with much sagacity of observation, taught that
having bathed the feet, and cut the corns, and having mashed some
fresh Ivy leaves, these are to be applied: then by repeating the
remedial process for fifteen days the corns will be cured.
During the Great Plague of London, Ivy berries were given with
some success as possessing antiseptic virtues, and to induce
perspiration, thus effecting a remission of the symptoms. Cups made
from Ivywood have been employed from which to drink for disorders
of the spleen, and for whooping cough, their method of use
being to be kept refilled from time to time with water (cold or
hot), which the patient is to constantly sip.
Ivy gum dissolved in vinegar is a good filling for a hollow tooth
which is causing neuralgic toothache: and an infusion of the leaves
made with cold water, will, after standing for twenty-four hours,
relieve sore and smarting eyes if used rather frequently as a lotion.
A decoction of the leaves and berries will mitigate a [283] severe
headache, such as that which follows hard drinking over night. And
it may have come about that from some rude acquaintance with this
fact the bacchanals adopted goblets carved out of Ivywood.
This plant is especially hardy, and suffers but little from the smoke
and the vitiated air of a manufacturing town. Chemically, such
medicinal principles as the Ivy possesses depend on the special
balsamic resin contained in its leaves and stems; as well as on its
particular gum. Bibulous old Bacchus was always represented in
classic sculpture with a wreath of Ivy round his laughing brows; and
it has been said that if the foreheads of those whose potations run
deep were bound with frontlets of Ivy the nemesis of headache
would be prevented thereby. But legendary lore teaches rather that
the infant Bacchus was an object of vengeance to Juno, and that the
nymphs of Nisa concealed him from her wrath, with trails of Ivy as
he lay in his cradle.
At one time our taverns bore over their doors the sign of an Ivybush,
to indicate the excellence of the liquor supplied within. From which
fact arose the saying that "good wine needs no bush," "_Vinum
vendibile hedera non est opus_." And of this text Rosalind cleverly
avails herself in _As You Like It_, "If it be true" says she, "that
good wine needs no bush,"--"'tis true that a good play needs no
epilogue."
IVY (Ground).
This common, and very familiar little herb, with its small Ivy-like
aromatic leaves, and its striking whorls of dark blue blossoms
conspicuous in early spring time, comes into flower pretty
punctually about the third or fourth of April, however late or early
the season may be. Its name is attributed to the resemblance borne
[284] by its foliage to that of the true Ivy (_Hedera helix_). The
whole plant possesses a balsamic odour, and an aromatic taste, due
to its particular volatile oil, and its characteristic resin, as a
fragrant labiate herb. It remaineth green not only in summer, but
also in winter, at all times of the year.
From the earliest days it has been thought endowed with singular
curative virtues chiefly against nervous headaches, and for the relief
of chronic bronchitis. Ray tells of a remarkable instance in the
person of a Mr. Oldacre who was cured of an obstinate chronic
headache by using the juice or the powdered leaves of the Ground
Ivy as snuff: _Succus hujus plantoe naribus attractus cephalalgiam
etiam vehementissimam et inveteratam non lenit tantum, sed et
penitus aufert_; and he adds in further praise of the herb:
_Medicamentum hoc non satis potest laudari; si res ex usu
oestimarentur, auro oequiparandum_. An infusion of the fresh herb,
or, if made in winter, from its dried leaves, and drank under the
name of Gill tea, is a favourite remedy with the poor for coughs of
long standing, accompanied with much phlegm. One ounce of the
herb should be infused in a pint of boiling water, and a wineglassful
of this when cool is to be taken three or four times in the day. The
botanical name of the plant is _Nepeta glechoma_, from _Nepet_, in
Tuscany, and the Greek _gleechon_, a mint.
Resembling Ivy in miniature, the leaves have been used in weaving
chaplets for the dead, as well as for adorning the Alestake erected as
a sign at taverns. For this reason, and because formerly in vogue for
clearing the ale drank by our Saxon ancestors, the herb acquired the
names of Ale hoof, and Tun hoof ("tun" signifying a garden, and
"hoof" or "hufe" a coronal or chaplet), [285] or Hove, "because,"
says Parkinson, "it spreadeth as a garland upon the ground." Other
titles which have a like meaning are borne by the herb, such as "Gill
go by the ground," and Haymaids, or Hedgemaids; the word "gill"
not only relating to the fermentation of beer, but meaning also a
maid. This is shown in the saying, "Every Jack should have his Gill,
or Jill"; and the same notion was conveyed by the sobriquet
"haymaids." Again in some districts the Ground Ivy is called "Lizzy
run up the hedge," "Cat's-foot" (from the soft flower heads), "Devil's
candlesticks," "Aller," and in Germltny "Thundervine," also in the
old English manuscripts "Hayhouse," "Halehouse," and "Horshone."
The whole plant was employed by our Saxon progenitors to clarify
their so-called beer, before hops had been introduced for this
purpose; and the place of refreshment where the beverage was sold
bore the name of a "Gill house."
In _A Thousand Notable Things_, it is stated, "The juice of Ground
Ivy sniffed up into the nostrils out of a spoon, or a saucer, purgeth
the head marvellously, and taketh away the greatest and oldest pain
thereof that is: the medicine is worth gold, though it is very cheap."
Small hairy tumours may often be seen in the autumn on the leaves
of the Ground Ivy occasioned (says Miss Pratt) by the punctures of
the _cynips glechomoe_ from which these galls spring. They have a
strong flavour of the plant, and are sometimes eaten by the
peasantry of France. The volatile oil on which the special virtues of
the Ground Ivy depend exudes from small glandular dots on the
under surface of the leaves. This is the active ingredient of Gill tea
made by country persons, and sweetened with honey, sugar, or
liquorice. Also the expressed juice of the herb is [286] equally
effectual, being diaphoretic, diuretic, and somewhat astringent
against bleedings.
Gerard says that in his day "the Ground Ivy was commended against
the humming sound, and ringing noises of the ears by being put into
them, and for those that are hard of hearing. Also boiled in mutton
broth it helpeth weak and aching backs." Dr. Thornton tells us in his
_Herbal _(1810) that "Ground Ivy was at one time amongst the
'cries' of London, for making a tea to purify the blood," and Dr.
Pitcairn extolled this plant before all other vegetable medicines for
the cure of consumption. Perhaps the name Ground Ivy was
transferred at first to the _Nepeta_ from the Periwinkle, about which
we read in an old distich of Stockholm:--
"Parvenke is an erbe green of colour,
In time of May he bereth blo flour,
His stalkes are so feynt and feye
That nevermore groweth he heye:
On the grounde he rynneth and growe
As doth the erbe that _hyth tunhowe_;
The lef is thicke, schinende and styf
As is the grene Ivy leef:
Uniche brod, and nerhand rownde;
Men call it the _Ivy of the grounde_."
In the _Organic Materia Medica_ of Detroit, U.S.A., 1890, it is
stated, "Painters use the Ground Ivy (_Nepeta glechoma_) as a
remedy for, and a preventive of lead colic." An infusion is given
(the ounce to a pint of boiling water)--one wineglassful for a dose
repeatedly. In the relief which it affords as a snuff made from the
dried leaves to congestive headache of a passive continued sort, this
benefit is most probably due partly to the special titillating aroma of
the plant, and partly to the copious defluxion of mucus and tears
from the nasal passages, and the eyes.
[287] JOHN'S WORT.
The wild Saint John's Wort (_Hypericum peiforatum_) is a frequent
plant in our woods and hedgebanks, having leaves studded with
minute translucent vesicles, which seem to perforate their structure,
and which contain a terebinthinate oil of fragrant medicinal virtues.
The name _Hypericum_ is derived from the two Greek words,
_huper eikon_, "over an apparition," because of its supposed power
to exorcise evil spirits, or influences; whence it was also formerly
called _Fuga doemoniorum_, "the Devil's Scourge," "the Grace of
God," "the Lord God's Wonder Plant." and some other names of a
like import, probably too, because found to be of curative use
against insanity. Again, it used to be entitled _Hexenkraut_, and
"Witch's Herb," on account of its reputed magical powers.
Matthiolus said, _Scripsere quidam Hypericum adeo odisse
doemones, ut ejus suffitu statim avolent_, "Certain writers have said
that the St. John's Wort is so detested by evil spirits that they fly
off at a whiff of its odour."
Further names of the herb are "Amber," "Hundred Holes," and _Sol
terrestris_, the "Terrestrial Sun," because it was believed that all
the spirits of darkness vanish in its presence, as at the rising of
the sun.
For children troubled with incontinence of urine at night, and who
wet their beds, an infusion, or tea, of the St. John's Wort is an
admirable preventive medicine, which will stop this untoward
infirmity.
The title St. John's Wort is given, either because the plant blossoms
about St. John's day, June 24th, or because the red-coloured sap
which it furnishes was thought to resemble and signalise the blood
of St. John the Baptist. Ancient writers certainly attributed a host of
virtues to this plant, especially for the cure of hypochondriasis, and
insanity. The red juice, or "red [288] oil," of _Hypericum_ made
effective by hanging for some months in a glass vessel exposed to
the sun, is esteemed as one of the most popular and curative
applications in Europe for excoriations, wounds, and bruises.
The flowers also when rubbed together between the fingers yield a
red juice, so that the plant has obtained the title of _Sanguis
hominis_, human blood. Furthermore, this herb is _Medicamentum
in mansa intus sumptum_, "to be chewed for its curative effects."
And for making a medicinal infusion, an ounce of the herb should
be used to a pint of boiling water. This may be given beneficially
for chronic catarrhs of the lungs, the bowels, or the urinary
passages, Dr. Tuthill Massy considered the St. John's Wort, by virtue
of its healing properties for injuries of the spinal cord, and its
dependencies, the vulnerary "arnica" of the organic nervous system.
On the doctrine of signatures, because of its perforated leaves, and
because of the blood-red juice contained in the capsules which it
bears, this plant was formerly deemed a most excellent specific for
healing wounds, and for stopping a flow of blood:--
"Hypericon was there--the herb of war,
Pierced through with wounds, and seamed with many a scar."
For lacerated nerves, and injuries by violence to the spinal cord, a
warm lotion should be employed, made with one part of the tincture
to twenty parts of water, comfortably hot. A salve compounded
from the flowers, and known as St. John's Wort Salve, is still much
used and valued in English villages. And in several countries the
dew which has fallen on vegetation before daybreak on St. John's
morning, is gathered with great care. It is thought to protect the eyes
from all harm throughout the ensuing year, and the Venetians [289]
say it renews the roots of the hair on the baldest of heads. Peasants
in the Isle of Man, are wont to think that if anyone treads on the St.
John's Wort after sunset, a fairy horse will arise from the earth, and
will carry him about all night, leaving him at sunrise wherever he
may chance to be.
The plant has a somewhat aromatic odour; and from the leaves and
flowers, when crushed, a lemon-like scent is exhaled, whilst their
taste is bitter and astringent. The flowers furnish for fabrics of silk
or wool a dye of deep yellow. Those parts of the plant were alone
ordered by the London _Pharmacopoeia_ to be used for supplying
in chief the medicinal, oily, resinous extractive of the plant.
The juice gives a red colour to the spirit of wine with which it is
mixed, and to expressed oils, being then known as the _Hypericum_
"red oil" mentioned above. The flowers contain tannin, and
"_Hypericum_ red."
Moreover, this _Hypericum_ oil made from the tops is highly useful
for healing bed sores, and is commended as excellent for ulcers. A
medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared with spirit of wine from the
entire fresh plant, collected when flowering, or in seed, and this
proves of capital service for remedying injuries to the spinal cord,
both by being given internally, and by its external use. It has been
employed in like manner with benefit for lock-jaw. The dose of the
tincture is from five to eight drops with a spoonful of water two or
three times a day.
This plant may be readily distinguished from others of the
Hypericaceous order by its decidedly two edged stem. Sprigs of it
are stuck at the present time in Wales over every outer door on the
eve of St. John's day; [290] and in Scotland, milking is done on the
herb to dispel the malignant enchantments which cause ropy milk.
Among the Christian saints St. John represents light; and the flowers
of this plant were taken as a reminder of the beneficent sun.
Tutsan is a large flowered variety (_Hypericum androsoemum_) of
the St. John's Wort, named from the French _toute saine_, or "heal
all," because of its many curative virtues; and is common in Devon
and Cornwall. It possesses the same properties as the perforate sort,
but yields a stronger and more camphoraceous odour when the
flowers and the seed vessels are bruised. A tincture made from this
plant, as well as that made from the perforate St. John's Wort, has
been used with success to cure melancholia, and its allied forms of
insanity. The seed-capsules of the Tutsan are glossy and berry-like;
the leaves retain their strong resinous odour after being dried.
Tutsan is called also provincially "Woman's Tongue," once set
g(r)owing it never stops; and by country folk in Ireland the "Rose of
Sharon." Its botanical name Androsoemum, _andros aima_, man's
blood, derived from the red juice and oil, probably suggested the
popular title of Tutsan, "heal all," often corrupted to "Touchen leaf."
Gerard gives a receipt, as a great secret, for making a compound oil
of _Hypericum_, "than which," he says, "I know that in the world
there is no better; no, not the natural balsam itself." "The plant," he
adds, "is a singular remedy for the sciatica, provided that the patient
drink water for a day or two after purging." "The leaves laid upon
broken shins and scabbed legs do heal them."
The whole plant is of a special value for healing [291] punctured
wounds; and its leaves are diuretic. It is handsome and shrubby,
growing to a height of two or three feet.