OF HERBS IN MEDICINE
When bright Aurora gilds the eastern skies,
I wake and from my squalid couch arise...
Be this my topic, this my aim and end,
Heav’n’s will to obey and seek t’oblige a friend...
Some herbs adorn the hills--some vales below,
Where limpid streamlets in meanders flow,
Here’s Golden Saxifrage, in vernal hours,
Springs up when water’d well by fertile showers:
It flourishes in bogs where waters beat,
The yellow flowers in clusters stand complete.
Adorn’d with snowy white, in meadows low,
White Saxifrage displays a lucid show:...
Why should my friends in pining grief remain,
Or suffer with excruciating pain?
The wholesome medicines, if by heaven blest,
Sure anodynes will prove and give them rest....
Here’s Tormentilla, with its searching parts,
Expels the pois’nous venom from our hearts...
Wood-betony is in its prime in May,
In June and July does its bloom display,
A fine, bright red does this grand plant adorn,
To gather it for drink I think no scorn;
I’ll make a conserve of its fragrant flowers,
Cephalick virtues in this herb remain,
To chase each dire disorder from the brain.
Delirious persons here a cure may find
To stem the phrensy and to calm the mind.
All authors own wood-betony is good,
’Tis king o’er all the herbs that deck the wood;
A king’s physician erst such notice took
Of this, he on its virtues wrote a book.
_The Poor Phytologist._--JAMES CHAMBERS.
The old herbalists used so many herbs and found each one good for so
many disorders that one is filled with wonder that patients ever
died, till one examines into the prescriptions and methods generally,
and then one is more astonished that any of them recovered. I shall not
mention any prescriptions here, excepting the celebrated antidote to all
poison, Venice Treacle. This included seventy-three ingredients, and was
evolved from an earlier and also famous nostrum, the _Mithridaticum_,
originated by Mithridates, King of Pontus. Of course, this “treacle” was
in no way connected with the sugary syrup we call by this name, but is a
corruption of the Latin--_Theriaca_, a counter poison. Venice Treacle is
an extreme example of the multitude of conflicting elements that were
massed together and boldly administered in ancient remedies. The memory
of it still clings about a wayside plant, _Erysimum cheiranthoides_,
better known as Treacle-Mustard, which has gained its English name from
the fact that its seeds were used in this awe-inspiring compound.
[Illustration: CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN]
Anyone who is interested in ancient remedies can easily gain much
information from Culpepper or Salmon. Either herbal can be procured at a
low price (in a cheap edition) from any second-hand bookseller, and
Salmon’s wild statements, especially about animals, and Culpepper’s
biting wit, make them amusing reading. It is more instructive to examine
the principles that animated the practice, and from one, the Doctrine of
Signatures took form--a doctrine widely believed in, and of great
influence. Coles[94] expounds it with great clearness: “Though Sin and
Sattan have plunged mankinde into an Ocean of Infirmities... yet the
mercy of God, which is over all His workes, maketh ... herbes for the
use of man, and hath not onely stamped upon them a distinct forme, but
also given them particular Signatures, whereby a man may read, even in
legible characters, the use of them.... Viper’s Bugloss hath its stalks
all to be speckled like a snake or viper, and is a most singular remedy
against poyson and the sting of scorpions.... Heart Trefoyle is so
called, not onely because the leafe is triangular, like the heart of a
man, but also because each leafe contains the perfection of the heart,
and that in its proper colour, viz., in flesh colour. It defendeth the
heart.... The leaves of Saint John’s Wort seem to be pricked or pinked
very thick with little holes like the pores of a man’s skin. It is a
soveraigne remedy for any cut in the skin.” This was a view very
generally shared. William Browne says:
In physic by some signature
Nature herself doth point us out a cure.
[94] “Art of Simpling.”
And again:
Heaven hath made me for thy cure,
Both the physician and the signature.
_Br. Pastorals_, book iii.
Drayton’s _Hermit_ pursued a development of this theory. He merely
accepted the conclusions of earlier authorities who had made discoveries
about the properties of plants and had named them accordingly.
Some (herbs) by experience, as we see,
Whose _names express their natures_.
_Muses’ Elysium._
It was, naturally, more simple to administer all-heal, for a wound;
hore-hound, for “mad dogge’s biting,” and so on, than to decipher the
signature from the plant, himself, and so he and many others, prescribed
the herbs, with more reference to their names, than unprejudiced
attention to results.
The planets were another determining factor in the choice of remedies.
Each plant was dedicated to a planet and each planet presided over a
special part of the body, therefore, when any part was affected, a herb
belonging to the planet that governed that special part must, as a
rule, be used. Thus, Mercury presided over the brain, so for a headache
or “Folly and Simplicity (the Epidemicall diseases of the Time)” one of
Mercury’s herbs must be chosen. Mercurial herbs were, as a rule,
refreshing, aromatic and of “very subtle parts.” The planets seem
usually to have caused, as well as cured the diseases in their special
province, and therefore their own herbs, brought about the cure “by
sympathy.” But sometimes, a planet would cause a disorder in the
province ruled by another planet, to whom the first was in opposition,
and in this case the cure must be made “by antipathy.” Thus the lungs
are under Jupiter, to whom Mercury is opposed, therefore in any case of
the lungs being affected, the physician must first discover whether
Jupiter or Mercury were the agent and if the latter, the remedy must be
“antipathetical”; it must be from one of Mercury’s herbs. Sometimes
where a planet had caused a disease in the part it governed, an
“antipathetical” cure, by means of an adversary’s herbs, was advised;
for instance Jupiter is opposed to Saturn, so Jupiter’s herbs might be
given for toothache or pains in the bones caused by Saturn, for the
bones are under Saturn’s dominion. An antipathetical remedy, however,
Culpepper does not recommend for common use, for “sympathetical cures
strengthen nature; antipathetical cures, in one degree or another,
weaken it.” Besides this, the position of the planet had to be
considered, the “House” that it was in, and the aspect in which it was
to the moon and other planets.
“A benevolent Planet in the sixth, cures the disease without the help of
a Physitian.
“A malevolent Planet there causeth a change in the disease, and usually
from better to worse.
“A malevolent in the Ascendant threatens death, and makes the sick as
cross-grained as _Bajazet_ the Turkish Emperor when he was in the Iron
Cage.”
This is from Culpepper’s “Astrological Judgment of Diseases”; in his
“Herbal” he gives definite directions:
“Fortify the body with herbs of the nature of the Lord of the Ascendant,
’tis no matter whether he be a Fortune or Infortune in this case.
“Let your medicine be something antipathetical to the Lord of the Sixth.
“If the Lord of the Tenth be strong, make use of his medicines.
“If this cannot well be, make use of the medicines of the Light of
Time.”
Turning to the herbs appropriated to the special planets, we find that
those of Mars were usually strong, bright and vigorous, and cured ills
caused by violence, including the sting of “a martial creature, imagine
a wasp, a hornet, a scorpion.” Yellow flowers were largely dedicated to
the Sun or Moon, radiant, bright-yellow ones to the Sun; these of paler,
fainter hues to the Moon. Flowers dedicated to either were good for the
eyes, for the eyes are ruled by “the Luminaries.” Jupiter’s herbs had
generally, “_Leaves_ smooth, even, slightly cut and pointed, the veins
not prominent. _Flowers_ graceful, pleasing bright, succulent.” The
herbs of Venus were those with many flowers, of bright or delicate
colours and pleasant odours. Saturn, who is almost always looked upon as
being unfavourable, had only plants, whose leaves were “hairy, dry,
hard, parched, coarse,”[95] and whose flowers were “gloomy, dull,
greenish, faded or dirty white, pale red, invariably hirsute, prickly
and disagreeable.”
[95] Folkard.
One does not know how much modern physicians care about propitiating
Jupiter, but certainly they make an effort in that direction every time
that they do, as did the Ancients, and write Rx--thus making his
sign--at the top of a prescription. The small attention paid by doctors
to herbs is often supposed to be a modern development, but hear
Culpepper in 1652! “Drones lie at home and eat up what the bees have
taken pains for. Just so do the college of physicians lie at home and
domineer and suck out the sweetness of other men’s labours and studies,
themselves being as ignorant in the matter of herbs as a child of four
years old, as I can make appear to any rational man by their last
dispensatory.”
It was not unnatural that the Herbalists should maintain the superiority
of vegetable over mineral drugs, and Gerarde expresses his opinions in
the introduction to his “Herbal.” “I confesse blind Pluto is nowadays
more sought after than quick-sighted Phœbus, and yet this dusty
metall,... is rather snatched of man to his own destruction....
Contrariwise, in the expert knowledge of herbes what pleasure still
renewed with varietie? What small expence? What security? And yet what
an apt and ordinary meanes to conduct men to that most desired benefit
of health?”
Many herbs have been expunged from modern Pharmacopœias. Perhaps we have
no use for them now that we, in England, no longer live in perpetual
terror of the bitings of sea-hares, scorpions or tarantulas, as our
forefathers seem to have done! In Harrison’s “Description of England,”
the habit of preferring foreign, to native herbs, is rebuked. “But
herein (the cherishing of foreign herbs) I find some cause of just
complaint, for that we extoll their uses so farre that we fall into
contempt of our owne, which are, in truth, more beneficiall and apt for
us than such as grow elsewhere, sith (as I said before) everie region
hath abundantly within his own limits whatsoever is needfull and most
convenient for them that dwell therein.” Probably there are to-day some
thinkers of this stamp, as well as others who will hold anything
valuable as long as it has been fetched from “overseas.”
Russell gives instructions, in his “Boke of Nurture,” how to “make a
Bath medicinable,” by adding herbs,--mallow, hollyhocks and fennel being
among the number. And he directs that herbs “sweet and greene” should be
hanged round the room “when the Master will have a bath”; a proceeding
which was evidently something of a ceremony.
To-day, there is an unfortunate tendency among the poor, to desert
herbs, _not_ for “doctor’s medicine,” but for any quackery they may
chance to see “on the paper” and some of these remedies are advertised
to cure nearly as many and diverse diseases, as any of the compounds
prescribed by the Ancients. Consequently, one usually hears of the uses
of herbs in the past tense. There is a curious poem (published at
Ipswich, 1796) called the “Poor Phytologist, or the Author Gathering
Herbs,” by James Chambers, Itinerant Poet, which gives the names and
virtues of the simples most prized at that date. He was a pedlar, who
wandered about the country, always accompanied by several dogs, and he
added to his “precarious mode of existence, the art of making nets and
composing acrostics.” I have quoted some of his lines at the beginning
of this chapter, but few of the herbs he mentions are in popular use
now, at least in the west of England. Betony occurs in some old village
recipes still employed, though its vaunted powers have been declared
vain by science. Amongst those that I have known, or have heard of,
through personal friends, as being still, or quite recently in use, are
the following:--Dandelion, Centaury, Meadow-Sweet and Wild-Sage are used
as “bitters.” By _Wild_-Sage, _Wood_-Sage is usually, if not always,
meant. Dandelion is, of course, in the British Pharmacopœia; and
Wood-Sage, though not officinal, is asked for by some chemists. Bear’s
foot (Hellebore) has five finger-like leaves, but one finger is bad and
must be torn off. Angelica is a wonderful herb; Parkinson put it in the
fore-front of all medicinal plants and it holds almost as high a place
among village herbalists to-day. Among many other virtues, the dried
leaves are said to have great power to reduce inflammation if steeped in
hot water and applied to the affected part. Mallows, especially
Marsh-Mallows, retain their old reputation for relieving the same ill
and the well-known _Pâtés de Guimauve_ are made from their roots. Elder,
beloved by all herbalists, still keeps its place in the British
Pharmacopœia, and the cooling effects of Elder-Flower Water, none can
deny. In the country, Elder leaves and buds are most highly valued and
are used in drinks, poultices and ointments. Hyssop, or as some call it
I-sop, is sometimes used. Primrose, Poor Man’s Friend, and Comfrey are
together made into an ointment, but White Comfrey should be used when
the ointment is for a woman, Red-flowered Comfrey when it is for a man.
“Poor Man’s Friend” in this case is Hedge-Garlic, but the name is
sometimes given to Swine’s Cress (_Lapsana Communis_). The juice of
House-Leek, mixed with cream, relieves inflammation and particularly the
irritation which follows vaccination in an arm “taking beautifully.”
_Probatum est._ Penny-pies or Penny-wort (_Cotyledon Umbilicus_) is said
to be equally efficacious, especially used with cream, and when simmered
with the “sides of the pan,” have been known to heal, where linseed
poultices failed to do good. When the leaf of Penny-wort is applied to a
wound, one side draws, the other side heals. Wormwood is often in
request by brewers. Marigold-tea is a widely administered remedy for the
measles, and is one of the few remedies which everybody seems to know.
Very often families appear to have their own special formula, and even
where the chief herbs in different prescriptions to relieve the same
ailment are identical, the lesser herbs vary. Saffron was also
recommended for measles; both probably on the “Doctrine of Colour
Analogy” referred to the rash. An old Herbalist told me that he
considered Marigolds nearly as good as Saffron and “more home-grown, so
to speak.” Dr Primrose, a physician in the reign of Charles II., who
wrote a book on “Popular Errors in Physick,” inveighs against the custom
then in vogue of covering “the sick [with measles or small-pox] with red
cloaths, for they are thought by the affinitie of the colour to draw the
blood out to them, or at least some suppose that it is done by force of
imagination. And not onely the people, but also very many physicians use
them.” Marigold-tea is at anyrate a better survival as “treatment” than
this system! Meadow-Saffron is still officinal, and is well known in the
form it is usually dispensed, Tincture of Colchicum. Broom has a place
in the pharmacopœia, and is also a popular remedy. Furze is not
officinal, but a preparation made from it, Ulexine, is mentioned in a
well-known medical dictionary. An infusion of Furze-blossom used to be
given to children to drink in scarlet fever. Camomile is officinal, and
the great authority, Dr Schimmelbusch recently recommended it as a
mouth-wash, for disinfecting the muscous membrane after cases of
operation in the mouth. In a fomentation Camomile heads are a recognised
anodyne; and Wild Camomile and Red Pimpernel are given locally for
asthma, it is said, with great success. Boy’s love, (Southernwood),
Plantain leaves, Black Currant leaves, Elder buds, Angelica and Parsley,
chopped, pounded, and simmered with clarified butter, make an ointment
for burns or raw surfaces. A maker of this particular ointment near
Exeter, died a year or two ago, but up to her death it was much in
request. Butter is always better for making ointments than lard, because
cows feed on herbs, and all herbs are good for something. Sage poultices
and sage gargle are very good for sore throats, better than some of
the gargles that “the gentlemen” prescribe (so a Herbalist told me), and
red sage is better than green. Rosemary has long been celebrated for
making the hair grow. Water-cress is very good for the blood, and the
expressed juice has been known to prove a wonderful cure for rheumatism.
A lady told me of a case she knew in Berkshire, where a man was
absolutely crippled till he tried this remedy, and afterwards quite
recovered his power to move and a very good degree of strength.
Water-cress was one of the plants from which Count Mattei extracted his
vegetable electricity. Parsley, freshly gathered and laid on the
forehead is good for a headache, and if put in a fold of muslin and laid
across inflamed eyes, it is said to be beneficial. Endive tea is cooling
and is given to “fever” patients, and the dry leaves of lovage infused
in white wine were good for ague. An infusion of Raspberry leaves,
Agrimony, and Barberry-bark was good for consumptive patients, and
Cowslip and Cucumber were made into a wash to make the complexion
“splendent,” to use an old expression. Coltsfoot is still given for
coughs; Sweet Marjoram was administered for dropsy, Alderberries for
boils; Arb-Rabbit (Herb-Robert) made into poultices for “inflammation;”
Brook-lime, given for St Anthony’s Fire, and Brown Nut, made into a
decoction, was taken hot just before going to bed, for a cold.
Groundsel, Docks, Hay-Maids (Ground-Ivy), Feather-Few, Chicken-Weed,
Hedge-Garlic or Hedge-Mustard, I have also heard recommended at
different times. The Blessed Thistle is a useless ingredient in a good
herb-ointment for burns. Amongst the last named plants are several not
strictly to be called “herbs,” but they and others I shall mention are
“simples,” and as such they fitly find a place among medicinal herbs.
Foxglove and Belladonna, of course, are among the most important drugs
in the Pharmacopœia, and both the fruits and leaves of Hemlock have
also a place there. Foxglove, called in Devonshire, Cowflop, is
recommended as an application to heal sores, and one woman told me that
it should always be gathered on the north side of the hedge. It is
interesting to note that the Italians have a proverb, “Aralda, tutte
piaghe salda” (Foxglove heals all sores). Cliders (Goose-grass, _Galium
aparine_) was much given for tumours and cancers, and is praised by
other than merely village sages. Dr Fernie quotes the testimony of
several doctors who used it with success, and adds, “some of our trading
druggists now furnish curative preparations made from the fresh herb.”
[Illustration: PLANTATION OF POPPIES (_P. Somniferum_)]
No ear hath heard, no tongue can tell,
The virtues of the pimpernel.
This most popular plant, amongst other uses, is put into poultices.
Bacon mentions it as a weather prophet. “There is a small red flower in
the stubble-fields, which country people call the wincopipe, which if it
open in the morning, you may be sure of a fine day to follow.”[96] The
virtues of Betony are set forth by the “Poor Phytologist,” and he is
quite right in saying that it was once esteemed a most sovereign remedy
for all troubles connected with the brain. It was, in fact, so far
extolled that an adage was once current:--
“Sell your coat and buy betony.”
In Italy there are two modern sayings, one a pious aspiration, “May you
have more virtues than Betony”; and the other an allusion, “Known as
well as Betony.” Though the reputation of this plant has quite withered,
that of horehound is in a more flourishing state, and it is still, I
believe, considered of real use for coughs. Violet leaves are now
becoming a fashionable remedy in the hands of amateur doctors, who
prescribe them for cancer. In the Highlands, it is said, they were used
for the complexion, and a recipe is translated from the Gælic, “Anoint
thy face with goat’s milk in which violets have been infused, and there
is not a young prince on earth who will not be charmed with thy beauty.”
The Greater Celandine was once dedicated to the sun, and it is still
recommended as being good for the eyes, though not by members of the
faculty. The following advice was given me by an old Cornish woman, but
I am almost sure the flower she spoke of was the Lesser Celandine. This
probably arose from a confusion of the two flowers, as I have never
heard or seen the Lesser Celandine elsewhere commended for this purpose.
“Take celandines and pound them with salt. Put them on some rag, and lay
it on the inside of the wrist on the side of whichever eye is bad.
Change the flowers twice a day, and go on applying them till the eye is
well. Put enough alum to curdle it, into some scalded milk. Bathe the
eyes with the liquid and apply the curds to the place.”
[96] “Natural History.” Cent. IX.
Green Oil made after the following recipe has often proved beneficial
for slight burns and scalds, and smells much nicer than the boracic
ointment usually ordered for such injuries. It is also recommended for
fresh wounds and bruises. “Take equal quantities of sage, camomile,
wormwood and marsh-mallows, pick them clean and put them into sweet oil
and as much of it as will cover the herbs; if a quart add a quarter of a
pound of sugar, and so on in proportion. Let them stand a week without
stirring, then put them into the sun for a fortnight, stir them every
day. Strain them with a strong cloth very hard, and set it on a slow
fire with some red rose-buds and the young tops of lavender, let them
simmer on a slow fire for two hours, strain off the oil, and put to it a
gill of brandy. (If some hog’s lard be poured upon the herbs, they will
keep and make an excellent poultice for any kind of sore.)
The oil should be applied _immediately_ to any kind of bruise or burn.
It will prevent all inflammation and heal the wound. The time to begin
making it is when the herbs are in full vigour, which depends much on
the season being early; in general the middle of May is about the time,
as the rose-buds and lavender would not be ready sooner than the middle
of June.
Mrs Milne Home gives the ingredients of the _Tisane de Sept Fleurs_,
which, she says, is often prescribed by French doctors for colds and
sleeplessness--
“Bouillon blanc. Mullein.
Tilleul. Lime.
Violette. Violet.
Coquelicot. Poppy.
Pied de chat. Tussilago.
Guimauve. Mallow.
Mauve. Another sort of mallow.”
I think Mauve means mallow, Guimauve, marsh-mallow. Beyond these simples
that I have mentioned as being in popular use, various English plants
and herbs are used not much (if at all) by country people, but by
medical men, and a few of those included in the British Pharmacopœia may
be remarked on here.
Hops are used in the form of _Infusum Lupuli_. They have long had the
reputation of inducing sleep, and George III. slept on a hop-pillow. To
prevent the hops crackling (and producing exactly the opposite effect)
it is advised that a little alcohol should be sprinkled on them. To eat
poppy-seed was thought a safe means of bringing drowsiness. “But,” says
Dr Primrose (about 1640), “Opium is now brought into use, the rest [of
soporifics] being layd aside. Yet the people doe abhorre from the use
thereof and avoyd it as present poyson, when notwithstanding being
rightly prepared, and administered in a convenient dose, it is a very
harmlesse and wholesome medicament. The Ancients indeed thought it to
bee poyson, but that is onely when it is taken in too great a quantity.”
One wonders what experiences “the people” went through to learn this
terror of the drug! Gerarde and Parkinson both commend it as a medicine
that “mitigateth all kinde of paines,” but say that it must be used with
great caution. Browne refers to the poppy’s power of soothing.
“Where upon the limber grass
Poppy and mandragoras,
With like simples not a few
Hang for ever drops of dew.
Where flows Lèthe without coil,
Softly like a stream of oil.
Hie thee, thither, gentle Sleep.”
In _The Inner Temple Masque_.
It is from the seed of the White Poppy (_Papaver somniferum_) that opium
is prepared, and that procured from poppies grown in England is quite as
good, and often purer, than opium imported from the East. The first
poppies that were cultivated in this country for the purpose were grown
by Mr John Ball of Williton about 1794. Timbs quotes: “‘Cowley
Plantarium. In old time the seed of the white poppy parched was served
up as a dessert.’ By this we are reminded that white poppy seeds are
eaten to this day upon bread made exclusively for Jews. The ‘twist’
bread is generally prepared by brushing over the outside upper crust
with egg and sprinkling upon it the seeds.” In Germany, _Mond-kuchen_, a
kind of pastry in which poppy seeds are mixed, is still a favourite
dish. _Mond-blumen_ (moon-flowers) is a name not unnaturally given to
poppies, as they have been emblems of sleep ever since the Greeks used
to represent their deities of Sleep, Death and Night as crowned with
them.
“The water-lily from the marish ground
With the wan poppy,”
were both dedicated to the moon.
Gentian is greatly valued and largely prescribed by our doctors, but
Parkinson raises a curious echo from a time when, it is generally
supposed, people were less “nice” than they are to-day. “The wonderful
wholesomeness of Gentian cannot be easily knowne to us, by reason our
daintie tastes refuse to take thereof, for the bitternesse sake, but
otherwise it would undoubtedly worke admirable cures.” Valerian was, and
is officinal, but seldom finds its way into “pottage” nowadays. Gerarde,
however, writes: “It hath been had (and is to this day among the poore
people of our Northerne parts) in such veneration amongst them, that no
broths, pottage or physicall meats are worth anything if Setwall were
not at an end: whereupon some woman Poet or other hath made these
verses:
“They that will have their heale,
Must put Setwall in their keale (kail).”
The herbalist speaks of “Garden Valerian or Setwall” as if they were one
and the same, but Mr Britten says that Setwall was not _Valeriana
officinalis_ but _V. pyrenaica_. All varieties seem to have been used as
remedies, and in Drayton’s charming “Eclogue,” of which Dowsabel is the
heroine, he shows that it was used as an adornment.
“A daughter, ycleapt Dowsabel,
A maiden fair and free,
And for she was her father’s heir,
Full well she was ycond the leir,
Of mickle courtesy.
The silk well couth she twist and twine
And make the fine march-pine,
And with the needle-work;
And she couth help the priest to say
His mattins on a holy day
And sing a psalm in kirk....
The maiden in a morn betime,
Went forth when May was in the prime.
To get sweet setywall,
The honeysuckle, the harlock,
The lily and the ladysmock,
To deck her summerhall.”
[Illustration: A FIELD OF ENGLISH ACONITE]
The summary of Dowsabel’s education is so delightful, that though it was
irrelevant, I could not refrain from quoting it. Aconite, Wolfsbane, or
Monkshood (_Aconitum Napellus_) was held in wholesome terror by the old
herbalists, who described it as being most venomous and deadly. Gerarde
says, “There hath beene little heretofore set downe concerning the
virtues of the Aconite, but much might be said of the hurts that have
come thereby.” Parkinson chiefly recommends it to “hunters of wild
beastes, in which to dippe the heads of their arrows they shoote, or
darts they throw at the wild beastes which killeth them that are wounded
speedily”; but, he says, it may be used in outward applications. Aconite
was first administered internally by Stoerck, who prescribed it for
rheumatism, with good results, and it is now known to be sedative to the
heart and respiratory organs, and to reduce temperature.
Other English-grown plants in the Pharmacopœia are: Anise, Artemisia
maritima (Wormwood), Uvæ Ursi (Bearberries), Coriander, Caraway, Dill,
Fennel, Flax (Linseed), Henbane, Wych-Hazel, Horse-Radish, Liquorice,
Lavender, Mint, Mezereon, Musk, Mustard, Arnica, Pyrethrum, Rosemary,
Squills, Saffron and Winter-green. In the making of Thymol, a
preparation in common hospital use, _Monarda punctata_ (Bergamot), Oil
of Thyme and _Carum copticus_ are used.
The following plants are not yet to be found in the Pharmacopœia, which
includes those only that have been tried by very long experience, but
leading physicians have prescribed these drugs with success.
_Convalleria_, from Lily of the Valley; _Salix nigra_, from the Willow;
_Savin_, Juniper; _Rhus_, Sumach; _Aletris_, Star-Grass; _Lycopodium_,
Club-Moss; _Grindelia_; from Larkspur, Oil of _Stavesacre_; and from
Broom, _Spartein_.
There are two plants that I do not like to omit, for their history’s
sake, though their power to do good is no longer believed in, Plantain
and Lungwort. The first was considered good for wounds in the days of
Chaucer, and Shakespeare mentions it.
_Romeo._ Your plantain leaf is excellent for that.
_Benvolio._ For what, I pray thee?
_Romeo._ For your broken shin.
_Romeo and Juliet_, I. 2, 51.
Lungwort (_Pulmonaria officinalis_) owes its name and its reputation to
the white spots on the leaves, which were thought to be the “signature,”
showing that it would cure infirmities and ulcers of the lungs. It is
remarkable how many popular names this flower has. Gerarde tells us that
the leaves are used among pot-herbes, and calls it Cowslips of
Jerusalem, Wild Comfrey and Sage of Bethlem; and other country names
are, Beggar’s Basket, Soldiers and Sailors, Adam and Eve, and in Dorset,
Mary’s Tears. The name Adam and Eve arose from the fact that some of the
flowers are red and others blue: red, in earlier days, being usually
associated with men and blue with women. One of Drayton’s prettiest
verses alludes to it.
“Maids, get the choicest flowers, a garland and entwine;
Nor pink, nor pansies, let there want, be sure of eglantine.
See that there be store of lilies,
(Call’d of shepherds daffadillies)
With roses, damask, white, and red, the dearest fleur-de-lis,
The cowslip of Jerusalem, and clove of Paradise.”
_Eclogue III._