215. _CAMOMILE_ (Anthemis nobilis) _is a well-known plant, the dried
daisy-like flowers of which are frequently used in medicine._
The principal use to which camomile _flowers_ are applied is to excite
vomiting, and promote the operation of emetics. They have likewise
occasionally been substituted for Peruvian bark, in the case of
intermittent fevers or agues, particularly on the Continent, but not with
much success; and are used as a valuable stomachic. Both the _leaves_ and
flowers are employed in fomentations and poultices. They each, but
particularly the flowers, have a powerful, though not an unpleasant smell,
and a bitter taste.
They are administered in substance, as a powder or electuary, in infusion
as tea, in decoction or extract, or in the form of an essential oil
obtained by distillation.
So fragrant is the camomile plant, that the places where it grows wild, on
open gravelly commons, may easily be discovered by the somewhat
strawberry-like perfume which is emitted by treading on them. This quality
alone has sometimes induced the cultivation of camomile for a green walk in
gardens.
216. _TARRAGON_ (Artemisia dracunculus) _is a hardy plant of the wormwood
tribe, which grows wild in India and the southern parts of Europe, and is
cultivated with us in gardens for culinary uses._
_It has a somewhat shrubby stem; smooth, spear-shaped, leaves tapering at
each end; and flowers roundish, erect, and on footstalks._
This is a hot and bitter vegetable, which is sometimes eaten with lettuces,
or other salad herbs: and sometimes used as an ingredient in soup. Its
_seeds_ are pungent; and may be advantageously substituted for the more
costly spices obtained from the Indies. The Indians frequently eat the
_leaves_ of the tarragon plant with bread.
The sauce called _tarragon vinegar_ is made by infusing for fourteen days,
one pound of the leaves of tarragon, gathered a short time before the
flowers appear, in one gallon of the best vinegar: straining this through a
flannel bag, and fining it by means of a little isinglass.
A distilled water is sometimes prepared from the leaves of tarragon.