Full text of "Compassionate Herbs"

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COMPASSIONATE
HERBS

The Culpeper House Books
by Mrs. C. F. Leyel

HERBAL DELIGHTS
ELIXIRS OF LIFE

(in preparation)

COMPASSIONATE
HERBS

by
MRS. C. F. LEYEL

with drawings by
MILDRED E. ELDRIDGE

FABER & FABER LIMITED

24 Russell Square
London

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK

TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WOUNDED

OR WHOSE HEALTH HAS BEEN INJURED

IN THIS WAR

First published in Mcmxlvi

by Faber and Faber Limited

24 Russell Square London W.C.I

Second impression May Mcmxlvii

Printed in Great Britain by

Latimer Trend and Co Ltd Plymouth

AH rights reserved

CONTENTS

I. WOUND HERBS page 17

Agrimony; Bugle; Cocklebur; Comfrey; Crosswort; Daisy; Darnel;
Delphinium; Dittany; Flax; Leopard's Bane; Madonna Lily;
Marshmallow, Matico; Medlar; Mignonette; Moneywort; Moon-
wort; Ploughman's Spikenard; Prunella; Rattles; Siegesbeckia;
Slippery Elm; Snowdrop; Sphagnum Moss; Water Soldier; Wood
Sanicle; Woundworts

II. ANTISEPTIC HERBS page 48

Balsam of Peru; Betel; Carrot; Echinacea; Eucalyptus; Garlic;
Germanders; Milkwort; Myrrh; Pareira Brava; Plume Poppy;
Sassafras; Smartweed; Wild Indigo

III. ASTRINGENT HERBS page 68

Archangel; Bael Tree; Baobab Tree; Banyan Tree; Bastard Ipeca-
cuanha; Bear berry; Beth Root; Bignonia; Bilberry; Bistort; Black-
berry; Bluebell; Cajeput Oil Tree; Campions; Catchfly; Celandine
(Lesser); Duck's Meat; Ebony Tree; Fleabanes; Fulsee Flower;
Geraniums; Heliotrope; Heliotrope (Indian); Herb Robert; Indian
Plum; Jambul; Jewelweed; Kinos; Knotgrass (Russian); Logwood;
Mangosteen; Mimosa; Mountain Ash; Periwinkle; Pinus Bark;
Ragged Robin; Rupturewort; Sea Lavender; Service Tree; Silver-
weed; Sloes; Spiraea; Sumachs; Thrift; Tuberose; Wayfaring Tree;
Whortleberry; Yellow Flag

IV. HERBS TO CONTROL PAIN page 116

Barber's Bael Fruit; Black Cohosh; Calif ornian Poppy; Camphor;
Ceylon Jasmine; Cherry Laurel; Cloves; Club Moss; Country Bor-
age (Coleus); Ephedra; Evening Primrose; Figworts; Fireweed;
Fish Catching Coral Tree; Five-Leaved Chaste Tree; Five-Leaved
Cleome; Gardenia; Gelsemium; Gladwin; Golden Seal; Goutweed;
Grindelia; Guelder Rose; Horse Chestnut; Ipecacuanha; Knawel;
Laburnum; Lippia; Lobelia; Lovage; Malabar Nut; Marsh Mari-
gold; Meadow Saffron; Navelwort; Paeony; Pellitory; Plumbago;
Quebracho; Sassy Bark; Satinwood Tree; Screw Pine; Stone Root;
Sumbul; Sycacarpus; Thapsia; Tiger Lily; Toothwort; Water Lily;
Wild Jessamine; Wild Lime; Wild Yam

Contents

V. HERBS TO ALLAY FEVERS page 167

American Boxwood; Boneset; Bugloss; Chrysanthemum; Compass
Plant; Crawley Root; Dita Bark; Feverbush; Five leaf Grass; Gipsy-
wort; Gourds; Gravelwort; Hemp Agrimony; Jack Fruit Tree;
Lemon Verbena; Lilac; Ngai Camphor Plant; Peruvian Bark;
Pittosporum; Scabious; Shoe Flower; Snake Root; Virginia
Creeper; Vervain; Winter Cherry; Yarrow

INDEXES page 195

ILLUSTRATIONS

DITTANY OF CRETE ORIGANUM DICTAM facing page 26

SELF HEAL PRUNELLA VULGARIS 38

WATER SOLDIER STRATIOTES ALOIDES 44

SMARTWEED POLYGONUM HYDROPIPER 64

WILD INDIGO BAPTISIA TINCTORIA 66

RUPTURE WORT HERNIARIA GLABRA 102

BLACK COHOSH CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA 118

GLAD WIN IRIS FOETIDISSIMA 136

GUELDER ROSE VIBURNUM OPULUS 140

KNAWEL SCHLERANTHUS ANNUS 142

NAVELWORT COTYLEDON UMBILICUS 150

STONE ROOT COLLINSONIA CANADENSIS 158

TOOTH WORT LATHROEA SQUAMARIA 162

COMPASS PLANT SILPHIUM PERFOLIATUM 174

GIPSYWORT LYCOPUS EUROPEUS 178

GRAVEL WORT EUPATORIUM PURPUREUM 180

I am very grateful to Mr. Christmas Humphreys for
the verses he has written for this book, and which
appear for the first time under the initials T. C. H.

INTRODUCTION

The words 'Herbs' and 'Herb Gardens' conjure up in most people's
minds a picture of idyllic peace a picture that ignores their po-
tency but surely the explosion of the atomic bomb has brought
home to every mind the realization of the terrific forces latent in the
smallest particle of natural matter.

Herbs are no new and untried remedy for they earned their first fame
on the battlefield. In the Middle Ages surgical dressings as we know
them to-day were unknown, and many of the herbs with an established
reputation for curing wounds acquired it during the early wars, and bear
the record in their names, like the Daisy, Bellis Perennis.

There are herbs that are specifically named for healing wounds which
have been inflicted with iron weapons. These either won their reputation
from their use on the battlefield, or in healing cuts incurred during pur-
suits of an agricultural life.

In the case of the plant known as the Water Soldier or Knight's Pond-
weed it seems more likely that it owes its name to its use in war than, as
some botanists suggest, to its sword-like leaves.

The Water Soldier grows, as its name suggests, in water and is found
in the dykes in the Fen district and other parts of Norfolk and Suffolk.
It is the only species of its genus which is indigenous to England.

In the days when England was exclusively an agricultural country
many accidents occurred through the use of the scythe and sickle.
Gerard tells us of a wound that had been caused by an iron scythe and
was cured with one of the woundworts.

There are two species of these herbs, the hedge and the marsh wound-
wort. They have labiate flowers and are like the deadnettle in appearance.
Both grow in Great Britain, and both are still regarded as useful for the
healing of open wounds.

It is also interesting to remember that during the Great War of 1914,
sphagnum moss was found to be one of the best dressings for wounds on
account of its sponge-like quality of holding moisture.

Though Germany claims to have discovered its value as a surgical
dressing less than a hundred years ago, there are records to show that it
was used in the same way by the Irish and the Scots in wars before the
Norman Conquest. At the Battle of Flodden it was used by the High-
landers to staunch their wounds.

Introduction

Agrimony, Bugle, Prunella and the wild Mignonette probably first
acquired their healing character in ancient wars, and the Delphinium has
an old reputation which may have the same association.

The name Self-heal is often applied to the Wood Sanicle, but belongs
more correctly to Prunella. Both plants have the title of universal
panaceas.

The Madonna Lily is the cottager's wound herb and many country
people still make a preparation from the leaves or bulbs or even from the
flowers. It cures bruises and reduces inflammations.

For most wounds to-day herbalists use Comfrey, Slippery Elm, and
the root of the Marshmallow, either combined or separately.

All three plants abound in mucilage, and Comfrey assists fractures and
lives up to its old name of 'knit bone'. By removing inflammation sur-
rounding the fracture it induces a union of the affected parts. Analysis
has shown that it actually contains allantoin, a crystallizable substance
which is used in orthodox medicine to encourage epithelial formation in
ulcers and wounds.

Most of the country names for Comfrey, such as Boneset, Knitback,
Knitbone, Consolida, testify to its power of healing bones and even the
name Comfrey is derived from the Latin word 'con-firmare', to streng-
then together. If taken internally and used externally after a fracture has
been set it will greatly hasten the jointure, even in elderly people. And
when bones that have been set do not join Comfrey will bring about a
union.

The plant is decorative enough for any garden with its creamy yellow
or purplish blue flowers and very much resembles other borages.

Of the other two mucilaginous plants, Slippery Elm holds a very high
place in herbalism and many herbalists use it as a general healing agent.
It is derived from the inner bark of an Elm tree, the Ulmus fulva, which
grows in Canada and the United States of America. The powdered bark
is both a food and a medicine. It poultices and nourishes so that in cases
of gastric ulcers or for any internal wound it not only heals, but feeds
while it heals.

Every part of the Elder tree is a natural salve and so safe that it can be
used by anyone, internally or externally ; so can the common Marigold,
and the lotion made from it which we call Calendula is antiseptic and
restorative to a high degree. It not only heals the scars that follow an
operation, but promotes healthy tissue when it is diseased.

Leopard's Bane (Arnica) makes another useful lotion in injuries, but
it is not nearly so safe as Calendula and should only be used in homoeo-
pathic form.

We even have in the plant world a substitute for collodion in the curi-

Introduction

ous herb called Siegesbeckia. This is a common weed in China, and the
juice applied to wounds produces a protective film.

All these plants I have referred to are antiseptic, and before iodine was
even thougtit of they were the universal 'first aid' remedies and still
serve the same purpose if called upon.

The much advertised Penicillin which has been so widely used in this
war is proving not to be the specific cure for all wounds as was at first
thought.

It is most extraordinary the way the medical profession and the
general public are chary of trying herbs which have borne the test of
centuries of experience, and yet are willing to accept unconditionally
a newly discovered panacea; and accept it as infallible without the
infallible test of time. Penicillin is now proving ineffective in certain
cases.

Even in the middle of winter when other plants are vegetating the
Snowdrop will provide an excellent dressing for cuts and injuries.

Interest in herbal medicine has developed greatly in the last ten years,
but there is still very little real understanding of the differences in prin-
ciple between the actions and reactions of herbs and drugs. (I use the
word 'drug' to mean any inorganic medicinal substance.) Many drugs
are derived from plants, but the processes employed in their manufacture
destroy or eliminate the organic properties that are retained when the
same medicines are used in their herbal form.

This imperfect comprehension of the principles involved is partly due
to the fact that the relevant knowledge is to be found only in old pharma-
ceutical treatises, and then only un systematically arranged ; and partly
because so much of our knowledge of herbs is traditional and the results
have never been proved or measured by modern scientific methods. But
what is scientifically known about herbs does substantiate the tradi-
tional claims made by those who use them ; and so it would seem that
scientific investigation of such claims should be encouraged. Yet ortho-
dox medical practice seems to be developing along other lines, in spite of
the fact that the scientific research of botanists has established that herbs
contain auxins, hormones, enzymes and chlorophyll which can be ob-
tained from no other source and on all of which man depends.

The idea of Paracelsus still persists that violent diseases must be
treated with strong medicines ; but so many of the diseases the remedies
for which have so far eluded medical science are the chronic ones. And
in such cases potent drugs, which can only be taken safely for a short
time, leave the sufferer worse off than he was before, because he needs
continuous treatment.

In herbal medicine, herbs, like drugs, are classified according to their

Introduction

action on the body ; those which control the action of the muscles and
relax spasms are called antispasmodics ; those that subdue pain, ano-
dynes ; those that cause perspiration, diaphoretics ; others, that alter the
constituents of the blood, alteratives, and herbs that tighten up relaxed
membranes and muscles and allay haemorrhage, either active or passive,
are the astringent herbs. So, like drugs, medicinal herbs are grouped as
astringents, antispasmodics, anodynes, diuretics, diaphoret ; :s, emol-
lients, emetics, expectorants, febrifuges, etc. But one herb can belong to
several groups. The same herbs can be both astringent and diaphoretic.
Indeed, most herbs belong to more than one group, and some have as
many as five or six different actions on the body.

This is one of the reasons why most herbs can be used in the cure of
many different diseases. To the lay mind these varied functions of herbs
are confusing and are probably responsible for the idea, prevalent among
the uninitiated, that herbs are a sort of faith cure. Actually there are
other cogent reasons which I will explain, why the same herbs are used
to cure divers complaints.

The similarity between drugs and herbs ends with this physiological
action that groups them in classes ; for the therapeutic principle of a herb
is quite different from the therapeutic principle of a drug. A drug is, or
should be, administered to relieve symptoms ; the right herb cures by re-
moving the causes of the symptoms, and this herbal healing process
generally provokes an aggravation of the symptoms at first. Such re-
actions are nature's way of restoring health to the body.

In a normally healthy person, rest, warmth, fresh air, sunshine and
freedom from worry will cure without the addition of any medicine, but
when disease germs have become too well established, or the constitu-
tion is naturally weak, herbs are needed to reinforce nature and will
always produce a quicker cure than nature unassisted. But it is import-
ant to remember that the methods are the same. For instance, nature's
favourite way of killing disease germs is to raise the temperature of the
body, because germs cannot remain alive in a high temperature. This
raising of the temperature is a very usual reaction produced by herbs
when they are administered to those suffering from infections of any
kind. But nature and the herbs have other ways of eliminating toxins.
The skin is a great eliminator and eruptions often follow the internal use
of herbs, disappearing sooner or later, and then the condition of the
skin is greatly improved.

With regard to the treatment of wounds by herbs the first considera-
tion as in orthodox medicine is to render the injured area antiseptic.
After this is achieved herbal treatment differs in several respects from
the effect of drugs. To start with herbs are administered to the wounded

Introduction

internally as well as externally, and this results in elimination of poison
and promotion of healthy tissue.

Under herbal treatment no wound begins to heal until all poison is
eradicated, and therefore the healing process is often slower than under
orthodox treatment when the main idea is to close the wound whether
the poison has been eliminated or not. Occasionally the cure is inter-
rupted by a rise in temperature. In cases where a considerable amount of
blood has been lost before the wounded received medical attention, herbs
would render a blood transfusion unnecessary because of their action on
the sfHeer. and other ductless glands.

Nearly every herb, in fact I would say that practically every herb, has,
either directly or indirectly, an action on the blood ; and this is another
reason why the same herb can be used to cure more than one disease ;
for, in the herbalist's view, most chronic complaints are primarily due
to obstructions in the blood or to a toxic condition of the blood, or to a
lack of certain constituents that should be in the blood of every healthy
person. An alteration in the chemistry of the blood can be effected by
the action of plant hormones on the ductless glands of the human body
and by the catalysing enzymes which herbs contain.

Enzymes are only found in the vegetable kingdom and when they
exist in animal products such as milk and butter it is because cows are
herbivorous animals. Enzymes are particularly interesting because they
cause fermentation and this is why fermented liquor can be made from
any herb, vegetable, flower, fruit, berry or tree, indeed from anything
that grows on the earth.

When a herbal medicine is prepared from an infusion of the dried
plant, the enzymes are liberated ; and when a herbal extract or tincture
is prepared by a cold maceration of a fresh plant, the enzymes are pre-
served. So herbal medicines contain these valuable enzymes, these living
cells of the plants, and other medicines do not contain them, which is
one of the reasons why herbs successfully cure so many chronic diseases,
particularly the allergic ones. Enzymes are catalysers which have the
power of altering the mineral constituents of the blood, and causing
them to adjust themselves into the right ratio to each other. For when
these constituents are maladjusted and out of correct proportion, ill
health follows. These enzyme catalysts can also bring about chemical
changes in the toxins.

The elements of which herbs are composed are oxygen, hydrogen,
carbon, lime, potash, iron, ammonia and magnesium.

Plant life with the help of chlorophyll transforms these into starches,
sugars, gums, resins, mucilages, oils and acids so herbs are foods as
well as medicines. The vegetable organism combines a physical as well

Introduction

as a therapeutic constitution and this brings us to another important
difference between herbs and drugs. Herbs stimulate the phagocytes by
improving and building up the general health and so they actually
reduce the disease germs. Drugs merely produce a latent effect on the
germs by driving them into a position where they are for the time being
inactive.

The processes of nature are so complicated, and one substance is so
dependent on the presence of another, that it seems reasonable to be-
lieve that the whole plant yields better results in medicine than any
isolated substance or substances.

The reason why the alkaloids only are used in orthodox medical prac-
tice is because this is the only way of standardizing the medicinal herbal
products. Experience, however, proves that the herb in its natural form,
with all its tonic substances, immeasurable as they may be, does produce
not only quite different results, but that the cures wrought by their
agency, though slower, are more permanent.

Furthermore, when the herbal derivatives are prescribed in the form
of drugs they are administered in much larger doses and in more con-
centrated form than they are found in the plants themselves. So that
their action is quite different from the action of the same substance ad-
ministered in the infinitesimal small quantity as it exists when in the plant
itself, as it is then given naturally combined with its appropriate potash
salts, and with the nutritious ingredients of the plant in their proper
proportions. The active difference is that the large dose tends to suppress,
the small dose to eliminate the toxins with which they have affinities.

Tradition is at present a more helpful source of information on which
to acquire a knowledge of the healing powers of particular plants than
science, because tradition has borne the test of thousands of years of
experience; and science can pronounce no verdict in the absence of
laboratory tests. Many of the ingredients in herbal medicines give no '
reactions in the chemical laboratory and defy analysis. When a com-
pound medicine of drugs and herbs is analysed the herbs in it cannot be
detected and are therefore regarded as negligible, although their presence
may account for a chemical change in the other constituents, and, un-
detectable as they are, may have a catalysing influence on the toxins of
the body.

Finally, to come to the value of herbs not only in the healing of
wounds, but in the restoring of health and strength, it is difficult to over-
rate their importance because of their beneficial action on the blood
stream and on the ductless glands. So in the cure of diseases that have
become chronic I do not believe they have an equivalent in medicine.
They do not as a rule bring quick relief like drugs because they do not

i oduction

take the place of drugs. Their special function is to cure. They accomplish
their work through their threefold capacity, which is physical, physio-
logical and therapeutic.

I wrote this in Greece just before the outbreak of war. It was spring
and the wild flowers were out, flowering among the stony remains of
ancient Hellas the herbs that are familiar in our own country, Lady's
Bedstraw, Holy Thistle, Wild Thyme, Borage, Blue and Red Pimper-
nels and Valerian.

Euphorbia grows about the sacred fountain of Castalia, near the
site of tLe Delphic oracle ; Yellow Broom was in blossom all round
the theatre at the famous healing Temple of Aesculapius at Epidaurus ;
Pimpernel and Hawkweeds flourished at Troy, outside the walls of
Priam's city ; the stony Sicilian mountains near the Temple of Segesta
were covered with Valerian, Yellow Mustard, orange coloured Marigolds
with huge clumps of Yellow Fennel, a riot of colour accentuated by the
crops of cherry red Fenugreek cultivated in the valleys.

The very names of the flowers that star the earth like the names of the
stars that flower in the heavens are timeless links with the people in
whose knowledge and wisdom our western civilization is rooted. It is
not only the romantic names of such flowers as Narcissus and Hyacinth
that carry our imaginations back to that age of the gods and heroes, the
scientific names of medicinal plants come to us in direct descent from
Galen and Aesculapius Ccntaury, Paeony, Valerian, Artemisia,
Sempervivum, Dittany, Euphorbia, Myrtle, Salvia, etc.

And the familiar English names of so many of our wayside plants are
derived from their medicinal properties and are witnesses to the age-long
practice of our forebears. In herbal practice to-day they are still used for
the complaints from which they have derived their names Ague Tree,
Feverwort, Bruisewort, Rupturewort, Quinsey Berry, and Madwort are
some of them. Other names apply to the organs of the body for which
they are particularly adapted Lungwort, Spleenwort, Liverwort, Kid-
ney Wort, Navel Wort, Blood Wort, Mouth Wort, Throat Wort and
Eyebright.

It is a comforting thought that these useful herbs are the wild plants
that grow so lavishly here and in other countries, the Dandelion and
Plantain, Daisies and Buttercups, Cowslips, Saxifrages and Potentillas
even the despised 'Darnel and all the idle weeds that grow in our sustain-
ing corn' they are all the compassionate Creator's gift to mankind.
They are for the healing of the nations.

HILDA LEYEL

Shripney Manor,
St. Valentine's Day, 1946.

Chapter One
WOUND HERBS

Agrimony; Bugle; Cocklebur; Comfrey; Crosswort; Daisy;
Darnel; Delphinium; Dittany; Flax; Leopard's Bane;
Madonna Lily; Marshmallorv; Matico; Medlar;
Mignonette; Moneywort; Moomvort; Plough-
man's Spikenard; Prunella; Rattles;
Siegesbeckia; Slippery Elm;
Snowdrop; Sphagnum Moss;
Water Soldier; Wood
Sanicle,* Woundworts

The history of wound herbs is associated with ancient Greece.
Professor Humphrey Sibthorpe made a special journey to Greece
at the beginning of the nineteenth century to identify the herbs
mentioned in the classics with those that are growing in Greece to-day,
and the result of his labours is incorporated in his monumental work, the
Flora Graeca, which was published between 1806 and 1840 in ten royal
folio volumes. He was Professor of Botany at Oxford where he suc-
ceeded Dillenius. The book is most beautifully illustrated in colour and
I have been fortunate enough to secure a complete copy of Sibthorpe's
work for the Society of Herbalists. Many of the herbs described in
these volumes grow in England and when I was in Greece I recog-
nized this. Our garden sage grows in great profusion on the limestone
rocks, and so does Jerusalem sage which forms great bushes and is ex-
tremely decorative in the spring with its deep yellow flowers and grey
leaves. Sage has such a wholesome reputation that in all countries it is
used in domestic medicine. The name of the Genus Salvere is derived
from the Latin Salvere (to save) and the ancient saying 'Cur moriatur
homo cui salvia crescit in horto' (Why should a man die who grows sage
in his garden?) is similarly expressed in an English proverb : 'He that
would live for age must eat sage in May.'

Sage has the reputation of strengthening the nerves, the brain and the
sinews.

Sage helps the nerves and by its powerful might
Palsy is cured and fever put to flight.
B 17

Wound Herbs

Another group of camphoraceous herbs, the marjorams, have as ancient
a reputation as the sages for maintaining health. Dittany belongs to this
family and was one of the herbs belonging to Crete, most famous in
classical literature. Virgil says it was used by Venus to heal the wound
of Aeneas. Dittany flowers in Crete from June to August, and though this
species of marjoram does not grow here unless cultivated, other species
are common on chalky soil in England and contain large arilounts of
healing camphor.

The yellow spikes of Agrimony are seen all over Greece as they are in
England. The flower was called by the Greeks Agemone, pointing to
their use of it as a remedy for defects of the eye. Its Greek name Eupa-
toria connects it with Mithridates Eupator a king who was famous for
his herbal remedies.

No herb is better for healing wounds than the common Daisy which
gained its earliest reputation on the battlefield. This has a Roman rather
than a Greek origin, for Pliny tells us that it was frequently used, com-
bined with wormwood, to make into cataplasms for the wounded in war.

Everyone is familiar with the decorative Delphinium. The petals of the
flower bear the letters A.J.A. and this has a legendary connection with
Ajax the hero of the Trojan War. Its Greek name records the plants'
power of consolidating wounds.

Then we must remember the mignonette which Pliny says grew in his
lifetime at Rimini and was used by the natives not only for wounds, but
as a general panacea; applied with the words, 'Reseda, cause these
maladies to cease!'

Bugle, another wound herb, takes us back to the fifteenth century when
it was used by Charles V of Spain to cure his gout.

Finally the common M arshmallow which makes the best healing oint-
ment is common to Greece as well as to every other country. The ancient
Greeks relied on it to diminish the heat in the ordeal of hot irons which
was inflicted on suspected delinquents. Marshmallow is as efficacious
to-day as it ever was. It is the most emollient of all herbs and in the
treatment of wounds emollients naturally play a large part.

Most of the manufactured antiseptics, unlike the herbs, endanger the
living tissue, and yet in spite of this recognized fact, herbs are still
neglected in surgery.

Wound Herbs

AGRIMONY

Green O Green with ancient peace, and full of sap and sunny
Lusty fields of Warwickshire, O land of milk and honey.
Might I live to pluck again a spike of Agrimony
A silver tormentilla leaf or lady smock upon ye.

AGNES MARY FRANCES DUCLAUX

Botanical name: Agrimonia Eupatoria (Linn.). Natural order: Rosaceae.
Country names: Coc'debur, Cockeburr, Church steeples, Egremoine,
Egremounde, Garclive, Goosechite, Harvest lice, Hemony, Liverwort,
Red tail, Stickwort. French names: Aigremoine, Eupatoire, Soubeirette.
German names: Kleiner Odermennig, Leberkraut. Italian names: Agri-
monia, Agremomen, Eupatoria. Turkish name: Kasik-otu. Under the
dominion of: Jupiter and the sign Cancer. Symbolical meaning: Grati-
tude. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Common in ditches and fields
and by roadsides throughout England, only found locally in Scotland.
Constituents: A volatile oil, a bitter principle, tannic acid. Action: Astrin-
gent, diuretic, tonic.

Agrimony has an ancient reputation as a wound herb. The Anglo-Saxons
called it Garclive and prescribed it not only for wounds but also for
snake bites.

Chaucer refers to it as Egrimoyne and in his time it was combined
with Mugwort and vinegar and applied to wounds.

This is one of the herbs that has preserved its reputation all through
the ages. It was an ingredient of the famous arquebusade water which
was used at the battle of Morat in 1476 as recorded by Philip de Comines.

Paracelsus recommended it to be used in baths for those suffering from
palsy, and other herbalists have prescribed it for foot baths to relieve
tired feet. It combines with Greater Celandine, Centaury, Juniper, Sage,
Peppermint and Wormwood.

At one time it was included in the London official pharmacopoeia and
it still is regarded by herbalists as an important herb.

It grows from one to two feet high and has tall spikes of yellow flowers
which has given it its country name of Church Steeples.

The whole plant is somewhat aromatic and it makes a pleasant tisane
because of its apricot-like flavour.

It can be added to ordinary tea when dried. As a simple spring tonic
for the blood it is excellent, it removes obstructions and strengthens the
liver. Its praises have been sung all through the centuries by herbalists

Wound Herbs

who have recommended it either in the form of a tisane, a decoction, or
infused in beer. Six ounces of the dried herb put into a muslin bag and
hung in a barrel of beer for a week impart the virtues of the herb to the
beer and improve the flavour of the beer.

Agrimony makes a lovely yellow dye similar to the Chinese Yellow
we call Nankin.

BUGLE

And woodbine

Of velvet leaves, and bugle bloom divine,

Convolvulus in streaked vases flush.

Botanical name: Ajuga reptans. Natural order: Labiatae. Country names:
Brown Bugle, Bellows, Carpenter's herb, Middle Comfrey, Sicklewort,
Middle Consound, Dead Men's bellows, Helfringwort, Wild mint.
French names: Bugle rampant, Ajuga (Old French), Herbe de St. Lau-
rent. German names: G tinsel, Lorenskraut. Italian names: Bugula, Con-
solida mezzana. Turkish name: Mayasil otu. Under dominion of: Venus.
Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Britain, in damp shady woods and
other places. Action: Astringent, aromatic, tonic.

The Bugle plant is not unlike a deadnettle but the flowers are pur-
plish blue in colour and are in bloom from May till July.

The plant has been used successfully in quinsy but its chief use is in
haemorrhage of the lungs and complaints of the bile duct. Its action is
to allay irritation and to lower the pulse. It is a mild and safe narcotic.

There are two other varieties the Mountain Bugle which is rare in
England and the Yellow Bugle, Ajuga Chamaepitys, which is found in
Bedford, Kent, Surrey, Essex, Hampshire and Cambridge. It is better
known as Ground Pine.

Wound Herbs

COCKLEBUR

When fevers rise and fall, and life burns low

And fast upon the skin's unending flow

The vital forces follow, send for me

The flow, and the alarm, will cease to be.

And should the ravening hound your madness woo.

Send for me quick, or you will perish too.

T. C. H.

Botanical name: Xanthium spinosum (Linn.), Xanthium Abyssinicum
(Wallr). Natural order: Annuals in group of Ambroisecae of the Com-
positae. Country names: Burweed, Button bur, Spring Clot Burr, Ditch
Bur. French names: Xanthium, Lampourdc. German name: Spitzklette.
Italian names: Lappola, Bardana minore. Turkish name: Siraca otu. Part
used: The whole plant. Natural habitat: Southern Europe, naturalized
on the sea-coast of America, Central Asia and northwards to the Baltic.
Action: Diuretic, diaphoretic, styptic, salagogue.

yCanthic plants are spread as weeds or cultivated over a great part of
the world. The flowers are yellow, but are sometimes white or red. They
never can become blue. The flowers give way to fruit which is a rough
burr covered with hooked prickles.

As a remedy for hydrophobia, Cocldebur held a high place. It has very
active properties and is said to influence the blood in overcoming the
periodicity of malaria. Dr. Ellingwood suggests it being combined with
red onion. It is a good remedy in passive haemorrhages and he regards it
as of special benefit if the intermission of the fever is characterized by
profuse and exhausting perspiration.

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COMFREY

This is the Consound,

Whereby the lungs are eased of their grief.

TENNYSON

Botanical name: Symphytum officinale (Linn.). Natural order: Boragin-
aceae. Country names: Ass ear, Alum, Bruisewort, Boneset, Blackwort,
Briswort, Great Consound, Consolida, Knitbone, Knitback, Slippery
root, Gum plant. Saxon name: Yalluc. French nams: Grande Consoude,
Oreille d'ane. German name: Beinweld. Italian names: Consolida mag-
giore, Simfit, Zinzinnici. Turkish name: Sinfit. Under dominion of: Saturn
and Capricorn. Symbolic meaning: to unite. Part used: Leaves, root.
Natural habitat: Europe and temperate Asia, common in England on
the banks of rivers and in damp ditches. Constituents: Mucilage in
abundance, 0*6 to 0*8 per cent of Allantoin, a little tannin and a very
small amount of starch. Action: Astringent, demulcent, expectorant.

tvery member of the Borage family is useful medicinally, but the
Comfrey surpasses them all as the best established vulnerary. It heals
internally and externally. For diseased bones and diseased lungs it has no
equal and it joins fractures and broken bones. Even if bones have been
badly set and will not heal infusions of Comfrey will bring about a clean
join. It is the best remedy for injuries to sinews, tendons and the perio-
steum, and for traumatic injuries to the eyes there is nothing to compare
with it.

The word 'symptium' is derived from the Greek word meaning to
unite. The herb contains allantoin which is known to be a stimulant for
tissue growth. The roots contain much mucilage and make an excellent
vegetable if boiled, or the young shoots can be blanched and eaten like
asparagus.

The plant is very similar to Borage in appearance it has the same
rough and hairy leaves, and the flowers are a very pretty bluish purple
and are sometimes creamy yellow.

The flowers grow in drooping clusters on one side of the stem only and
are in flower for the greater part of the summer. There is an old saying
that the cream-coloured flowers should be used for a woman and the
purple for a man. The plant is found all over Europe.

There is a rare and very lovely variety of Comfrey, symphytum as-
perrimum, with turquoise blue flowers which I obtained from the Cam-
bridge botanical gardens, which grows near a pond in my garden in

Wound Herbs

great profusion. The leaves are smaller than the ordinary Comfrey, but
have the same properties.

Comfrey roots to boil

Take a pound of Comfrey roots, scrape them clean, cut them into
little pieces, and put them into three pints of water. Let them boil till
there is about a pint ; then strain it, and when it is cold put it into a
saucepan. If there is any settling at the bottom throw it away ; mix it
with sugar to your palate, half a pint of mountain wine and the juice of
a lemon. Let it boil, then pour it into a clean earthen pot and set it
by for use. Some boil it in milk, and it is very good where it will agree,
and is reckoned a very great strengthener.

CROSSWORT

/ am astringent, and the blood that flows
Too freely from a wound or nose
Will cease as soon as I begin.
I also cure the haemorrhage within.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Galium cruciata (Scopoli). Natural order: Rubiaceae.
Country names: Scop, Lady's Bedstraw, Golden Muguet, Moneywort,
Maywort, Oxan. French names: Croisette, Oeillet Croisette. German
name: Kreuzlabkraut. Italian names: Pittimbrosa, Erbe croce di fossi.
Turkish name: Hac otu. Under the dominion of: Saturn. Part used: Herb,
leaves. Natural habitat: England.

The Crosswort was at one time in great use as a wound herb. It is one
of the Bedstraws and belongs to the same family as Dyer's madder and
the herb called Clivers. All these herbs yield a good dye, though little use
is made of them in that respect.

The flowers of the Crosswort are not unlike the yellow Lady's Bed-
straw, but they are more insignificant.

The plant was used internally and externally for wounds and the most
usual way of administering it internally was in wine a decoction of the
plant was diluted with wine. It was an old cure for rupture.

Nicholas Culpeper says, This is a singular good wound herb, and is

Wound Herbs

used inwardly not only to stay bleeding of wounds, but to consolidate
them, as it doth outwardly any green wound which it quickly soldereth
up and healeth.'

DAISY

Daisies those pearl' d Arcturi of the earth
The constellated flower that never sets.

SHELLEY

Botanical name: Bellis perennis (Linn.). Natural order: Compositae.
Country names: Bachelor's Buttons, Bairnwort, Banwood, Banwort,
Bennergowan, Bennest, Bennet, Benwort, Bessy-Banwood, Billy Button,
Boneflower, Bonwort, Briswort, Bruisewort, Catposy, Cockiloorie, Con-
fery, Less Consound, Cumfirie, Daiseyghe, Shepherd's daisy, Dog daisy,
Children's daisy, Dazey, Dicky daisy, Ewe gowan, Gowam, May Gowan,
Gowlan, Mary Gowlan, Hen and chickens, Herb Margaret, March
daisy, Margaret's herb, Marguerite, Maudlinwort, Mother of thousands,
Silver penny, Sweep. Scotch names: Bairnwort, the gowan. French names:
Fleur de Paques, Marguerite, Paquerette. German names: Wildes Mass-
liebchen, Margarethenkraut, Ganseblume. Italian names: Bellide, Mar-
garita, Protolina, Pratellina. Turkish name: Paskalya cic. Under the
dominion of: Venus. Symbolical meaning: A pearl, innocence, fidelity.
Part used: Leaves, root. Natural habitat: Throughout the world. Con-
stituents: Oil and ammoniacal salts, tannic acid, inulin, Saponin.
Action: antispasraodic, diuretic, discutient, tonic.

The Daisy is one of the herbs with the longest record of success in
healing wounds. Its name perpetuates its service amongst the wounded
on the battlefield. It not only heals but counteracts the debility that fol-
lows injuries.

Its healing power is substantiated by the homoeopaths who find it in-
valuable for muscular soreness not only in the limbs, but for the muscu-
lar fibres of the blood-vessels.

It is used in liver, kidney and bladder ailments and externally has been
found of value in baths in the treatment of Paralysis.

A salad of young Daisy leaves is recommended in Germany as a good
spring medicine to stimulate metabolism.

Wound Herbs

Burnett says, 'It is a princely remedy for old labourers, especially
gardeners.'

It reduces hard swellings and was recommended by Dioscorides for
this purpose. The Ox-eye daisy has rather similar properties, but is
chiefly used as an antispasmodic in whooping cough and asthma, and in
America the root is used to check the night sweats of consumptive
people. PUny recommended it to be combined with Mugwort in the
treatment of tumours.

The Daisy was in fairy tales credited with the power of arresting
growth and children were given daisy roots and cream to keep them from
growing. The Measure of Love is the ancient name for the daisy because
it was used then and has been ever since for lovers to pull to pieces to
divine whether their love was reciprocated.

DARNEL

The crimson Darnel flower, the blue bottle and gold
Which though esteemed but weeds, yet for their dainty lines
And for their scent not ill, they for this purpose choose.

Botanical name: Lolium temulentum(Linn.). Natural order: Graminaceae.
Country names: Drake, Cheat, Ray grass, Bragge, Cockle, Dornel,
Dragge, Drank, Dravick, Droke, Drunk, Drunken Plant, Eaver, Ivray,
Jum, Lover's steps, Ray, Riely, Rivcry, Sturdy. French names: Ivraie,
Zizanie. German names: Taumel-lolch, Dolik. Italian names: Zizzania,
Lolio, Pane vino. Turkish names: Delice otu, Zivan, Karamuk. Under
dominion of: Saturn. Symbolical meaning: Vice. Part used: Seeds.
Natural habitat: Europe including Britain.

The Bearded Darnel was used in medicine before the birth of Christ.
It is one of the oldest herbal simples. The French name for the grass
refers to its intoxicating properties which bring on all the symptoms of
drunkenness. This may be due to its being in an ergotized con-
dition.

Some peasants consider that it is degenerated wheat because when
experiments have been made in sowing both wheat and darnel, wheat

Wound Herbs

has come up instead of darnel. It may be 'the tares among the wheat'
that we read of in the Bible.

It is one of the few poisonous grasses and its danger is that it may be
threshed with wheat.

Theophrastus tells us that the Pontic and the Egyptian wheat were
very free from darnel, but that the Sicilian wheat produced a plant called
Melampyron which unlike darnel was quite harmless.

Culpeper says of Darnel, 'It is a malicious part of sullen Saturn. As
it is not without some vices, so hath it also many virtues. The meal of
Darnel is very good to stay gangrenes, and other suchlike fretting and
eating cankers, and putrid sores. It also cleanses ihe skin of all leprosies,
morphews, mugworm and the like, if it be used with salt and raddish
roots.'

One of its indications for use is trembling of the limbs and violent
pains in the calves.

John Hill says, "Tis a medicine fitter for habitual complaints than
sudden illness'.

DELPHINIUM

Say in what countries do flowers grow
With the names of kings written upon them.

VIRGIL

Botanical name: Delphinium consolida. Natural order: Ranunculaceae.
Country names: Field larkspur, Knight's spur, King's consound, Lark's
toe, Dolphin flower. French names: Dauphinelle, Pied d'alouette, Con-
soud royale. German names: Feldrittersporn, Hornktirnmel, Rittersporn.
Italian names: Consolida regale, Erba del cardinale. Turkish name:
Hezarenk cic. Symbolical meaning: Levity. Part used: Herb, seeds.
Natural habitat: Europe.

The wild Delphinium is found in cornfields throughout Europe : all
languages record the plant's power of consolidating wounds.

The seeds have an old reputation as a cure for the stings of scorpions.
In medicine they are used in the same way as the seeds of the Stavesacre
(an allied plant) to destroy insects and parasites. A tincture of the seeds

DITTANY OF CRETE ORIGANUM DICTAM

Wound Herbs

is applied locally. The seeds are an irritant poison and should be used
with the greatest care.

A tincture of the seeds is also given to relieve attacks of asthma and
to cure dropsy, and the juice of the flowers and an infusion of the whole
plant is a remedy for colic. A conserve of the flowers was sometimes
given to children as an astringent. The juice of the petals with the addi-
tion of ali'm makes a good blue ink.

DITTANY

A branch of healing dittany she brought

Which in the Cretan fields with care she sought

Rough in the stem, which woolly leaves surround

The leaves with flowers, the flowers with purple crown* d

Well known to goats: a sure relief

To draw the pointed steel and ease the grief.

Aeneid, Book XII, DRYDEN

Botanical name: Origanum Dictamnus (Linn.). Natural order:
Other names: Dittany of Crete, Candia, Right Dittany. French name:
Dictame de Crete. German names: Kretischer Diptam, Diptamodosten.
Italian names: Dittamo Di Creta, Origano di Creta, Dittamo. Turkish
names: Girid otu, Mangir otu, Girid Diktami. Under the dominion of:
Mercury. Symbolizes: Happiness. Part used: Herb, oil. Natural habitat:
Crete. Action: Tonic, Carminative, stimulant, Healing. Constituents: A
volatile oil, tannin, resin, and a bitter principle.

Virgil has perpetuated the healing properties of Dittany in his de-
scription of the healing of the wound of Aeneas by the goddess Venus.
The Greeks venerated the plant and attributed to it not only the power
of healing wounds, but of aiding childbirth. Apuleius, Theophrastus,
Dioscorides and Cicero all testify to its properties.

It was dedicated to Lucina the goddess of childbirth, and she is often
portrayed wearing a wreath of Dittany.

Mixed with wine the juice of the plant was drunk to cure the bites of
snakes. Goats ate the herb to get rid of arrows when they were wounded
by them.

Wound Herbs

Both Pliny and Plutarch corroborate the high opinion of other
classical writers as to its powers. Theophrastus tells us that it was always
rather a rare plant even in Crete because it was so much eaten by
wounded goats.

Dittany of Crete must not be confused with False Dittany or Poor
Man's Pepper Lepidium Latifolium. To avoid making this mistake the
former was called by many Right Dittany.

Dittany is in bloom from June to August, the small nodding flowers
grow in loose leafy purple heads, the stamens stand out beyond the
corolla. Plants will generally survive an ordinary English winter if they
are placed in a warm border in a dry soil and are well mulched with
compost or leaf mould.

FLAX

. . . the slopes are blue

Knee deep with flax, the orchard boughs are breaking

Strange outlandish fruit.

CHARLES KINGSLEY

Botanical name: Linum usitatissimum (Linn.). Country names: Common
flax, Linseed, Lint bells, Lint bennels, Blaebows, Lint, Lint-bow, Vlix.
Natural order: Linaceae. French name: Lin. German names: Flachs,
Echter Lein. Italian name: Lino usuale. Turkish name: Keten. Arabian
name: Bazen. Indian names: Tesi-mosina, Alashi, sufulsi. Chinese name:
Hu-ma-Esze. Under the dominion of: Mars. Symbolical meaning: Domes-
tic industry, fate, I feel your kindness. Part used: Seeds, oil. Natural
habitat: Common in most temperate countries, Central Asia, Egypt,
Southern Europe. Constituents: The seed nucleus contains a fixed oil,
30 to 35 per cent, the epithelium contains mucilage 15 per cent, proteid
25 per cent, amygdalin, resin, wax, sugar and ash 3 to 5 per cent, the ash
contains phosphates, sulphates and chlorides of potassium, calcium and
magnesium. Action: Demulcent, diuretic, emollient, expectorant.

I he Common Flax from which we obtain linseed is the same plant
that provides us with flax to make into linen garments and tablecloths.
Flax spinning is one of the oldest of English trades. The Romans intro-

Wound Herbs

duced the plant into England and it was made a compulsory crop till
the sixteenth century. It was grown by the Egyptians who at one time
controlled the cotton trade. They made it into sails. Herodotus says that
cotton reached Greece from Egypt in two days. The plant is mentioned
in Genesis and Exodus. The curtains of the Tabernacle and the Jewish
High Priests' garments were made from the Flax plant. There is an old
belief in Germany that if a child of seven dances in a field of flax it will
grow up to be beautiful under the care of the goddess Hulda.

Flax is an annual with pretty blue flowers so that a whole field
of the plants when in flower is a lovely sight.

Linseed is largely used by painters who choose linseed oil in preference
to any other because it absorbs oxygen from the air and when applied
to canvases forms a hard transparent varnish.

The seeds and the oil are also of great value in medicine. The carron
oil used in the treatment of burns is linseed oil mixed with lime water.
The seeds are used in affections of the respiratory organs and also to
soothe the urinary and digestive organs.

Linseed tea is a popular drink for coughs and colds and is of value in
tuberculosis of the lungs.

A poultice of linseed can be safely applied to any wound or any
swelling and produces excellent results. It is one of the most important
of the emollient herbs and is suitable for ointments as well as cata-
plasms.

Wound Herbs

LEOPARD'S BANE

They say that all four-footed things
Avoid my tiny golden wings.
But man employs me night and day
For all the perils of the fray.
There's not a wound or bruise or blow
But I can lay the damage low.
And even with a brain concussed
With me the battle } s far from lost.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Arnica montana (Linn.). Natural order: Compositae.
Country name: Mountain tobacco. French names: Doronie, Aronique,
B6toine des Montaignes. German names: Gemsenwurz, Echter Wolfer-
lei, Arnika, Wohlverleih. Italian names: Arnica, Polmonaria di mon-
tagna, Tabacco di montagna. Turkish names: Dag tiitunu. Part used:
Flowers, root. Natural habitat: Central Europe. Constituents: A bitter
yellow crystalline principle Arnicin, and a volatile oil, tannin and plutin
are also present. The flowers are said to contain more arnicin than the
root but no tannin. Action: Diuretic, discutient, stimulant.

Leopard's Bane is a perennial plant found in woods and mountain
pastures. It has a striking appearance because the long flower stalk often
rises two feet in height from a rosette of leaves. The flowers are compo-
site and bright yellow.

As a remedy for sprains and bruises it is better even than Calendula,
but it must be used with care because when taken internally, and some-
times when used externally, it causes severe local poisoning in people
who are sensitive to the plant. The safest way to use it is in homoeopathic
form. It is a good remedy for tired feet if half an ounce of the tincture
is added to the foot bath. It also will make the hair grow if applied to the
scalp, and the homoeopathic tincture can be taken before and during a
voyage to prevent sea sickness.

The plant was first used medicinally at the beginning of the eighteenth
century when it was discovered as a healing agent by a Dr. Fehr, and it
then obtained the name Panacea lapsorum. It was used with great suc-
cess in putrid fevers by Dr. Collin of Vienna from 1771 to 1774, and since

Wound Herbs

then other doctors have advocated its use and it has become one of the
homoeopaths' principal remedies.

Before making use of the plant, Dr. Hamilton considers it indispens-
able to clean the flowers because they are often soiled by the eggs of a
parasitical fly which feeds on the plant. The root soon loses its virtue if
exposed to the air. Any reactions that arnica produces are increased if
it is followed by wine.

MADONNA LILY

The virgin lilies in their white

Are clad but with the lawn of almost naked night.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical name: Lilium candidum (Linn.). Natural order: Liliaceae.
Country names: Mary lily, White lily, Juno's rose, Gley glof. French
names: Lis blanc, Lis candide. German names: Weisse Lilie, Marien lilie.
Italian names: Giglio bianco, giglio della madonna. Turkish name:
Beyaz zanbak. Under the dominion of: The moon. Symbolical meaning:
Purity. Part used: Bulb, petals. Natural habitat: Mediterranean coun-
tries.

I he Madonna lily has been used by country people as a cure for
wounds and bruises from the earliest times. The bulb contains a good
deal of mucilage and the plant has astringent, anodyne and demulcent
properties. Eastern herbalists recommended Madonna lily flowers for
epilepsy ; Culpeper advised the fresh bulbs for dropsy and Gerard ad-
vised the root stamped with honey to glue together cut sinews. The bulbs
make a good ointment for painful corns ; and the petals steeped in wine
are used in the same way as Arnica for sprains and bruises.

Madonna lilies will thrive anywhere unless attacked by disease against
which there seems to be no protection. They are generally seen at their
best in cottage gardens, and one of the theories given to explain this is
that soapy water that cottagers use to wash with, is thrown over the
garden instead of being wasted.

Wound Herbs

MARSHMALLOW

The med'cinable mallow here,

Assuaging sudden tumours;
Or jagged poly podium there

To purge out evil humours.

MICHAEL DRAYTON

Botanical name: Althea officinalis (Linn.). Natural order: Malvaceae.
Country names: Cheeses, Mallards, Mortification root, Schloss tea,
Wymot. French name: Guimauve. German names: Malve, Apotheker-
stockmalve, Witte Malve, Eibisch. Italian names: Malvavisco, Altea
officinale, Malvacioni, Bismalva, Buonvischio. Turkish names: Hitmi,
Kitmi, Gill hatem. Under the dominion of: Venus. Symbolical meaning:
Humanity. Part used: Leaves, flowers, root. Natural habitat: Europe,
including Great Britain.

1 he Mallow family is a large one and it contains no poisonous herbs.
Every species is abundantly supplied with mucilage, and all the flowers
have the kidney shaped, one-celled anthers.

The Marshmallow contains the most mucilage and the root has more
than the rest of the plant ; the stems yield good fibre as do all the mal-
lows. The plant is rough and hairy and grows from one to three feet
high. The rose-coloured flowers grow in the axils of the downy leaves,
the stems are erect and unbranched. The plant is very common on road-
sides, in fields and ditches particularly near the sea, and is very common
in the south of England.

For poultices it rivals Slippery Elm with which it is often combined.
Whenever there is irritation or inflammation, Marshmallow can be
relied upon to soothe and heal and it can be used with perfect safety and
indefinitely. Its old name of Mortification root has been well earned.
Marshmallow ointment is a safe external application for all wounds.

The mallows are equally useful for chest complaints, and many of
them are edible.

The Blue Mallow, Malvia sylvestris, is particularly suitable for coughs
and colds.

The Dwarf mallow and the Tree mallow also grow in England and
have similar properties. The Hibiscus shrub also belongs to the mallow
family and partakes of their mucilaginous properties. The Ochra of the

Wound Herbs

East which is used in soups is the young head of the Hibiscus esculentus.
The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is used for blacking shoes in the East Indies,
and in China for dyeing hair black. The seeds of other species are used as
a substitute for coffee but the cotton plant, which belongs to the same
family, has the most commercial value.

Many of the hibiscus shrubs are very useful in medicine.

Marshmallow Syrup

Infuse two ounces of sliced, dried Marshmallow roots in a pint of
boiling water for a whole day.

Then strain and add to the liquid three pounds of plain, cold, white
syrup. Boil together till it registers 30 degrees, leave to cool and then
bottle.

Before bottling add 15 drops of orange flower water.

MATICO

Botanical names: Piper angustifolium, Artanthe Elongata. Natural order:
Piperaceae. Country name: Soldier's herb. French names :M r dt\co,HGrbc
du soldat. German name: Soldatenkraut. Italian name: Erba di soldato.
Turkish names: Filfil, Matiko. Part used: The leaves. Natural habitat:
Persia, Brazil, Cuba. Constituents: A volatile oil, anlanthic acid, resin,
a bitter principle, tannin and mucilage.

iVlatico is a species of pepper. The leaves are heart shaped and aro-
matic. The under part of the leaf if applied to bleeding surfaces promotes
coagulation of the blood.

The leaves are used as a local haemostatic and for this reason the
plant is called the Soldier's herb.

Wound Herbs

MEDLAR

Then as I mused I cast aside my eye
And saw a Medlar Tree was planted high
The spreading branches made a goodly show
And full of opening blooms was every bough:
And as I stood and cast aside mine eie
I was 'ware of the fairest Medle tree,
That ever yet in all my life I sie.

CHAUCER

Botanical name: Mespilus Germanica, Pyrus Germanica. Natural order:
Rosaceae. Country names: Dutch Medlar, Thorn tree, Hosedoup, open
arse, How doup, marie. French names: N6flier, Merlier Nfele. German
name: Deutche Mispel. Italianname: Nespolo. Dutch name: Mispelboom.
Turkish name: Musmula ag. Part used: Fruit, leaves. Natural habitat:
Europe, including Britain.

1 he Medlar tree was greatly cultivated in England in the past and was
valued for its fruit and for its medicinal properties. The leaves were
made into plasters and applied to wounds, and the fruit has the reputa-
tion of strengthening the memory.

The tree bears large white flowers and the fruit which is gathered
when hard is kept till it is almost rotten when it is considered ready to
eat.

Wound Herbs

MIGNONETTE

Such a scent when evening closes
Steals beneath the hawthorn trees,
Mingled mignonette and roses,
And delightful memories,
Till the years slip off their pain,
And the heart grows young again.

CHRISTIAN BURKE

Botanical name: Reseda odorata. Natural order: Resedaceae. French
names: Reseda d'Egypte, Herbe d'amour. German names: Reseda-wan,
Gartenreseda. Italian names: Reseda odorosa, Amoretti d'Egitto, Amor-
ino. Turkish name: Muhabbit-9i9. Symbolical meaning: Your qualities
surpass your charms. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, Egypt.

The Mignonette is said to have reached France from Egypt. The
family of resedas were known to the Romans and used by them medicin-
ally as wound herbs. They have soothing properties, allay irritation and
ease pain, properties to which their generic name is a testimony.

Reseda latifolia yields a yellow dye which the Romans made famous,
and from the Wild Mignonette a dye called Dutch pink is produced.

It is common on chalky hills throughout England and is in bloom
throughout July and August.

The Mignonette was introduced and grown in the apothecaries' gar-
den at Chelsea in 1752.

It is cultivated to-day in the south of Europe as a shrub which has the
same sweet scent.

Wound Herbs

MONEYWORT

/ look like money and my worth is gold.
No finer healer for a wound is sold.
Beside the fountain and the hidden pool
I wait the coming of the saint or fool.
For all alike who pluck my pale green fiowe*
Are welcome to its timeless healing power.

T C.H.

Botanical name: Lysimachis mummularia(Linn.). Natural order: Primu-
laceae. Country names: Creeping Jenny, Creeping loosestrife, Wandering
Jenny, Wandering sailor, Runagates, Twopenny grass, Herb twopence,
Meadow runagates, Two penigrass, Serpentaria, String of sovereigns.
Under the dominion of: Venus. Part used: Leaves, root. Natural habitat:
Europe. Action: Astringent, antiscorbutic, anti-acid.

Moneywort is familiar to gardeners because it is so often cultivated at
the edges of fountains and on rockeries. It takes its name of Moneywort
from the shape of its smooth leaves which suggest coins. It is allied to the
yellow loosestrife and grows in damp meadows. The stems and flowers
have green sepals, are heart shaped and frilly at the base.

The leaves are used medicinally for coughs, and the plant was at one
time a specific for whooping cough. Boerhave recommended the leaves
for haemorrhages, in ten-grain doses in powder form. Culpeper recom-
mended the herb as a quick healer of wounds of all kinds, and it can be
taken internally for this purpose or a lotion can be made from it to apply
externally.

Sibthorp's Moneywort, so common in Cornwall, belongs to a different
family altogether.

Wound Herbs

MOONWORT

And I ha' been plucking plants among
Hemlock, henbane, adder's tongue;
Nightshade, moomvort, Ibbard's bane,
And twice by the dogs was like to be to* en.

Botanical name: Botrychium lunaria. Natural order: Ophioglossaceae.
Country name: Osmunde. French name: Bolryche. German name: Echte
Mondraute. Italian names: Erbe lunaria, Lunaria dei grappolo. Turkish
name: Gazel lisani. Under the dominion of: The Moon. Symbolical mean-
ing: Forgetfulness. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, including

England.

1 hough Moonwort is really a fern its first appearance does not sug-
gest this. What looks like a stem is really a bud containing the unopened
frond, and when it opens and grows, as it often does, to a height of two
feet, it does not resemble other British ferns, and it has the crescent
shape of the moon.

It is found in Surrey, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk,
Yorkshire and Staffordshire, but it is not common. Culpeper said in his
time that it grew where there was much grass and it is difficult to find
for this reason.

The herb was recommended to heal wounds and was boiled in white
wine and made into lotions and salves for wounds, bruises and sprains.
It probably, in common with other ferns, contains much nitrogenous
matter.

The old superstition was that it had the magical power to open locks
and unshoe horses.

This plant must not be confused with Lunaria (Honesty) which is
sometimes called Moonwort, or with the Moon flower of India, which
is a bindweed.

Wound Herbs

PLOUGHMAN'S SPIKENARD

The Ploughman's spikenard's spicy smell.

Botanical name: Inula Conyza, Conyza squaurosa (Linn.). Natural order:
Compositae. Country names: Cinnamon root, Great Fleabane, Flea-
wort, Horsetail. French names: Conise, Herbe aux puces, Herbe aux
punaises. German names: Dtirrwurz, Grosses Flohkraut. Italian names:
Conizza, Erba della pulci. Dutch name: Loudekruid. Turkish hame: Pire
otu. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, on limestone or chalk, in
copses and on dry banks.

The Ploughman's Spikenard is closely allied to Elecampane and the
Fleabanes. It contains inulin, is useful in coughs and colds, and has a
good reputation as a wound herb for ruptures, bruises and inward and
outward wounds.

The powdered plant destroys insects. It grows about a foot high and
has numerous daisy-like flowers of a yellow or dusky purple colour. Its
seeds are small, black and crowned with a sessile feather, with simple
rays as long as the calyx. The smell is pleasantly aromatic.

SELF HEAL PRUNELLA VULGARIS

Wound Herbs

PRUNELLA

My garden grew self-heal and balm,
And speedwell that's blue for an hour,

Then blossoms again, O grievous my pain,
Pm plundered of each flower .

DEVONSHIRE SONG

Botanical name: Prunella vulgaris (Linn.). Natural order: Labiatae.
Country names: Touch and heal, All heal, Self heal, Slough heal, Brown-
wort, Brumel, Bumble bees, Carpenter's grass, Fly flowers, Heart of the
earth, Hook heal, London bottles, Pick Pocket, Prince's feathers, Pru-
nell, Sicklewort. French name: Brunelle. German name: Kleine Brunelle.
Italian names: Brunella, Basilico salvatico. Spanish name: Brunela.
Turkish name: Dag erigi. Under the dominion of: Venus. Part used: Herb.
Natural habitat: Europe, including Great Britain.

Several plants compete with Prunella for the name of Self-heal, but
Prunella is recognized among herbalists as the genuine Self-heal.

It is either taken inwardly or applied outwardly in fomentations,
ointments and plasters for wounds of every kind. The plant differs from
other labiate herbs in the flowers which grow on the top of the stalk in
whorls which are set thickly together in a spike two leaves standing
out around the head and forming a collar. In colour the flowers are a lilac
purple and do not come out at once so that it always has a rather ragged
appearance.

It is a very safe herb to use as an antiseptic and astringent, and is good
in gargles for all forms of ulcerated sore throats.

Wound Herbs

RATTLES

And where high grasses wave

Shall great moon daisies blink,
With rattle and sorrel sharp

And Robin's ragged pink.

ROBERT BRIDGES

Botanical names: (Red Rattle) Pedicularis sylvatica (Yellow Rattle),
Rhinanthus Crista-Galli. Natural order: Labiatae. Country names:
Pence, Penny rattle, Red rattle grass, Yellow rattle, Marsh Lousewort,
Rattle box, Hen's comb, Cock's comb, Pennyweed, Penny grass. French
names: (Red) Pediculaire des bois, (Yellow) Crete de coq, Cocrete,
Cocrete des pr6s. German names: (Red) Waldatiskraut, (Yellow) Hahn-
enkamm, Klapper, Gelber Klapperkraut. Italian names: (Red) Pedico-
lare, (Yellow) Cresta di Gallo. Dutch name: Haanekam. Turkish names:
(Red) Mevzed, (Yellow) Horozibige. Under the dominion of: The Moon.
Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Great Britain.

1 he Rattles were better known a hundred years ago as Louseworts by
which name they appear in old herbals. There are two British varieties,
the Marsh Lousewort and the Pasture Lousewort, now called the red
rattle and the yellow rattle. They were well-known vulneraries at one
time.

The red rattle is striking in appearance and the name is derived from
the rattle-like sound of the seeds ripening in their capsules. It is rose
coloured and labiate in form. It was boiled in port wine and drunk to
assist the healing of wounds.

Most of the genus thrive best in mountainous districts and as far
north as Siberia. The magnificent Pedicularis sceptrum Carolinum, so
called by Rudbeck in honour of Charles XII, is peculiar to Sweden and
Lapland. Linnaeus found it growing in such profusion in Lapland that
it stopped his horse when he was riding it.

The red rattle has very pretty two-lipped purplish red flowers with a
spotted calyx and is in flower from June to September. It grows about
eighteen inches high, its branches are often tinged with purple and it has
deeply cut leaves.

The yellow rattle has pinkish yellow flowers and the stamens have
anthers covered with bristly hairs. Its leaves resemble the comb of a cock,

Wound Herbs

hence its name of Crista-Galli. It was used for dimness of sight and, like
the Eyebright, grows among corn.

There is a theory that flocks that feed on these plants do not prosper,
but sheep and goats both eat them with relish.

SIEGESBECKIA

All birds and animals, to meet the weather
Make their own clothes of fur and feather.
/, when an accident has let it in
Provide for man a temporary skin.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Siegesbeckia orientalis (Linn.). Natural order: Com-

positae. Country name: Holy Herb. Part used: Juice, leaves, whole plant.

Natural habitat: Isle of Bourbon, India, China.

Siegesbeckia is a common weed in China. It is an annual, growing
nearly four feet in height, sending out many branches. The flowers are
small, yellow and terminating. It is peculiar in having the ray on one
side only. When the ripe seeds are gathered they appear to move as if
they were alive. It flowers in July and August.

The juice applied to wounds or burns forms a new skin like collodion.
Mixed with glycerine the juice is also used for ringworm ; and the plant
is a cure for rheumatism, colic, and skin diseases of a leprous nature.
As a stomachic tonic its properties are similar to camomile.

Wound Herbs

SLIPPERY ELM

Here is a rare delight. How good,
A medicine that is also food!

Four enemies to every chill,
It first protects from further ill;
It drives the evil from its lair
And cools the fevers harboured there;
It heals, as in its creamy flow
It slowly circulates below;
And fourthly, as a food alone
It is to every healer known.
For he who nothing takes beside
For many days is well supplied.
What other plant, or flower or tree
Can rival thy sufficiency?

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Ulmus fulva(Mich). Natural order: Urticaceae. Country
names: Red elm, Moose elm, Indian elm. French name: Orme. German
names: Ulme, Ulmbaum. Italian names: Olmo, Ulmo. Turkish name:
Kara ag. Under the dominion of: Saturn. Part used: The inner bark.
Natural habitat: The United States, Canada. Constituents: Mucilage in

large quantities.

All elm trees are suitable for healing wounds, but the red elm of
America, which is known to herbalists all over the world as Slippery
Elm is, on account of the large amount of mucilage contained in the
inner bark, the best healing agent known.

The powdered bark is sold in two forms, coarsely powdered to use as
a poultice, and finely powdered to make into a food ; for the bark of the
tree has the double advantage of a food and a poultice. For gastric com-
plaints and ulcers it is unrivalled because it soothes and heals, and at the
same time provides enough nourishment, if made with milk, to live on
for a considerable time.

The powder is antiseptic and soothing, and can be used for wounds
of all kinds abscesses, suppurations, eruptions and glandular enlarge-
ments. It quickly allays inflammation and arrests gangrene.

The common elm, Ulmus compestris, is astringent and has also

Wound Herbs

demulcent properties, but it does not contain as much mucilage as the
American red elm. It is used successfully in ringworm and other skin
diseases.

Slippery Elm is the basis of many emollient preparations suitable for
external applications to wounds of all kinds.

SNOWDROP

Snowdrops, nun-like, flawless, crisp, less flowers than a little
gasp of white astonishment.

HUMBERT WOLFE

Botanical name: Galanthus nivalis (Linn.). Natural order: Amarylli-
daceae. Country names: Bulbous violet, Fair maid of February, Candle-
mas Bells, French Snowdrop, Purification flower, Snowflower, White
ladies, Hope-friend-in-need. French names: Perce-neige, Clochette
d'hiver. German name: Schneeglocken. Italian names: Pianterella, Fior
di latte, Foraneve, Lacrime della madonna. Turkish name: Sut gig.
Symbolical meaning: Consolation. Natural habitat: Southern Europe,
Switzerland, Austria.

The Snowdrop was introduced from Italy in the fifteenth century,
probably by the monks.

Its botanical name relates to its milk white and snow-like character.
In old herbals it is called Bulbous violet and is recommended as a
'digestive, resolutive and consolidante herb'. It is said to consolidate
bones as well as wounds. The homoeopaths prescribe it in cases of
'initial regurgitation with broken down compensation.' 1

1 Boericke.

Wound Herbs

SPHAGNUM MOSS

When men by others' cold intent
Or else by foolish accident
Lie wounded, and the red blood's flow
Imperils life, all healers know
That spongelike, as an eager web
I stay the bleeding at the ebb.
And when the friend of all in pain
Brings sweet forgetfulness again,
'Tis I beneath the sleeper's head
That wooed her to the warrior bed.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Sphagnum Cymbifolium. Natural order: Lichenes.
Country names: Bog moss, Gold heath. French name: Sphaigne. German
name: Torfmoos. Italian names: Stagno, Muschio di palude. Under the
dominion of: Saturn. Symbolical meaning: Ennui. Part used: The whole
moss. Natural habitat: In bogs on peat soil in Scotland, Ireland, Wales,
Yorkshire, Devon, the Lake District, and the Wye Valley.

Sphagnum Moss has a different habit of growth from other mosses
and is very varied in colour from pink, deep red and brown to the bright-
est pale green.

It is permeated with capillary cells which absorb moisture and it holds
it like a sponge, so that in the dressing of wounds it is better than the
ordinary absorbent bandages.

Though Germany is credited with the discovery of this particular use
of Sphagnum in the early 'eighties, there is a record in the Gaelic
Chronicle of 1014 to prove that it was used at the Battle of Clontarf. It
was also used at the Battle of Flodden by the Highlanders, and long
before the Norman Conquest it was in use amongst the Esquimaux
and the natives of Kashmir. The Laplanders make it into bolsters and
mattresses for their babies.

The moss has a peculiar even action, absorbing the discharge from
wounds laterally as well as from above. It can absorb more than twice
as much moisture as any ordinary dressing so that it does not require to
be changed nearly so often.

To prepare the moss it should be gathered as whole as possible,

'^'"' '"H /'i;!'"'" 'V'," ' "' '''"'' '": '' '' V" 1 ' 1 ,-','' V '"V, ''''-A ^-'^?^^

',,;.' ,.-, 'i.'.n vi ';, L !;;i;; '^i - ,^ ^^ ,'i, ^ r l ^ l| ; r; ., p^", ti -^.''J,^,^;:

WATER SOLDIER STRATIOTES ALOIDES

Wound Herbs

squeezed and dried in the open air, otherwise its elasticity is diminished.
No other moss is a substitute for it.

In the north of Europe where sphagnum mosses of various species
occupy large tracts of bogland this becomes peat and is used as common
fuel.

WATER SOLDIER

The healer, at the doors of doubt
Will often turn a herb about
And seek within its form to find
Some healing purpose underlined.
Thus eyebright, like a starry eye
Offers a clue in mimicry,
And lung-wort and the liver-wort
Display the fell disease or hurt
Or organ which with due appeal
The virtues of the herb will heal.
So Water Soldier with a leafy sword
Offers a clue too oft ignored.
No iron blade of peace or war
That injures man but to my lore
Will yield, and my unfailing knife
Will slay the injury, and summon life.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Stratiotes aloides. Natural order: Hydrochlaridaceae.
Country names: Water house leek, Water sengren, Sea green, Crab's
claw, Freshwater soldier, Knight's pondweed, Knight's wort, Water
pine, Soldier yarrow, Water parsnip, Water aloe. French names: Strati-
ote-alo6s, mille-feuille. German names: Wasserfeder, Wasserschere.
Italian names: Erba coltella, Guincherella boreale. Turkish name: Su
Savi Sabr. Under the dominion of- Venus. Part used: Herb. Natural
habitat: The Fen district of England, Eastern Counties particularly,

Yorkshire.

1 he Water Soldier is a perennial aquatic plant found in the Eastern
Counties of England, particularly in the Fen district. It is the only

Wound Herbs

British species. It is unlike any other plant though it has a resemblance
to the aloe, and it spreads rapidly.

The flower stalk has at its summit a two-leaved sheath from which
arises the large white flower with stamens, one flower only bearing pis-
tils. The dark prickly green leaves remain embedded in the mud.

The plant was particularly renowned for wounds caused by iron, and
it was prescribed for St. Anthony's fire and for bruised kidneys. Gerard
says it is of 'a cooling nature and temperament'.

WOOD SANICLE

Qui a la Bugle et le Sanicle fait
aux Chirurgiens la niche.

Botanical name: Sanicula Europaea (Linn.). Natural order: Umbelliferae.
Country names: Self-heal, Pool root. French name: Sanicle. German
names: Sanikel, Echte helkneckes. Italian names: Sanicola, Fragolina.
Dutch name: Sanikel. Turkish name: Deve kulagi. Under dominion oj:
Venus. Part used: Whole herb. Natural habitat: North and Central
Europe, including Great Britain. Tropical Africa.

1 he Wood Sanicle is often called Self-heal, so it must not be confused
with Prunella which is the herb really entitled to that name. The Wood
Sanicle is the only species of the Saniculas thai is found in England, and
it thrives in a moist rich soil in a shady position. It is a perennial plant,
with white or pale pink flowers which grow in umbels and blossom in
May and June : the leaves are heart shaped at the base and much toothed
like a saw.

The flowers are followed by prickly seeds which adhere to everything
with which they come in contact.

The medicinal properties of the plant are astringent and alterative. It
makes a very good gargle for sore throats and is a cleansing herb for the
blood. It has a good reputation as an alterative herb.

Wound Herbs

WOUNDWORTS

I grow within the lowly hedge;
My cousin at the marsh's edge.
And each, as shown within our name,
For healing wounds is known to fame.
Less famous is our second feat
Our roots are very good to eat.

T.C.H.

Botanical names: Hedge woundwort : Stachys Sylvatica (Linn.), Marsh
woundwort : Stachys Palustris (Linn.). Natural order: Labiatae. Country
names: (Hedge woundwort) Hedge archangel, Blind nettle, Cow's
weather wind, Dead nettle, Nettle foot, Toadflower, Cow's withywind.
(Marsh woundwort) All heal, Cockhead, Dead nettle, Hound's tongue,
Panay opopanewort, Swines maskert, Rough weed, Rusticum vulna
herba, Runch, Sheep's brisken, Downy woundwort, Swine arbut,
Clown's woundwort. French names: (Hedge woundwort) Crapandine,
(Marsh woundwort) Ortie des marais, Ortie morte. German names:
(Hedge woundwort) Bergziest, (Marsh woundwort) Sumpfziest. Italian
names: (Hedge woundwort) Erba giudaica, (Marsh woundwort) Scab-
biosa palustre, Spigo fiorito. Turkish name: Otu isi gan. Under the
dominion of: (Clown's woundwort) Saturn. Part used: Herb, leaves.
Natural habitat: Great Britain.

Both the woundworts were universally used to heal wounds. Gerard,
Parkinson and all the great herbalists were enthusiastic in their praise.

The tuberous roots are edible and are often very large and full of
nutriment. The young shoots can also be eaten like asparagus. The Hedge
woundwort produces a good yellow dye.

The woundworts are closely allied to Wood Betony which is an excel-
lent herb for the nerves and the blood.

Chapter Two
ANTISEPTIC HERBS

Balsam of Peru; Betel; Carrot; Echinacea;
Eucalyptus; Garlic; Germanders; Milk-
wort; Myrrh; Pareira Brava;
Plume Poppy; Sassafras;
Smartweed; Wild Indigo

Most herbs are to a certain extent antiseptic that is to say, they
prevent putrefaction, but some of them are powerful enough
to inhibit micro-organisms. Cinnamon, for instance, possesses
a special power of destroying bacteria and is one of the specifics against
the influenza germ, which it will antidote if taken in time to destroy the
parent virus. It is the oil in the tree that has such valuable anti-germicidal
properties.

Sassafras oil, obtained from another member of the Laurel family, is
extensively used by herbalists as an alterative and antiseptic. Cloves, on
account of their oil, are also anti-putrescent.

Eucalyptus oil is in such general use that its antiseptic properties are
universally known. The tree belongs to the Myrtle family, as does the
Clove. There are many varieties of the eucalyptus, but the Eucalyptus
Globulus will live and flourish in the south of Europe, and anywhere
where the temperature does not drop below 60 degrees F. The Italians
have made extensive use of eucalyptus trees in draining and making
healthy parts of the Roman Campagna and other places in Italy that
only a few years ago were uninhabitable. At the monastery of the Three
Fountains in Rome they make an excellent liqueur from Eucalyptus
which is sold as a cleansing tonic. It has a strong taste of eucalyptus, but
is not unpleasant. Among the aromatic herbs Thyme and Southernwood
have the best reputation as antiseptics, but undoubtedly all the camphor-
aceous plants have disinfectant properties : Lavender, Rosemary, Mar-
joram, Camomile, Peppermint, and the other mints. The Garden Thyme
is cultivated on a large scale for medicinal purposes. The oil, added to
baths, is extremely helpful in nervous prostration and to allay irritation
of the skin.

Thymol, so much used in medicines as an antiseptic, is an alkaloid of
the Thyme plant. It is not unlike Carbolic Acid in action, but it is less

Antiseptic Herbs

irritating, more permanent, and more effective in destroying bacteria.

Lavender, the companion of Thyme, sharing its liking for a poor soil,
for the moisture of our English climate, and for the same conditions of
growth, has also anti-germicidal properties, and has been used with
success in the treatment of wounds. Oil of Lavender is one of the best
applications to prevent and cure the bites of mosquitoes and other
insects.

Lovage is used extensively in India for its antiseptic properties in
cholera.

One p ] ant of Camomile will keep a whole border of other plants
healthy. Marjoram was used by the ancient Greeks for fomentations and
is said to keep milk from turning sour if placed near it.

But it is not only the camphoraceous plants that have disinfectant
properties. The Garden Carrot is strongly antiseptic and arrests the
activity of micro-organisms inside or outside the body, if taken either
internally as a medicine, or applied externally as a poultice.

One of the most powerful of all herbal prophylactics is the lovely
purple Rudbeckia, which has been so much cultivated of late years in
herbaceous borders. Wherever there is suppuration, it is a useful remedy.

The common Barberry is antiseptic as well as digestive, and the berries
are a good remedy in typhus and other contagious fevers. The ancient
Greeks used it as a preventative against plague and other violent epi-
demics. Wild Indigo is another typhus herb, much used by homoeopaths
for septic conditions of the blood, putrescent phenomena being one of
its chief indications.

The White Water Lily is a very old herbal cure for cleansing and dis-
infecting wounds and ulcers, and the root is used internally or externally.
Both the Wall and the Water Germander have a reputation amongst
herbalists as an antidote to poisons. Decoctions of either herb are used
in gangrene. Smartweed, a close relation of the Bistort, has antiseptic
properties and so has the oil of the Myrtle plant.

Golden Seal is recommended for sore eyes, but it has a healthy action
on all open wounds and particularly on the mucous membranes. The best
disinfectant for the bladder is Pareira Brava, a plant which grows in the
West Indies and is found in Brazil and Peru. The Brazilians use it to
antidote poisonous snake bites.

Plume Poppy, a Chinese plant which can be cultivated in Great
Britain, antidotes insect bites. The juice is extracted from the stems of
the leaves and stains a deep yellow.

The Dalmatian Pyrethrum is also an insecticide, and the bark of
Quassia destroys insects and parasites. So does Balsam of Peru.

Goto Bark, obtained from a species of Nectandra growing in Bolivia,

D 49

Antiseptic Herbs

is used as an antiseptic astringent in cholera. It acts specifically on the
alimentary canal, and is chiefly used to exterminate poison that has been
conveyed into the body by drinking water or food. It must be used with
great caution and is not advised if inflammation is present, because it
can produce violent pain.

Cane Sugar is anti-putrescent. It prevents wounds from turning septic
and assists their healing. It also prevents infection.

One of the safest of all antidotes to a poisonous condition of the body
is the Garlic plant. The fresh bulb is a positive antiseptic and a valuable
prophylactic against the spread of contagious diseases. Latin countries
have such a respect for its disinfectant properties that they flavour most
of their dishes with it. It is a very safe remedy in incipient tuberculosis of
the lungs and has been used successfully in many cases. It appears to
have a destructive action on the tubercle bacillus. The best way to pre-
scribe it is in the form of the freshly expressed juice, which must be
extracted from Garlic before the outer green skin containing the chloro-
phyll has been removed.

The whole tribe of onions garlic, leeks, asafoetida are powerfully
antiseptic. The Allyl, which they all contain and from which the name
of the genus allium is derived, is rich in sulphur, and sulphur taken in
the form of a plant for a prolonged period, far from impairing the
condition of the blood, as isolated sulphur does, improves and purifies
it. Club Moss is called vegetable sulphur, because the spores when
powdered are bright yellow like sulphur, which the plant evidently
contains to a considerable degree. The powder is used in the same way
as sulphur for diseases of the skin. This is the Lycopodicum of the
homoeopaths.

Herbal disinfectants are safer than chemicals, and though they appear
less strong, are actually stronger and more permanent. One of their
great advantages is, that their prolonged use produces no deleterious
results. They are not injurious in any way.

Antiseptic Herbs

BALSAM OF PERU

Eruptions on the fairest skin

Are final payment for a former sin.

And those whose loveliness is hid

Eat less, and far more wisely than they did.

And daily, knowing what to do,

Use, at your service, Balsam of Peru.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Myroxylon Pereirae. Natural order: Leguminosae.
Other names: Toluifera Pereira, Myrospermum Pereira. French name:
Baumier de Peru. Italian name: Balsamo di Peru. Part used: Gum.
Natural habitat: The forests of San Salvador in Central America. Action:
Stimulant, expectorant.

I he balsamic resin obtained from this tree is called Peruvian balsam
because it is shipped from Peru.

The tree from which the resin is obtained has a very fragrant scent
which can be smelt from a long distance. The flowers are the least frag-
rant part of the tree. The wood resembles mahogany and the trees begin
to yield resin when they are four years old and continue to do so for
thirty years. They can reach a height of about fifty feet.

To obtain the balsam they are beaten with a blunt instrument ; when
the fractured bark becomes loose, notches are cut in it and burnt, to
ignite the balsam ; then the wounds are stopped up with rags, and after
a fortnight the balsam exudes freely. The rags are then thrown into boil-
ing water and the balsam floats on the top and is skimmed off.

It has stimulating and expectorant properties and is prescribed for
skin eruptions in the same way as sulphur ointment. It resembles
benzoic acid in its action. Internally it is given for some forms of bron-
chial catarrh when the expectoration is profuse and septic. Balsam of
Tolu, Myroxylon Toluifera, is very similar in action.

Antiseptic Herbs

BETEL

My leaves relieve a troubled skin
From sores and ulcers and their kin.
All those with tight, congested lung
I heal while yet the trouble's young.
The hungry find I have no peer,
And those who know me never fear
Starvation ere the journey's end.
But some, while chewing call me friend
And stain with me the road beneath.
Fools, they will ruin lips and teeth.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Piper betel. Natural order: Peperaceae. Other names:
Chavica betel, Artanthe Hixagona. French names: Betel, Temboul,
Poivrier betel. German name: Betelpfefferstrauch. Italian name: Betel.
Turkish name: Tambul. Malayan name: Sirch. Under dominion of: Mars.
Part used: Leaves. Natural habitat: India, Malay, Java, Cochin China,
cultivated in Madagascar, Bourbon and the West Indies. Action:

Astringent.

The Betel plant is one of the peppers. It is a climbing shrub similar in
growth to the Black pepper. It is cultivated for its leaves which produce
an oil containing two phenols, betel phenol and chavicol, and it has
antiseptic and stimulating properties. The natives of India and Malay
chew it with the betel nut which is wrapped in it. This nut is not found
on the Betel plant but grows on one of the Palms, Areca catechu. It is
chopped up and wrapped in one of the betel leaves to which lime is added
and these nuts are chewed by the natives to such an extent that their
teeth crumble away.

It is in general use among the Malays who find it stimulating enough
to take the place of meat.

They use the stalks medicinally and in choosing the leaves which they
apply to ulcers and skin diseases they prefer those that grow on the low
branches.

Antiseptic Herbs

CARROT

As soon as man was born he nee Jed me,
For 'he' was ever witless without 'she\
And who shall find and hold his heart's desire
That has not offered first my philtre's fire?
Each, too, that seeks his love within the night
Has need of me to purify his sight.
Alas, that in the warring skies above
Hate is the hunter, and the victim, love.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Daucus carota (Linn.). Natural order: Umbelliferae.
Country names: Bird's nest, Bee's nest, Crow's nest, Dawki, Fiddle, Hill
trot, Mirrot, Rantipole. French name: Garotte. German names: Echte
Mohre, Karrotten, Mohren. Italian name: Carota. Turkish name:
Havuc. Under dominion of: Mercury. Part used: Herb, seeds, root.
Natural habitat: Southern Europe and cultivated all over Great Britain.
Action: Antiseptic, diuretic, tonic.

The Garden Carrot is derived from the Wild Carrot which is superior
medicinally. The plant was much esteemed by the Greeks who had
various names for it. It is mentioned by Epicharmus in 500 B.C. under
the name of Sisaron ; in 430 B.C. Hippocrates refers to it as Staphylinos
and in the first century A.D. the Greeks called it Elaphoboscum. In a
cookery book by Apicius Coelius, A.D. 230, it is called Carota and Galen
added the name of Daucus to distinguish it from the parsnip. The Greeks
regarded it as an aphrodisiac and called it philtron.

The carrot prevents putrescent changes in the body, can be used as a
poultice for wounds and swellings and is an invaluable food for children
generally. The sugar obtained from it is useful for consumptive children.

The central purple flower of the umbel distinguishes it from similar
plants though the Daucus Maritimus is said to be without it.

Antiseptic Herbs
ECHINACEA

This purple daisy's good for blanes
And septic boils and other pains.
It disinfects the tiny foe
Before the invading force can grow.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Echinacea angustifolia. Natural order: Compositae.
Other names: Brauneria pallida. Country names: Black Sampson, Cone-
flower, Niggerhead, Rudbeckia. Part used: The whole plant, including
the root. Natural habitat: America, west of Ohio, cultivated in England.
Action: Alterative, antiseptic, aphrodisiac. Constituents: Oil resin,
inulin, inuloid sucrose, vulose, betaine, two phytosterols and fatty acids,
cerotic linolic and palmatic. It also contains iodine.

tchinacea angustifolia is a perennial plant native to the Central and
Western elevated parts of the United States of America. It has black
roots, an erect stem and large purple composite flowers.

Other species are sometimes used ; Echinacea purpurea E. Dicksoni,
and E. Dubia and all appear to have the same properties. The latter two
grow in Mexico.

The plant is a specific in some kinds of boils and in some skin dis-
eases, especially skin eruptions caused by bromide of potassium.

It influences secretion and excretion and stimulates the glandular
system. It is one of the best remedies we have for septicaemia.

The plant is known to the Indians, who use it as a cure for snake
poisoning. It inhibits the staphylococcus and as an external lotion for
swellings it is invaluable.

Dr. Ellingwood considers it the most satisfactory of all remedies
to stimulate retrograde metabolism and tissue waste.

Until comparatively lately this herb was used exclusively by herbalists.

Antiseptic Herbs

EUCALYPTUS

That man shall have his weight in gold
Who slays unborn the common cold.
I am but gaoler to disease,
And hold in chains the common sneeze.
Yet fiercer foes I strive to quell,
And many a fever knows my smell.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Eucalyptus Globulus. Natural order: Myrtaceae. Other
names: Blue gum tree, Stringy bark tree. French names: Eucalyptus,
Gommierbleu. German names: Schonmutz, BlauerGommibaum. Italian
name: Eucalipto. Turkish names: Setma ag, Kafur ag. Part used: Oil
from leaves and the leaves themselves. Natural habitat: Australia, Tas-
mania, North and South Africa, India, Southern Europe. Action: Anti-
septic disinfectant, deodorant, antipyretic, haemostatic, nutrient. Con-
stituents: The most important constituent is Eucalyptol, present in E.
Globulus up to 70 per cent of its volume. It consists chiefly of a terpene

and cyinene.

Eucalyptus is one of the best remedies in the treatment of Typhoid
fever.

Various species of Eucalyptus trees are cultivated, but the Eucalyptus
Globulus is the hardiest and will grow anywhere where the temperature
does not drop below 60 degrees.

E. Polybractea and E. Smithii are preferred for their odour and E.
Odorata and E. Citriodora are used in perfumery. E. Radiata has a
peppermint-like smell.

All species of Eucalyptus are strongly antiseptic and many of them are
cultivated in malarial countries where they drain the land and produce a
healthy climate.

In the last few years vast districts in Algiers and Italy that were un-
inhabitable have become entirely free from the danger of malaria, due
partially to the capacity of the trees for absorbing water, and also to
their power of preventing the development of the plasmodium malaria.

The plant is non-poisonous and non-irritant. The oil is a controlling
agent in pyorrhoea and is a useful local application in severe and exten-
sive burns because it prevents sepsis.

The leaves yield their properties to alcohol and water.

Antiseptic Herbs

The most decorative of ail the Eucalyptus trees is the E. Ficifolia or
red flowered gum tree. Its habitat is confined to the south-western por-
tion of West Australia, and it is most plenteous near Nornalup. The
blossoms which grow in bunches have red fringed petals and the colour
of the massed blossoms is a brilliant scarlet vermilion, though hybridiza-
tion has produced blooms varying in colour from a pale pink to a deep
crimson. It is now cultivated in many hot countries for its great beauty.

GARLIC

/ have been spending some weeks of dissipation in London,
and was transformed by Circes' cup, not into a brute, but a beau.
I am now eating the herb moly in the country.

SIDNEY SMITH

Botanical name: Allium sativum (Linn.). Natural order: Liliacaea.
Country names: Poor Mart's Treacle, Clown's Treacle. French namt; Ail.
German name: Knoblauch. Italian name: Aglio. Turkish names: Sar-
musak, Sarmisak. Arabic name: Som. Indian name: Lashuna. Chinese
names: Swan, Livan. Persian name: Sir. Sanscrit names: Lasuna, Mahu
Shuda. Malayan name: Bayang Putch. Part used: Bulb. Natural habitat:
South-West Siberia, Sicily, cultivated in Europe. Action: Antiseptic,
disinfectant, expectorant, tonic, vermifuge. Constituents: An acrid vola-
tile oil, starch, sulphide mucilage 35 per cent, albumen, sugar. The oil
contains allyl, propyl, disulphide, diallyl.

(jrarlic is soluble in water or alcohol. It contains an essential volatile
oil, sugar, mucilage and albumen. As an antiseptic it is unequalled. The
juice prevents open wounds from becoming septic and the bulbs them-
selves keep away infectious germs.

For asthma and chest complaints it has proved a valuable remedy.

Garlic has never been as popular in England as it is in Latin countries,
where it enters into the cooking of many of their dishes. The French cook
mutton with a clove of garlic inserted into the flesh of the joint, they
smear their salad bowls with it before making a salad : but the Spaniards
and the Italians do much more than use it as a flavouring, they cook and
serve it with eggs, chicken, sausages and every conceivable form of
savoury food.

Antiseptic Herbs

The bulb contains a good deal of sulphur.

So powerful and so ancient is the reputation of Garlic as an antidote
that Homer introduces it as the gift from Hermes to Odysseus to counter-
act the spells of Circe.

To find a name for me the gods took care

A mystic name that might my worth declare

They call me Moly: dull Grammarian's sense

Is puzzled with the term

But Homer held Divine intelligence.

In Greek and Latin both my name is great

The term is just, but Moly sounds more neat

My powers prevented Circe's dire design

Ulysses but for me had been a swine

In vain had Mercury inspired his brain

With craft and tipt his wheedling tongue in vain

Had I not entered timely to his aid.

In Malaya the natives prescribe Garlic juice for septicaemia, and
they make eye drops from it mixed with betel nut and alum which
they use in the treatment of many eye diseases. In India the juice is
applied to the nose of hysterical girls and is used externally to relieve
strangury.

Antiseptic Herbs

GERMANDERS

Germander, marjoram and thyme,

Which used are for strewing,
With hissop as an herb most prime,

Herein my wreath bestowing. '

MUSES ELYSIUM

Botanical names: Sage leaved wood Germander * Teucrium scorodonia
(Linn.), Teucrium scordiades (Schrehz); Wall Germander: Teucrium
chamaedrys (Linn.) ; Water Germander : Teucrium scordium (Linn.).
Natural order: Labiatae. Country names: (Sage leaved) Ambroise, Am-
brose, Garlick sage, Wood germander, Rock mint, Mountain sage. (Wall
Germander) Herteclowre, Horsechire. (Water Germander) Scordium,
English treacle. French names: (Sage leaved) Ambroise, Germandree
sauvage. (Wall Germander) Germandree officinale, Petit chene. (Water
Germander) Scordion, Germandree aquatique, Herbe mithradate,
Germandrde d'eau. German names : (Sage leaved) Wald Gamander, Wald
Salvei. (Wall Germander) Echter Gamander. (Water Germander) Lauch
Gamander, Wasser Gamander. Italian names : (Sage leaved) Camendrio
salvatico, Salvia dei boschi, Melino, Scorodonia, Teucrio salvatico.
(Wall Germander) Camendrio officinale, Germandria, Calamandrea,
Querciola, Trissagine (Water Germander) Scordio, Camendrio acqua-
tico, Querciola-acquatica. Turkish names : (Sage leaved) Yabani dalak
otu. (Wall Germander) Kemedris, Dalak otu, Yer palamudu. (Water
Germander) Yilan otu, Sarmusak. Under dominion of: Mercury. Part
used: Herb. Natural habitat: Morocco, Europe, including Great Britain.
Constituents: Sage leaved Germander : Alterative, tonic, diuretic, astrin-
gent, emmenagogue ; Wall Germander : Diuretic, tonic, stimulant, dia-
phoretic.

1 he Germanders are allied to the large family of Sages and have the
same greyish green foliage and partake of their aromatic scent. Wood
Sage is one of the names for the Sage leaved Germander.

All the Germanders are strongly antiseptic. They make good gargles
for the throat, especially the sage leaved variety. The Wall Germander
has a very old reputation for curing aches and pains, and the Emperor
Charles V is said to have been cured of his rheumatism by this herb after
taking it for sixty days continuously. It was one of the strewing herbs

Antiseptic Herbs

which were used as disinfectants. It is very often described in old herbals
as 'bordering knots' because it was a favourite edging plant for the
intricately patterned beds that made a 'Knot Garden'. The vogue for
these has passed, but an excellent specimen of a Knot Garden still sur-
vives at Hampton Court.

The Wall Germander is a perennial plant about eight or nine feet in
height witL whorls of pink flowers. The stems are decumbent at the base
and the root throws out long runners.

The Water Germander is much more rare. It has a garlic-like scent
and rose-coloured flowers which usually grow in pairs in the axil of the
leaf. According to Sowerby it is common in the neighbourhood of Cam-
bridge and in the Isle of Ely.

The Sage leaved Germander was used in England to flavour beer and
as a substitute for hops, but it is now only used in France and Jersey for
this purpose.

The Germander Speedwell is not allied to the Germanders and belongs
to a different order.

Miss Crowfoot and Mrs. Baldensperger who have made a study of the
plants of Palestine say that Germander was universally used there as a
fever herb under the name of Kamendre until the introduction of quinine
and that it is still in use medicinally. Its reputation as a febrifuge is pre-
served in its French name of Chasse-fievre. Culpeper recommended it
for tertian and quartan agues.

The Teucrium polium is sold in Palestine for the stomach troubles of
infants and it is used in steam baths for feverish complaints. Its Palestin-
ian name is Lade.

Antiseptic Herbs

MILKWORT

Mauve orchises in painted dresses,
Yellow hawkweed, purple vetches,
Woodruff white, geranium rose,
Milkwort bluest flower that grows.

SYLVIA LYND

Botanical name: Polygala vulgaris (Linn.). Natural order: Pc^ygalaceae.
Country names: Hedge Hyssop, Milkweed, Rogation flower, Procession
flower, Four sisters, Cross flower, Robin's eye. French names: Polygale,
Herbe & lait, Latier. German name: Kreuzblume. Dutch name: Kruis-
bloem. Italian names: Polygala, Erbe da latte, Erba bozzolina. Turkish
name: Slit otu. Symbolical meaning: Hermitage. Part used: Herb, root.
Natural habitat: Great Britain. Action- Antiseptic, expectorant.

Milkwort is the only species of Polygala that grows wild in Great
Britain.

It is a perennial plant with blue, pink or white flowers ; the two outer
leaves of the calyx are of the same colour as the corolla, and spread out
to give the appearance of wings.

The lower petal has a sort of fringe and the flower somewhat resembles
a butterfly. The leaves are small and spear shaped and the stems are
close to the ground. The plant is found on chalky soil, in pastures, and
on heaths, and though less decorative than the handsome varieties that
grow in Brazil, China and Arabia, is a striking-looking plant. The name
Polygala is derived from a Greek word referring to its milky juice.

The plant was carried in bouquets on Rogation Days and was used as
an offering against plagues, pestilences and attacks from fire and wild
beasts.

It has been used successfully in pleurisy, asthma, pneumonia and
dropsy.

The powdered root is sometimes prescribed in half-drachm doses in
pleurisy and a decoction of the herb taken in three-spoonful doses
hourly has proved successful in dropsy. The decoction is made by boiling
an ounce of the herb in a pint of water till reduced to threequarters of a
pint.

The plant is closely related to the Senega snake root which is referred
to in the chapter on alteratives.

The milkwort of the ancients was not this plant, but the Euphorbia
antiquorum of Linnaeus.

Antiseptic Herbs

MYRRH

Speak modest myrrh I Why do you so delay
Why do the tears run down thy bark so fast?
Thou needs' t not blush for faults so long time past
Ah! happy faults, that can such tears produce,
Which to the world are of such sovereign use.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical name: Balsamodendron Myrrha, Commiphora myrrha.
Natural order: Burseraceae. French name: Arbre & myrrhe. German
name: Echter Myrrhenbaum. Italian name: Albero del mirra. Spanish
name: Arbol de Mirra. Turkish names: Mer aj, Mir aj, Miirr aj.
Arabian names: Mukala, Murr, Habak, Hadee. Indian names: Bysa-
bole, Bhensabole, Bal, Mhaisagaggul. Sanscrit names: Vola Mina-
harma, Gandha Rosaha, Samudra gugul, Saindhava. Symbolises: Glad-
ness. Part used: The gum from the stems. Natural habitat: Arabia,
Somaliland, Africa, Socotra, Yamen. Constituents. A volatile oil myrr-
hol, an oxygenated ethereal volatile oil 2 per cent, resin, myrrhin 25 to
40 per cent which by fusion becomes converted into myrrhic acid, gum
40 to 60 per cent, bitter principle a glucoside, salts as calcium phos-
phate, and carbonate, etc. The gum is soluble in water. Action: Anti-
spasmodic, disinfectant, expectorant, emmenagogue, tonic, externally
astringent and stimulant.

JVlyrrh is one of the most useful antiseptic applications for the gums
and mucous membranes. Taken internally its stimulating action dimin-
ishes excessive secretions from mucous surfaces, quickens the cardiac
action, acts as a gastric stimulant and tonic, allays hysteria and asthmatic
complaints, and dissolves polypi. It is excellent in dentrifices and mouth
washes, prevents the hair from falling and makes a stimulating and anti-
septic gargle. It should only be used in small doses.

Antiseptic Herbs

PAREIRA BRAVA

Fools who from ignorance or sin
Take many a foolish liquor in
In time repent^ and when devout,
I help to cleanse the passage out.

T.C.H.

Botanical names: Chondrodendrum tomentosum, Cissampebs Pareira
(Rutz), Abuta Rufescens. Natural order: Menispermaceae. Country
names: Virgin vine, Velvet leaf, Ice vine, Portuguese Wild Olive. French
names: (White pareira) Abuta, Liane amre. German name: (White
pareira) Abutawurzel. Italian names: (White pareira) Abuta, Liana
amara. Turkish name: (White pareira) Abuta. Part used: Leaves, root,
bark. Natural habitat: West Indies, Brazil, Peru, Spanish Main. Con-
stituents: The plant contains calcium malate, potassium nitrate, a soft
resin, yellow bitter principle, a nitrogenous substance, fecule and
various salts. Action: Disinfectant, diuretic, tonic, aperient.

Pareira Brava plant is a climber and belongs to the Moonseed family.
The fruit is first scarlet and then black and in size like a grape.

It has a great reputation as a disinfectant for the bladder.

Two other allied varieties, the Cissampelos Pareira and the White
Pareira (Abuta rufesceus) are used for similar purposes.

The botanical name of Chondrodendron is derived from Chondros,
a grain, and Dendron, a tree, in allusion to the grain-like warty protuber-
ances on the bark.

Antiseptic Herbs

PLUME POPPY

There's never worker, peer or king
That can avoid the common sting.
And who, for oil the day and night
Avoids th* unmentionable bite?
In brief, whoever you may be,
The scratching over, send for me.

TT /- Tf

i v/.n*

Botanical name' Bocconia Cordata. Natural order: Papaveraceae.
Country names: Chinese celandine, Macleaya. French name: Bocconie.
German name: Federmohn. Italian name: Bocconia. Turkish name:
Bokonia. Part used: Juice from the stem of the leaves. Natural habitat:
China. Constituents: Protopine, homo-chilidonine, Chelenythrine, san-

guinarine.

1 his tall decorative plant is a perennial. It has cream-coloured flowers
which grow in large panicles. Though it is a native of China there does
not appear to be any mention of it in Dr. Bret Schneider's Botanicum
Sinicum. The plant can be cultivated in Europe and in England.

Other species such as the Bocconia arborie, the Bocconia frutescens
and the Bocconia integrifolia are natives of Mexico and the West
Indies.

The juice of the plant is used as a disinfectant against the bites and
stings of insects.

Antiseptic Herbs

SASSAFRAS

Louisiana, what a claim
Is yours upon the bank of fame !
For all the country of my birth
Is scented with my peerless worth.
My leaves a sauce for every meal,
All swellings, bumps and boils I heal.
Yet nobler does my worth appear
For all the world I flavour beer.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Sassafras officinale (Lees and Eberm). Natural order:
Lauraceae. Country names: Sassafrax, Ague tree. French names: Sassa-
fras, Bois odorant. German names: Fenchelholz, Sassafrasbaum. Italian
names: Sassafraso, Lauro degl' Trocchesi. Turkish name: Sassafras ag.
Part used: Bark, root. Natural habitat: From Canada to Florida and
Mexico. Constituents: The bark contains a volatile oil 5 per cent,
sassafrid 9 per cent, tannin 6 per cent, starch, gum, resin, wax. The pith
contains mucilage. Action: Alterative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue

stimulant.

oassafras bark is given in hot infusions to purify the blood. The oil has
the same properties and is anodyne, and antiseptic. It is used to dis-
perse glandular swellings.

For rheumatism the bark is often combined with Guaicum and Sarsa-
parilla. Infused in rose water it is applied to sore eyes. Sassafras oil is a
good remedy for hard swellings if applied externally with gentle massage.

In the southern parts of America, where the tree is abundantly grown,
the scent from it perfumes the air for a considerable distance.

In Louisiana the leaves of the plant are used as a condiment, and in
Virginia the young shoots are added to beer.

SMARTWEED POLYGONUM HYDROPIPER

Antiseptic Herbs

SMARTWEED

Beneath the cooling waters' silent flow
Unhurried and invisible I grow.
Yet Water Pepper is my other name
And irritant indeed my burning fame.
The fevered body knows my hot caress
And fever in my flaming burns the less.
Beneath the saddle of the drowsy male
I burn the rider's, not the horse's tail.
In brief, who plucks me from my hidden pool
Willflnd that I am everything but cool.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Polygonum Hydropiper (Linn.). Natural order: Poly-
gonaceae. Country names: Aremart, Arsemart, Arsemick, Bity tongue,
Ciderage, Blodewort, Bloodwort, Culrage, Curage, Cyderack, Esmert,
Keliage, Kilbridge, Lakeweed, Plumbago, Red Knees, Red Shank, Red
weed, Sanguinary, Smartass, Smart grass, Water pepper. French names:
Curage, Poivre d'eau, Piment d'eau. German name: Pfeffer-knoterich.
Italian names: Poligono, piperino, pepe d'asino, pepe del po vero. Turkish
name: Su biberi. Under the dominion of: Mars. Part used: Herb, leaves.
Natural habitat: Great Britain and Ireland, Europe, Russia and Asia to
the Arctic. Action: Diuretic, emmenagogue, stimulant.

Omartweed has not yet been analysed, but the plant yields its virtues
to alcohol and water. Heat impairs its virtues.

The plant is an annual growing to a height of about two teet with
drooping spikes of pink flowers. It prefers to grow under water.

A decoction of the plant is used to dye wool a yellow colour, but it
must first be dipped in a solution of alum. This plant is said to be the
Hippice of the Scythians who put it under their horses' saddles to pre-
vent them getting tired or hungry.

It is used in baths to relieve rheumatic pains and cholera patients are
sometimes wrapped in sheets dipped in a hot decoction of the plant to
relieve their suffering. The tincture must be made from the fresh plant
because heat and age destroy its properties.

Culpeper refers to it under the name of Arssmart, and distinguishes
two varieties, the hot arssmart and the mild arssmart, which he says has

B 65

Antiseptic Herbs

much broader leaves with a leaden coloured spot in them, and a colder
taste.

Salmon recommends it for dissolving calculous complaints, and
Waller for hypochondriacal subjects.

WILD INDIGO

The symptoms for its use are of an asthenia type, simulating
low fevers, septic condition of the blood, malarial poisoning, and
extreme prostration.

BOERICKE

Botanical names: Baptisia tinctoria (R. Br.), Sophora tinctoria (Linn.),
Podalyria tinctoria (Michx). Natural order: Leguminosae. Country
names: Dyer's Baptisia, Yellow Broom, Horsefly weed, Indigo weed,
Rattle bush, Wild Indigo, False indigo, Clover Broom. French names:
Baptisie sauvage, indigo, trefle. German name: Baptisie. Italian name:
Baptisia. Part used: Leaves, bark, root. Natural habitat: Canada to
Carolina. Constituents: Baptisin (a bitter glucoside), Baptin (a purgative
glucoside), Baptitoxin (a poisonous alkaloid), resin, and fixed oil. Action:

Antiseptic, tonic, purgative.
It yields its properties to alcohol and water.

Wild indigo, a perennial plant, is allied to the Japanese pagoda tree.
It has yellow flowers which grow in small, loose terminal branches and
flower in August and September. The plant delights in dry, sandy soil.
The young shoots of the plant are not unlike asparagus and are used in
New England as a substitute.

It takes its botanical name from the Greek word Bapto, 'to dye',
because it was formerly in great demand as a dyeing plant. To-day it has
been superseded by Indigo fera and other plants.

The importance of the plant lies in its antiseptic properties and in its
power of combating low fevers of a putrescent nature. It has been widely
used in America in the treatment of typhoid, malignant tonsilitis, diph-
theritic laryngitis and also scarlet fever and dysentery. It has a powerful
influence on the glandular structure of the intestinal canal and it pre-
vents the destruction of red corpuscles. It was used originally as an
antiseptic dressing for gangrenous wounds.

WILD INDIGO BAPTISIA TINCTORIA

Antiseptic Herbs

The homoeopaths use it for illnesses where muscular soreness is a
noticeable feature and putrid phenomena are present.

In Germany wild indigo is combined with scurvy grass and made into
a tisane to tighten teeth which have become loose. It is also used in the
treatment of tuberculosis and chronic fevers.

Chapter Three
ASTRINGENT HERBS

Archangel; Bael Tree; Baobab Tree; Banyan Tree; Bastard Ipecacu-
anha; Bearberry; Beth Root; Bignonia; Bilberry; Bistort; Black-
berry; Bluebell; Cajeput Oil Tree; Campions; Catchfly; Celan-
dine (Lesser); Duck! s Meat; Ebony Tree; Fleabanes; Fulsee Flower;
Geraniums; Heliotrope; Heliotrope (Indian}; Herb Robert; Indian
Plum; Jawbul; Jemlweed; Kinos; Knotgrass (Russian); Logvood;
Mangosteen; Mimosa; Mountain Ash; Periwinkle; Pinus Bark;
Ragged Robin; Rupturewort; Sea Lavender; Ser-
vice Tree; Silvenveed; Sloes; Spiraea;
Sumachs; Thrift; Tuberose; Way-
faring Tree; Whortleberry;
Yelloip Flag

The word astringent is derived from a Latin word which means to
bind or suppress. Herbs with astringent properties contain tannic
or gallic acid, which has the power to bind or tighten relaxed
membranes and tissues. Such herbs are valuable medicinally because
they act as styptics and restore elasticity to organs of the body which
have lost their firmness and in many cases are out of position. They
allay haemorrhages, cause contractions of the muscular fibre and restore
tone to the whole body.

Many of these herbs have a specific sphere of action, so by a right
choice of astringent herbs organs of the body can be treated locally. It
is to these herbs that we look for the work of repair when the body has
been wounded or ravaged by ill health or disease.

The chief indication of their properties is a roughness that they give to
the tongue when they are taken into the mouth.

One of the best astringent herbs is Bistort one of the Polygonums.
It is known in the north of England as Easter Giant because it is made
into a traditional Easter pudding with nettles.

Bayberry is another important herb in this class ; it is the chief in-
gredient in a famous cleansing powder which herbalists prescribe for
internal use after a chill. It is one of the myrtles, most of which have

Astringent Herbs

similar properties. Venus is said to have used myrtle water as an
astringent lotion. Avens, one of the geums, is both astringent and
pleasant to the palate. It has a delightful clove-like scent and taste,
and its virtues are said to be stronger in the spring than at any other
time. It went by the title of the Blessed Herb, and 25th March, our Lady's
Day, was the actual date fixed for it to be taken from the ground.

The wild blackberry is a favourite remedy for children when a mild
astringent is required, and it is sometimes made into a cordial for this
purpose. Sloes and whortleberries are also astringent.

Geraniums are powerfully so, and the species used in medicine are the
American cranesbill and the wild Herb Robert of our English hedges.

Silver weed and Tormentil are wild English herbs which make good
astringent infusions or decoctions. They are better known to gardeners
as potentillas. Silverweed, with its silver-white leaves, is a very familiar
sight on country roads. It often grows in large patches and its silvery
appearance is very attractive.

The periwinkles are, as Culpeper said, 'Great binders', and both blue
and red have much the same properties and are used by herbalists for
diabetes. Lord Bacon advocated the periwinkle as a cure for cramp, and
it is praised in all herbals for its power of binding.

Astringent herbs are necessary for haemorrhages of all kinds, and
bleeding of the lungs is healed by comfrey. This is so safe and efficacious
a herb that it can be used with perfect confidence. It acts as a styptic,
heals scarred tissues and injuries to tendons and sinews, and for injuries
to the eyes few herbs are so satisfactory.

Nettles, particularly the white and purple archangel, are good, simple
and safe agents to check haemorrhages of all kinds.

The Campions and lesser Celandine have similar properties, so has the
common Fleabane and an old-fashioned herb called rupturewort, which
is actively astringent. It is a very inconspicuous little plant with small
green flowers intermixed with the leaves.

The berries of the mountain ash make an excellent astringent gargle,
and the sweet-scented heliotrope (the delicious cherry pie) is also a cure
for sore and relaxed throats, especially clergyman's sore throat.

Our English oak tree has both astringent and febrifuge properties.
The Greeks and Romans used every part of the tree Galen recom-
mended particularly the leaves, but to-day the bark is most esteemed.
It is an excellent substitute for Peruvian bark. The gall nuts which grow
on the tree and which are produced by the puncture of insects, partake
of the properties of the tree, and these nuts are extensively used in indus-
try as well as in medicine for their astringent properties.

Various members of the arbutus family are prescribed for their astrin-

Astringent Herbs

gency, in diseases of the kidneys. Most of them grow under trees,
especially under the Pine trees of North America. The arbutus straw-
berry tree is found wild in Killarney, and in England the trailing Arbutus
is cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Bethroot is constantly employed for haemorrhage of the lungs, and
the healing properties of the witch hazel tree are too well known to need
more than a passing comment. Not nearly so well known is a tree with
powerfully astringent properties the Java plum, which grows in India.
It is entirely free from poisonous principles and is an excellent remedy
for some forms of diabetes. Its botanical namejs Eugenia Junbolana.

The Sumachs are also used for diabetes. This very attractive family of
plants is found all through the United States and Canada. Some species
grow only in China and Japan.

The Bael tree is known throughout India as a specific in dysentery, but
as the dried fruit is of no value its use is not known in other countries.

Peruvian Rhatanay, a South American tree, contains a peculiar acid
known as Krameria, which has very active astringent properties, and is
used on that account in tooth powders and mouth washes.

Pharmacists also depend on astringent substances such as the Cate-
chus and the Kinos. The Black Catechu is obtained from one of the Bur-
mese acacias, and the pale from a tree called Uncaria Gambia, which
grows in the Eastern Archipelago.

The different kinds of Kino are prepared from the inspissated juice of
the Bastard Teak Tree.

In so far as they are vegetable substances they are a great improve-
ment on old-fashioned drugs such as lead, copper and zinc, which were
formerly employed, but it is extraordinary that so many useful astrin-
gent herbs still remain in the hands of the unorthodox only.

Astringent Herbs

ARCHANGEL

Some country nook, where o'er the unknown Grave,
Tall grasses and white flowering nettles wave
Under a dark, red-fruited, yew tree's shade.

MATTHEW ARNOLD

Botanical name: Lamium album (Linn.). Natural order: Labiatae. Coun-
try name- Bee nettle, dummy nettle, dead nettle, blind nettle, dumb
nettle, deaf nettle, day nettle, white nettle, Snake flower, Suchie Sue,
Suck bottle. French names: Ortie blanche, ortie morte, Lamier blanc.
German name: Weisse Taubnessel. Italian names: Lamio bianco, ortica
bianca, ortica morta. Turkish name: Beyaz isirgan otu. Under dominion
of: Venus. Part used: Flowers. Natural habitat: Europe, including Britain.

1 he white deadnettle has astringent, mucilaginous and haemostatic
properties. It is given in dysentery and haemophysis internally, and ex-
ternally it arrests local haemorrhages, if an alcoholic solution is applied.

A decoction has been recommended in pleurisy.

The young shoots are used as greens in parts of the country.

The purple deadnettle has similar properties.

The old-fashioned way of administering the nettle was in the form of a
conserve the proportions being a pound of the flowers to two and a
half pounds of white sugar.

The plant is eaten by horses, goats and sheep, but is refused by cows.
It is a great favourite with bees.

Astringent Herbs

BAEL TREE

Dimas Basque. Have you ever heard of Marmelos de Bengali?

ORTA

// seems to me to be very styptic, and the physicians ofGuzerat
use this fruit when young and tender as a conserve in vinegar ,
which they call Achar, and also in conserve of sugar as we use it.
It always preserves that styptic taste however ripe it may be.

GARCIA DA ORTAS, 'Simples and Drugs of India'

Botanical name: Aegle Marmelos (Corre). Natural order: Rutaceae.
Country names: Bengal quince, Marraelos. French names: Bel Indien,
Bela Indien. German names: Bhelbaum, Schleimapfelbaum. Italian name:
Bella Indiana. Turkish name: Hind ayva ag. Arab name: Sapharajale-
hindi. Bengal name: Shriphal. Other Indian names: Bela, Billinu-phal.
Malayan name: Tanghai. Persian name: Saphara-jale-hindi. Sanskrit
name: Bilva-phalam. Part used: Unripe fruit pulp. Natural habitat:
Malabar, Coromandel, dry forests in India. Constituents: Mucilage,
pectin, sugar, tannin, a volatile oil, bitter principle and ash. The wood
ash contains potassium and sodium compounds, phosphates of lime and
iron, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Carbonate, Silica sand. Action:
Alterative, laxative, nutritious.

The Bael tree is largely cultivated in Hindu gardens and the Indian name
of Shriphal is derived from two words, Shri the goddess of abundance
and phal, meaning a fruit.

The tree is the size of an olive, the leaves resemble peach leaves, and
have much the same scent. The fruit is at first the size of a small orange,
but increases to the size of a large coconut, and varies in shape from oval,
to round. The rind is very hard, and when dry becomes stony.

The ripe fruit is very nutritious and has a delicious aromatic flavour.
It is prescribed in India with sugar candy for the relief of constipation.

A decoction of unripe fruit or a jelly made from the unripe fruit, or
the unripe fruit baked for several hours, is a most useful remedy in
dysentery.

The leaves made into an infusion or decoction are a cure for asthma,
and the root bark has refrigerant properties and is given to asthma
patients who have palpitation of the heart. The root is one of the ingredi-
ents in the Indian remedy known as the 'Ten roots' (dasa mula).

Astringent Herbs

BAOBAB TREE

The oldest organic monument of our planet.

HUMBOLDT

Botanical Fame: Adansonia Digitata. Natural order: Bombaceae. English
names: Monkey Bread, Sour gourd. French names: Arbre de mille ans,
Baobab, Pain de Singe. German names: Ahenbaum, Baobab, Affenbaum.
Italian nimes: Baobab, Albero di mille anni, Noce d'Egitto. Turkish
name: Baobab ag. Arabian names: Habbabu, Bahobab. Indian names:
Rookha, Hathi-Khatiyan, Gorak-xamli. Part used: Leaves, bark, pulp of
the fruit. Natural habitat: Senegal. Cultivated in India and other tropical
countries. Constituents: The pulp contains phlobaphene, mucilage and
gum, glucose, tartrate and acetate of potash and other salts. The peri-
carp contains phlobaphene, albuminoids, gum, colouring matter, car-
bonate of potash and soda; the leaves contain wax, glucose, salts, gum
and albuminoids; the bark contains wax, tannin, gum, albuminoids,
carbonate and chloride of sodium and potassium, and a glucoside an-
dansonin antagonistic to stropanthus. Action: Astringent, demulcent,
mucilaginous, refrigerant.

The Baobab tree is the colossus of the vegetable kingdom. It lives to a
thousand years and the trunk is so enormous that when hollow it has been
known to give refuge to several large families. The appearance of the
tree is very singular, not only because of its enormous girth, but on
account of the arid grey colour of the wood.

The Africans prize it for its thick mucilaginous juice, which they
obtain by tapping the tree. The leaves, when dried and powdered, form a
favourite condiment known by the Negroes as Ala. The fruit which is not
unlike a lemon in shape contains a sweet and acid spongy red pulp,
which is edible and which surrounds the seeds from which agreeable
and refrigerant drinks are prepared. The natives mix the fruit and decoc-
tions of the seeds with tamarinds, in the cure of dysentery. Dr. Louis
Frank, a French doctor who had the opportunity of watching its effect
on patients suffering from dysentery adopted its use in his own prac-
tice with marked success.

In India the dried shells of the fruits are used by the monks as watering
pots, and the Indian name Gorukha Chinch is derived from the name
of the monk who gave lessons under the tree, and Chinch which is the
Indian name for tamarind.

Astringent Herbs

The Baobab Tree belongs to the small family of Bombaceae which
contains the Bombax and a few other large trees of tropical origin which
have many of the properties of the mallow family and are classed by
some botanists under Malvaceae.

BANYAN TREE

The great Banyan tree is still the pride and ornament of the
garden. Dr. Falconer has ascertained satisfactorily that it is only
seventy-five years old: annual rings, size, etc., afford no evidence
in such a case, but people were alive a few years ago who remem-
bered well its site being occupied in 1782 by a Kugoon (date
palm) out of whose crown the Banyan sprouted, and beneath which
a Fakir sat.

HOOKER'S ''Himalayan Journal'

Botanical names. Ficus Indica, Ficus Bengalensis, Urostigma Bengalen-
sis. Natural order. Urticaceae. Other names: Indian Figtree, Pagoda
tree, Bengal figtree. French names: Figuier des banians, Figuier des
Pagodes, Banian. German names: Bengalische Feige, Banianen-Feigen-
baum. Italian names: Fico dei Baniani, Fico sacro. Turkish name: Ban-
ian ag. Arabian name: Tina barry. Indian names: Bargat, Vad, Kadugh.
Malayan name: Peralin pala. Persian name: Anjire dasht. Sanskrit
names: Vata, Srikska, Nya-grodha, Shandaga. Part used: Milky juice,
bark. Natural habitat: East Indies. Constituents: The bark contains tan-
nin, wax and caoutchouc. Action: Alterative, astringent, tonic.

I he juice of the Banyan Tree is applied externally to cure cracks in the
palms of the hand and the soles of the feet, and also to cure toothache.
The bark and the juice are prescribed in dysentery, diabetes, and in
haemorrhages.

Astringent Herbs

BASTARD IPECACUANHA

The root dried and reduced to powder is used by the negroes
as an emetic hence its name of bastard ipecacuanha.

Botanical name: Asclepias curassavica. Natural order: Asclepiadaceae.
French namec: Herbe & sang, Ipecacsauvage. German name: Bastard
ipecacuanha. Italian names: Ipecacuanha della Antille, Pianta della seta
a fiori rcrsi. Turkish names: Kan 919, Yabani altun-kokii. Indian names:
Kurki, Kakatundi. Part used: Root and juice. Natural habitat: Central
America, West Indies. Constituents: An active principle, asclepiadin, a
glucoside resembling emetin. Action: Emetic, astringent, anthelmintic.

The juice and pounded plant of the Bastard ipecacuanha are applied
to arrest haemorrhage from wounds.

BEARBERRY

The American aborigines smoke the dried leaves with tobacco,
making a mixture called Sagack-homi in Canada, and Kinikinik
among the Western tribes; this is the Larb of the Western
hunters.

MILLSPAUGH

Botanical name: Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi. Natural order: Ericaceae.
Country names: Arbutus uva ursi, uva ursi, Bear whortleberries, Bear
Bilberries, Brawlins, Cranberry, Creashak, Dogberry, Mealberry,Burren
myrtle, Rappen-dandies. French names: Busserole, Raisin d'ours. Ger-
man name: Gemeine Barrentraube. Italian names: Uva d'orso, Uva
orsina. Turkish name: Ayi tiziimu. Part used: Leaves. Natural habitat:
Europe, Asia, America. Common in Scotland, Yorkshire and North and
West Ireland. Constituents: Arbutin, methyl-arbutin, ericolin, ursone,
Gallic acid, Malic acid, tannin, resin, myrecotin, sugar.

The Bearberry plant, which yields its virtues to alcohol or water,
was used by the mysterious physicians of Myddrai in the thirteenth

Astringent Herbs

century and is described by Clusius in 1601 as a haemostatic which Galen
prescribed. It was admitted to the London Pharmacopoeia in 1763, and
is still used in orthodox medicine. The plant is trailing and perennial,
with a long fibrous root and dark glossy green leaves of a leathery
texture. The flowers are wax-like and grow in drooping clusters at the end
of the branches of the preceding year. The corolla is urn-shaped and
reddish white in colour or white with a red lip, the stamens are ten in
number, chocolate brown in colour with awned anthers. The berry that
follows is the size of a currant, bright red, with a glossy surface and a
tough skin which encloses a mealy pulp with five one-seeded utones.

The leaves which are the part used as medicine are powerfully astrin-
gent and have at the same time soothing properties, and prove curative
in ulceration of the bladder.

Another species of the same family called gravel root has very similar
properties. Many species produce refreshing astringent berries, as for
instance the Blue Berry Gaylussacia fronelosa, the Huckleberry, G.
Resinosa, the Blue Huckleberry, Vaccinium Pensylvanicum, and the
Cranberry, Vaccinium Macrocarpa.

Among the American Indians the fruit of the Arctostaphylos tomen-
tosa is eaten either fresh or dried, or it is ground and made into bread or
mixed with Cornmeal and cactus syrup from which a fermented in-
toxicating drink is made. Whortleberries and the fruit of the Levantine
strawberry tree, Arbutus uneda, can be used in the same way.

BETH ROOT

On account of the wide range, prolific growth, acridity and
evident strength, I deem Trillium Erectum, Linn., the common
purple Trillium, the proper species for homoeopathic use.

DR. E. M. HALE

Botanical names: Trillium pendulum (Willd), Trillium erectum (Linn.).
Natural order: Liliaceae. Country names: Birth root, Ground lily, Indian
Balm, Indian Shamrock, Lamb's quarters. Part used: Leaves, root and
rhizome dried. Natural habitat: Middle and Western U.S.A. Constitu-
ents: An acrid principle, a resin, tannic acid. Action: Alterative, anti-
septic, astringent, pectoral, restringent, tonic.

Beth Root is one of the plants used by the aborigines of North America
and prepared by the Shakers.

Astringent Herbs

Ellingwood says : 'It influences mildly the nerve supply of the organ
of the thorax, assists heart remedies in relieving simple functional irrita-
tion and cures Catarrhal bronchitis when there is very profuse expectora-
tion. It soothes the cough of incipient phthisis, especially when there is
a tendency to haemorrhage, over which it has a marked controlling in-
fluence.'

Various species of Trillium have been combined, but the species re-
garded as the best is the Trillium erectum (Linn.), the common purple
Trillium. It is used under the label Trillium pendulum.

The Indians of Canada and Missouri think that the red blossoms are
best for men and the white for women.

BIGNONIA

Gorgeous floweret in the sunlight shining,
Blossoms flaunting in the eye of day.

LONGFELLOW

Botanical names: Bignonia Grandiflora, Bignonia radicans, Tecoma
grandiflora. Natural order: Bignoniaceae. Country name: Trumpet
flower. French names; Bignone, Tecoma. German names: Trompeten-
blume, Kranzranke. Italian names: Bignonia aranciata, Tromba del
Gindizio. Turkish names: Bignonia, Borulu hanin eli. Chinese name:
(Peking) Ling siao kua. Part used: Flowers, root. Natural habitat: China
and tropical countries. Action: Astringent, anthelmintic.

1 he ancient Chinese writers describe Bignonia as both growing wild in
the mountains of Peking and as a cultivated creeper with orange flowers
the size of a cup. It grows easily in England, especially in the vicinity
of the sea and is one of the most decorative of all climbers. It is in flower
all through August and September.
The flowers are much used in China for their astringency.

Astringent Herbs

BILBERRY

And purple bilberry's globe-like head
And Cranberry's bells of rosy red.

BISHOP MANT

Botanical name: Vaccinium myrtillus (Linn.). Natural order: Vaccini-
aceae. Country names: Huckleberry, Whinberry, Whortleberry, Blae-
berry, Blueberrie, Blackheart, Blechwhort, Brylochs, Bullberrics, Crone,
Crow-berry, Fayberry, Fraghan, Frughans, Hartberries, Horts, Hurts,
Whimberry, Wimberry, Windberry. French names: Abretier, Petit myrte.
German name: Echte Heidelbeere. Italian names: Baceri mirtillo, Uva
orsina. Turkish name: Yaban mersini. Under dominion of: Jupiter. Sym-
bolical meaning: Treachery. Part used: Ripe fruit, leaves, root, bark.
Natural habitat: Europe, including Britain. Constituents: Quinic acid is
found in the leaves and tannin. The fruits contain sugar, etc. Action:
Astringent, antiscorbutic.

Bilberries are astringent and have an ancient reputation, having been
recommended by Dioscorides for dysentery. The leaves or bark root are
useful as a local application to ulcers and a tea made from the leaves has
been found very good if persevered with in cases of diabetes.

The fruit is anti-scorbutic and, steeped in gin with the addition of the
bruised root, is given to sufferers from dropsy.

Astringent Herbs

BISTORT

Then whether it divine tobacco were

Or Panachaea or Polygony,

She found and brought it to her patient deare,

Who all this while lay bleeding out his heart-blood neare.

SPENSER

Botanical name: Polygonum Bistorta (Linn.). Natural order: Polygon-
aceae. Country names: Adderwort, Artrologia, Dock bistort, Dragons,
Dragonwort, Easter giant, Easter Ledges, Easter Magiants, Easter Man-
gianta, Meeks, Oderwort, Osteriachs, Oysterloyte, Passions, Red Legs,
Snakeweed, Twice-writhen, Wester Ledges. French names: Bistorte, Ser-
pentaire. German name: Matterknoterich. Italian names: Bistorta, Poli-
gono ritorto. Turkish name: Kurd pencesi. Malayan name: Seludang.
Under dominion of: Saturn. Part used: Root stock gathered when the
leaves begin to shoot in March, and seeds. Natural habitat: Northern
Europe, Siberia, Japan, Western Asia to Himalayas, north of England,
Southern Scotland. Constituents: Bistort Polygonic acid, tannic and
gallic acids, starch and calcium oxalate. Action: Anti-periodic, astrin-
gent, diuretic, expectorant, tonic.

The Bistort is regarded by herbalists as the most astringent of al
herbs. It is closely allied to the Knotgrass. The root contains much
tannic and gallic acid.

The plant has a great reputation against plagues and was said to
render anyone who carried it immune from danger.

Culpeper says : 'Both the leaves and the roots have a powerful faculty
to resist all poison.'

It is useful in capillary bronchitis and lung complaints, and is given in
malaria and chronic dysentery.

The leaves and young shoots have been used in salads, as a vegetable,
and are made into a pudding which is eaten in Cumberland. In Russia
they make it into bread. The Malays eat the fragrant leaves of another
species, P. minus.

Bistort Pudding

Take one and a half pounds of bistort to a pound of young nettles,
add a few leaves of blackcurrant and yellow dock and a sprig of parsley.

Wash and chop fine. Put in a bowl and add a teacup of barley

Astringent Herbs

washed and soaked, half a teacupful of oatmeal, salt, pepper and a bunch
of chives. Boil in a bag for three hours till the barley is well cooked. The
bag must be lightly tied.

Turn out on to a hot bowl. Add a lump of butter and a beaten egg.
The egg will be cooked by the heat of the pudding.

BLACKBERRY '

And here are rich blackberries black and wild,
Beneath the beech trees' thickest branches growing:
This makes me once again a wayward child,
A pilgrimage into the woodland going.

ROBERT NICHOLLS

Botanical name: Rubus fruticosus. Natural order: Rosaceae. Country
names: Blacebergass, Black bides, Black blegs, Black bowours, Black-
boyds, Black brier, Blackitcs, Black spice, Blays, Bleggs, Boyds, Brim-
bles, Brammelkitc, Brammle, Briar, Bremmyll, Bumbleberries, Brumley-
berry bush, Brammelkite, Broomles, Brummel, Bullbeef, Bumly-kites,
Brymble, Cockbramble, Cock brumble, Country lawyers, Ewe bramble,
Gaitberry, Gaites tree, Gartenberries, Hawks-bill, Lady's Garters, Land-
briars, Mooches, Mulberry Bramble, Scald-berry, Thethorne, Theve
thorn, Thief. French names: Ronce, Pinte de Yin, Murier Sauvage,
Ronce Sauvage. German names: Brombeerstrauch, Beerstrauch. Italian
names: Rovo, Rogo, Roveto, Moro delle siepi. Turkish name: Boy iirtlen
galisi. Under dominion of: Venus in Aries. Symbolical meaning: Lowli-
ness, envy, remorse. Part used: Leaves, root. Natural habitat: Grows
more luxuriantly in Australia than anywhere else though common
everywhere. Constituents: Tannin, malic and citric acid, pectin.

Action: Astringent.

1 he leaves and the root of the wild blackberry are a very useful
astringent medicine for children. Both contain much tannin and the
fruit contains malic and citric acid, pectin and albumen.

The root desiccated in a moderate oven and reduced to powder,
makes an effective remedy in dysentery and the summer diarrhoea of
children.

Astringent Herbs

The American blackberry can be used in the same way.

The cloudberry, R. Chamaemorus, and the dewberry, R. caesius, are
different species, but can be used for their rather similar astringent
properties.

The leaves of the Cloudberry are often given in Nephritis. They act
on the kidneys without influencing the beat of the heart.

A fluid extract is made from the fruit and leaves. The Laplanders
make a jelly from the fruits which is eaten with meat in the same way
that we use red currant jelly.

The Cloudberry, known in America as mountain raspberry, also
makes a delicious jelly which is eaten in Sweden with meat, so does the
strawberry-leaved Bramble of Northern Europe, R. Aretius, which has
an even better flavour.

BLUEBELL

Cowslips had come along the bubbling brook;
Cowslips and oxlips rare and in the wood
The many blossomed stalks of blue bells shook.

MASEFIELD

Botanical names: Scilla nutans (S.M.), Hyacinthus nonscriptus (Linn.),
Agraphis nutans. Natural order: Liliaceae. Country name: Wild hyacinth.
French names: Jacinthe sauvage, Jacinthe des bois. German name: Hasen-
blaustern. Italian names: Giacinto dei boschi, Giacinto piccolo. Turkish
name: Kampana gig. Part used: Bulb dried and powdered. Natural
habitat: Western Europe, Central France along the Mediterranean as
far as Italy, Great Britain. Constituents: The bulbs contain inulin.

Action: Styptic.

Bluebells were once used as a substitute for starch. They contain an
enormous amount of mucilage, but no actual starch. The bulbs contain
inulin and are useful as a styptic, and in catarrhal affections due to a
relaxed system.

According to Tennyson the juice of the stems has been used to anti-
dote snake bites :

In the month when earth and sky are one

To squeeze the bluebell 'gainst the adder's bite.

F 81

Astringent Herbs

The botanical name of the wild hyacinth, non scriptus, refers to the
absence of the Greek signature A I which appears in the cultivated
hyacinth. According to the Greek legend Apollo's cry of grief Ai after
the death of his friend Hyacinthus appeared on the flower of the garden
hyacinth.

CAJEPUT OIL TREE

The tree has numerous thin coats of very light or whitish
ash-coloured, soft, fibrous-scaly bark, which peels off from time
to time like that of the birch tree. The interior part is separable
into numerous lamellae like the leaves of a book.

Dictionary of Malayan Medicine, GIMLETTE and THOMSON

Botanical names: Melaleuca cajaputi (Roxb.), Melaleucaleucadendron.
Natural order: Myrtaceae. English names: Cajeput oil tree, Punk tree,
Tea tree. French names: Cajeputier, Melaleuque naine. German name:
Kajeputbaum. Turkish name: Kayaput ag. Malayan names: Gelam,
Pokok kayu putch. Part used: Oil, leaves, root. Natural habitat:
The Moluccas. Action: Antiscorbutic, astringent, emollient, sedative,

tonic.

The oil of cajeput much resembles that of the clove tree and was in
demand amongst Europeans in the treatment of cholera. The Malays
use a decoction of the leaves in dysentery for its astringent properties,
and a decoction of the root as a tonic. The green colour of the oil is
considered to be due to the presence of copper. It is much used in
embrocations to relieve rheumatism.

The tree grows by the seashore and is very attractive in appearance
because of its drooping green foliage and silvery grey bark. The bark is
constantly peeling and this accounts for the whitish grey appearance of
the trunk. The Malayan name, Kayu putch, refers to this.

Astringent Herbs

CAMPIONS

Thy beauty, Campion, very much may claim,
But of Greek Rose how did'st thou gain the name?
The Greeks were ever privileged to tell
Untruths, they call thee Rose, who hast no smell
Yet formerly thou wast in garlands worn
Thy starry beams on temples still adorn
Thou crowrfst on feasts, where we in mirth suppose
And in our drink allow thee for a rose.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Natural order: Caryophyllaceae.

WHITE CAMPION

Botanical name: Lychnis vespertina (Sibth.). Country names: Bachelors'

Buttons, Bull rattle, Cowmack, Grandmother's nightcap, Thunder bolts,

Thunder flowers, Plum puddings, Cow rattle, Cuckoo flower.

ROSE CAMPION

Botanical name: Lychnis Coronaria (Linn.). Country names: Gardener's
Delight, Gardener's eye, Rose Campion, Mullein pink. French names:
Coquelourde, Passe-fleur, passe rose, Agrostemme Coronaire. German
names: Samtlichtnelke, Rade. Italian names: Coronaria, Cotonella,
Stellino, Garofano di Dio, Occhio di Dio. Turkish name: Gelincik gig

Sakayik.

RED CAMPION

Botanical name: Lychnis diurna (Sibth.). Country names: Adders' flow-
er, Bachelors' Buttons, Billy Button. Bird's-eye, Brassetty Buttons,
Bull's Eye, Cock-Robin, Cuckoo flower, Devil's flower, Fleabites, Gen-
try flower, Gramfer, Greyglas.

Under dominion of: The Sun. Symbolic meaning: Religious candour.
Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, including Britain.

The Campions are a large family which include the Catchflys, the
Corn Cockle and the familiar wild flower known as Ragged Robin. The
botanical name for Campion is Lychnis and the white, rose and red
Campions bear this name, so does the Ragged Robin.

The Catchfly's botanical name is Silene, but some of the Campions,
such as the Bladder Campion and the Moss Campion, bear the botanical
name Silene, so it is rather confusing.

Astringent Herbs

All the plants of this family have astringent properties. Culpeper says
of them that they are 'of very great use in old sores, ulcers, cankers,
fistulas and the like, to cleanse and heal them by consuming the moist
humours falling into them, and correcting the putrefactions of tumours
offending them'.

The word Lychnis means a lamp, and in the language of flowers
symbolizes a religious enthusiast.

CATCHFLY

Unlike Silene, who declines
The garish noontide's blazing light;
But 'when the evening crescent shines
Gives all her sweetness to the night.

The Catchfly with Sweet William we confound
Whose nets the stragglers of the swarm surround,
Those viscous threads that held tK entangled prey
From its owji treacherous entrails force their way.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical name: Silene Nutans. Natural order: Caryophyllaceae. Country
names: Limewort, Nottingham Catchfly, Dover Catchfly, Muscipula,
Silene paradoxa, Muscaria. French names: Attrape mouches, Sil&ne &
bouquet rouge. German name: Gartenleimkraut. Italian names: Acchi-
appa mosche, Silene a mazzetti. Turkish names: Sinek kapan, Daruzara.
Under dominion of: Saturn. Symbolical meaning: (White) Betrayed;
(Red) Youthful love. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, including

Great Britain.

The name Catchfly was derived from the fact that flies got entrapped
by this plant. Gerard says that he christened the Silene Armeria Catchfly
for this reason, but other writers referred to this particular plant as
Muscaria and Muscipula.

The Catchfly plants are closely allied to the Campions and to the
Ragged Robin.

The Nottingham Catchfly is common in the neighbourhood of Not-
tingham and is also found in the Isle of Wight, in Yorkshire and on the

Astringent Herbs

Dover cliffs, hence its early name of Dover Catckfly. It has an almond-
like scent almost as strong as meadowsweet.

The Spanish Catchfly is found in sandy fields in Norfolk and Suffolk
and has yellowish-white flowers.

The Silene inflata known as the Bladder Campion grows on arable
land and by the coast, and the Moss Campion, Silene Acaulis, is found
on mountains in Scotland.

Other varieties are the Night-flowering Catchfly, Silene Noctiflora,
the Italian Catchfly, Silene Italice, and the striated Corn Catchfly, Silene
Corice.

The Catchfly plants have astringent properties and were infused in red
or white wine and taken medicinally.

CELANDINE (LESSER)

There is a flower, the lesser Celandine
That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain
And, the first moment that the sun may shine
Bright as the sun himself 'tis out again.

WORDSWORTH

Botanical name: Ranunculus Ficaria (Linn.). Natural order: Ranuncu-
laceae. Country names: Bright, Burwort, Celidony, Grain, Crazy, Crow-
pightle, Foalfoot, Gilding cup, Gilty cup, Golden cup, Golden Guineas,
Goldy kush, Kingcup, Marsh pilewort, Paigle, Pilewort, Smallwort.
French names: ficlairette, Ficaire, Petite chelidoine. German name: Schar-
bockshahnenfuss. Italian names: Ranunculo ficario, Celidonia minore,
Favagello, Scrofularia minore. Turkish name: Basur otu. Under dominion
of: Mars. Symbolical meaning: Modest genius. Part used: Herb. Natural
habitat: All parts of Europe, Western Asia, North Africa.

1 he Lesser Celandine must not be confused with the Greater Celan-
dine which belongs to a different family altogether. Though they both
have rather similar yellow flowers they are not alike in any other par-
ticular, and they have different medicinal virtues.

The lovely yellow flowers of the Lesser Celandine come into blossom
as early as February and as they grow in masses in shady places, under

Astringent Herbs

trees and on the sides of hills, they have attracted the special attention
of most English poets, especially Wordsworth.

The old Celtic name of Grian means the sun, and their burnished
petals suggest sunshine.

The flowers close before rain and open at nine and close always at five.

The leaves make a good pot herb. The whole herb has astringent pro-
perties and for centuries has been used by herbalists as a cure for piles
pilewort is its Old English name. It is used internally and externally as
an infusion, a decoction, a fomentation, and is made into an ointment.

DUCK'S MEAT

From me great benefits all the world must own
Though long time hid, they're many, yet unknown
But this Fll tell you; dry blew cankers
And cholorickfire of hot St. Antony,
Do soon extinguish; and all other flames
Whatever are their natures or their names.
My native cold, and watery temper show
Who my chill parent is and where I grow.
Thus when the water in the joint inclos'd
Bubbles by pain and natural heat opposed
The boiling cauldron my strong virtue rules,
And sprinkled with my dew the fury cools.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical name: Lemna minor (Linn.). Natural order: Lemnaceae.
Country names: Duckweed, water lentils, water lens. French names:
Lenticule, Lemne, Lentille d'Eau. German name: Kleine Wassarlinse.
Italian names: Lenticularia, Lente d'acqua, Erba anitrina. Turkish name:
Su mercimek. Spanish name: Lenteias de agna. Part used: Herb. Natural

habitat: Europe.

Duck's Meat is a moss-like herb growing without stalks, flowers or
fruit. It is often seen floating in ponds with the ducks that feed on it.

It has a well-established reputation in curing inflammations and was
in great use as a remedy for St. Anthony's Fire. It is said to cure ruptures
in young children and mixed with barley meal can be used externally to
relieve hot, painful and swollen joints.

Astringent Herbs

EBONY TREE

By age the interior of the wood becomes hard and black, and
is the ebony of commerce.

JOHN SMITH

Botanical nan.es: Diospyros embryopteris, Diospyros ebenum. Natural
order: Ebenaceae. French name: Ebenier. German name: Ebenholzbaum.
Italian nc.mes: Ebano, Avolio. Turkish name: Abanos ag. Indian names:
Gab, Temru. Malayan name: Kayu arang. Arabian name: Abnes-e-hindi.
Sanskrit name: Tumbiri Tinduka Kinkini-Kanka. Symbolical meaning:
Blackness. Part used: Unripe fruit, dried seeds. Natural habitat: Tropical
India, Ceylon and Mauritius. Constituents: Tannin, pectin, glucose.

Action: Astringent.

I he hard trees of the Ebony family have an astringent bark which is
used in digestive complaints and to arrest haemorrhages and dysentery.
The fruits of many of them are edible.

Astringent Herbs

FLEABANES

Fleabane on the lintel of the door there hung,
St. Johnswort, Copes and wheatears
With a halter as a roving ass
Thy body 1 restrain,
O evil spirit, get thee hence !
Depart, O evil Demon.
R. c. THOMPSON, Translated from the Babylcnian

Botanical names: Common Fleabane: Inula dysenterica ; Canadian
Fleabane: Erigeron Canadense (Linn.). Natural order: Compositae.
Country names: Common pulicaria dysenterica, Common fleabane,
Middle fleabane, Mullet, Fleawort, Prideweed, Butterweed, Canadian
Coltstail. French names: Pulicaire, Inule des pres. German name: Grosses
Flohkraut. Italian names: Psillo, Sillio, Policaria, Arnica svedese. Turkish
names: Pire otu, Karm yank. Under the dominion of: Saturn. Part used:
Herb, root, seeds. Natural habitat: (Common) In Europe, including
England; (Canadian) Canada and North and Middle U.S.A. Constitu-
ents: (Canadian) A bitter extractive, tannic and gallic acids, a volatile
oil to which its properties are attributed. Action: Astringent, diuretic,

tonic.

The Common Fleabane is closely related to the Elecampane and has
a good reputation as a curative medicine in dysentery and skin com-
plaints.

Job is said to have used a decoction of this herb to cure ulcers, and its
Arabian name of Job's tears, 'Rarajeub', refers to this. The soap-like
smell of its leaves when bruised suggests that it contains saponin.

The Canadian Fleabane was introduced into England in the seven-
teenth century and is still found in the Thames valley. It has white
flowers whereas the Common Fleabane has yellow ones. Both plants
have astringent, diuretic and tonic properties.

The oil of Erigeron resembles turpentine oil in its action, but is less
irritating.

The Erigeron Sumatrense, which the Malays call 'chapu', is made by
them into a lotion which is used for fomentations to relieve painful
rheumatic pains.

Astringent Herbs

FULSEE FLOWER

The red flowers are astringent and are chiefly used in certain
parts of India as a native remedy for dysentery.

GIMLETTE and THOMSON, Dictionary of Malayan Medicine

Botanical names: Woodfordia floribunda, Lythrum fruticosum, Grislea
tomentosa. Natural order: Compositae. English name: Downy Grislee.
Indian names: Dhai, Dhonga, Daite, Dhanen, Dhaiti, Chota-dhaon,
Dhava, Devti, Gul-Bakar, Gul-dhaur. Malayan names: Seduayah,
Chadaya, Jednayah, Sidawayah. Turkish names: Yudfordia, Inek $ig.
Sanskrit names: Dhataki, Dhayatia-pushpika, Parvati. Part used: Flow-
ers. Natural habitat: India. Constituents: Tannin 20 per cent. Action:
Astringent, stimulant.

Woodfordia Floribunda is found in hilly districts and has flame-
coloured flowers. It is used to allay haemorrhages of all kinds and is
imported into Malaya as a medicine for dysentery and as an important
tanning and dyeing plant.

GERANIUMS

O ! let sweet leaved Geranium be
Entwined amidst thy clustering hair,
WJiilst thy red lips shall paint to me
How bright its scarlet blossoms are;
9 Tis but a whim, but oh do thou
Crown with my wreath thy lovely brow.

Botanical name: American Cranesbill: Geranium maculatum (Linn.).
Natural order: Geraniaceae. Country names: Alum root, Alum bloom,
Chocolate flower, Spotted Cranesbill, Crowfoot, Dove's foot, Old maid's
nightcap, Shameface, American Kino, Astringent root, American Tor-
mentilla. Under the dominion of: Mars. Part used: Dried root, leaves.
Natural habitat: Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Georgia, Europe.
Constituents: Tannic and gallic acid, starch, sugar, gum, pectin, and
colouring matter. Action: Astringent, styptic.

Cjeranium maculatum is the most powerful of all the Cranesbills and
is an invaluable astringent tonic and styptic.

The leaves contain the most tannin and should be collected before the

Astringent Herbs

plant seeds. Geranium dissectum, an English species, has rather similar
properties and the Geranium Wallichianum of Afghan is regarded as a
powerful astringent. It is often combined with Hydrastis and used in
dysentery and relaxed condition of the mucous membranes. The wild
geraniums have been used in medicine under the name of Cranesbill for
many centuries for their astringent properties. The word Geranos means
a Crane, and the plant has been so named because of the resemblance
between the beak of the capsule and a crane's beak. Herb Robert is one
of the wild geraniums and it is a famous old vulnerary. It is more
astringent than the other varieties with the exception of the Geranium
maculata of Canada and northern Carolina where the plant is known on
account of its astringency as alum root. The leaves of the red garden
geranium are also healing and were used from the earliest times for
wounds inflicted by iron. At the Cape of Good Hope, which is the native
home of the geranium, geraniums are even more decorative than our
garden varieties and they go by the name of Pelargoniums.
Geranium powder

Take half a spoonful of powdered, dried Cranesbill night and morning
for a month and wash it down with red wine. This will cure a rupture.

HELIOTROPE

A flower resembling the pale violet

Which, with the sun though rooted fast doth move

And being changed, yet changeth not her love.

OVID

Botanical names: Heliotropium Peruviana, Heliotropium Europaeum
(Linn.). Natural order: Heliotropeae. Country names: Cherry pie, Turn-
sole. French names: Heliotrope, Verrucaire, Herbe aux verrues. German
names: Sonnenwende, Heliotrop. Italian names: Verrucaria, Vaniglia,
Erba da porri, Erba da bitorzoli, Erba da verruche. Turkish names:
Mambol otu, Akrab otu. Symbolical meaning: Devotion.

The Heliotrope plant keeps her face to the sun, hoping, according to
legend, to win back the sun god Helios who turned her into the plant for
causing the death of a princess he had fallen in love with.

Astringent Herbs

The plant provides an essential oil which can be used as a perfume, and
in medicine has been found of great service in clergyman's sore throat.
It is made into a tincture.

The Indian Heliotrope, which belongs to the same family, has anodyne
properties and is often called Indian Turnsole.

HELIOTROPE (INDIAN)

The garden should be adorned with roses and lilies, the turn-
sole or heliotrope, violets and mandrake . . . the cucumber, the
poppy, the daffodil and black-ursine ought to be in a good garden.
ALEXANDER NECKHAM, De Nature Rerum

Botanical names: Heliotropium Indicum, Heliotropium Cordifolium,
Tiaridium Indicum. Natural order: Heliotropeae. French names: Helio-
trope, Verrucaire. German names: Sonnenwende, Heliotrop. Italian
names: Verrucaria, Vaniglia. Turkish name: Mambol otu. Indian names:
Hathisura, Hathi-sundhane. Malayan name: Tetkatukka. Sanskrit names:
Hoste sunda, shri-hastine. Symbolical meaning: Devotion. Part used:
Herb, juice. Natural habitat: India. Constituents: Tannin, an organic acid

and alkaloid.

Indian Turnsole belongs to the Borage family, and its Indian name,
Hathi-sundhane, is derived from 'hathi', an elephant, and 'sundha', a
trunk, referring to the resemblance between the curve of the flower spike
and the elephant's trunk.

The plant is used as a local anodyne. The leaves are used as a poultice
to painful boils, wounds and ulcers, and the juice, boiled in castor oil, is
an Indian cure for the bites of mad dogs, and the pain of scorpion bites.

Astringent Herbs

HERB ROBERT

. . . Down in the grass,

And blushing through green blades, Herb Robert fain
Would catch the eye of pilgrims as they pass
And seek for rarer plants.

Botanical name: Geranium Robertianum. Natural order: Geraniaceae.
Country names: Adder's tongue, Arb rabbn, Little Bachelors.* buttons,
Bird's eye, Red bird's eye, Pink bird's eye, Bloodwort, Soldier's buttons,
Cuckoo meat, Cuckoos, Cuckoo's victuals, Death come quickly, Dog's
toe, Dragon's blood, Fellon grass, Fox grass, Garden gate, Fox geran-
ium, Scotch geranium, Wild geranium, Jenny wren, Kiss me, Knife and
fork, London pink, Nightingales, Red breasts, Red shank, Redweed,
Robert, Little red robin, Robin flower, Robin hood, Robin i' the hedge,
Robin redbreast, Robin Red shanks, Round robin, Robin's eye, Rub
wort, Sailor's knot, Stinking bob, Stockbill, Stork's bill, Wren's flower.
French names: Herbe & Robert, Aiguille. German names: Robertskraut,
Ruprechtsforchschnabel. Dutch name: Oijevaarstck. Italian names: Ger-
anio Robertino, Erba Roberta. Turkish name: Turna gagasi. Under the

dominion of: Venus. Symbolical meaning: Steadfast piety.
Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Great Britain and Europe.

1 he Herb Robert is a very old vulnerary and was prescribed at one
time for gout. It can be given whenever an astringent is required and
will be found effective.

Culpeper says, 'Herb Robert is commended not only against the
stone, but to stay blood, where or howsoever flowing ; it speedily heals
all green wounds, and is effectual in old ulcers in the privy parts, or else-
where. You may persuade yourself this is true, and also conceive a good
reason for it, but consider it an herb of Venus, for all it hath a man's
name.'

The herb was much used by farmers when their cattle were diseased.

The bloody Cranesbill, Geranium sanguineus, is very decorative when
found on whinstone soil near Edinburgh and on the Ganick shore of
Ayrshire. It also grows near Bristol. The Blue meadow Cranesbill has
large blue flowers and is also found in Ayrshire and on the Clyde. It
grows in Cambridgeshire, in the Yorkshire dales, and in the vicinity of
London.

Astringent Herbs

INDIAN PLUM

The fruit is eaten and has a flavour of gooseberry

Botanical names: Flacourtia indica, Flacourtia cataphracta, Flacourtia
ramontchi, Flacourtia jangomas. Natural order: Flacourtiaceae. French
names: Prunier malgache, Prunier de Madagascar Flacourtie. German
name:~Echte Flacourtie. Italian name .'Prunod'India. Turkish name: Acab
ag. Arabian name: Zarnab. Indian names: Joggam, Talispatzi, Brahmi,
Paniala, Panijala. Malayan names: Rukam, Ekor serangat. Sanskrit
names: Talisha, Prachinamalaka. Part used: Fruit, leaves, bark. Natural

habitat: India, Assam, Nepal, Behar.
Action: Astringent, stomachic, refrigerant.

The Indian Plum is used to allay fever, to prevent nausea and bilious-
ness, and to cure hoarseness of the throat. An infusion of the leaves and
young shoots is a remedy for dysentery. The fruit is astringent.

The Malayans make the leaves into wafer cake for the complaints of
women and they also enter into the composition of an oil that is used
in smallpox. The juice of the leaves is also used for inflammation of the
eyelids.

Astringent Herbs

JAMBUL

You can see the trees in my garden from this verandah. The
small ones have been planted two years and in four they mil
yield plenty of good fruit and several times in the year. The shape
of the tree, like that of the fruit, is oval with fruit the size of a
plum. The flower is red and very sweet, with a taste like sorrel.
The leaf is like the point of a lance, large and of a very pleasant
green colour. The roots of this tree strike far into the ground to
uphold the tree, when it is loaded with fruit, which is the case
many times in the year. Conserves are made both of the fruit and
the flower.

GARCIA DA ORTA

Botanical names: Eugenia Jambolana (Lank), Eugenie jambos. Natural
order: Myrtaceae. Country names: Jambul, Java plum, Jamum, Malabar
plum, Rose apple. French names: Jambosier, Pomme rose, Eugnier
jambos. German name: Jambosenbaum. Italian names: Mela rosa, Porno
rosa, Prugna di Malabar. Turkish name: Jamboz ag. Indian names:
Jamuna, Kala Jam. Sanskrit names: Jambu, Megha-varna, Rajaphala.
Nilaphala, Jambra. Symbolical meaning: Privation. Part used: Seeds,
bark. Natural habitat: India, East Indies, Queensland. Constituents: The
seeds contain jambulin, a glucoside, also a trace of essential oil, chloro-
phyll, fat, resin, gallic acid, albumen, etc. The bark contains tannin and
a gum like kino. Action; Astringent, diuretic.

The fruit of the Jambul tree reduces the sugar of those suffering
from diabetes by 'checking diastatic conversion of starch into sugar in
cases depending on increased production of glucose'.

The juice of the fresh fruit promotes digestion and is astringent and
diuretic the bark is also astringent and is given in cases of diarrhoea in
children, and a paste of the leaves promotes healthy discharge from
indolent ulcers.

The tree grows from twenty to thirty feet high. It has leaves like the
peach tree and greenish flowers which grow in terminal bunches in July.
They are followed by rose-coloured fruits with an apricot-like scent
which vary in colour from flesh colour to a deep rose and are about the
size of a Victoria plum. The Anglo-Indians call the fruit Black Plum.

Astringent Herbs

JEWELWEED

With fierce distracted eye Impatience stands
Swells her pale cheeks and brandishes her hands,
With rage and hate the astonished groves alarms
And hurls her infants from her frantic arms.

Botanical names: Impatiens aurea (Muhl), Noli-me-tangere (Linn.).
Natural crder: Geraniaceae. Country names: Wild Balsam, Speckled
jewels, Spotted touch-me-not, Slipperweed, Wild lady's slipper. French
name: Balsamine. German names: Springkraut, Balsamine. Italian names:
Impazienti, Balsamina. Turkish name: Kina gig. Symbolical meaning:
Impatience. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Africa and Asiatic moun-
tains.

Jewelweed is related to the Touch-me-not which is found wild in the
north of England and in Wales.

It has slipper-shaped yellow, pink, purple, white and sometimes
scarlet flowers, which grow from the axils of the leaves and are often
spotted. They have oblong capsules which explode when ripe to dis-
charge the seeds.

The juice of this plant is used to remove warts and corns and to cure
ringworm, and the fresh plant, on account of its astringent properties,
is lised mixed with lard as a local application to relieve pain and in-
flammation.

A decoction of the plant has been found of use in dropsy and in
jaundice, and is given in wine-glassful doses three times a day but it
is not a safe herb for the amateur to experiment with.

It is related to the Garden Balsam, Impatiens Balsamina.

Astringent Herbs
KINGS

The Butea Frondosa is a native of Bengal and attains a height
of thirty or forty feet. Its leaves are trifoliate, and covered with
a velvety down. Its flowers are produced before the leaves. Each
flower is about two inches long and of a bright orange-red^colour,
and when the tree is in full flower is a splendid sight, <the masses
of flowers resembling sheets of flame.

JOHN F;MITH

Botanical names: Pterocarpus marsupium, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Butea
frondosa. Natural order: Leguminosae. French names: Butee, Arbre
laque. German names: Kinobaum, Lackbaum. Italian name: Butea.
Turkish name: Yalan sac ag. Arabian name: Dammul. Indian names:
Kino, Hira-dokhi, Pita Sala, Ranga-basota. Malayan name: Vennap-
pasha. Persian names: Khuneseyi, Aonshan-e-hindi. Part used: Juice.
Natural habitat: India, Western Africa, Malabar, East and West Indies.
Constituents: Kino, tannic acid, 75 per cent, pyrocatechin, (catechol) a
crystalline neutral substance kinoin, kino red gum, pectin and ash,

1-5 per cent.

Kino is almost entirely soluble in ether, almost entirely in alcohol and
partly in water. It has an astringent tonic and haemostatic action, but is
less powerful than tannin. It acts only on the lower bowels.

The official tree from which Kino is obtained is the Bastard Teak
Tree, Pterocarpus marsupium, but a gum kino is also obtained from
Pterocarpus Dalbergioides, which grows in Burma and the Andaman
Islands ; and the so-called Bengal Kino is the product of one of the
Flame trees, Butea frondosa, called in India Pulas or Dhak.

These flame trees are so called because they have brilliant scarlet
flowers which in most cases appear before the leaves and, when seen at
a distance, look almost as if they were on fire.

One of the rhododendrons growing in Nepal goes by the name of
Flame tree, and the Acacia Farnesiania found near the Dead Sea goes
by the same name on account of its flame-like appearance.

The Sterculia acerifolia of New South Wales is another example and
all of them belong to different families.

The Jamaica Kino is produced by Coccoloba unifera, belonging to the
Polygonias.

Astringent Herbs

KNOTGRASS (RUSSIAN)

This evening late, by then the chewing flocks
Had to? en their supper on the savoury herb
Of knotgrass, dew-bespent, and were infold,
I sate me down to watch upon a bank
With ivy canopied, and interwove
With flaunting honeysuckle.

JOHN MILTON

Botanical name: Polygonum Erectum (Linn.). Natural order: Polygon-
aceae. Country names: Allseed, Armstrong, Beggarweed, Bird's knot-
grass, Bird's tongue, Black strap, Bloodwort, Centinode, Cow grass,
Crab grass, Crab weed, Cumberfield, Doorweed, Finzach, Iron grass,
Hogweed, Knotwort, Mantie, Nine joints, Ninety-knot, Pig rush, Pig
weed, Pink weed, Red legs, Red weed, Sparrow tongue, Stone weed,
Swine carse, Swine's skin, Tacher grass, Way grass, Wireweed. Under the
dominion of: Saturn. Part used: Whole herb. Natural habitat: Every
country. Action: Astringent, styptic, vulnerary.

Jvnotgrass is found all over the world, but varies in size with the soil
and position. The English variety, Polygonum avicularc, has the same
virtues as the Russian which is more highly esteemed. The stems are
smooth and jointed, the flowers are minute, in clusters in the axils of the
stem, with hardly any scent.
A decoction was once used to prevent the growth of children.

"Twere worse than knotgrass, he would never grow after it.'

BEAUMONT and FLETCHER

To stop nose bleeding by holding a simple in the hand

Let the patient hold Knotgrass and Solomon's Seal in his hand till it
grows warm there, or longer if need be.

Astringent Herbs

LOGWOOD

The Logwood tree takes its name of Haematoxylon from
Haema (blood), in reference to the colour of the heart wood
and the fact that it is imported in logs.

Botanical name: Haematoxylon Campechianum (Linn.). Natural order:
Leguminosae. Country names: Bloodwood, Lignum Campechianum,
Blackwood, Campeachy wood. French names: Campibche, Hematoxyle.
German names: Campechebaum, Campecheholy. Italian name: Cam-
peggio. Turkish name: Bakam ag. Part used: Heart wood. Natural
habitat: Tropical America, cultivated in West Indies and Jamaica.
Constituents: Haematoxylin, 12 per cent, volatile oil, tannin, fat, resin,
a crystalline principle, pale yellow, sweet like liquorice, soluble in alcohol

and ether.

Logwood is used in medicine as an astringent in dysentery and to arrest
haemorrhages and for polypi of the nose. It is blood red in colour and
imparts its colour to the urine. It is pleasant in flavour, but incompatible
with chalk and lime water. The tree has been grown in England since the
reign of George II.

Astringent Herbs

MANGOSTEEN

The fruit is about the size of an apple, of a reddish brown colour
when ripe, having a thick succulent rind, and crowned with the
persistent rays of the stigma. It contains a juicy white pulp of a
refreshing, delicate, sweet and acid flavour. It is universally
esteemed, and is considered to be one of the finest of tropical
fruits.

Botanical name: Garcinia mangostana. Natural order: Hypericaceae.
French names: Mangoustanier, Garcinie. German name: Mangostan-
baum. Italian names: Albero della gommagut, Mangostana, Lauro delle
Molucche, Lauro di Giavi. Turkish name: Cevez ul cinan ag. Indian
names: Mangousatan, Mungeestun, Mangustan. Malayan names:
Manggusta, Manggis. Chinese name: Shan-chuhekwo. Part used: The
rind of the fruit and the pulp. Natural habitat: Malacca, Malayan and
Indian peninsula, Singapore. Constituents: The rind contains mangostin,
resin and tannin. Action: Astringent.

1 he Mangosteen plant is allied to the Gamboge tree, G. Hanburii.
It is used as a substitute for Bael fruit in dysentery and has been found
of great use in the tropical hospitals where it has been introduced. It
makes a useful astringent medicine for all catarrhal affections ; and for
gargles and outward application. The ripe fruit is given to allay thirst in
smallpox and fevers. The Malayans use the wild mangosteen root, G.
Hombroniana, as a medicine to cover the bodies of those suffering from
irritating skin diseases. They boil it in water with sulphur and a pinch
of black peppercorns and after using it the patient is not allowed to wash
for three days.

Astringent Herbs

MIMOSA

Weak with nice sense the chaste mimosa stands.
From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands;
Oft as light clouds o'er pass the summer glade,
Alarm'd, she trembles at the moving shade;
And feels, alive through all her tender form,
The whispering murmurs of the gathering storm;
Shuts her sweet eyelids, to approaching night;
And hails with freshened charms the rising light.

LINNAEUS

Botanical names: Mimosa Catechu, Acacia Catechu (Willd.). Natural
order: Leguminosae. Country names: Cutch, Khairtree. French names:
Catechu, Acacie au Cachou, Cachoutier. German names: Katechu
akazie, Kate-mimose. Italian name: Acacia di Cachou. Turkish name:
Kad hindi. Indian names: Khair, Khera-sara, Shia-dza, Shazibin, Cuth
kagli, Kiheri. Malayan names: Kachu, Gambia, Kadaram. Sanskrit
names: Khadira-sara, Mekashaha, Khadi-ramu. Part used: Leaves,
young shoots, the bark. Natural habitat: Burma, India. Constituents:
Catechu tannic acid, Catechu acid, Catechu red, gum, quercetin and ash.
Action: Astringent, anti-periodic, expectorant, stimulant.

The Mimosa Catechu is more usually known as Acacia Catechu. It
is chiefly used in medicine for its powerfully astringent properties.

Kathbal, a preparation of Catechu mixed with myrrh, is given as a
tonic, and a confection of Catechu, roses, and sugar, called Kathalan, is
used for the same purpose.

There are an enormous number of varieties of Mimosas and most of
them are propagated by seeds which seldom ripen in Great Britain.

Some of them are natives of America, particularly Campeachy
others, like the Ash-coloured Mimosa, M. Cineraria, are natives of the
sugar countries ; the Sensitive Plant, M. Casta, grows in Brazil and so
does the Humble plant, M. Pudica. The Floating Mimosa, M. Natans,
is cultivated in Cochin China for salads, and the Mimosa Nilotica and
the Mimosa Catechu produce a gum which is extremely useful in medi-
cine for catarrhal affections.

Mimosa Entada, known to the Indian natives as Kakha Bilari, is made
into a paste and applied to swollen hands and feet, and the seeds, which
contain Saponin, are used by the women to wash their hair.

100

Astringent Herbs

MOUNTAIN ASH

The mountain ash

No eye can overlook, when ''mid a grove
Of yet unfaded trees she lifts her head
Decked with autumnal berries that outshine
Spring's richest blossoms.

WORDSWORTH

Botanical name: Pyrus Aucuparia (Gaertu), Sorbus Aucuparia (Linn.).
Natural order: Rosaceae. Country names: Rowan tree, Caers, Care,
Cock drunks, Dogberry, Field ash, Fowler's service, Hen drunks, Heer,
Quick beam, Quicken, Ran tree, Rown tree, Royne tree, Sap tree,
Twick band, Twick-Whicken, Whitty tree, Wickey, Wiggin, Witchwood,
Witty tree, Wychen. French names: Sorbier sauvage, Sorbier des ois-
eaux. German name: Gemeine Eberesche. Italian names: Sorbo salvatico,
Sorbo degli uccelli. Turkish name: Yabani uvez ag. Symbolical meaning:
Prudence. Part used: Fruit, bark. Natural habitat: Europe. Constituents:
Before ripening the fruit contains tartaric acid and when ripe citric and
malic acids. Two sugars are also found in the ripe fruit, sorbin and sor-
bit, the latter after fermentation. Action: Astringent.

Both the berries and bark of the Mountain Ash are used for gargles,
and whenever an astringent medicine is required.

The fruit makes a good jelly to eat with game, and the Welsh made an
ale from it, the secret of which appears to be lost.

The Mountain Ash tree is quite unlike any of the other ashes except
in the shape of its leaves.

101

Astringent Herbs

PERIWINKLE

Through primrose tufts in that sweet bower
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths,
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

WORDSWORTH

Botanical name: Vinca major. Natural order: Apocynaceac. Country
names: Greater Periwinkle, Band plant, Cut finger, Dicky Dilver, Blue
Buttons, Cockles, Blue fingers, Ground ivy, Joy of the ground, Penny-
winkle, Sorcerer's violet. French names: Violette de sorcier, pervenche,
pucellage. German names: Sinngriin, immergrun. Italian names: Cen-
tocchio, Pervinca, Mortine. Spanish name: Pervince. Dutch name:
Maagdepalm. Turkish name: Kucuk. Under the dominion of: Venus. Sym-
bolical meaning: (Blue) Early and sincere friendship ; (White) Pleasures
of memory. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe.
Action: Astringent, tonic.

1 he Periwinkles are a great adornment to our gardens and very con-
veniently will grow in shady places which are seldom reached by the sun.
Their beautiful blue flowers have given their name to their particular
shade of blue.

All species have glossy leaves which remain green all through the
winter. There are two other species besides the Great Periwinkle the
Lesser Periwinkle and the Red Periwinkle and all three are used in
medicine for the same purpose.

The Periwinkle is recommended for its astringent properties in all
old herbals from Dioscorides and Apuleius down to Culpeper.

It is the Vinca pervinca of Pliny, and the Parwyke of Chaucer. It
was one of the herbs introduced into England by the Romans. The
name Vinca is derived from the Latin word 'vincio' in allusion either
to its binding properties or to its habit of growth.

Herbalists have long used it as a cure for diabetes and for the particu-
lar skin trouble known as 'plica polonica'.

Lord Bacon recommended its use in cramp and so did William Cole.

102

RUPTURE WORT HERNIARIA GLABRA

Astringent Herbs

PINUS BARK

Fir trees are typically represented by the well-known Norway
Spruce, Silver, and Balm of Gileadfirs which, with the recently
discovered allied species, form a part of the important family,
Coniferae.

JOHN SMITH

Botanica 1 names: Tsuga Canadensis (Carr), Abies Canadensis. Natural
order: Pinaceae. Country names: Hemlock Pitch, Hemlock Bark, Hem-
lock Gum, Pinus Canadensis, Abies Canadensis. French name: Sapin de
Canada. German names: Echte Schierlingstanne, Hemlockstanne.
Turkish name: Amerike baldiran. Symbolical meaning: Philosophy.
Part used: The bark with the dry juice, known as Canada Pitch, adhering.
Natural habitat: North America. Constituents: Volatile oil, 20 or 30 per
cent, also resin. Action: Astringent, stimulant.

(Canada Pitch is rather similar to Burgundy Pitch, but it is softer.
It is non-irritant, astringent and stimulant to the mucous membranes,
and is used internally and externally for catarrh of the stomach, the
intestines, the throat and the lungs. It resembles rhatany in its action.

The tree from which it is obtained grows in the shape of a pyramid
in the marshy mountainous regions of North America. In Canada it
attains a height of about sixty or more feet. The long leaves are silvery
underneath and the flowers grow in catkins. It was introduced into
England in 1736 as an ornamental tree.

In common with other fir trees it was classified by Linnaeus as a Pine,
but later botanists have grouped all the fir trees, including the Larch and
the Cedar of Lebanon, under the name of Abies.

The Firs differ from the Pines in their leaves which are short, linear,
separately attached and closely set in the branches in two or more
distinct rows, whereas the Pine leaves grow in long narrow needles and
are produced in fascicles of two, three or five.

The resinous exudation from the stems of the Abies Excelsa or Pinus
Picea is also used in medicine as a stimulant and is chiefly made into
plasters for rheumatism. It contains pimaric acid in addition to a vola-
tile oil and resin. This tree is generally known as the Silver Fir.

103

Astringent Herbs

RAGGED ROBIN

How gaily ragged robin stands

'Mid cotton grass and rushes;
Pleased he thrives in marshy lands,

Nor envies gaudy bushes.

Botanical name: Lychnis flos-calculi (Linn.). Natural order: Caryophyl-
laceae. Country names: Bachelor's buttons, Meadow campion, Cock's
carm, Cock's comb, Crowflower, Cuckoo flower, Fair maid of France,
Indian pink, Marsh gilly flower, Meadow pink, Pleasant in sight,
Ragged Jack, Robinhood, Rough robin, Spink Wild Williams, Hen's eye,
Jack by the hedge, Lousy beds, Lousy soldiers' buttons, Mother Dee,
Plum puddings, Poor robin, Ragged robin, Red butcher, Red Jack,
Robin flower, Robin in the hose, Robin in the hedge, Scalded apple,
Soldiers, Water poppies. Italian name: Croce de Cavaliere. Under the
dominion of: Saturn. Symbolical meaning: Wit. Part used: Herb. Natural
habitat: Europe, including Great Britain.

1 he Ragged Robin in common with the other Campions has astrin-
gent and stimulating properties. It has been used in herbal medicine for
dropsy, jaundice, gastritis and paralysis. See Campions and Catchfly.

104

Astringent Herbs

RUPTUREWORT

Rupturewort hath such a signature, that thereby it may be per-
ceived to be profitable for the falling down of the guts into the
cods.

COLE

Botanical name: Herniaria glabra (Linn.). Natural order: Caryophyl-
laceae. Country names: Burstwort, Rupture grasse, Turk's herb. French
names: Herniare, Herniole, Herbe au cancre. German name: Glattes
buckkraut. Italian names: Erniaria, Erba turchetta, Erniola. Turkish
name: Kasik otu. Under the dominion of: Saturn. Part used: Herb.
Natural habitat: Southern Europe, Russian Asia, Scandinavia, Southern
and Central Britain. Constituents: A crystalline principle called Herni-
arine which proved to be methyl-umbelliferone. Action: Astringent,

diuretic.

Rupturewort was at one time included in the natural order of Illece-
braceae. It is an annual with small, green flowers and small leaves.
The root is very long and thin. It is not common and has few
relatives.

Whether it was known to the Greeks is undecided, but Lobel and
Cesalpine refer to it under the name of Herba Turca. Matthiolus calls
it Minus and William Cole says that in his days it was called Polygonum.
It is sometimes found in Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Cambridge-
shire and is allied to the Knotgrass.

It is a very powerful diuretic and is prescribed in cardiac or nephritic
dropsy. It has been used in herbal medicine to cure ruptures as its name
bears testimony to. The fresh juice is applied as a local application.

105

Astringent Herbs

SEA LAVENDER

Pale Sea Lavender, that lacks perfume.

Botanical names: Statice Limonium (Watt), Statice Maritima. Natural
order: Plumbaginaceae. Country names: Ink root, Sea Lavender, Marsh
rosemary, Wild marsh beet, Lavender thrift. French na.nes: Behen
rouge, Lavande de mer, Saladelle. German name: Echter Widerstoss.
Italian names: Stitice marittimo, Behem, Been rosso, Butola d'acqua.
Turkish name: Kirmizi behmen. Part used: Foot. Natural habitat:
America, Europe, England. Constituents: Volatile oil, resin, gum, albu-
men, tannic acid, caoutchouc, extractive colouring matter, woody fibre
and salts. Action: Astringent.

The Sea Lavender has pale green leaves with waved edges and the
flowers form lilac branches of flowers.

There are several species, the most common being the Statice Limon-
ium. The shrub often forms whole hedges in the vicinity of the sea. The
root has been used in domestic medicine for centuries as a gargle or
wash for the throat. An infusion or decoction makes an excellent
astringent medicine either internally or externally. See Thrift.

SERVICE TREE

With acid juices from the service tree

And burning ale, they make their lemon squash.

VIRGIL

Botanical names: Pyrus domestica (Linn.), Pyrus sorbus, Sorbus domes-
tica. Natural order: Rosaceae. Country names: Pyrus sorbus, Sorb,
Whitty, Whitty Pear, Whitten Pear. French names: Sorbier domestique,
Cormier, Sorbier. German name: Echter Speierling. Italian names: Sorbo
domestico, Sorbo gentile. Turkish name: Uvez ag. Under the dominion
of: Saturn. Part used: Fruit. Natural habitat: Southern Europe.

The Service Tree is not considered indigenous to England though
Sowerby says a few trees have been discovered in their wild state.

106

Astringent Herbs

The leaves resemble the Mountain Ash, but the pear-shaped fruit is
larger. It also has flowers which grow in panicles instead of in corymbs.
The fruit does not mellow until after a frost and is not unlike a medlar.
It was much appreciated at one time for dessert.

The wood which is extremely hard was used for mathematical instru-
ments.

The Wild Service Tree, Pyrus torminalis, is quite common in woods
in the south of England. It also has fruit which is only edible after a frost ;
the fruit is green with dark spots and is quite small, and the flowers grow
in yellov, ish white clusters. The tree is found in Kent where it sometimes
attains a height of fifty feet, and the wood is so hard and durable that it
can be used for house building. The leaves of the tree are not winged as
in the Wild Service Tree.

The unripe fruit has astringent properties and must be used fresh in
the same way as Bael berries. It is a useful remedy in dysentery and a
decoction allays bleeding wounds. It promotes digestion and prevents,
as Culpeper says, 'the too hasty passage of food from the bowels'.

SILVERWEED

Blue-eyed Veronicas
And grey-faced Scabious
And downy Silverweed
And striped Convolvulus.

ROBERT BRIDGES

Botanical name: Potentilla anserina (Linn.). Natural order: Rosaceae.
Country names: Wild agrimony, Argentina, Blithran, Camoroche, Fair
days, Fair grass, Goose grass, Goose tansy, Helde, Marsh corn, Mas-
corns, Midsummer silver, Moor Grass, Moors, Moss crops, Silver
feather, Dog's tansy, Traveller's ease. French names: Potentille, Argen-
tine, Bee d'oie, Herbe aux oies. German names: Ganse-Fingerkraut,
Wilder Rainfarn. Italian names: Potentilla anserina, Argentina, Erba
della vele, Erba d'argento. Pife d'oca. Turkish name: Kaz otu. Symbolical
meaning: I claim at least your esteem. Part used: Herb, roots, seeds.
Natural habitat: Great Britain and temperate regions from Lapland
to the Azores. Constituents: All parts of the plant contain tannin. Action:
Anodyne, astringent, tonic, vulnerary.

1 he silverweed is familiar to most of us on account of its much
divided and silvery leaves which are covered with a soft down on both

107

Astringent Herbs

sides. It has yellow buttercup-like flowers which are very sweet scented
and the plant grows rather close to the ground. Its silvery appearance
is recorded in its ancient name of Argentina, and the botanical name
Potentilla is a testimony to its medicinal powers.

It has been praised as a cure for jaundice in common with other
yellow flowers. It fastens loose teeth, breaks the stone, removes dis-
coloration of the skin and cures inflamed eyes. The distilled water
removes freckles and pimples.

The roots are edible, not unlike parsnips in flavour and contain a good
deal of nourishment.

SLOES

When the sloe tree is white as a sheet
Sow your barley whether it is dry or wet.

Botanical name: Prunus spinosa. Natural order: Rosaceae. Country
names: Blackthorn, Buckthorn, Bullens, Bullies, Bullins, Bullistcr, Cat
sloes, Egg peg bushes, Hedge picks, Hedge speaks, Heg Peg bushes, Hep,
Winter Kicksies, Hedge Picks, Quick, Scrog, Skeg, Sleathorn, Slacen
bush, Slaun bush, Slon, Slone bloom, Sloo bush, Sluies, Snag bush,
Winter picks. French names: Prunellier, Sibarelles, Prunier epineux,
Epine noir. German name: Schlehenpflaume. Italian names: Prugnolo,
Pruno salvatico, Prunello, Spina fiorita. Turkish name: Kiimkum ag.
Under the dominion ,of: Venus. Symbolical meaning: (Blackthorn) Diffi-
culty. Part used: Wood, bark, leaves, fruit. Natural habitat: Europe.

The flower of the Sloe tree is the blackthorn about which there are
so many superstition^. Dr. Fernie says that the old fear of bringing
blackthorn into the house arose from the fact that the flowers come out
before the leaves, emphasizing the union of life and death.

The leaves of the Sloe were used so generally in the nineteenth century
to adulterate tea leaves that an attempt was made to legalize the adultera-
tion.

The fruit makes a pleasant wine either by itself with the addition of
the kernels or added to port wine. It can also be added to currant, raisin
or elderberry wine and can be made into sloe gin.

108

Astringent Herbs

All parts of the plant are useful in medicine. The bark can be used as
a substitute for Peruvian bark and so can the leaves. The flowers are
laxative, anthelmintic and antinephritic, and can be infused in water,
whey or wine. The fruit is styptic and has been used since the time of
Dioscorides, and the root is a cure for asthma.

The juice relieves ciliary neuralgia arising from a functional disorder
of the structures within the eyeball. It also stays haemorrhage from the
nose and will be found an agreeable and useful astringent.

The French call Sloes, Sibarelles, because after eating them it is
impossible to whistle.

Bullaces are the fruit of the Prunus institia, a closely allied plant with
very similar properties.

Syrup of Sloe Flowers

Take of fresh sloe flowers, two pounds ; take of fresh boiling water,
four pints.

Infuse for twelve hours, the liquor to be poured upon two pounds of
fresh flowers. This is to be repeated a third time, and the syrup to be
finally made with the strained liquor, and four pounds of sugar.
Dose

For children, from one to three drachms. Dose for adults, six drachms
to an ounce.

SPIRAEA

Hardhack owes its perfume to the coumarin it contains.

Botanical name: Spiraea tormentosa. Natural order: Rosaceae. English
name: Hardhack. Country names: Steeple bush, Silver leaf, White cap,
White leaf. Part used: Leaves, flowers, root. Natural habitat: Canada,
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia to the mountains of Georgia westwards.
Constituents: Tannin, coumarin, a bitter principle and a volatile oil.
Action: Astringent, tonic, aromatic.

Hardhack belongs to the Spiraea family and the flowers are fragrant
like the Meadowsweet which is a member of the same family. The
flowers are a good tonic and the root is a useful astringent which can be
given to adults or children. It is used as an infusion, or as a decoction,
or in the form of a liquid extract.

109

Astringent Herbs

The Garden Spiraea, S. Arunus, is a native of Austria and Siberia, and
the Spiraea salicifolia, a shrub of the Rose family, is found wild some-
times in Scotland, northern England and in parts of Wales. There are
other species of Spiraea which are native to Great Britain such as the
Dropwort, S. Fillipendula.

SUMACHS

The fruit of the Rhus aromatic is termed the squawberry be-
cause the Indian women gather large quantities which are dried
and used for food. When macerated they make a pleasant drink.
This wood exhales a peculiar odour, which is always recognizable
about the camp of the Indians.

MILLSPAUGH

Botanical names: (Smooth) Rhus glabra (Linn.), (Sweet) Rhus aro-
matica (Linn.), (Venetian) Rhus cotinus. Natural order: Anacardiaceae.
French names: (Venetian) Fustet, Arbre a perruque, Sumac des Tein-
turiers. German name: (Venetian) Echter periickenstrauch. Italian names:
(Venetian) Scuatano, Legno giallo, Cappechio, Sommacco & parruca.
Turkish name: (Venetian) Kutuna. Part used: Bark of branches and
root, dried ripe berries. Natural habitat: Asia, America, Canada, Europe.
Constituents: (Smooth) Free malic acid and acid calcium, malates co-
exist with tannic and gallic acid, tannin, 5 per cent, fixed oil, red colour-
ing matter. (Sweet) Resins, calcium and potassium salts, malates,
tannin, volatile oil, fat, mucilage. Action: Astringent, antiseptic, tonic.

The Sumachs belong to the same family as the Poison Ivy (Rhus
Toxicodendron) and many of the varieties are poisonous, but the smooth
Sumach and the sweet Sumach are exceptions and are distinguished
from the poisonous varieties by their downy covering. The R. glabra is
used medicinally in diabetes and the R. aromaticus to cure certain skin
diseases. The sap of other varieties, particularly the Rhus Vernicifera,
provides the Chinese and Japanese with their lacquer.

The Venetian Sumach thrives in our English climate and with its
blue-green leaves and feathery stalks is an ornamental addition to the
herbaceous border.

110

Astringent Herbs

The family includes such important plants as the Cashew marking
nut plant, the Pistachio nut tree, the Mango tree and the Cuban guao,
Comocladia dentata which is said to kill whoever sleeps under it.

The active properties of the Smooth Sumach bark and the berries are
yielded to water infusions. The bark is astringent, tonic and antiseptic
and the berries are diuretic and refrigerant and are used in diabetes and
in fevers.

The dried berries when smoked are said to give a distaste for ordinary
tobacco. The Western Indians smoke a mixture of the root and leaves
which they call Kinikah.

The influence of the Sweet Sumach is felt primarily on the urinary
organs and is used in diabetes, cystitis, albuminuria, etc.

The wood of the tree is very fragrant and is used by the Indians to
make baskets.

The shrub grows to a height of three to six feet and has yellow
flowers which grow in spikes. The red fruit which follows grows in
clusters and when opened is strongly aromatic.

THRIFT

High on the downs so bare,

Where thou dost love to climb,
Pink thrift and milkwort are

Lotus and scented thyme.

ROBERT BRIDGES

Botanical names: Statice Armeria, Statice Caphalotus. Natural order:
Plumbaginaceae. Country name: Sea Pink. French name: Armerie. Ger-
man names: Grasnelke, Standgrasnelke. Italian name: Armeria. Part
used: Herb. Natural habitat: Portugal, America, but common in England

at one time

The Thrifts belong to the Plumbago family and are usually found in
temperate regions but grow best near the sea and in salt marshes.
They have astringent properties.

Ill

Astringent Herbs

TUBEROSE

Tuberose with her shining light
That in this garden of Malay
Is called the Mistress of the Night,
So like a light scented and bright
She comes out when the sun's away.

Botanical name: Polianthes tuberosa (Linn.). Natural order: Liliaceae.
Other names: Garden Primrose, Garden Tuberose. French name: Tube-
reuse. German name: Echte Tuberose. Italian names: Tuberosa, Giacinto
delle Indie. Turkish names: Teber, Tutya 919. Indian names: Pajuni-
gundha, Gulcheri. Malayan name: Andi-malleri. Sanskrit name: Sandhy-
araga. Part used: The bulb. Natural habitat: East Indies, Bombay.

Action: Diuretic.

The Tuberose takes its name from 'polls', meaning a city, and 'anthos',
a flower, the flower of the city. It is cultivated in the south of France for its
perfume and in Italy for its bulbs, which are in great acquisition because
of the extreme fragrance and beauty of the flowers.

The bulb is used in medicine in the form of a tincture to relieve
purulent discharges and is applied locally mixed with turmeric and
butter to certain skin diseases. The flowers are used in magical cere-
monies.

112

Astringent Herbs

WAYFARING TREE

Wayfaring tree ! What ancient claim
Hast thou to that right pleasant name?
Was it that some faint pilgrim came
Un-hopcdly to thee
In the brown Desert's weary way,
'Mid toil and thirst's consuming sway,
And there as neath thy shade he lay,
Blest the Wayfaring Tree?

WILLIAM HOWITT

Botanical name: Viburnum lantana. Natural order: Caprifoliaceae.
Country name: Mealy guelder rose, cotton tree, Cottoner, Coventree,
Lithewort, Mealy tree, Twistwood, Whipcrop, White wood. Part used:
Berries. Natural habitat: Europe, including Britain, part of the Hima-
layas, North America. Action: Astringent.

This shrub, which is closely related to the common Guelder Rose,
V. opulus, is familiar to people living in chalky districts in England. It
has a downy foliage which gives it a dusty appearance, and white flowers,
which grow in compact clusters. These are followed in the autumn by
brilliant scarlet glossy berries, which as they ripen become purplish and
black in colour.

The Indians of North America, who call the tree hobble bush, make
these berries into cakes as the Himalayans do. The Indian name for
these cakes is 'Nalum'.

Another species of Viburnum, V. faetidum, is used in Indian medi-
cine as a good astringent and sedative. Hindu women superstitiously
hang the flowers and leaves of the plant over their door to keep away
demons.

113

Astringent Herbs

WHORTLEBERRY

Our table, small parade of garden fruits,
And whortleberries from the mountain side.

WORDSWORTH

Botanical name: Vaccinum myrtillus (Linn.). Natural order: Vaccini-
aceae. Country names: Bilberry, Whortle, Blackheart, Blackwhort, Blae-
berry, Bleaberry, Blueberry, Brylocks, Bullberries, Crone, Crowberry,
Fazberry, Fraghan, Frughans, Hartberries, He^rt, Horts, Huckleberry,
Hurtleberry, Hurts, Whimberry, Whinberry, Whorts, Wimberry, Win-
berry, Windberry. French names: Myrtille, Arbretier, Airelle. German
name: Heidelbeere. Italian names: Mirtillo, Uva orsina, Uva del boschi.
Turkish name: Kucuk Yaban mersini. Swedish name: Blabar. Dutch
name: Blanbessen. Polish name: Borrowki cyarne. Under the dominion of:
Jupiter. Symbolical meaning: Treason. Part used: Fruit, leaves. Natural
habitat: Europe, including Britain, Siberia and Barbary. Constituents:
Quinic acid is found in the leaves and also tannic acid.
Action: Astringent.

The Whortleberry or Bilberry is the Huckleberry of America. It is
closely related to the Cranberry, Oxycoccus palustris.

It grows on heaths and moors and in mountainous districts and is
found in most parts of England except Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

There are many varieties of Whortleberry all of which grow plentifully
in Sweden, and the Cranberry grows in Cheshire and Staffordshire, and
in Cumberland is made into a popular wine.

The Whortleberry is useful in medicine. It antidotes the typhoid
bacillus. The fruit and the leaves were known to Dioscorides and largely
used in ancient materia medica, for dysentery, urinary complaints and
as a local application to ulcerated surfaces. A tea of the leaves is a safe
and useful remedy in diabetes if persevered with.

An infusion of the berries makes a good gargle. The young leaves can
be used as a tisane to replace ordinary tea.

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Astringent Herbs

YELLOW FLAG

Oh Flower de luce bloom on, and let the river
Linger to kiss thy feet.

LONGFELLOW

Botanical name: Iris pseudacoms. Natural order: Iridaceae. Country
names: Butter and eggs, Cegge, Cheiper, Cucumbers, Daggers, Dragon
flower, Water flag, Fla^gan, Flagous, Fliggers, Flower de luce, Jacob's
sword, Laister, Layer, Levers, Livirs, Lug, Marken, Miklin, Saggan
Sedge, Scap, Seggs, Water seg, Seggin, Shalder, Skeg, Sword flag, Water
lily. French names: Iris des marais, Iris jaune, Iris faux acore, Flambe
d'eau. German names: Wasserschwertelilie, Gelber Schwertel. Italian
names: Iride gialla, Spadella d'acqua, Acoro falso. Turkish name: Sari
susan. Under the dominion of : The Moon. Symbolical meaning: Fire. Part
used: Root. Natural habitat: Europe, including Great Britain, North

Africa and Siberia.

1 he Yellow Flag grows by rivers and in moist and shady ditches. It
has deep yellow flowers and the sword-shaped leaves common to irises.

In Chaucer's time it was called Gladwyn and Culpeper's name for it
is Myrtle Flag. Some of its other names are derived from the Anglo-
Saxon word 'segg', meaning a dagger.

This plant is the original fleur-de-lis of France and the French kings.
It does not provide orris root as the other irises do, but the dried root is
much used in herbal medicine and the distilled water was recommended
by Culpeper as an outward application for sore eyes.

He says, 'The distilled water of the whole herb is a sovereign remedy
for weak eyes, applied on a wet bandage or dropped into the eye'.

The root is powerfully astringent on account of the tannin it contains.

115

Chapter Four
HERBS TO CONTROL PAIN

Barber's Bael Fruit; Black Cohosh; Calif ornian Poppy; Camphor;
Ceylon Jasmine; Cherry Laurel; Cloves; Club Moss' Country
Borage; Ephedra; Evening Primrose; Fign-orts; Fimveed; Fish-
Catching Coral Tree; Five-Leaved Chaste Tree; Five-Leaved
Cleome; Gardenia; Gelsemium; Gladwin; Golden Seal; Goutiveed;
Grindelia; Guelder Rose; PJorse Chestnut; Ipecacuanha; Knawel;
Laburnum; Lippia; Lobelia; Lovage; Malabar Nut; Marsh Mari-
gold; Meadoiv Saffron; Navehvort; Paeony; Pellitory; Plum-
bago; Quebracho; Sassy Bark; Satimvood Tree; Screw
Pine; Stone Root; Sumbitl; Sycacarpits; Thap-
sia; Tiger Lily; Toothwort; Water
Lily; Wild Jessamine; Wild
Lime; Wild Yam

Herbs that control pain are called anodynes. The best known are
the poisonous ones like the Opium Poppy, Hemlock, Cannabis
Indica. There are, however, others of a non-poisonous nature,
which if rightly used relieve suffering and can be prescribed indefinitely
without danger. They are not habit forming and they not only control
pain but the disease itself so that they alleviate first, and then cure.

Another class of pain-relieving herbs are the antispasmodics. They
allay the spasms of gallstones and asthma and other spasmodic com-
plaints and eventually prevent their recurrence.

Some of these herbs are stimulating and others act as sedatives for
instance Ephedra and Grindelia which are much used in asthma, are
stimulants. Ephedra stimulates the whole of the respiratory tract and
has much the same effect as adrenalin. Grindelia stimulates the heart's
action.

Collinsonia, a gallstone remedy, is primarily a sedative and so is
Lippia, a herb used for chest complaints. The sweet scented Lippia has
a peculiar sedative effect on the mucous membranes of the chest and the
nose. Some herbs like Sumbul combine both properties and are stimu-

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Herbs to Control Pain

lant and sedative. Hysterical outbursts are cured by Sumbul, a herb
closely related to Asafoetida one of the garlic tribe.

The Guelder rose is a remedy for cramp and the wild Yam relieves
violent colics caused by gallstones or angina pectoris.

Goutweed, an old-fashioned English simple, often found in the vicinity
of monasteries because it was cultivated by the monks in their herb
gardens, brings great comfort to those who suffer from painful gouty
joints ; and the Yellow Laburnum, with which everyone is familiar, was
grown by Gerard in his garden in Holborn and recommended by him to
allay the rpasms of asthma and whooping cough.

A most painful disease, emphysema, the symptoms of which are so
distressing to watch, is often instantly relieved by Quebracho, a herb
that grows wild in the Argentine. It is called the Digitalis of the Lungs.

The oil from the Fireweed plant, a native of Canada, is a most effica-
cious outward application for sciatica, and the leaves of the Malabar nut
tree are smoked by the Indians to relieve asthma.

The best known of the English non-poisonous anodyne herbs are the
Water lily either white or yellow and the Horse chestnut. The knotted
and the water Figwort are also pain relieving. These simple herbs will
generally bring comfort in painful swellings and inflammations and can
be applied with safety to any open wound.

The Meadow Saffron, though not nearly so poisonous as many of the
drugs that are used to ease rheumatic pains, is not by any means a safe
herb for the amateur to prescribe. It very quickly allays the agonizing
pain that gout can produce ; but black cohosh is much safer and often
just as efficacious.

Toothwort, Spanish pellitory and Knawel are herbal cures for tooth-
ache; and Gladwin, a herb with so vile a smell that it is called stinking
Gladwin, has a reputation two thousand years old for curing sciatica. It
used to be infused in ale and was drunk by country people as an antidote
to cramp. Many of these local beers had a medical origin.

The stinking Arrach is another evil-smelling herb with sedative virtues.
It is used to cure what our grandmothers called the vapours.

Ovarian neuralgia is allayed by the lovely Tiger Lily, which has a
specific action on the pelvic organs.

Even such pernicious weeds as Darnel serve mankind, and palsy and
trembling of the limbs are said to be cured by it. This herb is the pest of
farmers, who have not yet discovered whether it is degenerate wheat or
a weed that grows amongst the corn.

Gelsemium is called Herbal Chloroform, because it brings freedom
from pain but it has slightly poisonous properties.

Headaches can be relieved by the Californian Poppy, which gardeners

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Herbs to Control Pain

know best as Eschscholtzia. It has, in common with other members of the
Poppy family, narcotic and anodyne properties but it is less dangerous
than the rest of its family because it does not cause the unpleasant after
symptoms that they do.

The Indians have anodyne herbs unknown to us, such as the Satin-
wood tree, the Barber's Bael fruit tree, the Sycacarpus, the wild Lime,
the Ceylon Jasmine, the five-leaved Cleome, and the Indian Heliotrope
which they use as a local anaesthetic for painful boils and wounds.

The Indians prefer the Fish-catching coral tree to opium because it
has no bad after effects ; and they make much more use tha* 1 we do of
the comforting properties of cloves and lovage. One of the great Indian
cures for cholera contains lovage which can be used quite freely because
it is so safe as well as being anti-germicidal.

Lovage is still used in the making of English beer to which it must add
many of its wholesome properties.

Ipecacuanha and Lobelia are both emetics but they are two of the
most useful remedies we have in herbal medicine for spasmodic chest
complaints. The influence of ipecacuanha in painful dysentery is also
very remarkable, and so is that of the Indian Lohd tree.

Camphor is perhaps the most valuable medicine known for relieving
irritation but it has many other useful properties as well. Menthol ob-
tained from mint is our English substitute.

Two of the most decorative of our cultivated flowers have anodyne
properties the handsome Paeony, which makes its appearance in the
garden when there is so little to keep it company, and the lovely and
exotic Gardenia. In country places children wear strings of paeony seeds
round their necks to cure them of epilepsy, and gardenia tea, though an
expensive luxury, is an inviting preparation to put an end to digestive
pains.

These are only a few of the plants which cure man's aches and pains.

The relieving of pain is an art, and a good prescriber should be able
to do this as successfully with simple herbs as with dangerous ones.

118

BLACK COHOSH CIMICIFUGA RACEMOSA

Herbs to Control Pain

BARBER'S BAEL FRUIT

It is so called because it is used by barbers in Java instead
of soap.

Botanical names: Limonia Acidissima, Limonia Cremulata. Natural

order: Rutacea. Hindu name: Beli. Native names: Naibel, Jerukat mari-

gam, Torelaga, Nai, Navi. Part used: Fruit, leaves, root. Natural habitat:

Himalaya, Coromandel, Malabar, Assam, Western Peninsula.

1 he leaves and the root of Limonia cure such spasmodic diseases as
epilepsy. The fruit is used by the Arabs as a prophylactic against plague
and smallpox. It has tonic properties and is sometimes prescribed in
fevers.

The shrub has small white fragrant flowers which grow in corymbs,
the fruit is bright red when ripe, and about the size of a nutmeg with
flesh-coloured pulp.

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Herbs to Control Pain

BLACK COHOSH

Tm black or blue, and yet my name
Covers a pair of equal fame
For through the length and breadth of earth
We help the unwilling babe to birth.
My brother black for pity's sake
Will cure the stubborn muscle's ache;
My brother blue will safely treat
Rheumatic joints of hands and feet.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Cimicifuga racemosa, Actae racemosa. Natural order:
Ranunculaceae. English names: American Baneberry, Bugbane, Black
snakeroot. French names: Cimicaire, Actec a grappes. German name:
Schwarzes Wanzenkraut. Turkish name: Tahta biti otu. Natural habitat:
United States, Canada, Temperate Himalaya, Kashmir. Constituents:
An active cry stall izable neutral principle, cimicifugin; starch, fat, gum,
sugar, tannic acid, gallic acid, volatile oil (when fresh) and two resins
both of which are soluble in alcohol. Action: Alterative, aphrodisiac,
antispasmodic, diuretic, diaphoretic, nervine, stomachic.

JDlack Cohosh is a remedy of the greatest importance in muscular
rheumatism. Its action on the central nervous system, the heart and the
circulation resembles the action of digitalis. It has the same eifect as
ergot on the unstriped muscular fibres. In neuralgia of the heart or even
in angina pectoris it gives prompt relief and it is a good agent in acute
inflammatory conditions as an early remedy in acute fevers. In coughs,
bronchitis and stomachic troubles it is equally efficacious. It stimulates
the bronchial mucous membranes and the kidneys. It combines with
Gelsemium and Valerian.

The English Baneberry is a substitute for it medicinally.

The Blue Cohosh, which belongs to a different order of plants, has
many of the same properties as the Black Cohosh, but must not be con-
fused with it as they are not in any way related in the plant world.

Black cohosh is an attractive plant in an herbaceous border and is
easily distinguished from other plants by its snake-like cream flowers.
I have found it quite easy to grow in a south border where it gets plenty
of sun.

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Herbs to Control Pain

CALIFORNIAN POPPY

They scent the breath of the dewy morn
They feed no worm and they hide no thorn 9
But revel and glow in our balmy air.

V. SIGOURNEY

Botanical name: Eschscholtzia Calif ornica. Natural order: Papaveraceae.
French names: Eschscholtzie, Globe du soleil. German names: Califor-
nische Escholzie, Goldmohn. Italian names: Escolzia di California,
Papavero di California. Turkish name: Giines topu. Symbolical meaning:
Do not refuse me. Part used: The whole plant. Natural habitat: Califor-
nia. Constituents: Morphine and a glucoside. Action: Anodyne, soporific.

1 he Californian Poppy has soporific properties, but it does not cause
the bad taste, the dryness in the mouth and the vomiting that morphia
does. It is given for headaches, but it is not a herb for the amateur to
prescribe.

The plant is well known to gardeners under the name of Eschscholtzia,
and the colours of the flowers vary from yellow to red and only open in
the sun. They take their name from a botanist called Eschscholtz and
were introduced into England in 1790.

The Californian coast where they grow was called by the early
settlers 'the land of fire' because these flame-coloured flowers grew in
such profusion there.

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Herbs to Control Pain

CAMPHOR

I know that for the common cold,
The chill, and other woes as old,
For soothing and for killing pain
None ever called on me in vain.
Yet some there are who dare to doubt
My powers of putting moth to rout.
They say that as they come to birth
The baby mothlings rock with mirth.
What nonsense ! If I do not slay
At least they smell, and go away.

T.C.H.

Botanical name: Cinnamomum Camphora (T.NeesandEberm).
order: Lauraceae. Other names: Laurus camphora, Camphora officin-
arum, Laurel camphor, Gum camphor. French names: Camphrier, Lau-
rier du Japon, Camphrier de Chine. German name: Japanischer Kamfer-
baum. Italian names: Laurocanfora, Albero della canfora, Alloro can-
forato. Turkish name: Kiafur ag. Arabian name: Kafur. Malay name:
Karppftram. Persian name: Kafur. Indian names: Mar-Kapur, Kaphur.
Sanskrit names: Karpurch, Pakva, Apakva. Symbolical meaning: Frag-
rance. Part used: Gum. Natural habitat: China, Japan, Formosa. Con-
stituents: Camphor when heated with chloride of zinc and distilled yields
cymol: with nitric acid it forms camphoric and camphoretic acids:
soluble in alcohol, ether and fatty oils, in boiling water (1 in 10) and in
cold water (1 in 100): insoluble in carbon sulphide. Action: Anodyne,

sedative.

(Camphor often greatly relieves the pain of toothache, sore joints and
muscles. It cures neuritis and allays excitement and irritation. As a nerve
sedative it is used in insomnia, convulsions and delirium tremens. It
stops sudden cold and severe catarrh and it makes a good liniment for
sprains and bruises and rheumatic affections generally. It stimulates the
heart, the organs of respiration and the vasomotor ganglia, but must be
used carefully or it will act as a depressant.

It is also used for asthma, rheumatism, and as a wash for wounds of
the eye to which it is administered after being exposed to the dew.
Camphor is used internally for its calming influence in inflammatory
conditions and externally as a counter-irritant.

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Herbs to Control Pain

CEYLON JASMINE

Flowers nodding gaily, scent in air,
Flowers poised, flowers for the hair,
Sleepy flowers, flowers told to share,
O pick me some.

T. STURGE MOORE

Botanical names: Taberna montana Caronaria, Nerium Divaricatum,
Tuberna Heybeana. Natural order: Apocynaceae. Indian name: Tagar.
Malayan name: Karata pala. Sanskrit names: Nandi, Vriksha. Symbolical
meaning: I attach myself to you. Part used: The juice and root. Natural
habitat: Cultivated in India, Tropical Asia and Australia. Constituents'
The root contains resin, extractive matter and an alkaloid. The milky
juice contains caoutchouc and resin.

JThe flowers of the Ceylon Jasmine are applied to inflamed eyes, and
the juice is a cooling and soothing application in ophthalmia and opacity
of the cornea, for which purpose it is usually mixed with lime juice.

When chewed the root cures toothache.

The shrub grows to about eight feet in height and has very sweetly
scented double-white flowers. The whole plant secretes a milky juice
which is free from acridity.

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Herbs to Control Pain

CHERRY LAUREL

My flower is sweet in smell, bitter my juice in taste
Which purges choler, and helps him that else would waste.

Botanical name: Prunus Laurocerasus. Natural order: Rosaceae. French
name: Laurier-cerise. German name: Lorbeerkirsche. Italian names:
Lauro ceraso, Ceraso di Trebisonda, Lauro mandorlo. Turkish names:
Taflan ag, Kara yemis ag. Under the dominion of: Venus. Pi rt used:
Fresh leaves. Constituents: On distillation the leaves yield Laurocerasin,
identical with amygdalin, a bitter principle, tannin, sugar, and a fer-
ment by the action of which on laurocerasin, is produced a volatile oil
consisting of benzaldehyde or prussic acid. Action: Sedative, anodyne,
antispasmodic, tonic and narcotic.

I he tonic influence of the Cherry Laurel is more apparent when it is
prescribed in chronic pulmonary complaints and it is a better remedy
during the period of convalescence than during the acute stage of the
illness.

It aids digestion and has a tonic effect on a heart that is structurally
weak owing to illness. It improves the valves and cures dilatation.

Though in common with the ordinary Laurel Tree the Cherry Laurel
contains hydrocyanic acid which gives them both their almond-like
smell, the two shrubs are not in any way related botanically.

The Cherry Laurel was introduced into England in 1629. Its white
flowers appear in April and May and these are followed by oval, dark
purple fruit about the size of a cherry arranged in grape-like clusters on
the central stalk.

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Herbs to Control Pain
CLOVES

Hail traveller in an Eastern land

Beneath my boughs a shelter seek
My graceful droopings to the ground

My hospitable wish they speak.

Botanical names: Eugenia carophyllata (Thumb), Caryophyllus aromati-
cus, Myrtus caryophyllus. Natural order: Myrtaceae. French names:
Giroflier, Geroflier. German name: Gewurznelken. Italian names: Garo-
fano, Eugenia cariofilloide. Turkish name: Karanfil ag. Indian names:
Lavanga, Long, Nara Lavanga, Laung. Arabian name: Karnaphal.
Malayan name: Karampu bunga chank. Chinese names: Tkeng-hia,
Ting-hisug. Indian name: Naelnaug. Sanskrit name: Lavanga. Part used:
The fruit, the dried flower buds, oil. Natural habitat: Malacca, East and
West Indies, Sumatra, Penang, Ceylon, Travancore. Constituents: A
heavy volatile oil, 18 per cent, carophyllin a camphor resin, 6 per cent,
carophyllic acid or eugenic acid, eugenin, a crystalline body, tannin,
woody fibre, gum, etc. Action: Antiseptic, anaesthetic, aromatic, an-
thelmintic, carminative, stomachic, spasmodic.

Ooves increase the circulation and nutrition, promote digestion and
relieve gastric and intestinal pains. They stimulate the skin, the bron-
chial mucous membrane, the salivary glands, the kidneys and the liver.

In debilitating wounds and illnesses cloves greatly assist a languid
digestion and remove nausea.

The Clove Tree is small and evergreen and the leaves are smooth,
bright green in colour and emit a delightful fragrance when bruised.
The flowers are of great beauty and have a most refreshing scent ; the
corolla of the flower is a lovely shade of peach and as it fades the calyx
turns first yellow and then red. The seeds are not allowed to ripen or they
would lose their pungency so they are beaten from the trees while they
are still in embryo in the flower.

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Herbs to Control Pain

CLUB MOSS

Or with that plant which in our dale
We call stag's horn or fox's tail,
Their rustic hats they trim;
And then as happy as the day
Those shepherds wear their time away.

WORDSWORTH

Botanical name: Lycopodium clavatum (Linn.). Natural order: Lycopo-
diaceae. Country names: Buck grass, Buckshorn, Creeping burr, Forks
and knives, Fox's claws, Foxtail, Stag's horn, Lamb's tail, Robin Hood's
Hatband, Stag horn, Todstail, Traveller's joy, Wolf's claws ; muscus
terrestris repens ; vegetable sulphur. French names: Lycopode, Griffe de
loup, Mousse terrestre. German names: Kolbenmos, Echter Barlapp,
Wolfsklau. Italian names: Licopodio, Musco terrestre, Erba Strega,
Musco clavato. Turkish name: Kurt ayagi. Symbolical meaning: Sport-
ing. Part used: Spores of the fresh plant. Natural habitat: Britain, Russia,
Germany, Switzerland. Constituents: A bland fixed oil, 48 per cent, cane
sugar, 2 per cent, volatile base (methylamine) and ash, 4 per cent.

The spores of the Club Moss are used by homoeopaths to make one of
their most important remedies. By trituration the spores become frac-
tured and release the oil globules which are the valuable part of the
plant. The oil contains alumina and phosphoric acid.

The plant has been identified with the Golden Herb or the Cloth of
Gold of the Druids and the powder is still sold in some parts of the
country as witches' sulphur. In Cornwall it is used for diseases of the
eyes, and it is gathered on the third day of the moon and prescribed
with the following words :

As Christ healed the issue of blood,
Do thou cut what thou cuttestfor good.

Old herbalists claimed that Club Moss acts as a stimulant to the sym-
pathetic nervous system, that it increases the tone of the liver, and re-
strains over-activity of the kidneys.

It relieves urinary incontinence and is an important bladder tonic,
especially when red sand is present. When urinary and digestive symp-
toms are marked, Club Moss is a good remedy, especially if the symp-
toms develop slowly and the aggravations occur between 4 and 8 p.m.

126

Herbs to Control Pain

It is a cure for excessive uric acid with severe pain in the stomach and
under the shoulder blade, a tendency to sleep after meals, bleeding piles,
nausea and irritation of the bowels with persistent constipation.

It acts specifically on the right side of the body. The powdered spores
are a useful application to skin eruptions.

The Swedes call the plant Matte Grass because it makes a large
greenish network on the ground owing to the branched stems which
cross each other.

It is found plentifully in the north of England and on the moors of
Scotland

COUNTRY BORAGE (COLEUS)

This plant is allied to the French Nettle Coleus Blumei.

Botanical names: Coleus Carnosus, coleus aromaticus, coleus amboini-

cus. Natural order: Labiatae. Indian names: Patherchur, Patharchur.

Malayan names: Ora pana, Hati-Hati. Part used: The leaves. Natural

habitat: Moluccas, cultivated in India and Ceylon.

The Country Borage has a pungent aroma.

Medicinally the juice expressed from the leaves is given to children
to cure colic and convulsions. It is used in asthma, in epilepsy and other
convulsive illnesses. Locally it relieves headaches and the irritation
caused by the stings of centipedes.

The Coleus plant is much used by Malays in the treatment of liver
and stomach complaints for which they give a decoction of the leaves.

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Herbs to Control Pain

EPHEDRA

The already scanty vegetation diminished rapidly: it consisted
chiefly of scattered bushes of a dwarf scrubby honeysuckle and
tufts of nettle, both so brittle as to be trodden into powder, and
the short leafless twiggy ephedra, a few inches higher.

HOOKER'S Himalayan Journal

Botanical names: Ephedra sinica (Stapf), Ephedra equisetina, Ephedra
shennungiana. Natural order: Gnetaceae. Chinese name: Ma Huang.
French name: Ephdre. German name: Meertraubchen. Italian name:
Uva di mare. Turkish name: Deniz iiziimu. Persian name: Huma.
Japanese name: Ma oh. Indian names: Butshur, Phok. Part used: Dried
branches and roots. Natural habitat: Western Himalayas, West Central
China, Southern Siberia, Japan, Afghanistan, Central Asia. Constituents:
Ephedrine, an alkaloid ; by oxidation it splits up into benzoic acid,
mono-methylamine and oxalic acid. Action: Alterative, diuretic, stom-
achic, tonic.

tphedra is the medicinal Ma Huang of the Chinese. It was brought to
public notice through the efforts of the Emperor Shen Nimg, fifty or
more centuries ago. It is one of the great cures for asthma, resembling
adrenalin in its action and in its effect on the unstriped muscular fibres.
The plant has a slight resemblance to equisetum.

The best Ephedra comes from Yung Yang and Chung mon. It grows
about a foot high and has yellow flowers at the top. The fruit is small,
resembling the scaly bulb of a lily, and is of sweet taste. The outer skin
of the fruit is red and contains black seeds. The root is purplish red.
According to the Botanicum Sinicum the Chinese distinguish the female
and the male Ma Huang plant. The male produces neither flower nor
fruit.

It is a common plant in Northern China and Mongolia and is found
on sandy seashores.

The plant is much used for asthma, hay fever, and in low blood pres-
sure. It is prompt in action.

Ephedrine, like atropine, can dilate the pupil of the eye. It improves
digestion, gives tone to the intestines, relieves asthma, and is a remedy
for acute muscular and articular rheumatism.

The Indians use two other species of Ephedra, E. vulgaris and E.
pachyclada.

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Herbs to Control Pain

EVENING PRIMROSE

Almost as pale as moonbeams are,
Or its companionable star,
The Evening Primrose opens anew
Its delicate blossoms to the dew:
And hermit like, shunning the light
Wastes its fair bloom upon the night.

JOHN CLARE

Botanical name: Oenothera biennis. Natural order: Onagraceae. English
names: Four o'clock, Cure all, Tree Primrose, Large rampion. French
names: Oenothere, Onagre, Herbe aux anes. German name: EchteNacht-
kerze. Italian names: Rapunzia, Erba asinina, Enagra, Stella di sera,
Enotera. Turkish name: Esek ^ig. Under the dominion of: Venus. Sym-
bolic meaning: Silent love. Part used: Flowering tops, leaves. Natural
habitat: North America, Europe. Action: Antispasmodic, sedative.

I he Evening Primrose is specifically indicated in difficult breathing
and is of therapeutic value in asthma, whooping cough, pulmonary and
gastric irritability.

The roots are edible and make a nourishing vegetable. It was intro-
duced from America in the reign of Charles I and was first adopted in
Padua. At one time it was eaten after a meal as an incentive to drinking
wine after dinner. There is a very lovely variety of this plant called the
Trumpet Evening Primrose which is found in the prairies of the West
and Middle- West of America. The petals almost form a square when
open. As the petals bloom in succession on the stem the effect of colour
is very attractive because the buds which are a rosy purple show the
green stigmas emerging at the tip and the full-blown flower has crinkled
silky petals bent back to reveal eight anthers bursting with yellow pollen.

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Herbs to Control Pain

FIGWORTS

During the siege of Rochelle by Richelieu's army in 1628 the
roots of the water figwort supplied sustenance to the garrison
and in consequence the plant is known best in France under the
name Herbe du Siege.

Botanical names: (Knotted) Scrophularia Nodosa, (Water) Scrophularia
aquatica. Natural order: Scrophulariaceae. French names: (Knotted)
Scrofulure des bois, (Water) Herbe du Siege, 3crofulaire aquatique.
German names: (Knotted) Knotige Braunwurz, (Water) Wasser Braun-
wurz. Italian names: (Knotted) Scrofularia maggiore, (Water) Scro-
fularia Acquatica. Part used: Herb, leaves. Natural habitat: Europe,

including England.

Both Figworts have obtained a good reputation as vulneraries. They
can be made into decoctions or into ointments for the relief of painful
wounds and swellings and are applied externally. Fomentations of
figwort made from the leaves relieve both pain and swelling in a short
space of time and can be applied not only to wounds, but to piles and
swollen glands.

Other varieties of the plant found in England are the Yellow Figwort,
S. Yernalis, the Balm-leaved Figwort, S. Scorodonia, and the purple
flowered S. Ehrharti, known as Ehrhart's Figwort and found in certain
parts of England and Scotland. The Knotted Figwort which is commonly
used by herbalists is conspicuous for the knobs on its roots.

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Herbs to Control Pain

FIREWEED

It is of ten found growing amongst peppermint in America and
when distilled with it causes deterioration of the oil.

Botanical names: Senecio hieracifolius (Linn.), Erechtite hieracifolia
(Linn.), Cineraria Canadensis (Watter). Natural order: Compositae.
Part used: Herb, oil. Natural habitat: Newfoundland, Canada to South
America. Constituents: A peculiar volatile oil, oil of Erechtites obtained
by distilling the plant with water. It is said to consist almost entirely of
terpenes boiling between 175 and 310 degrees F. Action: Astringent,
antispasmodic, alterative, emetic, tonic.

Fireweed is a name given to several plants in England because their
leaves contain enough moisture to induce fermentation to fire a rick.
The Plantago media is called Fireweed for this reason in Gloucester-
shire and Hertfordshire, and the Scabiosa succisa goes by the same name
in other parts of the country. Whether this applies to the American Fire-
weed I do not know. It is said to have acquired its name from its habit
of growing on newly burnt fallow.

It is a troublesome weed in the United States. It has hairy leaves and
white or yellow flowers growing in corymbose panicles, with oblong
fruits crowned with a silky pappus either white or purple in colour. The
whole plant is succulent.

It is primarily a remedy for haemorrhages from any part of the body,
particularly the lungs. It allays colic spasms and hiccoughs. Both the
herb and the oil have been used to allay the pain of piles and, applied
externally, the oil gives great relief in gout, sciatica and rheumatism.

A tincture of the plant can be made by pounding the herb and mixing
it with twice the amount of alcohol by weight, one-sixth being added
first. It should be stirred, put into a well-stoppered bottle, and left for
eight days in a dark cool place.

Applied externally the oil relieves pain.

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Herbs to Control Pain

FISH-CATCHING CORAL TREE

// increases the secretions of the skin and the salivary glands.

Botanical name: Piscidia Erythrina. Natural order: Leguminosae. Part

used: The root bark. Natural habitat: West Indies, common in Jamaica

and in arid districts on the mountains of the Antilles. Constituents:

Piscidin is the active principle.

Piscidia is used in India as a substitute for opium and though in-
ferior to it as an anodyne, it has not the disturbing after effects of
opium. It does not produce headaches, nervous symptoms or constipa-
tion, and its hypnotic action is more decisive than opium. It augments
the arterial tension, stimulates the spinal cord, strengthens the heart's
action and increases the secretion of the skin and the salivary glands.

It is used locally to cure toothache, and is given as a nerve sedative in
insomnia, painful neuralgia and sciatica, and to allay the cough in asthma,
bronchitis and tuberculosis of the lungs.

FIVE-LEAVED CHASTE TREE

In Perak a drop of Lenggundi juice is squeezed into a man's
eye when he is supposed to be possessed of a devil.

BURKILL and HANIFF, Malay Village Medicine

Botanical names: Vitex negundo, Vitex paniculata, Vitex trifolia. Natural
order: Verbenaceae. Arabian names: Athalaka, Fanjangasht, Ziikham-
satil. Indian names: Katari, Sanbhalu, Nishinda, Nirgundi. Persian
names: Panjangusht, Sishan. Malayan names: Ban-nuichi, Lenggundi-
legundi. Sanskrit names: Niragundi, Sindhuvara. Part used: Leaves,
fruit, root. Natural habitat: Ceylon, India. Constituents: The leaves con-
tain an essential oil and resin ; the fruit contains an acid resin, an astrin-
gent organic acid, malic acid, an alkaloid and a colouring matter.
Action: Alterative, anodyne, aromatic, bitter tonic.

Vitex Negundo and its close relation, the Indian Pepper tree, V. tri-
folia, are allied to the Chaste tree, Vitex Agnus Castus.

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Herbs to Control Pain

All three plants are of great use medicinally and have a long curative
history behind them.

The Vitex Negundo is used internally and externally for colic, rheuma-
tism and dyspepsia. The fruit reduces an enlarged spleen and is a cure
for dropsy. The leaves are used to preserve books from damage by
insects, by placing them between the pages of the books.

The Indian Pepper tree, V. trifolia, which the Malayans call Legundi,
is found in /vustralia and all through Southern Asia. It has pale blue
flowers and very aromatic leaves which have discutient properties. In
Sumatra they are used instead of Peruvian bark to subdue fever and also
to disperse swellings. The plant is taken internally and used externally
for poultices and fomentations.

It is said to be useful in paralysis.

FIVE-LEAVED CLEOME TREE

Cold herb es in the garden of agues that burne,
That overstrong heate to good temper may turne.

IUSSER

Botanical names: Cleome Pentaphylla, Gynandropsis Pentaphylla.
Natural order: Capparidaceae. Country names: Spider flower, Bastard
mustard. French names: Cleome, Brede caya. German names: Kleome,
Senfkapper. Italian name: Cleome. Turkish names: Kleom, Tamalika.
Indian names: Kamal, Katkoduku, Shada-kurburija, Kanphuti, Karaila.
Part used: Herb, seeds. Natural habitat: India and other tropical coun-
tries. Action: Antispasmodic, carminative, sudorific.

Oeome has a strong smell something like Asafoetidathe seeds are
hot and are used as a substitute for mustard. They arc given in hysteria,
fevers, bilious complaints and convulsions.

The juice from the leaves mixed with salt cures earache and the herb
boiled in oil is much used as an application to leprous eruptions.

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GARDENIA

Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too,
Unconscious of a less propitious clime
There bloom exotic beauty, warm and snug,
While the winds whistle, and the snows descend.

- COWPER

Botanical names: Gardenia gummifera, Gardenia Resinifera, Gardenia
Arborea, Gardenia Lucida, Gardenia Campanulata, Gardenia Florida,
Gardenia Uliginosa. Natural order: Rubiaceae. French names: Gar-
ddnie, Jasmin du Cap. German names: Gardenie, Jasminglanz. Italian
names: Gardenia, Gelsomino del Capo. Turkish name: Gardenia. Arab-
ian names: Kala-loxada, Kimk-kham. Indian name: Dika-male. Malayan
name: Bunga China. Sanskrit names: Hingu nadika, Pindahva. Sym-
bolical meaning: Refinement. Part used: The resinous exudation from
the fruit, and root. Natural habitat: Tropical Asia and South Africa.
Constituents: Gardenin, a crystalline resin of golden colour, and another
resin soft and greenish. Action: Alterative, antiperiodic, anthelmintic,

antispasmodic.

All the Gardenias have the same properties.

The Gardenia is used in intermittent fevers, chronic skin complaints
and indigestion.

The root of Gardenia Florida is prescribed in hysteria.

In Malaya the leaves are made into a poultice to relieve headache, and
decoctions of the leaves and root are given in all fevers.

In England, Gardenias can only be grown in a greenhouse, but they
are a good deal cultivated under glass on account of the beauty of their
white wax-like flowers.

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Herbs to Control Pain

GELSEMIUM

It flowers in March and April and some years a second time.
Although its support somewhat regulates the extent of the growth
of the climbing vine, still it extends beyond the limits of the
support in such a manner as to form beautiful trails and fringes;
this occurs even above trees that are over fifty feet high. The
beautiful yellow flowers, the odour of which is said to be narcotic,
yieli a delightful perfume.

C. F. MILLSPAUGH

Botanical names: Gelsemium nitidum, Gelsemium semper virens. Natural
order: Loganiaceae. Country names: Yellow Jasmine, Wild woodbine,
Caroline Jasmine. French names: Gelsemie luisante, Jasmin de la Caro-
line. German names: Gelber jasmin, Glanzende jasminbignonie. Italian
name: Gelsomino della Carolina. Turkish name: Sari yasemin. Symboli-
cal meaning: Grace and elegance. Part used: Root. Natural habitat:
North America, and on sea coast from Virginia to Florida and Mexico.
Constituents: Gelsemine, gelsemic acid, gelseminine, volatile oil, gum,

starch, resin.

Cjelsemium is a better medicine for children than adults, but it is almost
a specific for facial neuralgia in adults as well as children.

It is specially indicated in fever accompanied by nervous irritation.
It has a powerful action upon the nervous system, and is a good remedy
in influenza, and also in muscular weakness and in lack of muscular co-
ordination.

It soothes an irritable heart and is an admirable remedy in nervous
debility due to prostrating wounds and inflammation. It is prescribed
with success in nephritis and palpitation.

It is antagonized by strychnine, nux vomica, digitalis, ammonia and
alcohol.

Gelsemium is often called the chloroform of herbs. It has a poisonous
principle and is better used in a homoeopathic form. A much more
poisonous species grows in China, Gelsemium elegans, and is known at
Hong Kong under the name of Nu Mass Kiang and Tuan ch'ang ts'ad.
This is the Kon wen of Chinese herbalists.

Though called Yellow jasmine the plant is not really one of the true

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Herbs to Control Pain

jasmines, though it has a climbing habit. The flowers are bright yellow,
funnel shaped, very decorative and strongly scented. They make a
delicious perfume when it is extracted.

The flowers are said to be narcotic. John Parkinson grew the plant
in his Holborn garden, but it does not usually flower in England
and it must not be confused with the Yellow jasmine of our gardens.

Ignatia, nux vomica, and the Indian pink, Spigelia, belong to the
same order of plants.

GLADWIN

The rankest compound of villanous smell that ever offended
nostril.

SHAKESPEARE

Botanical name: Iris foetidissima (Linn.). Natural order: Iridaceae.
Country names: Dragon flower, Gladden, Glading root, Stinking Glad-
don, Wild Ireos, Poison berry, Roast beef plant, Blue Seggin, Snake's
'fiddles, Snake's food, Snake's poison, Spurgewort. French names: Iris
fetide, Iris gigot, Xyris puant. German names: Korallenschwertcl,
Stinkende Iris. Italian names: Giglio dei morti, Flamma fetida, Iride
fetida, Ricottaria, Iride puzzolerite. Turkish name: Fena kokulu kuzgun
kilici. Under the dominion of: Saturn. Part used: Root. Natural habitat:
South- Western counties of England. Action: Anodyne, antispasmodic.

The stinking Iris, known to Theophrastus in the fourth century,
B.C., has lately become fashionable in English gardens because of its
ornamental seed vessels which open in the autumn and disclose orange
red berries, which make a useful decoration at Christmas.

Its flowers are quite inconspicuous and in this respect it does not com-
pare at all favourably with other irises. It grows best in woods and in
damp places, and on account of its unpleasant scent is generally called
Stinking Gladwin.

It cures cramps and convulsions, relieves the pain of gout and sciatica
and was at one time infused in ale and used by country people 'to purge
corrupt phlegm and choler'.

136

GLADWIN IRIS FOETIDISSIMA

Herbs to Control Pain

GOLDEN SEAL

Acts especially on mucous membranes.

BOERICKE

Botanical name: Hydrastis Canadensis (Linn.). Natural order: Ranuncu-
laceae. Country names: Orange root, Indian Paint, Jaundice root, Ground
raspberry, Wild Curcuma, Yellow puccoon, Turmeric root, Indian dye,
Yellow >aint, Eye root, Eye balm, Warnera. Part used: Root. Natural
habitat: Canada and the following states of U.S.A. : Ohio, Kentucky,
West Virginia, Indiana, New York. Constituents: Hydrastine, berberine,
xanthopuccine, canadine, starch, sugar, resin and affluorescent com-
pound. Action: Antiseptic, alterative, aperient, antiperiodic, diuretic.

(jrolden Seal stimulates the nervous system rather in the same way as
strychnine and acts as a stimulant to the circulation, giving tone to the
heart's action.

Its most important action is on the mucous membranes of the stomach
and intestines. It is a remedy of great value in catarrhal gastritis, catarrh
of the bladder, hepatic congestion and inflammation of the eyes. It
often overcomes chronic constipation, uterine haemorrhages, rectal
fissures and anal prolapse and is a cure for some skin diseases ; but it
should not be taken too long because, by poisoning the protoplasm, it
may arrest the movement of the white corpuscles.

It is a perennial plant with fruit and leaves not unlike the raspberry.
Its juice has been used as a lovely yellow dye. Mixed with indigo it
makes a good green.

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Herbs to Control Pain

GOUTWEED

Neither is it to be supposed Goutwort hath its name for nothing
but upon experiment to heal the gout and sciatica; as also joint
aches, and other cold griefs. The very bearing of it about one
eases the pains of the gout 9 and defends him that bears it from
the disease.

NICHOLAS CULPEPER

Botanical name: Aegopodium podagraria (Linn.;. Natural order: Um-
belliferae. Country names: Ashweed, Bishopsweed, Bishopswort, Bishops
elder, Masterwort, Pigweed, White ash, Ground ash, Achweed, Aise,
Aiseweed, Aishweed, Wild alder, Axweed, Ayshweed, Dogeller, Far-
mer's plague, Garden plague, Goatweed, Goutwort, Herb Gerard,
Jack-jump-about, Jump-about, Kesh, Setfoil, Weyl-eshr. French names:
Egopode, Pied de ch&vre, Herbe aux goutteux. German names: Gemeiner
giersch, Podagra-kraut. Italian names: Egopodo, Erba gerarda. Turkish
name: Keci ayagi. Under the dominion of: Saturn. Part used: Herb, root.
Natural habitat: Russia, Asia, Europe, but not in Spain, introduced into
England. Action: Sedative.

Cjroutweed is a sedative used to allay painful gouty joints and was at
one time considered a specific for gout and sciatica. It grows like a weed
and is found near monasteries and ecclesiastical buildings, having been
introduced by the monks, and cultivated by them in their herb gardens.
It was often called Bishop's weed.

It has a creeping root and spreads quickly in moist places. The stems
bear large umbels of white flowers without involucres and the leaves of
the stems are pointed and sharply toothed.

In Sweden and Switzerland the young leaves are eaten as a green
vegetable.

They make a good hot application for sciatica, gout, and pain gen-
erally.

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Herbs to Control Pain

GRINDELIA

Grindelia has a more permanent action on asthmatic breathing
than other plants.

ELLINGWOOD

Botanical nu:nes: Grindelia camporum (Greene), Grindelia cuneifoca.
Grindelia squarrosa. Natural order: Compositae. Country names: Gum
plant, Hardy grindelia, California gum plant, Scaly grindelia, Wild sun-
flower. Part used: D:ied leaves and flowering tops. Natural habitat:
California and the Western Coast of the United States of America,
Constituents: 'A resin appears on the involucres early in the growth of
the plant, which is afterwards found in the leaves, which with a volatile
oil, contains the larger portion of the medicinal properties of the plant.
The resin is slowly soluble in water and freely soluble in ether and
alcohol. There are medicinal properties, however, which alcohol does
not dissolve an aqueous solution rendered alkaline extracts the larger
portion of the medicinal properties' (Ellingwood). Action: Anti-asth-
matic, diuretic, tonic.

In their early growth most of the species of Grindelia shrubs are
covered with a kind of varnish. The flowers grow in solitary yellow
heads with discs the same colour. The plant has an aromatic scent the
leaves are coarsely toothed and have a clasping base. The involucres are
covered with a milk-white resinous exudation in the early spring.

Grindelia relieves the irregular heart action in asthmatic subjects and
if persevered with overcomes all the symptoms, but it must be given in
frequent and rather large doses.

It combines with yerba santa, lobelia, sundew or ipecacuanha.

It greatly relieves hay fever and antidotes the poisonous stings of
insects. It is used as a sedative in chronic cystitis and to allay the pain of
cancer of the stomach. It soothes the acute pain and irritation of skin
diseases and ulcerations in the form of a lotion (1 to 9) which also can
be used for burns.

Inability to breathe when lying down is one of its indications for use.

There is practically no difference between Grindelia robusta and
Grindelia squarrosa.

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Herbs to Control Pain

GUELDER ROSE

Here glows

The crimson berry of the Guelder rose

Whose vine-like leaves have caught a sanguine stain

From the October sun.

Botanical name: Viburnum opulus (Linn.). Natural order: Capri r oliaceae,
Country names: Cherrywood, Dogberry, Dog e!der, Dog rowan tree.
Dog tree, Marsh elder, White dogwood, Gadrise, Gatten, Gatter bush,
Gatteridge, Gelders rose, Golden ball, Gottridge, King's crown, Love
roses, May rose, May tosty, Mugwet, Ople tree, Parnell, Pincushion
tree, Prim, Red elder, Rose elder, Royal elder, Skaw dower, Snowball,
Stink tree, Tisty tosty, Whipcrop, Whitten tree, Whitsuntide bosses.
French names: Obier, Opier, Viorne, Sureau d'eau, Boule de neige. Ger-
man names: Schneeball Schlinge, Schingbaum. Italian names: Viburno
loppo, Loppo, Palla di neve, Sambuchello, Viburno roseo. Turkish
name: Dagdigan ag. Russian name: Gordowina. Symbolical meaning:
Winter, age. Part used: Bark. Natural habitat: England and North
America. Constituents: A brown resin, viburnin, valexianic, tannic,
oxalic, citric and malic acids, sugar, earthy carbonates and phosphates.
Action: Antispasmodic, nervine, sedative.

The wild Guelder rose is like the Elder tree in habit the fruit which
was known to Chaucer as Goitre berries is used in Canada as a substi-
tute for cranberries and the wood is used for making skewers.

The tree was first cultivated in Holland, hence the name Guelder rose
but it has now become almost part of the English landscape, rivalling
the maple in the colour of its leaf, and reigning supreme on account of
the beauty of its autumn berries.

The cultivated Guelder rose is without berries and would have no
attraction if it were not for its snowball heads of flowers.

Some of the Chinese varieties which have been introduced in the last
thirty years have lovely evergreen foliage such for instance as the V.
Burkwoodii which is as fragrant as the V. Carlesii. The V. Davidii has
beautiful turquoise blue fruits, the V. Henryi also has decorative berries
and a most lovely foliage.

In medicine the wild Guelder rose is an important remedy in curing
cramps. Cramp bark is one of its popular names. Another Guelder-rose,

140

GUELDER ROSE VIBURNUM OPULUS

Herbs to Control Pain

the Viburnum Prunifolium, has the same properties. It goes by the name
of Black haw and is a useful remedy in hysteria and in sympathetic
disturbances of the heart and nervous system. Ellingwood says, 'It
directly influences the action of the heart as it lowers arterial pressure
to a marked degree'.

The Viburnum-foetidium is used in India and Hindu women hang the
plant outside their door to keep away evil spirits.

HORSE CHESTNUT

In its honour prodigal nature weaves

A princely vestment, and profusely showers

O'er its green masses of broad palmy leaves
Ten thousand waxen pyramidal flowers:

And gay and gracefully its head it heaves
Into the air, and monarch-like it towers.

HOWITT

Botanical name: Aesculus hippocastanum. Natural order: Sapindaceae.
Country names: Hippocastanum vulgare : Bongay, Conquerors, Knuckle-
bleeders, Konker tree, Lambs, Oblionker tree. French names: Aescuie,
Marronier d'Inde, Chataigne de cheval. German names: Gemeine Ross-
kastanie. Italian names: Eschilo, Castagno ippocastano, Marrone
d'India. Turkish name: Yabani kestane. Under the dominion of: Jupiter.
Symbolical meaning: Do me justice. Part used: Bark, seeds and fruit.
Natural habitat: Northern and Central Asia. Constituents: A poisonous
principle acting like nux vomica. Action: Febrifuge, narcotic, tonic.

I he Horse Chestnut is not even distantly connected with the Sweet
Chestnut though its nuts are very similar in appearance. The nuts are
sometimes used as fodder for horses and cattle, but they are not fit for
human use as the Sweet Chestnuts are.

In medicine, the tree, which was brought to England in the sixteenth
century, has a specific influence on the capillary circulation of the rectum.
It relieves the pain of haemorrhoids and cures them when they are caused
by congestion of the pelvic or portal circulation. 'Fullness' in different
parts of the body is one of its indications for use. It actively stimulates
the nerves by acting on the cerebro-spinal system.

A decoction of the bark is drunk in intermittent fevers and used
externally as an application for painful ulcers.

The American Buckeye tree, Aesculus glabra, has similar properties.

141

Herbs to Control Pain

IPECACUANHA

Coughing in a shady grove
Sat my Juliana.
Lozenges I gave my love,
Ipecacuanha

Full twenty from the lozenge box
The greedy nymph did pick ;
Then sighing sadly, said to me
My Damon, I am sick.

GEORGE CANNING

Botanical name: Psychotria Ipecacuanha. Natural order: Rubiaceae.
Other names: Caphaelis ipecacuanha, Carthagena ipecacuanha. French
name: Ipecacuanha. German name: Ipecacuanhapflanze. Italian name:
Ipecacuana. Turkish names: Altum koku, ipekakuana. Part used: The
dried root. Natural habitat: Brazil, India. Constituents: An active prin-
ciple, an alkaloid, emetine, cephaelina, ipecacuahnic acid, allied to
catechin, saccharose, starch, fatty or oily matter, cholin, resin, pectin.
Action: Antispasmodic, cholagogue, diaphoretic, emetic, expectorant,
haemostatic, sternutatory.

Ipecacuanha is almost a specific in dysentery, but it is also used as a
cardiac sedative in fevers and as a stimulant to the mucous membranes
in pneumonia, consumption and bronchial catarrh.

Though known in Brazil for centuries this plant was unknown in
Europe till 1672, when Helvetius used it as the basis of a patent medicine
for dysentery, which was bought from him by the French Government
for a large sum, and the formula made public.

142

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KNAWEL SCHLERANTHUS ANNUUS

Herbs to Control Pain

KNAWEL

In some lands the roots are attacked by the insect called the
Scarlet Grain of Poland (Coccus polonicus). This yields a very
nice crimson tint, and on this account the plant was once collected
in large quantities in the Ukraine, and in Lithuania, for dyeing
red.

ANNE PRATT

Botanical name: Scleranthus annuus (Linn.). Natural order: Caryo-
phyllaceae (Sclerantheae). Country names: German Knotgrass, Annual
knawel. French names: Gnavellc annuelle, Scleranthe. German names:
Sommerknauel, Wilde knauelle. Italian names' Scleranto, Centigrani.
Dutch name: Jaarlykys-hardbbem. Swedish name: Tandgras. Turkish
name: Knavel otu. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, including

Great Britain.

The Annual Knawel and the Perennial are both indigenous to Great

Britain. The former is common in cornfields. It grows about three

^et high and has awl-shaped leaves and green flowers which grow in

rminal clusters, or in the forks of the stems. The plant prefers gravel

r a sandy soil. The Perennial Knawel is common in Norfolk and

^uffolk, but is found in other counties.
A decoction of the plant is used by the Swedes to cure toothache. They

inhale the hot infusion.

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Herbs to Control Pain

LABURNUM

And In the season of perfect and palest beauty
Pear blossoms broke and the lilac's waxen cones

And a tranced laburnum trailing its veils of yellow
Tenderly drooped over the ivied stones.

SIR JOHN SQUIRE

Botanical names: Cytisus laburnum (Linn.), Laburnum aifagyroides
(Medic). Natural order: Leguminosae. Country names: Base tree, French
ash, He broom, Golden chain, Ear rings, French broom, Golden drops,
Golden shower, Hoburn Saugh, Lady's fingers, Peatree, Seyny tree,
Watch guards. French names: Faux Sbenier, Laburne, Pluie d'or. Ger-
man names: Goldregen, Falscher Ebenbaum. Italian name: Ebano falso.
Turkish name: Yalan abanos ag. Symbolical meaning: Forsaken, Part
used: Roots, seeds. Natural habitat: Switzerland and mountains of
France and Germany and cultivated everywhere. Action: Anti-asth-
matic, antispasmodic, stimulant.

1 he Laburnum was introduced into English gardens at the end of
the sixteenth century and was grown by Gerard in his Holborn garden
in 1596.

A poisonous principle is contained in the seeds and roots, which have
a sweet taste rather like liquorice. The seeds have been found useful in
whooping cough and asthma, but must be used with care.

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Herbs to Control Pain
LIPPIA

No daintie flower or herb that grows on grounds
No arbor ett with painted blossoms drest
And smelling sweete but there it might be found
To heed out fair e and throw her sweete smells all around.

SPENSER

Botanical name: Lippia dulcis (Trev.). Natural order: Verbenaceae.

Country names: Yerbe dulce, Mexican lippia. Part used: Leaves, flowers,

stalks. Natural habitat: Mexico, Cuba, Central America, Columbia.

Lippia dulcis must not be confused with Lippia citriodora, the lemon-
scented verbena of our gardens, though it belongs to the same family
and has a lemon-like scent and taste. It is a creeping shrub covered with
minute glandular hairs and is in bloom from November till March.

It has a peculiar sedative effect on the mucous membranes of the
bronchial tubes and the post nasal region. It cures a barking winter
cough without secretion and is a good remedy in asthma and chronic
bronchitis.

The lemon verbena, Lippia citriodora, has rather similar properties,
but is particularly used as a sedative for the digestive organs. It is a good
herb for fevers from any cause.

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Herbs to Control Pain

LOBELIA

Lobelia attired like a queen in her pride.

Botanical name: Lobelia inflata. Natural order: Lobeliaceae. Country
names: Bladder podded lobelia, Indian tobacco, Wild tobacco, Emetic
herb, Asthma weed, Vomitwort, Gagroot, Pukeweed. French names:
Lobelie enfl6e, Tabac indien. German names: Indianischer Tabak, Spal-
glockchen. Italian names: Lobelia, Tabacco indiano. TurkLh names:
Lobelia, Frengi otu. Symbolical meaning: Distinction. Part used: The
dried herb collected after a portion of the capsules has become inflated.
Natural habitat: North America. Constituents: Lobeline, a narcotic
principle, Lobelacrin, an acrid principle, Inflatin, lobelic acid, resin,
wax, gum, fixed oil, lignin, salts of calcium, potassium and iron, lobeline,
lobelinium. Action: Antispasmodic, expectorant, diaphoretic, Sialo-

gogue.

Lobelia is a very useful antispasmodic remedy in attacks of asthma,
whooping cough and bronchial catarrh. It is a great relaxant and in-
creases the flow of saliva and of gastric mucus.

The natives smoke the leaves of lobelia in the same way as tobacco.

The plant is an annual weed with small pale blue flowers growing in
long racemes followed by inflated capsules.

Cardinal's lobelia and other species cultivated in English gardens be-
long to the same family. Lobelia dortmanna is indigenous to England.
But the Cardinal's lobelia, L. Cardinalia, with vermilion flowers and the
L. Syphilitica with large and intensely blue flowers are both used in
medicine.

The L. Purpureum has been known to cure paralysis of the tongue.

In herbal medicine Samuel Thompson was the first exponent of Lo-
belia inflata, but it was known in New England through the American
Indians long before his time. Herbalists have never considered it to be
poisonous if used in its entirety. Nevertheless, it has recently been added
to the poison list, and herbalists who used it for a hundred years before
it was adopted as an orthodox medicine are thus deprived of one of
their best medicines. Furthermore, herbalists through their long experi-
ence understand the therapeutic principles of lobelia far better than
those who only use its alkaloids.

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Herbs to Control Pain
LOVAGE

'// is an herb of the sun, under thesignTaurus. If Saturn offend
the throat (as he always doth if he be the occasion of the malady,
and in Taurus is the genesis) this is your cure'

-NICHOLAS CULPEPER

Botanical names: Ligusticum Levisticum (Linn.), Levisticum officinale
(Koch), Carum copticum, Carum Ajowan, Ptychotis Ajowan, Ligusti-
cum ajawain. Natural order: Umbelliferae. Other names: Bishop's weed,
King's cumin. French names: Ammi, Sison. German names: Agyptischer
Kiimmel, HerrenkummeL Italian names: Sisone, Ammi. Turkish names:
Emmus, Misir anisonu. Arabian names: Kamun-el-mulfiki, Amus.
Indian names: Ajwain, Juvan, Baro-Joan, Ova, Ajvayan, Ajamoda.
Malayan names: Homama Azamoda. Sanskrit names: Yavani, Ajmodam,
Yavanika. Persian names: Zhinyan, Nankhah. Under the dominion of:
The sun. Part used: Fruit. Natural habitat: India, Southern Asia, Africa,
countries of Mediterranean, Greece, Balkans, mountains of south of
France. Constituents: An aromatic volatile oil and a crystalline sub-
stance which collects on the surface of distilled water and is identical
with thymol, but is called in India, Ajawankaphul. Action: Antispas-
modic, antiseptic, carminative, stimulant.

Lovage combines the stimulating properties of capsicum with the
bitter tonic properties of chiretta and the antispasmodic properties of
Asafoetida. It is of great value in cholera for which it is much used in
the East. It is a good remedy for hysteria, bronchitis, and asthma. As a
local application it relieves rheumatic pains and, being antiseptic and
germicide, it removes the odour of ulcerated surfaces when applied
externally, and assists wounds to heal.

Lovage is much more universal in India than in other countries,
though it is one of the herbs that was generally cultivated in England in
the fourteenth century and still bears the name Old English Lovage. It
is a hardy perennial not unlike the garden angelica and has a strong
aromatic smell and taste. The foliage is ornamental and the flowers grow
in white umbels and appear in July. It is common on the sea coasts of
Scotland and Northumberland, but is not regarded as indigenous to
Great Britain.

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MALABAR NUT

The leaves are often smoked in asthma.

KATRAK

Botanical name: Adhatoda vasica (Nees), Justicia adhatoda (Linn.).
Natural order: Acanthaceae. French names: Carmantiue, Noyer de
Malabar, Justicie. German names: Malabarische Muss, Malabarnuss.
Italian names: Noce del Malabar, Justicia-arborescente. Turkish names:
Malabar ceviz ag. Part used: Flowers, leaves, fruit, root. Natural
habitat: India. Constituents: An odorous principle, fat, resin, a bitter
alkaloid, vasacine, an organic acid, adhatodic acid, sugar, gum, colour-
ing matter, salts. Action: Alterative, antispasmodic, expectorant.

1 he leaves of the Malabar Nut Tree are smoked to relieve asthma, and
infusions of all parts of the plant are prescribed for asthma, bronchitis
and lung complaints. The flowers and roots are prescribed with ginger
and sitab in consumption, asthma, chronic bronchitis, rheumatism and
ague

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MARSH MARIGOLD

The honeysuckle round the porch has wov'n its wavy bowers,
And by the meadow trenches blow the faint sweet cuckoo flowers,
And the wild marsh marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows grey.

TENNYSON

Botanical name: Caltha palustris. Natural order: Ranunculaceae. Coun-
try names: Bassinet, Blobs, Boots, Bull flower, Butter blob, Great Butter
flower, Carlock cups, Brave celandine, Chirms, Clout, Cow cranes,
Crazy, Crazy Bet, Crow cranes, Crow flower, Drunkard, Fire o' Gold,
Git-cup, Gitty cup, Water goggles, Golden cup, Golland, Gowan,
Gollin, Gowlan, Halcups, John Georges, Johnny Cranes, Jonette, King
cob, King cups, Mare blob, Meadow bout, Meadow bright, Mire blob,
Moll blob, Publicans, Publicans and Sinners, Soldier's buttons, Spousa
solis, Verrucaria. French names: Calthe, Populage, Souci d'eau. German
name: Sumpfdotterblume. Italian names: Calta palustre, Farfarugio,
Margheritina gialla. Turkish name: Nargiz marzagi. Symbolical mean-
ing: Desire of riches. Part used: Whole plant. Natural habitat: Europe,

including Britain.

The Marsh marigold has several uses in medicine. It is good for
anaemia and also for epilepsy. A tincture of the whole plant when adminis-
tered has proved successful in cases of epilepsy, and cures have 'also
resulted when a vase of the flowers has been placed in the bedroom of
the patient.

The beautiful thick large golden flowers make them decorative in-
doors and out, but they only grow in marshy places.

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Inerbs to Control Pain

MEADOW SAFFRON

. . . or tempered every baleful juice
Which poisonous Colchian glebes produce.

HORACE

Botanical name: Colchicum autumnale (Linn.). Natural o^der: Liliaceae.
Country names: Naked boys, Naked ladies, Upstart, Purple Michaelmas,
Naked virgins, Rams, Autumn Crocus, Fog crocus, Meado^v crocus,
Son-before-the-father, Boy's starnaked, Tube mot. French names: Tue
chien, Mort aux chiens, Colchique d'automne, Safran batard. German
names: Herbstzeitlose, Mottensafran. Italian names: Efemero, Dama
nuda, Morte dei cani, Zafferano dei prati, Colchico florido, Croco dei
prate. Turkish name: Surincan. Symbolical meaning: My best days are
past. Part used: Seeds, bulb. Natural habitat: Great Britain meadows
or limestone. Constituents: Colchicine, colchico resin, beta colchico
resin, a trace of veratrine, fat, gum, starch, sugar, tannin and gatric
acid. Colchicine, an alkaloid, is intensely bitter and poisonous and is a
weak base. Its salts are decomposed by water. It is the methylic ether of
colchicum obtained by the action of mineral acids or acetic acid on
colchicum. A white amorphous or yellowish micro-crystalline powder,
darkening on exposure to light; odour saffron-like, and taste bitter;
soluble in water, alcohol and chloroform ; insoluble in ether. Solvents:
Alcohol, vinegar, wine. Action: Anti-rheumatic, cathartic, emetic.

JVledicinally Colchicum combines well with gelsemium and black
cohosh.

The Meadow Saffron is said to be the Hermodactyls of the Arabians,
that soothing medicine so famous for controlling pains in the joints, its
botanical name of Colchicum being derived from Colchis a country
on the Black Sea.

The flowers appear in the late summer and autumn when the sun's
powers are waning. They resemble the flowers of a crocus, are pale
mauve in colour ; the ripening of the seeds is an unusual process. The
ovary which is hidden in the tube of the flower remains there right
through the winter. In the spring it rises on a fruit stalk and ripens
above the soil the leaves appear at the same time.

Medicinally it increases the secretions of the skin and kidneys and
also the flow of bile. The plant is still a specific for gout in France, and is
used in England in patent medicines. It is undoubtedly a very effective

150

*<<<$

'Sm&x-'Am':

NAVELWORT COTYLEDON UMBILICUS

Herbs to Control Pain

medicine for gout, but it is not a safe one unless used in homoeopathic
doses, and its use should not be prolonged. It has been used successfully
in rheumatic carditis.

It has a specific action on the muscular tissues, the periosteum and the
synovial membranes of the joints.

NAVELWORT

Next spotted sanicle and navelwort,
Though both have signs of blood, forsake the Court
Moonwort goes next, borne on its reddish stalk
And after that does gently Cranesbill walk.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical names: Cotyledon Umbilicus, Cotyledon Lusitanica. Natural
order: Crassulaceae. Country names: Kidneywort, pennywort, wall
pennywort, Penny pie, wall pennyroyal. French names: Cot ombillique,
Cotyledon, Nombril de Venus. German names: Gemeines Nabelkraut,
Venus Nabelkraut. Italian names: Orecchio d'abate, ombrellini, Brba
bellica, ombellico di Venere, Cappelloni. Turkish names: Saksi gtizeti,
Ver g6begi. Under dominion of: Venus. Part used: Herb, Juice. Natural
habitat: Europe, including England, chiefly found in the west of England.

JThe succulent Navelwort which often goes by the name of Kidneywort
or Pennywort is an old-fashioned healing herb which had a great reputa-
tion in the seventeenth century. Like the stonecrops it requires little soil
and encouragement to live and prosper, and its leaves contain a con-
siderable amount of nutriment and moisture. It is cooling to the blood
and makes a capital local application for burns, scalds and affections
of the eyes.

The juice or distilled water was a great remedy for erysipelas in the
days when it was called St. Anthony's Fire.

It has soothing and healing properties and can be used on open wounds
or taken internally to allay inflammation of the liver and spleen. It was
an old remedy for epilepsy in the west of England where it is still chiefly
found.

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PAEONY

Nor do I go in Phy sicks beaten road

By other plants before me trod

But in a way worthy a healing God

1 never with the foe come hand to hand 9

My odour death does at a distance send;

Hung round the neck, strait, without more ado

I put to flight the rampant foe

I neither come (what think you Caejar now)

Nor view the camp and yet can overthrow.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical name: Paeonia officinalis. Natural order: Ranunculaceae.
Country name: Piney. French names: Pivoine, Peonie. German names:
Echte Pfingstrose, Paeonie. Italian names: Peonia, Erba santa Rosa,
Rosa del Madonna. Turkish names: Ayt gulu, Sakayik. Indianname:Ud
salap. Persian name: Fawania Aod-el-Salib. Symbolical meaning: Shame.
Part used: The tubers. Natural habitat: Temperate Himalayas, Europe.
Constituents: Tubers contain malates, oxalates and phosphates, a little
tannin, sugar, starch and volatile oil. Action: Alterative, antispasmodic.

The Paeony is a useful antispasmodic medicine in biliary and renal
colic, hysteria, epilepsy, asthma and all convulsive diseases.

It has alterative properties and is used to purify the blood and to
increase the activity of the liver.

Galen recommended it in epilepsy and it has been used in later ages
for the same complaint. Children in the country sometimes wear a neck-
lace made from the root to cure epilepsy and also St. Vitus's Dance. At
one time it was a popular cure for lunacy.

The name is derived from Paeon, the physician of the gods, who is
said to have cured Pluto with it when he was wounded by Hercules.

The extremely showy and decorative flowers, ranging from white to
rose and pink, make it a great standby in the herbaceous border in June
when there is little else, and if the roots are not interfered with in the
autumn, the plants grow to a great size and flower abundantly. The
plant is not indigenous to Britain, though it grows wild at Steep Holme,
an island in the Severn, where there was once a monastery.

Distinction is made in herbal medicine between the male and female
paeony. This is a reference to two species and not to the difference in

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sex. The male paeony is found on the island of Steep Holme. The
flowers of the female paeony are deep purple in colour.

In herbal medicine the male paeony is preferred. In cookery the kernels
of the paeony were used as a flavouring agent in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, and Paeony Water was a favourite drink.

PELLITORY

Small are thy blossoms., double Pellitory
Which yet united are the garden s glory
Sneezing thou dost provoke, and love for thee
When thou wast born, sneez'd most auspiciously.

The Pellitory healing fire contains

That from a raging tooth the humour drains

At bottom red, above 'tis white and pure

Resembling teeth and gums, for both a certain cure.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical names: (Spanish) Anacyclus Pyrethrum, (Dalmatian) Chrysan-
themum Cineraria, (Persian) Chrysanthemum roseum, Chrysanthemum
Carneum. Natural order: Compositae. Country names: (Persian) Insect
plant, (Spanish) Alexander's foot, Bertram, Longwort, Pellitory of
Spain. French name: (Spanish) Pyr6thre. German names: (Spanish)
Alexanderfuss, Speichelwurz. Italian names: (Spanish) Piretro, Pilatro,
Parietaria di Spagna. Turkish name: (Spanish) Nezle otu. Arabian name:
(Spanish) Akara-Karka. Indian names: (Spanish) Akalkara, Mitho
Akalararo. Malayan name: (Spanish) Akke Karruka. Persian name:
Akar-Karah. Sanskrit name (Spanish) :Akara Karabha. Under dominion
of: Mercury. Constituents: (Spanish) Pyrethrin, an acrid brown resin,
Pyrethrine, 5 per cent, an alkaloid, two fixed oils, inulin, 50 per cent,
gum, salts, a trace of tannin. Action: Cordial, sialogogue, stimulant.

All three species of Pellitory are used in medicine to allay toothache.
When the root is chewed it deadens the nerves. The flower of the Dalma-
tian Pellitory and of the Persian variety are made into powders and
lotions to keep away insects and to allay the stings of mosquitoes.

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A large trade in this insect powder is carried on in Dalmatia. The
Spanish Pellitory root is given in the form of an infusion mixed with
ginger and galangal as a stimulant, also to ease the pain of neuralgia
and paralysis of the tongue. It is a very useful remedy to eliminate
iodine poisoning.

There are two English varieties of Chrysanthemum. The ox eye daisy,
C. Lencanthemum, and the corn marigold, C. segetum both partake
of the properties of the pellitorys.

PLUMBAGO

// is called Dentellaria in Latin from its property of curing
the toothache.

Botanical names: Plumbago rosea, Plumbago zeylanica. Natural order:
Plumbaginaceae. English names: Rose-coloured leadwort, Toothwort.
French names: Dentellaire, Plombagine, Malherbe. German name:
Bleiwurz. Italian names: Piombaggine, Dentellaria, Crepenello. Turkish
name: Dis otu. Indian names: Chitra-mul, Chitro, Chitraka. Malayan
names: Cheraka merah, Tumba-kodivale. Persian name: Shitarah.
Arabian name: Shitaraj. Sanskrit names: Chitraka, Druna. Under the
dominion of: Saturn. Symbolical meaning: Holy wishes. Natural habitat:
India, East Indies. Part used: Plant, seeds. Constituents: Plumbagin, an
acrid principle. Action: Alterative, gastric stimulant, astringent, anodyne.

Plumbago is used in gastric complaints, and the European variety
has a universal reputation for curing toothache.

The bruised root is laid on the wrist to cure the ache in the tooth, but
it leaves a lead-coloured mark on the wrist which is difficult to eradicate.

The root is also held in the mouth for a moment and is said to be an
instantaneous cure for headaches.

The juice is so acrid that it will injure the skin if allowed to remain
more than a few seconds.

There are several varieties of Plumbago with flowers varying in colour
from white and scarlet to blue. The flowers are tubular.

The European variety which is cultivated in English greenhouses has
exquisite pale blue flowers, but they are sometimes white.

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Herbs to Control Pain

The rose-coloured Plumbago is a shrubby plant which perpetually
produces flowering spikes of scarlet blossom and can with ease be kept
in flower during most of the year.

QUEBRACHO

The digitalis of the lungs.

Botanical name: Aspidosperma quebracho-blancho. Natural order:
Apocynaceae. Part used: Bark. Natural habitat: Bolivia, Chile, Argentine,
Southern Brazil. Constituents: The bark contains at least six alkaloids,
aspidospermine, which is thought to be one of them, is not a single alka-
loid but represents the full activity of the drug. Action: Anti-asthmatic,

febrifuge, tonic.

Quebracho is an evergreen tree with extremely hard and valuable
wood.

The bark was used by the South American Indians as a febrifuge long
before it was introduced into Europe, which did not occur till 1878.

Quebracho is a specific in difficult breathing and has a rapid action. It
stimulates the respiratory centres, increases oxidation and excretion of
carbonic acid. It is not dangerous and its use can be safely prolonged.

It is particularly indicated in thrombosis of the pulmonary artery, in
heart disease, in asthma and emphysemae and in pulmonary tubercu-
losis, giving tone and regularity to the contractions of the heart.

It has been called the digitalis of the lungs and it assists in climbing
mountains and overcoming fatigue. It decreases the sensation of lack
of air due to overwalking, but it should be avoided by old people suffer-
ing from heart disease.

It is used as a protection to wounds and is a valuable remedy in typhoid
and other fevers.

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SASSY BARK

The bark is used as an ordeal poison in trials in West Africa.

Botanical name: Erythroploeum quineense. Natural order: Leguminosae.
Country names: Cascabark, Doom bark, Mancona bark, Ordeal bark,
Saucy bark, Nkasa, Red water bark. Part used: Branches and bark.
Natural habitat: Senegambia and Upper Guinea. Constituents: Erythro-
phleine (an alkaloid not unlike digitalis in its action). Action: Ai.agelsic,

astringent.

1 he Sassy Bark yields its properties to water. It is said to give great
relief in dyspnoea and it has been given in dropsy, but it must be used
with great care because it is liable to disturb digestion, and in large doses
can cause coma and death.

SATINWOOD TREE

This is the satinwood of India used in the making of stethoscopes.

Botanical name: Chloroxylon Swietenia, DC. Natural order: Rutaceae.
Other name: Yellow wood. French name: Bois satin. German names:
Seidenholz, Atlas holz. Italian name: Legno rasato. Turkish name:
Yesil odunu. Hindu name: Rakata Rohidi. Part used: Bark. Natural habi-
tat: Ceylon, Western Peninsula. Constituents: Tannin. Action: Astrin-
gent, anodyne.

A decoction of the bark of the Satinwood Tree is applied externally
to allay the pain of sprains and painful joints.

The wood is used commercially for making stethoscopes.

This large tree with its fine-grained wood of a light yellow colour
belongs to the mahogany family. It is peculiarly suited to the making
of fine furniture because of its satin sheen.

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Herbs to Control Pain

SCREW PINE

'One day we walked up the Teasta to the Rumphiup River,
a torrent from Mainom mountain to the West; the path led
amongst thick jungle of Wallichia palm, prickly rattan canes
and the Pandanus or Screw Pine, called "Borr", which has a
straight, often forked, palm-like trunk, and an immense crown
of grassy saw-edged leaves four feet long; it bears clusters ofun-
eaiable fruit as large as a man's fist, and their similarity to the
pineapple has suggested the name of Borr.'

HOOKER'S Himalayan Journal

Botanical names: Pandanus odoratissimus (Linn.), Pandanus sativa.
Natural order: Pandanaceae. Other names: Caldera Bush, Pandang oil
plant, Anthrodactyllis spinosa. French names: Baquois, Vacouet, Va-
quois. German name: Pandanuspalme. Italian names: Pandano odorosa,
Pandano, Ananasso della China, Uva caeca. Indian names: Keori, mar-
kevada, Kevara, gaganphula. Persian names: Gul-i-kivea, kavondi.
Arabian names: Kadhi, keder. Sanskrit names: Keteka, Dhuli push pika.
Part used: The stem, seed and male inflorescence. Natural habitat: India,

Persia, Arabia.

The Screw Pine is a palm-like tree producing male flowering branches
with bracts of a whitish colour, in the axils of which are bunches of
yellow anthers which are highly scented, and from which a perfumed
drink is prepared called Aarka which is used medicinally. The fruit of
the tree is about the size of a coconut. The water which is distilled from
the flowering tops is used as an antispasmodic medium to relieve faint-
ness and giddiness and the oil cures earache and otorrhoea.

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Herbs to Control Pain

STONE ROOT

'A cure for venous engorgement*

BOERICKE

Botanical name: Collinsonia Canadensis (Linn.). Natural order: Labiatae.
Country names: Richweed, Knobweed, Horsebalm, Hardback, Horse-
weed, Rich leaf, Knobroot, Heal all, Oxbalm, Canadian horse-mint.
French names: Baume de Cheval, Gurit-tout, Collinsone de Canada.
German name: Kanadische collinsonie. Italian name: Collinsonia. Turk-
ish name: Kolinsonia. Part used: Whole plant, fresh root. Natural
habitat: From Canada to the Carolinas. Constituents: Magnesium salts,
volatile oil, resin. Action: Antispasmodic, astringent, diuretic, dia-
phoretic, sedative, tonic.

Stone root grows in damp woods. It has large yellow-green flowers and
an unpleasant pungent smell. Its chief medicinal value lies in the root
which must always be used fresh. It actively stimulates the function of the
stomach, and through this benefits the functional power of the other
important organs.

It has a tonic effect on the muscular structure of the heart, and acts as
an astringent to the walls of the veins. In imperfect circulation of the
capillary veins it is a splendid remedy. It is a specific for piles and for
pain in the rectum from whatever cause. It relaxes spasms of the ureter
and urethra, and facilitates the expulsion of small calculi.

It is a good remedy in clergyman's sore throat and in laryngitis and
pharyngitis, when the walls are relaxed and there is improper capillary
circulation. Its continued use has a most beneficial effect on the heart,
strengthening and improving the circulation. Chronic nasal, gastric
and pharyngeal catarrh are all relieved by it. It combines with Cranes-
bill, Hydrastis and Witch hazel.

Ascarides are destroyed by renal injections of 1 to 4 of water.

It is given as a tonic in anaemia.

158

-^^/v^^'^'^Vv'^
' *-'' '-'"'

STONE ROOT COLLINSONIA CANADENSIS

Herbs to Control Pain
SUMBUL

It grows in the mountains north-east of Samarkand.

Botanical name: Ferula sumbul. Natural order: Umbelliferae. Country
name: Musk root. Part used: Rhizome, root. Natural habitat: Northern
India, Turkestan, Russia. Constituents: Volatile oil, two balsamic resins,
one soluble in alcohol and one in ether ; wax, gum, starch, a bitter sub-
stance soluble in water and alcohol, angelic and valenic acid, the odour
seems to be connected with the balsamic resins. The volatile oil has a
taste like peppermint and on dry distillation yields a bluish oil contain-
ing umbelliferone, among the volatile acids are acetic, butyric, angelic
and tiglic acid and among the non-volatile oleic, are linoleic, tiglic,
cerotic, palmitic, and stearic.

Sumbul is allied to Asafoetida and Garlic. It was first discovered by a
Russian called Fenschenko and used by Russian doctors before it was
known in Europe.

It is a powerful nerve sedative and tonic to the mucous membranes
and is given as a quick remedy in neurasthenia and hysteria. It has a
specific action on the pelvic organs and is a stimulant to the mucous
membranes in chronic bronchitis and asthma.

Sumbul is a nerve tonic rather similar to Valerian and Musk, and is
given as a substitute for Musk in cholera and typhoid. It is also pre-
scribed for delirium tremens, epilepsy, and nervous prostration owing to
debilitating and inflammatory conditions.

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Herbs to Control Pain

SYCACARPUS

This tree belongs to the Bead Tree family and unlike most of
the group is not bitter.

Botanical name: Sycacarpus Rusbyi. Natural order: Mellaceae. Part used:
The bark. Natural habitat: South America. Constituents: Oxalate of lime
in large monoclinic crystals, gutta-percha, a resinous secretion, a
yellowish white, amorphous, sometimes slightly granular substance,
Caoutchouc ; and an active principle.

Sycacarpus acts as an expectorant and is given in acute bronchitis
and pulmonary complaints. It acts at first as a stimulant and then as a
sedative.

THAPSIA

// derives its name from the island of Thapsos where it grows
abundantly.

Botanical name: Thapsia garganica (Linn.). Natural order: Umbel liferae.
Country names: Drias plant, Smooth Thapsia. French names: Thapsie,
Faux Fenouil, Faux turbith. German name: Falsche Turbith. Italian
names: Tassia, Panacea d'Esculapio, Turbitto di Puglia. Turkish names:
Deryas, Yentun. Part used: Gum, resin, leaves, bark, root. Natural
habitat: Algeria, from Spain to Greece.

1 he Thapsia tree has a very ancient reputation in medicine. Theo-
phrastus speaks of it under the name of Silphion, and describes it as
having a leaf like fennel but broader, a stalk like that of ferule, and a
white root. The Algerians regard it as a great pain killer, but it is deadly
poisonous to camels, and is strongly purgative to human beings. The
French make it into a plaster which is a drastic counter irritant and will
produce its full results in six hours.

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Herbs to Control Pain

It will often cure persistent sciatica. Thapsia is sometimes useful in
chronic bronchial complaints and has proved a curative remedy in
dropsy with haematuria and stranguary, given in thirty-drop doses of
the tincture five times daily ; but on account of its irritating character is
not often used internally.

TIGER LILY

O'er her blue dress an endless blossom strayed;

About her tendril curls the sunlight shone;
And round her train the tiger lilies swayed,

Like courtiers bowing till the Queen be gone.

AUSTIN DOBSON

Botanical name: Lilium tigrinum. Natural order: Liliaceae. Country
name: Crumple lily. French name: Lis tigre. German name: Tigerlilie.
Italian name: Giglio pardo. Turkish name: Pars Zambagi. Symbolical
meaning: For once may pride befriend me. Part used: Leaves, flowers,
stalks. Natural habitat: China, Japan.

The Tiger Lily is used in China and Japan where it first grew, as food.
The bulbs are steamed or boiled.

In medicine it is used as a specific for ovarian neuralgia, but it is a
useful remedy to strengthen the ciliary muscle, and is prescribed in
myoptic astigmia.

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Herbs to Control Pain

TOOTHWORT

'After flowering, while the capsules are half ripe, in form
as well as in colour they simulate human teeth in a most remark-
able manner'

BRITTEN and HOLLANDER

Botanical name: Lathroea squamaria (Linn.). Natural order: Oroban-
chaceae. Country names: Clown's lungwort, Lungwort, Toothwort.
French names: Clandestine, Herbe cachee, Lathree-ecailleuse. German
name: Schuppenwurz. Italian name: Fuoco de boschii. Spanish name:
Madrona. Portuguese name: Dentaria bestarda. Dutch name: Schsh-
wortel. Turkish name: Gizli otu. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Eng-
land, Scotland and Ireland, but rare.

1 he curious-looking Toothwort plant with brownish pink flowers
which turn to a much brighter pink if the plant is exposed to sun, prefers
woods and shady places. It is a parasite and grows on elm, hazel or
other trees. It is leafless, juicy, with fleshy tooth-like scales and its appear-
ance gave it its name and revealed its virtues. The name is said to refer
to the tooth-like scales of the root.
The plant is used by herbalists as a cure for toothache.

162

TOOTHWORT LATHROEA SQUAMARIA

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WATER LILY

Asleep upon the stream.
The moonlight stream,
The water lilies dream
Floating they dream.
With cups of purest white
All folded from the night.

Botanical name: Nymphaea odorata (Soland). Natural order: Nymphae-
aceae. Country names: Alan, Bobbins, Cambie leaf, Candock, Can-
leaves, Flatter dock lily, Nenuphar, Water bells, Water blob, Water can,
Water socks, Water rose. French names: Nenuphar blanc, Lis des etangs.
German names: Seeblume, Weisse Seerose. Dutch name: Plomper. Italian
names: IMinfea bianca, Luna d'acqua. Turkish name: Ak nilufer. Under
the dominion of: The moon. Symbolical meaning: Sanctity. Part used:
Root flesh and leaves. Natural habitat: United States in marshy rivers,
ponds and streams. Constituents: Tannin, gallic acid, mucilage, starch,
gum, resin, sugar, ammonia, tartaric acid, fecula. Action: Anodyne,
astringent, demulcent.

1 he Water Lily grows wild in streams round Oxford and in many
other places in England. It grew in the Ouse where it was familiar to
Cowper, and the Cherwell is also famous for its water lilies.

The legend about the flower is that it first appeared on the surface of
the water when a maiden who was in love with Hercules drowned herself
for love of him. It is said to bloom at the gates of Paradise.

The flowers open as the sun rises and close for the midday heat and
again at night.

The yellow Water Lily is much more strongly scented and grows in
England as well as the white. It is sometimes called Brandy Bottle on
account of its scent and also from the shape of its seed vessels.

The Oriental water lilies are still more strongly perfumed and more
highly coloured. They range from crimson to paler shades of rose, their
roots are often roasted and eaten like potatoes and the seeds are roasted
or eaten raw like millet. The Turks and Arabs make a liqueur called
Pufer from water lilies.

The leaves and roots of the water lily are made into poultices to re-
lieve the pain of boils, tumours and wounds of all kinds.

Culpeper says : The leaves do cool all inflammations both outward

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and inward heat of agues ; and so doth the flowers also, either by the
syrup or conserve ; the syrup helps much to procure rest and to settle
the brain of frantic persons, by cooling the hot distemperature of the
head ; the oil of the flowers as oil of roses is made, is profitably used to
cool hot tumours, and to ease the pain and help the sores'.

The plant has a marked action on the organs of procreation and is
said to have cured cancer. It is used locally by the American Indians,
and both the leaves and root can be made into poultices for scrofulous

ulcers. The yellow water lily has the same properties.

All heats in general I resist, nay I '

To all that's hot am a sworn enemy

Whether distracting flames with fury fly

Thro" the burnt brain, like comets through the skie

Or whether from the belly they ascend

And fumes all o'er the body swiftly send,

Whether with Sulphurous fire the veins within

They kindle, or just singe the outward skin

Whatever they are, my awful juice they fly.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

WILD JESSAMINE

The leaves and seeds smell of Coriander.

Botanical names: Canthium didymum, Canthium parviflorum, Canthium
umbellatum, Canthium cymosum. Natural order: Rubiaceae. Indian
name: Ursool. Malayan names: Kanden, Khara, Merajak, Meraga. Part
used: The plant. Natural habitat: Ceylon, Malaya. Action: Astringent,
anthelmintic, antispasmodic.

In Malaya decoctions of wild jessamine are given to stop hiccoughs
in children and for the relief of colic.

The shrub is small and thorny with small, yellow flowers and reddish
brown fruit which have a sweet taste. The leaves and seeds are aromatic.

164

Herbs to Control Pain

WILD LIME

With leaves as fragrant as the orange.

Botanical name: Atalantia monophylla. Natural order: Rutaccae. Other
names: Limonia monophylla, Trichilia spinosa. Native names: Katun-
imbe, Malvarcgam, Makhur-limbu, Konda-minma. Part used: The oil,
root, leaves. Natural habitat: Western Peninsula, Ceylon, Malabar
Coast, Bombay, Coromandel. Action: Antispasmodic, stimulating.

i he wild Lime is one of the Oriental plants that relieve pain. A de-
coction of the leaves is used for itch and the oil is massaged into para-
lysed limbs and rheumatic joints.

WILD YAM

Relieves colic from any cause.

Botanical name: Dioscorea villosa (Linn.). Natural order: Dioscoreaceae.
Country names: Colic root, Rheumatism root, Devil's bones. French
name: Igname indigene. German names: Wilde-yam, Zottige Yamwurzel.
Italian name: Dioscoria salvatica. Turkish name: Yabanihind yer elmasi.
Part used: Dried root. Natural habitat: Coast of Malabar, Ceylon, culti-
vated in West Indies, Africa, Asia, Southern U.S.A. and Canada.
Constituents: Saponin. Action: Anodyne, antispasmodic.

Wild Yam was first imported into England in the eighteenth century.
It is a climbing plant with sharp pointed smooth leaves, and spikes of
small flowers which grow from long footstalks. It is the only one of its
species used in medicine, with the exception of the Black Bryony.

Two other species, the Dioscorea sativa and the Winged Yam, Dio-
scorea alata, are cultivated in the same way as the potato the former of
the two being known as the East Indian Sweet Yam. It is pleasant to eat
and very nutritious.

165

Herbs to Control Pain

The only species that grows wild in Great Britain is the Black Bryony,
Tamus communis. The young shoots can be boiled and eaten like
asparagus. The French name for it is Tamier, the Germans call it
Schwarzwurzel, and the Italians Brione vena.

Under the name of Sham Yao the Chinese cultivate the D. japonica
and the D. batates as vegetables and the roots of the wild species are
used by them in medicine.

The Wild Yam is one of the best medicines for bilidtis colic. It is
specifically indicated in the pain of gallstones, in griping pain in the
stomach and intestines, and in recurring colicky pains for which the cause
is unknown. *

It even relieves the pain of angina pectoris, especially when the pain
passes from the sternum into the arms.

166

Chapter Five
HERBS TO ALLAY FEVERS

American Boxwood; Boneset; Bugloss; Chrysanthemum; Compass
Plant; Craivley Root; Dita Bark; Feverbush; Fiveleaj Grass;
Gipsy wort; Gourds; Gravehvort; Hemp Agrimony; Jack
Fruit Tree; Lemon Verbena; Lilac; Ngai Cam-
phor Plant; Peruvian Bark; Pittosporum;
Scabious; Shoe Flower; Snake Root; Vir-
ginia Creeper; Vervain; Winter
Cherry; Yarrow

In approaching the whole subject of fevers we must remember that
the orthodox view in the past was founded on the idea that any
deviation from a normal circulation and temperature was a cause
for alarm.

The present attitude of science approximates much more to the
herbalists' view, and it is now generally recognized that in many illnesses
a fever is Nature's method of killing disease germs, which cannot exist
in a high temperature.

Fevers are not always due to bacteria. They may be caused by an
engorgement of the venous system, inflammatory wounds, nervous irri-
tation, or by obstructions in various parts of the body. The remedies for
dealing with them are called anti-pyrctics. They allay fevers by influenc-
ing the heat centres of the brain, by decreasing oxygenation or by increas-
ing the radiation of heat. One of the principles of herbal medicine is
based on this idea of creating equilibrium of heat through the administra-
tion of hot medicines or stimulants.

There are two types of febrifuge medicines those which reduce in-
flammation or counteract it, and those which cure periodic tendencies
in disease. Peruvian bark is an antiperiodic, and so are Fever bush,
Wafer ash, White Willow, Quebracho, Alstonia, and the Common Ash
tree.

In herbal medicine there are a great many diaphoretic herbs which
produce perspiration by stimulating the secretions of the sweat glands.
Many of them are cardiac sedatives. Some of the diaphoretic and febri-
fuge herbs with tonic properties are Avens, Boneset, Catnip, Poplar
Germander, Contrayerva, Yellow Parilla, Yarrow and Wormwood, etc.

167

Herbs to Allay Fevers

There are others with sedative properties like Crawley root and Lemon-
scented verbena ; Gelsemium is an arterial sedative and acts by dilating
the cutaneous vessels.

Other febrifuge herbs are carminatives, as in the case of Angelica and
Balm ; they relieve flatulence. Buchu and Butcher's Broom are diuretics
as well as diaphoretics and stimulate the action of the kidneys, or relieve
renal congestion.

Devil's Bit is one of the few herbs that combine demulcent or sooth-
ing properties with its febrifuge and diaphoretic virtues. It is one of the
Scabious family a very familiar herb to all country people and a very
common one. Its dark blue flower heads with conspicuous stamens are
in flower nearly everywhere from July to October. The plant derives its
name of Devil's Bit from the root, which, as it dies away, has a gnawed
appearance. There is a legend that Satan bit away the root hoping to
destroy it because it was so beneficial to mankind.

Many of the refrigerant or refreshing herbs are good to administer in
fevers because they quench thirst. There is a chapter on them in my book,
Herbal Delights. Bitter Tonic herbs like Angustura or Bogbean are also
beneficial because they strengthen the digestive organs. Bogbean also
removes obstructions, and so does Gravel wort which is a good nerve
tonic as well. So often fevers are accompanied by great nervous tension
this is why Vervain and Yarrow are good remedies in the early stages
of fevers, and Crawley root at a later stage.

The Winter Cherry is a cure for intermittent fevers. This plant is a
native of China and Cochin China. In parts of Europe the berries are
eaten and arc strongly recommended for gout. The fruits of some of the
cornels are also used to subdue fevers and these purplish black fruits
were in common use in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies. Dryden refers to them and so does Bacon who calls them
Cornelians.

American Boxwood is a well-known cure for intermittent fevers
among the American Indians, and is one of the same family and so is
Jamaica Dogwood which induces sleep as well.

The Snake root of America (Aristolochia Serpentania) is a valuable
medicine in typhoid fever, and scarlet fever, and in chronic agues. It is
a restorative as well as a diaphoretic and can be used at the beginning of
acute fevers of all kinds. It was one of the ingredients in the Duke of
Portland's famous rheumatic powder. The plant has very curious flow-
ers which grow close to the root and droop so much that they are often
hardly visible, being almost buried in the ground or in their own leaves.

The red Virginia Creeper is another herb that has been used in febrile
complaints. In Charles II's reign the berries were sometimes infused in

168

Herbs to Allay Fevers

vinegar to antidote the plague, and Ivy berries are still given to allay
fevers.

In America they use the Sweet Lilac of our English gardens as a cure
for malaria. The leaves and the fruit have anti-periodic properties.

Two lesser-known plants, the Bitter Broom, Parthenium Hystero-
phorus, and the Compass Plant, Silphium perfoliatium, both of which
grow in America, are fever cures. The Compass plant takes its name
from its habit of pointing to the north. The Bitter Broom is a well-known
remedy in Cuba for intermittent fevers.

The Button Bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, one of the Rubiaceous
plants, cures intermittent fever and quotidian and tertian fever.

The leaves of the Pittosporum a comparatively late innovation to
our English gardens have febrifuge properties. The lovely foliage of
this plant makes it a useful hedge tree and as the leaves are evergreen and
grow well near the sea it is a very great acquisition to the English coast
garden.

In England our best simples for feverish complaints are Avens, Catnip,
Devil's Bit, Five-leaf grass ; and children's feverish complaints are gener-
ally treated by herbalists with Elder flower and peppermint, Yarrow and
Vervain. The bark of the Poplar tree, of the ash and the oak, are as good
in intermittent fevers as Peruvian bark and have as great a tonic effect.
But in choosing a remedy the other properties of the plant must also be
taken into account in order that the cause of the complaint may be
removed as well as the fever.

169

Herbs to Allay Fevers

AMERICAN BOXWOOD

The twigs are dentifrice.

Botanical name: Cornus florida (Linn.). Natural order: Cornaceae.
Country names: Flowering cornet, American dogwood, Bitter redberry,
Cornel, Dog tree, Box tree, Virginian dogwood, Mon-ha-can-ni-min-
schi, Hat-ta-wa-no-min-schi. French name: Cornouiller. German names:
Blumenhartriegel, Hartriegel. Italian name: Corniolo florido Hindu
name: Kandar. Symbolical meaning: Durability. Part used: Bark of root
when dried, fruit. Natural habitat: U.S.A. from Massachusetts to Florida,
Sublej valley, Punjab. Constituents: Cornin or cormic acid, resin, gallic
acid, tannin. Solvents: Alcohol, water. Action: Antiperiodic, astringent,

stimulant.

I he American Boxwood plant is allied to the dogwoods and the
Cornels. The twigs from which the bark has been removed are used by
the American Indians in intermittent fevers in the same way as Peruvian
bark, and the ripe fruit infused in brandy makes a good stomachic tonic.
The same plant was known to Dioscorides, to Hippocrates and to Pliny
who recommended it as a cure for dysentery.

Ellingwood says, This agent is indicated not only to correct the atomic
conditions of the glandular structure of the gastro-intestinal apparatus
in malaria, but as an antidote to the malarial condition itself. It has
marked control over many of the manifestations of malaria. In its in-
fluence upon the stomach it increases the appetite at once and relieves
the drowsiness and dullness apt to follow imperfect digestion.'

It is a tonic to a weak digestion from any cause, so is invaluable dur-
ing convalescence.

Heat destroys the active principle so a decoction is useless. The twigs
make an excellent tooth powder.

The tree grows from fifteen to thirty feet high and has what appear to
be large white flowers. Actually these are bunches of flowers surrounded
by four large bracts. The flowers appear so regularly at the end of May
that they fix the time for the Indians to sow their corn.

The flowers are followed by brilliant red berries. The plant yields its
properties to alcohol or water.

170

Herbs to Allay Fevers

BONESET

Boneset derives its name from its value in the treatment of
Break Bone fever.

Botanical name: Eupatorium pcrfoliatum (Linn.). Natural order: Com-
positae. Country names: Thoroughwort, Wood bone-set, Ague weed,
Feverwort, Vegetable antimony, Sweating plant, Indian sage. Symboli-
calmeaning: Delay. Part used: Herb, leaves. Natural habitat: In meadows
rnd damp places from Nova Scotia to Florida. Constituents: A neutral
aitter principle, Eupatorin (glucoside), a volatile oil, tannin, wax, gum,
besin, sugar, ash 7-5 per cent. Eupatorin a crystalline glucoside. Solu-
ble in water, alcohol, chloroform and ether. Action: Febrifuge, laxative,

stimulant.

I he botanical name of Boneset is derived from Mithridates Eupator,
King of Pontus, who used it in medicine. The plant is closely related to
gravel root, eupatorium purpureum, which sometimes goes by the name
of Queen of the Meadow. The homoeopaths use both species and also
another variety, the Eupatorium aromaticum, the English name of
which is Pool root.

We owe our knowledge of Boneset as an important diaphoretic medi-
cine to the North American Indians, and it derived its name of Boneset
from curing break bone fevers (Dengue fever). It is sometimes instan-
taneous in relieving aching bones.

It is a cure for intermittent fevers of the severest type and for con-
tinued fevers, and it is valuable in all catarrhal complaints. It has a very
soothing effect on the nervous system and prevents gastric disturbance.
It acts as a stimulating tonic.

171

Herbs to Allay Fevers
BUGLOSS

. . . with bright blue eye
Your pains the Bugloss will repay
And famed for driving care away,
Dipp'd in a broader brighter blue,
Rough borage. '

BISHOP MANX

Botanical name: Echium vulgare (Linn.). Natural vrder: Boraginaceae.
French names: Herbe aux Vip6res, Viperine. German name: Gemeiner
Natterkopf. Italian names: Echio, Erba delle vipere, Viper ina, Turkish
name: Havaciva otu. Under the dominion of: Venus. Symbolical meaning:
Falsehood. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, including Britain.
Action: Demulcent, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge.

All species of the Bugloss in common with other anchusas have mild
febrifuge and tonic properties and can be Used in the form of an in-
fusion to be drunk either hot or cold, as a remedy for feverish colds or
fevers of any kind.

Anne Pratt quotes botanists who have considered the Viper's Bu-
gloss the most beautiful of all lovely wild flowers. The plant grows on
chalky hills and in June and July produces bells of flowers which vary
in colour from a deep purple blue to the palest of blues, and even
sometimes snow white.

172

Herbs to Allay Fevers

CHRYSANTHEMUM

Here's fine rosemary, sage and thyme.
Come, buy my ground ivy.
Here's featherfew, gilliflowcrs and rue.
Come, buy my knotted marjoram ho !
Come, buy my mint, my fine green mint.

-ROXBURGH BALLADS

Botanical names: PyrPthrum parthenium (Linn.), Matricaria parthenium,
Chrysanthemum parthenium (Bernh). Natural order: Compositae. Coun-
try names: Adrelwort, Arsmart, Bertram, Buncholery buttons. Mid-
summer daisy, Feather few, Feather fowl, Flirtwort, Maghet, Nose-
bleed, St. Petcrwort, Vethervoo, Weythernoy, Wliitewort. French name:
Chrysanthme matricaire. German names: Goldfederwucherblume,
Grosse Kamillen. Italian names: Matricaria, Amarella, Partenio, Matri-
cale, Morella, Occhio di sole. Turkish name: Varadika otu. Part used:
Herb. Natural habitat: middle and southern Europe. Action: Anti-
spasmodic, diuretic, emmenagogue, febrifuge resolvent, vermifuge.

1 he Feverfew belongs to the same family as the Chamomile, and its
feathery leaves have a strong Chamomile-like scent, as indeed has the
whole plant.

It was considered at one time a specific for agues and was sold in the
streets of London.

Since the time of Dioscorides it has been recommended in intermittent
fevers and has derived its name from its general use as a febrifuge.

It yields its properties to alcohol or water, and externally is a good
ingredient for fomentations, especially if combined with Chamomile
flowers.

Other varieties of Chrysanthemum will be found under Pellitory in the
chapter on anodyne herbs. See Pellitory.

173

Herbs to Allay Fevers

COMPASS PLANT

Look at this delicate flower, that lifts its head from the meadow,
See how its leaves are pointed to the north as true as a magnet;
It is the compass flower, that the finger of God has suspended
Here on its fragile stalk, to direct the traveller's journey
Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the deter t.

LONGFELLOW

Botanical names: Silphium perfoliatum (Linn.),,Silphium laciniatum.
Natural order: Compositae. Country names: Rosinweed, Polar plant,
Pilot plant, Cup plant, Compass weed, Indian cup plant, Ragged cup,
Bastard chrysanthemum, Turpentine weed. French name: Plante au
compas. German name: Geschilitzte Tassenpflanze. Italian name: Silfioa
foglie intagliante. Turkish name: Pergel otu. Part used: Root, gum.
Natural habitat: Ohio and Western United States. Action: Alterative,

diaphoretic.

The Compass plant is also commonly called Cup plant and derives
the latter name from the cup-like appearance of the winged stalks of
its opposite leaves which are united.

It is called Compass plant because of its habit of pointing to the north.
It is a remedy for enlarged spleen and pulmonary affections as well as
for intermittent fevers. The root is usually taken infused in brandy and
sugar.

The gum which exudes from the plant is used by the native Indians to
sweeten their breath and is very like mastic.

The Californian Compass plant, Wyethia Helenoides, is also used in
medicine.

174

v;#;^

'-'- ' : " 11 '- 1 ' '' 1 '' 1 ' 1 ' '-' '- iT> -.:li*: ! . 'M 1"^ ln O il - r ^/ r J lll ^> | T SJ ' 1 ' 1 ^j^^:r

COMPASS PLANT SILPHIUM PERFOLIATUM

Herbs to Allay Fevers

CRAWLEY ROOT

A remedy for fever accompanied by intense nervous restlessness
and burning of hands and feet. BOERICKB

Botanical names: Corallorhiza innata (Linn.), Corallorhiza odontorhiza

(Nutt). Natural order: Orchidaceae. Country names: Coral root, Chicken

toe, Dragon's claw. Part used: Root. Natural habitat: U.S.A. from Maine

to Carolina westwards.

If Crawley Root were not so expensive to buy it would be much
more used medicinally, because it is one of the quickest diaphoretics
we have. It acts as a sedative as well and never produces nervous
excitability. Its use is indicated in hectic fever which begins at 9 p.m. or
10 p.m. and lasts till midnight with an absence of thirst.

DITA BARK

It is called the Devil's tree

Botanical name: Alstonia scholaris, R. Br. Natural order: Apocynaceae.
Other names: Dita bark, Devil's tree. French names: Dita, Alstonie,
fichite. German name: Schulholzbaum. Italian name: Alstonia. Turkish
name: Dita ag. Malayan names: Pulai, Pokok basong. Part used: Bark
and leaves. Natural habitat: Forests of India, Assam, Coromandel, Ben-
gal, Western Africa, Moluccas, Philippine Islands. Constituents: An
alkaloid ditamine, two bases echitamine and echitenene, also echicaout-
chin, an amorphous yellow mass ; echicerin in acicular crystals ; echitin
in crystallized scales; echitein in rhombic prisms; and echiretin, an
amorphous substance. Action: Alterative, astringent, bitter tonic, febri-
fuge.

The stately evergreen Dita tree provides one of the best medicines for
fevers.

It is known as the Lord of the Indian Jungle and there are many

175

Herbs to Allay Fevers

superstitions about it. One is that it assembles all the other trees in
the forest to pay it yearly homage. Dita is one of the haunted bee
trees.

In India it is used medicinally to cure malaria, and it can be tolerated
when quinine cannot. It is an excellent bitter tonic in convalescence from
exhausting wounds and fevers, and it is a useful astringent remedy in
dysentery.

The Malays use the juice to relieve toothache and in passive liver
complaints.

FEVERBUSH

// contains a new alkaloid called Garryine.

Botanical name: Garrya fremonti (Torr). Natural order: Compositae.
Country names: Californian feverbush, Skunk bush. Part used: Leaves.
Natural habitat: California, Oregon, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica. Con-
stituents: Garryine.

The leaves of the Feverbush are used in California for fevers in place
of Peruvian bark.

It is a small evergreen shrub with composite yellow flowers and broad
leathery leaves, grey-green on the upper side and paler grey-green under-
neath. It is very common in its native countries and can be cultivated in
England if it is protected in the winter.

176

Herbs to Allay Fevers

FIVELEAF GRASS

And for the falling ill by five-leaf doth restore
And melancholy cures by sovereign hellebore.

MICHAEL DRAYTON

Botanical nan.e: Potenlilla reptans (Linn.). Natural order: Rosaceae.
Country names: Cinquefoil, Fiflef, Five finger blossom, Five-finger grass,
Five fingors, Five leaf, Five leaves grass, Golden blossom, Herb five leaf,
Sinkficld, Synkefoyle, Tormentil. French names: Quintefeuille, Poten-
tille rampante. German names: Fiinffingerkraut, Kreichendes Finger-
kraut. Italian names: Cinque foglio, Pentafillo, Strisciante. Spanish name:
Cinco en rama. Turkish name: Bes parmak otu. Dutch name: Vytringer-
kruid. Under the dominion of: Jupiter. Symbolical meaning: Maternal
affection. Part used: Herb, root. Natural habitat: Europe, Northern and
Western Asia to the Himalayas, Canaries and Azores.

1 he Fivcleaf Grass is one of the potentilias and is closely related to
the Silverweed, sharing its astringent properties. It is a creeping plant
with yellow flowers and short tapering stamens, the leaves are divided into
five, hence its name, and this characteristic distinguishes it from the
Silverweed.

The astringent properties of the plant are yielded to water or spirit and
much resemble the tormentil, but the plant is not so powerfully astrin-
gent. The leaves have the same properties as the root in a lesser degree.
It has been used since the time of Dioscorides as a cure for intermittent
fevers and its efficacy is confirmed by Hippocrates.

Dioscorides advised one leaf for a quotidian ague, three for a tertian
and four for a quartan ague.

A decoction of the root or the expressed juice of the root was con-
sidered a cure for chronic inflammation of the eyes.

M 177

Herbs to Allay Fevers

GIPSYWORT

The plant has received its name because it is used by gipsies to
stain their skin brown.

Botanical name: Lycopus Europoeus (Linn.). Natural order: Labiatae.
Country names: Water horehound, Gipsyherb, Lancea Christi, Marsh
horehound, Egyptian herb, Gipsy weed. French names: Lycope, Marrube
aquatique, Pied de loup, Lance du Christ. German names: Wolfsfuss,
GemeinerWolfstrapp. Italian names: Licopo, Marrubio acquatico, Erba
sega, Pi6 di lupo, Siderite. Turkish name: Su ferasyuni. Part used: Herb.
Natural habitat: England.

Gipsywort is closely allied to the Bugleweed and is found on the banks
of rivers and streams. It has pale lilac flowers which are crowded amongst
the upper leaves. The herb is a powerful astringent and a good fever
herb. This plant obtained its name from its use among gipsies as a stain
for their faces.

178

fJTPSYWORT T Yr.DPTTS PTTWOPFITS

Herbs to Allay Fevers

GOURDS

But the most magnificent plant of these jungles is Hodgsonia
(Trichosanthes of Roxburgh) a gigantic climber allied to the
gourd, bearing immense yellowish white pendulous blossoms,
whose petals have a fringe of buff coloured curling threads,
several inches long. The fruit is of a rich brown, like a small
melon inform, and contains six large nuts whose kernels (called
Ratlor-pot by the Lepches) are eaten. The stem, when cut, dis-
charges water profusely from which end is held downwards.

HOOKER'S Himalayan Journals

Botanical names: Trichosanthes Cucumerina, Trichosanthes Dioica,
Trichosanthes anguina, Trichosanthes cordata, Hodgsonia heterochita.
Natural order: Cucurbitaceae. English names: Bitter gourd, Snake gourd,
Serpent gourd, Viper gourd. French names: Trichosanthe, Patole. Ger-
man names: Haarblume, Sineischer kiirbis. Italian names: Serpente vege-
tale, Serpentone, Zuccetta cinese. Turkish name: Yilan kabagi. Indian
names: Patel, Kadu padavala, Jangli chichonda. Chinese names: Ko-lau,
Kwa-lau. Sanskrit name: Patolaka. Malayan names: Kaippam-patolam,
Ketola pahit. Part used: The plant in fruit. Symbolical meaning: Extent,
bulk. Natural habitat: Northern India, Bengal, Ceylon. Action: Altera-
tive, antiperiodic, cooling hydragogue, laxative, stomachic. All gourds
have cooling and febrifuge properties.

1 he natives use the Bitter Gourd for skin diseases of a leprous nature.

The seeds are stomachic and anthelmintic and so are the young shoots.
A decoction is given in rheumatism and feverish complaints.

Another gourd known as the Bottle Gourd, Lagenaria vulgaris, is
common throughout the tropics and has been cultivated in the West-
Indies. The fruit is shaped like a bottle and is used medicinally in
fevers.

Another Indian variety, T. Palmata, produces an oil which is applied
to the ear in Otorrhoea and is used outwardly in purulent discharges.
The root is said somewhat to resemble Calumba in its bitter tonic pro-
perties. It contains a bitter principle called Trichosanthin and the plant
is called by the Hindus, Kaundala, in reference to the shape of the fruit,
Kondala meaning a pendant or ear-ring.

It is used by the Hindus as a pendant for their gods.

Another variety, T. Kirilowii, known in Peking as Kua Ion, is a very

179

Herbs to Allay Fevers

familiar sight to those living in China because it is common all over
China and is remarkable for the beauty and fragrance of its flowers
which are white and heavily fringed followed by bright red coloured
fruit. It winds itself every where over trees and plants.

GRAVELWORT

The botanical name, Eupatorium, is derived from Mithridates
Eupator, a king of Pontus who first used the plant medicinally.

Botanical name: Eupatorium purpureum (Linn.). Natural order: Com-
positac. Country names: Queen of the meadow, Purple boneset, Trumpet-
weed, Joe-pye, Hempweed, Jopiweed. Part used: Fresh root. Natural
habitat: North America, Canada to Florida. Constituents: Eupatorin,
resin, volatile salt, tannin. Solvents: alcohol, water. Action: Alterative,

anti-acid, stimulant.

(jrravelwort, closely allied to Boneset and Hemp agrimony, is called
Jopiweed in America from the North American Indians' name for
typhus fever.

It has a marked power over the uric acid diathesis. It reduces the acid
in urine and is a valuable remedy for dropsy due to suppression of urine
caused by gravel. It stimulates the elimination of waste material, acts
on the nervous system, improves appetite, and is an important remedy
in intermittent fevers. It is given in diabetes insipidus.

Three other species are used as antipcriodic medicines in India, the
E. Ayapana, the E. Triplinerve, and the E. Aromaticus.

180

GRAVELWORT EUPATORIUM PURPUREUM

Herbs to Allay Fevers

HEMP AGRIMONY

Boerhave calls it Rusticorum Panacea, and states that the
turf diggers in Holland use it with great benefit in jaundice and
those swellings of the feet to which they arc much exposed.

BARTON and CASTLE

Botanical name: Eupatorium Canaabinum. Natural order: Compositae.

Other names: Rusticorum panacea, St. John's herb, Holy Rope. Part

used: Root, leaves. Natural habitat: Temperate Himalaya and Europe.

Action: antiscorbutic, alterative, diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge.

Oemp Agrimony is used in fevers and in jaundice. It has an ancient
reputation as a healing agent and is referred to by Boerhave and also by
Tournefort. It purifies the blood, heals wounds, cures fevers and
jaundice.

Hemp Agrimony, though it belongs to the same family as the common
agrimony, is quite different in appearance. It has flower heads which are
arranged in crowded masses of a dull lilac colour and have a hairy
appearance. The leaves resemble those of the hemp plant. The plant
grows to a height of four or five feet.

181

Herbs to Allay Fevers

JACK FRUIT TREE

The taste of the fruit has been compared to the melon and
pineapple combined, but to some the smell is anything but inviting.

JOHN SMITH

Botanical name: Artocarpus integrifolia, Artocarpus Integra, Artocar-
pus polyphema, Artocarpus elastica. Natural order: Artocarpaceae.
Indian names: Jaca, Jak. Malayan names: Jerami, Nangka. Pprt used:
Pulp, seeds, roots. Natural habitat: Indian and Malayan archipelagoes.

Action: Febrifuge.

1 he Jack Fruit is allied to the bread fruit and though it is not as
palatable to Europeans as the latter, it is extensively cultivated in
Malaya for its seeds and the pulp surrounding them. The fruit is about
the size of a vegetable marrow.

The roots are made into a decoction by the Malayans for the cure of
fevers.

LEMON VERBENA

Flags, nasturtiums, phlox, verbena,
Foxglove with its open lip,
Blossom in the green arena
In a joyous fellowship;
Country thrift, and London Pride,
Growing gaily side by side!

CHRISTIAN BURKE

Botanical names: Lippia citriodora, Aloysia citriodora, Verbena tri-
phylla. Natural order: Verbenaceae. Country name: Herb Louisa. French
names: Lippie, Citronelle. German names: Citronenkraut, Lemonekraut.
Italian names: Cedrina, Cetrina, Erba cedrine, Erba limoncina, Erba
Luigia. Turkish name: Lipia. Part used: Leaves, flowering tops. Natural
habitat: Cuba, Central America, Columbia. Action: Febrifuge, sedative.

1 he sweet-scented Lemon Verbena will grow in sheltered positions in
an English garden if the roots are protected through the winter.

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Herbs to Allay Fevers

It was introduced into England in 1784 and on account of its delightful
fragrance is much cultivated in gardens, growing often side by side with
the Cherry pie (heliotrope) shrub, both of which grow to about the same
height.

The leaves have a peculiarly sedative effect on the mucous surfaces of
the bronchial tubes and the post nasal region.

Ellingwood says of it, 'The use of this agent is limited to the air
passages'.

It is a specific remedy in a hard barking cough without secretion and
is excellent in some forms of asthma and chronic bronchitis and as a
febrifuge.

LILAC

Just now the lilac is in bloom
All before my little room;
And in my flower beds I think,
Smile the carnation and the pink;
And from the borders, well I know,
The poppy and the pansy blow.

RUPERT BROOKE

Botanical name: Syringa vulgaris. Natural order: Oleaceae. Country
names: Blue ash, Ducks' bills, Laylock, Lily oak, Mayflower, Oysters,
Pipe tree, Prince's feather, Roman willow, Spanish oak. French name:
Lilas commun. German names: Tiirkischer Flieder, Lilac, Flieder. Italian
names: Lilacco, Ghianda unguentaria, Siringa lilla, Serenella, Gelso-
mino ceruleo. Turkish name: Leylak. Symbolical meaning: (Purple) First
emotions of love, (White) Joy of youth. Part used: Leaves, fruit. Natural
habitat: Persia, mountainous parts of Eastern Europe. Action: Anti-
periodic, febrifuge, tonic.

1 he Lilac tree appears in an inventory made by Cromwell at Norwich
and was probably introduced in Henry VIII's reign. It has been grown
as a flowering shrub for many centuries.

In medicine it has been used successfully in the treatment of malaria
and in America is given as a vermifuge.

183

Herbs to Allay Fevers

NGAI CAMPHOR PLANT

// is stated that 3,000 worth of this camphor is annually used
in the manufacture of Indian ink, to which it imparts its peculiar
scent.

JOHN SMITH

Botanical names: Blumea balsamifera, Blumea densiflora, Conyza Bal-
samifera, Conyza odorata, Baccharis salma. English name: Buffalo's ear.
Natural order: Composilae. Arabian name: Kama^phitfts. Indian name:
Kakronda. Burmese name: Pungmatheing. Chinese name: Ngai. Malayan
names: Bonga chappa, Scmboug, Telinga kerbau. Symbolical meaning:
Fragrance. Part used: The herb. Natural habitat: Tropical Himalaya,
Burma, Eastern Peninsula, Fiji Islands, Moluccas. Constituents: A vola-
tile oil with the odour of wormwood, a camphor called Ngai camphor.
Action: Astringent, anthelmintic, diaphoretic, expectorant, deobstruent,

resolvent.

I he Ngai Camphor plant is common in waste ground in tropical
islands, and the leaves which have a strong camphoraceous smell are
used in fevers and catarrhal affections, and also for the relief of stomach-
ache.

The Malayans give a decoction to invalids to restore appetite. It is a
very common fever medicine and is made into lotions and fomentations
for rheumatism, beri-bcri and skin diseases. A tisane of the plant is given
to relieve vertigo.

Another species, B. Eriantha, is used much in the same way.

184

Herbs to Allay Fevers

PERUVIAN BARK

' When the secretory functions of the body are in working order,
quinine will produce no unpleasant symptoms.''

ELLINGWOOD

Botanical names: Cinchona succirubra (Pavon), Cinchona officinalis.
Natural order: Rubiaceae. Country names: Jesuits' powder, Red bark,
Countess's powder. French name: Quinquina. German names: China-
baum, Fieberrinden^aum. Italian names: Polvo de la Condesa, China,
China-china. Turkish name: Knakna ag. Part used: Bark of stem and
branches. Natural habitat: South America, cultivated in Ceylon, Java,
India. Constituents: Cinchonine, Quinine, Quinidine, Cinchonidine,
Quinamine, tannic acid, 32 natural and 8 artificial alkaloids, resinoid,
volatile oil, gum, sugar and wax. Solvent: alcohol. Action: Antiseptic,
astringent, febrifuge, tonic.

Peruvian Bark was made known in Europe by the Jesuit missionaries
and for a long time went by the name of Jesuits' bark. Its curative proper-
ties were also brought to public notice because the wife of a Viceroy in
Peru, Countess Cinchon, who lived in the time of Charles I, was cured
of a fever by the use of it.

It was the principal ingredient of several quack remedies, one of which
was purchased by Louis XIV for a large sum of money, and the publica-
tion of the formula further stimulated public interest in the remedy.

James Thompson was the first person to sell it in England in 1658.

The bark augments the power of the heart's action and increases the
arterial tension. If taken in the form of an infusion it can be used almost
indefinitely without any harmful effects, but when used in alkaloidal
form, produces deafness and acts as a protoplasmic poison.

185

Herbs to Allay Fevers

PITTOSPORUM

A plant with an aromatic odour of Car away > which is used by
the Indians to cure snake bites.

Botanical names: Pittosporum floribundum, Pittosporum Ceylonicum,
Celastrus verticillatus, Senacia nepalensis. Natural order: Pittosporaceae.
English name: Pittosporum. Indian name: Vel-kali, Vehyente. Part used:
Bark. Natural habitat: Himalayas, Western Ghauts, Peninsula. Con-
stituents: A bitter glucoside Pittosporim, and an aromatic oleo resin.
Action: Bitter tonic, aromatic, febrifuge.

Several varieties of Pittosporum have been introduced lately into
English gardens because the evergreen foliage is particularly attractive
and there is a demand for it from florists. It grows well by the sea, and
Major Sterne at Goring, in Sussex, showed me a hedge at least twenty
feet high that he had grown from seed in ten years.

The bark has been used in India and other places as a febrifuge medicine
of great efficacy. It has bitter aromatic properties and in large doses is
narcotic. It is used by the natives as an antidote to snake bites.

186

Herbs to Allay Fevers
SCABIOUS

The scabious blooms in sad array
A mourner in her spring.

(This really relates to the garden Scabious often called 'The
Mourning Bride')

Botanical name: Scabiosa succisa (Linn.). Natural order: Compositae.
Countrv names: Bachelors' buttons, Blueball, Blue bonnets, Blue ban-
nets, Blue buttons, Blue caps, Blue heads, Blue kiss, Blue tops, Bunds,
Bundweed, Carl doddie, Carl doddy, Devil's bit, Fire leaves, Forbete,
Forebit, Forebitten More, Gentleman's buttons, Hardhead, Hog-a-beck,
Lamb's ears, More harbyw, Ofbit, Remcope, Stinking Nancy. French
names' Mors le diable, Scabieuse. German names: Skabiose, Acker-
grindkraut. Italian names: Scabiosa, Socera, Ambretta. Spanish name:
Escabiosa. Dutch names: Duvelles bit, Schurftkruid. Turkish name:
Uyuz otu. Under the dominion of: Mercury. Symbolical meaning: Un-
fortunate love. Part used: Herb. Natural habitat: Europe, including
Britain. Action: Demulcent, diaphoretic, febrifuge.

Several species of Scabious are used in medicine, but this particular
species more often goes by the name of Devil's bit because it is said that
the Devil bit a piece of the root off hoping to destroy it on account of
its medicinal value to mankind. The root has a gnawed and broken
appearance and the flowers are dark blue and grow in globular heads.

It is a very useful tonic remedy in fevers and inflammatory wounds and
the infusion can be taken in wineglassful doses very constantly. The
Lesser Scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, is also used in medicine, and the
Field Scabious, Knantia arvensis, which closely resembles the Garden
Scabious, is a cure for shrunken sinews. It has flat heads of a bluish
mauve and an edging of petals and grows abundantly in chalky districts
like the Sussex downs.

The cultivated garden scabious, especially the newer variety, Caucas-
ius large flowered Scabious, is one of the most satisfactory of all herbace-
ous plants, not only on account of its lovely lavender blue colour, but
because it flowers throughout the summer and is lovely for decoration in
the house.

187

Herbs to Allay Fevers

SHOE FLOWER

Hibiscus blossoms, scarlet and white, were wantonly entangled
in her mass of loosened tresses that fluttered to the Zephyrs, as
though magical fingers caressed her and would call her back to
the portals beyond the setting suns.

A. SAFRONI MIDDLETON

Botanical name: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Linn.). Natural order: Mal-
vaceae. English names: China rose, Blacking plant. French name: Rose de
Chine. German name: Chinesische Rose. Italian name: Rosa della China.
Turkish name: Cin gulu. Arabian name: Anghar-e-hindi. Indian names:
Orphul, Joba, Uru, Juva, Jasund, Jasus, Jassun. Burmese name: Khoun-
yan. Chinese name: Chukin. Malayan names: Shem pariti, Kambang-
saptu. Sanskrit name: Jaba. Persian name: Angharac. Symbolical mean-
ing: Delicate beauty. Part used: Root, flowers. Natural habitat: India,
China. Action: Demulcent, emollient, mucilaginous.

1 he Chinese rose is the shoe blacking flower of China. The petals are
used to blacken the eyebrows of the Chinese and to blacken their shoe
leather. Medicinally, the plant is made into a cooling drink for feverish
patients and is used as a demulcent for coughs, cystitis and other in-
flammations.

In Malaya the juice of the white flower is given for sprue combined
with dragon's blood and red sandal wood. The leaves are made into
poultices to relieve headache, and an infusion of the petals mixed with
sugar candy is administered in bronchitis.

Lotions are made from the leaves to bathe the body of feverish
patients.

The plant is closely allied to the mallow tribe and has the same
demulcent properties.

The Hibiscus trionum, which is called the Flower of an Hour, is
common in Nova Scotia and clothes large tracks of waste places with its
lovely cream-coloured flowers.

'The variety of hibiscus with double flowers is most frequently culti-
vated in the East. Rumphius says that the white flower variety is not
esteemed in the east, for the inhabitants of India are extremely partial to
whatever is red, which they consider is a colour tending to exhilarate'
(The Universal Herbal).

188

Herbs to Allay Fevers

SNAKE ROOT

The plant abounds in a bitter principle and a volatile oil

Botanical name: Aristolochia serpentaria (Linn.). Natural order: Aristo-
lochiaceae. Country names: Sangree, Sangrel, Virginia serpentaria,
Pelican flower. French name: Aristoloche serpentaire. German name:
Virginische Schlangenwurzel. Italian names: Aristologia, Serpentaria
della Virginia. Turkish name: Zeravend. Part used: Dried roots. Natural
habitat: Central and Southern U.S.A., a perennial herb growing in shady
woods in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana.
Constituents: Volatile oil, Aristolochina (bitter principle), resin, gum,
starch, albumen. Solvent: alcohol and water. Action: Alterative, dia-
phoretic, emmenagogue, nervine, stimulant, tonic.

(Snake root is not in any way related to the Button Snake root, Liatris
Spicata, or to Senega snake root, Polygala Senega, though all three plants
are used to cure the bites of rattlesnakes.

It was admitted to the London Pharmacopoeia in 1650 after attention
had been drawn to it by Cornutus in 1635 and Parkinson in 1646.

The plant is a gastric, cardiac, and nervine stimulant of much value
where there is a marked suppression of secretions which it promotes.
It is a good remedy in typhoid, scarlet fever, measles, and smallpox and
is of great assistance in sudden acute inflammatory fevers and in ad-
vanced stages of fevers. It is a tonic to the nervous system.

189

Herbs to Allay Fevers

VIRGINIA CREEPER

Under the name of Hedera Quinquifolia this creeper was
brought to Europe from Canada and was cultivated in England
as early as 1629.

Botanical name: Vitis hederacea (Willd). Natural order: Vitaceae. Coun-
try names: Ampolopsis, American Ivy, Five-leaved Ivy, Wood vine.
Part used: Bark, twigs, fresh leaves, berries, resin. Natural habitat: Can-
ada. Constituents: Free tartaric acid and its salts with sodium and
potassium, Pyrocatachin (oxyphenic acid) in the green leaves. Cisso-
tannic acid in the coloured leaves. In the berries glycoltic acid and
calcium glycollate. Action: Antiseptic, alterative, antiscorbutic, febrifuge,

stimulant.

Virginia creeper which turns an ugly red in the autumn is a very com-
mon sight not only in the suburbs, but outside country and town villas.

It is even to be seen outside parts of the lovely modern Town Hall of
Stockholm where its bright red clashes with the mellow rose-coloured
bricks, and it often disfigures ancient monuments as well.

The berries were considered a specific against the plague and were
infused in vinegar and carried during the plague of London. They have
been used in scrofulous complaints for which the Indian species are
used. The Vitis Indica is an antiscorbutic of some power.

The Vitus Quadrangularis of India and Arabia has jointed stems like a
chain of bones and on the doctrine of Signatures is used to reduce frac-
tures and dislocations.

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Herbs to Allay Fevers
VERVAIN

Hallowed be thou, Vervain,

On the ground thou growest,

For on the mount of Calvary

There thou wast found.

Thou healest our Saviour Jesus Christ,

And staunchest this bleeding wound;

In the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,

I take theefrom the ground.

Botanical names: Verbena officinalis, Verbena hastata. Natural order:
Verbenaceae. Country names: Ashthroat, Berbine, Blue vervain, Colum-
bine, Pigeon's grass, Holy herb, Juno's tears, Mercury's moist blood,
Simpler's joy, Herb of Grace, Enchanter's plant, Herba veneris. French
names: Verveine, Herbe sacree. German name: EchtesEisenkraut. Italian
names: Verbena, Colombaria, Crocetta. Turkish name: Guvercin otu.
Under the dominion of: Venus. Symbolical meaning: Enchantment. Part
used: Leaves, flowering heads. Natural habitat: Europe, Cochin China,
China, Japan, Barbary. Action: Antispasmodic, febrifuge, nervine.

I he Vervain plant was said to be an ingredient of the Druids' Lustral
Water. Its name of Herba veneris suggests that it was used as an aphro-
disiac. It has a very old reputation in herbal medicine and the word
Vervain is derived from a Celtic one meaning 'to drive away'. It is said
to cure jaundice, dysentery, ague and fever and diseases of the eyes and
throat. It contains a particular kind of tannic acid and is regarded by
Tournefort as a useful remedy in fevers. It is also a nerve tonic and has
been recommended in epilepsy and to allay pain in bruises. It is a useful
nerve tonic in tubercular complaints and allays the fever.

Its ancient reputation was founded probably to some extent on its use
in magic and in sacrifices, but it is nevertheless a very useful nerve tonic,
pleasant to the palate and cheering to the heart. If used in epilepsy it
relieves depression and when suspended round the neck it has been
known to cure inveterate headaches. It is an antispasmodic.

The juice clears the eyes and the sight, and white wine in which Ver-
vain has been steeped is a useful remedy in jaundice. It removes obstruc-
tions from the spleen. The juice can be made into a syrup by boiling it
with honey.

191

Herbs to Allay Fevers

Some of the tropical varieties have very fragrant and beautiful flow-
ers, and the leaves are often used as a substitute for China tea.

The ordinary Vervain has no scent and its lilac-coloured flowers are
insignificant. It is a common wayside weed in parts of England and Ire-
land, but is not found in Scotland.

The plant was dedicated by the ancients to Isis, the Goddess of Birth.

WINTER CHERRY

For I not only water (Jo expel,

That other weaker plants can do as well,

But such hard rocks of adamant I break,

As Hannibal to pass wou'd prove too weak,

Unhappy he who on this rock is tos't,

And shipwrecked is in his own waters lost

Ev'n Sisyphus might pi ty and bemoan

The wretch thafs tortured with an inbred stone.

ABRAHAM COWLEY

Botanical name: Physalis Alkekengi (Linn.). Natural order: Solanaccae.
Country names: Strawberry tomato, Alkekengi. Bladderherb. French
names: Alkekenge, Coqueret Cerise de Juif. German names: Deutsche
Schlutte, Lampionpflanze. Italian names: Alcachengi, Chichingero, So-
latro alcachengi, Yescicaria alcachengi, Palloncini. Turkish name: Fener
cic. Symbolical meaning: Deception. Part used: Berries, juice and seeds.
Natural habitat: Europe, United States, Persia. Constituents: The berries
contain sugar and citric acid. The leaves contain a bitter principle called
physalin. Action: Alterative, diuretic, febrifuge, stimulant.

Winter Cherry has been used successfully in intermittent fevers,
dropsy, rheumatism and skin complaints. It is an hepatic stimulant.

Dioscorides recommended the plant as a cure for epilepsy and other
herbalists refer to it as a remedy for gravel which the urinary symp-
toms it produces confirms.

It has been used for stiffness and paralysis, and in the country is re-
garded as the right remedy to take after scarlet fever. On the Continent
the berries are eaten as other fruit.

192

Herbs to Allay Fevers

The Physalis minima, an Indian species, is also used in dropsy and
urinary complaints.

The Winter Cherry is to be found in most English gardens and it is
cherished for its lantern-like red fruit which resembles a bladder. These
fruits are used as winter decoration in the house. The plant was intro-
duced from Europe in 1548. The Physalis Franchetii, which was intro-
duced from Japan in 1894, has larger fruit, and the Cape Gooseberry,
P. Peruviana, which came from South America in 1772, has edible fruit ;
the last-named variety is not however hardy.

YARROW

Thou pretty herb of Venus tree
Thy true name it is Yarrow;
Now who my bosom friend must be,
Pray tell thou me to-morrow.

Botanical name: Achillea millefolium (Linn.). Natural order: Com-
positae. Country names: Arrowroot, Green arrow, Bloodwort, Camil,
Cammock, Carpenter grass, Devil's nettle, Dog daisy, Eerie, Garwe,
Girs, Hundred leaved grass, Melefour, Milfoil, Nosebleed, Old Man's
mustard, Old man's pepper, Sanguinary, Sneezewort, Thousand leaf,
Tansy, Yarroway, Yallow, Yenow. French names: Achilee, Mille feuille,
Herbe aux charpentiers. German names: Schafgarbe, Tauscnd-augbraim.
Italian names: Achillea, Millefoglie, Erba da falegname, Erba da carpen-
tieri. Turkish name: Civan percemi. Indian names: Roga mari, (Bazaar)
Birangasifa. Under the dominion of: Venus. Natural habitat: Europe,
N. America. Part used: Whole herb. Constituents: Achillein, Achilleic
acid, volatile oil, tannin, gum, various salts as malates, nitrates, phos-
phates, and chlorides of potassium and calcium. Action: Antiscorbutic,

febrifuge, tonic.

1 he Yarrow is common in meadows and by roadsides throughout
England. Its flat white heads of corymbose flowers and feathery leaves
are familiar to most people.

It is a famous old wound herb which is said to have been used by

N 193

Herbs to Allay Fevers

Achilles, from whom the genus derives its name. It was dedicated to the
devil.

The ancients regarded it as a most valuable styptic and astringent, and
amongst herbalists it has never lost its reputation.

It yields its properties to alcohol and water. The herb has a decided
action on the blood vessels especially of the pelvis. It acts best in strong
infusion and if persisted with will cure profuse mucal secretions and
soothe the mucal surfaces. It combines very well with Bur marigold.

As a fever herb especially in feverish colds and inflamed wounds, it
is most reliable though sometimes slow in action. It is mild and never
debilitates ; and it is a tonic as well as a febrifuge, purifying the blood.
In fevers it combines well with Angelica, or with Feverfew or Peppermint.

It is a very useful remedy in relaxation of the sphincter muscle ; and in
a sluggish digestion it promotes appetite.

The flowering tops and leaves make an excellent vapour bath in fevers
if mixed with Lavender flowers, wheat, bran and milk.

In the bazaars of India the plant is called Biranjasif.

194

Indexes

1. GENERAL INDEX

2. BOTANICAL NAMES

3. FAMILIAR NAMES

4. FRENCH INDEX

5. GERMAN INDEX

6. ITALIAN INDEX

7. SANSCRIT INDEX

8. INDIAN INDEX

9. MALAYAN INDEX

10. ARABIAN INDEX

11. TURKISH INDEX

GENERAL INDEX

Agrimony, 19
American Boxwood, 170
Archangel, 71

Bael Tree, 72
Balsam of Peru, 51
Banyan Tree, 74
Baobab Tree, 73
Barbers' Bael Fruit, 119
Bastard Ipecacuanha, 75
Bearberry, 75
Betel, 52
Beth Root, 76
Bignonia, 77
Bilberry, 78
Bistort, 79
Blackberry, 80
Black Cohosh, 120
Bluebell, 81
Boneset, 171
Bugle, 20
Bugloss, 172

Cajeput Oil Tree, 82
Californian Poppy, 121
Camphor, 122
Campions, 83
Carrot, 53
Catchfly, 84
Celandine (Lesser), 85
Ceylon Jasmine, 123
Cherry Laurel, 124
Chrysanthemum, 173
Cloves, 125
Club Moss, 126
Cocklebur, 21
Comfrey, 22
Compass Plant, 174
Country Borage, 1 27
Crawley Root, 175
Crosswort, 23

Daisy, 24
Darnel, 25
Delphinium, 26
DitaBark, 175
Dittany, 27
Duck's Meat, 86

Ebony Tree, 87
Echinacea, 54

Ephedra, 128
Eucalyptus, 55
Evening Primrose, 129

Feverbush, 176

Figworts, 130

Fireweed, 131

Fish Catching Coral Tree, 132

Fiveleaf Grass, 177

Five-leaved Chaste Tree, 132

Five-leaved Ckome Tree, 133

Flax, 28

Fleabanes, 88

Fulsee Flower, 89

Gardenia, 134
Garlic, 56
Gelsemium, 135
Geraniums, 89
Germanders, 58
Gipsy wort, 178
Gladwyn, 136
Golden Seal, 137
Gourds, 179
Goutweed, 138
Gravelwort, 180
Grindelia, 139
Guelder Rose, 140

Heliotrope, 90
Heliotrope (Indian), 91
Hemp Agrimony, 181
Herb Robert, 92
Horse Chestnut, 141

Indian Plum, 93
Ipecacuanha, 142

Jack Fruit Tree, 182
Jambul, 94
Jewel weed, 95

Kinos, 96
Knawel, 143
Knotgrass, 97

Laburnum, 144
Lemon Verbena, 182
Leopard's Bane, 30
Lilac, 183
Lippia, 145

196

Indexes

Lobelia, 146
Logwood, 98
Lovage, 147

Madonna Lily, 31
Malabar Nut, 148
Mangosteen, 99
Marshmallow, 32
Marsh Marigold, 149
Matico, 33
Meadow saffron, 150
Medlar , 34
Mignonette, 35
Milkwort, 60
Mimosa 100
Moneywort, 36
Moonwort, 37
Mountain Ash, 101
Myrrh, 61

Navelwort, 151

Ngai Camphor Plant, 184

Paeony, 152
Pareira Brava, 62
Pellitory, 153
Periwinkle, 102
Peruvian Bark, 185
Pinus Bark, 103
Pittosporum, 186
Ploughman's Spikenard, 38
Plumbago, 154
Plume Poppy, 63
Prunella, 39

Quebracho, 155

Ragged Robin, 104
Rattles, 40
Rupturewort, 105

Sassafras, 64
Sassy Bark, 156
Satinwood Tree, 156

Scabious, 187
Screw Pine, 1 57
Sea Lavender, 106
Service Tree, 106
Shoe Flower, 188
Siegesbeckia, 41
Silverweed, 107
Slippery Elm, 42
Sloes, 108
Smartweed, 65
Snake Root, 189
Snowdrop, 43
Sphagnum Moss, 44
Spiraea, 109
Stone Root, 1 58
Sumachs, 1 10
Sumbul, 159
Sycacarpus, 160

Thapsia, 160
Thrift, 111
Tiger Lily, 161
Toothwort, 162
Tuberose, 112

Verbena, 182
Vervain, 191
Virginia Creeper, 190

Water Lily, 163
Water soldier, 45
Wayfaring Tree, 113
Whortleberry, 1 1 4
Wild Indigo, 66
Wild Jessamine, 164
Wild Lime, 165
Wild Yam, 165
Winter Cherry, 192
Wood Sanicle, 46
Woundworts, 47

Yarrow, 193
Yellow Flag, 115

BOTANICAL NAMES

Abies canadensis, 103
Abuta rufescens, 62
Acacia catechu, 100
Achillea millefolium, 193
Actae racemosa, 120

Adansonia digitata, 73
Adhatoda vasica, 148
Aegle marmelos, 72
Aegopodium podagraria, 138
Aesculus hippocastanum, 141

197

Indexes

Agraphis nutans, 81
Agrimonia eupatoria, 19
Ajuga rep tans, 20
Allium sativum,, 56
Aloysia citriodora, 182
Alstonia scholaris, 175
Althea officinalis, 32
Anacyclus pyrethrum, 153
Arbutus uva ursi, 75
Arctostaphylos uva ursi, 75
Aristolochia serpentaria, 189
Arnica montana, 30
Ar tan the elongata, 33
Artanthe hixagona, 52
Artocarpus elastica, 182
Artocarpus integra, 182
Artocarpus integrifolia, 182
Artocarpus polyphema, 182
Asclepias curassavica, 75
Aspidosperma quebracho-blancho,

155
Atalantia monophylla, 1 65

Baccharis salma, 184
Balsamodendron myrrha, 61
Baptisia tinctoria, 66
Bellis perennis, 24
Bignonia grandiflora, 77
Bignonia radicans, 77
Blumea balsamifera, 184
Blumea densiilora, 184
Bocconia cordata, 63
Botrychium lunaria, 37
Brauneria pallida, 54
Butea frondosa, 96

Caltha palustris, 149
Canthium didymum, 164
Canthium parviflorum, 164
Caryophyilus aromaticus, 125
Carum ajowan, 147
Carum copticum, 147
Celastrus verticillatus, 186
Chavica betel, 52
Chloroxylon swietenia, 156
Chondrodendrum tomentosum, 62
Chrysanthemum carneum, 153
Chrysanthemum cineraria, 153
Chrysanthemum parthenium, 173
Chrysanthemum roseum, 153
Chrysanthemum pyrethrum, 153
Cimicifuga racemosa, 120
Cinchona officinalis, 185
Cinchona succirubra, 185
Cineraria canadensis, 131

Cinnamomum camphora, 122
Cissampelos pareira, 62
Cleome pentaphylla, 133
Colchicum autumnale, 150
Coleus amboinicus, 127
Coleus aromaticus, 127
Coleus carnosus, 127
Collinsonia canadensis, 1 58
Commiphora myrrha, 61
Conyza balsamifera, 184
Conyza odorata, 184
Cornus florida, 170
Corallorhiza innata, 175
Corallorhiza odontorhiza, 1 75
Cotyledon lusitanica, 151
Cotyledon umbilicus, 151
Cytisus laburnam, 144

Daucus carota, 53
Delphinium consolida, 26
Dioscorea villosa, 165
Diospyros ebenum, 87
Diospyros embryopteris, 87

Echinacea angustifolia, 54
Echium vulgare, 172
Ephedra equisetina, 128
Ephedra shennungiana, 128
Ephedra sinica, 128
Erechtite hieracifolia, 131
Erigeron canadense, 88
Erythroploeum quineense, 156
Eschscholtzia californica, 121
Eucalyptus globulus, 55
Eugenia carophyllata, 125
Eugenia jambolana, 94
Eupatorium canaabinum, 181
Eupatorium perfoliatum, 171
Eupatorium purpureum, 180

Ferula sumbul, 1 59
Ficus bengalensis, 74
Ficus indica, 74
Flacourtia cataphracta, 93
Flacourtia indica, 93
Flacourtia jangomas, 93
Flacourtia ramontchi, 93

Galanthus nivalis, 43
Galium cruciata, 23
Garcinia mangostana, 99
Gardenia arborea, 1 34
Gardenia campanulata, 134
Gardenia florida, 134
Gardenia gummifera, 134
Gardenia lucida, 134

198

Indexes

Gardenia resinifera, 134
Gardenia uliginosa, 134
Garrya fremonti, 176
Gelsetnium nitidum, 135
Gelsemium sempervirens, 135
Geranium maculatum, 89
Geranium robertianum, 92
Grindelia camporum, 1 39
Grindelia cuneifolia, 139
Grindelia squarrosa, 139
Grislea tomentosa, 89
Gynandropsis pentaphylla, 133

Haematoxylon cam^echianum, 98
Heliotropium cordifolium, 91
Heliotropium europaeum, 90
Heliotropium indicum, 91
Heliotropium peruviana, 90
Herniaria glabra, 105
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, 188
Hodgsonia heterochita, 179
Hyacinthus nonscriptus, 81
Hydrastis canadensis, 137

Impatiens aurea, 95
Tnula conyza, 38
Inula dysenterica, 88
Iris foetidissima, 136
Iris pseudacorus, 1 1 5

Laburnum anagyroides, 144
Lamium album, 71
Lathroea squamaria, 162
Legusticum ajawain, 147
Legusticum levisticum, 147
Lemna minor, 86
Levisticum officinale, 147
Lilium candidum, 31
Lilium tigrinum, 161
Limonia acidissima, 119
Limonia cremulata, 119
Linum usitatissimum, 28
Lippia citriodora, 182
Lippia dulcis, 145
Lobelia inflata, 146
Lolium temulentum, 25
Lychnis coronaria, 83
Lychnis diurna, 83
Lychnis flos-calculi, 104
Lychnis verpertina, 83
Lycopodium clavatum, 1 26
Lycopus europoeus, 178
Lysimachis mummularia, 36
Lythrum fruticosum, 89

Matricaria parthenium, 1 73
Melaleuca cajaputi, 82
Melaleuca leucadendron, 82
Mespilus germanica, 34
Mimosa catechu, 100
Myrospermum pereira, 51
Myroxolon pereirae, 51
Myrtus caryophyllus, 125

Nerium divaricatum, 123
Noli-me-tangere, 95
Nymphaea odorata, 163

Oenothera biennis, 129
Origanum dictamnus, 27

Paeonia officinalis, 152
Pandanus odoratissimus, 157
Pandanus sativa, 157
Pedicularis sylvatica, 40
Physalis alkekengi, 1 92
Piper angustifolium, 33
Piper betel, 52
Piscidia erythrina, 132
Pittosporum ceylonicum, 186
Pittosporum floribundum, 186
Plumbago rosea, 154
Plumbago zeylanica, 1 54
Polianthes tuberosa, 112
Polygala vulgaris, 60
Polygonum bistorta, 79
Polygonum erectum, 97
Polygonum hydropiper, 65
Potentilla anserina, 107
Potentilla reptans, 1 77
Prunella vulgaris, 39
Prunus laurocerasus, 124
Prunus spinosa, 108
Psychotria ipecacuanha, 142
Pterocarpus erinaceus, 96
Pterocarpus marsupium, 96
Ptychotis ajowan, 147
Pyrethrum parthenium, 173
Pyrus aucuparia, 101
Pyrus domestica, 106
Pyrus germanica, 34
Pyrus sorbus, 106

Ranunculus ficaria, 85
Reseda odorata, 35
Rhinanthus crista-galli, 40
Rhus aromatica, 110
Rhus cotinus, 110
Rhus glabra, 110
Rubus fructicosus, 80

199

Indexes

Sanicula europaea, 46
Sassafras officinale, 64
Scabiosa succisa, 187
Scilla nutans, 81
Scleranthus annuus, 143
Scrophularia aquatica, 1 30
Scrophularia nodosa, 130
Senacia nepalensis, 186
Senecio hieracifolia, 131
Siegesbeckia orientalis, 41
Silene nutans, 84
Silphium laciniatum, 174
Silphium perfoliatum, 174
Sophora tinctoria, 66
Sorbus aucuparia, 101
Sorbus domestica, 106
Sphagnum cymbifolium, 44
Spiraea tormentosa, 109
Stachys palustris, 47
Stachys sylvatica, 47
Statice armeria, 1 1 1
Statice caphalotus, 111
Statice limonium, 106
Statice maritima, 106
Stratiotes aloides, 45
Sycacarpus rusbyi, 160
Symphytum officinale, 22
Syringa vulgaris, 183

Taberna heybeana, 123
Taberna montana caronaria, 123
Tecoma grandiflora, 77
Teucrium chamaedrys, 58
Teucrium scordiades, 58

Teucrium scordium, 58
Teucrium scorodonia, 58
Thapsia garganica, 160
Tiaridium indicum, 91
Toluifera pereira, 51
Trichosanthes anguinia, 179
Trichosanthes cordata, 1 79
Trichosanthes cucumerina, 179
Trichosanthes dioica, 179
Trillium erectum, 76
Trillium pendulum, 76
Tsuga canadensis, 103

Umus fulva, 4?
Urostigma bengalensis, 74

Vaccinium myrtillus, 78
Vaccinum myrtillus, 114
Verbena hastata, 191
Verbena officinalis, 191
Verbena triphylla, 182
Viburnum lantana, 113
Viburnum opulus, 140
Vinca major, 102
Vitex negundo, 132
Vitex paniculata, 1 32
Vitex trifolia, 132
Vitis hederacea, 190

Woodfordia floribunda, 89

Xanthium abyssinicum, 21
Xanthium spinosum, 21

FAMILIAR NAMES

Achweed, 138
Adders' flower, 83
Adder's tongue, 92
Adderwort, 79
Adrelwort, 173
Ague tree, 64
Ague weed, 171
Aise, 138
Aiseweed, 138
Aishweed, 138
Alan, 163

Alexander's foot, 1 53
Alkekengi, 192
All heal, 39, 47
Allseed, 97

Alum, 22
Alum bloom, 89
Alum root, 89
Ambroise, 58
Ambrose, 58
American baneberry, 120
American dogweed, 170
American ivy, 190
American kino, 89
American tormentilla, 89
Ampolopsis, 190
Annual knawel, 143
Anthrodactyllis spinosa, 157
Arb rabbn, 92
Aremart, 65

200

Indexes

Argentina, 107
Armstrong, 97
Arrowroot, 193
Arsemart, 65
Arsemick, 65
Arsmart, 173
Artrologia, 79
Ashweed, 138
Ash throat, 191
Ass ear, 22
Asthma weed, 146
Astringent root, 89
Autumn Crocus, 150
Ayshweed, 138
Ax weed, 138

Bachelor's Buttons, 24, 83, 104,

Bairnwort, 24

Band plant, 102

Banwort, 24

Base tree, 144

Bassinet, 149

Bastard chrysanthemum, 1 74

Bastard mustard, 133

Bear bilberry, 75

Bear whortleberry, 75

Bee nettle, 71

Bee's nest, 53

Beggarweed, 97

Bellows, 20

Bengal figtree, 74

Bengal quince, 72

Bennergowan, 24

Bennest, 24

Bennet, 24

Benwort, 24

Berbine, 191

Bertram, 153, 173

Bessy-banwood, 24

Bilberry, 114

Billy Button, 24, 83

Bird's eye, 83, 92

Bird's knotgrass, 97

Bird's nest, 53

Bird's tongue, 97

Birth root, 76

Bishop's elder, 138

Bishop's weed, 138, 147

Bishop's wort, 138

Bitter gourd, 179

Bitter redberry, 170

Bity tongue, 65

Blacebergass, 80

Black bides, 80

Black blegs, 80

Black bowours, 80
Black boyds, 80
Black brier, 80
Blackheart, 78, 114
Blacking plant, 188
Blackites, 80
Black Sampson, 54
Black snakeroot, 120
Black spice, 80
Black strap, 97
Blue caps, 187
Blue fingers, 102
Blue gum tree, 55
Blue heads, 187
Blue kiss, 187
Blue seggin, 136
187 Blue tops, 187

Blue vervain, 191
Bobbins, 163
Bogmoss, 44
Boneflower, 24
Boneset, 22
Bongay, 141
Bonwort, 24
Boots, 149
Box tree, 170
Boyds, 80

Boy's starnaked, 1 50
Bragge, 25
Brammelkite, 80
Brammle, 80
Brassetty buttons, 83
Brave celandine, 149
Brawlins, 75
Bremmyll, 80
Briar, 80
Bright, 85
Brimbles, 80
Briswort, 22, 24
Broomles, 80
Brown bugle, 20
Brownwort, 39
Bruisewort, 22, 24
Brumel, 36
Brummel, 80
Brumleyberry bush, 80
Brylocks, 78, 114
Brymble, 80
Buck grass, 126
Buckshorn, 126
Buckthorn, 108
Bugbane, 120
Bullies, 108
Bulbous violet, 43
Bullins, 108

201

Indexes

Bullister, 108
Bullbeef, 80
Bullberries, 78, 114
Bullens, 108
Bull flower, 149
Bull rattle, 83
Bulls eye, 83
Bumble bees, 39
Bumble berries, 80
Bumly-kites, 80
Buncholery buttons, 173
Bunds, 187
Bundweed, 187
Burren myrtle, 75
Burstwort, 104
Burweed, 21
Burwort, 85
Butter blob, 149
Butter and Eggs, 115
Butterweed, 88
Button bur, 21

Caers, 101
Caldera bush, 157
California fever bush, 176
California gum plant, 139
Cambieleaf, 163
Camil, 193
Cammock, 193
Camoroche, 107
Campeachy wood, 97
Canadian coltstail, 88
Canadian horse-mint, 158
Candia, 27
Candlemas Bells, 43
Candock, 163
Can leaves, 163
Care, 101

Caroline jasmine, 135
Carldoddie, 187
Carl doddy, 187
Carlock cups, 149
Carpenter's grass, 39, 193
Carpenter's herb, 20
Cascabark, 156
Cat sloes, 108
Catposy, 24
Cegge, 115
Celidony, 85
Centinode, 97
Cheat, 25
Cheeses, 32
Cheiper, 115
Cherry pie, 90
Cherry wood, 140

Chicken toe, 175

Children's daisy, 24

Chirms, 149

China rose, 1 88

Chinese celandine, 62

Chocolate flower, 89

Church steeples, 19

Ciderage, 65

Cinnamon root, 38

Cinquefoil, 177

Clout, 149

Clover broom, 66

Clown's lungwort, 162

Clown's treacle . 56

Clown's woundwort, 47

Cockbramble, 80

Cock brumble, 80

Cock drunks, 101

Cockeburr, 19

Cockhead, 47

Cockiloorie, 24

Cockle, 25

Cocklebur, 19

Cockles, 102

Cockrobin, 83

Cock's carm, 104

Cock's comb, 40, 104

Colic root, 165

Columbine, 191

Common flax, 28

Common fleabane, 88

Common pulicaria dysenterica, 88

Compass weed, 174

Coneflower, 54

Confery, 24

Conquerors, 141

Coral root, 175

Cornel, 170

Cottoner, 113

Cotton tree, 1 1 3

Countess's powder, 185

Country lawyers, 80

Coventree, 113

Cow cranes, 149

Cow grass, 97

Cowmack, 83

Cow rattle, 83

Cow's weather wind, 47

Cow's withywind, 47

Crab's claw, 45

Crab grass, 97

Crab weed, 97

Crain, 85

Cranberry, 75

Crazy, 85, 149

202

Indexes

Crazy Bet, 149
Creashak, 75
Creeping burr, 126
Creeping Jenny, 36
Creeping loosestrife, 36
Crone, 78, 114
Cross flower, 60
Crow berry, 78, 114
Crow cranes, 149
Crowflower, 104, 149
Crowfoot, 89
Crowrightle, 85
Crow's nest, 53
Crumple lily, 161
Cuckoo flower, 83, 104
Cuckoo meat, 92
Cuckoos, 92
Cuckoo's victuals, 92
Cucumbers, 115
Culrage, 65
Cumberfield, 97
Cumfirie, 24
Cup plant, 174
Curage, 65
Cure all, 129
Cutch, 100
Cut finger, 102
Cyderack, 65

Daggers, 115
Daiseyghe, 24
Dawki, 53
Dazey, 24
Day nettle, 71
Dead men's bellows, 20
Dead nettle, 47, 71
Deaf nettle, 71
Death come quickly, 92
Devil's bit, 187
Devil's bones, 165
Devil's flower, 83
Devil's nettle, 193
Devil's tree, 161
Dicky daisy, 24
Dicky Dilver, 102
Ditch bar, 21
Dittany of Crete, 27
Dock bistort, 79
Dogberry, 75, 101, 146
Dog daisy, 24, 193
Dog elder, 140
Dogella, v 138
Dog rowan tree, 140
Dog's tansy, 107
Dog's toe, 92

Dog tree, 140, 170
Dolphin flower, 26
Doom bark, 156
Doorweed, 97
Dornel, 25
Dove's foot, 89
Downy grislee, 88
Downy woundwort, 47
Dragge, 25
Dragons, 79
Dragon's blood, 92
Dragon's claw, 175
Dragon flower, 115, 136
Dria's plant, 160
Drake, 25
Dragonwort, 79
Drank, 25
Dravick, 25
Droke, 25
Drunk, 25
Drunkard, 149
Drunken plant, 25
Duck's bills, 183
Duckweed, 86
Dumb nettle, 71
Dummy nettle, 71
Dutch medlar, 34
Dyer's baptisia, 66

Ear rings, 144
Easter giant, 79
Easter ledges, 79
Easter mangianta, 79
Easter magiants, 79
Eaver, 25
Eerie, 193

Egg peg bushes, 108
Egremoine, 19
Egremounde, 19
Egyptian herb, 178
Emetic herb, 146
Enchanter's plant, 191
English treacle, 58
Esmert, 65
Ewe bramble, 80
Ewe go wan, 24
Eye balm, 137
Eye root, 137

Fair days, 107

Fair grass, 107

Fair maid of February, 43

Fair maid of France, 104

False indigo, 66

Farmer's plague, 138

203

Indexes

Fayberry, 78

Fazberry, 114

Feather few, 173

Feather fowl, 173

Fellon grass, 92

Feverwort, 171

Fiddle, 53

Field ash, 101

Field larkspur, 26

Fiflef, 177

Finzach, 97

Fire leaves, 187

Fire o' gold, 149

Five finger blossom, 177

Five finger grass, 177

Five fingers, 177

Five leaf, 177

Five leaved ivy, 190

Five leaves grass, 177

Flaggon, 115

Flagous, 115

Flatter dock lily, 163

Fleabites, 83

Fleawort, 38, 88

Fliggers, 115
Flirtwort, 173
Flower de luce, 115
Flowering cornet, 170
Fly flower, 39
Foal foot, 85
Fog crocus, 150
Forbete, 187
Forebit, 187
Forebitten more, 187
Forks and knives, 126
Four o' clock, 129
Four sisters, 60
Fowler's service, 101
Fox geranium, 92
Fox grass, 92
Fox's claws, 126
Foxtail, 126
Fraghan, 78, 114
French ash, 144
French broom, 144
French snowdrop, 43
Freshwater soldier, 45
Frughans, 78, 114

Gadrise, 140
Gagroot, 146
Gaitberry, 80
Gaites tree, 80
Garclive, 19
Gardener's delight, 83

Gardener's eye, 83
Garden gate, 92
Garden plague, 138
Garden primrose, 112
Garden tuberose, 112
Garlick sage, 58
Gartenberries, 80
Gar we, 193
Gatten, 140
Gatter bush, 140
Gatteridge, 140
Gelders rose, 140
Gentleman's buttons, 187
Gentry flower, $3
German knotgrass, 143
Gilding cup, 85
Gipsy Herb, 178
Gipsy- weed, 178
Girs, 193
Git cup, 149
Gitty cup, 85, 149
Gladden, 136
Glading root, 136
Gley glof, 31
Goatweed, 138
Golden ball, 140
Golden blossom, 177
Golden chain, 144
Golden cup, 85, 149
Golden drops, 144
Golden guineas, 85
Golden mugent, 23
Golden shower, 144
Gold heath, 44
Goldy kush, 85
Golland, 149
Gollin, 149
Goosechite, 19
Goose grass, 107
Goose tansy, 107
Gottridge, 140
Goutwort, 138
Gowam, 24, 149
Gowan, 149
Gowlan, 24, 149
Gramfer, 83

Grandmother's nightcap, 83
Great butter flower, 149
Great consound, 22
Greater periwinkle, 102
Great fleabane, 38
Green arrow, 193
Greyglas, 83
Ground ash, 138
Ground ivy, 102

204

Indexes

Ground lily, 76
Ground raspberry, 137
Gum camphor, 122
Gum plant, 22, 139

Halcups, 149

Hardback, 109, 158

Hardhead, 187

Hardy grindelia, 1 39

Hart berries, 78, 114

Harvest lice, 19

Hat-ta-wa-no-min-schi, 170

Hawks-bill, 80

Heal all, 158

Heart, 114

Heart of the Earth, 39

He broom, 144

Hedge archangel, 47

Hedge hyssop, 47, 60

Hedge picks, 108

Hedge speaks, 108

Heer, 101

Heg peg bushes, 108

Helde, 107

Helfringwort, 20

Hemlock bark, 1 03

Hemlock gum, 103

Hemlock pitch, 103

Hemony, 19

Hempweed, 180

Hen and chickens, 24

Hendrunks, 101

Hen's comb, 40

Hen's eye, 104

Hep, 108

Herba veneris, 191

Herb five leaf, 177

Herb Gerard, 138

Herb Louisa, 182

Herb Margaret, 24

Herb of Grace, 191

Herb twopence, 36

Herteclowre, 58

Hill trot, 53

Hoburn Saugh, 144

Hog-a-back, 187

Hog weed, 97

Holy herb, 40, 191

Holy rope, 181

Honeywort, 23

Hookheal, 39

Hope-friend-in-need, 43

Horse balm, 158

Horsechine, 58

Horsefly weed, 66

Horsetail, 38
Horse weed, 1 58
Horts, 78, 114
Hosedoup, 34
Hound's tongue, 47
Howdoup, 34
Huckberry, 114
Huckleberry, 78, 114
Hundred leaved grass, 193
Hurtleberry, 114
Hurts, 78, 114

Ice vine, 62
Indian balm, 76
Indian cup plant, 174
Indian dye, 137
Indian elm, 42
Indian fig tree, 74
Indian paint, 137
Indian pink, 104
Indian sage, 171
Indian shamrock, 76
Indian tobacco, 146
Indigo weed, 66
Ink root, 106
Insect plant, 153
Irongrass, 97
Ivray, 25

Jack by the hedge, 104
Jack jump about, 138
Jacob's sword, 115
Jamum, 94
Jaundice root, 137
Java plum, 94
Jenny wren, 92
Jesuit's powder, 185
Joe-pye, 180
John Georges, 149
Johnny cranes, 149
Jonette, 149
Jopiweed, 180
Joy of the ground, 102
Jum, 25

Jump about, 138
Juno's rose, 31
Juno's tears, 191

Keliage, 65
Kesh, 138
Khairtree, 100
Kidney wort, 151
Kilbridge, 65
King cob, 149
King cup, 85, 149

205

Indexes

Kingcups, 149
King's consound, 26
King's crown, 140
King's cumin, 147
Kiss me, 92
Knife and fork, 92
Knight's pondweed, 45
Knight's spur, 26
Knight's wort, 45
Knit back, 22
Knit bone, 22
Knob-root, 158
Knob weed, 158
Knob wort, 97
Knuckle bleeders, 141
Konker tree, 141

Lady's bedstraw, 23

Lady's garters, 80

Lady's fingers, 144

Laister, 115

Lake weed, 65

Lambs, 141

Lamb's ears, 187

Lamb's quarters, 76

Lamb's tail, 126

Lancea Christi, 178

Land briars, 80

Large rampion, 129

Lark's toe, 26

Laurel camphor, 122

Lavender thrift, 106

Laver, 115

Laylock, 183

Less consound, 24

Levers, 115

Lignum compechianum, 97

Lilyoak, 183

Lint, 28

Lint bells, 28

Lint bennels, 28

Lint bow, 28

Linseed, 28

Lithewort, 113

Little bachelor's buttons, 92

Little red robin, 92

Livirs, 115

Liverwort, 19

London bottles, 39

London pink, 92

Longwort, 153

Lousy beds, 104

Lousy soldiers' buttons, 104

Love roses, 140

Lover's steps, 25

Lug, 115
Lungwort, 162

Macleaya, 63
Maghet, 173
Malabar plum, 94
Mallards, 32
Mancona bark, 1 56
Mantle, 97
March daisy, 24
Mare blob, 149
Margaret's herb, 24
Marguerite,, 24
Marken, 115
Marie, 34

Marsh corn, 107
Marsh elder, 140
Marsh gilly flower, 104
Marsh horehound, 178
Marsh lousewort, 40
Marsh pilewort, 85
Marsh rosemary, 106
Mary Gowlan, 24
Mary Lily, 31
Mascorns, 107
Masterwort, 138
Maudlinwort, 24
Mayflower, 183
May gowan, 24
May rose, 140
May tosty, 140
Maywort, 23
Meadowbout, 149
Meadow bright, 149
Meadow campion, 104
Meadow crocus, 150
Meadow pink, 104
Meadow runagates, 36
Mealberry, 75
Mealy guelder rose, 113
Mealy tree, 113
Meeks, 79
Meleflour, 193
Mercury's moist blood, 191
Mexicon lippia, 145
Middle comfrey, 20
Middle consound, 20
Middle fleabane, 88
Midsummer daisy, 173
Midsummer silver, 107
Miklin, 115
Milfoil, 193
Milkweed, 60
Mire blob, 149
Mirrot, 53

206

Indexes

Moll blob, 149
Mon-ha-can-ni-min-schi, 1 70
Monkey bread, 73
Mooches, 80
Moors, 107
Moor grass, 107
Moose elm, 42
More harbyw, 187
Mortification root, 32
Moss crops, 107
Mother Dee, 104
Mother of thousands, 24
Mountain sage, 58
Mountain tobacco, 30
Mug wet, 140
Mulberry bramble, 80
Mullein pink, 83
Mullet, 88

Muscus terrestris repens, 126
Musk root, 159

Naked boys, 150
Naked ladies, 150
Naked virgins, 1 50
Nenuphar, 163
Nettle foot, 47
Niggerhead, 54
Nightingales, 92
Nine joints, 97
Ninety-knot, 97
Nkasa, 156
Nose bleed, 173, 193

Oblionker tree, 141
Oderwort, 79
Of bit, 187

Old maid's night cap, 89
Old man's mustard, 193
Old man's pepper, 193
Open arse, 34
Ople tree, 140
Orange root, 137
Ordeal bark, 156
Osmunde, 37
Osteriachs, 79
Oxan, 23
Ox balm, 158
Oysterloyte, 79
Oysters, 183

Pagoda tree, 74
Paigle, 85

Panay opopanewort, 47
Pandang oil plant, 1 57

Parnell, 140

Passions, 79

Pea tree, 144

Pelican flower, 189

Pellitory of Spain, 153

Pence, 40

Pennygrass, 40

Penny pie, 151

Penny rattle, 40

Penny weed, 40

Penny winkle, 102

Pennywort, 151

Pickpocket, 39

Pigeon's grass, 191

Pig rush, 97

Pig weed, 97, 138

Pile wort, 85

Pilot plant, 174

Pincushion tree, 140

Piney, 152

Pink bird's eye, 92

Pink weed, 97

Pipe tree, 183

Pittosporum, 186

Pleasant in sight, 104

Plumbago, 65

Plum Puddings, 83, 104

Poison berry, 136

Polar plant, 174

Pool root, 46

Poor man's treacle, 56

Poor robin, 104

Portuguese wild olive, 62

Prideweed, 88

Prim, 140

Prince's feather, 39, 183

Procession flower, 60

Prunell, 39

Publicans, 149

Publicans and sinners, 149

Pukeweed, 146

Punk tree, 82

Purification flower, 43

Purple boneset, 180

Purple Michaelmas, 150

Queen of the meadow, 1 80
Quick, 108
Quick beam, 101
Quicken, 101

Ragged cup, 1 74
Ragged Jack, 104
Ragged robin, 104
Rams, 150

207

Indexes

Rantipole, 53

Ran tree, 101

Rappen dandies, 75

Rattlebox, 40

Rattle bush, 66

Ray, 25

Raygrass, 25

Red bark, 185

Red bird's eye, 92

Red breasts, 92

Red butcher, 104

Red elder, 140

Red elm, 42

Red Jack, 104

Red knees, 65

Red legs, 79, 97

Red rattle grass, 40

Red shank, 65, 92

Red tail, 19

Red water bark, 156

Red weed, 65, 92, 97

Remcope, 187

Rheumatism root, 165

Richleaf, 158

Richweed, 158

Rtely, 25

Right dittany, 27

Rivery, 25

Roast beef plant, 1 36

Robert, 92

Robin flower, 92, 104

Robinhood, 92, 104

Robin Hood's hat band, 126

Robin i' the hedge, 92

Robin in the hose, 104

Robin redbreast, 92

Robin red shanks, 92

Robin's eye, 60, 92

Rock mint, 58

Rogation flower, 60

Roman willow, 183

Rose apple, 94

Rose campion, 83

Rose-coloured leadwort, 154

Rose elder, 1 40

Rosinwood, 174

Rough robin, 104

Rough weed, 47

Round robin, 92

Rowan tree, 101

Rown tree, 101

Royal elder, 140

Royne tree, 101

Rub wort, 92

Rudbeckia, 54

Runagates, 36
Runch, 47
Rupture grass, 105
Rusticorum panacea, 181
Rusticum vulna herba, 47

Saggan sedge, 115
Sailor's knot, 92
Sangree, 189
Sangrel, 189
Sanguinary, 65, 193
Sap tree, 101
Sassafrax, 64
Saucy bark, 156
Scaldberry, 80 ,
Scalded apple, 104
Scaly grindelia, 1 39
Scap, 115
Schloss tea, 32
Scotch geranium, 92
Scrog, 108
Sea green, 45
Sea pink, 109
Seggin, 115
Seggs, 115
Self heal, 39,46
Serpentaria, 36
Serpent gourd, 179
Set foil, 138
Seyny tree, 144
Shalder, 115
Shameface, 89
Sheep's briskin, 47
Shepherd's daisy, 24
Sicklewort, 20, 39
Silver feather, 107
Silver leaf, 109
Silver penny, 24
Simpler's joy, 191
Sinkfield, 177
Skaw dower, 140
Skeg, 108, 115
Skunk bush, 176
Slacom bush, 108
Slaunbush, 108
Sleathorn, 108
Slipper root, 22
Slipper weed, 95
Slon, 108
Slone bloom/108
Sloo bush, 108
Slough heal, 39
Sluies, 108
Smallwort, 85
Smartass, 65

208

Indexes

Smartgrass, 65
Smooth thapsia, 1 60
Snag bush, 108
Snake flower, 71
Snake gourd, 179
Snake weed, 79
Snake's fiddles, 136
Snake's food, 136
Snake's poison, 136
Sneezewort, 193
Snowball, 140
Snow flower, 43
Soldiers, 104
Soldier's buttons, 92, 149
Soldier's herb, 32
Soldier yarrow, 45
Son-before-the-father, 150
Sorcerer's violet, 102
Sour gourd, 183
Spanish oak, 183
Sparrowtongue, 97
Speckled jewels, 95
Spider flower, 133
Spink Wild Williams, 104
Spotted crane's bill, 89
Spotted touch-me-not, 95
Spousa solis, 149
Spring clot burr, 21
Spurgewort, 136
St. John's herb, 181
St. Peterwort, 173
Stag horn, 126
Stag's horn, 126
Steeplebush, 109
Stickwort, 19
Stinking bob, 92
Stinking gladdon, 136
Stinking Nancy, 187
Stink tree, 140
Stock-bill, 92
Stone weed, 97
Stork's bill, 92
Strawberry tomato, 192
String of Sovereigns, 36
Stringy back tree, 55
Sturdy, 25
Suchie Sue, 71
Suck bottle, 71
Sweating plant, 171
Sweep, 24
Swine arbut, 47
Swine carse, 97
Swine's mackert, 47
Swine's skin, 97
Sword flag, 115

Synkefoyle, 177

Tacher grass, 97
Tansy, 193
Tea tree, 82
Thethorne, 80
Theve thorn, 80
Thief, 80
Thorn tree, 34
Thorough wort, 171
Thousand leaf, 193
Thunder bolts, 83
Thunder flowers, 83
Tisty tosti, 140
Toad flower, 47
Tods tail, 126
Tog tansy, 107
Toothwort, 154, 162
Tormentil, 177
Touch and heal, 39
Traveller's ease, 107
Traveller's joy, 126
Tree primrose, 129
Trumpet flower, 77
Trumpet weed, 180
Tube root, 150
Turk's herb, 104
Turmeric root, 137
Turnsole, 90
Turpentine weed, 174
Twice- writhen, 79
Twick band, 101
Twick-whicken, 101
Twistwood, 1 1 3
Two penigrass, 36
Twopenny grass, 36

Upstart, 150

Vegetable antimony, 171
Vegetable sulphur, 126
Velvet leaf, 62
Verrucaria, 149
Vethervoo, 173
Viper gourd, 1 79
Virginian dogwood, 170
Virginia serpentaria, 1 89
Virgin vine, 62
Vlix, 28
Vomitwort, 146

Wall germander, 58
Wall pennyroyal, 151
Wall pennywort, 151
Wandering jenny, 36

209

Indexes

Wandering sailor, 36
Warnera, 137
Watch guards, 144
Water aloe, 45
Water bells, 163
Water blob, 163
Water can, 1 63
Water flag, 115
Water germander, 58
Water goggles, 149
Water horehound, 178
Water house leek, 45
Water ledges, 79
Water lens, 86
Water lentils, 86
Water lily, 115
Water parsnip, 45
Water pepper, 65
Water pine, 45
Water poppies, 104
Water rose, 163
Water seg, 115
Water sengren, 45
Water socks, 163
Way grass, 97
Wester ledges, 79
Weyi-eshr, 138
Weythernoy, 173
Whimberry, 114
Whinberry, 78, 114
Whipcrop, 113, 140
White ash, 138
White cap, 109
White dogwood, 140
White ladies, 43
White leaf, 109
White lily, 31
White nettle, 71
White wood, 113
Whitewort, 173
Whitsuntide bosses, 140
Whitten pear, 106
Whitten tree, 140
Whitty, 106
Whitty pear, 106
Whitty tree 101

Whortle, 114
Whortleberry, 78
Whorts, 114
Wickey, 101
Wiggin, 101
Wild agrimony, 107
Wild alder, 138
Wild balsam, 95
Wild curcuma, 137
Wild geranium, 92
Wild hyacinth, 81
Wild indigo, 66
Wild ireos, 1 36
Wild jasmine, 135
Wild lady's slipper, 95
Wild marsh beet, 106
Wild mint, 20
Wild sunflower, 139
Wild tobacco, 146
Wild woodbine, 135
Wimberry, 78, 114
Winberry, 114
Windberry, 78, 114
Winter kicksies, 108
Winter picks, 108
Wire weed, 97
Witchwood, 101
Witty tree, 101
Wolf's claws, 126
Wood bone-set, 171
Wood germander, 58
Wood vine, 190
Wren's flower, 92
Wychen, 101
Wymot, 32

Yallow, 193
Yarroway, 193
Yellow broom, 66
Yellow jasmine, 135
Yellow paint, 137
Yellow puccoon, 137
Yellow rattle, 40
Yellow wood, 156
Yenow, 193
Yerbe dulce, 145

FRENCH

Abretier, 78

Abuta, 62

Acacie au Cachou, 100

Achilee, 193

Actee a grappes, 120
Aescule, 141

Agrostemme Coronaire, 83
Aigremoine, 19

210

Indexes

Aiguille, 92

Ail, 56

Airelle, 114

Ajuga, 20

Alkekenge, 192

Alstonie, 175

Ambroise, 58

Ammi, 147

Arbre a laque, 96

Arbre de mille ans, 73

Arbre a myrrhe, 61

Arbre a oerruque, 110

Arbretier, 78, 114

Argentine, 107

Aristoloche serpentaiie, 189

Armerie, 111

Aronique, 30

Attrape mouches, 84

Balsamine, 95

Banian, 74

Baobab, 73

Baptasie Sauvage, 66

Baquois, 157

Baume de cheval, 1 58

Baumier de Peru, 51

Bee d'oie, 107

Behen rouge, 106

Bela Indien, 72

Bel Indien, 72

Betel, 52

Betoine des montaignes, 30

Bignone, 77

Bistorte, 79

Bocconie, 63

Bois odorant, 64

Bois satin, 156

Botryche, 37

Boule de neige, 140

Brede cay a, 133

Brunelle, 39

Bugle rampant, 20

Busserole, 75

Butee, 96

Cachoutier, 100
Cajeputier, 82
Calthe, 149
Campeche, 98
Camphrier, 122
Camphrier de Chine, 122
Carmantine, 148
Garotte, 53
Catechu, 100
Chataigne de cheval, 141

Chrysantheme matricaire, 173
Cimicaire, 120
Citronelle, 182
Clandestine, 162
Cleome, 133
Clochette d'hiver, 43
Cocrete, 40
Cocrete des pres, 40
Colchique d'automne, 1 50
Collinsone de Canada, 158
Conise, 38
Consoud royale, 26
Coquelourde, 83
Coqueret cerise de Juif, 1 92
Cormier, 106
Cornouiller, 170
Cot ombillique, 151
Cotyledon, 151
Crapandine, 47
Crete de coq, 40
Croisette, 23
Curage, 65

Dauphinelle, 26
Dentellaire, 154
Dictame de Crete, 27
Dita, 175
Doronie, 30

Ebenier, 87
Echite, 175
Eclairette, 85
Egopode, 138
Ephedre, 128
Epine noir, 108
Eschscholtzie, 121
Eucalyptus, 55
Eugenier jambos, 94
Eupatoire, 19

Faux ebenier, 144
Faux fenouil, 160
Faux turbith, 160
Ficaire, 85

Figuier des banians, 74
Figuier des pagodes, 74
Flacourtie, 93
Flambe d'eau, 115
Fleur de paques, 24
Fustet, 110

Garcinie, 99
Gardenie, 134
Gelsemie luisante, 135
Germandree aquatique, 58

211

Indexes

Germandree d'eau, 58
Germandree officinale, 58
Germandree sauvage, 58
Gerofiier, 125
Gir oilier, 125
Globe du soleil, 121
Gnavelle annuelle, 143
Gommier bleu, 55
Grande consoude, 22
GrifTe de loup, 126
Guerit-tout, 158
Guimauve, 32

Heliotrope, 90, 91
Hematoxyle, 98
Herbe a lait, 60
Herbe a Robert, 92
Herbe a sang. y 75
Herbe au cancre, 105
Herbe aux anes, 129
Herbe aux charpentiers, 193
Herbe aux goutteux, 138
Herbe aux oies, 107
Herbe aux puces, 38
Herbe aux punaises, 38
Herbe aux verrues, 90
Herbe aux viperes, 172
Herbe cachee, 162
Herbe d'amour, 35
Herbe de St. Laurent, 20
Herbe du siege, 1 30
Herbe du soldat, 33
Herbe mithradate, 58
Herbe sacree, 191
Herniaire, 105
Herniole, 105

Igname indigene, 165
Indigo trefle, 66
Inule des pres, 88
Ipecacsauvage, 75
Ipecacuanha, 142
Iris des marais, 115
Iris faux acore, 1 1 5
Iris fetide, 136
Iris gigot, 136
Iris jaune, 1 1 5
Ivraie, 25

Jacinthe des bois, 81
Jacinthe sauvage, 81
Jambosier, 94
Jasmin de la Caroline, 135
Jasmin du Cap, 134
Jasmine, 135

Justicie, 148

Laburne, 144
Lamier blanc, 71
Lampourde, 21
Lance du Christ, 178
Lathree-ecailleuse, 1 62
Latier, 60
Laurier-cerise, 124
Laurier du Japon, 122
Lavande de mer, 106
Lemne, 86
Lenticule, 86
Lentille d'eau, 86
Liane a mere, 62
Lilas commun, 1 83
Lin, 28
Lippie, 182
Lis blanc, 31
Lis candide, 31
Lis des etangs, 163
Lis tigre, 161
Lobelie enflee, 146
Lycope, 178
Lycopode, 126

Malherbe, 154
Mangoustanier, 99
Marguerite, 24
Marronier d'Inde, 141
Marrube aquatique, 178
Matico, 33

Melaleuque naine, 82
Merlier Nele, 34
Mille-feuille, 45, 193
Mors le diable, 187
Mort aux chiens, 1 50
Mousse terrestre, 126
Murier sauvage, 80
Myrtille, 114

Neflier, 34

Nenuphar blanc, 1 63
Nombril de Venus, 151
Noyer de Malabar, 148

Obier, 140

Oeillet croisette, 23

Oenothere,tl29

Onagre, 129

Opier, 140

Oreille d'ane, 22

Orme, 42

Ortie blanche, 71

Ortie des marais, 47

212

Indexes

Ortie morte, 47, 71

Pain de singe, 73

Paquerette, 24

Passe fleur, 83

Passe rose, 83

Patole, 179

Pediculaire des bois, 40

Peonie, 152

Perce-neige, 43

Perveiiche, 102

Petit chqne, 58

Petite chelidoine, 85

Petit myrte, 78

Pied d'alouette, 26

Pied dechevre, 138

Pied de loup, 178

Piment d'eau, 65

Pinte de vin, 80

Pivoine, 152

Plante au compas, 174

Plombagine, 154

Pluie d'or, 144

Poivre d'eau, 65

Poivrier betel, 52

Polygale, 60

Pomme rose, 94

Populage, 149

Potentille, 107

Potentille rampante, 177

Prunellier, 108

Prunier de Madagascar, 93

Prunier epineux, 108

Prunier malgache, 93

Pucellage, 102

Pulicaire, 88

Pyr&thre, 153

Quinquina, 185
Quintefeuille, 177

Raisin d'ours, 75
Reseda d'Egypte, 35
Ronce, 80
Ronce sauvage, 80
Rose de Chine, 188

Safran batard, 150

SaladelJe, 106

Sanicle, 46

Sapin de Canada, 103

Sassafras, 64

Scabieuse, 187

Scleranthe, 143

Scordion, 58

Scrofulaire aquatique, 1 30

Scrofulure des bois, 130

Serpentaire, 79

Sibarelles, 108

Silene a bouquet rouge, 84

Sison, 147

Sorbier, 106

Sorbier des oiseaux, 101

Sorbier domestique, 106

Sorbier sauvage, 101

Soubeirette, 19

Souci d'eau, 149

Sphaigne, 44

Stratiote aloes, 45

Sumac des teinturiers, 110

Sureau d'eau, 140

Tabac indien, 146
Tecoma, 77
Temboul, 52
Thapsie, 160
Trichosanthe, 179
Tubereuse, 112
Tue-chien, 150

Vacouet, 157
Vacquois, 157
Verrucaire, 90, 91
Verveine, 191
Violette de sorcier, 102
Viorne, 140
Viperine, 172

Xanthium, 21
Xyris puant, 136

Zizanie, 25

GERMAN INDEX

Abutawurzel, 62
Ackergrindkraut, 187
Agyptischer KiimmeJ, 147
Affenbaum, 73

Ahenbaum, 73
Alexanderfuss, 153
Apotheker-Stockmalve, 32
Arnika, 30

213

Indexes

Atlasholz, 156

Balsamine, 95
Banianen-Feigenbaum, 74
Baobab, 73
Baptisie, 66

Bastard Ipecacuanha, 75
Beerstrauch, 80
Beinweld, 22
Bengalische Feige, 74
Bergziest, 47
Betelpfeflferstrauch, 52
Bhelbaum, 72
Blauer Gommibaum, 55
Bleiwurz, 154
Blumenhartriegel, 170
Brombeerstrauch, 80

Californische Escholzie, 121
Campechebaum, 98
Campecheholy, 98
Chinabaum, 185
Chinesische Rose, 188
Citronenkraut, 182

Deutsche Mispel, 34
Deutsche Schlutte, 192
Diptamodosten, 27
Dolik, 25
Diirrwurz, 38

Ebenholzbaum, 87
Echte Flacourtie, 93
Echte Heidelbeere, 78
Echte Helkneckes, 46
Echte Mondraute, 37
Echte Mohre, 53
Echte Nachtkerze, 129
Echte Pfingstrose, Paeonie, 152
Echte Schierlingstanne, 103
Echte Tuberose, 112
Echter Barlapp, 126
Echter Gamander, 58
Echter Lein, 28
Echter Myrrhenbaum, 61
Echter Periickenstrauch, 110
Echter Speierling, 106
Echter Widerstoss, 106
Echter Wolferlie, 30
Echtes Eisenkraut, 191
Eibisch, 32

Falsche Turbith, 160
Falscher Ebenbaum, 144
Federmohn, 63

Feldrittersporn, 26
Fenchelholz, 64
Fieberrindenbaum, 185
Flachs, 28
Flieder, 183
Funffingerkraut, 177

Ganseblume, 24
Ganse-fingerkraut, 107
Gardenie, 134
Garten Reseda, 35
Gartenleimkraut, 84
Gelber Jasmin, 135
Gelber Klapperkraut, 40
Gelber Schwerfel, 115
Gemeine Barrentraube, 75
Gemeine Eberesche, 101
Gemeine Rosskastanie, 141
Gemeiner Giersch, 138
Gemeiner Natterkopf, 172
Gemeiner Wo Ifstrapp, 178
Gemeines Nabelkraut, 151
Gemsenwurz, 30
Geschilitzte Tassenpflanze, 174
Gewiirznelken, 125
Glanzende Jasminbignonie, 135
Glattes Buckkraut, 105
Goldfederwucherblume, 173
Goldmohn, 121
Goldregen, 144
Grasnelke, 1 1 1
Grosses Flohkraut, 38, 88
Grosse Kamillen, 173
Gunsel, 20

Haarblume, 179
Hahnenkamm, 40
Hartriegel, 170
Hasenblaustern, 81
Heidelbeere, 114
Heliotrop, 90, 91
Hemlockstanne, 103
Herbstzeitlose, 150
Herren Kummel, 147
Hornkummel, 26

Immergrun, 102
Indianischer Tabak, 146
Ipecacuanrmpflanze, 142

Jambosenbaum, 94
Japanischer Kamferbaum, 122
Jasminglanz, 134

Kajeputbaum, 82

214

Indexes

Kanadische Collinsonie, 158
Kar rotten, 53
Katechu Akazie, 100
Kate-mimose, 100
Kinobaum, 96
Klapper, 40
Kleine Brunelle, 39
Kleine Wassarlinse, 86
Kleiner Odermennig, 19
Kleome, 133
Knoblauch, 56
Knotige Braunwurz, 130
Kolbenfnos, 126
Korallenschwertel, 136
Kranzranke, 77
Kreichendes Fingerkraut, 177
Kretischer Diptam, 27
Kreuzblume, 60
Kreuzlabkraut, 23

Lackbaum, 96
Lampionpflanze, 192
Lauch Gamander, 58
Leberkraut, 19
Lemonekraut, 182
Lilac, 183

Lorbeerkirsche, 124
Lorenskraut, 20

Malabarische Nuss, 148
Malabarnuss, 148
Malve, 32

Mangostanbaum, 99
Margerethenkraut, 24
Marien Lilie, 31
Matterknoterich, 79
Meertraubchen, 128
Mohren, 53
Mottensafran, 150

Paeonie, 152
Pandanuspalme, 157
Pfefferknoterich, 65
Podagrakraut, 138

Rade, 83
Reseda-wan, 35
Rittersporn, 26
Robertskraut Ruprechtssforch-

schnabel, 92
Ruprechtssforchschnabel, 92

SamtlichtHelke, 83
Sanikel, 46
Sassafrasbaum, 64

Schafgarbe, 193
Scharbocks-hahnenfuss, 85
Schingbaum, 140
Schlehen-pflaume, 108
Schleimapfelbaum, 72
Schneeball Schlinge, 140
Schneeglocken, 43
Schonmutz, 55
Schulholzbaum, 175
Schuppenwurz, 162
Schwarzes Wanzenkraut, 120
Seeblume, 163
Seidenholz, 156
Senfkapper, 133
Sineischer Kurbis, 179
Sinngriin, 102
Skabiose, 187
Soldaten-kraut, 33
Sommerknauel, 143
Sonnenwende, 90, 91
Spalglockchen, 146
Speichelwurz, 153
Spitzklette, 21
Springkraut, 95
Standgrasnelke, 111
Stinkende Iris, 136
Sumpfdotterblume, 149
Sumpfziest, 47

Taumel-lolch, 25
Tausend-augbraun, 193
Tigerlilie, 161
Torfmoos, 44
Trompeten-blume, 77
Turkischeflieder, 183

Ulmbaum, 42
Ulme, 42

Venus Nabelkraut, 151
Virginische Schlangenwurzel, 189

Waldauskraut, 40
Wald Germander, 58
Wald Salvei, 58
Wasser Braunwurz, 130
Wasserfeder, 45
Wasser Gamander, 58
Wasserschere, 45
Wasserschwertelilie, 115
Weisse Lilie, 31
Weisse See-rose, 163
Weisse Taubnessel, 71
Wilde-yam, 165

215

Indexes

Wilder Rainfarn, 107
Wildes Massliebchen, 24
Wild Knauelle, 143
Witte Malve, 32

Wohlverleigh, 30
Wolfsfuss,

Zottige Yamwurzel, 165

ITALIAN INDEX

Abuta, 62

Abuta amara, 62

Acacia di cachou, 100

Acchiappa mosche, 84

Achillea, 193

Acoro falso, 115

Aglio, 56

Agremomen, 19

Agrimonia, 19

Albero della canfora, 122

Albero della gommagut, 99

Albero del mirra, 61

Albero di mille anni, 73

Alcachengi, 192

Allore canforanto, 122

Alstonia, 173

Altea officinale, 32

Amarella, 173

Ambretta, 187

Ammi, 147

Amoretti d'Egitto, 34

Amorino, 35

Ananasso della China, 1 57

Argentina, 107

Aristologia, 189

Armeria, 111

Arnica, 30

Arnica svedese, 88

Avolio, 87

Baceri mirtillo, 78

Balsamina, 95

Balsamo di Peru, 51

Baobab, 73

Baptisia, 66

Bardana minore, 21

Basilico salvatico, 39

Been rosso, 106

Behem, 106

Bella Indiana, 72

Bellide, 24

Betel, 52

Bignonia aranciata, 77

Bismalva, 32

Bistorta Poligono ritorto, 79

Bocconia, 63
Brunella, 39
Bugula, 20
Buonvischio, 32
Butea, 96
Butola d'acqua, 106

Calta palustre, 149
Camendrio acquatico, 58
Camendrio officinale, 58
Camendrio salvatico, 58
Campeggio, 98
Ccipelloni, 151
Cappechio, 110
Carota, 53

Castagno ippocastano, 141
Cedrina, 182
Celidonia minore, 85
Centigram, 143
Centocchio, 102
Ceraso di Trebisonda, 124
Cetrina, 182
Chichingero, 192
China, 185
China-china, 185
Cinque foglio, 177
Cleome, 133
Colchicoilorido, 150
Collinsonia, 158
Colombaria, 191
Conizza, 38

Consolida maggiore, 22
Consolida mezzana, 20
Consolida regale, 26
Corniolo florido, 170
Coronaria, 83
Cotonella, 83
Crepenello, 154
Cresta di Gajlo, 40
Croce de Cavaliere, 104
Crocetta, 191
Croco dei prate, 150

Dama nuda, 150
Dentellaria, 154

216

Indexes

Dioscoria salvatica, 165
Dittamo, 27
Dittamo di Greta, 27

Ebano, 87
Ebano falso, 144
Echio, 172
Efemero, 150
Egopodo, 138
Enagra, 129
Enotera, 129
Erba anitrina, 86
Erba asinina, 129
Erbabellica, 151
Erba bozzolina, 60
Erba cedrine, 1 82
Erba coltella, 45
Erba croce di fossi, 23
Eba da britorzoli, 90
Erba da carpentieri, 193
Erba da falegname, 193
Erba da latte, 60
Erba da porri, 90
Erba d' argento, 107
Erba da verruche, 90
Erba del Cardinale, 26
Erba della pulci, 38
Erba della vele, 107
Erba delle vipere, 172
Erba di soldato, 33
Erba gerarda, 138
Erba giudaica, 47
Erba limoncina, 182
Erba Luigia, 182
Erba Roberta, 92
Erba Santa Rosa, 152
Erba sega, 178
Erba Strega, 126
Erba turchetta, 105
Erbe lunaria, 37
Erniaria, 105
Erniola, 105

Escolzia di California, 121
Eschilo, 141
Eucalipto, 55
Eugenia cariofilloide, 125
Eupatoria, 19

Farfarugio, 149
Favagello, 85
Fico dei Baniani, 74
Fico sacro, 74
Fior di latte, 43
Flamma fetida, 136
Foraneve, 43

Fragolina, 46

Fuoco de boschii, 162

Gardenia, 134
Garofano di dio, 83
Garofano, 83, 125
Gelsomino ceruleo, 1 83
Gelsomino del Capo, 1 34
Gelsomino della Carolina, 135
Geranio Robertino, 92
Germandria, 58
Ghianda unguentaria, 183
Giacinto dei boschi, 81
Giancinto della Indie, 112
Giacinto piccolo, 81
Giglio bianco, 31
Giglio dei morti, 136
Giglio della Madonna, 31
Giglio pardo, 161
Guincherella boreale, 45

Impazienti, 95
Ipecacuana, 142
Ipecacuanha della Antille, 75
Iride gialla, 115
Iride fetida, 136
Iride puzzolente, 136

Justicia arborescente, 148

Lacrime della Madonna, 43
Lamio bianco, 71
Lappola, 21
Laurocanfora, 122
Lauro cearso, 124
Lauro degl' Trocchesi, 64
Lauro delle Mplucche, 99
Lauro di Giavi, 99
Lauro mandorlo, 124
Legno giallo, 110
Legno rasato, 156
Lente d'acqua, 86
Lenticularia, 86
Liana amara, 62
Licopo, 178
Licopodio, 126
Lilacco, 183
Lino usuale, 28
Lobelia, 146
Lolio, 25
Loppo, 140
Luna d'acqua, 163
Lunaria dei grappolo, 37

Malvacioni, 32

217

Indexes

Malvavisco, 32
Mangostana, 99
Margarita, 24
Margheritina gialla, 149
Marrone d' India, 141
Marrubio acquatico, 178
Matricale, 173
Matricaria, 173
Mela rosa, 94
Melino, 58
Millefoglie, 193
Mirtillo, 1 14
Morella, 173
Moro delle siepi, 80
Mortine, 102
Morte dei cani, 150
Muschio di palude, 44
Musco clavato, 126
Musco terrestre, 126

Nespolo, 34
Ninfea bianca, 163
Noce d'Egitto, 73
Noce del Malabar, 148

Occhio di Dio, 83
Occhio di sole, 173
Olmo, 42

Ombellico di Venere, 151
Ombrellini, 151
Orecchio d'abate, 151
Origano di Creta, 27
Orlica bianca, 71
Ortica morta, 71

Palla di neve, 140

Palloncini, 192

Panacea d'Esculapio, 160

Pandano, 157

Pandano odorosa, 157

Pane vino, 25

Paparero di California, 121

Parietaria di Spagna, 153

Partenio, 173

Pedicolare, 40

Pentafillo, 177

Peonia, 152

Pepe d'asino, 65

Pepe del povero, 65

Pervinca, 102

Pianta della seta a fiori rossi, 75

Pianterella, 43

Pie di lupo, 178

Pie d'oca, 107

Pilatro, 153

Piombaggine, 154

Pi per in o, 65^

Piretro, 153

Pittimbrosa, 23

Policaria, 88

Poligono, 65

Polmonaria di montagna, 30

Polvo de la Condesa, 185

Polygala, 60

Porno rosa, 94

Potentilla anserina, 107

Pratellina, 24

Protolina,.24

Prugna di Malabar, 94

Prugnolo, 108

Prunello, 108

Pruno d'India, 93

Pruno salvatico, 108

Psillo, 88

Querciola, 58
Querciola-acquatica, 58

Ranunculo ficario, 85
Rapunzia, 129
Reseda odorosa, 35
Ricottaria, 136
Rogo, 80

Rosa della China, 188
Rosa del Madonna, 152
Roveto, 80
Rovo, 80

Salvia dei boschi, 58

SambuchelJo, 140

Sanicola, 46

Sassafraso, 64

Scabiosa, 187

Scabiosa palustre, 47

Scleranto, 143

Scordio, 58

Scorodonia, 58

Scrofularia acquatica, 130

Scrofularia maggiore, 1 30

Scrofularia minore, 85

Scuatano, 110

Serenella, 183

Serpentaria della Virginia, 189

Serpente vegeVale, 179

Serpentone, 179

Siderite, 178

Silene a mazzetti, 84

Silfio a foglie intagliante, 1 74

Sillio, 88

Simfit, 22

218

Indexes

Siringa lilla, 183
Sisone, 147
Socera, 187

Solatro alcachengi, 192
Sommacco a parruca, 110
Sorbo degli uccelli, 101
Sorbo domestico, 106
Sorbo gentile, 106
Sorbo salvatico, 101
Spadella d'acqua, 115
Spigo fiorito, 47
Spina fiorita, 108
Stagno, 44
Stella di sera, 1 29
Stellino, 83
Stitice marittimo, 106
Strisciante, 177

Tabacco di montagna, 30
Tabacco indiano, 146
Tassia, 160
Teucrio salvatico, 58
Trissagine, 58

Tromba del Gindizio, 77
Tuberosa, 112
Turbitto di Puglia, 160

Ulmo, 42

Uva caeca, 1 57

Uva del boschi, 114

Uva di mare, 128

Uva d'orso, 75

Uva orsina, 75, 78, 114

Vaniglia, 90, 91
Verbena, 191
Verrucaria, 90, 91
Vescicaria alcachengi, 192
Viburno loppo, 140
Viburno roseo, 140
Viperina, 172

Zaflferano dei prati, 150
Zinzinnici, 22
Zizzania, 25
Zuccetta cinese, 1 79

Ajmodam, 147
Akara-Karabha, 153
Apakva, 122

Bilva-phalam, 72
Chitraka, 154

Dhataki, 89
Dhayatia-pushpika, 89
Dhuli push pika, 157
Druna, 154

Gandha Rosaha, 61

Hingu nadika, 1 34
Hoste sunda, 91

Jaba, 188
Jambra, 94
Jambu, 94

Karpurch, 122
Keteka, 157
Khadi-ramu, 100
Khadira-sara, 100
Kinkini-Kanka, 87

SANSCRIT INDEX

Lasuna, 56
Lavanga, 125

Mahu Shuda, 56
Megha-varna, 94
Mekashaha, 100

Nandi, 123
Nilaphala, 94
Niragundi, 132
Nya-grodha, 74

Pakva, 122
Parvati, 89
Patolaka, 179
Pindahva, 134
Prachinamalaka, 93

Rajaphala, 94

Saindhava, 61
Samudra gugul, 61
Sandhyaraga, 112
Shandaga, 74
Shri-hastine, 91
Sindhuvara, 132
Srikska, 74

219

Indexes

Talisha, 93
Tinduka, 87
Tumbiri, 87

Vata, 74

Vola Minaharma, 61
Vriksha, 123,

Yavani, 147

Yavanika, 147

INDIAN INDEX

Ajamoda, 147
Ajvayan, 147
Ajwain, 147
Akalkara, 153
Alashi, 28

Bal, 61
Bargat, 74
Baro-Joan, 147
Bela, 72
Beli, 119
Bhensabole, 61
BiUinu-phal, 72
Birangasifa, 193
Brahmi, 93
Butschur, 128
Bysabole, 61

Chitraka, 154
Chitra-mul, 154
Chitro, 154
Chota-dhaon, 89
Cuth kagli, 100

Daite, 89
Devti, 89
Dhai, 89
Dhaiti, 89
Dhanen, 89
Dhava, 89
Dhonga, 89
Dika-male, 134

Gab, 87

Gaganphula, 157
Gorak-xamli, 73
Gul-Bakar, 89
Gulcheri, 112
Gul-dhaur, 89

Hathi-Khatiyan, 73
llathi-sundhane, 93
Hathisura, 91
Hira-dokhi, 96

Jaca, 182

Jak, 182

Jamuna, 94

Jangli chichonda, 179

Jassun, 188

Jasund, 188

Jasus, 188

Jerukat marigam, 1 1 9

Joba, 188

Joggam, 93

Juva, 188

Juvan, 147

Kadugh, 74
Kadu padavala, 179
Kakatundi, 75
Kakronda, 184
Kala-jam, 94
Kamal, 133
Kanphuti, 133
Kaphur, 122
Karaila, 133
Karppuram, 122
Katari, 132
Katkoduku, 133
Katunimbe, 165
Keori, 157
Kevara, 157
Khair, 100
Khera-sara, 100
Kiheri, 100
Kino, 96

Konda-minma, 165
Kurki, 75

Lashuna, 56
Laung, 125
Lavanga, 125
Long, 125 *

Makhur-limbu, 165
Malvaregam, 165
Mangousatan, 99
Mangustan, 99
Mar-Kapur, 122

220

Indexes

Markevada, 157
Mhaisagaggul, 61
Mitho akalararo, 153
Mungeestun, 99

Naelnaug, 125
Nai, 119
Naibel, 119
Nara Lavanga, 125
Navi, 119
Nirgundi, 132
Nishinda, 132

Orphv 1 , 188
Ova, 147

Pajuni-gundha, 112
Paniala, 93
Panijala, 93
Patel, 179
Patharchur, 127
Patherchur, 127
Phok, 128
Pita sala, 96

Ranga-basota, 96
Roga mari, 193
Rookha, 73

Sanbhalu, 132
Shada-kurburija, 133
Shazibin, 100
Shia-dza, 100
Shriphal, 72
Sufulsi, 28

Tagar, 123
Talispatzi, 93
Temru, 87
Tesi-mosina, 28
Torelaga, 119

Udsalap, 152
Uru, 188
Ursool, 164

Vad, 74
Vehyente, 186
Vel-Kali, 186

MALAYAN INDEX

Akke Karruka, 153
Andi-malleri, 112

Ban-nuichi, 132
Bayang Putch, 56
Bonga chappa, 184
Bunga China, 134

Chadaya, 89
Cheraka merah, 154

Ekor serangat, 93

Gambia, 100
Gelam, 82

Hati-Hati, 127
Homama Azamoda, 147

Jednayah, 89
Jerami, 182

Kachu, 100
Kadaram, 100
Kaippam-patolam, 179
Kambang-saptu, 188

Kanden, 164

Karampu bunga chank, 125

Karata pala, 123

Karppuram, 122

Kayu arang, 87

Ketolapahit, 179

Khara, 164

Lenggundi-legundi, 132

Manggis, 99
Manggusta, 99
Meraga, 164
Merajak, 164

Nangka, 182
Orapdna, 127

Peralin pala, 74
Pokok basong, 175
Pokok kayu putch, 82
Pulai, 175

Rukam, 93

221

Indexes

Seduayah, 89 Tanghai, 72

Seludang, 79 Telinga kerbpu, 184

Semboug, 184 Tetkatukka, 91

Shem pariti, 188 Tumba-kodivale, 154
Sidawayah, 89

Sirch, 52 Vennap-pasha, 96

ARABIAN INDEX

Abnes-e-hindi, 87 Kahdi, 157

Akara-Karka, 153 Kala-loxada, 134

Amus, 147 Kamun-el-muluki, 147

Anghar-e-hindi, 188 Karnaphal, 125

Athalaka, 132 Keder, 157

Kimk-kham, 134
Bahobab, 73
Bazen, 28 Mukala, 61

Murr, 61
Dammul, 96

Sapharajalehindi, 72
Fanjangasht, 132 Shitaraj, 154

Som, 56
Habak, 61

Habbabu, 73 Tina barry, 74

Hadee, 61

Zarnab, 93
Kafur, 122 Zukhamsatil, 132

TURKISH INDEX

Abanos, 87 Cevez ul cinan ag, 99

Abuta, 62 Cin gulu, 188

Acab ag, 93 Civan percemi, 193
Ak nilufer, 1 63

Akrab otu, 90 Dagdigan ag, 140

Altum koku, 142 Dag erigi, 39

Amerike baldiran, 103 Dag tutiinu, 30

Ayi uzumu, 75 Dalak otu, 58

Ayt gulu, 1 52 Daruzara, 84

Delice otu, 25

Bakam ag, 98 Deniz uzumu, 128

Banian ag, 74 Deryas, 160

Baobab ag, 73 Deve kulagi, 46

Basur otu, 85 Dis otu, 154

Bes parmak otu, 177 Dita ag, 175 ,
Beyaz isirgan otu, 71

Beyaz zanbak, 31 Esek gig, 129

Bignonia, 77 Emmus, 147
Bokonia, 63

Borulu hanin eli, 77 Fena kokulu kuzgun kilici, 136

Boyiirtlen galisi, 80 Fener gig, 192

222

Indexes

Filfil, 33
Frengi otu, 146

Gazel lisani, 37
Gelincik gig, 82
Gerdenia, 134
Girid Diktami, 27
Girid otu, 27
Gizli otu, 162-
Gul hatem, 32
G tines topu, 121
Guvercin otu, 191

Hav,*.--, 23

Havaciva otu, 172
Havuc, 53
Hezarenk 919, 26
Hind ayva ag, 72
Hitmi, 32
Horozibige, 40

Inek gig, 89
Ipekakuana, 142

Jamboz ag, 94

Kadhindi, 100
Kafur ag, 55
Kampana gig, 8 1
Kan gig, 75
Kara ag, 42
Karamuk, 25
Karanfil ag, 125
Kara yemis ag, 124
Karm yank, 88
Kasik otu, 19, 105
Kayaput ag, 82
Kaz otu, 107
Keci ayagi, 138
Kemedris, 58
Keten, 28
Kiafur ag, 122
Kina gig, 95
Kirmizi behmen, 106
Kitmi, 32
Kleom, 133
Knakna ag, 185
Knavel otu, 143
Kolinsonia, 158
Kucuk, 102, 114
Kumkum ag, 108
Kurd pencesi, 79
Kurt ayagi, 126
Kutuna, 110

Leylak, 183
Lipia, 182
Lobelia, 146

Malabar ceviz ag, 148
Mambol otu, 90, 91
Mangir otu, 27
Matiko, 33
Mayasil otu, 20
Mer aj, 61
Mevzed, 40
Mir aj, 61
Misir anisonu, 147
Muhabbit-gig, 35
Miirr aj, 61
Musmula ag, 34

Nargiz marzagi, 149
Nezleotu, 153

Otu isi gan, 47

Pars Zambagi, 161
Paskalya gig, 24
Per gel otu, 174
Pire otu, 38, 88

Sakayik, 83, 152
Saksi guzeti, 151
Sari Susan, 115
Sari yasemin, 135
Sarmisak, 56
Sarmusak, 56, 58
Sassafras ag, 64
Setma ag, 55
Sinek Kapan, 84
Sinfit, 22
Siraca otu, 21
Su biberi, 65
Su ferasyuni, 178
Su mercimek, 86
Surnican, 150
Su savi sabr, 45
Sut gig, 43
Sut otu, 60

Taflanag, 124
Tahta bid otu, 120
Tamalika, 133
Tambul, 52
Teber, 112
Turaa gagasi, 92
Tutyagig, 112

Uvez ag, 106

223

Indexes

Uyuzotu, 187

Varadika otu, 173
Vergobegi, 151
Vud-fordia, 89

Yabani altun-kokii, 75
Yabani dalak otu, 58
Yabanihind-yer-elmasi, 165
Yabani kestane, 141
Yaban mersini, 78, 114

Yabani uvez ag, 101
Yalan abanos ag, 144
Yalan sac ag, 96
Yentun, 160
Yer palamudu, 58
Yesil odunu, 156
Yilan Kabagi, 179
Yilan otu, 58

Zeravend, 189
Zinzinnici, 22
Zivan, 25

224