The flowers of this Bedstraw bloom towards August, about the time of the Feast of the Annunciation, and a legend says they first burst into blossom at the birth of our Saviour. Bedstraw is, according to some, a corruption of Beadstraw. It is certain that Irish peasant girls often repeat their "aves" from the round seeds of the Bedstraw, using them for beads in the absence of a rosary; [232] and hence, perhaps, has been derived the name Our Lady"s Be(a)dstraw. But straw (so called from the Latin _sterno_, to strew, or, scatter about) was formerly employed as bedding, even by ladies of rank: whence came the expression of a woman recently confined being "in the straw." Children style the _Galium Aparine_ Whip tongue, and Tongue-bleed, making use of it in play to draw blood from their tongues.
This herb has a special curative reputation with reference to cancerous growths and allied tumours. For open cancers an ointment is made from the leaves and stems wherewith to dress the ulcerated parts, and at the same time the expressed juice of the plant is given internally. Dr. Tuthill Ma.s.sy avers that it often produces a cure in from six to twelve months, and advises that the decoction shall be drank regularly afterwards in the Springtime.
Dr. Quinlan, at St. Vincent"s Hospital, Dublin, successfully employed poultices made with the fresh juice, and applied three times in the day, to heal chronic ulcers on the legs. Its effects, he says, in the most unlikely cases, were decisive and plain to all. He gave directions that whilst a bundle of ten or twelve stalks is grasped with the left hand, this bundle should be cut into pieces of about half-an-inch long, by a pair of scissors held in the right hand.
The segments are then to be bruised thoroughly in a mortar, and applied in the ma.s.s as a poultice beneath a bandage.
Dr. Thornton, in his excellent _Herbal_ (1810), says: "After some eminent surgeons had failed, he ordered the juice of Cleavers, mixed with linseed, to be applied to the breast, in cases of supposed cancer of that part, with a teaspoonful of the juice to be taken every night and morning whilst fasting; by which plan, after a short [233] time, he dispersed very frightful tumours in the breast."
The herb is found, on a.n.a.lysis, to contain three distinct acids--the tannic acid (of galls), the citric acid (of lemons), and the special rubichloric acid of the plant.
"In cancer," says Dr. Boyce, "five fluid ounces of the fresh juice of the plant are to be taken twice a day, whilst constantly applying the bruised leaves, or their ointment, to the sore."
Some of our leading druggists now furnish curative preparations made from the fresh herb. These include the _succus_, or juice, to be swallowed; the decoction, to be applied as a lotion; and the ointment, for curative external use. Both in England and elsewhere the juice of this Goosegra.s.s const.i.tutes one of the Spring juices taken by country people for s...o...b..tic complaints. And not only for cancerous disease, but for many other foul, illconditioned ulcers, whether scrofulous or of the scurvy nature, this Goosegra.s.s has proved itself of the utmost service, its external application being at all times greatly a.s.sisted by the internal use of the juice, or of a decoction made from the whole herb.
By reason of its acid nature; this Galium is astringent, and therefore of service in some bleedings, as well as in diarrhoea, and for obesity.
Gerard writes: "The herb, stamped with swine"s grease, wasteth away the kernels by the throat; and women do usually make pottage of Cleavers with a little mutton and oatmeal, to cause leanness, and to keep them from fatness." Dioscorides reported that: "Shepherds do use the herb to take hairs out of the milk, if any remain therein."
Considered generally, the _Galium aparine_ exercises acid, astringent, and diuretic effects, whilst it is of [234] special value against epilepsy, and cancerous sores, as already declared; being curative likewise of psoriasis, eczema, lepra, and other cutaneous diseases. The dose of the authorised officinal juice is from one to two teaspoonfuls, and from five to twenty grains of the prepared extract.
The t.i.tle _Galium_ borne by Bedstraws has been derived from the Greek _gala_, milk, because they all possess to some extent the power of curdling milk when added to it. Similarly the appellation "Cheese rennet," or, Cheese running (from _gerinnen_, to coagulate), is given to these plants. Highlanders make special use of the common Yellow Bedstraw for this purpose, and to colour their cheese.
From the Yellow Bedstraw (_Galium verum_), which is abundant on dry banks chiefly near the sea, and which may be known by its diminutive, puffy stems, and its small golden flowers, closely cl.u.s.tered together in dense panicles, "an ointment," says Gerard, "is prepared, which is good for anointing the weary traveller."
Because of its bright yellow blossoms, this herb is also named "Maid"s hair," resembling the loose, unsnooded, golden hair of maidens. In Henry VIII"s reign "maydens did wear silken callis to keep in order their hayre made yellow with dye." For a like reason the Yellow Bedstraw has become known as "Petty mugget," from the French _pet.i.t muguet_, a little dandy, as applied in ridicule to effeminate young men, the _Jemmy Jessamies_, or "mashers" of the period. Old herbalists affirmed that the root of this same Bedstraw, if drunk in wine, stimulates amorous desires, and that the flowers, if long smelt at, will produce a similar effect.
This is, _par excellence_, the Bedstraw of _our Lady_, who [235]
gave birth to her son, says the legend, in a stable, with nothing but wild flowers for the bedding.
Thus, in the old Latin hymn, she sings right sweetly:--
"Lectum stravi tibi soli: dormi, nate bellule!
Stravi lectum foeno molli: dormi, mi animule!
Ne quid desit sternam rosis: sternam foenum violis, Pavimentum hyacinthis; et praesepe liliis."
"Sleep, sweet little babe, on the bed I have spread thee; Sleep, fond little life, on the straw scattered o"er!
"Mid the petals of roses, and pansies I"ve laid thee, In crib of white lilies; blue bells on the floor."
GOUTWEED.
A pa.s.sing word should certainly be given to the Goutweed, or, Goatweed, among Herbal Simples. It is, though but little regarded, nevertheless, a common and troublesome garden weed, of the Umbelliferous tribe, and thought to possess certain curative virtues.
Botanically it is the _OEgopodium podagraria_, signifying, by the first of these names, Goatsfoot, and by the second, a specific power against gout. The plant is also known as Herb Gerard, because dedicated to St. Gerard, who was formerly invoked to cure gout, against which this herb was employed. Also it has been named Ashweed, wild Master-wort, and Gout-wort. The herb grows about a foot high, with white flowers in umbels, having large, thrice-ternate, aromatic leaves, and a creeping root. These leaves are sometimes boiled, and eaten, but they possess a strong, disagreeable flavour. Culpeper says: "It is not to be supposed that Goutweed 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 it about one_ [236] _easeth the pains of the gout, and defends him that bears it from disease_." Hill recommends the root and fresh buds of the leaves as excellent in fomentations and poultices for pains; and the leaves, when boiled soft, together with the roots, for application about the hip in sciatica.
No chemical a.n.a.lysis of the Goutweed is yet on record.
"Herbe Gerard groweth of itself in gardens without setting, or sowing; and is so fruitful in his increase that where once it hath taken root, it will hardly be gotten out again, spoiling and getting every yeere more ground--to the annoying of better herbes."
GRAPES (see also VINE).
Grapes, the luscious and refreshing fruit of the Vine, possess certain medicinal properties and virtues which give them a proper place among Herbal Simples. The name Vine comes from _viere_, to twist, being applied with reference to the twining habits of the parent stock; as likewise to "with," and "withy."
The fruit consists of pulp, stones, and skin. Within the pulp is contained the grape sugar, which differs in some respects chemically from cane sugar, and which is taken up straightway into our circulation when eaten, without having to be changed slowly by the saliva, as is the case with cane sugar. Therefore it happens that the grape sugar warms and fattens speedily, with a quick repair of waste, when the strength and the structures are consumed by fever, Grapes then being most grateful to the sufferer. But they do not suit inflammatory subjects at other times, or gouty persons at any time, as well as cane sugar, which has to undergo slower chemical conversion before it furnishes heat and [237] sustenance. And in this respect, grape sugar closely resembles the glucose, or sweet principle of honey.
The fruit also contains a certain quant.i.ty of "fruit sugar," which is chemically identical with cane sugar; and, because of the special syrupy juice of its pulp, the Grape adapts itself to quick alcoholic fermentation.
The important ingredients of Grapes are sugar (grape and fruit), gum, tannin, bitartrate of potash, sulphate of potash, tartrate of lime, magnesia, alum, iron, chlorides of pota.s.sium and sodium, tartaric, citric, racemic, and malic acids, some alb.u.men, and azotized matters, with water.
But the wine grower is glad to see his _must_ deposit the greater part of these chemical ingredients in the "tartar," a product much disliked, and therefore named _Sal Tartari_, or h.e.l.l Salt; and _Cremor Tartari_, h.e.l.l Sc.u.m (Cream of Tartar).
In Italy, the vine furnishes oil as well as wine, this being extracted from the grape stones, and reckoned superior to any other sort, whether for the table or for purposes of lighting. It has no odour, and burns without smoke. The stones also yield volatile essences, which are developed by crushing, and which give bouquet to the several wines, whilst the skin affords colouring matter and tannin, of more or less astringency.
Grapes supply but little actual nutritious matter for building up the solid structures of the body; they act as gentle laxatives; though their stones, and the leaves of the vine, are astringent. These latter were formerly employed to stop bleedings, and when dried and powdered, for arresting dysentery in cattle.
In Egypt the leaves are used, when young and tender, for enveloping b.a.l.l.s of hashed meat, at good tables. The [238] sap of the vine, named _lacryma_, "a tear," is an excellent application to weak eyes, and for specs of the cornea. The juice of the unripe fruit, which is verjuice (as well as that of the wild crabapple), was much esteemed by the ancients, and is still in good repute for applying to bruises and sprains.
When taken in any quant.i.ty, Grapes act freely on the kidneys, and promote a flow of urine. The vegetable acids of the fruit become used up as such, and are neutralised in the system by combining with the earthy salts found therein, and they pa.s.s off in the urine as alkaline carbonates. With full-blooded, excitable persons, grapes in any quant.i.ty are apt to produce palpitation, and to quicken the circulation for a time. Also with persons of slow and feeble energies, having a languid digestion (and especially if predisposed to acid fermentation in the stomach), Grapes are apt to disagree.
They send their glucose straightway into the circulation combined with acids found in the stomach, and create considerable distress of heartburn and dyspepsia. "Thus," says Dr. King Chambers, "is generated acidity of the stomach, parent of gout, and of all its hideous crew." Likewise wine, especially if sweet, new, or full-bodied, when taken by such persons at a meal, is absorbed but slowly by the stomach, and much of the sugar, with some alcohol, becomes converted by fermentation into acetic acid, which further causes the oily ingredients in the food which has been swallowed to turn rancid. "Things sweet to taste prove to digestion sour." But otherwise, with a person in good health, and not given to gout or rheumatism, Grapes are an excellent food for supplying warmth as combustion material, by their ready-made sugar; whilst the essential flavours of the fruit are cordial, and [239] whilst a surplus of the glucose serves to form fat for storage.
What is known as the _Grape-cure_, is pursued in the Tyrol, in Bavaria, on the banks of the Rhine, and elsewhere--the sick person being ordered to eat from three to six pounds of grapes a day. But the relative proportions of the sugar and acids in the various kinds of grapes have important practical bearings on the results obtained, determining whether wholesome purgation shall follow, or whether tonic and fattening effects shall be produced. In the former case, sufferers from sluggish liver and torpid biliary functions, with pa.s.sive local congestions, will benefit most by taking the grapes not fully ripe, and not completely sweet; whilst in the latter instance, those invalids will gain special help from ripe and sweet grapes, who require quick supplies of animal heat and support to resist rapid waste of tissue, as in chronic catarrh of the lungs, or mucous catarrh of the bowels.
The most important const.i.tuent to be determined is the quant.i.ty of grape sugar, which varies according to the greater or less warmth of the climate. Tokay Grapes are the sweetest; next are those of southern France; then of Moselle, Bohemia, and Heidelberg; whilst the fruit of the Vine in Spain, Italy, and Madeira, is not commended for curative purposes. The Grapes are eaten three, four, or five times a day, during the promenade; those which are not sweet produce a diuretic and laxative effect; seeing, moreover, that their reaction is alkaline, the "cure" thereby is particularly suitable for persons troubled with gravel and acid gout.
After losses of blood, and in allied states of exhaustion, the restorative powers of the grape-cure are often [240] strikingly exhibited. Formerly, the German doctors kept their patients, when under this mode of treatment, almost entirely without other food.
But it is now found that light, wholesome nourishment, properly chosen, and taken at regular times, even with some moderate allowance of Bordeaux wine, may be permitted in useful conjunction with the grapes. Children do not, as a rule, bear the grape-cure well. One sort of grape, the Bourdelas, or Verjus, being intensely sour when green, is never allowed to ripen, but its large berries are made to yield their acid liquor for use instead of vinegar or lemon juice, in sauces, drinks, and medicinal preparations.
A vinegar poultice, applied cold, is an effectual remedy for sprains and bruises, and will arrest the progress of scrofulous enlargements of bones. It may be made with vinegar and oatmeal, or with the addition of bread crumb."--_Pharmacopoeia Chirurgica_, 1794.
"Other fruits may please the palate equally well, but it is the proud prerogative of the kingly grape to minister also to the mind."
This served to provide one of the earliest offerings to the Deity, seeing that "Bread and wine were brought forth to Abraham by Melchisedec, the Priest of the Most High G.o.d."
The Vine (_Vitis vinifera_) was almost always to the front in the designs drawn by the ancients. Thus, miniatures and dainty little pictures were originally encircled with representations of its foliage, and we still name such small exquisite ill.u.s.trations, "vignettes,"
from the French word, _vigne_.
The large family of Muscat grapes get their distinctive t.i.tle not because of any flavour of musk attached to them, but because the sweet berries are particularly attractive to flies (muscre), a reason which [241] induced the Romans to name this variety, Vitis apiaria.
"_On attrape plus de mouches avec le miel qu" avec le vinaigre_"-- say the French.
In Portugal, grape juice is boiled down with quinces into a sort of jam--the progenitor of all marmalades. The original grape vine is supposed to have been indigenous to the sh.o.r.es of the Caspian Sea.
If eaten to excess, especially by young persons, grapes will make the tongue and the lining membrane of the mouth sore, just as honey often acts. For this reason, both grapes and honey do good to the affection known as thrush, with sore raw mouth, and tongue in ulcerative white patches, coming on as a derangement of the health.
GRa.s.sES.