The leaf of the unwholesome Water parsnep, or Fool"s Cress, resembles that of the Water-cress, and grows near it not infrequently: but the leaves of the true Water-cress never embrace the stem of the plant as do the leaf stalks of its injurious imitators.
Herrick the joyous poet of "dull Devonshire" dearly loved the Water-cress, and its kindred herbs. He piously and pleasantly made them the subject of a quaint grace before meat:--
"Lord, I confess too when I dine The pulse is Thine: And all those other bits that be There placed by Thee: The wurts, the perslane, and the mess of Water-cress."
The true _Nasturtium_ (_Tropoeolum majus_), or greater Indian Cress grows and is cultivated in our flower gardens as a brilliant ornamental creeper. It was brought from Peru to France in 1684, and was called _La grande Capucine_, whilst the botanical t.i.tle _tropoeolum_, [133] a trophy, was conferred because of its shield-like leaves, and its flowers resembling a golden helmet.
An old English name for the same plant was Yellow Lark"s heels.
Two years later it was introduced into England. This partakes of the sensible and useful qualities of the other cresses. The fresh plant and the dark yellow flowers have an odour like that of the Water-cress, and its bruised leaves emit a pungent smell. An infusion made with water will bring out the antis...o...b..tic virtues of the plant which are specially aromatic, and cordial. The flowers make a pretty and palatable addition to salads, and the nuts or capsules (which resemble the "cheeses" of Mallow) are esteemed as a pickle, or as a subst.i.tute for Capers. Invalids have often preferred this plant to the Scurvy gra.s.s as an antis...o...b..tic remedy.
In the warm summer months the flowers have been observed about the time of sunset to give out sparks, as of an electrical kind, which were first noticed by a daughter of Linnoeus.
The _Water-cress_ is justly popular with persons who drink freely overnight, for its power of dissipating the fumes of the liquor, and of clearing away lethargic inapt.i.tude for work in the morning: also for dispelling the tremors, and the foul taste induced by excessive tobacco smoking.
Closely allied thereto is another cruciferous plant, the Scurvy gra.s.s (_Cochleare_), named also "Spoon-wort" from its leaves resembling in shape the bowl of an old-fashioned spoon. This is thought to be the famous _Herba Britannica_ of the ancients. Our great navigators have borne testimony to its never failing use in scurvy, and, though often growing many miles from the sea, yet the taste of the herb is always [134] found to be salt. If eaten in its fresh state, as a salad, it is the most effectual of all the antis...o...b..tic plants, the leaves being admirable also to cure swollen and spongy gums. It grows along the muddy banks of the Avon, likewise in Wales, and is found in c.u.mberland, more commonly near the coast; and again on the mountains of Scotland.
It may be readily cultivated in the garden for medicinal use.
The Cuckoo flower, or "Ladies" Smock" (Cardamine) from _Cardia damao_, "I strengthen the heart," is another wholesome Cress with the same sensible properties as the Water-cress, only in an inferior degree, while the strong pungency of its flavour prevents it from being equally popular. This plant bears also the names of "Lucy Locket," and "Smell Smocks." In Cornwall the flowering tops have been employed for the cure of epilepsy throughout several generations with singular success; though the use of the leaves only for this purpose has caused disappointment.
From one to three drams of these flowering tops are to be taken two or three times a day.
By the Rev. Mr. Gregor (1793) and by his descendants this remedy was given for inveterate epilepsy with much benefit.
Lady Holt, and her sister Lady Bracebridge, of Aston Hall, Warwickshire, were long famous for curing severe cases of the same infirmity by administering this herb. They gave the powdered heads of the flowers when in full bloom-twelve grains three times a day for many weeks together.
Sir George Baker in 1767 read a paper before the London College of Physicians on the value of these flowers in convulsive disorders. He related five cures of St. Vitus" dance, spasmodic convulsions, and spasmodic asthma. Formerly the flowers were admitted into the [135] London Pharmacopoeia. The herb was named Ladies" Smock in honour of the Virgin Mary, because it comes first into flower about Lady Day, being abundant with its delicate lilac blossoms in our moist meadows and marshes:
"Lady Smocks all silver white Do paint the meadows with delight."
This plant is also named--"Milk Maids," "Bread and Milk," and "Mayflower." Gerard says "it flowers in April and May when the Cuckoo cloth begin to sing her pleasant notes without stammering." One of his characters is made by the Poet Laureate to--
"Steep for Danewulf leaves of Lady Smock, For they keep strong the heart."
"And so much," as says William Cole, herbalist, in his _Paradise of Plants_, 1650, "for such Plants as cure the Scurvy."
c.u.mIN.
c.u.min (_c.u.minum cyminum_) is not half sufficiently known, or esteemed as a domestic condiment of medicinal value, and culinary uses; whilst withal of ready access as one of our commonest importations from Malta and Sicily for flavouring purposes, and veterinary preparations. It is an umbelliferous plant, and large quant.i.ties of its seeds are brought every year to England.
The herb has been cultivated in the East from early days, being called "c.u.minum" by the Greeks in cla.s.sic times. The seeds possess a strong aromatic odour with a penetrating and bitter taste; when distilled they yield a pungent powerful essential oil. The older herbalists esteemed them superior in comforting carminative [136] qualities to those of the fennel or caraway. They are eminently useful to correct the flatulence of languid digestion, serving also to relieve dyspeptic headache, to allay colic of the bowels, and to promote the monthly flow of women.
In Holland and Switzerland they are employed for flavouring cheese; whilst in Germany they are added to bread as a condiment.
Here the seeds are introduced in the making of curry powder, and are compounded to form a stimulating liniment; likewise a warming plaster for quickening the sluggish congestions of indolent parts. The odorous volatile oil of the fruit contains the hydro-carbons "Cymol," and "c.u.minol," which are redolent of lemon and caraway odours. A dose of the seeds is from fifteen to thirty grains. c.u.min symbolised cupidity among the Greeks: wherefore Marcus Antoninus was so nick-named because of his avarice; and misers were jocularly said to have eaten c.u.min.
The herb was thought to specially confer the gift of retention, preventing the theft of any object which contained it, and holding the thief in custody within the invaded house; also keeping fowls and pigeons from straying, and lovers from proving fickle. If a swain was going off as a soldier, or to work a long way from his home, his sweetheart would give him a loaf seasoned with c.u.min, or a cup of wine in which some of the herb had been mixed.
The ancients were acquainted with the power of c.u.min to cause the human countenance to become pallid; and as a medicine the herb is well calculated to cure such pallor of the face when occurring as an illness. Partridges and pigeons [137] are extremely fond of the seeds: respecting the scriptural use of which in the payment of taxes we are reminded (Luke xi. v. 42)--"ye pay t.i.the of mint, and anise, and c.u.mmin." It has been discovered by Grisar that c.u.min oil exercises a special action which gives it importance as a medicine. This is to signally depress nervous reflex excitability when administered in full doses, as of from two to eight drops of the oil on sugar. And when the aim is to stimulate such reflex sensibility as impaired by disease, small diluted doses of the oil serve admirably to promote this purpose.
CURRANTS.
The original Currants in times past were small grapes, grown in Greece at Zante, near Corinth, and termed Corinthians; then they became Corantes, and eventually Currants. But, as an old Roman proverb pertinently said: _Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum_, "It was not for everyone to visit fashionable Corinth." And therefore the name of Currants became transferred in the Epirus to certain small fruit of the Gooseberry order which closely resembled the grapes of Zante, but were identical rather with the Currants of our modern kitchen gardens, such as we now use for making puddings, pies, jams, and jellies. The bushes which produce this fruit grow wild in the Northern part, of Great Britain, and belong to the Saxifrage order of plants. The wild Red Currant bears small berries which are intensely acid. In modern Italy basketsful are gathered in the woods of the Apennines, and the Alps.
Currants are not mentioned in former Greek or Roman literature, nor do they seem to have been cultivated by the Anglo-Saxons, or the Normans. Our several sorts [138] of Currants afford a striking ill.u.s.tration of the mode which their parent bushes have learnt to adopt so as to attract by their highly coloured fruits the birds which shall disperse their seeds. These colours are not developed until the seed is ripe for germination; because if birds devoured them prematurely the seed would fall inert. But simultaneously come the ripeness and the soft sweet pulp, and the rich colouring, so that the birds may be attracted to eat the fruit, and spread the seed in their droppings. Zeuxis, a famous Sicilian painter four hundred years before Christ, depicted currants and grapes with such fidelity that birds came and tried to peck them out from his canvas.
White Currants are the most simple in kind; and the Red are a step in advance. If equal parts of either fruit and of sugar are put over the fire, the liquid which separates spontaneously will make a very agreeable jelly because of the "pectin" with which it is chemically furnished. Nitric acid will convert this pectin into oxalic acid, or salts of sorrel. The juice of Red Currants also contains malic and citric acids, which are cooling and wholesome. In the Northern counties this red Currant is called Wineberry, or Garnetberry, from its rich ruddy colour, and transparency. Its sweetened juice is a favourable drink in Paris, being preferred there to the syrup of _orgeat _(almonds). When made into a jelly with sugar the juice of red Currants is excellent in fevers, and acts as an anti-putrescent; as likewise if taken at table with venison, or hare, or other "high"
meats. This fruit especially suits persons of sanguine temperament.
Both red and white Currants are without doubt trustworthy remedies in most forms of obstinate visceral obstruction, and they correct impurities of the blood, being certainly antiseptic.
[139] The black Currant is found growing wild in England, for the most part by the edges of brooks, and in moist grounds, from mid-Scotland southwards. Throughout Suss.e.x and Kent the shrub is called "Gazles" as corrupted from the French _Groseilles_ (Gooseberries). The fruit is cooling, laxative, and anodyne. Its thickened juice concocted over the fire, with, or without sugar, formed a "rob" of Old English times. The black Currant is often named by our peasantry "Squinancy," or "Quinsyberry," because a jelly prepared therefrom has been long employed for sore throat and quinsy. The leaf glands of its young leaves secrete from their under surface a fragrant odorous fluid. Therefore if newly gathered, and infused for a moment in very hot water and then dried, the leaves make an excellent subst.i.tute for tea; also these fresh leaves when applied to a gouty part will a.s.suage pain, and inflammation. They are used to impart the flavour of brandy to common spirit. Bergius called the leaf, _mundans, pellens, et diuretica_. Botanically the black Currant, _Ribes nigrum_, belongs to the Saxifrage tribe, this generic term Ribes being applied to all fresh currants, as of Arabian origin, and signifying acidity.
Grocers" currants come from the Morea, being small grapes dried in the sun, and put in heaps to cake together. Then they are dug out with a crow-bar, and trodden into casks for exportation. Our national plum pudding can no more be made without these currants than "little Tom Tucker who for his supper, could cut his bread without any knife or could find himself married without any wife." Former cooks made an odd use of grocers" currants, according to King, a poet of the middle ages, who says:--
"They b.u.t.tered currants on fat veal bestowed, And rumps of beef with virgin honey strewed."
[140] On the kitchen Currant a riddling rhyme was long ago to be found in the _Children"s Book of Conundrums_:--
"Higgledy-piggledy, here I lie Picked and plucked, and put in a pie; My first is snapping, snarling, growling; My second noisy, ramping, prowling."
Eccles cakes are delicious Currant sandwiches which are very popular in Manchester.
Black Currant jelly should not be made with too much sugar, else its medicinal-virtues will be impaired. A teaspoonful of this jelly may be given three or four times in the day to a child with thrush.
In Russia the leaves of the black Currant are employed to fabricate brandy made with a coa.r.s.e spirit. These leaves and the fruit are often combined by our herbalists with the seeds of the wild carrot for stimulating the kidneys in pa.s.sive dropsy. A medicinal wine is also brewed from the fruit together with honey. In this country we use a decoction of the leaf, or of the bark as a gargle. In Siberia black Currants grow as large as hazel nuts. Both the black and the red Currants afford a pleasant home-made wine. _Ex eo optimum vinum fieri potest non deterius vinis vetioribus viteis_, wrote Haller in 1750. White Currants, however, yield the best wine, and this may be improved by keeping, even for twenty years. Dr.
Thornton says: "I have used old wine of white Currants for calculous affections, and it has surpa.s.sed all expectation."
A delicate jelly is made from the red Currant at Bas-le-duc; and a well-known nursery rhyme tells of the tempting qualities of "cherry pie, and currant wine." A rob of black Currant jam is taken in Scotland with whiskey toddy. Shakespeare in the _Winter"s Tale_ makes Antolycus, the shrewd "picker-up of unconsidered [141] trifles" talk of buying for the sheep-shearing feast "three pounds of sugar, five pounds of currants, and rice." In France a cordial called _Liqueur de ca.s.sis_ is made from black Currants; and a refreshing drink, _Eau de groseilles_, from the red.
Some forty years ago, at the time of the Crimean war a patriotic song in praise of the French flag was most popular in our streets, and had for its refrain, "Hurrah for the Red, White, and Blue!" So valuable for food and physics are our tricoloured Currants that the same argot may be justly paraphrased in their favour, with a well-merited eulogium of "Hurrah for the White, Red, Black!"
DAFFODIL.
The yellow Daffodil, which is such a favourite flower of our early Spring because of its large size, and showy yellow color, grows commonly in English woods, fields, and orchards. Its popular names, Daffodowndilly, Daffodily, and Affodily, bear reference to the Asphodel, with which blossom of the ancient Greeks this is identical. It further owns the botanical name of Narcissus (pseudo-narcissus)--not after the cla.s.sical youth who met with his death through vainly trying to embrace his image reflected in a clear stream because of its exquisite beauty, and who is fabled to have been therefore changed into flower--but by reason of the narcotic properties which the plant possesses, as signified by the Greek word, _Narkao_, "to benumb." Pliny described it as a _Narce narcisswm dictum, non a fabuloso puero_. An extract of the bulbs when applied to open wounds has produced staggering, numbness of the whole nervous system, and paralysis of the heart. Socrates called this plant the "Chaplet of the Infernal G.o.ds," because of its [142] narcotic effects. Nevertheless, the roots of the asphodel were thought by the ancient Greeks to be edible, and they were therefore laid in tombs as food for the dead. Lucian tells us that Charon, the ferryman who rowed the souls of the departed over the river Styx, said: "I know why Mercury keeps us waiting here so long. Down in these regions there is nothing to be had but, asphodel, and oblations, in the midst of mist and darkness; whereas up in heaven he finds it all bright and clear, with ambrosia there, and nectar in plenty."
In the Middle Ages the roots of the Daffodil were called _Cibi regis_, "food for a king,"; but his Majesty must have had a disturbed night after partaking thereof, as they are highly stimulating to the kidneys: indeed, there is strong reason for supposing that these roots have a prior claim to those of the dandelion for lectimingous fame, (_lectus_, "the bed"; _mingo_, to "irrigate").
The brilliant yellow blossom of the Daffodil possesses, as is well known, a bell-shaped crown in the midst of its petals, which is strikingly characteristic. The flower-stalk is hollow, bearing on its summit a membranous sheath, which envelops a single flower of an unpleasant odour. But the Jonquil, which is a cultivated variety of the Daffodil, having white petals with a yellow crown, yields a delicious perfume, which modern chemistry can closely imitate by a hydrocarbon compound. If "naphthalin," a product of coal tar oil, has but the smallest particle of its scent diffused in a room, the special aroma of jonquil and narcissus is at once perceived.
When the flowers of the Daffodil are dried in the sun, if a decoction of them is made, from fifteen to thirty grains will prove emetic like that of Ipecacuanha. From five to six ounces of boiling water should be poured on this quant.i.ty of the dried [143] flowers, and should stand for twenty minutes. It will then serve most usefully for relieving the congestive bronchial catarrh of children, being sweetened, and given one third at a time every ten or fifteen minutes until it provokes vomiting. It is also beneficial in this way, but when given less often, for epidemic dysentery.
The chemical principles of the Daffodil have not been investigated; but a yellow volatile oil of disagreeable odour, and a brown colouring matter, have been got from the flowers.
Arabians commended this oil to be applied for curing baldness, and for stimulating the s.e.xual organs.
Herrick alludes in his _Hesperides_ to the Daffodil as death:--
"When a Daffodil I see Hanging down its head towards me, Guess I may what I must be-- First I shall decline my head; Secondly I shall be dead; Lastly, safely buried."
Daffodils, popularly known in this country as Lent Lilies, are called by the French _Pauvres filles de Sainte Clare_. The name _Junquillo_ is the Spanish diminutive of _Junco_, "the rush," and is given to the jonquil because of its slender rush-like stem. From its fragrant flowers a sweet-smelling yellow oil is obtained.