This familiar harbinger of Spring, with its three delicate leaflets on a long stalk, and its tiny white flowers, having purple veins like those of the Wood Anemone, bears the fanciful name of Fairy-bells in Welsh districts.
Fra Angelico placed the claret-stained flowers in the foreground of his pictures representing the Crucifixion. After the doctrine of signatures, because of its shape like a heart, the leaf of the Wood Sorrel was formerly esteemed as a cordial medicine. It was called in Latin _Panis Cuculi_, meaning the "Cuckoo"s bread and cheese."
The leaves, when bruised, make with sugar a capital conserve which is refreshing to a fevered stomach, or, if boiled in milk, they form an agreeable sub-acid whey. [612] Twenty pounds of the fresh plant will yield four ounces of the oxalate of potash, commonly known as salt of lemons or salt of sorrel, which is often used for taking ink stains out of linen. Francus, an old cla.s.sical author, concluded by experiment that the herb is of value (_cordis vires reparare_) to recruit the energies of the heart, and (_anginum abigere_) to dispel the quinsy. Its infusion makes an excellent anti-putrescent gargle.
There is also a yellow variety of the Wood Sorrel.
WORMWOOD.
The common Wormwood (_Artemisia absinthium_) has been partly considered here together with Mugwort, to which it is closely allied.
It is a Composite herb of frequent growth on waste ground, being a bushy plant with silky stems, and collections of numerous small heads of dull yellow flowers. The name Wormwood is from _wehren_, to keep off--_mought_, a maggot or moth; and _absinthium_, from-a-negative--_psinthos_, delight, in allusion to the very bitter taste.
The whole plant is of an aromatic smell and bitter flavour. The flowers, when dried and powdered, destroy worms more effectually than worm seed, whilst the leaves resist putrefaction and help to make capital antiseptic fomentations.
Wormwood tea, or the powdered herb in small doses, mixed in a little soup, will serve to relieve bilious melancholia, and will help to disperse the yellow hue of jaundice from the skin.
This herb was formerly thought to possess the power of dispelling demons, and was thus a.s.sociated with the ceremonials of St. John"s Eve, owning the name, on the Continent, of St. John"s Herb, or St.
John"s Girdle. Both it, and the Mugwort were dedicated to Diana: [613] and Venus gave thereof (Ambrose) to AEneas. It bears the provincial name "old woman." The smell of common Wormwood is very refreshing, and its reviving qualities in heated Courts are almost equal to a change of air.
Dioscorides declared it a preventive of intoxication, and a remedy for the ill-effects of any such excess; for which reason the _poculum absinthiac.u.m_ was a favourite beverage.
Gerard says: "The plant voideth away the worms, not only taken inwardly, but applied outwardly; it withstandeth all putrefactions, and is good against the stinking breath." It keepeth garments also from the moths--_A tineis tutam reddit qua conditur arcam_ (Macer); and Dr. W. Bulleyne says "it keepeth clothes from moths and wormes." This is the great preventive used by cloth manufacturers. "Furthermore," adds Gerard, "taken in wine it is good against the biting of the shrew mouse, and of the sea dragon. It may be applied against the Squincie, or inflammation of the throat, with honey and water: likewise, after the same manner, to dim eyes, and mattery ears."
The characteristic odour of the plant is due to a volatile oil which consists mainly of absinthol; and the intensely bitter taste resides in "absinthin."
The plant also contains tannin, resin, starch, succinic, malic, and acetic acids, with nitrate of potash, and other salts. In some districts it is popularly called "green ginger."
Wormwood is of benefit for strengthless flatulent indigestion. An infusion may be made of an ounce of the dried plant to a pint of boiling water, and given in doses of from one to two tablespoonfuls three times during the day.
[614] This infusion with a few drops of the essential oil will prevent the hair from falling off.
Absinthe, a liqueur concocted from Wormwood, is used largely in France, and the medical verdict p.r.o.nounced there about its effects shows that it exercises through the pneumogastric nerve a painful sensation, which has been taken for that of extreme hunger. This feeling goes off quickly if a little alcohol is given, though it is aggravated by coffee, whilst an excessive use of absinthe from day to day is not slow in producing serious symptoms: the stomach ceases to perform its duty, there is an irritative reaction in the brain, and the effects of blind drunkenness come on after each debauch.
The French Military call absinthe _un perroquet_. The daily taking even for a short while only of a watery infusion of Wormwood shows its bad effects by a general languor, with obscurities of the sight, giddiness, want of appet.i.te, and painful indigestion.
When indulged-in as an appetiser by connoisseurs, absinthe, the "fairy with the green eyes," is modified by admixture with anisette, noted as an "agreeable and bronchitis-palliating" liqueur.
As a result of his experiments on animals, Dr. Maignan has come to the conclusion that absinthe (Wormwood) determines tremblings, dulness of thought, and epileptiform convulsions,--symptoms which alcohol alone will not produce. Hence it may be inferred that absinthe contains really a narcotic poison which should prevent its being employed as a liqueur, or as a homely medicament, to any excess.
Dogs are given to eat the Wormwood as a remedy for their ailments.
Its medicinal and curative uses have been already partly discussed, together with those of _Mugwort_.
[615] WOUNDWORT.
The Hedge Woundwort (_Stachys sylvatica_) is a common l.a.b.i.ate plant in our hedges and woods, branched and hairy, with whorls of small dull purple flowers on a spike two feet high or more. There are other varieties of the herb, such as the Marsh (March) Woundwort, the Corn Woundwort, and the Downy Woundwort.
The Hedge Woundwort was named by Gerard, Clown"s all heal, or the Husbandman"s Woundwort, because a countryman who had cut his hand to the bone with a scythe, healed the wound in seven days with this plant.
It is called by some the Hedge Dead Nettle, from its nettle-like leaves, and the place of its growth.
"The leaves," says Gerard, "stampt (pounded) with hog"s grease, and applied unto green wounds in the manner of a poultice, heal them in such short time and such absolute manner, that it is hard for anyone that hath not had the experience thereof to believe. For instance, a deep and grievous wound in the breast with a dagger, and two others in the abdomen (or nether belly), so that the fat commonly named the caul, issued forth, the which mortal wounds, by G.o.d"s permission, and the virtues of this herb, I perfectly cured within twenty days--for the which the name of G.o.d be praised."
The name _Stachys_ given to this herb, is from the Greek _stakos_, a bunch, because of the arrangement of the flowers. It contains a volatile oil, and a bitter principle undetermined.
The _Stachys Germanica_ (Downy Woundwort) is so called from its soft, downy leaves having been employed instead of lint as a surgical dressing to wounds. The plant grows on a chalky soil in Bedfordshire, [616] Berkshire, and Oxfordshire: being named also "Lamb"s Ear."
This _Stachys lanata_ (Woolly Woundwort) is known as Saviour"s blanket, in Suss.e.x; also in Devonshire and Somersetshire, as Mouse"s ear, Donkey"s ear, and Lamb"s tongue.
The Knights" Water Woundwort (_Statiotes aloides_) was supposed from its blade-like leaves, acting on the doctrine of signatures, to heal sword wounds.
YARROW.
The Yarrow, from _hiera_, holy herb (_Achillea millefolium_), or Milfoil, is so called from the very numerous fine segments of its leaves. It is a Composite plant very common on waysides and in pastures throughout Britain.
The name _Achillea_ has been bestowed thereupon because the Greek warrior, Achilles, is said to have disclosed its virtues which he had been taught by Chiron, the Centaur. This herb is the _Stratiotes chiliophullos _of the Greek botanists, by whom it was valued as an excellent astringent and vulnerary. But Gerard supposes it may have been the _Achillea millefolium n.o.bile_, which grows with a thick root and longer leaves, on a fat and fruitful soil, a stranger in England, "and the very same with which Achilles cured the wounds of his soldiers." But, he adds, "the virtues of each sort of Milfoil are set to be both alike."
The flowers of the Common Yarrow or Nosebleed are white or pink; those of the _n.o.bile_ are yellow.
The popular name of Nosebleed has been given to the Yarrow because the hairy filaments of the leaves, when put up the nose, provoke an exudation of blood, and will thus afford relief to headache, caused by a pa.s.sive fulness of the vessels. Parkinson says "if it be [617] pat into the nose, a.s.suredly it will stay the bleeding of it," which mast be the" effect of action according to similars. Or if using Yarrow in the same way as a love charm, the following lines were repeated:--
"Green arrow! green arrow!
You bear a white blow; If my love love me My nose will bleed now."
The leaves have a somewhat fragrant smell, and a bitterish taste.
The odour of the flowers, when rubbed between the fingers, is aromatic. In consequence of this pungent, volatile principle, the herb has proved useful in hysteria, flatulence, heartburn, colic, and epilepsy; also, it is employed in Norway for the cure of rheumatism, and sometimes chewed for toothache.
Yarrow is one of the few aboriginal English plants, having held the primitive t.i.tle, _Gearwe_. Greek botanists seem to have known the identical species which we now possess, and to have used it against haemorrhagic losses. It yields, chemically, a dark-green volatile oil, and achilleic acid, which is said to be identical with aconitic acid; also resin, tannin, gum; and earthy ash consisting of nitrates, phosphates, and chlorides of potash and lime.
For preparing an infusion of the plant, half an ounce should be boiled down in half a pint of water to six ounces; one tablespoonful for a dose.
Sir John Hill says the best way of giving Yarrow is in a strong decoction of the whole plant. A hot infusion of the herb taken freely on going to bed at night seldom fails to make short work of a cold.
A medicinal tincture (H.) is prepared from the whole plant with spirit of wine. This, when employed in a diluted form of the first or third decimal strength, and [618] in small doses of from five to ten drops in a tablespoonful of cold water, will act admirably in arresting nocturnal losses in the male; likewise bleeding from the lungs, the kidneys, or the nose, especially in florid, hectic subjects.
It has been found by healthy provers that stronger, and larger doses of any preparation of the herb will induce or aggravate one or another of these bleedings.
The fresh juice of the plant may be had, a dessert-spoonful three times in the day; or of the volatile essential oil, from three to five drops for a dose. These medicines greatly stimulate and promote the appet.i.te. "For ague," says Parkinson, "drink a decoction of the herb warm before the fit, and so for two or three fits together."
Externally, a strong decoction of the leaves has been used as an injection into the nostrils to stay bleeding from the nose. It is similarly of service for piles, and for female floodings, because exerting a special local action on the organs within the middle trunk.
The bruised herb, or an ointment made from it, is applied by rustics to heal fresh cuts and contusions.
Even in ancient times it was famous as a topical remedy for piles. It is further of benefit for sore nipples as a lotion, and for a relaxed sore throat as a gargle: also as a hair wash.
The leaves were applied in former days as a poultice to wounds; and because of its healing and astringent virtues when so used, the plant gained the names Sanguinary, Thousand leaf, Old Man"s pepper, Soldiers" Woundwort. Other local names for it are Staunch gra.s.s, Carpenters" weed, and Bloodwort: also, "Old Man"s Mustard," "Bad Man"s Plaything," and "Devil"s Plaything." In Gloucestershire and some other parts, the double-flowered Yarrow is brought to a wedding by [619] bridesmaids as "seven years" love." In Cheshire, children draw the herb across the face to produce a tingling sensation, and they call it "Devil"s nettle."
Culpeper spoke of the same as a profitable herb in cramps, and therefore called _Militaris_.