Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure Part 5

But the chief charms of the Bluebell are its beauty and early appearance. Now is "the winter past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time for the singing of birds is come; and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land."

"This earth is one great temple, made For wors.h.i.+p everywhere; The bells are flowers in sun and shade Which ring the heart to prayer."

"The city bell takes seven days To reach the townsman's ear; But he who kneels in Nature's ways.

Has Sabbath all the year."

The Hairbell (_Campanula rotundifolia_) is the Bluebell of Scotland; and nothing rouses a Scot to anger more surely than to exhibit the wild Hyacinth as the true Bluebell.

BOG BEAN (or Marsh-trefoil).

The Buck-bean, or Bog-bean, which is common enough in stagnant pools, and on our spongy bogs, is the most serviceable of all known herbal tonics. It may be easily recognised growing in water by its large leaves overtopping the surface, each being composed of three leaflets, and resembling the leaf of a Windsor Broad Bean. The flowers when in bud are of a bright rose [59]

color, and when fully blown they have the inner surface of their petals thickly covered with a white fringe, on which account the plant is known also as "white fluff." The name Buckbean is perhaps a corruption of _s...o...b..tus_, scurvy; this giving it another t.i.tle, "scurvy bean." And it is termed "goat's bean," perhaps from the French _le bouc_, "a he-goat." The plant flowers for a month and therefore bears the botanical designation, "Menyanthes"

(_trifoliata_) from _meen_, "a month," and _anthos_, "a flower." It belongs to the Gentian tribe, each of which is distinguished by a tonic and appetizing bitterness of taste. The root of the Bog Bean is the most bitter part, and is therefore selected for medicinal use.

It contains a chemical glucoside, "Menyanthin," which consists of glucose and a volatile product, "Menyanthol." For curative purposes druggists supply an infusion of the herb, and a liquid extract in combination with liquorice. These preparations are in moderate doses, strengthening and antis...o...b..tic; but when given more largely they are purgative and emetic. Gerard says if the plant "be taken with mead, or honied water, it is of use against a cough"; in which respect it is closely allied to the Sundew (another plant of the bogs) for relieving whooping-cough after the first feverish stage, or any similar hacking, spasmodic cough. A tincture is made (H.) from the whole plant with spirit of wine, and this proves most useful for clearing obscuration of the sight, when there is a sense, especially in the open-air, of a white vibrating mist before the eyes; and therefore it has been given with marked success in early stages of amaurotic paralysis of the retina. The dose should be three or four drops of the tincture with a tablespoonful of cold water three times in the day for a week at a time.

[60] BORAGE.

The Borage, with its gallant blue flower, is cultivated in our gardens as a pot herb, and is a.s.sociated in our minds with bees and claret cup. It grows wild in abundance on open plains where the soil is favourable, and it has a long-established reputation for cheering the spirits. Botanically, it is the _Borago officinalis_, this t.i.tle being a corruption of _cor-ago_, i.e., _cor_, the heart, _ago_, I stimulate--_quia cordis affectibus medetur_, because it cures weak conditions of the heart. An old Latin adage says: _Borago ego gaudia semper ago_--"I, Borage, bring always courage"; or the name may be derived from the Celtic, _Borrach_, "a n.o.ble person." This plant was the Bugloss of the older botanists, and it corresponds to our Common Bugloss, so called from the shape and bristly surface of its leaves, which resemble _bous-glossa_, the tongue of an ox. Chemically, the plant Borage contains pota.s.sium and calcium combined with mineral acids. The fresh juice affords thirty per cent., and the dried herb three per cent. of nitrate of potash. The stems and leaves supply much saline mucilage, which, when boiled and cooled, likewise deposits nitre and common salt.

These crystals, when ignited, will burn with a succession of small sparkling explosions, to the great delight of the schoolboy. And it is to such saline qualities the wholesome, invigorating effects and the specially refres.h.i.+ng properties of the Borage are supposed to be mainly due. For which reason, the plant, "when taken in sallets," as says an old herbalist, "doth exhilarate, and make the mind glad," almost in the same way as a bracing sojourn by the seaside during an autumn holiday. The flowers possess cordial virtues which are very revivifying, and have been much commended against melancholic depression of the nervous system. Burton, in his [61] _Anatomy of Melancholy_ (1676), wrote with reference to the frontispiece of that book:--

"Borage and h.e.l.lebore fill two scenes, Sovereign plants to purge the veins Of melancholy, and cheer the heart Of those black fumes which make it smart; The best medicine that G.o.d e'er made For this malady, if well a.s.said."

"The sprigs of Borage," wrote John Evelyn, "are of known virtue to revive the hypochondriac and cheer the hard student."

According to Dioscorides and Pliny, the Borage was that famous nepenthe of Homer which Polydamas sent to Helen for a token "of such rare virtue that when taken steep'd in wine, if wife and children, father and mother, brother and sister, and all thy dearest friends should die before thy face, thou could'st not grieve, or shed a tear for them." "The bowl of Helen had no other ingredient, as most criticks do conjecture, than this of borage." And it was declared of the herb by another ancient author: _Vinum potatum quo sit macerata buglossa moerorum cerebri dic.u.n.t auferre periti_:--

"To enliven the sad with the joy of a joke, Give them wine with some borage put in it to soak."

The Romans named the Borage _Euphrosynon_, because when put into a cup of wine it made the drinkers of the same merry and glad.

Parkinson says, "The seed of Borage helpeth nurses to have more store of milk, for which purpose its leaves are most conducing." Its saline const.i.tuents promote activity of the kidneys, and for this reason the plant is used in France to carry off catarrhs which are feverish. The fresh herb has a cuc.u.mber-like odour, and when compounded with lemon and sugar, added to wine and [62] water, it makes a delicious "cool tankard," as a summer drink. "A syrup concocted of the floures," said Gerard, "quieteth the lunatick person, and the leaves eaten raw do engender good blood." Of all nectar-loving insects, bees alone know how to p.r.o.nounce the "open sesame" of admission to the honey pots of the Borage.

BROOM.

The Broom, or Link (_Cytisus scoparius_) is a leguminous shrub which is well known as growing abundantly on open places in our rural districts. The prefix "cytisus" is derived from the name of a Greek island where Broom abounded. It formerly bore the name of _Planta Genista_, and gave rise to the historic t.i.tle, "Plantagenet."

A sprig of its golden blossom was borne by Geoffrey of Anjou in his bonnet when going into battle, making him conspicuous throughout the strife. In the _Ingoldsby Legends_ it is said of our second King Henry's headdress:--

"With a great sprig of broom, which he bore as a badge in it, He was named from this circ.u.mstance, Henry Plantagenet."

The stalks of the Broom, and especially the topmost young twigs, are purgative, and act powerfully on the kidneys to increase the flow of urine. They contain chemically an acid principle, "scoparin," and an alkaloid, "sparteine." For medical purposes these terminal twigs are used (whether fresh or dried) to make a decoction which is of great use in dropsy from a weak heart, but it should not be given where congestion of the lungs is present. From half to one ounce by weight of the tops should be boiled down in a pint of water to half this quant.i.ty, and a winegla.s.sful may be taken as a dose every four or six hours. For more chronic dropsy, a compound decoction of broom may be given with much [63]

benefit. To make this, use broom-tops and dandelion roots, of each half an ounce, boiling them in a pint of water down to half a pint, and towards the last adding half an ounce of bruised juniper berries. When cold, the decoction should be strained and a winegla.s.sful may be had three or four times a day. "Henry the Eighth, a prince of famous memory, was wonte to drinke the distilled water of broome flowers against surfeits and diseases therefrom arising." The flower-buds, pickled in vinegar, are sometimes used as capers; and the roasted seeds have been subst.i.tuted for coffee. Sheep become stupefied or excited when by chance constrained to eat broom-tops.

The generic name, _Scoparius_, is derived from the Latin word _scopa_, a besom, this signifying "a shrub to sweep with." It has been long represented that witches delight to ride thereon: and in Holland, if a vessel lying in dock has a besom tied to the top of its mast, this advertises it as in search of a new owner. Hence has arisen the saying about a woman when seeking a second husband, _Zij steetk't dem bezen_, "She hangs out the broom."

There is a tradition in Suffolk and Suss.e.x:--

"If you sweep the house with Broom in May, You'll sweep the head of the house away."

Allied to the Broom, and likewise belonging to the Papilionaceous order of leguminous plants, though not affording any known medicinal principle, the Yellow Gorse (_Ulex_) or Furze grows commonly throughout England on dry exposed plains. It covers these during the flowering season with a gorgeous sheet of yellow blossoms, orange perfumed, and which entirely conceals the rugged brown unsightly branches beneath. Its elastic seed vessels burst with a crackling noise in hot [64] weather, and scatter the seeds on all sides. "Some," says Parkinson, "have used the flowers against the jaundice," but probably only because of their yellow colour. "The seeds," adds Gerard, "are employed in medicines against the stone, and the staying of the laske" (_laxitas_, looseness). They are certainly astringent, and contain tannin. In Devons.h.i.+re the bush is called "Vuzz," and in Suss.e.x "Hawth."

The Gorse is rare in Scotland, thriving best in our cool humid climate. In England it is really never out of blossom, not even after a severe frost, giving rise to the well-known saying "Love is never out of season except when the Furze is out of bloom." It is also known as Fursbush, Furrs and Whins, being crushed and given as fodder to cattle. The tender shoots are protected from being eaten by herbivorous animals in the same way as are the thistles and the holly, by the angles of the leaves having grown together so as to const.i.tute p.r.i.c.kles.

"'Twere to cut off an epigram's point, Or disfurnish a knight of his spurs, If we foolishly tried to disjoint Its arms from the lance-bearing Furze."

Linnoeus "knelt before it on the sod: and for its beauty thanked his G.o.d."

The _Butcher's Broom, Ruscus (or Bruscus) aculeatus_, or p.r.i.c.kly, is a plant of the Lily order, which grows chiefly in the South of England, on heathy places and in woods. It bears sharp-pointed, stiff leaves (each of which produces a small solitary flower on its upper surface), and scarlet berries. The shrub is also known as Knee Hulyer, Knee Holly (confused with the Latin _cneorum_), p.r.i.c.kly Pettigrue and Jews' Myrtle. Butchers make besoms of its twigs, with which to sweep their stalls or [65] blocks: and these twigs are called "pungi topi," "p.r.i.c.krats," from being used to preserve meat from rats. Jews buy the same for service during the Feast of Tabernacles; and the boughs have been employed for flogging chilblains. The Butcher's Broom has been claimed by the Earls of Sutherland as the distinguis.h.i.+ng badge of their followers and Clan, every Sutherland volunteer wearing a sprig of the bush in his bonnet on field days. This shrub is highly extolled as a free promoter of urine in dropsy and obstructions of the kidneys; a pint of boiling water should be poured on an ounce of the fresh twigs, or on half-an-ounce of the bruised root, to make an infusion, which may be taken as tea. The root is at first sweet to the taste, and afterwards bitter.

BRYONY.

English hedgerows exhibit Bryony of two distinct sorts--the white and the black--which differ much, the one from the other, as to medicinal properties, and which belong to separate orders of plants. The White Bryony is botanically a cuc.u.mber, being of common growth at our roadsides, and often called the White Vine; it also bears the name of Tetterberry, from curing a disease of the skin known as tetters. It climbs about with long straggling stalks, which attach themselves by spiral tendrils, and which produce rough, palmated leaves. Insignificant pale-green flowers spring in small cl.u.s.ters from the bottom of these leaves. The round berries are at first green, and afterwards brilliantly red. Chemically, the plant contains "bryonin," a medicinal substance which is intensely bitter; also malate and phosphate of lime, with gum, starch, and sugar.

A tincture is made (H.) from the fresh root collected before the plant flowers, which is found to [66] be of superlative use for the relief of chronic rheumatism (especially when aggravated by moving), and for subduing active congestions of the serous membranes which line the heart-bag, the ribs, the outer coat of the brain, and which cover the bowels. In the treatment of pleurisy, this tincture is invaluable. Four drops should be given in a tablespoonful of cold water every three or four hours. Also for any contused bruising of the skin, and especially for a black eye, to promptly bathe the injured part with a decoction of White Bryony root will speedily subdue the swelling, and will prevent discoloration far better than a piece of raw beef applied outside as the remedy most approved in the Ring.

In France, the White Bryony is deemed so potent and perilous, that its root is named the devil's turnip--_navet du diable_.

Our English plant, the _Bryonia dioica_, purges as actively as colocynth, if too freely administered.

The name Bryony is two thousand years old, and comes from a Greek word _bruein_, "to shoot forth rapidly."

From the incised root of the White Bryony exudes a milky juice which is aperient of action, and which has been commended for epilepsy, as well as for obstructed liver and dropsy; also its tincture for chronic constipation.

The popular herbal drink known as Hop Bitters is said to owe many of its supposed virtues to the bryony root, subst.i.tuted for the mandrake which it is alleged to contain. The true mandrake is a gruesome herb, which was held in superst.i.tious awe by the Greeks and the Romans. Its root was forked, and bears some resemblance to the legs of a man; for which reason the moneymakers [67] of the past increased the likeness, and attributed supernatural powers to the plant. It was said to grow only beneath a murderer's gibbet, and when torn from the earth by its root to utter a shriek which none might hear and live. From earliest times, in the East, a notion prevailed that the mandrake would remove sterility. With which purpose in view, Rachel said to Leah: "Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes" (Genesis x.x.x. v. 14). In later times the Bryony has come into use instead of the true mandrake, and it has continued to form a profitable spurious article with mountebank doctors. In Henry the Eighth's day, ridiculous little images made from Bryony roots, cut into the figure of a man, and with grains of millet inserted into the face as eyes, the same being known as pappettes or mammettes, were accredited with magical powers, and fetched high prices with simple folk. Italian ladies have been known to pay as much as thirty golden ducats for one of these artificial mandrakes. Readers of Thalaba (Southey) will remember the fine scene in which Khawla procures this plant to form part of the waxen figure of the Destroyer. Unscrupulous vendors of the fraudulent articles used to seek out a thriving young Bryony plant, and to open the earth round it. Then being prepared with a mould such as is used for making Plaster of Paris figures, they fixed it close to the root, and fastened it with wire to keep it in place.

Afterwards, by filling the earth up to the root they left it to a.s.sume the required shape, which was generally accomplished in a single summer.

The medicinal tincture (H.) of White Bryony (_Bryonia alba_) is of special service to persons of dark hair and complexion, with firm fibre of flesh, and of a bilious cross-grained temperament.

Also it is of [68] particular use for relieving coughs, and colds of a feverish bronchial sort, caught by exposure to the east wind. On the contrary, the catarrhal troubles of sensitive females, and of young children, are better met by 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._

THYRSIS ET PHYLLIS.

In nemore umbroso Phyllis mea forte sedebat, Cui mollem exhausit tussis anhela sinum: Nec mora: de loculo deprompsi pyxida loevo, Ipecacuaneos, exhibuique trochos: Illa quidem imprudens medicatos leniter orbes Absorpsit numero bisque quaterque decem: Tum tenero ducens suspiria pectore dixit, "Thyrsi! Mihi stomachum nausea tristis habet."

The _Black Bryony _(Lady's-seal, or Oxberry), which likewise grows freely in our hedges, is quite a different plant from its nominal congener. It bears the name of _Tamus Vulgaris_, and belongs to the natural order of Yams. It is also called the Wild Hop, and Tetterberry or Tetterwort (in common with the greater Celandine), because curing the skin disease known as tetters; and further, Blackbindweed. It has smooth heart-shaped leaves, and produces scarlet, elliptical berries larger than those of the White Bryony. A tincture is made (H.) from the root-stock, with spirit of wine, which proves a most useful application to unbroken chilblains, when [69] made into a lotion with water, one part to twenty. The plant is called Black Bryony (_Bryonia nigra_) from its dark leaves and black root. It is not given at all internally, but the acrid pulp of the root has been used as a stimulating plaster.

BUCKTHORN.