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aroma for flavouring dishes, and comforting the stomach; but at present its domestic service is solely for fragrance, and for scenting the household linen. Nevertheless, Lavender water as a spirit comes into handy appliance for a restorative against faintness, palpitations, or spasms. It proves refreshing to the sense of smell, and, if taken as a speedy stimulant, dispels flatulence whilst reviving the spirits. The sweet-smelling shrub is grown largely for market purposes in Surrey, Hertfordshire, and Lincoln, affording its essential oil from the flowering tops. These "spikes" of Lavender contain tannin, and a resinous camphor. Ordinarily the Lavender water of commerce is a misleading compound of various scents. During the twelfth century a washerwoman was ordinarily known in the north as a Lavenderess, whence comes our name Laundress. "I'll now lead you," says Piscator, in Walton's Compleat Angler (1653), "to an honest ale-house, where we shall find a cleanly room, Lavender in the window, and twenty ballads stuck about the wall." Again, 66 a match, good master! let's go to that house, for the linen looks white, and smells of Lavender: and I long to be in a pair of sheets that smell so." This tavern was probably the "Angler's Inn," near Hoddesdon, Herts, called then the "Rye House." Charles Lamb pronounced, "It might sweeten a man's temper at any time to read the Compleat Angler." Conserves of Lavender were served at table in Gerarde's day. This fragrant herb is hostile by its powerful aromatic odour to pestilent flies, fleas, and other such troublesome insects which assail the person. Even, say the Reliquicæ Antiquæ, "Flys populum Domini cædunt" -"Fleas afflict the people of the Lord!" It is told on good authority that the lions, and tigers, in our Zoological Gardens are strangely affected by the smell of Lavender, and become docile under its influence. A tea brewed of moderate strength from Lavender tops is excellent for relieving headache from fatigue, or exhaustion; also to mop the temples with Lavender water. Again, for palsied limbs, friction with a spirit of Lavender will powerfully stimulate towards restoring the use thereof. "It profiteth them much," says Gerarde, "that have the palsy if they be washed with the distilled water from the Lavender flowers, or are anointed with the oil made from the flowers, and olive oil, in such manner as the oil of Roses is used." "In each bright drop there is a spell, 'Tis from the soil we love so well,:

From English gardens won."

Fifty-six pounds of Lavender will yield exactly one pound of the liquid perfume.

Liquorice, or Licorice, as formerly called, is a plant-product familiar to us all, whether by the succus hardened into the well-known black stick of Spanish juice, or as made into lozenges, or Pontefract tablets, or as the pipe Liquorice of the sweet-stuff shops. The Liquorice plant is grown abundantly at Mitcham, near London, for supplying our markets, the roots being dug up after a three-years' cultivation. But the search of Diogenes for an honest man was scarcely more difficult than would be that of an average person for genuine prepared Liquorice; this is because the juice is adulterated to any extent, and there is no definite standard of purity for the article now so commonly used. Potato starch, millers' sweepings mixed with sugar, and any kind of such rubbish are employed as adulterants. The Chinese make much use of the Liquorice root, and its juice, which they regard as rejuvenating, and very nutritious. "In their drug stores," says the Kew Bulletin (1899), "one can generally obtain a panacea for all bodily ills, this varying in the number of its ingredients according to the price paid, twenty-five, thirty-five, or fifty cents. Such a prescription usually contains a few slices of Liquorice root (Glycyrrhiza), with the dried flowers of some composite plant, dried cockroaches, dried cockchafers, and the skin, with head, and tail, of a lizard stretched on thin sticks. An extra five cents will procure a dried sea-horse; and yet another five cents a dried fish of peculiarly narrow shape, and about four inches long. All these are boiled together, and the decoction drunk as a remedy for heartburn, toothache, cough, dimness of sight, and almost any other ailment. The vegetable portion of one of these mixtures has been examined at Kew. Among the medicaments recognized were the fruit-heads of a species of Eriocaulon, which has a reputation in China for curing various diseases, such as ophthalmia, nose-bleeding, and some affections of the kidneys. Other vegetable ingredients were likewise botanically recognized, and identified. Liquorice is commonly employed as a pectoral in coughs, and hoarseness. Chemically the root from which it is obtained affords a special sort of sugar, glycyrrhizine, a demulcent starch, asparagin, phosphate, and malate of lime, and magnesia, a resinous oil, albumin, and woody fibre. The extract is largely imported, that described as Solazzi juice being most highly esteemed, "This which comes to us in cylindrical, or flattened rolls enveloped in bay leaves. The sugar of Liquorice may be safely taken by diabetic patients. By far and away the best Liquorice lozenges (for inducing quiet sleep, and against constipation), are those of old fashion still to be obtained as the manufacture of "Smith," in the Borough, London; not the pilules. Old Fuller wrote respecting Nottingham: county affordeth the first, and best Liquorice in England; great is the use thereof in physick. A stick of the same is commonly the spoon prescribed to patients to use in any loaches. If (as the men of Æneas were forced to eat their own trenchers) these chance to eat their spoons, their danger is none at all." Liquorice is likewise used in various other articles of confectionery, in brewing, and to be mixed with tobacco :- 66 66 ٤٠ "But first he cheweth greyn, and lycorys To smellen sweete."

Miller's Tale. -Chaucer.

Another favourite pot herb grown in the kitchen garden is Sweet Marjoram, of which the generic title Origanum signifies Joy of the mountains." This plant furnishes an essential, fragrant, volatile oil which is cordial, warming, and tonic. Organ," says Gerarde, "is very good against the wambling of the stomacke, and stayeth the desire to vomit, especially at sea. It may be used to good purpose for such as cannot brooke their meate." Externally the herb has been successfully employed against scirrhous tumours of the breast. Murray writes: "Tumores mammarum dolentes scirrhosos herba recens, viridis, per tempus applicata, feliciter dissipavit." The essential oil, when long kept, assumes a solid form, and was at one time much esteemed for being rubbed into stiff joints. A tea brewed from the fresh herb will relieve headache of a nervous hysterical nature.

Several kinds of the Mints have been used medicinally from the earliest times, such as Pennyroyal, Peppermint, and Spearmint; each of which, though growing wild in wet and marshy wastes, is cultivated in our herb gardens for kitchen purposes. Their flowering tops are all found to contain a certain portion of camphor. The Mint plant was eaten gaily of old, with many a joke, because said to have been originally a pretty girl metamorphosed by Persephone. The Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) was formerly known as Pudding grass, from being used in making stuffing for meat, in days when such stuffing was called a pudding. "Let the corporal Come sweating under a breast of mutton stuffed with pudding." Old Play Treadwell tells that the Pennyroyal was especially put into hogs' puddings, which were composed of flour, with currants, and spices, stuffed into the entrail of a hog. The fresh herb Pennyroyal yields about 1 per cent of a volatile oil containing oxygen, with other diffusible matters. Folk talk in Devonshire of "Organ broth," and "Organ tea," which are much in favour with women. The oil of Pennyroyal, if applied externally, will promptly relieve severe neuralgic pain. Dryden, in Ovid's Metamorphoses, writes to this effect :-- 66 "They rubbed it o'er with newly-gathered mint, A wholesome herb that breathed a grateful scent."

Organ tay," say the Devonshire peasants, “sweentened wi' 'oney is a cabbical cure vur a cold ef yü putt'th a drap ov zometheng short in't." "Hillwort" was another old name of the herb.

Peppermint (Mentha piperita), or "Brandy Mint," is of universal acquaintance among all classes through its "sweeties," drops, lozenges, and comforting, fragrant "water," being "familiar in our mouths as household words." The herb is so called because of its peppery, pungent taste, and smell. Preparations of Peppermint when swallowed diffuse warmth in the stomach, acting as carminative stimulants, with some considerable power of allaying the distress of colic, flatulent distension, spasm, or oppressive food. This is through the potent volatile oil, of which the herb yields 1 per cent as Mint camphor. "Anise and mint, with strong Æolian sway Intestine storms of flatulence allay."

There are two sorts of the Peppermint herb-black, and whiteof which the first furnishes the most, but not the best oil. As an antiseptic and destroyer of germs, this oil is remarkably efficacious; on which account it is advised for inhalation by consumptive patients, so that the volatile preservative vapour may reach remote diseased parts of the ultimate lung passages, and may heal by destroying the morbid germs which are keeping up mischief therein. A simple respirator for inhaling the oil vapour can be made with a small square of thin, ductile, perforated zinc plate, bent, and adapted as a little funnel, widely open at top to the shape of the mouth, and nostrils, but without any free side apertures; and within the narrow end of which funnel may be secured a small pledget of sponge, or absorbent cotton-wool, for frequent saturation with from twenty to thirty drops of a spirituous essence of Peppermint made with the oil, and spirit. This quantity of the essence should be dropped on the sponge each night, and morning, whilst the apparatus is to be worn over the mouth, and nostrils, (by tapes at its sides to tie over the head) all day, except at meals. The oil, and the essence are of an agreeable odour in a room, and are absolutely harmless. In France continuous inhalations of Peppermint oil (either by itself, or combined with oil of tar) have come into approved use with much success, even when cavities are present in the lungs, with copious expectoration of the consumption microbes. The cough, the night-sweats, and the heavy phlegm have been arrested, whilst the nutrition, and the weight have steadily increased. "Peppermint" (Dr. Hughes) "should be more largely employed than it is in coughs, especially in a dry cough, however caused, when it seems to act specifically as a cure. It will relieve in this way even the persistent hectic cough of a consumptive patient." Unhealthy external sores may be cleansed, and their healing promoted by being dressed with strips of soft rag dipped in sweet oil to each ounce of which two or three drops of oil of Peppermint have been added. The oil, or the essence of Peppermint can be used of any strength, and in any quantity, without the least harm to a patient. It checks the discharge of unhealthy matter when applied to a sore, or wound, whilst exercising a salutary antiseptic effect. Altogether" (as Dr. Braddon writes) "the oil of Peppermint forms the best, safest, and most agreeable of known antiseptics." 66 of For obviating mosquito bites, the ablutionary use Peppermint soap all over the body, or, in default thereof, employing soft soap with which a few drops of oil of Peppermint have been mixed, will prove efficacious. "Take a little of this," says an experienced traveller, "into the hands with some water, then wash therewith the face, the body throughout, and the hands, and let it dry on every part likely to be exposed to mosquito bites." Continental pathologists have found oil of Peppermint highly useful as an internal antiseptic for correcting poisonous intestinal products given off when fæcal matters are detained within the bowels so long as to undergo corrupt putrefactive changes, because of persistent constipation. Various skin troubles may result from this cause, such as nettle-rash, mattery pimples, itching, and erysipelatous redness, whilst severe general neurotic rheumatism may eventually ensue until the difficulty is obviated. When crystallized into a solid form as "menthol," the oil, if rubbed over the skin surface of a painful neuralgic part, will give speedy, and marked relief, as for frontal headache, tic doloureux, facial toothache, and other such grievous troubles. Distilled Peppermint water should be always preferred medicinally, from half to one wineglassful at a time. The stronger, and smaller Peppermint lozenges supplied by chemists are of excellent use when sluggishness of the intestines causes detention within them of the torpid food mass, with putrescent changes, and the giving off of noxious gases for absorption into the body. Two of these lozenges should be then sucked slowly a couple of hours after each more substantial meals of the day. They will serve to act in this manner as preventive of appendicitis from a similar cause. For making Peppermint drops," take two cupfuls of granulated sugar, half a cupful of cold water, and a tiny pinch of cream of tartar. Boil these together for ten minutes, without stirring, and let the sugar melt slowly so that it may not burn. Add eight (for the stronger Peppermints twelve) drops of oil of Peppermint while the mixture is still on the fire. When removed from the stove mix with an egg-beater until it falls in long drops, then drop quickly on oiled paper. 66 As an antiseptic snuff for use on the first access of a cold in the head, or against attacks of hay-fever, menthol (in combination with some cocaine ?) is found to be promptly, and preventively useful. How glad Sydney Smith would have been to learn this fact! When victimized by hay-fever (in June, 1835) he wrote as follows to the famous Sir Henry Holland, from Combe Florey: "I am suffering from my old complaint, the hay-fever (as it is called); my fear is perishing by deliquescence. I melt away in nasal, and lachrymal profluvia. My remedies are, warm pediluvium, cathartics, and topical application of a watery solution of opium to eyes, ears, and the interior of the nostrils. The membrane is so irritable that light, dust, contradiction, an absurd remark, the sight of a dissenter, anything sets me sneezing; and if I begin sneezing at twelve I don't leave off till two o'clock, and am heard distinctly in Taunton, when the wind sets that way, a distance of six miles. Turn your mind to this little curse." 66 Spear Mint (Mentha viridis), or Garden Mint, is an allied herb which is of popular use for making Mint sauce, to be eaten with roast lamb. It likewise possesses a fragrant aromatic odour, and a warm, spicy taste; bearing the name also of "Mackerel Mint," and in Germany of Lady's Mint." Its volatile oil makes this herb antiseptic, and conducive to the better digestion of young immature meat, whilst the vinegar and sugar added in Mint sauce, help forward the solution of crude albuminous fibre. But, as is well said, "Mint often makes lamb out of an old sheep." Mint sauce was described by Tusset, and blest by Cobbett. Dr. Hayman has supposed it to historically reflect the bitter herbs of the Jewish Passover. When some fresh leaves of this herb are macerated in milk the curdling thereof is slower than if the milk clots by itself; therefore Spear Mint, or its essence, is much to be commended for use with milk foods by delicate persons, and for young children of feeble digestive powers. A distilled water of Spear Mint is made which will relieve hiccough, and flatulence, as well as the giddiness of indigestion, wherefore Martial called the herb "Ructatrix mentha." "This is the Spear Mint," writes our Poet Laureate, "that steadies giddiness." The name Spear, or Spire, indicates the spiry form of its floral blossoming. Washington Irving, in Knickerbocker, speaks of New Englanders who were great roysterers, much given to revel on hoecakes, and bacon, Mint julep, and apple-toddy." Julep is an ancient Arabian name for a calming drink (originally containing opium, with mucilage), and possibly connected with the Persian "salep" made from bulbs of an orchis. Culpeper wrote: "The Mints are extreme bad for wounded people; and they say a wounded man that eats Mints his wound will never be cured, but that is a long day." Nevertheless, modern experience teaches that the Mints are to be credited with terebinthine antiseptic healing virtues, notably peppermint, rosemary, and thyme. "As for the Garden Mint," wrote Pliny, "the very smell of it alone recovers, and refreshes the spirits, 66 much as the taste stirs up the appetite for meat, which is the reason that it is so general in our acid sauces wherein we are accustomed to dip our meat."

Our table Mustard, which flanks English roast beef, and other rich viands, is made from the seeds of a herb originally wild on waste places in this country, but now cultivated, the Sinapis, both black, and white. It is the black Mustard which yields the condiment of the mustard pot, and the pungent yellow flour which we employ for the familiar stimulating poultice, or sinapism. The virtues of this black Mustard depend on an acrid volatile oil comprised in the seeds, which is combined with an active principle containing sulphur abundantly; as shown by the discoloration of a silver spoon if left in contact with Mustard made for the table, a black sulphuret of silver being formed. The chemical basis is sinnigrin," with myronic acid. The acridity of the oil is modified in the seeds by being combined with another fixed oil of a bland nature which can be readily separated by pressure, and which will promote the growth of hair if employed as a mild pomade; it may be used also externally with friction for relieving rheumatic stiffness of muscles. 66 Mustard flour is a capital antiseptic, and sterilizing agent. Admixture with vinegar will check the development of pungency in Mustard made for the table, so that this practice is now discontinued. Probably the Romans, who were great eaters of Mustard seed, pounded, and steeped in new wine (mustum), brought the condiment with them to our shores, and first taught the ancient Britons how to prepare it. For obstinate hiccough a teacupful of boiling water should be poured on a teaspoonful of Mustard flour, and taken as promptly as may be, half at first, and the other half in ten minutes, if still needed. When an emetic is required for speedy effect, if a tablespoonful of Mustard flour has poured on it a pint of lukewarm water, to be mixed, and taken at a draught, this will operate briskly, and surely. The volatile oil of Mustard flour contains erucic, and sinapoleic acids. A hot Mustard foot-bath serves by the diffusion of this oil around the person to prove soporific by inhalation, whilst the feet also are beneficially stimulated below. The notion has long prevailed that for preserving one's memory even to an advanced age, nothing is better than Mustard.

Messrs. Keen & Co., the oldest London firm of the Mustard trade, had their place of business as long ago as 1742 at Garlick Hill, or Hythe, the harbour to which garlic, and other such seasonings were brought. Hard by was the church of St. James, who was often represented as a Pilgrim, and whose device in that capacity, a scallop-shell, appears above the church porch. Hence the adoption of this scallop-shell as a trade-mark of the Keen firm. Actual scallop-shells, or metallic imitations of them, were formerly used as scoops by retail dealers in Mustard and spices; it is even said that some specimens of these articles are still to be found in old-fashioned shops kept in out-of-the-way places. Mustard flour is an infallible antiseptic, and sterilizing agent, besides being a capital deodorizer. Black Mustard seed, when bruised, develops a very active pungent principle, with a powerful penetrating odour which makes the eyes water; this principle contains sulphur abundantly. Mustard flour being such a ready deodorizer, if moistened with a little water into a paste has the remarkable property of dispelling the odours of musk, camphor, and the fœtid gum resins - turpentine, creosote, asafetida, and such like. "Mustard-the roguish Mustard, dangerous to the nose "-as John Swan has taught in Speculum Mundi (1643) " is marvellous good for the voice of she who would sing clear; but it hath, moreover, another good propertie which must not be forgotten :- 66 "She that hath hap a husband had to burie, And is therefore in heart no sad but merrie :

Yet if in shew good manners she would keep, Onyons and mustard seed will make her weep." 66 "Flamingoes, and Mustard both bite," said the Duchess (Alice in Wonderland), and the moral is, Birds of a feather flock together." "Only, Mustard isn't a bird," Alice remarked ; "it's a mineral, I think," said Alice. "Of course it is," said the Duchess; "there's a large Mustard mine near here, and the moral of it is 'the more there is of mine, the less there is of yours." Although Mustard at table invariably flanks the "roast beef of old England" which gives national strength, and sinew, yet according to a familiar nursery rhyme it is credited with opposite effects by children, who taunt a craven playmate as :- "Cowardy, cowardy custard, Who ate his mother's mustard."

The white Mustard is best known to us as produced for its young leaves to be eaten in the combination of Mustard and Cress with a salad, or with bread and butter. This plant, which grows, when uncultivated, on waste ground with large yellow flowers, does not afford under any conditions a pungent oil like the black Mustard. "When in the leaf," John Evelyn tells in his Acetaria, "Mustard in young seedling plants is of incomparable effect to quicken, and revive the spirits, strengthening the memory, expelling heaviness, preventing the vertiginous palsy, and a laudable cephalic, besides being an approved anti-scorbutic." The active principle of this white Mustard is sinapin, and the seed germinates so rapidly that it has been said a salad of the herb may be grown therefrom whilst the joint of meat is being roasted for dinner. When swallowed whole in teaspoonful doses three or four times a day the seeds will exercise mechanically a laxative effect, being voided from the lower bowel without undergoing any perceptible change except that their outer skin has become a little softened, and mucilaginous. For a relaxed sore throat a gargle of bruised Mustard-seed tea proves serviceable. Chemically the Nettle (Urtica dioica, and urens), of familiar acquaintance all over the country, is so constituted as to provide a food available for helping to obviate several bodily ailments, and infirmities. It contains formic acid, mucilage, mineral salts, ammonia, carbonic acid, and water. A strong infusion of the fresh leaves is soothing, and healing as a lotion for burns; the dried leaves, when burnt so as to give off their fumes to be inhaled, will relieve bronchial, and asthmatic troubles, ten grains, or more, being thus employed at a time. As far back as in the year 1400 an entry was made in the churchwarden's account at St. Michael's, Bath, "pro urticis venditis ad Laurencium." In 1890 a West End vegetable dealer in London recognized the wholesome, and nutritious properties of young Nettle tops when cooked for the table, and he arranged for a regular supply of the same on finding that a ready sale existed for these wares. If Nettle tops are taken as a fresh young vegetable in the spring, and early summer, they make a very salutary, and succulent dish of greens, which is slightly laxative; but during autumn they are hurtful. The true Stinging Nettle, with a round, hairy stalk, and which bears only a dull, colourless bloom, must be secured, and not a labiate Nettle with a square stem. The stinging effect of the true Nettle is caused by an acrid secretion contained in minute vesicles at the base of each of the stiff hairs; and urtication, or flogging with Nettles, is an old external remedy which has been long practised for chronic rheumatism, and loss of muscular power. A tea made from young Nettle tops is a Devonshire cure for nettlerash. But such a decoction, when brewed too strong, and drunk too freely, has produced a severe burning over the whole body, with general redness of the skin, and a sense of being stung; the features became swollen, and minute vesicles broke out, which presently burst, and discharged a limpid fluid. Again, Nettle tea will promote the extrication from the body of gouty gravel through the kidneys; and fresh Nettle-juice, given in doses of from one to two tablespoonfuls, is a most serviceable remedy for losses of blood, whether from the nose, the lungs, or some other internal organ. If a leaf of the herb be put upon the tongue, and pressed against the roof of the mouth, it will stop a bleeding from the nose.

For a bee-sting the immediate application of a Dock leaf rubbed-in is a familiar, and popular remedy, as antidotal to the formic acid of the bee venom. It is the same formic acid which causes smarting, and swelling from being stung by Nettles, with their lance-like leaves having at the base of each lance a diminutive sac which ejects a tiny drop of the formic acid into the wound inflicted. Such formic acid is, nevertheless, necessary to the well-being of our blood; it is found in the muscles of all flesh, and is believed to be an antidote against the uric acid of rheumatism, insomuch that to be stung purposely by bees is commended for uric acid rheumatic patients. Nettle-stinging will answer equally well on the same principle, whether by external application, or by eating young Nettles (of the stinging species) cooked in their own juices, or with only a lettuce leaf added for moisture. The cottage wife makes Nettle-beer, and considers it a cure for the gouty old folk: she does not know why, but only makes use of the knowledge handed down to her by past experience from her predecessors. It is the formic acid in the Nettle, with the phosphates, and the trace of iron, which constitute it such a valuable medicinal food. A crystallized alkaloid (which is fatal to frogs in a dose of one centigramme) has been isolated from the common Stinging Nettle. If planted in the neighbourhood of beehives the Nettle will serve to drive away frogs. In Italy, where herb soups are much in favour, the "herb knodel" of Nettles made into round balls like dumplings, are esteemed as nourishing, and purifying. When plainly boiled the young Nettle-tops closely resemble spinach. A good melted butter as a sauce improves them mightily; or cottagers compound an excellent white sauce for the purpose by melting a good-sized lump of lard in a basin, then rubbing in as much flour as the liquid will take up, making it quite free from lumps, and filling up the basin with boiling water; afterwards adding salt to taste; the sauce affords just the sufficiency of fat which is otherwise lacking. The Nettle is one of the very best anti-scorbutics. Macaulay, who hated Brougham, wrote concerning him: "His powers are gone, like a dead Nettle: his spite is immortal." Nettle leaves, as already said, when dried, and powdered, will sometimes relieve asthma, and similar bronchial troubles, by inhalation, whilst other measures fail; eight, or ten grains should be made to smoulder, and their fumes inspired when spasmodic difficulty of breathing comes on, or at bedtime. For Nettle-beer any adequate amount of young, green Stinging Nettles are to be boiled up in a gallon of water, with the juice of two lemons for giving a sharp flavour, and a teaspoonful of crushed ginger, whilst for sweetening purposes a pound of brown sugar is mixed in. Then some fresh yeast from the brewer is to be floated on toast in the liquor when cold, so as to ferment it; and it may be afterwards bottled as a specially wholesome sort of ginger-beer. Young Nettles of the stinging species, when mashed, and finely pulped, being then mixed with an equal bulk of thick cream, pepper, and salt added to taste, make a valuable food for a consumptive patient. Pepys records it thus (February 25th, 1660): "To Mrs. Symons, and there we did eat some Nettle porridge, which was made on purpose to-day, and was very good."

Garden Parsley was not cultivated in England until during Edward the Sixth's reign (1548). We use it rather as a garnish, and for stuffing, together with other herbs, than for any medicinal purposes. Nevertheless, it possesses, in root, and branch, potential virtues for the sick, and ailing; though in the present day a Parsley bed is associated rather with those who come into the world, than with those who would guard themselves against leaving it. Proverbially this herb patch in the garden is held out as the fertile source of new-born brothers and sisters, when appearing (unexpectedly by the other youngsters) suddenly within the limits of the family circle. In Germany babies are "brought by the stork." The Parsley root is faintly aromatic, and has a sweetish taste. It contains a chemical principle "apiin," with sugar, starch, and an aromatic volatile oil. Likewise the fruit furnishes the same volatile oil in larger abundance, this oil comprising parsley-camphor, and "apiol " (the true essential oil of Parsley). Such "apiol" is dispensed by our druggists, and is of singular use for correcting female irregularities of periodical function. Country folk in many places think it unlucky to sow Parsley, or to move its roots; and a rustic adage puts it that "Fried Parsley brings a man to his saddle, and a woman to her grave." The bruised leaves when applied externally, will serve to soften breasts which are hard in early lactation, and to resolve them whilst nursing when knotty, and painful, with threatened abscess. Likewise the bruised leaves have successfully dispelled tumours suspected to be cancerous, when more orthodox remedies had failed. It is quite certain that the dispersion, or healing of cancerous growths, and tumours, have followed administration of this, and other herbal medicaments, even in advanced cases of an undeniably malignant character: such remedies to wit as Celandine, Clover, Comfrey, Cinnamon, and Violets. If cause and effect are at work in such cases, it is possible that some occult common principle underlies, and runs through them all, which has yet to be discovered. Though used so commonly at table, yet Parsley is proved by indisputable facts to have induced epilepsy in certain bodily systems when eaten to excess, particularly whilst uncooked. Alston says: "I have observed, after raw Parsley has been eaten freely, a fulness of the blood-vessels about the head, and an inflamed state of the eyes, with congestion of the face, as if the cravat were too tight." The name was formerly spelt "Percely," and the adjective title "petroselinum" signifies growing on a rock. In France a rustic application to scrofulous swellings is successfully used, which consists of green Parsley, and snails, pounded together in a mortar to the thickness of an ointment, some of which is spread on linen, and applied liberally every day. Parsley tea exercises a decided action on the lining membrane of the urinary passages, and may be given helpfully when this is sore, or inflamed. The essential oil of Parsley has proved beneficial against epilepsy in certain subjects.

The excellence of Parsley-sauce-useful as a medicamentalways depends on chopping the fresh green leaves very small. Take a handful of fresh Parsley, wash it, bruise the stalks, and boil them with the leaves for ten minutes in only a little water; then chop them small, first picking out the tough woody pieces; put them into a sauce boat, with some of the liquor in which they were boiled, and pour well-made white sauce (not rich with melted butter) over them. When "Aux fines herbes" is directed in cookery, Parsley is practically intended, though a mixture of tarragon, Parsley, chervil, shalots, chives, basil, and mushrooms, chopped, and sweated in fat, may be signified as well. 66 6 6 One morning in the garden bed The onion and the carrot said Unto the parsley group:

Oh, when shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightning, hail, or rain ?

Alas!' replied, in tones of pain The parsley, 'in the soup.'" Botanically, all the Parsleys show themselves singularly wise in their generation; having many single, diminutive, insignificantlooking flowers (which furnish the nectar), they agree to unite these in one important-seeming umbel. Nevertheless, none but small fry, such as gnats, thrips, ants, and flies can effect entrance so as to possess themselves of the honey in the tiny florets; and thus it is that the whole umbel by way of attractiveness simply for such insects, displays only neutral work-a-day tints warranted to wear well, and to wash until thread-bare, instead of the brilliant blues, the warm reds, and the gay golden yellows, of those richly-decorated corollæ which serve to allure painted butterflies, and lepidopterous lordlings.

A good old custom of former times was to burn Rosemary (which is still cultivated in our kitchen gardens as a sweetscented, fragrant herb) in the chambers of the sick, because of its supposed preservative powers against pestilential disorders. For the same reason a sprig of Rosemary was carried in the hand at a funeral. It was believed that smelling at the sprig afforded a potent defence against any morbid effluvia from the corpse. The shrub (Rosmarinus) has a pleasant scent, and a bitter, pungent taste, because of an essential volatile oil chiefly present in the leaves, and tops. Other fragrant active principles reside in the flowers. The name is derived from ros, dew, marinus, of the sea, in allusion to the grey, glistening appearance of the herb, and its natural locality near the sea, with an odour thereof. It is ever green, and bears small pale-blue blossoms. "The flowers of Rosemary," says an old author, "made up into plates (lozenges, or tablets), with sugar, and eaten, comfort the heart, and make it merry, quicken the spirits, and cause them to be lively." Rosemary tea will soon relieve nervous depression ; some persons drink it for breakfast as a restorative. In the French language of flowers this herb represents the power of re-kindling lost energy. Rosemary wine taken in small quantities acts as a quieting cordial to a heart of which the action is irregular, and palpitating; it will further serve to dispel any accompanying dropsy by stimulating the kidneys. This wine may be made by chopping up sprigs of green Rosemary, and pouring on them some sound white wine, which after three or four days may be strained off, and put into use. The greenleaved variety is the kind to be used medicinally; there are also silver, and golden-leaved sorts. Sprigs of the shrub were formerly stuck into beef whilst being roasted, as an excellent relish. A writer (1707) tells of "Rosemary-preserve to dress your beef." In early times the Rosemary was freely cultivated in kitchen gardens, and it came to represent the dominant influence of the house-mistress. "Where Rosemary flourished the woman ruled."

A spirit made from the essential oil with spirit of wine will help to renew the vitality of paralysed limbs if rubbed in with brisk friction. The volatile oil includes a special camphor similar to that possessed by the myrtle. An ounce of the dried leaves and flowers, when treated with a pint of boiling water, and allowed to stand until cool, makes one of the best hairwashes known. It should be mixed with honey-water (as distilled from honey incorporated with sand), the same being likewise of itself excellent for promoting growth of the hair. Incidentally with respect to the present fashion adopted by young men of shaving close as to whiskers, and beard, (so as to retain, it may be supposed, a juvenile look), the suggestive letter (xxxii) of Selborne in his well-known Natural History may be profitably quoted: "It is plain that the deprivation of masculine vigour puts a stop to the growth of those hirsute appendages which are looked upon as its insignia; thus eunuchs have beardless chins, smooth limbs, and squeaking voices. But (as the ingenious Mr. Lisle testifies) the loss of such insignia of manliness as the facial hair, and its accompaniments, has sometimes a strange effect on the masculine abilities; thus he had a boar which was so fierce and venereous, that to prevent mischief orders were given for his tusks to be broken off. No sooner had the beast suffered this injury than his powers forsook him, and he neglected those females to whom before he was passionately attached, and from whom no fences would restrain him." This was a forecast of Darwin's more recent substantiated facts.

The famous "Hungary water" for outward application, was first invented for a Queen of Hungary, who by its continued use became completely cured of paralysis; it was prepared by putting one and a half pounds of the fresh tops of Rosemary when in full flower into a gallon of spirit of wine, which had to stand for four days, and was then distilled. Hoyes tells that the formula for composing this noted "water," as written by Queen Elizabeth's own hand, is still preserved in the Imperial Library at Vienna. It was further esteemed for doing much good against gout when occurring in the hands, and feet, by being rubbed into the affected limbs with some brisk friction. In the French hospitals it is customary to burn Rosemary together with juniper berries, for purifying the air, and preventing infection. This plant contains also some tannin, together with a resin, and a bitter principle. By old writers it was said to increase the flow of breast-milk; the herb is used in preparing Eau de Cologne. In olden days sprigs of the shrub were put with a corpse into the coffin, and others were thrown into the grave "for remembrance." Most probably an instinctive knowledge had even then been acquired of the anti-putrescent virtues of this herb, as well as of its protective aromatic powers against infection. Mrs. Gaskell, in Sylvia's Lovers, has told of the same custom when describing a rustic burial: "Some sign of mourning was shown by everyone, down to the little child in its mother's arms that innocently clutched the piece of Rosemary to be thrown into the grave 'for remembrance." The poet Gay also alludes to the same practice when describing the burial of a country lass who had come to an untimely end :- "To show their love the neighbours far and near Followed, with wistful looks, the damsel's bier :

Sprigged Rosemary the lads and lasses bore, While dismally the parson walked before :

Upon her grave the Rosemary they threw, The Daisy, Butterflower, and Endive blue."

It was dear old blind Margaret in Charles Lamb's first story (Rosamund Gray, 1798) who had among her half-dozen cottage volumes " a cookery book, with a few dry sprigs of Rosemary, and Lavender, stuck here and there between the leaves (I suppose to point to some of the old lady's favourite receipts)." In a well-known song which the spirited rendering of Santley has immortalized," Simon the Cellarer"-it is quaintly, and picturesquely told :- "Dame Margery sits in her own still room, And a matron sage is she :

From thence oft at curfew is wafted a fume:

She says it is 'Rosemarie'!

But there's a small cupboard behind the back stair, And the maids say they often see Margery there.

Now Margery says that she grows very old, And must take a something to keep out the cold :

But ho! ho! ho! old Simon doth know Where many a flask of his best doth go."

For stuffing ducks, and geese, to be roasted, the conventional blend is of Sage, and onions; as regards the former of which this garden herb Sage contains an active principle which resists animal putrescence. Furthermore, the said principle, “salviol," together with the bitterness, and condimentary pungency of the Sage leaves, enables the stomach to better digest rich, luscious meats, and gravies. Our well-known Sage, which is plentiful in every kitchen garden, is aromatic, and fragrant, by reason of its volatile, camphoraceous essential oil. The botanical name Salvia is derived from a Latin verb salvere, to be sound in health. "Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?" saith an old monkish line-"Why should a man die as long as Sage grows in his garden?" There is no better way of taking Sage as a stomachic wholesome herb, than by eating it with bread and butter. "This herb," says Gerarde, "is singular good for the head, and brain: it quickeneth the senses, and memory; strengtheneth the sinews, restoreth health to those that hath the palsy, and takes away shaky trembling of the members." John Swan, in Speculum Mundi (1643), writes: Sage also take, for it hath many virtues, and a great desire to make a man immortall." 66 "Sage makes the sinews strong, the palsie cures ; And by its help no ague long endures." "A little vinegar sprinkled upon its leaves lying upon coals, and so wrapped in a linnen, and holden very hot unto the side of those that are troubled with a grievous pain, taketh away the pain presently, and also greatly helpeth the extremitie of a pleurisie." In pulmonary consumption, and for hectic feverish wasting diseases, "an infusion of the garden herb Sage is much to be commended, as well as for excessive perspiration of the feet, with fetid odours from the sodden skin." Steep a teaspoonful of dried Sage leaves in half a pint of water for twenty-four hours and strain: then let the patient take a teacupful in the morning, one during the day, and another at night: or a spirit of the fresh bruised leaves may be given, a teaspoonful with water two or three times a day. A strong infusion of the herb has been used with success to dry up the breast-milk for weaning an infant: and as a gargle, sage-leaf tea with some honey, answers admirably. Rue should be planted with the Sage: "Salvia cum Rutâ faciunt tibi pocula tuta."

The Chinese are as fond of Sage as we are of their fragrant teas; and the Dutch once carried on a profitable trade with them by exchanging a pound of Sage leaves for each three-pound parcel of tea. Dr. Hart (1633), exclaiming against the use of tobacco by weakly persons, and invalids, has said: 66 Why may not garden Sage as safely, and without any seeming show of danger, be used instead? It is by all our physicians accorded, and agreed-upon that this doth apparently corroborate, and strengthen the nerves, and by consequent all the animal powers, beside the excellent virtues thereof recorded, the like whereof were never ascribed to tobacco." Sage bread is dough mixed with a strong infusion of the Sage plant (first bruised) in milk. Boyle has reported (1668): "I have known Sage bread to do much good in drying up humours." For making 66 Sage tea," "take of fresh leaves of green Sage, plucked from the stalks, and washed clean in cold water, half an ounce; of sugar, one ounce; of the outer rind of lemon-peel finely pared from the white, a quarter of an ounce. Put these into two pints of boiling water, and let them stand near the fire for half an hour, then strain." When dried Sage leaves are used, rather less in quantity than directed for the fresh leaves should be employed. Such a tea (as likewise of Rosemary, Balm, or Southern-wood) will serve to prevent a thirsty, fevered patient from desiring to drink too much tea, or coffee when not good for him; it also acts as an antiseptic. Moreover, Gerarde declares : "A conserve of floures of Clove Gillofloure (Carnation), and Sage, is exceeding cordial, and doth wonderfully above measure comfort the heart, being eaten now and then with the meate."

Closely allied to the garden Rhubarb (a dock), from the brilliant red leaf-stems of which we make favourite puddings, and pies, is the garden Sorrel (Rumex acetosus), also a dock, and the chief constituent of Soupe aux herbes, such as a French lady will order for herself after a long, and tiring journey. But the Sorrel preferred in France is Rumex scutatus, because more succulent, and less sour than our garden herb. For the said soup, "put into a saucepan a piece of butter (egg size), three leaves of lettuce (finely cut up), a pint of Sorrel leaves (minced)', an onion, and three sprigs of parsley (likewise minced). Cover the saucepan, and let all these stew gently for ten minutes; then sift in two tablespoonfuls of flour, mixing well; pour in gradually, whilst stirring all the time, three quarts of boiling water. Put a cupful of mashed potato into three-quarters of a cupful of rich milk, and add to the soup; season with pepper, salt, and a pinch of nutmeg. Mix the beaten yolks of four eggs with a little milk (using a cupful altogether) in the tureen, and pour in some of the boiling soup; put in some dice of toast, and pour the rest of the soup over: cover, and stand it in a warm place for five minutes; serve hot. If preferred, this soup may be passed through a sieve before pouring it over the eggs. In such soups the Latins use a tiny clove of garlic, either rubbing it on the croutons (toasted crust dice), or inside the kettle." The Sorrel Dock with us bears also the names Sour Sabs, Sour Garbs, Sour Suds, Sour Sauce, Cuckoo Sorrow, and Green Sauce. Country people beat the herb to a mash, and take it mixed with vinegar, and sugar, as a green sauce with cold meat. When boiled without water (in its own juice) it serves as an excellent accompaniment to roast goose, or pork, instead of apple sauce. Because corrective of scrofulous deposits, Sorrel is specially beneficial towards the cure of scurvy. Says John Evelyn, in Acetaria (1699): "Sorrel sharpens the appetite, assuages heat, cools the liver, and strengthens the heart; it is an anti-scorbutic, resisting putrefaction; and in the making of sallets imparts a grateful quickness to the rest as supplying the want of oranges, and lemons. Together with salt it gives both the name, and the relish to sallets, from the sapidity, which renders not plants and herbs only, but men themselves, and their conversations pleasant, and agreeable. But of this enough, and perhaps too much! lest while I write of salts and sallets, I appear myself insipid." The sour taste of both Sorrel, and the garden Rhubarb, is due to oxalic acid, or rather to the acid oxalate of potash. In a gouty person who has lime in the blood, and humours, a combination between it and the Sorrel, or Rhubarb acid, takes place of an irritating character, leading to the formation of oxalate of lime (dumb-bell) crystals, which are voided by the kidneys in the urine. At the same time considerable disturbance of the general health takes place. Dr. Prout says he has seen well-marked instances in which an oxalate of lime kidney attack has followed the use of Garden Rhubarb in a tart, or pudding, likewise of Sorrel in a salad, particularly when at the same time the patient has been drinking hard water. But chemists explain that oxalates may be excreted in the urine without having necessarily been a constituent, as such, of vegetable or other foods taken at table; seeing that citric, malic, and other organic acids which are found distributed throughout the vegetable world are liable to chemical conversion into oxalic acid through a fermentation, or perverted digestion. The term "Sorrel Sops" was given to a fever-drink in the sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. In Ireland fresh Sorrel leaves are eaten with fish, and other alkalescent foods. Applied externally, the bruised leaves will purify foul ulcers. When dried the root has the singular property of imparting a fine red colour to boiling water; and it is therefore used in France for making barley-water look like red wine, when the object is to avoid giving anything of a vinous nature to the sick person. Sorrel leaves form by their acidity a capital resolvent dressing for taking with stewed lamb, veal, or sweetbread. The Purslane, related to the Portulaccas of Brazil, is used in equal proportion with Sorrel for making that excellent milk soup, bonne femme. For "Sorrel soup (Potage a l'Oiselle, Cordon Rouge), wash, and pick the Sorrel, and cut it into fine shreds; melt the proper quantity of butter in a stewpan; peel, and slice enough onions, and carrots; dry the vegetables, and put them into the stewpan as soon as the butter is hot; stir over a brisk fire for about five minutes, taking care not to let the vegetables burn. Now add some flour, mix well, and moisten with the milk previously boiled, also a good. وو pint of water; stir until it boils, and then allow it to simmer for about half an hour; add pepper, salt, and nutmeg to taste. When done, rub the whole through a fine sieve, and return it to a clean stewpan. Mix your cream with yolks of egg, and add this to the soup as soon as it boils; stir long enough to bind the eggs, but avoid its boiling further. Stamp out some thin crusts of bread about the size of a shilling piece; pour the soup into a tureen, and serve with the bread-crusts put in at the last. Ingredients for the above: Sorrel, one pound; milk, one pint; flour, half an ounce; butter, three ounces; one small onion, one small carrot, two egg yolks, half a gill of cream, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and crusts of bread as directed. French chefs call Sorrel Soup "Potage à la bonne femme," perhaps because of its slightly acidulated flavour. Sweet things grow tiresome after a while: for which reason both women, and soup, should have a little spice of let us not say acid-in their composition. Formerly, on account of its grateful acidity, a conserve luluja," or the "Alleluia” herb, Wood Sorrel, was ordered by the London College to be made from the leaves, and petals, with sugar, and orange peel. An anti-putrescent gargle is to be concocted against quinsy with the same parts of this plant. 66 of The garden Rhubarb owes its bright red colouring to varying states of its natural pigment, chlorophyll, in combination with oxygen. For culinary purposes the petiole, or stalk of the broad leaf, is used. Its chief nutrient property is glucose, which is identical with grape-sugar. But the presence of oxalic acid makes these stalks as objectionable for gouty persons as is Sorrel, for the reason already explained. The garden Rhubarb also possesses albumin, gum, and mineral matters, with a small quantity of some volatile essence. The Turkey Rhubarb of medicine is likewise a Dock grown in Western China, and Thibet. Garden Rhubarb is anything but an invariably harmless article of vegetable diet, even for some persons who are not gouty, or with lime in their system. Its free use at table will now and again provoke in susceptible subjects, whether children, or adults, congestion of the kidneys, passage of bloody urine, nettle-rash, colic of the bowels, feverishness, and a general aching of the limbs. But it is chiefly Rhubarb of the rougher sort as grown wholesale for the markets, which thus disagrees, whilst the forced variety of cultivated garden produce does not give rise to such troubles, whether of the kidneys, or of the skin. This Rhubarb contains 1 per cent of vegetable albumin, and 2 per cent of sugar (glucose). It may be moulded into a shape by passing it through a sieve, when cooked with sugar, and raspberry jam, of which latter a gill will suffice for a quart mould, colouring it a pretty pink, and using only just enough gelatine to set it. Rhubarb has the accommodating faculty of absorbing the flavour of other fruits, particularly of the raspberry. Ginger was long since held in repute as connected with Rhubarb. By adding two tablespoonfuls of preserved ginger (chopped very fine) with about the same measure of ginger syrup, and a dessertspoonful of brandy, to a quart of Rhubarb pulp for moulding, a revelation will be in store. For "Rhubarb wine," chop some stalks of garden Rhubarb coarsely, and to every quart add three quarts of water, then let it stand for two or three days; next strain through a cloth, and to every quart add one pound of sugar, either brown, or white. Let this remain in jars to ferment, skimming every day until the fermentation ceases; then bottle tightly. For "Rhubarb preserve," take twelve pounds of nice rich-coloured Rhubarb, skin very sparingly, wash well, and leave it in a little cold water; boil twelve pounds of sugar for quite half an hour, then put in the Rhubarb, skimming all the while ; add plenty of lemon-parings, which can be taken out before potting. Two pints of water should be allowed to boil the sugar. This makes a nice nursery preserve. Again, for "Rhubarb as preserved ginger," make a syrup by boiling one and a half pounds of loaf sugar, with half a pint of water, and a good teaspoonful of ground ginger, until it is transparent. Cut two pounds of Rhubarb (for which purpose the green Rhubarb answers best) in pieces about one and a half, or two inches long, and put them into the syrup, which should be boiling, turning the Rhubarb occasionally, with care not to break the skin; when done it should be put into wide-necked bottles, and securely fastened down; it will keep thus for a long time. The root of English Rhubarb, if dried, and powdered, will answer in a milder degree the laxative purposes of Turkey Rhubarb. The fresh green leaves, when removed from the stalks, will come into service as an excellent and wholesome vegetable, if dressed like spinach, either with, or without some butter being added. The proportion of nutritive matters to the vegetable fibre in this plant is very small. We have no other herbal product of which it can be said the roots are used for physic, and the leaves in pies. The herb Rue (Ruta graveolens), which is cultivated in our kitchen gardens, deserves passing mention as a useful medicament, though it scarcely comes into our culinary service with food. This shrub has a pungent aromatic odour, and a hot, bitter, penetrating taste, with leaves of a bluish-green colour which are ever green, and are so acrid that if they be much handled they inflame the skin. If a leaf or two of Rue be chewed, a refreshing aromatic flavour will pervade the mouth, and any nervous headache, giddiness, hysterical spasm, or cardiac palpitation will be speedily relieved. The most important chemical constituents of the herb are its volatile oil, which contains caprinic, pelargonic, caprylic, and enanthylic acids, also oxygenated caprinic aldehyde. Gerarde says: "The Wild Rue venometh the hands that touch it, and will also infect the face; therefore it is not to be admitted to meat, or medicine." Nevertheless, it is not infrequently made into a tea (from the garden herb) in country districts. "Pliny," says Evelyn, "reports Rue to be of such effect for the preservation of sight that the painters of his time used to devour a great quantity of it; and the herb is still eaten by the Italians as frequently mingled amongst their salads." Again, Gerarde relates that this herb grows most profitably under a fig tree. Country people boil its leaves with treacle, thus making a conserve thereof. These leaves are curative of croup in poultry. During the early part of last century it was customary for our Judges, when sitting at Assize, to have sprigs of Rue placed before them on the bench of the Dock as defensive against the pestilential infection brought into Court from gaol (then altogether neglected as to its sanitation) by the wretched prisoners. A quaint old rhyme says of the plant :- "Nobilis est Ruta Quia lumina reddit acuta." "Noble is Rue: it makes the sight of eyes both sharp and clear: With help of Rue, oh! blear-eyed man! thou shalt see far and near." This is especially the case when the vision has become dim through over-exertion of the eyes. It was with "Euphrasy, and Rue" that the vision of Adam in Paradise was purged by the Angel, according to Milton. Other popular names for the plant are Herbe grass, Herbigrass, and Horby grass. In Lincolnshire countryfolk say it must be given only in the morning, because as the afternoon supervenes it becomes poisonous. "You know Herby grass is Herby grass in the morning, but Rue in the afternoon." Thornbury records the fact that in the England of Shakespeare's day "the tops were eaten with bread and butter of a morning to purify the blood." Closely allied to the Water-cress (already noticed, p. 226), is another herb which, if eaten in its fresh state, as a salad, is the most effectual of all our antiscorbutic plants; its leaves, moreover, being admirable for curing swollen and spongy gums. This is the Scurvy Grass, or Spoon-wort (cochleare), the famous Herba Britannica of the ancients. It may be readily cultivated in the garden for medicinal uses by the cook. Naturally it grows by a preference near the sea, but even when found many miles inland, its taste is still salt. Along the banks of the Avon, in Cumberland, in Wales, and on Scotch mountains, the Scurvy Grass grows wild in abundance. The leaves are wholesome, and purifying when eaten in the spring with bread and butter. The whole herb contains tannin, and a bitter principle, which is butyl-mustard oil, whereon the medicinal properties depend. This oil is of great volatility, and penetrating power; one drop of it instilled on sugar, or dissolved in spirit, will communicate to a quart of wine the special taste and smell of the Scurvy Grass. Formerly, the fresh juice of this herb, when mixed with that of Seville oranges, went by the name of "Spring drink." Also the juice was taken in beer, or boiled with milk, being flavoured with pepper, aniseed, etc.

The beneficial uses of the plant in scurvy are mainly due to its plentiful salts of potash. This green herb bruised, if applied as a poultice, will cleanse and heal foul sores. For making a decoction of the herb, put two ounces of the whole plant, bruised, with its roots, into a quart jug, and fill up with boiling water, taking care to keep the infusion closely covered. When it is cold, take a wineglassful three or four times during the day. Likewise the Southern-wood, (Southern Wormwood,) another aromatic herb of the kitchen garden, though now fallen into culinary disuse, was at one time made into a conserve as to its young tops, with three times their weight of sugar, and was given beneficially against hysterical disorders. This, the Artemisia abrotanum, is popularly known in the garden as "Old Man," or "Lads' Love." A tea infused from it, not too strong, famously promotes perspiration. The branches will dye wool a deep yellow. The plant has a lemon-like odour, "Old and a bitter, fragrant taste; its name abrotanum signifies having delicate fibres-abros, delicate; tonos, a fibre. Man" signalizes its use, advised by Pliny, and as explained by Macer :- "Hæc etiam venerem pulvino subdita tantum Incitat."

Pliny says further that this herb is potent against syphilis. Its lemon-like odour depends on the essential volatile oil " absinthol." The other appellation of the plant "Lad's love," has been given because of an ointment being made with its ashes for use by youngsters towards promoting their growth of a beard. Cinis abrotani barbam segnius tardiusque enascentem, cum aliquo dictorum oleorum, elicit. The Southern-wood (in Lincolnshire, Mother-wood"), is hostile to moths by its presence, and hence is derived one of its French names, garde robe.

Akin to Spinach (p. 108), is the pot-herb, Good King Henry, another Goosefoot, known also as an English Marquery, or Mercury; furthermore, it bears the name of "allgood," from a rustic conceit that it will cure all hurts. "Wherefore the leaves are now a constant plaster among countryfolk for every green wound." This plant is grown by cottagers, particularly in Lincolnshire, for a pot herb. Its young shoots, peeled, and boiled, are eaten as asparagus, being gently laxative. The young leaves are often put into broth, being also cooked as a vegetable after the manner of spinach, and without its earthy taste. Each of these affords soda in abundance. The Good King Henry grows plentifully on waste ground near villages, being a dark green plant, about a foot high, with thickish, arrow-shaped, succulent leaves, the taste of which, says Evelyn, is "insipid enough." Because of its excellent remedial qualities against biliary disorders, this herb bears its title English Mercury, carrying into effect the pertinent proverb, "Be thou sick, or whole, put mercury in thy koole." Poultices made from the leaves are applied to cleanse, and heal chronic sores, which, as Gerarde teaches, "they do scour, and mundify." The epithet "Henricus," which some persons suppose to be associated with Harry the Eighth, and his varicose legs, is more likely derived from "heinrich," an elf, or goblin, as indicating certain reputed magical virtues in the plant. This has a somewhat mealy appearance, and produces seeds useful for expelling round worms.

Familiar both in our gardens, and about our hedgerows, is the herb Tansy (tanacetum vulgare), conspicuous by heads of flat brilliant yellow flowers. Its leaves have a smell of camphor, and possess a bitter, aromatic taste; whilst young they were used commonly in times past, and they are still employed, when shredded, for flavouring cakes, puddings, and omelettes. This herb contains a resin, with mucilage, sugar, a fixed oil, tannin, a colouring matter, malic, or tanacetic acid, and water. Meat rubbed with the bitter Tansy will be protected from visitation by carrion flies. In Scotland, the dried flowers are given for gout: from half to one teaspoonful for a dose two or three times in the day; or an infusion is made therefrom to be drunk as tea. This has kept inveterate gout at bay for years. With us the plant has a rural reputation for correcting irregularities of the female functional health. The name Tansy is probably derived from the Greek word athanasia, which signifies immortality; either "quia non cito flos inflorescit," because it lasts so long in flower, or "quia ejus succus vel oleum extractum cadavera a putredine conservat," because it is of such service for preserving dead bodies from corruption. It was formerly an English custom at Easter for Archbishops even, for bishops, and the clergy of some churches, to play at hand-ball with men of their congregations, when a Tansy cake was given as a reward to the victors, this being a confection with which the bitter herb Tansy was mixed. Some such a corrective was thought to be of opportune benefit, after having lived much on fish throughout Lent. The Tansy cake was made from young leaves of the herb mixed with eggs. 66 66 "This balsamic plant," said Boerhaave, "will supply the place of nutmegs, and cinnamon." Allied thereto is another old English herb, now almost obsolete, except in Lincolnshire, to wit "Costmary," known there locally as "mace." It is the "Tanacetum balsamita," or alecoast," (so named because put into ale to steepe"). "The conserve," says Gerarde, "made with leaves of costmaria and sugar doth warme, and dry the braine, and openeth the stoppings of the same stoppeth all catarrhes, rheumes, and distillations, taken in the quantitie of a beane. The leaves of costmarie boyled in wine and drunken, cure the griping paine of the belly, the guts, and bowels, and cureth the bloudy flix." The whole plant is of a pleasant smell, savour, or taste. Some of the villages near the city of Lincoln, for example Burton, and its neighbouring hamlets, are singular in retaining for kitchen use, or for curative purposes, certain old English herbs, wellnigh forgotten elsewhere in the land, such as this excellent Costmary, Bergamot, and the Goosefoot Spinach, Good King Henry.

In Continental cookery the use of a fragrant kitchen-herb, the Tarragon, not so common in England, is advised "to temper the coldness of other herbs in salads, like as the Rocket doth. Neither do we know what other use this herb hath." But Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is gaining favour with ourselves, especially for making an aromatic vinegar therewith. Furthermore, fresh Tarragon possesses an essential volatile oil, which becomes lost in the dried herb. John Evelyn has said of the plant, "'Tis highly cordial, and friendly to the head, heart, and liver." French cooks usually mix their table mustard with the vinegar of this herb, which is sexually stimulating; the leaves make an excellent pickle. The volatile essential oil of Tarragon is chemically identical with that of Anise, and it is found to be stimulating to the generative functions, probably by virtue of its finely-elaborated camphor. For making Tarragon vinegar : Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with Tarragon-leaves fresh gathered, i.e., between Midsummer and Michaelmas, (plucking these on a dry day, just before the herb flowers). Pick the leaves off the stalks, and dry them a little before the fire; cover them with the best vinegar; let them steep for fourteen days, then strain through a flannel jelly-bag till fine; put it into half-pint bottles, and cork. Various other delicate vinegars for the table are much appreciated abroad, such as printemps, syringa, menthe, etc., the foreign cook being most fastidious as to the vinegar which he (or she) uses. The best white wine, or red wine vinegar, alone gives satisfaction, and this the cook personally flavours by infusing in it various herbs, or plants, either separately, or in combination. A good vinegar with us is made from the fruit acids of apples, or grapes; ordinarily it is got from sour beer, as malt vinegar. The test advised by the College of Physicians for insuring the integrity of British vinegar, is a solution of one part of chloride of barium to eight parts of water. Ten drops of this should serve to precipitate all the sulphuric acid permissible in an ounce of lawful vinegar. If, after this precipitate has settled down, the test solution still continues to form a cloud, such sample of vinegar ought not to be used in the preparation of food. The French have a proverb, "On prend plus de mouches avec une cuillerée de miel qu'avec un tonneau de vinaigre; (on réussit mieux par la douceur, que par la hauteur, et la fierté) "-" Gentleness goes further than harshness, or severity." 66 دو It Garden Thyme, a cultivated form of Wild Thyme (Thymus serpyllum, or creeping"), is a familiar denizen of our kitchen herb-bed, being put into seasonings, stuffing, and sauces. has a very fragrant odour, and a pungent, aromatic taste, because of its essential volatile oil, which consists of two hydrocarbons, with thymol as the fatty base, this thymol taking high modern rank as an antiseptic. It will arrest gastric fermentation when given judiciously as Thyme tea; also when applied externally Thymol will disinfect, and destroy the germs which characterize several forms of skin disease. The Oil of Thyme is known commercially as Oil of Origanum. Thymol is the basis of the fragrant volatile Essence of Sweet Thyme. By mixture with spirit it makes an admirable antiseptic remedy for inhalation, on absorbent cotton-wool within a respirator for the purpose. Thyme oil is of equal service with tar for treating such skin affections as psoriasis, and eczema. When inhaled it is most useful against septic sore throat, especially during scarlet fever. For curing ringworm in children, an ointment made with one drachm of Thymol, and one ounce of soft paraffin, is found to be a sure specific. To "smell of Thyme" was a former panegyric bestowed on writers who had mastered the Attic style. Dr. Neovius has told enthusiastically in Finland about the paramount virtues of Common Thyme for combating whooping-cough. He has found that the pounded herb, if given fresh, from one to six ounces a day, mixed with little syrup, regularly for some weeks, is practically a specific cure. If it be taken from the first, then the most active symptoms become much modified in two, or three days, and in a fortnight the disease is expelled. The simplicity, harmlessness, and cheapness of this homely remedy go far to commend its use. Thyme, again, bears the appellation "Mother of Thyme" in allusion to its beneficial uses by women. "Serpyllum matricem (womb) comfortat, et mundificat"; being called also in Latin "Matris animula, quod menstrua movet." Thyme tea is good against nervous headaches, hysterical troubles, flatulence, and the headache which follows inebriation. "A conserve made from the flowers and leaves of Thyme, relieves those troubled a with the falling sickness." Thyme boiled in wine, and drunk, is good against the wamblings, and gripings of the belly." That the herb was esteemed to be antiseptic in classic times, we learn from Dryden's Virgil, in the Georgics :- "But if a pinching winter thou foresee, And would'st preserve thy famished family, With fragrant thyme the city fumigate."

Among the ancient Greeks, Thyme was an emblem of bravery, and energy. With a similar notion, the ladies of England's chivalry embroidered on the scarves which they presented to their doughty knights, the device of a bee hovering about a sprig of Thyme, as teaching the union of the courageous with the amiable.

A fragrant and exhilarating tea may be made from the leaves and blossoms of the Sweet Woodruff, the same proving useful for correcting sluggishness of the liver. This (the Asperula odorata) is a favourite little plant which grows commonly in our woods, and gardens, possessing a pleasant odour, which, like the good deeds of the worthiest persons, delights by its fragrance most after death. The herb is of the Rubiaceous order, and derives its botanical adjunct from the Latin word asper, rough, in allusion to the rough leaves owned by its species. It may be easily recognized by the small, white flowers set on slender stalks, with narrow leaves growing around the stems in successive whorls. The name Woodruffe has been whimsically spelt Woodderowffe, thus:- Double U, Double O, Double D, E, R, O, Double U, Double F, E.

Its terminal syllable rofe signifies a diminutive wheel, or rowel, like that of an ancient spur; and therefore the plant is known also as Wood-rowel. When freshly gathered it has but little smell, but on being dried it exhales a charming, and enduring aroma, like the sweet scent of meadow grass, or of peach blossoms. This agreeable fragrance is due to a chemical principle, "coumarin," whilst the herb further contains citric, malic, and rubichloric acids, together with some tannic acid. The small verticillate leaves of this Woodruff serve to remind us of good Queen Bess, and the high, starched, old-fashioned ruff which she used to wear, as shown in her portraits. a دو Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)---see also page 16-has been grown in the herb garden for many years past because of its benefit, when judiciously used, as a nervine tonic, particularly helpful against the falling sickness, and for flatulent indigestion. The extremely bitter taste of this herb has given it a name" a negative, psinthos, delight, because of its being nauseous to a distressing degree. Wormwood tea will serve to relieve bilious melancholia, and will help to dispel the yellow hue of jaundice from the skin. The characteristic odour of the herb is due to a volatile oil which consists mainly of "absinthol; and the intensely bitter taste resides in its "absinthin." The plant also contains tannin, resin, starch, with succinic, malic, and acetic acids, together with nitrate of potash, and other salts. In some districts it is popularly known as "Green Ginger." The leaves of Wormwood resist putrefaction, and therefore help to make capital antiseptic fomentations. Gerarde 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." For making Wormwood tea, an ounce of the plant should be infused for ten, or twelve minutes in a pint of boiling water, and then a wineglassful be given at a time for a dose. Absinthe, a liqueur concocted mainly from Wormwood, is used largely in France, but with mischievous results through infatuated excess; yet curative virtues attend its judicious administration. "These for frenzy be A speedy and a sovereign remedy :

The bitter wormwood, sage, and marigold."

FLETCHER, Faithful Shepherdess.

In the words of Bergius, "Wormwood is antiputredinosa, antacida, anthelmintica, resolvens, tonica, stomachica." Tusser, in his simple, homely rhyme, has expressed this notion thus :- 66 What savour is better, if physic be true, For places infected than Wormwood and Rue ?

It is as a comfort for heart, and for brain, And therefore to have it, this is not in vain."

Dioscorides affirmed that Wormwood is a preventive of intoxication, and an antidote against its ill-effects; indeed, the "Poculum absinthiatum" has long been a favourite beverage. The leaves and tops were infused in ale, and then formed a favourite liquor known as purl. This term Wormwood seems to be also connected with a property of expelling worms. The smell of common Wormwood is very refreshing, and its reviving qualities in heated courts are almost equal to a change of air. As a result of his experiments on animals, Dr. Maignan concludes that Absinthe (concocted from Wormwood) determines tremblings, dulness of thought, and epileptiform convulsions, if it be taken habitually, or to any excess; and these symptoms will not be produced by alcohol alone. Hence it is to be inferred that Absinthe contains really a narcotic poison, which should prevent its being employed as a dietetic liqueur, or as an indulgence, with any freedom. The French have been drinking their "Amers" for many years, and an infernal concoction it is. "This habit," said Daudet, 66 was acquired by the French soldiers in Algeria, and Tunis, during the wars there, and was brought back by them to their own country; before which wars the French were a very sober people." Dr. Laborde attributes the special dangers of drinking Absinthe to the various essences which are added to the alcohol (of 70 per cent strength), such as essence of absinthe, of china anise, and of benjamin; fourteen distinct poisons entering into the composition of the superior Absinthe liqueur which is retailed at the best cafés. "Absinthe has not become common so far with the people in England, but it will do so before long if the growing evil be not promptly checked; the importation of Absinthe into this country should be stopped before such a prohibition becomes too late."

Sixty or seventy years ago the Mugwort of our hedgerows, and waste grounds, which is closely allied to Wormwood, (but lacking the volatile essential oil thereof), had its dried leaves substituted for tea of foreign growth by the working classes in Cornwall. Tea itself then cost seven shillings a pound, and was therefore afforded by them only for use on very special occasions, one being when there was an increase in the family. Sometimes a burnt crust of cake was got as a substitute for tea, either from the Squire's Hall, or the Vicarage, or a farmhouse, and an infusion called tea was brewed from this; or a charred crust of wheaten bread, when it could be had, sufficed for a day or two to concoct the brew. The flesh of geese is declared to be more savoury when stuffed with Mugwort (which contains "absinthin," and is scentless). The Mermaid of the Clyde is said to have exclaimed when she beheld the funeral of a young maiden who had died from consumption, and decline :- "If they wad drink Nettles in March, And eat Muggins (Mugwort) in May, Sae mony braw young maidens Wad na' be gang to clay."

HERRING (See FISH).

DRYDEN (in his Duke of Guise) has immortalized the Herring by a couplet descriptive of neutral persons or trimmers, belonging to no party, or sect, in particular, and without decision of character: "Damned neuters in their middle way of steering, As neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring."

Pepys (Diary, April 2nd, 1669) tells how "his friend, Mr. Fowkes, did make him eat a pickled Herring, the largest I ever saw, and drink variety of wines till I was almost merry."