Some Mudicinal Planis.

Otago Witness, Issue 2402, 15 March 1900, Page 58

Some Mudicinal Planis.

Hebbs and Tunm Uses.

It is seldom now that j r ou meet with a cottager who knows even by .sight the plants which once constituted the village remedies. They still grow in their old localities, in the meadows and the hedgerows and the woods — a few even linger in the cottage gardens ; but no one comes to gather them. It is not that the labourers have ceased to believe in infallible remedies ; but now they send on market days to the chemist's shop in the town for the quack medicines advertised in the local papers, and in which they believe as firmly as their forefathers believed in simples.

Not so very long ago a decoction of the greater celandine, a plant allied to the poppies and having a gamboge>coloured juice, was commonly used in the Isle of Wight as a remedy for infantine jaundice. The plant may still be seen in considerable plenty between Yarmouth and Freshwater, not far from the spot where the wild asparagus grows ; but the country lolk pass it by. Among the ruins and in the neighbourhood of ancient priories plants may often be found which once nourished in the monastic herb-gardens. The Arm-oloehia, or birthwort, formerly held to possess great medicinal virtue, may still be .seen on the venerable walls ot !Sr. Cross at Winchester. In the woods near Quurr Abbey, in the isle of Wight, the lungwort < is abundant every spring ; it may also be found in the neighbourhood of Beaulieu Abbey, in the New Forest. Another medicinal plant still to be found among the picturesque ruins of the groat iJialercian Abbey is the hyssop (Hyshopus officinalis). This plant is probably the hyssop of Scripture, and was much valued for its healing properties. Gerarde grew it in his garden at Hoiborn, and Spenser spoke of it as, " Sharp Isope, good for green wounds' remedies." The ancient use of hyssop as a simple is indicated by its specific name, " officinalis." This term, as u&ed in our British flora, always signifies that the plant so named had a recognised place in the Matevia medica. From 'Z0 to 30 of our British plants carry this specific title, and in every instance the term recalls to mind their former use. Among medicinal plants are the lungwort, the gromwell, the Solomon's seal, and such well-known h^rbs as fennel, and borage, and comfrey, and calamint, and balm. The anti-scorbutic properties of watercress (Nasturtium offjcinale) and scurvy grass (Cochlearia officinalis) are generally admitted, though since the discovery of limejuice they are seldom used medicinally. The voot of the dandelion still yields a well-known medicine. The i"se of vervain (Verbena officinalis), a plant often found in churchyards and waste places, dates back to very remote times. Ifc was one of the four sacred plants of the Druids, who attributed to it virtues almost divine. It was supposed to "vanquish" fevers and other distempers, to be an antidote to the bite of serpents, and a charm to cultivate friendship." But of all plants used as simples, none perhaps had a greater repute among our forefathers than Euphrasia officinalis, or eyebright. Us praises are sung by Spenser and Milton and Thomson. Its efficacy was such that, according to the old herbalist, "if the herb was as much used as it is neglected, it would half spoil the .spectaclemaker's trade." The belief in the efficacy of eyebright has hardly died out yet. — Longmans.