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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
181
The
rupture-wort
(Herniaria
glabra)
was
so
called
from
its
fancied
remedial
powers,
and
the
scabious
in
allusion
to
the
scaly
pappus
of
its
seeds,
which
led
to
its
use
in
leprous
diseases.
The
well-known
fern,
spleen-wort
(Asplenium),
had
this
name
applied
to
it
from
the
lobular
form
of
the
leaf,
which
suggested
it
as
a
remedy
for
diseases
of
the
spleen.
Another
of
its
nicknames
is
miltwaste,
because:--
"The
finger-ferne,
which
being
given
to
swine,
It
makes
their
milt
to
melt
away
in
fine--"
A
superstition
which
seems
to
have
originated
in
a
curious
statement
made
by
Vitruvius,
that
in
certain
localities
in
the
island
of
Crete
the
flocks
and
herds
were
found
without
spleen
from
their
browsing
on
this
plant,
whereas
in
those
districts
in
which
it
did
not
grow
the
reverse
was
the
case.
[20]
The
yellow
bark
of
the
berberry-tree
(Berberis
vulgaris),
[21]
when
taken
as
a
decoction
in
ale,
or
white
wine,
is
said
to
be
a
purgative,
and
to
have
proved
highly
efficacious
in
the
case
of
jaundice,
hence
in
some
parts
of
the
country
it
is
known
as
the
"jaundice-berry."
Turmeric,
too,
was
formerly
prescribed--a
plant
used
for
making
a
yellow
dye;
[22]
and
celandine,
with
its
yellow
juice,
was
once
equally
in
repute.
Similar
remedies
we
find
recommended
on
the
Continent,
and
in
Westphalia
an
apple
mixed
with
saffron
is
a
popular
curative
against
jaundice.
[23]
Rhubarb,
too,
we
are
told,
by
the
doctrine
of
signatures,
was
the
"life,
soul,
heart,
and
treacle
of
the
liver."
Mr.
Folkard
[24]
mentions
a
curious
superstition
which
exists
in
the
neighbourhood
of
Orleans,
where
a
seventh
son
without
a
daughter
intervening
is
called
a
Marcon.
It
is
believed
that,
"the
Marcon's
body
is
marked
somewhere
with
a
Fleur-de-Lis,
and
that
if
a
patient
suffering
under
king's-evil
touch
this
Fleur-de-Lis,
or
if
the
Marcon
breathe
upon
him,
the
malady
will
be
sure
to
disappear."
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