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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
239
CHAPTER
XXI.
PLANTS
IN
FOLK-MEDICINE.
From
the
earliest
times
plants
have
been
most
extensively
used
in
the
cure
of
disease,
although
in
days
of
old
it
was
not
so
much
their
inherent
medicinal
properties
which
brought
them
into
repute
as
their
supposed
magical
virtues.
Oftentimes,
in
truth,
the
only
merit
of
a
plant
lay
in
the
charm
formula
attached
to
it,
the
due
utterance
of
which
ensured
relief
to
the
patient.
Originally
there
can
be
no
doubt
that
such
verbal
forms
were
prayers,
"since
dwindled
into
mystic
sentences."
[1]
Again,
before
a
plant
could
work
its
healing
powers,
due
regard
had
to
be
paid
to
the
planet
under
whose
influence
it
was
supposed
to
be;
[2]
for
Aubrey
mentions
an
old
belief
that
if
a
plant
"be
not
gathered
according
to
the
rules
of
astrology,
it
hath
little
or
no
virtue
in
it."
Hence,
in
accordance
with
this
notion,
we
find
numerous
directions
for
the
cutting
and
preparing
of
certain
plants
for
medicinal
purposes,
a
curious
list
of
which
occurs
in
Culpepper's
"British
Herbal
and
Family
Physician."
This
old
herbalist,
who
was
a
strong
believer
in
astrology,
tells
us
that
such
as
are
of
this
way
of
thinking,
and
none
else,
are
fit
to
be
physicians.
But
he
was
not
the
only
one
who
had
strict
views
on
this
matter,
as
the
literature
of
his
day
proves--astrology,
too,
having
held
a
prominent
place
in
most
of
the
gardening
books
of
the
same
period.
Michael
Drayton,
who
has
chronicled
so
many
of
the
credulities
of
his
time,
referring
to
the
longevity
of
antediluvian
men,
writes:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
