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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
253
Various
plants
were,
in
days
gone
by,
used
for
the
bites
of
mad
dogs
and
to
cure
hydrophobia.
Angelica,
madworts,
and
several
forms
of
lichens
were
favourite
remedies.
The
root
of
balaustrium,
with
storax,
cypress-nuts,
soot,
olive-oil,
and
wine
was
the
receipt,
according
to
Bonaventura,
of
Cardinal
Richelieu.
Among
other
popular
remedies
were
beetroot,
box
leaves,
cabbage,
cucumbers,
black
currants,
digitalis,
and
euphorbia.
[23]
A
Russian
remedy
was
Genista
sentoria,
and
in
Greece
rose-leaves
were
used
internally
and
externally
as
a
poultice.
Horse-radish,
crane's-bill,
strawberry,
and
herb-gerard
are
old
remedies
for
gout,
and
in
Westphalia
apple-juice
mixed
with
saffron
is
administered
for
jaundice;
while
an
old
remedy
for
boils
is
dock-tea.
For
ague,
cinquefoil
and
yarrow
were
recommended,
and
tansy
leaves
are
worn
in
the
shoe
by
the
Sussex
peasantry;
and
in
some
places
common
groundsel
has
been
much
used
as
a
charm.
Angelica
was
in
olden
times
used
as
an
antidote
for
poisons.
The
juice
of
the
arum
was
considered
good
for
the
plague,
and
Gerarde
tells
us
that
Henry
VIII.
was,
"wont
to
drink
the
distilled
water
of
broom-flowers
against
surfeits
and
diseases
thereof
arising."
An
Irish
recipe
for
sore-throat
is
a
cabbage
leaf
tied
round
the
throat,
and
the
juice
of
cabbage
taken
with
honey
was
formerly
given
as
a
cure
for
hoarseness
or
loss
of
voice.
[24]
Agrimony,
too,
was
once
in
repute
for
sore
throats,
cancers,
and
ulcers;
and
as
far
back
as
the
time
of
Pliny
the
almond
was
given
as
a
remedy
for
inebriety.
For
rheumatism
the
burdock
was
in
request,
and
many
of
our
peasantry
keep
a
potato
in
their
pocket
as
charms,
some,
again,
carrying
a
chestnut,
either
begged
or
stolen.
As
an
antidote
for
fevers
the
carnation
was
prescribed,
and
the
cowslip,
and
the
hop,
have
the
reputation
of
inducing
sleep.
The
dittany
and
plantain,
like
the
golden-rod,
nicknamed
"wound-weed,"
have
been
used
for
the
healing
of
wounds,
and
the
application
of
a
dock-leaf
for
the
sting
of
a
nettle
is
a
well-known
cure
among
our
peasantry,
having
been
embodied
in
the
old
familiar
adage:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
