Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
267
In
addition
to
guarding
the
homestead
from
ill,
the
hellebore
was
regarded
as
a
wonderful
antidote
against
madness,
and
as
such
is
spoken
of
by
Burton,
who
introduces
it
among
the
emblems
of
his
frontispiece,
in
his
"Anatomie
of
Melancholy:"--
"Borage
and
hellebore
fill
two
scenes,
Sovereign
plants
to
purge
the
veins
Of
melancholy,
and
cheer
the
heart
Of
those
black
fumes
which
make
it
smart;
To
clear
the
brain
of
misty
fogs,
Which
dull
our
senses
and
Soul
clogs;
The
best
medicine
that
e'er
God
made
For
this
malady,
if
well
assay'd."
But,
as
it
has
been
observed,
our
forefathers,
in
strewing
their
floors
with
this
plant,
were
introducing
a
real
evil
into
their
houses,
instead
of
an
imaginary
one,
the
perfume
having
been
considered
highly
pernicious
to
health.
In
the
many
curious
tales
related
of
the
mystic
henbane
may
be
quoted
one
noticed
by
Gerarde,
who
says:
"The
root
boiled
with
vinegar,
and
the
same
holden
hot
in
the
mouth,
easeth
the
pain
of
the
teeth.
The
seed
is
used
by
mountebank
tooth-drawers,
which
run
about
the
country,
to
cause
worms
to
come
forth
of
the
teeth,
by
burning
it
in
a
chafing-dish
of
coles,
the
party
holding
his
mouth
over
the
fume
thereof;
but
some
crafty
companions,
to
gain
money,
convey
small
lute-strings
into
the
water,
persuading
the
patient
that
those
small
creepers
came
out
of
his
mouth
or
other
parts
which
he
intended
to
cure."
Shakespeare,
it
may
be
remembered,
alludes
to
this
superstition
in
"Much
Ado
About
Nothing"
(Act
iii.
sc.
2),
where
Leonato
reproaches
Don
Pedro
for
sighing
for
the
toothache,
which
he
adds
"is
but
a
tumour
or
a
worm."
The
notion
is
still
current
in
Germany,
where
the
following
incantation
is
employed:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
