Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure

William Thomas Fernie

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• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
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Title: Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure

Author: William Thomas Fernie

Release Date: September 22, 2006 [eBook #19352]

Language: English

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN USES OF CURE***

Transcribed by Ruth Hart [e-mail]

Transcriber's notes:

While most of the book titles and non-English words are italicized, not all of them are, and I have left the non-italicized terms as is.

Page numbers have been placed in sqare brackets to facilitate the use of the table of contents and the index.

HERBAL SIMPLES APPROVED FOR MODERN USES OF CURE

by W. T. FERNIE, M.D. Author of "Botanical Outlines," etc_

Second Edition.

"Medicine is mine; what herbs andSimplesgrow In fields and forests, all their powers I know."  DRYDEN.

Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel. 1897.

 "Jamque aderat Phoebo ante alios dilectus lapis  Iasides: acri quondam cui captus amore  Ipse suas artes, sua munera, laetus Apollo  Augurium, citharamque dabat, celeresque sagittas

 Ille utdepositiproferret fataclientis,  Scire potestates herbarum, usumque medendi  Maluit, et mutas agitare inglorius artes."  VIRGIL,AEnid: Libr. xii. v. 391-8.

 "And now lapis had appeared,  Blest leech! to Phoebus'-self endeared  Beyond all men below;  On whom the fond, indulgent God  His augury had fain bestowed,  His lyre-his sounding bow!  But he, the further to prolong  A fellow creature's span, The humbler art of Medicine chose,  The knowledge of each plant that grows,  Plying a craft not known to song,  An unambitious man!"

[vii]

PREFACETO THEFIRST EDITION.

It may happen that one or another enquirer taking up this book will ask, to begin with, "What is a Herbal Simple?" The English word "Simple," composed of two Latin words,Singula plica(a single fold), means "Singleness," whether of material or purpose.

From primitive times the term "Herbal Simple" has been applied to any homely curative remedy consisting of one ingredient only, and that of a vegetable nature. Many such a native medicine found favour and success with our single-minded forefathers, this being the "reverent simplicity of ancienter times."

In our own nursery days, as we now fondly remember, it was: "Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair; said Simple Simon to the pieman, 'Let me taste your ware.'" That ingenuous youth had but one idea, connected simply with his stomach; and his sole thought was how to devour the contents of the pieman's tin. We venture to hope our readers may be equally eager to stock their minds with the sound knowledge of Herbal Simples which this modest Manual seeks to provide for their use.

Healing by herbs has always been popular both [xviii] with the classic nations of old, and with the British islanders of more recent times. Two hundred and sixty years before the date of Hippocrates (460 B.C.) the prophet Isaiah bade King Hezekiah, when sick unto death, "take a lump of Figs, and lay it on the boil; and straightway the King recovered."

Iapis, the favourite pupil of Apollo, was offered endowments of skill in augury, music, or archery. But he preferred to acquire a knowledge of herbs for service of cure in sickness; and, armed with this knowledge, he saved the life of AEneas when grievously wounded by an arrow. He averted the hero's death by applying the plant "Dittany," smooth of leaf, and purple of blossom, as plucked on the mountain Ida.

It is told inMalvern Chasethat Mary of Eldersfield (1454), "whom some called a witch," famous for her knowledge of herbs and medicaments, "descending the hill from her hut, with a small phial of oil, and a bunch of the 'Danewort,' speedily enabled Lord Edward of March, who had just then heavily sprained his knee, to avoid danger by mounting 'Roan Roland' freed from pain, as it were by magic, through the plant-rubbing which Mary administered."

In Shakespeare's time there was a London street, named Bucklersbury (near the present Mansion House), noted for its number of druggists who sold Simples and sweet-smelling herbs. We read, in [ix]The Merry Wives of Windsor, that Sir John Falstaff flouted the effeminate fops of his day as "Lisping hawthorn buds that smell like Bucklersbury in simple time."

Various British herbalists have produced works, more or less learned and voluminous, about our native medicinal plants; but no author has hitherto radically explained the why and where fore of their ultimate curative action. In common with their early predecessors, these several writers have recognised the healing virtues of the herbs, but have failed to explore the chemical principles on which such virtues depend. Some have attributed the herbal properties to the planets which rule their growth. Others have associated the remedial herbs with certain cognate colours, ordaining red flowers for disorders of the blood, and yellow for those of the liver. "The exorcised demon of jaundice," says Conway, "was consigned to yellow parrots; that of inflammatory disease to scarlet, or red weeds." Again, other herbalists have selected their healing plants on the doctrine of allied signatures, choosing, for instance, the Viper's Bugloss as effectual against venomous bites, because of its resembling a snake; and the sweet little English Eyebright, which shows a dark pupil in the centre white ocular corolla, as of signal benefit for inflamed eyes.

Thus it has continued to happen that until the [x] last half-century Herbal Physic has remained only speculative and experimental, instead of gaining a solid foothold in the field of medical science. Its claims have been merely empirical, and its curative methods those of a blind art:—

 "Si vis curari, de morbo nescio quali,  Accipias herbam; sed quale nescio; nec quâ

 Ponas; nescio quo; curabere, nescio quando."

 Your sore, I know not what, be not foreslow  To cure with herbs, which, where, I do not know;  Place them, well pounc't, I know not how, and then  You shall be perfect whole, I know not when."

Happily now-a-days, as our French neighbours would say,Nous avons changé tout cela, "Old things are passed away; behold all things are become new!" Herbal Simples stand to-day safely determined on sure ground by the help of the accurate chemist. They hold their own with the best, and rank high for homely cures, because of their proved constituents. Their manifest healing virtues are shown to depend on medicinal elements plainly disclosed by analysis. Henceforward the curtain of oblivion must fall on cordial waters distilled mechanically from sweet herbs, and on electuaries artlessly compounded of seeds and roots by a Lady Monmouth, or a Countess of Arundel, as in the Stuart and Tudor times. Our Herbal Simples are fairly entitled at last to independent promotion from the shelves of the amateur still-room, from [xi] the rustic ventures of the village grandam, and from the shallow practices of self styled botanical doctors in the back streets of our cities.

 "I do remember an apothecary,—  And hereabouts he dwells,—whom late I noted  In tatter'd weeds, with overwhelming brows, Culling of Simples; meagre were his looks;  And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,  An alligator stuff'd, and other skins  Of ill-shap'd fishes; and about his shelves  A beggarly account of empty boxes,  Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds,  Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses  Were thinly scattered to make up a show." Romeo and Juliet, Act V. Sc. 1.

Chemically assured, therefore, of the sterling curative powers which our Herbal Simples possess, and anxious to expound them with a competent pen, the present author approaches his task with a zealous purpose, taking as his pattern, from theComusof Milton:—

 "A certain shepherd lad  Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled  In every virtuous plant, and healing herb;  He would beg me sing;  Which, when I did, he on the tender grass  Would sit, and hearken even to constancy;  And in requital ope his leathern scrip,  And show meSimples, of a thousand names,  Telling their strange, and vigorous faculties."

Shakespeare said, three centuries ago, "throw physic to the dogs." But prior to him, one Doctor Key, self styled Caius, had written in the Latin [xii] tongue (temporeHenry VIII.), a Medical History of the British Canine Race. His book became popular, though abounding in false concords; insomuch that from then until now medical classics have been held by scholars in poor repute for grammar, and sound construction. Notwithstanding which risk, many a passage is quoted here of ancient Herbal lore in the past tongues of Greece, Rome; and the Gauls. It is fondly hoped that the apt lines thus borrowed from old faultless sources will escape reproach for a defective modern rendering in Dog Latin, Mongrel Greek, or the "French of Stratford atte bowe."

Lastly, quaint old Fuller shall lend an appropriate Epilogue. "I stand ready," said he (1672), "with a pencil in one hand, and a spunge in the other, to add, alter, insert, efface, enlarge, and delete, according to better information. And if these my pains shall be found worthy to passe a second Impression, my faults I will confess with shame, and amend with thankfulnesse, to such as will contribute clearer intelligence unto me." 1895.

[xiii]

PREFACETO THESECOND EDITION.

On its First Reading, a Bill drafted in Parliament meets with acquiescence from the House on both sides mainly because its merits and demerits are to be more deliberately questioned when it comes up again in the future for a second closer Reading, Meanwhile, its faults can be amended, and its omissions supplied: fresh clauses can be introduced: and the whole scheme of the Bill can be better adapted to the spirit of the House inferred from its first reception.

In somewhat similar fashion the Second Edition of "Herbal Simples" is now submitted to a Parliament of readers with the belief that its ultimate success, or failure of purpose, is to depend on its present revised contents, and the amplified scope of its chapters.

The criticism which public journalists, not a few, thought proper to pass on its First Edition have been attentively considered herein. It is true their comments were in some cases so conflicting as to be difficult of practical appliance. The fabled old man and his ass stand always in traditional warning against futile attempts to satisfy inconsistent objectors, or to carry into effect suggestions made by irreconcilable censors. "Quot homines, tot [xiv] sententioe," is an adage signally verified when a fresh venture is made on the waters of chartered opinion. How shall the perplexed navigator steer his course when monitors in office accuse him on the one hand of lax precision throughout, and belaud him on the other for careful observance of detail? Or how shall he trim his sails when a contemptuous Standard-bearer, strangely uninformed on the point, ignores, as a leader of any repute, "one Gerard," a former famous Captain of the Herbal fleet? With the would-be Spectator's lament that Gerard's graphic drawings are regrettedly wanting here, the author is fain to concur. He feels that the absence of appropriate cuts to depict the various herbs is quite a deficiency: but the hope is inspired that a still future Edition may serve to supply this need. Certain botanical mistakes pointed out with authority by the _Pharmaceutical Journal _have here been duly corrected: and as many as fifty additional Simples will be found described in the present Enlarged Edition. At the same time a higher claim than hitherto made for the paramount importance of the whole subject is now courageously advanced.

To all who accept as literal truth the Scriptural account of the Garden of Eden it must be evident how intimately man's welfare from the first was made to depend on his uses of trees and herbs. The labour of earning his bread in the sweat of his brow by tilling the ground: and the penalty of [xv] and thistles produced thereupon, were alike incurred by Eve's disobedience in plucking the forbidden fruit: and a signified possibility of man's eventful share in the tree of life, to "put forth his hand, and eat, and live for ever," has been more than vaguely revealed. So that with almost a sacred mission, and with an exalted motive of supreme usefulness, this Manual of healing Herbs is published anew, to reach, it is hoped, and to rescue many an ailing mortal.

Against its main principle an objection has been speciously raised, which at first sight appears of subversive weight; though, when further examined, it is found to be clearly fallacious. By an able but carping critic it was alleged that the mere chemical analysis of old-fashioned Herbal Simples makes their medicinal actions no less empirical than before: and that a pedantic knowledge of their constituent parts, invested with fine technical names, gives them no more scientific a position than that which our fathers understood.

But, taking, for instance, the herb Rue, which was formerly brought into Court to protect a and the Bench from gaol fever, and other infectious disease; no one knew at the time by what particular virtue the Rue could exercise this salutary power. But more recent research has taught, that the essential oil contained in this, and other allied aromatic herbs, such as Elecampane, [xvi] Rosemary, and Cinnamon, serves by its germicidal principles (stearoptens, methyl- ethers, and camphors), to extinguish bacterial life which underlies all contagion. In a parallel way the antiseptic diffusible oils of Pine, Peppermint, and Thyme, are likewise employed with marked success for inhalation into the lungs by consumptive patients. Their volatile vapours reach remote parts of the diseased air-passages, and heal by destroying the morbid germs which perpetuate mischief therein. It need scarcely be said the very existence of these causative microbes, much less any mode of cure by their abolishment, was quite unknown to former Herbal Simplers.

Again, in past times a large number of our native, plants acquired a well-deserved, but purely empirical celebrity, for curing scrofula and scurvy. But later discovery has shown that each of these several herbs contains lime, and earthy salts, in a subtle form of high natural sub-division: whilst, at the same time, the law of cure by medicinal similars has established the cognate fact that to those who inherit a strumous taint, infinitesimal doses of these earth salts are incontestably curative. The parents had first undergone a gradual impairment of health because of calcareous matters to excess in their general conditions of sustenance; and the lime proves potent to cure in the offspring what, through the parental surfeit, was entailed as [xvii] a heritage of disease. Just in the same way the mineral waters of Missisquoi, and Bethesda, in America, through containing siliceous qualities so sublimated as almost to defy the analyst, are effective to cure cancer, albuminuria, and other organic complaints.

Nor is this by any means a new policy of cure. Its barbaric practice has long since obtained, even in African wilds, where the native snake doctor inoculates with his prepared snake poison to save the life of a victim otherwise fatally bitten by another snake of the same deadly virus. To Ovid, of Roman fame (20 B.C.), the same sanative axiom was also indisputably known as we learn from his lines:—

 "Tunc observatas augur descendit in herbas;  Usus et auxilio est anguis ab angue dato."

 "Then searched the Augur low mid grass close scanned  For snake to heal a snake-envenomed hand."

And with equal cogency other arguments, which are manifold, might be readily adduced, as of congruous force, to vindicate our claim in favour of analytical knowledge over blind experience in the methods of Herbal cure, especially if this be pursued on the broad lines of enlightened practice by similars.

So now, to be brief, and to change our allegory, "on the banks of the Nile," as Mrs. Malaprop would have pervertingly put it, with "a nice [xviii] derangement of epitaphs," we invite our many guests to a simple "dinner of herbs." Such was man's primitive food in Paradise: "every green herb bearing seed, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed:" "the green herb for meat for every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air." What better Preface can we indite than a grace to be said before sitting down to the meal? "Sallets," it is hoped, will be found "in the lines to make the matter savoury." Far be it from our object to preach a prelude of texts, or to weary those at our board I with a meaningless long benediction. "'Tis not so plain as the old Hill of Howth," said tender-hearted witty Tom Hood, with serio-comic truth, "a man has got his belly full of meat, because he talks with victuals in his mouth." Rather would we choose the "russet Yeas and honest kersey Noes" of sturdy yeoman speech; and cheerfully taking the head of our

well-stocked table, ask in homely terms that "God will bless these the good creatures of His Herbal Simples to our saving uses, and us to His grateful service." 1897.

[xix]

CONTENTS.

Absinthe . . . 614 Acorn . . . 15 Agaric, Fly . . . 368 Agrimony . . . 18 Alexanders . . . 313 Allspice . . . 386 Amadou . . . 378 Anemone, Wood . . . 20 Angelica . . . 23 Aniseed . . . 24 Apple . . . 26 Arsmart . . . 606 Artichoke, Globe . . . 548  " Jerusalem . . . 549 Arum . . . 33 Asafetida . . . 269 Ash, Mountain . . . 350 Asparagus . . . 35 Asphodel, Bog . . . 482 Avens . . . 47

Balm . . . 39 Barberry . . . 42 Barley . . . 44 Basil, Sweet . . . 45 Bean . . . 415 Bedstraw . . . 231 Bee sting . . . 260 Beet . . . 507 Belladonna . . . 388 Bennet Herb . . . 47 Betony, Water . . . 50, 198  " Wood . . . 42 Bilberry . . . 652 Bistort, Great . . . 607 Blackberry . . . 53 Black Pot Herb . . . 312 Blackthorn . . . 517 Bladderwrack . . . 503 Blessed Thistle . . . 557 Blue Bell . . . 57 Bog Bean . . . 58 Borage . . . 60 Bracken . . . 184 Brooklime . . . 431 Broom . . . 62 Bryony, Black . . . 68  " White . . . 65 Buckthorn . . . 69 Bugle . . . 510 Bullace . . . 520 Bulrush . . . 481 Burdock . . . 162 Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 Butcher's Broom . . . 64 Butterbur . . . 119 Buttercup . . . 71

Cabbage . . . 74  " Sea . . . 76 Calamint . . . 343 Camphor . . . 337 Capsicum . . . 78 Caraway. . . 81

Carline Thistle . . . 558 Carraigeen Moss . . . 500 Carrot . . . 88 Cascara Sagrada . . . 70 Cat Mint . . . 344 Cat Thyme . . . 565 Cat's Tail . . . 482 [xx] Celandine, Greater . . . 92  " Lesser . . . 90 Celery . . . 94 Centaury . . . 96 Chamomile . . . 84  " Bitter . . . 86 Cherry . . . 98 Chervil . . . 100 Chestnut, Horse . . . 102  " Sweet . . . 104 Chickweed . . . 105 Chicory . . . 542 Christmas Rose . . . 107 Cider . . . 30 Cinnamon . . . 390 Cinquefoil, Creeping . . . 516 Clary . . . 492 Cleavers . . . 230 Clover, Meadow . . . 110  " Sweet . . . 112 Clovers . . . 395 Club Moss . . . 113 Colchicum . . . 483 Coltsfoot . . . 116 Comfrey . . . 120, 595  " Prickly . . . 122 Coriander . . . 122 Couch Grass . . . 242 Cow . . . 126 Cowslip . . . 124 Crab Apple . . . 29 Cresses . . . 127 Cress, Garden . . . 128  " Water . . . 129 Crowfoot . . . 71 Cuckoo Flower . . . 134 Cuckoo Pint . . . 33 Cumin . . . 135 Currants, Red, White, and Black . . . 137

Daffodil . . . 141 Daisy . . . 143 Damson . . . 520 Dandelion . . . 147 Darnel . . . 242 Date . . . 152 Dill . . . 155 Dock . . . 157  " Great Water . . . 164  " Yellow Curled . . . 163 Dodder . . . 112 Dog's Mercury . . . 332 Dropwort, Water . . . 603 Dulse . . . 501

Earthnut . . . 372 Egg . . . 150 Elder . . . 164  " Dwarf . . . 171 Elecampane . . . 172 Eryngo . . . 499 Eyebright . . . 175

Fairy rings . . . 374 Fennel . . . 179  " Water . . . 604 Ferns . . . 182

 " Female (Bracken) . . . 184  " Hart's-tongue . . . 187  " Maidenhair . . . 188  " Male . . . 183  " Polypody . . . 189  " Royal . . . 186  " Spleenwort . . . 190  " Wall Rue . . . 191 Feverfew . . . 192 Fig . . . 194 Figwort . . . 54 Flag, Blue . . . 199  " Yellow . . . 200  " Stinking (Gladdon) . . . 201  " Sweet . . . 201, 480 Flax . . . 202  " Purging . . . 204 Fly Agaric . . . 368 Foxglove . . . 205 Fumitory . . . 201 Furze . . . 63

Gage, Green . . . 521 Garlic . . . 214  " Poor Man's . . . 222 Ginger . . . 392 Gipsy Wort (Water Hore-hound) . . . 269 [xxi] Good King Henry . . . 227 Gooseberry . . . 223 Goosefoot . . . 227  " Stinking . . . 229 Goosegrass . . . 230 Goutweed . . . 235 Grapes . . . 236 Grasses . . . 241 Ground Ivy . . . 283 Groundsel . . . 243

Hawthorn . . . 245 Hellebore, Stinking . . . 109 Hemlock . . . 248  " Water . . . 251 Hemp Agrimony . . . 19 Henbane . . . 252 Herb, Bennet . . . 47 Hoglouse . . . 564 Honey . . . 256 Hop . . . 262 Horehound, Black . . . 268  " White . . . 267 Horse Radish . . . 269 House Leek . . . 273 Hyssop . . . 277  " Hedge . . . 279

Iceland Moss . . . 500 Irish Moss . . . 500 Ivy . . . 280  " Ground . . . 283

John's Wort, Saint . . . 287 Juniper . . . 291

Knapweed, the Lesser . . . 296

Ladies' Mantle . . . 511  " Smock . . . 134 Lavender . . . 296  " Sea . . . 300 Laver . . . 505 Leek . . . 220 Lemon . . . 300 Lentil . . . 305 Lettuce . . . 308

Lettuce, Lamb's . . . 312  " Wild . . . 307 Lily of the Valley 313 Lily, Water . . . 604 Lime Tree . . . 316 Linseed . . . 202 Liquorice . . . 318 Lords and Ladies (Arum) . . . 33 Lungwort . . . 594 Lupine . . . 306

Mace . . . 395 Mace Reed . . . 482 Mallow . . . 322  " Marsh . . . 323  " Musk . . . 325 Mandrake . . . 66 Marigold . . . 327  " Corn . . . 326  " Marsh . . . 329 Marjoram . . . 331 Melancholy Thistle . . . 560 Menthol . . . 339 Mercury, Dog's . . . 332  " English . . . 228 Milk Thistle . . . 556 Mints . . . 333 Mistletoe . . . 345 Monk's Rhubarb . . . 159 Moon Daisy . . . 146 Moss, Club . . . 113  " Iceland . . . 500  " Irish . . . 500 Mountain Ash . . . 350 Mugwort . . . 352 Mulberry . . . 356 Mullein . . . 359 Mum . . . 581 Mushrooms . . . 362 Mustard . . . 375  " Hedge . . . 222, 381

Nasturtium . . . 132 Nettle . . . 382  " Dead . . . 387 Night Shade, Deadly . . . 388 Nutmeg . . . 393 Nuts . . . 602

[xxii] Oak Bark . . . 16 Oat . . . 397 Onion . . . 209 Orach . . . 229 Orange . . . 399 Orchids . . . 404 Orpine (Live Long) . . . 276 Ox eye Daisy . . . 146

Pansy, Wild . . . 589 Parsley . . . 407  " Fool's . . . 412 Parsnip . . . 413  " Water . . . 414 Pea . . . 416 Peach . . . 418 Pear . . . 419 Pellitory of Spain . . . 424  " of Wall . . . 423 Pennyroyal . . . 334 Peppermint . . . 338 Pepper, Water . . . 606 Periwinkle, Greater . . . 427  " Lesser . . . 428 Perry . . . 422

Pilewort . . . 90 Pimento, Allspice . . . 386 Pimpernel . . . 428 Pine . . . 576 Pink . . . 432 Plantain, Greater . . . 433  " Ribwort . . . 435  " Water . . . 435 Plum, Common . . . 520  " Wild . . . 520 Polypody Fern . . . 190 Poppy, Scarlet . . . 437  " Welsh . . . 441  " White . . . 438 Potato . . . 441 Primrose . . . 447  " Evening . . . 449 Primula . . . 449 Prune . . . 522 Prunella . . . 509 Psyllium Seeds . . . 436 Puff Ball . . . 365 Pulsatilla . . . 20

Quince . . . 452

Radish . . . 455  " Horse . . . 269 Ragwort . . . 457 Ransoms . . . 221 Raspberry . . . 459 Reed, Sweet Scented . . . 480 Rest Harrow . . . 320 Rhubarb, Garden . . . 159 Rice . . . 461 Rosemary . . . 470  " Wild . . . 474 Roses . . . 463  " Rock . . . 469 Rue . . . 475 Rushes . . . 479

Saffron . . . 485  " Meadow . . . 483 Sage . . . 489  " Meadow . . . 492 Sago . . . 155 Saint John's Wort . . . 287 Salep . . . 405 Saliva . . . 178 Samphire . . . 497 Sanicle . . . 508 Saucealone . . . 222 Savin . . . 493 Schalot . . . 222 Scurvy Grass . . . 133, 495 Sea Holly . . . 498  " Tang . . . 502  " Water . . . 508  " Weeds . . . 496 Selfheal . . . 508 Service Tree . . . 352 Shepherd's Purse . . . 511 Silverweed . . . 514 Skullcap . . . 516  " the Lesser . . . 517 Sloe . . . 517 Snails . . . 409 Soapwort . . . 522 Solomon's Seal . . . 524 Sorrel . . . 160  " Wood . . . 161 Southernwood . . . 526 Sowbread . . . 450

Sow Thistle . . . 559 Spearmint . . . 342 Speedwell . . . 527 Spinach . . . 529  " Sea . . . 506 Spindle Tree . . . 530 Spurge Wood . . . 532  " Petty . . . 602 Stitchwort . . . 535 Stonecrop (House Leek) . . . 276 Strawberry . . . 538  " Wild . . . 537 Succory . . . 541 Sundew . . . 543 Sunflower . . . 546

Tamarind . . . 550 Tansy . . . 552 Tar . . . 580 Tarragon . . . 554 Teasel, Fuller's . . . 559  " Wild . . . 559 Thistles . . . 555 Thyme . . . 560 Thymol . . . 563 Toadflax . . . 565 Toadstool . . . 372 Tomato . . . 567 Tormentil . . . 573 Truffle . . . 371 Turnip . . . 574 Turpentine . . . 576 Tutsan . . . 290

Valerian, Red . . . 585  " Wild . . . 583 Verbena (Vervain) . . . 586 Verguice . . . 29, 238 Vernal grass . . . 241 Vine . . . 240, 588 Violet, Sweet . . . 592  " Wild . . . 589 Viper's Bugloss . . . 594

Wallflower . . . 595 Walnut . . . 597  " American . . . 601 Wartwort . . . 602 Watercress . . . 129 Water Dropwort . . . 603  " Figwort . . . 198  " Horehound . . . 269  " Lily, White . . . 605  " Yellow . . . 605  " Pepper . . . 606 Whitethorn . . . 245 Whortleberry . . . 52 Woodruff, Sweet . . . 608  " Squinancy . . . 609 Wood Sorrel . . . 161, 610 Wormwood . . . 355, 612 Woundwort, Hedge . . . 615

Yarrow 616 Yew 619

[1] INTRODUCTION.

The art of _Simpling _is as old with us as our British hills. It aims at curing common ailments with simple remedies culled from the soil, or got from home resources near at hand.

Since the days of the Anglo-Saxons such remedies have been chiefly herbal; insomuch that the word "drug" came