178 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Aug. 1, 1S69. 



"diatoms" into the field of physiology. He re- 

 quires to be shown what an area for observation 

 and thought would be opened to him in the study, 

 say, of the embryology of even the simplest and 

 commonest forms of life. Will no one take up 

 this good office and discharge it faithfully and 

 thoroughly ?— Scientific Opinion, June 2, 1869. 



COMMON HERBS. 



" Of all the joys that fill the breast, 

 Joys of knowledge are the best, 

 Link'd to man's diviner part, 

 Oh they purify his heart." 



WELL may Mr. James Britten remark in the 

 July number of Science-Gossip that "there 

 are a class of persons who neither know, nor care to 

 know, anything about our wild plants;" and I am 

 very sure the same observation might be made in 

 reference to the lack of knowledge evinced regard- 

 ing our common garden herbs. 



I was forcibly struck with this fact the very day 

 Science-Gossip reached me. I had been reading 

 Mr. Britten's article on Cranesbills, when the lunch- 

 bell sounded, and when I w r ent down, I found a 

 party of ladies discussing a sprig of Marjoram, the 

 Sweet Marjoram of our gardens. 



"It is a kind of mint ; a foreign sort, it comes from 

 Turkey," cried one. 



" My gardener tells me it is Bergamot mint," said 

 another. 



" I see it in my garden, but I never have it used 

 for culinary purposes," added a third ; while a fourth 

 ventured to suggest that it was Sweet Marjoram. 



" What a singular name ! " 



"How absurd!" 



"A nickname, not the real name of course," ex- 

 claimed all three voices, and a lady at the upper end 

 of the room offered the information that " the word 

 was met with in old books." 



Spirit of Shenstone! ghost of "The Schoolmis- 

 tress," I expected them to appear, and repeat these 

 lines : — 



" And Marjoram sweet, in shepherd's posy found, 

 And Lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom, 

 Shall be erewhile in arid bundles bound, 

 To lurk amidst the labours of her loom, 

 And crown her kerchiefs clean with mickle, rare perfume." 



But as neither good old dame in " russet stole " nor 

 poet came to do my bidding, I sat me down to write 

 a gossip which should introduce a few of our garden 

 herbs to the readers of Science-Gossip at any rate, 

 provided the kind editor accords me space. So to 

 begin with — 



Origanum Majorana (Sweet Marjoram). It be- 

 longs to the same class, order, and natural order as 

 Mint certainly, but, correctly speaking, no one would 

 call it "a mint." It possesses similar properties to 

 the wild Marjoram, but it is specifically distinguished 

 from it by its roundish, thin, compact spikes, and 

 the form of the leaves, which are more elliptical. 



The scent of leaves and flower-tops resembles 

 that of the wild Thyme, a perfume I think very 

 agreeable; the flavour also is, in my opinion, 

 pleasant ; but I know many persons object to its 

 use in cookery. Eoreigncrs, however, in this 

 country at least, patronize it, Erench cooks parti- 

 cularly : they use the dried leaves in soups, omelets, 

 and stuffings very extensively, and I have known 

 the Welsh peasantry make a far from bad substitute 

 for tea of a strong decoction of "Margery" leaves, 

 as they call the herb. Its qualities are tonic and 

 stimulant. It is greatly lauded in country domestic 

 medicine as a remedy in all spasmodic affections. 

 Little children suffering from whooping cough are 

 dosed with it, old women afflicted with asthma swear 

 by it, and I really do believe its virtues are rather 

 powerful, only our medical men do not recognize 

 them, seeing the herb is a common one. 



The genuine name is derived from "joy," and a 

 very appropriate one it is, for the sweet aromatic 

 odour and pretty appearance of the plants render 

 them very welcome in hilly places, which in a wild 

 state', they most affect. 



Marjoram comes from the Arabic. The Arabs who 

 use this plant call it " Mary amych," the Swedish 

 Dosta, the German Dosten Kraut. In Sweden the 

 wild Dosta is applied to a variety of purposes. The 

 flowering tops form a very good purple dye for 

 linen articles, but it tinges wool with a reddish- 

 brown hue. Should any reader feel disposed to ex- 

 perimentalize, if purple be the colour desired, the 

 linen must first be steeped in alum-water, and then 

 lie for eight-and-forty hours in a decoction made 

 from the bark of the Crab-tree (wild apple), before it 

 is immersed in Marjoram water. 



Publicans (it is said) often use both the wild and 

 sweet Marjoram. The dried plant will, if put in a 

 cask of ale, correct acidity, or if put in when the 

 beer has nearly finished fermenting, it renders it 

 powerfully intoxicating; this last quality seems 

 slightly puzzling, as the plant is not a narcotic ; but 

 I suppose its excitant properties come into play 

 here. The Dittany of Crete is a foreign species of 

 Marjoram like the Sweet Marjoram, but some writers 

 are of opinion that the Cimila bubula, mentioned by 

 Pliny, was our Origanum vulgare, as it grows in all 

 calcareous soils throughout Europe. Its pretty 

 spikes of flowers are in full beauty now (July), and 

 will continue to show bloom until August. An in- 

 fusion made with half an ounce of the dried flower- 

 heads and leaves in a pint of boiling water, is a safe 

 remedy in nervous headaches, whilst the oil of 

 Marjoram placed in a hollow tooth eases that most 

 horrible pain, the toothache; but I forget, the readers 

 of Science-Gossip chiefly belong to the sex who 

 are, happily for themselves, most exempt from those 

 ills which flesh, especially female flesh, is heir to, in 

 the shape of nervous diseases. 



Helen E. Watney. 



