362 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
Saith John Swann again in Speculum Mundi : “ First, concern- 
ing Herbs, I begin with Basil, whose seeds, being mixed with 
shoemakers’ black, do take away warts. We in England, though 
we seldom eat it, yet greatly do esteem it because it smelleth 
sweet, and comforteth the brain. But know that weak brains 
are rather hindered than holpen by it; for the savour is strong, 
and therefore much smelled into procureth the headach:; and 
hath a strong propertie beyond all these, for a certain Italian, 
by often smelling the Basil, had a scorpion bred in his brain, 
and after vehement, and long pain he died thereof. I pray thee, 
gentle reader, bear in mind this tragic tale, and have a care lest 
thou, through over-indulgence in one sweet smell, should turn 
thy brain into the unwilling hostelry of a too lively scorpion ! 
Be discreet in thy generation, and, setting on one side the pot 
of treacherous Basil, gather to thyself great armsful of never- 
dying Borage (called also the ‘Cucumber herb’).” The herb 
Basil (Ocymum basilicum) is often used in cookery, especially by the 
French ; it grows commonly with us in the kitchen garden, but 
dies down every year, so that the seeds have to be sown annually. 
The leaves, when slightly bruised, exhale a delightful odour ; 
they gave the distinctive flavour to the original Fetter Lane 
sausages. The herb furnishes a volatile, aromatic, camphoraceous 
oil, and on this account it is much employed in France for 
flavouring soups, especially mock turtle, and sauces. Dr. 
Kitchener tells, as a useful secret, the value of adding a table- 
spoonful of Basil vinegar to the tureen of mock turtle soup ; 
“this the makers thereof will thank us for teaching.” ‘* Basil,” 
says Evelyn, “ imparts a grateful taste to sallets, if not too 
strong, but is somewhat offensive to the eyes.” This sweet 
herb has been immortalized by Keats in his tender, pathetic 
poem of Isabella and the Pot of Basil, founded on a story from 
Boccaccio. George Eliot, in Middlemarch, wrote about one 
of her characters: “He once called her his Basil plant, 
and when she asked for an explanation, he said that the Basil 
was a herb which had flourished wonderfully on a murdered 
man’s brains,” 
Balm (Melissa officinalis), so called because of its honied 
Sweetness, occurs plentifully in our kitchen gardens, and was 
so highly esteemed by Paracelsus as the “ Primum ens Melissa ” 
that he believed it would completely revivify a man. The 
London Dispensatory of 1696 said: ‘“ An essence of Balm given 
