384 ° MEALS . MEDICINAL. 
It is ever green, and bears small pale-blue blossoms. ‘ The 
flowers of Rosemary,” says an old author, “ made up into plates 
(lozenges, or tablets), with sugar, and eaten, comfort the heart, 
and make it merry, quicken the spirits, and cause them to be 
lively.” Rosemary tea will soon relieve nervous depression ; 
some persons drink it for breakfast as a restorative. In the 
French language of flowers this herb represents the power of 
re-kindling lost energy. Rosemary wine taken in small quantities 
acts as a quieting cordial to a heart of which the action is 
irregular, and palpitating; it will further serve to dispel any 
accompanying dropsy by stimulating the kidneys. This wine 
may be made by chopping up sprigs of green Rosemary, and 
pourimg on them some sound white wine, which after three or 
‘our days may be strained off, and put into use. The green- 
leaved variety is the kind to be used medicinally ; there are also 
silver, and golden-leaved sorts. Sprigs of the shrub were 
formerly stuck into beef whilst being roasted, as an excellent 
relish. A writer (1707) tells of ‘‘ Rosemary-preserve to dress 
your beef.”” In early times the Rosemary was freely cultivated 
in kitchen gardens, and it came to represent the dominant 
influence of the house-mistress. 
§.."‘ Where Rosemary flourished the woman ruled.” 
A spirit made from the essential oil with spirit of wine will help 
to renew the vitality of paralysed limbs if rubbed in with brisk 
friction. The volatile oil includes a special camphor similar 
to that possessed by the myrtle. An ounce of the dried leaves 
and flowers, when treated with a pint of boiling water, and 
allowed to stand until cool, makes one of the best  hair- 
washes known. It should be mixed with honey-water (as 
distilled from honey incorporated with sand), the same being 
likewise of itself excellent for promoting growth of the 
hair. Incidentally with respect to the present fashion adopted 
by young men of shaving close as to whiskers, and beard, 
(so as to retain, it may be supposed, a juvenile look), 
the suggestive letter (xxxii) of Selborne in his well-known 
Natural History may be profitably quoted: “It is plain 
that the deprivation. of masculine vigour puts a stop to 
the growth of those hirsute appendages which are looked upon 
as its insignia ; thus eunuchs have beardless chins, smooth limbs, 
and squeaking voices. But (as the ingenious Mr. Lisle testifies) 
