HERBS. 393 
poisonous. ‘‘ You know Herby grass is Herby grass in the 
morning, but Rue in the afternoon.” Thornbury records the 
fact that in the England of Shakespeare’s day “the tops were 
eaten with bread and butter of a morning to purify the blood.” 
Closely allied to the Water-cress (already noticed, p. 226), is 
another herb which, if eaten in its fresh state, as a salad, is the 
most effectual of all our antiscorbutic plants; its leaves, more- 
over, being admirable for curing swollen and spongy gums. 
This is the Scurvy Grass, or Spoon-wort (cochleare), the famous 
Herba Britannica of the ancients. It may be readily cultivated 
in the garden for medicinal uses by the cook. Naturally it 
grows by a preference near the sea, but even when found many 
miles inland, its taste is still salt. Along the banks of the Avon, 
in Cumberland, in Wales, and on Scotch mountains, the Scurvy 
Grass grows wild in abundance. The leaves are wholesome, 
and purifying when eaten in the spring with bread and butter. 
The whole herb contains tannin, and a bitter principle, which 
is butyl-mustard oil, whereon the medicinal properties depend. 
This oil is of great volatility, and penetrating power; one drop 
of it instilled on sugar, or dissolved in spirit, will communicate 
to a quart of wine the special taste and smell of the Scurvy Grass. 
Formerly, the fresh juice of this herb, when mixed with that 
of Seville oranges, went by the name of “ Spring drink.” Also 
the juice was taken in beer, or boiled with milk, being flavoured 
with pepper, aniseed, etc. 
_ The beneficial uses of the plant in scurvy are mainly due to 
its plentiful salts of potash. This green herb bruised, if applied 
as a poultice, will cleanse and heal foul sores. For making a 
decoction of the herb, put two ounces of the whole plant, bruised, 
with its roots, into a quart jug, and fill up with boiling water, 
taking care to keep the infusion closely covered. When it is 
cold, take a wineglassful three or four times during the day. 
Likewise the Southern-wood, (Southern Wormwood,) another 
aromatic herb of the kitchen garden, though now fallen into 
culinary disuse, was at one time made into a conserve as to 
its young tops, with three times their weight of sugar, and 
was given beneficially against hysterical disorders. This, the 
Artemisia abrotanum, is popularly known in the garden (as 
“Old Man,” or’“‘ Lads’ Love.” A tea infused from it, not 
too strong, famously promotes perspiration. The branches will 
dye wool a deep yellow. The plant has a lemon-like odour, 
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