178 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



is indeed a model of flowers, and we cannot 

 imagine anything richer in appearance 

 than a bed in full bloom, surrounded with 

 a broad edging of Purple King verbena or 

 Lobelia speciosa. R. T. E. 



Uffington, July, 1860. 



[We gladly confirm our correspondent's 

 estimate of these two charming and in- 

 valuable plants. There are several new 

 varieties of Dianthus besides Heddewigi, 



and it would be difficult to determine 

 which among them is the most beautiful. 

 D. Verschaff'elti is an exquisitely coloured 

 flower, but deficient in form. In this sec- 

 tion of hybrids, however, form is not of 

 such vital importance. Gazania splendens 

 can be propagated at this season better 

 than at any other time, to make flowering 

 plants for next year. — Ed. E. W.] 



HEEB DEINKS. 



A CHAPTER TOK GAKDENERS' "WIVES. 



There is a branch of the culinary art, 

 once cultivated by our housewives in the 

 olden time, which is too much neglected 

 by the modern English, though our neigh- 

 bours on the Continent avail themselves of 

 its aid whenever need requires. In our 

 cookery for the sick we have a great variety 

 of nice little tempting dishes of the solid 

 and nutritious class, such as puddings, jel- 

 lies, and blancmanges, besides eggs and 

 farinaceous food under various aspects ; 

 but we are limited in our resources as to 

 liquid preparations. Those which we make 

 now-a-days are mostly too good for in- 

 valids ; strong beef-tea and concentrated 

 mutton-broth are more fitted to feed any 

 internal fire than to quench it. Sick men's 

 soups, Avith us, are hardly diluent enough 

 to drench and wash away a tenacious in- 

 disposition, and to sweep it before it by a 

 deluge of draughts. Our real English 

 Boups — mock-turtle, ox-tail, or giblet — are 

 meat, drink, and vinous refreshment, all in 

 one, and excellent they are for men in ro- 

 bust health, taking strong exercise ; but 

 we really are deficient in those mild, yet 

 not utterly limpid, and simple beverages 

 which inundate the bodily system, as the 

 Nile overflows its valley, drowning many a 

 noxious intruder, and leaving behind it a 

 decidedly beneficial influence. 



Herb drinks, or tisanes (more learnedly 

 ptisanes, being derived from iTTiffavt), 

 husked and pounded barley, and also the 

 barley -water prepared from the same), are 

 a class of domestic medicines always made 

 at home. Of all the forms of taking phy- 

 sic, tisanes are the most largely employed 

 in Erance. Without consulting the doc- 

 tor, and by a sort of instinct, people have 

 recourse to them at the slightest indispo- 

 sition. Often they form the only treat- 

 ment. Professional men prescribe them 

 always, either on account of the real service 

 they render, or in obedience to the public 



opinion touching their utility, or simply to 

 quiet the sick man's mind. Even when 

 useless, they amuse the patient with the 

 semblance of a serious treatment ; they 

 gain time, and allow the healing power of 

 Nature to work unchecked by grosser diet, 

 which they replace for the time. Sick peo- 

 ple mostly crave for something to take to 

 do them good ; they are hard to be per- 

 suaded that, in many cases, Nature alone 

 will effect their cure. It is a matter of 

 importance to humour them, and herb 

 drinks step in to fill the gap (to play the 

 part of proxy to active drugs) in the shape 

 of a harmless beverage. Their utility is 

 so universally recognized that recourse is 

 had to them at the first symptom of indis- 

 position, whether in consequence of thirst 

 and heat felt by the patient, or in deference 

 to wide-spread and traditional notions. 

 The addition of a considerable quantity of 

 liquid, absorbed and carried into the cir- 

 culation, and brought into contact with 

 the different tissues, has actually real ad- 

 vantages in the majority of cases. The 

 benefit derived from tisanes, whose use is 

 the result of the sick man's longing, is fully 

 proved by experience. They comprise the 

 whole pharmaceutical machinery necessary 

 to set going, in order to obtain the multi- 

 tude of cures, which, with tisane's humble 

 aid, Nature alone suffices to effect. It may 

 be boldly stated that more than half the 

 illnesses (not fatal) suffered in Erance are 

 brought to a happy issue by the sole em- 

 ployment of an appropriate herb drink ; 

 and, in those illnesses in which more de- 

 cided means are obliged to be employed, 

 the herb drink comes in for its full share 

 of credit. A malady to be treated without 

 tisane scarcely enters into Erench ideas of 

 general therapeutics, unless in certain local 

 affections, or in a few external and incon- 

 siderable lesions. Many a patient attri- 

 butes his recovery to the herb or the bios- 



