CHAPTER II 



ON SAVAGES, DOCTORS, AND PLANTS 



Savages knew Botany— First lady doctors and botanical excursions — 

 True drugs and horrible ornaments — Hydrophobia cure — Cloves — 

 Mustard— Ivy— Roses and Teeth— How to keep hair on— How to 

 know if a patient will recover — Curious properties of a mushroom — 

 The Scythian lamb— Quinine : history and use — SafHower — Romance 

 of ipecacuanha — Wars of the spice trade — Cinnamon, logwood, and 

 indigo — Romance of pepper — Babylonian and Egyptian botanists — 

 Chinese discoveries — Theophrastus — Medieval times — The first illus- 

 trated book — Numbers of plants known — Discoveries of painters 

 and poets. 



IF we look back to the time when all men and women were 

 mere savages, living like the Esquimaux or the Australians 

 of to-day, then it is certain that every person was much 

 interested in plants. Nothing was so interesting as daily 

 food, because no one was ever certain of even one good meal 

 in the day. 



So that in those early times there was a very sound, 

 well-grounded knowledge of roots, bulbs, and fruits. They 

 knew all that were good to eat, all that could possibly be 

 eaten in time of famine and starvation, and also every 

 poisonous and unwholesome plant. 



Some savage genius must have discovered that certain 

 plants were "good medicine"; that certain tree-barks 

 helped to check fever, and that others were worth trying 

 when people had successfully devoured more than they 



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