138 MALVACE^ 



3, Marsh Mallow (Alfhcea). 



1. Common Marsh Mallow (A. officindlis). — Leaves 3 to 5-lobed, 

 soft and downy on both sides, lieart-sliaped, or egg-shaped, toothed, entire ; 

 flower-stalks axillary, many-flowered, and shorter than the leaves. Plant 

 perennial. This, too, is a plant of the seashore, and, if we except the 

 Michaelmas daisy, it is the most showy flower of the salt-marsh. It may 

 be seen from afar, as we wander over the desolate green flats, its stems often 

 attaining the height of three feet, and looking at a distance like a small 

 shrub, decked, during August and September, with large pale rose-coloured 

 blossoms. These grow three or four together from the axils of the grey- 

 green leaves. We know of no other British leaf possessing the downy 

 surface of that of the Marsh Mallow, which is to the touch so like a piece 

 of soft thick velvet, that one can hardly imagine it to be a leaf. This plant 

 is very rare in Scotland, and, perhaps, not truly indigenous, though found 

 in the Solway Frith, and at Arran and Campsie. In many parts of England 

 it is common in the salt marshes, both of the sea and the salt rivers. In 

 some country places it is called Wymote ; the French term it La Guimauve, 

 and Mauve-gui, that is. Clammy Mallow. In Germany this plant is termed 

 Der Eihisch, and in Holland Der Heemst ; and it is the Altea of the Spaniards. 

 Old writers called it Malva visca, on account of the quantity of mucilage 

 which it contains, and which mingles with a saccharine principle. It exists 

 in every part of the plant, but especially in the root, Avhich is perfectly 

 white when peeled and dried. Mallow roots of very fine quality have been 

 produced in some districts of France, and these are sent to the large towns, 

 where their thickened juices are mingled with sugar, and made into lozenges, 

 which the French call Pdtds de guimauve. The mucilage is an old remedy for 

 coughs, and was prescribed for pulmonary aftections by Hippocrates ; while, 

 among our old herbalists, the Marsh Mallow was almost unrivalled for its 

 remedial properties, every part, from the seed to the root, being prepared in 

 various ways, so as to offer a cure for almost every malady to which the 

 human frame is liable ; and, assuredly, it was not only as safe, but as salutary 

 a medicine as any contained in their long list. A decoction of Marsh Mallow 

 is still taken with advantage as a demulcent, and the boiled leaves form a 

 valuable application in cases of abrasion. 



The Marsh Mallow is a native of every country of Europe, and we seldom 

 look vipon its large grey leaves without recalling to mind one of the uses to 

 which the plant was applied in darker days. In times when men accused of 

 crime had to give a supposed proof of their innocence or guilt by passing 

 through some ordeal, persons of weak health or delicate frame, especially 

 monks and ecclesiastics, were exempted from the usual mode of single com- 

 bat, and were required to test their imiocence by holding red-hot iron in the 

 hand. As these trials were made in the church, and during the performance 

 of the Mass, and as inspection was made by the clergy alone, the suspected 

 person, if he had friends about him, was easily shielded by covering his 

 hands with a thick coating of some substance which would enal)le him to 

 resist the action of heat. A kind of paste used for this purpose was descx'ibed, 



