THE USE OF SIMPLES 25 



papers, and in which they believe as firmly as their 

 forefathers believed in simples. Times have changed. 

 The hellebore still flourishes on Selborne Hill, but the 

 good women no longer gather it, and do not so much 

 as know of its existence. 



Not so very long ago a decoction of the greater 

 celandine, a plant allied to the poppies, and having a 

 gamboge-coloured juice, was commonly used in the 

 Isle of Wight as a remedy for infantine jaundice. The 

 plant may still be seen in considerable plenty between 

 Yarmouth and Freshwater, not far from the spot where 

 the wild asparagus grows, but the country folk pass it 

 by. Among the ruins and in the neighbourhood of 

 ancient priories plants may often be found which once 

 flourished in the monastic herb-gardens. The Aris- 

 tolochia, or birthwort, formerly held to possess great 

 medicinal virtue, may perhaps still be seen on the vener- 

 able walls of St. Cross at Winchester. In the woods 

 near Quarr Abbey, in the Isle of Wight, the lungwort 

 is abundant every spring; it may also be found in the 

 neighbourhood of Beaulieu Abbey in the New Forest. 

 Another medicinal plant still to be found among the 

 picturesque ruins of the great Cistercian Abbey is the 

 hyssop {Hyssopus officinalis). This plant is probably 

 the hyssop of Scripture, and was much valued for its 

 healing properties. Gerarde grew it in his garden at 

 Holborn, and Spenser spoke of it as " Sharp Isope, 

 good for green wounds' remedies." 



The ancient use of hyssop as a simple is indicated 

 by its specific name officinalis. This term, as used 

 in our British flora, always signifies that the plant so 

 named had a recognised place in the Materia medica. 

 From twenty to thirty of our British plants carry this 

 specific title, and in every instance the term recalls to 



