CHAPTER IV 



HERBS AND THEIR ORIGIN 



"Excellent Herbs had our fathers of old, 

 Excellent Herbs to ease their pain; 

 Alexanders and Marigolds, 

 Eyebright, Orris and Elecampane, 

 Basil, Rocket, Valerian, Rue 

 (Almost singing themselves they run), 

 Vervain, Dittany, Call-me-to-you, 

 Cowslip, Melilot, Rose-of-the-sun ; 

 Anything green that grew out of the mould 

 Was an excellent Herb to our fathers of old." 



RuDYARD Kipling. 



In gardening, almost more than in any other art or 

 craft, the past and the present are Hnked together, 

 and although people in these days are much amused 

 at the old superstitions of the herbalists, regarding 

 the faith that they placed in the healing virtues of 

 our wild flowers, yet modern research has justified 

 that faith. For we find that in spite of its alloy 

 with magic, astrology, and superstition, much of 

 the solid gold of truth remains. 



The Doctrine of Signatures, as it was called, was 

 firmly believed in by the old herbalists. The idea 

 was, that by the mercy of God, many of the herbs 

 that He made for the service of men, were stamped, 

 as it were, and signed with their characters, so that 

 they could be read at a glance. 



One of the chief exponents of this theory was 

 Paracelsus, or to give him his full name, Philippus 



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