URe ©octrinc o^ ^fant Signature/. 155 



natural obje<5ts, a reciprocal instincft, which impels them to seek 

 after those things which are similar and consequently beneficial 

 to themselves, and to avoid and shun those things which are 

 antagonistic or hurtful. Hence has emanated that more recondite 

 part of medicine which compares the Signatures or Characfterisms 

 of natural things witli the members of the human body, and by 

 magnetically applying like to like produces marvellous effects in the 

 preservation of human health. In this way, the occult properties 

 of plants — first of those that are endowed with life, and secondly 

 of those destitute of life — are indicated by resemblances; for all 

 exhibit to man, by their Signatures and Characfterisms, both their 

 powers, by which they can heal, and the diseases in which they are 

 useful. Not only by their parts (as the root, stem, leaf, flower, 

 fruit, and seed), but also by their acfliions and qualities (such as 

 their retaining or shedding their leaves, their offspring, number, 

 beauty or deformity, form, and colour), they indicate what kind of 

 service they can render to man, and what are the particular 

 members of the human body to which they are specially appro- 

 priate." 



As examples of the practical working of the system of Plant 

 Signatures, Kircher tells us that if the root of the Chelidonium be 

 }>laced in white wine, it is rendered yellow, resembling bilious 

 humour, and thus discloses a sure and infallible remedy against 

 yellow jaundice. He remarks that he had learned this by personal 

 experience, having advised some persons suffering from that 

 malady to try Chclidonimn as a cure ; and that as a result they 

 were freed from the disease. Persons liable to apoplexy are said 

 to have a line resembling an anchor traced in their hands. The 

 plant Acorns has a similar mark in its leaves, and is a highly- 

 approved remedy for apoplexy. So again, a certain line or mark 

 is to be found in the hands of persons suffering from colic, similar 

 in characfter to an outline found traced in the foliage of the 

 Malobathruni, a plant which will afford relief to patients suffering 

 from the disorder. Hellebore, which emits a most disagreeable 

 odour, possesses the property of absorbing offensive smells and 

 expelling them. Dracontium, or Great Dragon, a plant which bears 

 a resemblance to a dragon, is a most effectual preservation against 

 serpents ; Pliny averring that serpents will not come near an3one 

 carrying this plant. 



Other examples of the application of the Docflirine of Signa- 

 tures are not difficult to be found among the quaintly-named plants 

 enumerated in English herbals. The Lung-wort {Puhiiouaria), 

 spotted with tubercular scars, was a specific for consumption. 

 The Bullock's Lung-wort {Vevhasaim Thapsis), so called from the 

 resemblance of its leaf to a dewlap, was employed as a cure for the 

 pneumonia of bullocks. The Liver-wort [Marchantia polymorpha), 

 liver-shaped in its green fructification, was a specific for bilious com- 

 plaints. The Blood-root {Tormcntilla) ^vihich. derives its name from 



