PLANT MYTHOLOGY 
One ancient dogma taught that each plant 
possessed the power of healing one particular 
disease, made known by some outward sign or 
similiarity. Thus bright-eyed flowers were good 
for those with failing sight; red blossoms of all 
kinds would arrest nose-bleed; Tumeric, a very 
yellow dye, cured jaundice; plants with long, 
tubular flowers were excellent specifics for 
throat troubles. 
Many of these medicinal superstitions linger 
among the more simple of the earth’s inhabit- 
ants today. Dutch and English countrymen still 
believe that a Potato carried in the pocket is a 
sort of protective charm against rheumatism. 
In Ohio, the farmers sometimes wear a string 
of Job’s Tears seeds in an effort to cure goitre. 
In New England, the same magic charm is used 
to help babies through the troublesome period 
of teething. 
The devil and his evil spirits have always 
wielded a large influence over certain members 
of the plant kingdom. In Scotland, up until the 
seventeenth century, it was customary to allow 
a small section of each farm to lie untilled and 
uncropped as a peace offering to Satan. In cer- 
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