SIMPLES AND SIMPLERS. ' 219 



existing in that era between theology and medicine. Ac- 

 cording to this tlieory every natural substance that pos- 

 sesses any curative power indicates by its external 

 appearance the diseases for which it is a remedy, Tlie 

 partisans of this doctrine affirmed that, since man is the 

 lord of creation, all creatures are designed for his use; 

 and that therefore their properties must be designated by 

 such a character as every one can understand. Hence 

 turmeric, or Indian saffron, wdiich has a brilliant yellow 

 color, indicates thereby its power of curing the jaundice. 

 By the same rule poppies were believed to be a cure for 

 diseases of the head, because both their seeds and flowers 

 form a head. A beautiful flower called eivplirasia, or eye- 

 bright, resembling a dandelion, with a dark, velvety centre, 

 was used for diseases of the eye, because this dark round 

 centre bears a likeness to the pupil of the eye. In this doc- 

 trine we find an anticipation of the homoeopathic theory of 

 " like cures like." Nettle-tea in England still continues 

 to be a popular remedy for nettle-rash. 



The flowers of saffron, of a bright scarlet color, which 

 are administered in the form of tea for scarlet-fever and 

 other eruptive diseases, derived all their reputation from 

 the homoeopathic doctrine of signatures, expressed in 

 the words similia similihus curantur. Hence likewise the 

 celebrated botanical cure of hot-drops administered in 

 fevers, on the supposition that a hot disease requires a 

 hot remedy ; and the ancient notion tliat the hair of a 

 mad dog will cure the disease caused by his bite. These 

 analogies have been indefinitely extended. The blood- 

 root is another of the signature plants. Its clusters of 

 delicate white flowers appear in April in damp shady 

 places. It avoids the deep woods and seeks the protec- 

 tion of clumps of trees near a brookside, M'here the soil 

 is deep, and the situation defended by a natural wall or 

 embankment. Its tuberous root is full of red sap resem- 



