68 



THE GENUS CROCUS. 



being turned every half hour to dry it thoroughly, when it is fit for the market. 

 The & finest quality known as "Hay Saffron" consists of the stigmata loosely dried. 



Saffron is regarded as a stimulant and antispasmodic; but from the experiments 

 of Dr. Alexander, its powers in these respects appear to be inconsiderable. In 

 modern practice it is scarcely ever given except as a cordial adjunct to more 

 active remedies. It is extensively used in Pharmacy, in the form of syrup or tincture, 

 as a colouring agent. 



The ancient reverence for Saffron as a therapeutic agent, is one of the most 

 remarkable points in the history of a drug which can be traced back for several 

 thousand years, and which has been handed down to our modern Pharmacopoeias; 

 inasmuch as the Medical Faculty have ceased to recognise its therapeutic 



powers. 



The almost superstitious regard with which Crocus and Saffron were held in 

 medieval times is shewn by the great mass of literature that exists on the subject. 

 The title of Hertoldt's Crocologia, a curious book published at Jena in 1671, may 

 be given as an example: — 



Crocologia seu curiosa Croci Regis Vegetabilium enucleatio continens Illius 

 etymologiamt differencias, tempus quo viret, et floret, culturam, collectionem, usum 

 mechanicum, Pharmaceuticum, Chemico-Medicum, omnibus paene humani corporis 

 partibus destinatum additis diversis observationibus et questionibus, CROCUM concern - 

 entibus ad Normam et Formam S.R.I. Academiae Natura? curiosorum congesta a Dan: 

 Ferdinando Hertodt. Ph. et Med. Doctore, &c. &c. Jena?. 1671." The book is a 

 duodecimo of nearly three hundred pages, divided into twenty-three Chapters, 

 fourteen of which are devoted to the treatment of specific diseases by Saffron and 



Crocus. 



In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the cultivation of Saffron was of so 

 much importance in European husbandry that a reference to it was omitted by no 

 writer on the subject. An account of it is to be found in Crescentio, Serres, 

 Heresbach, Von Hohberg, Florinus, and other writers' works. Indeed Saffron was 

 such an important article of trade, that its adulteration was made the subject of 

 severe penalties in several countries. In the year 1550, Henry II, king of France, 

 issued an order for the express purpose of preventing such frauds. 



Gerard's summary of the virtues of Saffron are as follows:— "The moderate 

 use of it is good for the head, and maketh sences more quicke and lively, shaketh 

 off heavy and drowsie sleep, and maketh a man mery." 



To its use in confections the following extract from the Apparatus Plantarum 

 of Laurembergius (1632) refers:— In re familiari vix ullus est telluris habitatus 

 angulus ubi non sit Croci quotidiana usurpatio aspersi vel incocti cibis." Henry 

 Stephen also says— " Saffron must be put into all Lent soups, sauces, and dishes; 



