HIS STUDY OF HERBS. 93 



(Charles Black) " and get some rhubarb roots, which will 

 do my job. I'll hae nane o' yer dirt ! " 



He used to give proofs of his own successful practice 

 with herbs, in his own experience and in that of his 

 friends, many of whom have spoken gratefully of the 

 good his drugs did them. He spoke of curing several 

 more serious diseases with them, " nae an easy dune thing ; " 

 of healing, amongst others, a woman who had been a 

 cripple for years with a painful affection ; and of like 

 successes, which increased his faith in his works. But he 

 had too much sense to place unlimited reliance on all 

 he read and heard on this subject, for John had always 

 in him a good spice of philosophical scepticism. Of many 

 of their decoctions, he used to say that they were " gweed- 

 less, ill-less stuffie," that is, they did neither good nor ill. 

 But in a discriminating study of the medical virtues of 

 plants, he made rapid progress ; as he said, " I cam' great 

 speed." With successful applications, he began to be 

 "thocht siccar," that is, a secure, safe guide. Letters 

 still exist addressed to him, acknowledging cures, asking 

 advice, and, on occasions, telling him not to trouble himself 

 to revisit the patient, on account of the improvement 

 already effected. ,,.; 



As examples of the curative plants he employed : He 

 used sneeze- wort (Achillea ptarmica) as a cure for tooth- 

 ache ; and a little of the root placed between the teeth 

 causes salivation and a slight elevation of the teeth like 

 incipient toothache, so that it may cure by the homoeopathic 

 law of similia similibus ; being named sneezewort, he said, 

 from its leaves having once been ground into a kind of 

 snuff. When he showed this plant to a young friend, 



