36 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



The V. odorata is still found in the pharmacopoeia, 

 though many of the virtues ascribed to it in the Middle 

 Ages have not stood the test of time and greater experience. 

 The expressed juice and the syrup are slightly laxative, 

 and are often prescribed for young children. The flowers 

 may also be used as a test, since they turn red with acids, 

 while alkalis change them into green. The roots appear 

 to possess somewhat violent and uncertain medicinal 

 qualities ; they have occasionally been used as adulterants 

 of more costly drugs. A mere catalogue of the uses of the 

 violet in the Middle Ages, and of the diseases it was a 

 remedy for, would take up far more room than the subject 

 is worth inflammation of the eyes, sleeplessness, quinsy, 

 pleurisy, jaundice, are but a few of the ailments for which 

 it was held potent. 



