SALVIA 281 



flavor in culinary directions. Pliny (514) , Theophrastus 

 (633) and other early writers mention this plant, which 

 is now cultivated in all temperate regions of the world. 

 It is still employed in decoction as a domestic medicinal 

 drink, and when bruised, the fresh herb is applied as a 

 poultice to sprains and swellings. Its empirical use 

 antedates its employment in systematic medicine. The 

 uses of sage in domestic medicine in England, with its 

 history in that direction, are given in Culpeper's Com- 

 plete Herbal, 1653, (175). Note that the use of sage to 

 darken the hair is there recorded. Let us extract from 

 this work, as follows: 



"GOVERNMENT AND VIRTUES. Jupiter claims this 

 plant, and bids me tell you, it is good for the liver, and 

 to breed blood. A decoction of the leaves and branches 

 of Sage made and drank, saith Dioscorides, provokes 

 urine, brings down women's courses, helps to expel the 

 dead child, and causes the hair to become black. It 

 stays the bleeding of wounds, and cleanses foul ulcers. 

 Three spoonfuls of the juice of Sage taken fasting, with 

 a little honey, doth presently stay the spitting or casting 

 of blood of them that are hi a consumption. 



"Matthiolus saith, it is very profitable for all manner 

 of pains in the head coming of cold and rheumatic 

 humors: as also for all pains of the joints, whether in- 

 wardly or outwardly, and therefore helps the falling- 

 sickness, the lethargy such as are dull and heavy of 

 spirit, the palsy; and is of much use in all defluctions 

 of rheum from the head, and for the diseases of the chest 

 or breast. 



"Pliny saith, it procures women's courses, and stays 

 them coming down too fast: helps the stinging and 

 biting of serpents, and kills the worms that breed in the 



