USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



common as to be classed as a weed. The juice of 

 the roots is mucilaginous and soapy, producing a 



BouxciNG Bet 



(Saponaria officinalis) 



lather when agitated in water, and the peasantry 

 in some parts of Europe use it to-day for soap. By 

 the brothers in European monasteries, centuries ago, 



182 



