FENNEL. 185 



for nurses, as it is said to increase milk and 

 make it more wholesome for the child— a virtue 

 attributed also to the leaves. The seeds are 

 also recommended for those who are troubled 

 with shortness of breath, and wheezzing, oc- 

 casioned by stoppage of the lungs. Its 

 leaves in decoction strengthen the sight ; its 

 juice, taken fasting, is said to cure intermit- 

 tent fevers. It is a sudorific and carmina- 

 tive, facilitates digestion when chewed ; and 

 is a specific in malignant putrid fevers. 



There is a simple water made from the 

 leaves, and an essential oil from the seed and 

 leaves. Neumann says, " The oil obtained 

 from the leaves on the upper part of the 

 plant is much finer, lighter, and more subtle, 

 than the oil obtained from the lower leaves. 

 The former oil swims on water, and the latter 

 sinks. There is also a strong water, or kind 

 of brandy, made of the seeds of fennel, called 

 fennel water. 



Snakes and serpents delight in fennel, and 

 seem to eat it medicinally before they cast off 

 their old skins. Pliny says, the ancient phy- 

 sicians observed that the serpents, having 

 wounded the fennel stalk, cleared their eyes 

 with the juice, and whereby they learnt that 



