THE LILY OF THE VALLEY. 267 



ters to discover their uses/' though others have 

 been left without any ; that after " she had shewed 

 them the way, they, by their labour and industry, 

 which renders everything more acceptable, might 

 find out the rest. ... So too, the piony, being 

 not yet blown, was thought to have some signature 

 and proportion with the head of man, having 

 sutures and little veins dispersed up and down, like 

 unto those which environ the brain ; when the 

 flowers blow they open an outward little skin 

 representing the skull:" an appearance, which, 

 according to Coles, indicates the plant as a cure 

 for the "falling sickness/' He adds that, amongst 

 other things, thistles and holly-leaves, signify by 

 their prickles, that they were excellent for pleurisies 

 and stitches in the side; and that it has been "found 

 experimentally/' that all bark, roots, and flowers, 

 which are yellow, cure the yellow jaundice. And 

 lilies of the valley, by their same signatures, were 

 assumed to be specific in apoplexy, for, he says, " as 

 that disease is caused by the dropping of humours 

 into the principle ventricles of the brain, so the 

 flowers of this lily, hanging on the plants as if they 

 were drops, are of wonderful use herein ! " At the 

 present day, however, these beautiful blossoms, which 

 he so happily compares to drops hanging on the 

 plant, are little used in medicine, though occasionally 

 dried and powdered, in order to excite sneezing ; 

 and an extract is made by distillation, which is 

 bitter and very purgative, resembling aloes in its 

 qualities. This was the celebrated Aqua aurea, 

 which was anciently held in such high repute, as a 



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