PRIMROSE IN MEDICINE 53 



those of most other flowers ; their delicacy and 

 refinement of colour probably suggested the idea of 

 a frailty for which there is no real warrant. 



The primrose derives its name from being one of 

 the earliest plants of the year, and its French, 

 Italian, and German names are equally significant ; 

 but, curiously enough, by many old authors the 

 name is applied to the daisy. Matthiolus, for 

 example, figures a most unmistakable daisy for 

 his Fiore di prima vera, and we find the same 

 thing again in the " Ortus Sanitatus" and other 

 early works. 



In some parts of the country a primrose bloom- 

 ing prematurely betokens ill-fortune, and the intro- 

 duction of the flower into the house is held disastrous. 

 Like most other plants, however, it was deemed 

 medicinal, and folks having "the phrensie, choler, 

 or flematicke humour" were glad to gather the 

 leaves and flowers and make a decoction from them, 

 adding thereto a little sugar, pepper, salt, and butter. 

 The leaves boiled in wine were held good for "the 

 drawing forth of the flesh any thorne or bone fixed 

 therein," while the "uiyce" of the pounded roots 

 " sniffed into the nose purgeth the braine and 

 qualifieth the paine of the megrim." It is clearly, 

 therefore, a plant to be cultivated. Even to those 

 who may, to their grievous loss, be indifferent to 

 its charm and to its association with sweet Spring- 

 time, there remains this practical utility, the relief 



