SIMrLES AND SIMPLERS. 225 



longing chiefly to the Shakers. All the romance attend- 

 ing the occupation is destroyed by this change. The 

 herbs are now pressed into cakes and sold in the apothe- 

 cary's shops. 



I have never opened a package in which the slender, 

 cordlike roots of the Aralia nudicaulis were wanting. The 

 roots of the aralia closely resemble those of the true sar- 

 saparilla, not only in their cordlike shape, but in their 

 entire want of any medical virtue. It is remarkable that 

 this entirely inert and tasteless root should be the only in- 

 gredient that is never omitted, and proves that any plant 

 in use among popular remedies maintains its repute in 

 proportion as it is destitute of medical properties of any 

 kind. The same habits prevail among the semicivilized 

 nations. The ginseng, for example, which is as inert as 

 so much white paper, is regarded in China as a medicine 

 that will cure all diseases. Tons of the roots of this plant 

 are annually imported into that country. The ginseng is 

 the popular panacea among the Celestials, and is held by 

 them in the same estimation as sarsaparilla by the Ameri- 

 cans. People will sometimes take efficacious remedies, 

 when prescribed by their physicians ; but no substance is 

 mentioned in history which has acquired and maintained 

 general popularity for any number of years, if it possessed 

 any medical virtue at all. All curative drugs are unsafe, 

 and if combined in a popular nostrum, soon excite mis- 

 trust, on account of accidents that happen from its mal- 

 administration. Many a patient, however, has been cured 

 by mercury disguised by his physician in a preparation of 

 sarsaparilla, without suspecting the cause of his cure. 



A love of the marvellous also increases the popular 

 faith in inert remedies. This innate propensity of the 

 human mind formerly obtained gratification in mythologi- 

 cal and magical superstitions. At present it finds more 



delight in mere abstractions that take no definite shape, 



10* o 



