DEVOTED TO AGHICUXTITRE AJND ITS KXNDHED AHTS AITD SCIENCES. 



VOL. XV. 



BOSTOX, AUGrST, 1803. 



NO. 8. 



XOURSE, EATOX & TOL>L\X, Propeiztoks. 

 Office 102 Washtsgtox Street. 



SMOX BROWX, Ebitok. 



A^ 





progress in knowledge. 



AUGUST— OUR MEDICLNAL HERBS. | 

 LL the ancient 

 customs of herb- ; 

 gathering seem 

 to be falling into \ 

 neglect. The! 

 simpler, whose ' 

 labors were so 

 valuable to a 

 distant by-gone 

 generation, has 

 become as rare 

 as a hermit ; her ' 

 labors are now ; 

 appreciated only ■, 

 by a few ; and ■ 

 those few are 

 such as have not 

 kept pace with 

 the community's 

 There was a time when ' 

 the simpler was one of the most important person- 

 ages in any village neighborhood. The majority ■ 

 of the people in the village and the country around 

 depended on her labors and her collections for the 

 medicines which were to save them from disease, , 

 restore them to health, or enlighten them to un- ; 

 derstand the \ alue of chemical manipulations, and ^ 

 the superior efficacy of those drugs which had - 

 been prepared under the direction of a learned ■ 

 chemist or physician. Nature was supposed to 

 bo wiser than the apothecary ; but it was beyond . 

 the comprehension of these simple-minded peo- 

 ple, to understand, that it was not nature, after all, : 

 who was prescribing to them ; but that, on the 

 contrary, it was they who were prescribing to ! 

 themselves. I 



Nature produces certain medicinal herbs : but 

 she never yet revealed to any one the uses for i 

 which they were designed. All this must be 

 learned by investigation and experiment ; and he j 

 who pulls up a weed from his garden and admin- 



isters a decoction of it to himself or to a patient 

 is no more under the guidance of Nature in his 

 practice, than one who prepares his medicines with 

 a pes le and mortar, from the chemidtels of the 

 apothecary. 



But our present object is not to decry the use 

 of our native or domestic medicinal herbs, but to 

 say a few words upon their real value, and to give 

 a few hints concerning them which may be in- 

 structive to those who are not acquainted with 

 them. There are many valuable medicinal plants, 

 both in our fields and in our gardens ; but they 

 are valuable rather as cordials, restoratives and 

 anodynes, than as specifics for the cure of disease. 

 The cure of real disease should always be left to a 

 physician, who, being entirely devoted to the 

 study and practice of the healing art, must neces- 

 sarily, if he possess common power of mind, un- 

 derstand it better than the wisest man belonging 

 to other trades and occupations. A wise physician 

 always consults a farmer, when he wants advice 

 concerning the raising of his animals or his crops ; 

 and he must be a stupid farmer, who should im- 

 agine that on this account he knew more than the 

 physician about the cure of disease. In our opin- 

 ion. Nature has verj' kindly furnished her crea- 

 tures with these simples, which are procured from 

 the field, that we may safely resort to them, when 

 we need a gentle restorative, but are not sick 

 enough to require a physician. We may be suf- 

 fering from too much fatigue, or from exposure to 

 heat or chills, and we may require a simple cordial 

 or a sweating draught ; and in these plain cases 

 the herbs of the field or garden may furnish aa 

 agreeable and a sufficient remedy. The experience 

 of the simpler may then be used with advantage ; 

 but to consult her in cases of decided disease would 

 be like asking advice of the builder of a wigwam 

 for planning and constructing a modem dwelling- 

 house. 



It is curious to note the classification of these 

 herbs which was made bv our ancestors, in the 



