﻿Canadian Plant-Lore. 223 



" What savour is better, if physicke be true, 

 For places infected, than wormwood and rue?"i 



The root of elecampane {Tmda hclenium) " taken with 

 hony or sugar made in an electuary . . . prevaileth 

 mightily against the cough,"^ and a candy made from 

 it and molasses is most popular with the victims of 

 whooping-cough, whether from the healing properties or 

 soothing qualities of the sweet, it would be difficult to say. 



The dyspeptic natures of the Clarenceville people 

 demand varied treatment, and boneset tea {Eupatorium 

 perfoliatuvi), " dandelion bitters" {Taraxacum dens-leonis), 

 and tansy tea (Tanecehcni vidgarc) are mentioned in 

 respectful tones by older people who measure the efficacy 

 of a medicine by its unpleasantness. Dandelions are 

 favourite "greens," and Culpepper, who is fond of preaching 

 a sermon, says of the herb " the French and Dutch do eat 

 it in the spring," showing, he adds, that •' foreign physicians 

 are not so selfish as ours, but more communicative of the 

 virtues of plants to people."^ 



Eheumatism is a disease of which the so-called cures 

 are as varied as the victims. The favourite remedy is 

 to carry in the pocket a potato, which in some mysterious 

 way absorbs the disease. A piece of liax bound round the 

 afflicted member, or applications of smartweed {Polygonnm 

 hydropiper) are also commonly used. 



Saffron {Crocus satimis) is a Clarenceville cure for 

 measles, but it is not a local remedy. Gerard e says, " the 

 eyes being anointed with the same dissolved in milke 

 or fennel or rose water are preserved from being hurt by 

 small-pox or measles.""^ The use of saffron in cases of 

 jaundice is probably due to the bright yellow color of the 

 flower, of which Dioscorides said " it maketh a man well- 

 coloured."^ 



1 " Tlie Folk-Lore of Plants" by T. F. Thistleton Dyer. 

 2, 4, 5, Gerarde's " Herball." 

 3 Culpepper's Complete Herbal. 



