10 



TRUE MAIDENHAIE. 



be forgotten that the boasted virtues of herbs and simples have, 

 for the most loart, proved fictitious, and many of those, once 

 most famous, have fallen into utter disuse. Dr. Lindsay states 

 (Phytol. iv. 10C4) that " it is slightly astringent, and was recom- 

 mended in pulmonary complaints. Like most ferns, it contains 

 tannic and gallic acids." 



The anonymous author of the ' British Herbal,' a rare work 

 for the loan of which I am indebted to Mr. Pamplin, after reca- 

 pitulating its ascribed properties, says, " It would be endless 

 to enumerate all the virtues of this plant, of which whole trea- 

 tises have been written : perhajjs the reader may think tliose 

 already mentioned more than fall to the share of any one vege- 

 table : however, as it contains a very fine Nitrous Salt, of all 

 others the most universally useful in Medicine, it may pro- 

 bably be serviceable in most of the above-mentioned cases, 

 without any great exaggeration of its virtues, and because the 

 native salts of plants are best got out of them by boiling, the 

 form of a decoction seems to be the most proper to take 

 it in." 



