SIMPLES AND SIMPLERS. 223 



guise of a cordial beverage. Many an honest person who 

 was too ignorant to believe in medicine as a science — 

 considering it but a supernatural gift bestowed exclusively 

 upon the uneducated — has been saved from the malprac- 

 tice of some charlatan by his faith in whiteweed and 

 marigold, or in some equally harmless herb gathered at 

 the rising of Sirius or under the waning light of the 

 moon. 



But there was no charlatanry among these charitable 

 dames who brought balm to the sick, and dispensed their 

 healing gifts without price. Some jealousy would occa- 

 sionally arise between them and the learned faculty, from 

 their interference in each other's jurisdiction ; but they 

 were seldom placed in direct antagonism. The balm, 

 the mint, and the sage, brought to the patient by the con- 

 siderate nurse, were often favorable accompaniments to 

 the medicines presented by the physician. The simplers 

 made the study of plants more of a utilitarian exercise 

 than our present students, who admire flowers as beauti- 

 ful objects, and study them as connected with taste and 

 poetry. The modern student learns their technical char- 

 acters, and examines their different parts as aids to the 

 understanding of science. He pays but little regard to 

 their medical virtues, which in most cases are but a part 

 of the romance of their history. The experiments made 

 and repeated, for the purpose of ascertaining the virtues 

 of plants, thousands of times during several centuries, 

 have enlightened the physician concerning their qualities, 

 which are now very well understood. The simplers, how- 

 ever, supposed almost every plant to possess some quality 

 designed for the sanitary welfare of the human race. 

 Some old legend was associated with one, and some holy 

 tradition with another; each pointing to the medical and 

 magical virtues attributed to the plant and to certain ben- 

 efits to be derived from it. 



