CHAPTER XIII 



WILD HERBS FOR PHYSIC 



' In physic by some signature 

 Nature herself doth point a cure.' 



' Somewhere, somewhere grows the Herb of Healing ; 

 Is it a Herb of the Sea ?■■ 



If we take the trouble to investigate the history 

 and the medicinal or mystical properties that 

 belong to any Herb or flower, we are at once 

 confronted by a past that is fuU of fascination. 

 The present and the past are linked together ; old 

 facts look at us with young faces. 



Much as we may smile at the old Herbalists 

 for the faith they placed in the healing virtues of 

 certain of our wildhngs, it is nevertheless true 

 that modern research has justified that faith. We 

 turn the light of science on it and smile no longer, 

 for we find that, in spite of its alloy with magic, 

 astrology, and superstition, much of the solid 



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