SWEET HERBS 



in fruit, an aromatic, volatile oil, soluble in water, which gives the 

 peculiar characteristic flavor of the plant. As the volatilization of 

 this oil is hastened by heat, it is readily given forth in soups, stews, 

 and meat dressings. 



The Mints may be known by their square stems, two-lipped 

 corollas, and the four seeds at the bottom of the calyx. The Pars- 

 leys are distinguished by their five small petals, the flowers borne in 

 umbels — of which the wild carrot is a typical example — and the 

 flat, dry seeds which usually have tiny oil tubes. The leaves are 

 compound. 



All are weedy plants, little, if any, changed from their wild proto- 

 types. This is comprehensible when we recall that they have 

 never been valued either for charm of foliage or beauty of flower; 

 but wholly for the flavor which resided in the essential oil that they 

 naturally produced. Consequently, no early gardener ever thought 

 it worth while to subject them to the discipline of selection. Of 

 late, however, varieties of a few of the best — ^notably the Sage and 

 the Parsley — are offered by the trade. 



Associated with these Sweet Herbs in early gardens were 

 many plants highly valued for their medicinal qualities. Some 

 of these still retain their place among accepted remedies, many 

 have been superseded. The potency ascribed by the old herb- 

 alists to these plants is so great that one is filled with wonder 

 that patients ever died, imtil one examines into the prescrip- 

 tions, and then one is more astonished that any of them ever 

 recovered. 



An old volume on the " Art of Simpling " clearly expounds 

 the ancient Doctrine of Signatures. 



It says: "Though Sin and Sattan have plunged mankinde 

 into an Ocean of Infirmities, yet the mercy of God, which is 

 over all His workes maketh herbes for the use of man, and 

 hath not onely stamped upon them a distinct forme, but also 

 given them particular signatures, whereby a man may read even 

 in legible characters the use of them. . . . Viper's Bugloss 

 hath its stalks all to be speckled like a snake or viper, and is 

 a most singular remedy against poyson and the sting of scorpions. 



Si8 



