SWEET HERBS 



Calyx. — ^With limb indistinct. 

 Petals. — Five, roundish, obovate. 



Seed. — Flat on one side and convex on the other, seldom more than 

 one-fourth of an inch long. 



Sow fennel, sow sorrow. 



— Old Proverb. 



There's fennel for you and columbines. 



— "Hamlet.'' Act IV, Sc. s, Shakespeare. 



Christopher. "No, my good Lord." 



Count. "Your good Lord/ Oh, how this smells of fennel ! " 



— -"The Case Altered," Act II, Sc. j, Ben Jonson. 



We have in Shakespeare's time the plainest evidence that 

 Fennel was the recognized emblem of flattery. If it be true that 

 Ophelia's flowers were all selected for their significance, perhaps 

 it was not by accident that she offers Fennel to her brother — who 

 has just heard the cry: "Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!" 



If there was any reason why Fennel should be connected with 

 sorrow that clew is apparently lost, but the proverb remains. 



The use of Fennel as a. Sweet Herb still persists in Germany, 

 where it is used to flavor fish sauces and also bread and cakes. 



Parkinson says: "Fennel is of great use to trim up and strowe 

 upon fish, as also to boyl or put among fish of divers sorts, cow- 

 cumbers pickled and other fruits. The rootes are used with Parsley 

 rootes to be boyled in broths. The seed is much used to put in 

 Pippin pies and divers other such baked fruits, as also into bread 

 to give it the better relish." 



It is a good deal of a puzzle how Fennel, which, upon the whole, 

 is rather inert as a drug, ever obtained the tremendous reputation 

 which it enjoyed among the ancients. The plant was believed to 

 be an antidote to all kinds of poisons; to restore sight to the blind 

 and strength to the failing body. That the aromatic seeds should 

 be used to impart a flavor to food is comprehensible; that its pliant 

 stems with strong and delicate leaves lent themselves to the making 

 of wreaths, and so were present at weddings and at funerals, is also 

 clear; but why it was supposed to do so many things that mani- 

 festly it could not do is not so clear. 



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