14 THE BOOK OF HERBS 



was sometimes called Bugloss by the old writers.^ In 

 l8lo Dr Thornton calls it "one of the four grand 

 cardiac plants," but shows a lamentable lack of faith 

 himself. Dr Fernie ^ finds that Borage has a " cucumber- 

 like odour," and that its reputed powers of "refreshing" 

 and " invigorating" are not all due to the imagination ; 

 "The fresh juice," he says, "affords thirty per cent, of 

 nitrate of potash. Thornton had already commented on the 

 nitre it contains, and to prove this he advises that the 

 dried plant be thrown on the fire, when it emits a sort 

 of coruscation, with a slight detonation." Personal 

 experience teaches that this is easier to observe if the 

 plant is set on fire and burned by itself. Borage might 

 be grown for the sake of its lovely blue flowers alone, 

 and Parkinson gives it a place in his " Earthly Paradise," 

 because, though it is " wholly in a manner spent for 

 Physicall properties or for the Pot, yet the flowers have 

 alwaies been interposed among the flowers of women's 

 needle-work " — a practice which would add to the beauty 

 of modern embroidery. He adds that the flowers " of 

 gentlewomen are candid for comfits," showing that they 

 did not allow sentiment to soar uncontrolled ! Bees love 

 borage, and it yields excellent honey, yet another reason 

 for growing it. In the early part of the nineteenth 

 century the young tops were still sometimes boiled for 

 a pot-herb, but in the present day, if used at all, it is 

 put into claret-cup. Till quite lately it was an ingredient 

 in " cool tankards " of wine or cider. 



Bugloss (yAnchusa officinalis). 



So did the maidens with their various flowers 

 Deck up their windows, and make neat their bowers • 

 Using such cunning as they did dispose 

 The ruddy piny (peony) with the lighter rose, 



> Family Herbal, 1810. 2 IJ„bal Simplu, 1895. 



