HERBS USED IN THE PRESENT TIME 13 



prim note, " Garden basil, if stroked, leaves a grateful 

 smell on the hand, and the author insinuates that it 

 receives fresh life from being touched by a fair lady." 

 Both basils are annuals, though Bush Basil may occa- 

 sionally live through the winter. They are small plants 

 with oval leaves and white, labiate flowers. A modern 

 gardener writes that sweet basil has the flavour of 

 cloves, that it is always demanded by French cooks, 

 and that it is much used to flavour soups, and occa- 

 sionally salads. M. de la Quintinye,^ director of the 

 gardens to Louis XIV., shows that over two hundred 

 years ago French cooks were of the same mind about 

 basil as they are to-day ; besides mentioning it for the 

 uses just named, he adds, " It is likewise used in ragouts, 

 especially dry ones, for which reason we take care to 

 keep some for winter." An Italian name for it is Bacia- 

 Nicola. 



Borage (^Borago officinalis). 



Here is sweet water, and borage for blending, 

 Comfort and courage to drink to your fill. 



N. HoppiR. 



This reference to Borage touches a long-lived belief — 



i, borage, 

 Give courage — 



briefly states one reason of its popularity, which has 

 lasted ever since Pliny praised the plant ; besides this, it 

 was supposed to exhilarate the spirits and drive away 

 melancholy. De Gubernatis ^ only found one charge 

 against it, amid universal praise, and this is in a Tuscan 

 ninnerella, a cradle song, where it is accused of frighten- 

 ing a baby ! But this evidence is absolutely unsupported 

 by any tradition, and he considers it worthless. Borage 



• The Complete Gardener. Trans, by T. Evelyn, 1693. 

 ^ La Ml/thologic dcs Plantet. 



