THE BOOK OF HERBS 



INTRODUCTION 



What is a Herb ? I have heard many definitions, but 

 never one that satisfied the questioner, and shall, 

 therefore, take warning by the failures of others 

 and make no attempt to define the word here. It is, 

 however, fairly safe to say generally that a herb is a 

 plant, green, and aromatic and fit to eat, but it is impos- 

 sible to deny that there are several undoubted herbs that 

 are not aromatic, a few more grey than green, and one or 

 two unpalatable, if not unwholesome. So no more space 

 shall be devoted to discussing their " nature," but I will 

 endeavour to present individual ones to the reader as 

 "clearly as possible, in order that from their collective 

 properties he may form his own idea of a herb. The 

 objection may be raised that several plants included in 

 this book are outside the subject. To answer this, I 

 would point out that the boundaries of a herb-garden 

 are indefinite, and that the old writers' views of them 

 were liberal. Besides this, every garden must have an 

 outside hedge or wall, and if this imaginary herb-gaxden 

 has a row of elder bushes on the East, barberry trees on 

 the West, some bay trees on the South, and a stray willow 

 or so on the North, who can say that they are inap- 

 propriately placed ? The bay and barberry hold an 

 undisputable position, and the other trees have each an 



