48 PEEKS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



how the roots of this and the Lady Fern boiled in oil, 

 made " very profitable ointments to heal wounds." The 

 green leaves were recommended to be eaten as a cure 

 for some disorders ; and an old vniiter says, referring to 

 this plant : " Pern being burned, the smoke thereof 

 driveth away serpents, gnats, and other noisome crea- 

 tures, which in fenny countries do, in the night time, 

 trouble and molest people lying in their beds with their 

 faces uncovered." The use of this plant as a medicine 

 was at one time patronised by the French Government, 

 and this fern is said to be still used in Switzerland as 

 a remedy for disease. The astringent roots are employed 

 in the preparation of leather. The young scroll-like 

 fronds were formerly called Lucky Hands, or St. John's 

 Hands, and believed, in days of darkness, to protect ihe 

 possessor from aU the iUs of magic, the evil eye, or 

 witchcraft. The old German name of the fern, Johannis 

 vmrtzel, reminds us of the usages common not alone in 

 continental countries, but also in our own land. Not only 

 was the yellow St. John's Wort dedicated to St. John 

 the Baptist, and burnt on the Midsummer Eve, in the 

 iires raised in honour of the saint, but the delicate fern 

 was duly gathered then, and sold to the credulous, who 

 wore it about their persons, and mingled it in the 

 water drunk by their cows. In Norway this plant is 

 used as fodder for horses and cattle, and, when dried, 

 it makes a good litter for these animals. The plant 

 grows in shady places throughout Europe, and seems to 

 have been used medicinally by Theophrastus and Galen. 

 The underground stem of this fern forms a turfy or 

 tufted head about the thickness of the finger, black and 



