CHAPTER XIV 



THE MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF FLOWERS 



By " their medical properties " I mean that 

 every plant has either in its juices, or in some 

 other definite part, certain qualities which not 

 only determine its taste, but which also make the 

 plant wholesome or unwholesome to man or beast ; 

 and I consider that these qualities, though not 

 sufficient to create a scientific differentia either 

 in a genus or species, are yet so distinct in each 

 plant that they are essential in some way or other 

 to the life and well-being of the particular plant in 

 which they are found. 



In the medical properties of plants there are 

 two extremes ; in the one extreme every part of 

 the plant is a deadly poison to man and beast ; 

 in the other, as in the date palm, and the bamboos, 

 there is no part of the plant that is not useful to 

 man, and is conducive to his health and comfort. 

 The existence of the very poisonous plants is a 

 great puzzle to those who can only estimate the 

 value of a plant by its usefulness to man ; for a 

 plant which in its normal and natural state is fatal 

 to man can hardly be considered useful to him, 

 however it may be modified by dilution or otherwise 



