BROOM. 159 



attached to its neck, and ascends and descends 

 the mountains, decorated with chaplets and 

 wreaths of flowers. 



It seems a day of rejoicing with the kine 

 as well as the peasants, for they express their 

 joy equally on their departure and return, by 

 loud and continued lowing. 



The flower-buds of the broom, just before 

 they become yellow, are pickled in the man- 

 ner of capers, and eaten as such in sauce. 

 Many think them wholesome for the stomach, 

 and good against diseases of the spleen and 

 liver. Dr. James says, " Broom is an aperitive 

 and hepatic shrub, opening obstructions of 

 the liver and spleen ; and is very good for 

 the dropsy, when infused in common drink." 

 Dr. Mead relates the case of a dropsical pa- 

 tient who was cured by taking half a pint of a 

 decoction of green broom-tops, with a spoon- 

 ful of whole mustard-seed, every morning and 

 evening : the patient had been tapped three 

 times, and had tried the usual remedies be- 

 fore. An infusion of the seeds, drunk freely, 

 has been known to produce similar effects : 

 but we must not infer from these cases that it 

 is an infallible remedy for every dropsical case. 

 We might as well expect the physician that 

 had cured a patient of this disorder should 

 restore to health every person that laboured 



