TUTSAN. 11 



from the bloorl-recl stains left on the fingers after rubbing 

 the flowers; while Gerarde has yet another theory to ex- 

 plain the name, for he says that " the leves, floures, and 

 seeds stamped and put into a glasse with oile olive, and 

 set in the sunne for certaine weekes, doth make an oile 

 of the colour of blood, which is a most pretious remedy 

 for deep wounds and those that are thorow the body." 

 In some herbals the tutsan is called St. Peter's wort, in 

 Germany it is Konrad's kraut, in Wales it is the Creulys 

 bendiged, and in Ireland the Beahnua Firion. 



The tutsan is found all along the western side of Great 

 Britain, and it is not uncommon in the south-western 

 counties of England ; but it is more rarely found on 

 the eastern side. We remember, however, to have found 

 it in a hedge near Guildford ; and in turning to Curtis's 

 " Flora Londinensis," we see that he speaks of having 

 found it in Oak of Honour Wood, near Norwood, a 

 southern suburb of the metropolis ; and in John Martin's 

 English translation (A.D. 1732) of Tournefort's " History 

 of Plants," he records Wimbledon, Highgate, and Muswell 

 Hill as localities near London where he has found it. The 

 tutsan is frequently met with in Ireland. 



Lyte, in his "Niewe Herball," a translation from 

 Dodocns, gives a quaintly graphic description of the 

 plant. Dodoens' name was, after the fashion of the 

 time, Latinised into Dodonaeus ; he was a Flemish 

 physician, and his book achieved a great popularity at 

 that day and is still well worth getting hold of. Lyte dedi- 

 cated his labours to Queen Elizabeth : " Tutsan is like to 

 St. John's worte and St. Peter's grasse. It hath many 

 rounde stalkes comming out of one roote, the which do 

 bring forth leves, much larger than the leves of the Saint 



