THE VIRTUES OF MALLOWS 



109 



Mallows are as good as they are pretty. Their 

 very name comes from a word that means to 

 soften. Who does not know the French Pdtes- 

 de-Qimauve ? They are made from the root of 

 the Marsh Mallow, The leaves and sap are also 

 full of virtue. Their curious round seeds are 

 called by schoolboys bread and cheese, and a 

 poet has written of fairy chariots drawn by mice 

 with 



' Wheels at hand of Mallow-seeds, 

 Which childish sport had strung as beads.' 



Several kinds of Mallow may have a place in the 

 Herb - garden. Four varieties, all of which are 

 used medicinally, are represented in our illustra- 

 tion. They are the Common Mallow, Malva 

 sylvestris, and the White Mallow ; also the large 

 pink and small pink Mallow. The Marsh Mallow, 

 Althcea officinalis, is one of the ingredients for the 

 homely Tisane de quatre flenrs, which is surely the 

 pleasantest remedy for colds that ever was. A 

 French lady of my acquaintance often mixes it for 

 her family. It is made of Borage, Marsh Mallow, 

 Violet, and the Wild Poppy. 



Chicory gives us flowers that may lay claim to 

 providing a tint of the clearest, purest, most stain- 



