134 



THE HERB-GARDEN 



proved, however, by the fact that not so very long 

 ago a snufF was made from its dried leaves by an 

 English Herbalist, and sold to cure nervous head- 

 aches. At one time this snufF was quite famous. 

 A mere pinch of the powdered Herb provokes 

 violent sneezing. 



In the long list of healing Herbs that spring 

 up about our feet, not one is more interesting or 

 speaks to us more eloquently of past and present 

 than the dear little low-growing Eyebright, 

 Euphrasia officinalis. Many of us do not so 

 much as know this plant by sight ; but it is 

 common enough on heaths and mountains by the 

 sea, or may sometimes be found, if looked for, 

 among the grasses of our lawns, only these are 

 clipped too closely as a rule for the plant to 

 show its tiny flowers. From the earliest times 

 this weed has been famous for restoring and 

 preserving eyesight. It is the same Herb that 

 the Greeks named after the linnet, because she 

 was the first to discover its power, and passed the 

 knowledge on from birddom to mankind. Cul- 

 pepper, the old astrologer-physician, declared of 

 the Eyebright that if its uses were generally 

 understood, spectacle-makers would be ruined, 

 and modern chemists are little less complimentary 



