S COL OPENDRIUM. 
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Lingua cervina, of which our English Hart’s-tongue is merely an equivalent. This name 
occurs in the Grete Herbal, and in all subsequent authors, and is still the general name 
for the fern. Turner, in his “Libellus” (1538), speaks of a variety which was called Hind’s- 
tongue in his day in Northumberland. His words are: “Vulgus cervinum linguam vocat 
Hert’s tonge. Vidi et herbam cum agerem Northumbriae, quam vulgus appellabat Hyndes 
tonge, et vulgus contendebat non esse Hertes tongue, erat enim minor et rectior.” Gerard 
gives the above derivation of the name ; he speaks of the form of the fronds as “ resem- 
bling in shew a long toong, wherof it hath beene and is called in the shops lingua cervina , 
that is, Hart’s toong.” In Dorsetshire it is called “ Horse-tongue,” and in Somerset “ Lamb- 
tongue ” or “ Lamb’s-tongue.” It is thought to be the plant of which Pliny says : “ There is 
a herb called lingzia which grows in the neighbourhood of fountains ; ” and certainly both 
name and habitat fit the Scolopendrium very well. Langue de bce 7 if and langue de cerf are 
among its French names, and it has similar synonyms in Italian and German. 
As the specific name officinale implies, the Hart’s-tongue was formerly credited with 
numerous “vertues.” Indeed, it is still used locally, as in the Isle of Wight, where the fresh 
leaves are applied externally to erysipelatous eruptions on the legs as a cooling remedy. 
It is not wonderful that a plant which has an appearance so essentially suggestive of 
coolness should be employed in this manner. In France it is used in an infusion with 
milk, the slight but pleasant odour which the fronds exhale communicating itself to the 
infusion; and it also enters into the composition of a quack remedy known as the “Vulndraire 
suisse.” Its healing properties have, indeed, been celebrated by many authors ; Ray speaks 
of it as cleansing wounds and ulcers;* and Lightfoot says it was used in his time by the 
country people in Scotland, who applied it to burns and scalds. We have already alluded to 
its name of “ Burntweed,” which finds its explanation in the above statements ; and this use of 
the Hart's-tongue seems to have been very widely distributed. In the “ Phytologist ”f there 
is the following reference to the employment of the Hart’s-tongue in Wales in similar 
cases. Speaking of the death of Lady Greenly, of Titley Court, Herefordshire, we read that 
she had paid great attention to the use of herbs in medicine, and that this, among others, 
entered into the composition of her pharmacopeia : “ She used to cultivate a variety of 
herbs, and administered medicine to all those who needed it in her neighbourhood. 
Amongst the plants for which she evinced a particular regard was that called in Wales, 
Dail llosg y Tan : it is a species of evergreen fern, indigenous to Gwent and Morganwg ; 
and Lady Greenly having ascertained from her excursions among the Welsh peasantry that 
it was (as its name denotes) of value as a remedy for burns, she took pains to make it 
grow in Herefordshire, and succeeded in getting it to flourish round her favourite well at 
Titley.” It was at the time of its principal repute as a remedial agent reckoned as one of 
the five “ capillary herbs,” the remaining four being the Common Polypody (. Polypodium 
vulgare), the Maidenhair ( Adiantuni Capillus-vencris), the Spleenwort ( Asplenium Trichomanes 
or A. Adianhnn-nigruni), and the Wall Rue (A. Ruta-muraria). Culpeper says — we quote 
from an early edition (1653), which is much more quaint and original than many of the 
more recent editions of this ever popular “herbalist”: — “Jupiter claims dominion over this 
herb, therefore [it] is a singular remedy for the liver, both to strengthen it when weak, 
and ease it when ’tis afflicted, ’tis no matter by what : you should do wel to keep it in a 
sympal the yeer, for though authors say ’tis green al the yeer, I scarce beleev it.” After 
enumerating various complaints in which it might profitably be employed, and telling us that 
* “Synopsis” (3rd edition), p. 117. 
t Vol. i., p. 521 (1844). 
