object so dear thinks of you now you are absent, blow again, and if there remain one tuft, it is a sign you 
are not forgotten. But the second charm should be done with care; blow very gently; for at any age, even 
at that age which is most congenial to love, it is not well for our peace that we should too rudely disperse 
the pleasing illusions which embellish life. 
Miss Landon wrote some very beautiful lines on seeing an illustration of the garden scene in Goethe’s 
Faust, where Margaret plucks a star-like flower to divine the real sentiments of her lover. They are called 
“The Decision of the Flower.” 
And with scarlet poppies around, like a bower, 
The maiden found her mystic flower ; 
“ Now, gentle flower, I pray thee tell 
If my lover loves me, and loves me well; 
So may the fall of the morning dew 
Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue. 
Now I number the leaves for my lot — 
He loves not — he loves me — he loves me not — 
He loves me — yes, thou last leaf, yes — 
I’ll pluck thee not for that last sweet guess ! 
He loves me ! ” “ Yes,” a dear voice sighed, 
And her lover stands by Margaret’s side. 
Professor Burnett says, “ the dandelion, has sometimes, when blanched, been introduced on our tables 
in salad, but its bitterness is too powerful to allow it to be a pleasant food. It is hence more in repute as 
a medicine, and in the hepatic complaints of persons long resident in warm climates it often affords very 
marked relief. It is tonic, and promotes the various secretions, forming likewise an excellent food for 
milch cows ; and, from its influence over the excretions of the kidneys, probably arose its vulgar name, 
which is found identical in several languages. 
Qualities and Chemical Properties. The plant is nearly inodorous, and its taste is somewhat 
bitter, and sweetly acidulous. Although it yields but little of its virtues either to alcohol or ether, (water 
being the best menstruum,) it has been found on analysis to contain caoutchouc. Infusion of galls, nitrate of 
silver, oxymumate of mercury, acetate of lead, and sulphate of iron, precipitate its decoction, and are, therefore, 
incompatible with it. The milky juice is supposed to contain tartaric acid, as it reddens vegetable blues; 
and it is probable, remarks Dr. A. T. Thomson, that the active principles of taraxacum are, extractive gluten, 
a bitter principle, which does not appear to be resinous, and tartaric acid, either free, or as a supertartrate. 
Medical and CEconomical Uses. Dandelion is moderately aperient, and diuretic; the whole of 
the plant possessing these properties, which are most active in the roots. As a domestic medicine it is 
often administered with superstitious expectations; Park, an old English author, remarking, “ whoso is 
macilent, drawing towards a consumption, or ready to fall into a cachexy, by the use hereof for some time 
together, shall find a wonderful help.” Many authorities might be quoted in its favour, but like most of 
our indigenous medicines it is seldom prescribed. Dr. Pemberton, however, recommended it. Where the 
stomach is irritated by its own secretions, arising from chronic inflammation affecting some of the abdominal 
viscera, especially the liver; and where active treatment would be injurious, the decoction of Taraxacum, or 
the extract, administered three or four times a day, will often prove a valuable remedy. In habitual cos- 
tiveness, the result of along residence in hot climates, dandelion is a most efficient medicine; for instead of 
impairing the constitution further, by producing a purgative action that it may be difficult to control, it assists 
the bowels in performing their functions, and constrains them mildly and regularly to perform them: and 
Dr. James Johnson ranks it amongst those agents that possess the power of preventing the formation of 
biliary concretions, by keeping up a due and healthy secretion in the liver. As an adjuvant to other 
more active remedies, it may be prescribed with advantage in dropsical cases, and for induration of the liver, 
while by our continental neighbours, it is recommended for pulmonic tubercles, and some cutaneous diseases. 
When its diuretic effect is required, supertartrate of potass may be combined with its decoction or infusion. 
We have not discovered any narcotic powers from its administration, although they frequently reside in the 
lactescent plants. 
It is a fact well known to gardeners, that plants when blanched, lose many of their active properties; 
and dandelion thus prepared, is frequently eaten on the continent in salads; and sometimes by the lower 
class of people in this country, in its native state; while at Gottingen, the roots are roasted and used by 
the poor for coffee, a decoction of which, properly prepared, can hardly be distinguished from the real. 
The French eat the young roots, and the etiolated leaves, with thin slices of bread and butter; and it is 
stated, that the inhabitants of Minorca subsisted on this root, after a swarm of locusts had destroyed the 
fruits of the earth. Miller remarks, that “ goats eat it, swine devour it greedily, sheep and kine are not fond 
of it, and horses refuse it.” 
Dandelion, in the language of flowers, stands for Oracle. 
