CULTURE AND PROPAGATION OF HERBS. 
347 
thinned out to a proper distance. They will not. bear transplanting, 
in consequence of having long tap roots, unless this operation be 
performed with great care while the plants are very young. If they 
he allowed to ripen and shed their seeds, an abundance of young 
plants will grow for a crop the following spring. 
Camomile, Anthemis nobilis .—The fabulous story of the origin 
of this plant is, that Anthemis, a virgin shepherdess, kept her flock 
near the cave where one of the Sybils delivered her oracles. An- 
%J 
tliemis frequently assisted at these ceremonies, and being present 
when the fate of lovers was to be decided, was so frightened, by Ar- 
phoiles bursting abruptly into the cave to know his doom, that she 
died on the spot, and was instantly changed into the plant that bears 
her name. Botanists, however, both ancient and modern, derive its 
name from a more rational source, viz : Anthemon, a flower, be¬ 
cause the plants are covered w T ith flowers. The medicinal qualities 
of camomiles have long been known and appreciated, and, according 
to Pliny, the first person who appears to have recommended this 
herb as a medicine, lived to a great age, without ever experiencing a 
day’s illness. The common single camomiles are preferable as a 
medicine to the double flowers, having a greater quantity of the yel¬ 
low Hirum, but the double ones are most esteemed as a marketable 
commodity. The leaves of the plant are commended, in preference 
to the blossoms, as a digestive, laxative, emollient, and diuretic me¬ 
dicine. The Romans dried and preserved both the flowers and 
leaves for medicinal purposes, and for the making of winter gar¬ 
lands. The powder of dried camomile-flowers was used in the time of 
Dioscorides as a cure for intermittent fevers. It is stated bj’ Boer- 
haave, that the oil obtained from camomiles, made into pills with a 
little bread, and given two hours before meals, and after a considera¬ 
ble fasting, is a certain cure for worms. Although the flowers are 
considered tonic, carminative, and slightly anodyne, yet a strong in¬ 
fusion of them, taken in a warm state, operates as a powerful emetic. 
Culture .—The single variety, although possessing stronger quali¬ 
ties, is but little cultivated. It is chiefly found in gravelly pastures 
and by road sides. Both the single and the double are perennials ; 
they are propagated by dividing the roots, and planting' them in 
small patches in March or April, about eight inches apart, in a light 
sandy soil. If the v r eather be dry, give a little water until they have 
rooted ; they will then soon cover the whole bed, and produce an 
abundance of flowers for several months, in succession. 
The flowers should be nulled from time to time as they make their 
appearance, fine days being always selected for the purpose, and the 
