212 
LANGUAGE AND 
Baptist—that is to say, on the 24th of June— 
it is customary for the villagers to gather and 
hang over the cottage doors and windows some 
of these blossoms, in the belief that its sanctity 
will deter malevolent spirits from entering the 
abode, and will also propitiate their patron saint 
in favor of the inmates. 
Another remarkable quality ascribed to this 
plant by our ancestors was the power it pos¬ 
sessed of curing all sorts of wounds, and in 
this belief, doubtless, originated its name of 
i tutsan, an evident corruption of its French cog¬ 
nomen, la toute saine , or all heal. 
If the blossoms are gathered and steeped in 
olive oil, and the bottle hung up exposed to the 
sun, until the oil becomes of a beautiful red 
color, the gatherer will then possess a most 
valuable household cure for all cuts and bruises 
of the flesh where the skin is broken ; it is in¬ 
valuable also for all galls and bruises on horses. 
No one living in the country should allow the 
period of bloom to pass by without collecting a 
supply and making the “red oil” of the shops. 
