68 THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY HERB DOCTOR. 
COMFREY ROOT (Sympxyrum Orricrnauis.) 
This root is a native of Europe, but is now found in most 
civilized lands. It has long been held in high esteem as a 
demulcent. The early Britons called it Knit-Bone. The root 
was washed, scraped, and mashed, and applied in the 
form of a poultice over the broken limb, where it not only 
assisted the healing process, but hardening, it formed a splint. 
Dr Skelton strongly recommended it as a poultice in the 
rupture of young children, applied over the part. Of late: 
years we have grown our own stock of this valuable root: it 
will be seen among our coloured lithographs. The Comfrey 
is cultivated by herbalists and used formaking cough syrups and 
demulcent drinks. As a remedy for bleeding from the internal 
organs, it is affirmed that it will heal inward wounds better than 
any other agent yet discovered. It is a good ingredient in 
consumptive mixtures, also for leucorrhoa or whites. Dr. Fox 
recommends a syrup of it for this purpose, prepared thus :— 
Take two ounces of the fresh root, wash and slice it ; one ounce: 
each of white pond lily root, stinking arrach, cudweed, and 
ginger root. Boil the whole gently in two quarts of water for 
half an hour, pour the whole hot upon two nutmegs powdered 
fine, half a teaspoonfnl of cayenne pepper, and half a pound of 
loaf sugar. A wineglassful of this four times a day, if persevered 
in, will cure this troublesome and weakening complaint. The 
decoction is two ounces of green or one ounce of dry to one 
pint. A wineglassful four times a day; it may be sweetened. 
COMMON MALLOW (Matva Sytvesrris). 
_ There are two varieties of the mallow, the garden and the: 
marsh, the former growing in the form of a tree; as most 
people are familiar with this kind we need not describeit. The 
leaves are good as a fomentation and _ poultice for 
inflammatory swellings, simply pour boiling water over them 
and lay them on the affected part, or bathe the part with the 
decoction, which is also recommended as a domestic remedy 
for coughs andcolds. The root is thedemulcent. part. Infused 
