But Let Us Peep Into The 19th Edition Of The United States Dispensatory


Can this be the same fennel which "is one of our most grateful

aromatics," and which, because of "the absence of any highly excitant

property," is recommended for mixing with unpleasant medicines? Ask any

druggist, and he will say it is used for little else nowadays than for

making a tea to give babies for wind on their stomachs. Strange, but

true it is! Similar statements if not more remarkable ones could be made

abou
many of the other herbs herein discussed. Many of these are spoken

of as "formerly considered specific" for such and such troubles but "now

known to be inert."



The cause is not far to seek. An imaginative and superstitious people

attached fanciful powers to these and hundreds of other plants which the

intervening centuries have been unable wholly to eradicate, for among

the more ignorant classes, especially of Europe, many of these relics of

a dark age still persist.



But let us not gloat over our superior knowledge. After a similar lapse

of time, may not our vaunted wisdom concerning the properties of plants

look as ridiculous to the delver among our musty volumes? Indeed, it

may, if we may judge by the discoveries and investigations of only the

past fifty years. During this time a surprisingly large number of plants

have been proved to be not merely innocuous instead of poisonous, as

they were reputed, but fit for human food and even of superior

excellence!








TTITLE Angelica



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