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