Part 25 (1/2)

HYSSOP.

The cultivated Hyssop, now of frequent occurrence in the herb-bed, and a favourite plant there because of its fragrance, belongs to the l.a.b.i.ate order, and possesses cordial qualities which give it rank as a Simple. It has pleasantly odorous striped leaves which vary in colour, and possess a camphoraceous odour, with a warm aromatic bitter taste. This is of comparatively recent introduction into our gardens, not having been [278] cultivated until Gerard's time, about 1568, and not being a native English herb.

The _Ussopos_ of Dioscorides, was named from _azob_, a holy herb, because used for cleansing sacred places. Hence it is alluded to in this sense scripturally: ”Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm li. 7).

Solomon wrote ”of all trees, from the Cedar in Lebanon to the Hyssop that springeth out of the wall.” The healing virtues of the plant are due to a particular volatile oil which admirably promotes expectoration in bronchial catarrh and asthma. Hyssop tea is a grateful drink well adapted to improve the tone of a feeble stomach, being brewed with the green tops of the herb. The same parts of the plant are sometimes boiled in soup to be given for asthma. The leaves and flowers are of a warm pungent taste, and of an agreeable aromatic smell; therefore if the tops and blossoms are reduced to a powder and added to cold salad herbs they give a comforting cordial virtue.

There was formerly made a distilled water of Hyssop, which may still be had from some druggists, it being deemed a good pectoral medicine. In America an infusion of the leaves is used externally for the relief of muscular rheumatism, as also for bruises and discoloured contusions. The herb was sometimes called Rosemary in the East, and was hung up to afford protection from the evil eye, as well as to guard against witches.

To make Hyssop tea, one drachm of the herb should be infused in a pint of boiling water, and allowed to become cool. Then a winegla.s.sful is to be given as a dose two or three times in the day.

Of the essential oil of Hyssop, from one to two drops [279] should be the dose. Pliny said: ”Hyssop mixed with figs, purges; with honey, vomits.” If the herb be steeped in boiling water and applied hot to the part, it will quickly remove the blackness consequent upon a bruise or blow, especially in the case of ”black” or blood-shot eyes.

Parkinson says that in his day ”the golden hyssop was of so pleasant a colour that it provoked every gentlewoman to wear them in their heads, and on their arms with as much delight as many fine flowers can give.” The leaves are striped conspicuously with white or yellow; for which reason, and because of their fragrance, the herb is often chosen to be planted on graves. The green herb, bruised and applied, will heal cuts promptly. Its tea will a.s.sist in promoting the monthly courses for women. Hyssop grows wild in middle and southern Europe.

The Hedge Hyssop (_Gratiola officinalis_), or Water Hyssop, is quite a different plant from the garden pot-herb, and belongs to the scrofula-curing order, with far more active medicinal properties than the Hyssop proper. The commonly recognized Hedge Hyssop bears a pale yellow, or a pale purple flower, like that of the Foxglove; and the whole plant has a very bitter taste. A medicinal tincture (H.) is made from the entire herb, of which from eight to ten drops may be taken with a tablespoonful of cold water three times in the day. It will afford relief against nervous weakness and shakiness, such as occur after an excessive use of coffee or tobacco. The t.i.tle ”gratiola,” is from _dei gratia_, ”by the grace of G.o.d.”

The juice of the plant purges briskly, and may be usefully employed in some forms of dropsy. Its decoction is milder of action, and proves beneficial [280] in cases of jaundice. In France the plant is cultivated as a perfume, and it is said to be an active ingredient in the famous _Eau medicinale_ for gout.

Of the dried leaves from five to twenty-five grains will act as a drastic vermifuge to expel worms. The root resembles ipecacuanha in its effects, and in moderate quant.i.ties, as a powder or decoction, helps to stay b.l.o.o.d.y fluxes and purgings. The flowers are sometimes of a blood-red hue, and the whole plant contains a special essential oil.

”Whoso taketh,” says Parkinson, ”but one scruple of _Gratiola_ (Hedge Hyssop) bruised, shall perceive evidently his effectual operation and virtue in purging mightily, and that in great abundance, watery, gross, and slimy tumours.” _Caveat qui sumpserit_. On the principle of affinities, small diluted doses of the tincture, or decoction, or of the dried leaves, prove curative in cases of fluxes from the lower bowels, where irritation within the fundament is frequent, and where there is considerable nervous exhaustion, especially in chronic cases of this sort.

IVY, Common (_Araliaceoe_).

The clergyman of fiction in the sixth chapter of d.i.c.kens' memorable _Pickwick_, sings certain verses which he styles ”indifferent” (the only verse, by the way, to be found in all that great writer's stories), and which relate to the Ivy, beginning thus:--

”Oh! a dainty plant is the Ivy green, That creepeth o'er ruins old.”

The well known common Ivy (_Hedera helix_), which clothes the trunks of trees and the walls of old buildings so picturesquely throughout Great Britain, gets its botanical name most probably from the Celtic word _hoedra _[281] ”a cord,” or from the Greek _hedra_ ”a seat,” because sitting close, and its vernacular t.i.tle from _iw_ ”green,” which is also the parent of ”yew.” In Latin it is termed _abiga_, easily corrupted to ”iva”; and the Danes knew it as Winter-grunt, or Winter-green, to which appellation it may still lay a rightful claim, being so conspicuously green at the coldest times of the year when trees are of themselves bare and brown.

By the ancients the Ivy was dedicated to Bacchus, whose statues were crowned with a wreath of the plant, under the name Kissos, and whose wors.h.i.+ppers decorated themselves with its garlands. The leaves have a peculiar faintly nauseous odour, whilst they are somewhat bitter, and rough of taste. The fresh berries are rather acid, and become bitter when dried. They are much eaten by our woodland birds in the spring.

A crown of Ivy was likewise given to the cla.s.sic poets of distinction, and the Greek priests presented a wreath of the same to newly married persons. The custom of decorating houses and churches with Ivy at Christmastide, was forbidden by one of the early councils on account of its Pagan a.s.sociations. Prynne wrote with reference to this decree:--

”At Christmas men do always Ivy get, And in each corner of the house it set, But why make use then of that Bacchus weed?

Because they purpose Bacchus-like to feed.”

The Ivy, though sending out innumerable small rootlets, like suckers, in every direction (which are really for support) is not a parasite. The plant is rooted in the soil and gets its sustenance therefrom.

Chemically, its medicinal principles depend on the special balsamic resin contained in the leaves and stems, as well as const.i.tuting the aromatic gum.

[282] Ivy flowers have little or no scent, but their yield of nectar is particularly abundant.

When the bark of the main stems is wounded, a gum will exude, and may be collected: it possesses astringent and mildly aperient properties. This was at one time included as a medicine in the Edinburgh _Pharmacopoeia_, but it has now fallen out of such authoritative use. Its chemical principle is ”hederin.” The gum is anti-spasmodic, and promotes the monthly flow of women.

An infusion of the berries will relieve rheumatism, and a decoction of the leaves applied externally will destroy vermin in the heads of children.

Fresh Ivy leaves will afford signal relief to corns when they shoot, and are painful. Good John Wesley, who dabbled in ”domestic medicine,” and with much sagacity of observation, taught that having bathed the feet, and cut the corns, and having mashed some fresh Ivy leaves, these are to be applied: then by repeating the remedial process for fifteen days the corns will be cured.