This All-heal, and so named of right, Few plants are, in our own days, in more repute as a tonic than the Agrimony. The village doctors and doctresses yet prescribe it, and the author has known it to be taken in cases of debility with apparent benefit, for the herb is doubtless somewhat tonic in its properties, though less so than that common medicinal plant, the red centaury. The Agrimony is an ingredient in most of the herb teas which have from time to time been recommended to public notice. A decoction of the plant is also commonly used as a gargle for diseased throat, and the notion that it was good for a disordered liver once gave it the familiar name of Liverwort. Coughs, agues, gout, and a variety of ills, were thought by the old herbalists to be ameliorated by syrups and salves made of the Agrimony; and the native of any other country, who should read their pages, while he wondered at the prevalence of serpents in the land, might at least congratulate the physicians of the age that herbs to cure their "biting" were to be found in every wood. Doubtless, in times when forests were more frequent than now, the rambler or the woodman might be more often bitten by the viper or adder, the only native reptile whose bite is poisonous; but in those days of more imperfect knowledge, the innocent snakes and slow-worms were probably believed also to have the power of inflicting deadly wounds, so that the apparent cures wrought by these herbs would be numerous. The Agrimony contains tannin, and has been used in dressing leather; it also dyes wool of a yellow colour. It is L'Aigremoine of the French, and Der Odermennig of the Germans, while the Dutch call it Agrimonie. The root in spring is sweet scented. 11. ALCHEMILLA (Lady's Mantle). 1. A. vulgáris (Common Lady's Mantle).-Leaves kidney-shaped, plaited, with from 7 to 9 lobes, blunt, serrated; flowers in loose divided clusters. Plant perennial. This herb is more attractive by the beauty of its foliage than by the small but pretty flowers, which from June to August deck it with yellowish green petals. Purton, in his "Midland Flora," remarks, "I agree with Dr. Abbot, the author of the Bedford Flora,' that this is one of the most elegant of the native plants," and though more showy and brilliant flowers are to be seen, yet most people would agree with this opinion. The stem is about a foot high, and the foliage, which is-very large for the size of the blossom, is rendered of a grey green by the quantity of soft silky hair upon it. The plant is not uncommon on hilly pastures in the north of this kingdom, growing in similar places throughout nearly the whole of Europe. It bears in Sweden, as in our country, a name which refers to the Virgin Mary, for it is there called Maria Kapa. The French term the plant L'Alchemille, the Germans Der Sinau, the Dutch Leuwenvoet. In the upland pastures, where it abounds, it is eaten readily by sheep as well as by some other animals. Some writers say that the plant is not relished by cows, but Haller, in his "Iter Helveticum," remarks, that the extraordinary richness of the milk in the dairies of the Alps is attributed altogether to these animals having fed upon this plant and the Ribwort Plantain. In Gothland a tincture is made of its leaves for spasmodic or convulsive diseases. In an epidemic complaint of this kind in 1754, a medicine made from this Lady's Mantle was considered very efficacious, and it had long been in repute as a remedy in milder forms of disease, and was also, though with little reason, praised as an outward application to wounds. Several species of the Alchemilla are esteemed as tonics, but, as Professor Burnett observes, they have been prized above their deserts. The Arabian physicians have a very high opinion of the remedial virtues of this common species, and Hoffman and others have affirmed that it has the power of restoring beauty and freshness to the faded complexion. It is called Alkemelyeh by the Arabs, and was formerly prized by the alchemists as an ingredient in their preparations. 2. A. alpína (Alpine Lady's Mantle). — Root-leaves digitate, with from 5 to 7 divisions, which are blunt and closely serrated at the ends, and white and satiny beneath. Plant perennial. Two varieties occur of this pretty plant, which are by some writers described as species. In the first the leaflets are quite distinct to the base, and in the second the leaflets are joined together to nearly a third of their length. The former is sometimes called A. argentea, the latter A. conjuncta. The name of argentea would not be inapplicable to any form of the species, for never was leaf more silvery than this, nor have we any native plant the foliage of which is more beautiful. Like many other leaves rendered white by silky down, they long preserve their beauty even in the herbarium. So glossy is the foliage, that the under surface is like satin, and is so lustrous as to have quite a metallic appearance. This Alpine species grows high up on the mountains at the north of England and Scotland, and is very frequent in the Highlands, as well as on the heights of Switzerland, and other European countries. It is supposed by Lightfoot to aid considerably in giving the peculiarly excellent flavour to the Highland mutton. 3. A. arvensis (Field Lady's Mantle, or Parsley Piert).-Leaves palmate, 3-cleft; lobes wedge-shaped, deeply toothed at the end; stem prostrate or ascending; flowers sessile, axillary. Plant annual. This is a common little plant everywhere in fields and waste places, often growing on the wall beside Whitlow-grass, but not flowering until May, when that blossom has withered. It continues in bloom till August. The branches and leafy stems often spread over the soil, and are five or six inches long. The small tufts of greenish flowers are almost hidden among the leaves and their large stipules. 12. SANGUISÓRBA (Burnet). 1. S. officinalis (Great Burnet).—Leaves pinnate, with about 13 leaflets, which are oblong and heart-shaped, stalked, blunt, and coarsely serrated; spikes egg-shaped, or in one variety of the plant long and cylindrical. Plant perennial. This Burnet has from June to September large oblong heads of flowers, of a dull purple colour, standing on a much-branched stem, from one to three feet high. Cattle are very fond of this plant, which is not uncommon in moist pastures. It had the old name of Bloodwort, not so much from its colour probably as from its supposed virtues as a styptic. The people of Siberia are said to eat the roots. 13. POTÉRIUM (Salad Burnet). 1. P. Sanguisorba (Salad Burnet, or Burnet Bloodwort).-Stem slightly angular, lower part often downy; leaves pinnate, with numerous small serrated leaflets, which are smooth or slightly hairy beneath; calyx of the fruit smooth, and marked with a net-work; flowers in roundish heads, the upper ones in each head bearing crimson tufted pistils; the lower ones from 30 to 40 stamens. Plant perennial. This plant as early as June has its pistil bearing blossoms open, the purplish crimson styles with their stigmas looking like little richly tinted brushes long before the flowers bearing stamens expand. These latter are fully blown a week or two later, and the plant is then in flower till the end of July. The lower flowers, which contain the stamens, present a very elegant appearance, as their long filaments hang all around the oval head. The stem is about a foot and a half in height, often much tinged with red, while the leaf-sprays which crowd around its base are bright green and of an elegant form. To these leaves the plant owes its name of Salad Burnet, for their flavour, so like that of the cucumber, induced our forefathers to eat them in their salad, and they are still gathered for this purpose on the Continent. In France the plant is called La Pimprenelle, and the Germans call it Der Pimpernelle. Both this and the Great Burnet were formerly planted |