h reason the attributes of the Mullein still
remain accredited by mistake to the second plant. Former medical
writers called the Cowslip _herba paralysis_, or, "palsywort,"
because of its supposed efficacy in relieving paralysis. The whole
plant is known to be gently narcotic and somniferous. Pope
praised the herb and its flowers on account of their sedative
qualities:--

"For want of rest,
Lettuce and Cowslip wine--_Probatum est_."

Whilst Coleridge makes his _Christabel_ declare with reference to
the fragrant brew concocted from its petals, with lemons and
sugar:--

"It is a wine of virtuous powers,
My mother made it of wild flowers."

Physicians for the last two centuries have used the powdered roots
of the Cowslip (and the Primrose) for wakefulness, hysterical
attacks, and muscular rheumatism; and the cowslip root was
named of old both [124] _radix paralyseos_, and _radix arthritica_.
This root, and the flowers, have an odour of anise, which
is due to their containing some volatile oil identical with
mannite. Their more acrid principle is "saponin." Hill tells us that
when boiled in ale, the roots are taken by country persons for
giddiness, with no little success. "They be likewise in great request
among those that use to hunt after goats and roebucks on high
mountains, for the strengthening of the head when they pass by
fearful precipices and steep places, in following their game, so that
giddiness and swimming of the brain may not seize upon them."
The dose of the dried and powdered flowers is from fifteen to
twenty grains. A syrup of a fine yellow colour may also be made
from the petals, which answers the same purposes. Three pounds
of the fresh blossoms should be infused in five pints of boiling
water, and then simmered down to a proper consistence with
sugar.

Herbals of the Elizabethan date, say that an ointment made from
cowslip flowers "taketh away the spots and wrinkles of the skin,
and doth add beauty exceedingly, as divers ladies, gentlewomen,
and she citizens--whether wives or widows--know well enough."

The tiny people were then supposed to be fond of nestling in the
drooping bells of Cowslips, and hence the flowers were called
fairy cups; and, in accordance with the doctrine of signatures, they
were thought effective for removing freckles from the face.

"In their gold coats spots you see,
These be rubies: fairy favours.
In these freckles live their sa