are
the good wise Hecate entertained Theseus, as we read in Evelyn's
_Acetaria_. Bergius says he has seen intractable cases of liver
congestion cured, after many other remedies had failed, by the
patients taking daily for some months, a broth made from
Dandelion roots stewed in boiling water, with leaves of Sorrel, and
the yelk of an egg; though (he adds) they swallowed at the same
time cream of tartar to keep their bodies open.

Incidentally with respect to the yelk of an egg, as prescribed here,
it is an established fact that patients have been cured of obstinate
jaundice by taking a raw egg on one or more mornings while
fasting. Dr. Paris tells us a special oil is to be extracted from the
yelks (only) of hard boiled eggs, roasted in pieces in a frying pan
until the oil begins to exude, and then pressed hard. Fifty eggs well
fried will yield about five ounces of this oil, which is acrid, and so
enduringly liquid that watch-makers use it for lubricating the axles
and pivots of their most delicate wheels. Old eggs furnish the oil
most abundantly, and it certainly acts as a very useful medicine for
an obstructed liver. Furthermore the shell, when finely triturated,
has served by its potentialised lime to cure some forms of cancer.
Sweet are the uses of adversity! even such as befell the egg
symbolised by Humpty-Dumpty:--

"Humptius in muro requievit Dumptius alto,
Humptius e muro Dumptius--heu! cecidit!
Sed non Regis equi, Reginae exercitus omnis
Humpti, te, Dumpti, restituere loco."

[151] The medicinal tincture of Dandelion is made from the entire
plant, gathered in summer, employing proof spirit which dissolves
also the resinous parts not soluble in water. From ten to fifteen
drops of this tincture may be taken with a spoonful of water three
times in the day.

Of the freshly prepared juice, which should not be kept long as it
quickly ferments, from two to three teaspoonfuls are a proper
dose. The leaves when tender and white in the spring are taken on
the Continent in salads or they are blanched, and eaten with bread
and butter. Parkinson says: "Whoso is drawing towards a
consumption, or ready to fall into a cachexy, shall find a
wonderful help from the use thereof, for some time together."
Officially, according to the London College, are prepared from the
fresh dried roots collected in the autumn, a decoction (one ounce
to a pint of boiling water), a juice, a fresh extract, and an
inspissated