t into little pieces, and sewn in a knot against
him, he was free." Sheep suffering from the foot-rot, if able to get
at the bark and young shoots of an Elder tree, will thereby cure
themselves of this affection. The great Boerhaave always took off
his hat when passing an Elder bush. Douglas Jerrold once, at a
well-known tavern, ordered a bottle of port wine, which should be
"old, but not _Elder_."

The _Dwarf Elder_ (_Sambucus ebulus_) is quite a different
shrub, which grows not infrequently in hedges and bushy places,
with a herbaceous stem from two to three feet high. It possesses a
smell which is less aromatic than that of the true Elder, and it
seldom brings its fruit to ripeness. A rob made therefrom is
actively purgative; one tablespoonful for a dose. The root, which
has a nauseous bitter taste, was formerly used in dropsies. A
decoction made from it, as well as from the inner bark, purges, and
promotes free urination.

[172] The leaves made into a poultice will resolve swellings and
relieve contusions. The odour of the green leaves will drive away
mice from granaries. To the Dwarf Elder have been given the
names Danewort, Danesweed, and Danesblood, probably because
it brings about a loss of blood called the "Danes," or perhaps as a
corruption of its stated use _contra quotidianam_. The plant is also
known as Walewort, from _wal_--slanghter. It grows in great
plenty about Slaughterford, Wilts, where there was a noted
fight with the Danes; and a patch of it thrives on ground in
Worcestershire, where the first blood was drawn in the civil war
between the Parliament and the Royalists. Rumour says it will
only prosper where blood has been shed either in battle, or in
murder.

ELECAMPANE.

"Elecampane," writes William Coles, "is one of the plants whereof
England may boast as much as any, for there grows none better in
the world than in England, let apothecaries and druggists say what
they will." It is a tall, stout, downy plant, from three to five feet
high, of the Composite order, with broad leaves, and bright,
yellow flowers. Campania is the original source of the plant
(_Enula campana_), which is called also Elf-wort, and Elf-dock.
Its botanical title is _Helenium inula_, to commemorate Helen of
Troy, from whose tears the herb was thought to have sprung, or
whose hands were full of the leaves when Paris carried her off
from Menelaus. This title has become corrupted in some districts
to Horse-heal, or Ho