sore throat the [273] infusion of
Horse radish makes an excellent gargle; or it may be concentrated in
the form of a syrup, and mixed for the same use--a teaspoonful, with
a wine-glassful of cold water.

Gerard said of the root: "If bruised and laid to the part grieved with
the sciatica, gout, joyntache, or the hard swellings of the spleen and
liver, it doth wonderfully help them all." If the scraped root be
macerated in vinegar, it will form a mixture (which may be
sweetened with glycerine to the taste) very effective against
whooping cough. In pimply acne of the skin, to touch each papula
with some of the Compound Spirit of Horse Radish now and again
will soon effect a general cure of the ailment.

HOUSE LEEK (Crassulaceoe).

The House Leek (_Sempervivum tectorum_), or "never dying"
flower of our cottage roofs, which is commonly known also as
Stone-crop, grows plentifully on walls and the tops of small
buildings throughout Great Britain, in all country districts. It is
distinguished by its compact rose-shaped arrangement of seagreen
succulent leaves lying sessile in a somewhat flattened manner, and
by its popularity among country folk on account of these bland juicy
leaves, and its reputed protective virtues. It possesses a remarkable
tenacity of life, _quem sempervivam dicunt quoniam omni tempore
viret_, this being in allusion to its prolonged vitality; for which
reason it is likewise called Ayegreen, and Sengreen (_semper_,
green).

History relates that a botanist tried hard for eighteen months to dry a
plant of the House Leek for his herbarium, but failed in this object.
He afterwards restored it to its first site when it grew again as if
nothing had interfered with its ordinary life.

[274] The plant was dedicated of old to Thor, or Jupiter, and
sometimes to the Devil. It bore the titles of Thor's beard, Jupiter's
eye, Joubarb, and Jupiter's beard, from its massive inflorescence
which resembles the sculptured beard of Jove; though a more recent
designation is St. George's beard.

"Quem sempervivam dicunt quoniam viret omni
Tempore--'Barba Jovis' vulgari more vocatur,
Esse refert similem predictoe Plinius istam."
_Macer_.

The Romans took great pleasure in the House Leek, and grew it in
vases set before the windows of their houses. They termed it
_Buphthalmon_, _Zoophthalmon_, and _Stergethron_, as one of the
love medicines; it being further called _Hypogeson_, from growing
under