lk.

Among the Christian saints St. John represents light; and the flowers
of this plant were taken as a reminder of the beneficent sun.

Tutsan is a large flowered variety (_Hypericum androsoemum_) of
the St. John's Wort, named from the French _toute saine_, or "heal
all," because of its many curative virtues; and is common in Devon
and Cornwall. It possesses the same properties as the perforate sort,
but yields a stronger and more camphoraceous odour when the
flowers and the seed vessels are bruised. A tincture made from this
plant, as well as that made from the perforate St. John's Wort, has
been used with success to cure melancholia, and its allied forms of
insanity. The seed-capsules of the Tutsan are glossy and berry-like;
the leaves retain their strong resinous odour after being dried.

Tutsan is called also provincially "Woman's Tongue," once set
g(r)owing it never stops; and by country folk in Ireland the "Rose of
Sharon." Its botanical name Androsoemum, _andros aima_, man's
blood, derived from the red juice and oil, probably suggested the
popular title of Tutsan, "heal all," often corrupted to "Touchen leaf."

Gerard gives a receipt, as a great secret, for making a compound oil
of _Hypericum_, "than which," he says, "I know that in the world
there is no better; no, not the natural balsam itself." "The plant," he
adds, "is a singular remedy for the sciatica, provided that the patient
drink water for a day or two after purging." "The leaves laid upon
broken shins and scabbed legs do heal them."

The whole plant is of a special value for healing [291] punctured
wounds; and its leaves are diuretic. It is handsome and shrubby,
growing to a height of two or three feet.

JUNIPER.

The Juniper shrub (Arkenthos of the ancients), which is widely
distributed about the world, grows not uncommonly in England as a
stiff evergreen conifer on heathy ground, and bears bluish purple
berries. These have a sweet, juicy, and, presently, bitter, brown
pulp, containing three seeds, and they do not ripen until the second
year. The flowers blossom in May and June. Probably the shrub gets
its name from the Celtic _jeneprus_, "rude or rough." Gerard notes
that "it grows most commonly very low, like unto our ground
furzes." Gum Sandarach, or Pounce, is the product of this tree.

Medicinally, the berries and the fragrant tops are employed. They
contain "juniperin," sugar, resins, wax, fat, formic and acetic acids,
and malate