cordials, notably
Chartreuse. If an incision is made in the bark of the stems, and the
crown of the root, at the commencement of spring, a resinous gum
exudes with a special aromatic flavour as of musk or benzoin, for
either of which it can be substituted. Gerard says: "If you do but
take a piece of the root, and hold it in your mouth, or chew the
same between your teeth, it doth most certainly drive away
pestilent aire." Icelanders eat both the stem and the roots raw with
butter. These parts of the plant, if wounded, yield a yellow juice
which becomes, when dried, a valuable medicine beneficial in
chronic rheumatism and gout. Some have said the Archangelica
was revealed in a dream by an angel to cure the plague; others
aver that it blooms on the day of Michael the Archangel (May 8th,
old style), and is therefore a preservative against evil spirits and
witchcraft.

ANISEED.

The Anise (_Pimpinella_), from "bipenella," because of its
secondary, feather-like leaflets, belongs to the umbelliferous
plants, and is cultivated in our gardens; but its aromatic seeds
chiefly come from Germany. The careful housewife will do well
always to have a [25] supply of this most useful Simple closely
bottled in her store cupboard. The herb is a variety of the Burnet
Saxifrage, and yields an essential oil of a fine blue colour. To
make the essence of Aniseed one part of the oil should be mixed
with four parts of spirit of wine. This oil, by its chemical basis,
"anethol," represents the medicinal properties of the plant. It has a
special influence on the bronchial tubes to encourage expectoration,
particularly with children. For infantile catarrh, after
its first feverish stage, Aniseed tea is very useful. It should be
made by pouring half-a-pint of boiling water on two teaspoonfuls
of the seeds, bruised in a mortar, and given when cold in doses of
one, two, or three teaspoonfuls, according to the age of the child.
For the relief of flatulent stomach-ache, whether in children or in
adults, from five to fifteen drops of the essence may be given on a
lump of sugar, or mixed with two dessertspoonfuls of hot water.
Gerard says: "The Aniseed helpeth the yeoxing, or hicket
(hiccough), and should be given to young children to eat which are
like to have the falling sickness, or to such as have it by patrimony
or succession." The odd literary mistake has been sometimes made
of regarding Aniseed as a plural noun: thus, in "The Englishman's