Doctor," it is said, "Some anny seeds be sweet, and some bitter."
An old epithet of the Anise was, _Solamen intestinorum_--"The
comforter of the bowels." The Germans have an almost superstitious
belief in the medicinal virtues of Aniseed, and all their
ordinary household bread is plentifully flavoured with the
whole seeds. The mustaceoe, or spiced cakes of the Romans,
introduced at the close of a rich entertainment, to prevent
indigestion, consisted of meal, with anise, cummin, and other
aromatics used for staying putrescence or fermentation within the
[26] intestines. Such a cake was commonly brought in at the end
of a marriage feast; and hence the bridecake of modern times has taken
its origin, though the result of eating this is rather to provoke
dyspepsia than to prevent it. Formerly, in the East, these seeds
were in use as part payment of taxes: "Ye pay tithe of mint, anise
[dill?], and cummin!" The oil destroys lice and the itch insect, for
which purpose it may be mixed with lard or spermaceti as an
ointment. The seed has been used for smoking, so as to promote
expectoration.

Besides containing the volatile oil, Aniseed yields phosphates,
malates, gum, and a resin. The leaves, if applied externally, will
help to remove freckles; and, "Let me tell you this," says a
practical writer of the present day, "if you are suffering from
bronchitis, with attacks of spasmodic asthma, just send for a bottle
of the liqueur called 'Anisette,' and take a dram of it with a little
water. You will find it an immediate palliative; you will cease
barking like Cerberus; you will be soothed, and go to sleep."--
_Experto crede!_ "I have been bronchitic and asthmatic for twenty
years, and have never known an alleviative so immediately
efficacious as 'Anisette.'"

For the restlessness of languid digestion, a dose of essence of
Aniseed in hot water at bedtime is much to be commended. In the
_Paregoric Elixir_, or "Compound Tincture of Camphor," prescribed
as a sedative cordial by doctors (and containing some opium),
the oil of Anise is also included--thirty drops in a pint of
the tincture. This oil is of capital service as a bait for mice.

APPLE.

The term "Apple" was applied by the ancients indiscriminately to
almost every kind of round fleshy fruit, [27] such as the
thornapple, the pineapple, and the loveapple. Paris gave to Venus
a golden apple; Atalanta lost her classic race by staying to pick up
an apple; the fruit of the