persons apply these
leaves to open sores and wounds, or make a poultice of them, or
give fomentations with a hot decoction of the same, or prepare a
gargle from the decoction when cold.

The expressed juice of the greater Plantain has proved of curative
effect in tubercular consumption, with spitting of blood. This herb is
said to furnish a cure for the venomous bite of the rattlesnake, as
discovered by the negro Caesar in South Carolina.

It is of excellent curative use against the intermittent fevers of
Spring, but for counteracting autumnal (septic) fevers it is of no
avail.

The virtues of the greater Plantain as an application to wounds and
sores were known of old. It possesses a widespread repute in
Switzerland as a local remedy for toothache, the root or leaves being
applied against the ear of the affected side. Those persons who
proved the plant by taking it experimentally in various doses,
suffered much pain in the teeth and jaws. Accordingly, Dr. Hale
found that, of all his remedies [435] for the toothache, none could
compare with the _Plantago major_.

It gives rise to an active flow of urine when taken in considerable
doses, and when administered in small doses of the diluted tincture,
it has proved curative of bed wetting in young children. Gerard tells
that "Plantain leaves stuped stayeth the inordinate flux of the terms,
though it hath continued many years." For inflamed protruding
piles, a broad-leaved Plantain reduced to a pulp, and kept bound to
the parts by a compress, will give sure and speedy relief.
Highlanders call it _Slanlus_, the healing plant.

The Ribwort Plantain (_Plantago lanceolata_), Ribgrass, Soldiers, or
Cocks and Hens, is named from the strong parallel veins in its
leaves. The flower stalks are termed Kemps, from _campa_, a
warrior. The leaves are astringent, and useful for healing sores when
applied thereto, and for dressing wounds. This Plantain is also
named Hardheads, Fighting Cocks, and in Germany, Devil's Head,
being used in divination. Children challenge one another to a game
of striking off the heads.

Toads are thought to cure themselves of their ailments by eating its
leaves. In Sussex, it is known as Lamb's Tongue. The powdered root
of the Ribwort Plantain is of use for curing vernal ague, a
dessertspoonful being given for a dose, two or three times in a day.

The Water Plantain (_Alisma Plantago_), belonging to a different
natural order, is common on the margins