venerem, mulieribus addit
Ruta facit castum, dat lumen, et ingerit astum
Coctaque ruta facit de pulicibus loca tuta."

"Rue maketh chaste: and eke preserveth sight;
Infuseth wit, and putteth fleas to flight."

The leaves promote the menses, being given in doses of from fifteen
to twenty grains. "Pliny," says John Evelyn, "reports Rue to be of
such effect for the preservation of sight that the painters of his time
used to devour a great quantity of it; and the herb is still eaten by
the Italians frequently mingled amongst their salads." With respect to
its use in epilepsy, Julius Caesar Baricellus said: "I gave to my own
children two scruples of the juice of Rue, and a small matter of
gold; and, by the blessing of God, they were freed from their fits."
The essential oil of Rue may be used for the same purpose, and in
like manner.

[478] Formerly this plant was thought to bestow second sight; and
so sacred a regard was at one time felt for it in our islands, that the
missionaries sprinkled their holy water from brushes made of the
Rue; for which cause it was named "Herb of Grace."

Gerard tells us: "The garden Rue, which is better than the wild Rue
for physic's use, grows most profitably (as Dioscorides said) under a
fig tree." Country people boil its leaves with treacle, thus making a
conserve of them. These leaves are curative of croup in poultry.

In the early part of the present century it was customary for judges,
sitting at Assize, to have sprigs of Rue placed on the bench of the
dock, as defensive against the pestilential infection brought into
court from gaol by the prisoners. The herb was supposed to afford
powerful protection from contagion.

At the present time the medicinal tincture (H.) is used for the
treatment of rheumatism when developed in the membranes which
invest the bones. If bruised and applied, the leaves will ease the
severe pain of sciatica. The expressed juice taken in small quantities
is a noted remedy for nervous nightmare. A quaint old rhyme says
of the plant:--

"Nobilis est ruta quia lumina reddit acuta."

"Noble is Rue! it makes the sight of eyes both sharp and clear;
With help of Rue, oh! blear-eyed man I thou shalt see far and
near."

This is essentially the case when the vision has become dim through
over exertion of the eyes. It was with "Euphrasy and Rue" the visual
nerve of Adam was purged by Milton's Angel.

As a preserver of chastity Oph