The rupture-wort (_Herniaria glabra_) was so called from its fancied
remedial powers, and the scabious in allusion to the scaly pappus of its
seeds, which led to its use in leprous diseases. The well-known fern,
spleen-wort (_Asplenium_), had this name applied to it from the lobular
form of the leaf, which suggested it as a remedy for diseases of the
spleen. Another of its nicknames is miltwaste, because:--
"The finger-ferne, which being given to swine,
It makes their milt to melt away in fine--"
A superstition which seems to have originated in a curious statement
made by Vitruvius, that in certain localities in the island of Crete the
flocks and herds were found without spleen from their browsing on this
plant, whereas in those districts in which it did not grow the reverse
was the case. [20]
The yellow bark of the berberry-tree (_Berberis vulgaris_), [21] when
taken as a decoction in ale, or white wine, is said to be a purgative,
and to have proved highly efficacious in the case of jaundice, hence in
some parts of the country it is known as the "jaundice-berry." Turmeric,
too, was formerly prescribed--a plant used for making a yellow dye; [22]
and celandine, with its yellow juice, was once equally in repute.
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