In a very
short time her old flesh fell away, and she became so young, tender, and
fresh, that she began to look out for a husband. [13]
The common fennel (_Foeniculum vulgare_) was supposed to give strength
to the constitution, and was regarded as highly restorative. Longfellow,
in his "Goblet of Life," apparently alludes to our fennel:--
"Above the lowly plant it towers,
The fennel, with its yellow flowers;
And in an earlier age than ours
Was gifted with the wondrous powers
Lost vision to restore.
It gave new strength and fearless mood,
And gladiators, fierce and rude,
Mingled it in their daily food,
And he who battled and subdued,
The wreath of fennel wore."
The lady's-mantle, too (_Alchemilla vulgaris_), was once in great
request, for, according to Hoffman, it had the power of "restoring
feminine beauty, however faded, to its early freshness;" and the wild
tansy (_Tanacetum vulgare_), laid to soak in buttermilk for nine days,
had the reputation of "making the complexion very fair." [14] Similarly,
also, the great burnet saxifrage was said to remove freckles; and
according to the old herbalists, an infusion of the common centaury
(_Erythroea centaurium_) possessed the same property.
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