MEDICINAL USES
ACKNOWLEDGED BY LINDLEY IN HIS “FLORA MEDICA, 1838.”
Violet.—Flowers anodyne, and roots emetic. Used in the Grand Seignor’s Sherbet.
Cowslip.—Pleasant sedative, particularly in wine.
Pilewort.—Very acrid. Used sometimes for blisters, or for drawing-plaisters, but with great caution.
Lady’s-smocks.—Lindley does not seem to know its use in agues, but says it is a popular remedy for falling-sickness in children.
Wood Sorrel.—A cooling drink in fevers.
Wood Anemone.—The pulsatilla very acrid, and those who rub down the powder vomit and are affected with colic if they do not use a veil. Used in very small doses for complaints on the lungs. The Anemone Nemerosa is much milder. Both have been used by country people, in various ways, often with good effect; but sometimes producing much mischief.
Sallow.—The bark of many willows is an effectual substitute for cinchona or Jesuit’s bark. A substance called Salicine is produced from it, used with effect instead of Sulphate of Quinia.—Lindley.
Willow bark contains a good deal of tannin.—Hatchet.
Next to oak-bavin, willow sprays peeled make the best charcoal for gunpowder.