So said Oribasus (freely translated) as long ago as the fourth century, in classic terms prophetic of later times, Simplicium medicamentorum et facultatum quoe in eis insunt cognitio ita necessaria est ut sine eâ nemo rite medicari queat.
But after all has been said and done, none the less must it be finally acknowledged in the pathetic utterance of King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon proverb, Nis [14] no wurt woxen on woode ne on felde, per enure mage be lif uphelden.
"No wort is waxen in wood or wold,
Which may for ever man's life uphold."
Neither to be discovered in the quaint Herbals of primitive times, nor to be learnt by the advanced chemical knowledge of modern plant lore, is there any panacea for all the ills to which our flesh is heir, or an elixir of life, which can secure for us a perpetual immunity from sickness. Contra vim mortis nullum medicamentum in hortis, says the rueful Latin distich:—
"No healing herb can conquer death,
And so for always give us breath."
To sum up which humiliating conclusion good George Herbert has put the matter thus with epigrammatic conciseness:—
"St. Luke was a saint and a physician, yet he is dead!"
But none the less bravely we may still take comfort each in his mortal frailty, because of the hopeful promise preached to men long since by the son of Sirach, "A faithful friend is the Medicine of life; they that fear the Lord shall find Him."
[15] ACORN.
This is the well-known fruit of our British Oak, to Which tree it gives the name—Aik, or Eik, Oak.