ITCHING POWDER

The seeds of DOG ROSE constitute the original itching powder with which children amused themselves by putting down each others’ necks. They are called Itchy-backs (Opie & Opie. 1959) and Cowitches (Holland). In Devonshire they are Ticklers, or Tickling Tommies (Macmillan), and in Scotland and Ireland, Buckie-lice (Grigson. 1955), buckie being the name under which the hips themselves are known. Another source of children’s fun lies in using the fruits of LONDON PLANE for itching powder. The spicules fill the air round the trees, and can be the cause of health problems.

INFLUENZA

Boil MEADOWSWEET flowers in water for ten minutes, then take three cupfuls a day (Fluck). It will have the same effect as aspirin, for some of the chemical constituents of the drug are also present in the plant. A LINSEED decoction was an Irish country cure for influenza (Logan). So it was in the Highlands of Scotland, too, with honey and a little vinegar added (Grant). One way to deal with ‘flu, according to Alabama belief, is to put an onion in a pan under the bed (R B Browne), and the complaint was tackled in Scotland in a similar way – one half at an open window, and the other above the door. The onion would attract the disease, and so turn black (Beith).

INDIAN PHYSIC

Gillenia trifoliata
This was the principal ingredient of “cure-all” nostrums sold by travelling medicine salesmen in America. So much of it was sold that the plant got the name Dime-a-bottle Plant (Mitton).

INDIAN SHOT

Canna indica
The seeds, round and bullet-like (that is why the plant is called Indian Shot), have been used as coffee substitutes, and to make rosaries (Coats. 1975). According to Burmese legend the canna sprang from sacred blood. Dewadat tried to kill the Buddha
by pushing a great boulder on him as he passed by below. The boulder fell at the Buddha’s feet, bursting into a thousand fragments. A single fragment striking the Buddha’s toe, drew blood, from which the canna arose (Skinner). On the other hand, it is said in Ghana that a witch keeps the soul and blood of the people she has killed in a pot. It is not real blood, but the seed of Canna indica, one for each person killed (Debrunner). The analogy is with the red flower, red = blood.

INDELIBLE INK

SLOE juice is indelible, as careless handling during the making of sloe gin will prove. Juice squeezed out of unripe sloes was sold at one time under the name of German Acacia, and used to mark linen – an ideal laundry marking, in fact. American Indian
groups used POISON IVY to make an indelible ink (Sanford).

INCENSE

CINNAMON has been used as incense – a little burned on charcoal, it is claimed, is good for “aiding meditation and clairvoyance” (Valiente). Egyptians used FENUGREEK seeds to make an incense oil (Sanecki), and powdered dried PATCHOULI leaves are sometimes introduced into incense (Schery). It is said that the Chinese used the sawdust of SANDALWOOD to make incense, mixed with swine’s dung(!) (Moldenke & Moldenke). CARDAMOM seeds are sometimes burned to produce an incenselike atmosphere (Valiente).

IMPOTENCE

The testicle-suggesting tubers of EARLY PURPLE ORCHID would ensure that Salep, a preparation made from them, enjoyed a reputation for curing impotence. Salep, which has medicinal value, was extremely popular, particularly in eastern countries, for the
purpose. It was treated as an aphrodisiac. ANISE was used as a Greek cure for the condition; ointments were made of the root of narcissus mixed with the seeds of anise or nettles (Simons). The early Persian and Arabian doctors prescribed GINGER for impotence (Dalby), ‘hot’ making the reason fairly obvious, and SESAME seed, blended with crow’s gall, made an embrocation for impotence (Lehner & Lehner).

INDIAN SHOT / Canna indica

The seeds, round and bullet-like (that is why the plant is called Indian Shot), have been used as coffee substitutes, and to make rosaries (Coats. 1975). According to Burmese legend the canna sprang from sacred blood. Dewadat tried to kill the Buddha by pushing a great boulder on him as he passed by below. The boulder fell at the Buddha’s feet, bursting into a thousand fragments. A single fragment striking the Buddha’s toe, drew blood, from which the canna arose (Skinner). On the other hand, it is said in Ghana that a witch keeps the soul and blood of the people she has killed in a pot. It is not real blood, but the seed of Canna indica, one for each person killed (Debrunner). The analogy is with the red flower, red = blood.

INDIAN PHYSIC / Gillenia trifoliata

This was the principal ingredient of “cure-all” nostrums sold by travelling medicine salesmen in America. So much of it was sold that the plant got the name Dime-a-bottle Plant (Mitton).

INDELIBLE INK

SLOE juice is indelible, as careless handling during the making of sloe gin will prove. Juice squeezed out of unripe sloes was sold at one time under the name of German Acacia, and used to mark linen – an ideal laundry marking, in fact. American Indian groups used POISON IVY to make an indelible ink (Sanford).

INCENSE

CINNAMON has been used as incense – a little burned on charcoal, it is claimed, is good for “aiding meditation and clairvoyance” (Valiente). Egyptians used FENUGREEK seeds to make an incense oil (Sanecki), and powdered dried PATCHOULI leaves are sometimes introduced into incense (Schery). It is said that the Chinese used the sawdust of SANDALWOOD to make incense, mixed with swine’s dung(!) (Moldenke & Moldenke). CARDAMOM seeds are sometimes burned to produce an incenselike atmosphere (Valiente).