“’Twas the maiden’s matchless beauty
    That drew my heart a-nigh;
  Not the fern-root potion,
    But the glance of her blue eye.”

Then there is the basil with its mystic virtues, and the cumin-see and cyclamen, which from the time of Theophrastus have been coveted for their magic virtues.  The purslane, crocus, and periwinkle were thought to inspire love; while the agnus castus and the Saraca Indica (one of the sacred plants of India), a species of the willow, were supposed to drive away all feelings of love.  Similarly in Voigtland, the common basil was regarded as a test of chastity, withering in the hands of the impure.  The mandrake, which is still worn in France as a love-charm, was employed by witches in the composition of their philtres; and in Bohemia, it is said that if a maiden can secretly put a sprig of the common clover into her lover’s shoe ere he sets out on a journey, he will be faithful to her during his absence.  As far back as the time of Pliny, the water-lily was regarded as an antidote to the love-philtre, and the amaranth was used for curbing the affections.  On the other hand, Our Lady’s bedstraw and the mallow were supposed to have the reverse effect, while the myrtle not only created love, but preserved it.  The Sicilians still employ hemp to secure the affections of those they love, and gather it with various formalities,[2] fully believing in its potency.  Indeed, charms of this kind are found throughout the world, every country having its own special plants in demand for this purpose.  However whimsical they may seem, they at any rate have the sanction of antiquity, and can claim an antecedent history certainly worthy of a better cause.

Footnotes: 

1.  Thorpe’s “Northern Mythology.”

2. Fraser’s Magazine, 1870, p. 720.

CHAPTER IX.

DREAM-PLANTS.

The importance attached to dreams in all primitive and savage culture accounts for the significance ascribed to certain plants found by visitors to dreamland.  At the outset, it may be noticed that various drugs and narcotic potions have, from time immemorial, been employed for producing dreams and visions—­a process still in force amongst uncivilised tribes.  Thus the Mundrucus of North Brazil, when desirous of gaining information on any special subject, would administer to their seers narcotic drinks, so that in their dreams they might be favoured with the knowledge required.  Certain of the Amazon tribes use narcotic plants for encouraging visions, and the Californian Indians, writes Mr. Tylor,[1] “would give children narcotic potions, to gain from the ensuing visions information about their enemies;” whilst, he adds, “the Darien Indians used the seeds of the Datura sanguinca to bring on in children prophetic delirium, in which they revealed hidden treasure.”  Similarly, the Delaware medicine-men used to drink decoctions of an intoxicating nature, “until their minds became wildered, so that they saw extraordinary visions."[2]