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A S V A T T H A .—The Indian Veda prescribes that for the
purpose of kindling the skcred fire, the wood of an Asvattha
{Ficus religiosa), growing upon a Sami {Mimosa Suma), should be
employed. The idea of a marriage suggested by such a union
of the two trees is also developed in the Vedas with much minuteness
of detail. The process by which, in the Hindu temples,
fire is obtained from wood resembles churning. It consists in
drilling one piece of wood (the Asvattha, symbolising the male
element) into another (the Sami, representing the female element).
This is eflfedted by pulling a string tied to it, with a jerk, with
one hand, while the other is slackened, and so alternately until the
wood takes fire. The fire is received on cotton or flax held in
the hand of an assistant Brahman. This Indian fire-generator is
known as the “ chark.” (See also S ami and P e e p u l ).
A U R IC U L A .—The old Latin name of this plant was Atiri-
cula ursi, from the shape of the leaves resembling a bear’s ear. It
is thought to be the Alisma of Dioscorides. Matthiolus and Pena call
it Sanicula Alpina, from its potency in healing wounds. Old herbalists
have also named it Paralytica on account of its being
esteemed a remedy for the palsy. Gerarde calls it Bear’s-ear, or
Mountain Cowslip, ancLtells us that the root was in great request
among Alpine hunters, for the effecft it produced in strengthening
the head and preventing giddiness and swimming of the brain overtaking
them on high elevations. The plant is reputed to be somewhat
carnivorous, and cultivators place juicy pieces of meat about
the roots, so that they may absorb the blood. In Germany, the
Auricula is considered emblematical of love of home.
A V A K A .—The Avaha or Sipdla is an India aquatic plant,
which plays an important part in their funeral ceremonies. It is
placed in a cavity made, according to their custom, to the northeast
of the sacred fire Ahavaniya, and it is believed that the soul
of the deceased person passes into this cavity, and thence ascends
with the smoke to heaven. The Avaha or Sipdla forms the food
of the Gandharvas, who preside over the India waters.
A v e n s .— See Herb Bennett.
A Z A L E A .—This handsome shrub is narcotic and poisonous
in all its parts. Xenophon, in his narrative of the ‘ Retreat of the
Ten Thousand,’ in Asia, after the death of Cyrus, tells how his
soldiers became temporarily stupefied and delirious, as if intoxicated,
after partaking of the honey of Trebizond on the Black Sea.
The baneful properties of this honey arose from the poisonous
nature of the blossoms of the Azalea Pontica, from which the bees
had collecited it.
B A C C H A R I S .—This plant is the Inula Conyza, and was
called Baccharis after the god Bacchus, to whom it was dedicated..
Virgil speaks of Baccharis as being used for making garlands, and
recommends it as a plant which is efficacious as a charm for repelling
calumny—
Bacchari froniem
Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua futuroP
Its English name is the Ploughman’s Spikenard; and it was highly
esteemed by the old herbalists on account of the sweet and
aromatic qualities of its root, from which the ancients compounded
an ointment which was also known as Baccharis.
B a c h e l o r ’ s B u t t o n s .— See Ranunculus.
B A L B A G A .—The Indian Grass, Eleusine Indica, had, according
to De Gubernatis, the Vedic name of Balbaja: and, as a
sacred herb, was employed in Indian religious festivals for litter,
in ceremonials connedted with the worship of the sacred Cow.
B A L D M O N E Y .—According to Gerarde, the Gentian was
formerly called Baldmoyne and Baldmoney; but Dr. Prior considers
that the name appertains to Meum athamanticum, and that it
is a corruption of the Latin valde bona, very good. The Grete
Herball, speaking of Sistra, he says, gives the following explanation:—“
Sistra is Dyll, some call it Mew; but that is not so.
Howbeit they be very like in properties and vertue, and be put
eche for other; but Sistra is of more vertue then Mew, and the
leaves be lyke an herbe called Valde Bona, and beareth smaller
sprigges as Spiknarde. It groweth on hye hylles ” (See F e l d w o d e ),
B A L I S .—This herb was believed by the ancients to possess
the property of restoring the dead to life. B y its means Aisculapius
himself was said to have been once resuscitated; and Pliny reports
that, according to the Greek historian Xanthus, a little dog, killed
by a serpent, was brought back to life by this wonderful herb Balis.
B A L S A M .—The seed vessel of this plant contains five cells.
When maturity approaches, each of these divisions curls up at the
slighest touch, and darts out its seeds by a spontaneous movement:
hence its generic name Impatiens, and its English appellation Noli
me tangere—Touch me not. Gerarde calls it the Balsam Apple, or
Apple of Jerusalem, and tells us that its old Latin name was Pomum
Mirabile, or Marvellous Apple. He also states that the plant was
highly esteemed for its property of alleviating the pains of maternity,
and that it was considered a valuable agent to remove sterility
—the patient first bathing and then anointing herself with an oil
compounded with the fruit. The Turks represent ardent love
by this fiower. Balsam is under the planetary infiuence of
Jupiter.
B A L M .—The Melissa, or Garden Balm, was renowned among
the Arabian physicians, by whom it was recommended for hypochondria
and affedtions of the heart, and according to Paracelsus the
primum ens Melissa promised a complete renovation of man. Drunk
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