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BALM MELISSA
OFFICINALIS It is very good to help digestion and open obstructions of the brain, and hath so much purging quality in it (saith Avicen) as to expel those melancholy vapours from the spirits and blood which are in the heart and arteries, although it cannot do so in other parts of the body. The herb is so well known as to be an inhabitant almost in every garden. It is also known as Sweet Balm or Lemon Balm. The leaves are set in pairs upon the stem, the flowers in whorls above each pair. Where to find it. A garden plant, but its natural habitat is the rnountaineous regions in southern Europe. Flowering time: Midsummer to early autumn. Astrology: It is an herb of Jupiter and under Cancer and strengthens the body in all its actions. Medicinal virtues: Let a syrup made with the juice of it and sugar be kept in every gentlewoman's house to relieve the weak stomachs and sick bodies of their poor and sickly neighbours. Also keep the dried herb in the house so that with other convenient simples you may make it into an electuary with honey. The Arabian physicians have extolled the virtues thereof to the skies, although the Greeks thought it not worth mentioning. Seraphio saith, it causes the mind and heart to become merry and revives the heart, pantings and swoonings, especially of such who are overtaken in sleep and driveth away all troublesome cares and thoughts out of the mind, arising from melancholy and black choler, which Avicen also confirmed. Dioscorides saith that the leaves steeped in wine, and the wine drank, and the leaves externally applied, is a remedy against the sting of a scorpion, and the biting of mad dogs; and commended the decoction, for women to bathe or sit in to procure their courses. It is good to wash aching teeth therewith, and profitable for those that have the bloody flux. The leaves also, with a little nitre taken in drink, are good against the surfeit of mushrooms, and help the griping pains of the belly; and being made into an electuary, it is good for them that cannot fetch their breath. Used with salt it takes away the wens, kernels or hard swellings in the flesh or throat. It cleanseth foul sores and easeth the pains of the gout. It is good for the liver and spleen. A tansy or caudle made with eggs and juice thereof, while it is young putting to some sugar and Rose-water, is good for woman in child-bed, when the afterbirth is not thoroughly voided, and for their faintings upon or in their sore travail. The herb bruised and boiled in a little white wine and oil, and laid warm on a boil, will ripen and break it. Modern uses: It is commonly prescribed as an infusion to induce mild perspiration in feverish patients. It is also used in medicines for the menopause, and for painful or suppressed menstruation, poor digestion, nausea and vomiting. The infusion can he taken freely. |