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CLARY (Wild) Wild Clary is most blasphemously called Christ's eye, because it cures diseases ol the eyes. 1 could wish from my soul that blasphemy, ignorance and tyranny were ceased among physicians, that they might be happy and joyful. It is like the Garden Clary, but smaller with many stalks about 18 inches (46 cm) high. The stalks are square and hairy and the flowers are a bluish colour. Where to find it: Dryish pastures, on waste ground and at the roadside. Flowering time: Summer. Astrology: It is under the dominion of the Moon. Medicinal virtues: The seeds beaten to powder and drunk with wine is. an admirable help to provoke lust. A decoction of the leaves warms the stomach, helps digestion and scatters congealed blood in any part of the body. The distilled water cleanseth the eyes of redness, waterishness and heat. For dimness of sight take one of its seeds, put it into the eye and let it remain until it drops out of itself. The pain will be nothing to speak of. It will cleanse the eyes and in oft repeating it, will take off a film which covereth the sight - a handsome, safer and easier remedy than to tear it off with a needle. Modern uses: Both the Wild and the Garden Clary are members of the Sage family. Their properties are similar, but the wild variety is considered to be more potent. The seed is mucilaginous, and some herbalists use the mucilage to sooth the eye. |
