 Melilot |
MELILOT MELILOTUS
OFFICINALIS The juice dropped into the eyes, is a singular good medicine to take away the film that dims the sight. A common biennial, also known as King's Clover and Ribbed Melilot, growing two or three feet (60 to 90 cm) high. The flowers are yellow and grow on long spikes. They are followed by a rough, round pod. Where to find it: It grows amid the corn and in hedges. Flowering time: Early to midsummer. Astrology: Not assigned. Medicinal virtues: Boiled in wine and applied as a compress, Melilot softens all hard tumours and inflammations in the eyes, or the fundament and privy parts of men or women. Sometimes the yolk of a roasted egg, fine flour, Poppy seed, or Endive is added to it. It helps spreading ulcers in the head if washed with a lye made of it. To ease pains of the stomach, it is carefully applied fresh or boiled with any of the aforementioned things. If dropped into the ears, it will ease the pains in them. Steeped in vinegar or Rose-water, it will mitigate a headache. Combined with Chamomile flowers, Melilot flowers are used in clysters to expel wind and ease pains, or put into poultices to assuage swelling tumours in the spleen and other parts and to help inflammations in any part of the body. The head washed with the distilled water of the herb and flowers strengthens the memory and preserves the head and brain from pain and apoplexy. Modern uses: The plant contains coumarin, which is anticoagulant. It is mainly used as a remedy for flatulence and to improve the taste of nauseous medicines. The whole plant is collected when in flower and used as an infusion - 1 Oz (28 9) to 1 Pt (568 ml) of boiling water. The dose is 2 fl oz (56 ml) three or four times a day. The infusion makes a useful eye lotion for inflammation of the eyelids, mainly because of its astringency. The infusion is anti-thrombotic and is taken as a tonic for the venous system and as a sedative for neuralgia and insomnia. |