r the soldiers when landing at Galipoli, and notable
to obtain costly quinine, the Sweet Flag--_acorus calamas_--as their
sheet anchor against ague and allied maladies arising from _marsh
miasmata_. The infusion of the root should be given, or the
powdered root in doses of from ten to sixty grains. (_See_ RUSHES.)

FLAX (LINSEED).

The common Flax plant, from which we get our Linseed, is of great
antiquity, dating from the twenty-third century before Christ, and
having been cultivated in all countries down to the present time. But
it is exhausting to the soil in England, and therefore not favoured in
home growth for commercial uses. The seeds come to us chiefly
from the Baltic. Nevertheless, the plant (_Linum usitatissimum_) is
by no means uncommon in our cornfields, flowering in June, and
ripening its seed in September. Provincially it is called "Lint" and
"Lyne." A rustic proverb says "if put in the shoes it preserves [203]
from poverty"; wherever found it is probably an escape from
cultivation.

The word "flax" is derived from _filare_, to spin, or, _filum_, a
thread; and the botanical title, _linum_, is got from the Celtic _lin_
also signifying thread. The fibres of the bark are separated from the
woody matter by soaking it in water, and they then form tow, which
is afterwards spun into yarn, and woven into cloth. This water
becomes poisonous, so that Henry the Eighth prohibited the
washing of flax in any running stream.

The seeds ate very rich in linseed oil, after expressing which, the
refuse is oil-cake, a well-known fattening food for cattle. The oil
exists chiefly in the outer skins of the seeds, and is easily extracted
by boiling water, as in the making a linseed poultice. These seeds
contain gum, acetic acid, acetate and muriate of potash, and other
salts, with twenty-two parts per cent. of the oil. They were taken as
food by the ancient Greeks and Romans, whilst Hippocrates knew
the demulcent properties of linseed. An infusion of the seeds has
long been given as Linseed tea for soothing a sore chest or throat in
severe catarrh, or pulmonary complaints; also the crushed seed is
used for making poultices. Linseed oil has laxative properties, and
forms, when mixed with lime water, or with spirit of turpentine, a
capital external application to recent burns or scalds.

Tumours of a simple nature, and sprains, may be usefully rubbed
with Linseed oil; and another principal service to which the oil is
p