called _Fuga doemoniorum_, "the Devil's Scourge," "the Grace of
God," "the Lord God's Wonder Plant." and some other names of a
like import, probably too, because found to be of curative use
against insanity. Again, it used to be entitled _Hexenkraut_, and
"Witch's Herb," on account of its reputed magical powers.
Matthiolus said, _Scripsere quidam Hypericum adeo odisse
doemones, ut ejus suffitu statim avolent_, "Certain writers have said
that the St. John's Wort is so detested by evil spirits that they fly
off at a whiff of its odour."

Further names of the herb are "Amber," "Hundred Holes," and _Sol
terrestris_, the "Terrestrial Sun," because it was believed that all
the spirits of darkness vanish in its presence, as at the rising of
the sun.

For children troubled with incontinence of urine at night, and who
wet their beds, an infusion, or tea, of the St. John's Wort is an
admirable preventive medicine, which will stop this untoward
infirmity.

The title St. John's Wort is given, either because the plant blossoms
about St. John's day, June 24th, or because the red-coloured sap
which it furnishes was thought to resemble and signalise the blood
of St. John the Baptist. Ancient writers certainly attributed a host of
virtues to this plant, especially for the cure of hypochondriasis, and
insanity. The red juice, or "red [288] oil," of _Hypericum_ made
effective by hanging for some months in a glass vessel exposed to
the sun, is esteemed as one of the most popular and curative
applications in Europe for excoriations, wounds, and bruises.

The flowers also when rubbed together between the fingers yield a
red juice, so that the plant has obtained the title of _Sanguis
hominis_, human blood. Furthermore, this herb is _Medicamentum
in mansa intus sumptum_, "to be chewed for its curative effects."

And for making a medicinal infusion, an ounce of the herb should
be used to a pint of boiling water. This may be given beneficially
for chronic catarrhs of the lungs, the bowels, or the urinary
passages, Dr. Tuthill Massy considered the St. John's Wort, by virtue
of its healing properties for injuries of the spinal cord, and its
dependencies, the vulnerary "arnica" of the organic nervous system.
On the doctrine of signatures, because of its perforated leaves, and
because of the blood-red juice contained in the capsules which it
bears, this plant was formerly deemed a most excellent specific for
healing wounds, and for stopping