may be given in doses of from one fiftieth to one tenth of a grain
rubbed up with dry sugar of milk. Such a dose (or a drop of the
tincture with a tablespoonful of water), given every two or three
hours, will soon relieve a swollen testicle; and the tincture still
more diluted will ease the bladder difficulties of old men.
Furthermore, the tincture, in doses of two or three drops with a
spoonful of water, will allay spasmodic cough, as of whooping
cough, or bronchitis. The vinegar of Wood Anemone made from
the leaves retains all the more acrid properties of the plant, and is
put, in France, to many rural domestic purposes. When applied in
lotions every night for five or six times consecutively, it will heal
indolent ulcers; and its rubefacient effects serve instead of those
produced externally by mustard. If a teaspoonful is sprinkled
within the palms and its volatile vapours are inhaled through the
mouth and nose, this [22] will dispel an incipient catarrh. The
name Pulsatilla is a diminutive of the Latin _puls_, a pottage, as
made from pulse, and used at sacrificial feasts. The title Anemone
signifies "wind-flower." Pliny says this flower never opens but
when the wind is blowing. The title has been misapprehended as
"an emony." Turner says gardeners call the flowers "emonies";
and Tennyson, in his "Northern Farmer," tells of the dead keeper
being found "doon in the woild _enemies_ afoor I corned to the
plaice." Other names of the plant are Wood Crowfoot, Smell Fox
(Rants), and Flawflower. Alfred Austin says, "With windflower
honey are my tresses smoothed." It is also called the Passover
Flower, because blossoming at Easter; and it belongs to the
Ranunculaceous order of plants. The flower of the Wood Anemone
tells the approach of night, or of a shower, by curling over
its petals like a tent; and it has been said that fairies nestle
within, having first pulled the curtains round them. Among the old
Romans, to gather the first Anemone of the year was deemed a
preservative against fever. The Pasque flower, also named
Bluemoney and Easter, or Dane's flower, is of a violet blue,
growing in chalky pastures, and less common than the Wood
Anemone, but each possesses equally curative virtues.

The seed of the Anemone being very light and downy, is blown
away by the first breeze of wind. A ready-witted French senator
took advantage of this fact while visiting Bacheliere, a covetous
florist, near Paris, who had long held a sec