We read in an old tract (London, 1682) on _The use of Juniper and Elder berries in our Publick Houses_: "The simple decoction of these berries, sweetened with a little sugar candy, will afford liquors so pleasant to the eye, so grateful to the palate, and so beneficial to the [294] body, that the wonder is they have not been courted and ushered into our Publick Houses, so great are the extraordinary beauty and vertues of these berries." "One ounce, well cleansed, bruised, and mashed, will be enough for almost a pint of water. When they are boiled together the vessel must be carefully stopt, and after the boiling is over one tablespoonful of sugar candy must be put in." From rifts which occur spontaneously in the bark of the shrubs in warm countries issues a gum resembling frankincense. This gum, as Gerard teaches, "drieth ulcers which are hollow, and filleth them with flesh if they be cast thereon." "Being mixed with oil of roses, it healeth chaps of the hands and feet." Bergius said "the lignum (wood) of Juniper is _diureticum, sudorificum, mundificans_; the _bacca_ (berry), _diuretica, nutriens, diaphoretica_." In Germany the berries are added to _sauerkraut_ for flavouring it. Virgil thought the odour exhaled by the Juniper tree noxious, and he speaks of the _Juniperis gravis umbra_:-- "Surgamus! solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra; Juniperis gravis umbra; nocent et frugibus umbrae." _Eclog. X. v._ 75. But it is more scientific to suppose that the growth of Juniper trees should be encouraged near dwellings, because of the balsamic and antiseptic odours which they constantly exhale. The smoke of the leaves and wood was formerly believed to drive away "all infection and corruption of the aire which bringeth the plague, and such like contagious diseases." Sprays of Juniper are frequently strewn over floors of apartments, so as to give out when trodden down, their agreeable odour which is supposed to promote [295] sleep. Queen Elizabeth's bedchamber was sweetened with their fumes. In the French hospitals it is customary to burn Juniper berries with Rosemary for correcting vitiated air, and to prevent infection. On the Continent the Juniper is regarded with much veneration, because it is thought to have saved the life of the Madonna, and of the infant Jesus, whom she hid under a Juniper bush when flying into Egypt from the assassins of Herod. Virgil alludes to the Juniper as Cedar:-- "Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrum." _Georgic_. "But learn to burn within your sheltering rooms Sweet Juniper." Its powerful odour is thought to defeat the keen scent of the hound; and a hunted hare when put to extremities will seek a safe retreat under cover of its branches. Elijah was sheltered from the persecutions of King Ahab by the Juniper tree; since which time it has been always regarded as an asylum, and a symbol of succour.