So now, to be brief, and to change our allegory, "on the banks of the Nile," as Mrs. Malaprop would have pervertingly put it, with "a nice [xviii] derangement of epitaphs," we invite our many guests to a simple "dinner of herbs." Such was man's primitive food in Paradise: "every green herb bearing seed, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed:" "the green herb for meat for every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air." What better Preface can we indite than a grace to be said before sitting down to the meal? "Sallets," it is hoped, will be found "in the lines to make the matter savoury." Far be it from our object to preach a prelude of texts, or to weary those at our board I with a meaningless long benediction. "'Tis not so plain as the old Hill of Howth," said tender-hearted witty Tom Hood, with serio-comic truth, "a man has got his belly full of meat, because he talks with victuals in his mouth." Rather would we choose the "russet Yeas and honest kersey Noes" of sturdy yeoman speech; and cheerfully taking the head of our well-stocked table, ask in homely terms that "God will bless these the good creatures of His Herbal Simples to our saving uses, and us to His grateful service." 1897. [xix] CONTENTS. Absinthe . . . 614 Acorn . . . 15 Agaric, Fly . . . 368 Agrimony . . . 18 Alexanders . . . 313 Allspice . . . 386 Amadou . . . 378 Anemone, Wood . . . 20 Angelica . . . 23 Aniseed . . . 24 Apple . . . 26 Arsmart . . . 606 Artichoke, Globe . . . 548 " Jerusalem . . . 549 Arum . . . 33 Asafetida . . . 269 Ash, Mountain . . . 350 Asparagus . . . 35 Asphodel, Bog . . . 482 Avens . . . 47 Balm . . . 39 Barberry . . . 42 Barley . . . 44 Basil, Sweet . . . 45 Bean . . . 415 Bedstraw . . . 231 Bee sting . . . 260 Beet . . . 507 Belladonna . . . 388 Bennet Herb . . . 47 Betony, Water . . . 50, 198 " Wood . . . 42 Bilberry . . . 652 Bistort, Great . . . 607 Blackberry . . . 53 Black Pot Herb . . . 312 Blackthorn . . . 517 Bladderwrack . . . 503 Blessed Thistle . . . 557 Blue Bell . . . 57 Bog Bean . . . 58 Borage . . . 60 Bracken . . . 184 Brooklime . . . 431 Broom . . . 62 Bryony, Black . . . 68 " White . . . 65 Buckthorn . . . 69 Bugle . . . 510 Bullace . . . 520 Bulrush . . . 481 Burdock . . . 162 Burnet Saxifrage . . . 430 Butcher's Broom . . . 64 Butterbur . . . 119 Buttercup . . . 71