“Though the camomile, the more it is trodden on the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted the sooner it wears”.[23] [23] _King Henry IV._, part i., act ii., scene iv. The chamomile has an ancient reputation for its medicinal properties as a stomachic and febrifuge. Its growth is said to be improved by being pressed or trampled into the earth. “SHALLOW. Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year’s pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of caraways and so forth.”[24] [24] _King Henry IV._, part ii., act v., scene iii. Carraway seeds were very largely used in Shakespeare’s time as a spice and condiment. The essential oil they yield has carminative properties. The seeds were often served with roast apples, a custom still said to be kept up at Trinity College, Cambridge. “IAGO. The food that to him now is as luscious as locusts, shall be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida.”[25] The coloquintida mentioned, is the old name for colocynth, a drug largely used in medicine at the present time. It was employed by the Greek and Roman physicians as a purgative, and was known in Britain as early as the eleventh century. It has a drastic, bitter taste, and is commonly known as bitter apple. [25] _Othello_, act i., scene iii. Shakespeare makes several allusions to the elder, a tree concerning which there are many old traditions. One of them will suffice. “HOLOFERNES. Begin, sir, you are my elder. “BIRON. Well followed; Judas was hanged on an elder.”[26] [26] _Love’s Labour’s Lost_, act v., scene ii. The _sambucus nigra_, or black elder, has long been used in medicine as a discutient, yet tradition gives it an evil name. Judas was supposed to have hanged himself on an elder tree, which doubtless brought it into disrepute, although its flowers distilled with water make an excellent cosmetic. “OPHELIA. There’s fennel for you and columbines.”[27] [27] _Hamlet_, act iv., scene v. This herb was greatly valued by the old apothecaries, and was known also to the ancients. There was an old belief that the fennel in flower predicted an early summer. Its chief use now is as a flavouring agent. Several allusions are also made to ginger. “CLOWN. I must have saffron to colour the warden pies; mace; dates—none, that’s out of my note; nutmegs, seven; a race or two of ginger, but that I beg.”[28] Ginger was known and used by the Greeks and Romans as a spice, and was esteemed by physicians in England at the time of the Norman Conquest. Its hot, burning taste is due to a resinous principle contained in the root, and is still used in medicine. [28] _Winter’s Tale_, act iv., scene iii. The mandrake or mandragora is frequently mentioned in the plays. Thus says