YARROW.
The Yarrow, from _hiera_, holy herb (_Achillea millefolium_), or Milfoil, is so called from the very numerous fine segments of its leaves. It is a Composite plant very common on waysides and in pastures throughout Britain.
The name _Achillea_ has been bestowed thereupon because the Greek warrior, Achilles, is said to have disclosed its virtues which he had been taught by Chiron, the Centaur. This herb is the _Stratiotes chiliophullos _of the Greek botanists, by whom it was valued as an excellent astringent and vulnerary. But Gerard supposes it may have been the _Achillea millefolium nobile_, which grows with a thick root and longer leaves, on a fat and fruitful soil, a stranger in England, “and the very same with which Achilles cured the wounds of his soldiers.” But, he adds, “the virtues of each sort of Milfoil are set to be both alike.”
The flowers of the Common Yarrow or Nosebleed are white or pink; those of the _Nobile_ are yellow.
The popular name of Nosebleed has been given to the Yarrow because the hairy filaments of the leaves, when put up the nose, provoke an exudation of blood, and will thus afford relief to headache, caused by a passive fulness of the vessels. Parkinson says “if it be [617] pat into the nose, assuredly it will stay the bleeding of it,” which mast be the’ effect of action according to similars. Or if using Yarrow in the same way as a love charm, the following lines were repeated:–
“Green arrow! green arrow! You bear a white blow; If my love love me My nose will bleed now.”
The leaves have a somewhat fragrant smell, and a bitterish taste. The odour of the flowers, when rubbed between the fingers, is aromatic. In consequence of this pungent, volatile principle, the herb has proved useful in hysteria, flatulence, heartburn, colic, and epilepsy; also, it is employed in Norway for the cure of rheumatism, and sometimes chewed for toothache.
Yarrow is one of the few aboriginal English plants, having held the primitive title, _Gearwe_. Greek botanists seem to have known the identical species which we now possess, and to have used it against haemorrhagic losses. It yields, chemically, a dark-green volatile oil, and achilleic acid, which is said to be identical with aconitic acid; also resin, tannin, gum; and earthy ash consisting of nitrates, phosphates, and chlorides of potash and lime.
For preparing an infusion of the plant, half an ounce should be boiled down in half a pint of water to six ounces; one tablespoonful for a dose.
Sir John Hill says the best way of giving Yarrow is in a strong decoction of the whole plant. A hot infusion of the herb taken freely on going to bed at night seldom fails to make short work of a cold.
