He even relates that it was certain death to touch this plant, except under certain circumstances which he details. Josephus says that the Mandrake - which he calls Baaras - has but one virtue, that of expelling demons from sick persons, as the demons cannot bear either its smell or its presence. Parkinson says that if ivory is boiled with Mandrake root for six hours, the ivory will become so soft 'that it will take what form or impression you will give it.' 'There have been,' he says, 'many ridiculous tales brought up of this plant, whether of old wives or runnegate surgeons or phisick mongers, I know not, all which dreames and old wives tales you shall from henceforth cast out your bookes of memorie.' Gerard also pours scorn on the Mandrake legend. In the Grete Herball (printed by Peter Treveris in 1526) we find the first avowal of disbelief in the supposed powers of the Mandrake. gene to them to drink that shall be cut in their body, for they should slepe and not fele the sore knitting.'īartholomew gives two other beliefs about the Mandrake which are not found in any other English Herbal - namely, that while uprooting it the digger must beware of contrary winds, and that he must go on digging for it uptil sunset. 'For witlessness, that is devil sickness or demoniacal possession, take from the body of this said wort mandrake by the weight of three pennies, administer to drink in warm water as he may find most convenient - soon he will be healed.'īartholomew gives the old Mandrake legend in full, though he adds: 'It is so feynd of churles others of wytches.' He also refers to its use as an anaesthetic: At the end of a description of the Mandrake in the Herbarium of Apuleius there is this prescription: In small doses it was employed by the Ancients in maniacal cases.Ī tincture is used in homoeopathy to-day, made from the fresh plant.Īmong the old Anglo-Saxon herbals both Mandrake and periwinkle are endowed with mysterious powers against demoniacal possession. Mandrake was used in Pliny's days as an anaesthetic for operations, a piece of the root being given to the patient to chew before undergoing the operation. The root finely scraped into a pulp and mixed with brandy was said to be efficacious in chronic rheumatism. They mostly employed the bark of the root, either expressing the juice or infusing it in wine or water. They used it for procuring rest and sleep in continued pain, also in melancholy, convulsions, rheumatic pains and scrofulous tumours. In large doses it is said to excite delirium and madness. Mandrake was much used by the Ancients, who considered it an anodyne and soporific. The dried bark of the root was used also as a rough emetic. The fresh root operates very powerfully as an emetic and purgative. Boiled in milk and used as a poultice, they were employed by Boerhaave as an application to indolent ulcers. Medicinal Action and Uses-The leaves are quite harmless and cooling, and have been used for ointments and other external application.
#MANDRAKE TATTOO FULL#
They are succeeded by a smooth, round fruit, about as large as a small apple, of a deep yellow colour when ripe, full of pulp and with a strong, apple-like scent. They are somewhat of the shape and size of a primrose, the corolla bell-shaped, cut into five spreading segments, of a whitish colour, somewhat tinged with purple. From among these leaves spring the flowers, each on a separate foot-stalk, 3 or 4 inches high. They are sharp pointed at the apex and of a foetid odour.
#MANDRAKE TATTOO FULL SIZE#
Immediately from the crown of the root arise several large, dark-green leaves, which at first stand erect, but when grown to full size a foot or more in length and 4 or 5 inches in width - spread open and lie upon the ground. Description-It has a large, brown root, somewhat like a parsnip, running 3 or 4 feet deep into the ground, sometimes single and sometimes divided into two or three branches.
The name Mandragora is derived from two Greek words implying 'hurtful to cattle. It was cultivated in England in 1562 by Turner, the author of the Niewe Herball.
Habitat-The Mandrake, the object of so many strange superstitions, is a native of Southern Europe and the Levant, but will grow here in gardens if given a warm situation, though otherwise it may not survive severe winters.
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