Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Balm, Common

BALM (Common), or Melissa officinalis, L. is an exotic plant, though much cultivated by our gardeners, on account of its pleasant aromatic smell, resembling that of the lemon, and its fragrant, though roughish taste. It grows wild in the souhern parts of Europe, and flowers with us in the months of June and July. See Woodville's Med. Bot. pl. 147.

Formerly, the balm was held in very high estimation: Paracelsus, Hoffmann, and Boerhaave, probably biassed by the opinions of the Arabian physicians, believed to find in it a medicine of uncommon efficacy; nay, the first of these, with his fanatical followers, supposed it to possess virtues, by which human life could be prolonged beyond the usual period, and they vainly promised themselves a complete renovation of man. In modern times, however, the properties of this agreeable plant are better understood: it yields, by distillation, a small proportion of an essential oil, of a yellowish colour, and a very grateful smell. A few drops of this oil, diluted in a glass of simple water; or strong infusions of the young shoots, drank as tea, and continued for several weeks, or months, have proved of service to nervous and hypochondriacal patients, of a lax and debilitated habit.—Either of these liquid preparations, when slightly acidulated with lemon juice, acquire a fine reddish colour, and may be taken with advantage in dry, parching fevers, as well as in cases of distressing flatulency, attended with eructations, where the first passages have previously been opened.