The Greeks had the notion that if one were bitten by a rabid dog, hydrophobia or madness could be averted by promptly chewing the leaves of this plant.
Accordingly they gave it the name alyssos, from the negative prefix a and lyssa, “madness,” hence, “preventive of madness.”
The meaning was preserved in the Roman alteration, alyssum.
None of our modern physicians, however, recommends it as a cure for hydrophobia.
