Ossian gives another origin. Malvina, weeping beside the tomb of Fingal, for Oscar and his infant son, is comforted by the maids of Morven, who narrate how they have seen the innocent infant borne on a light mist, pouring upon the fields a fresh harvest of flowers, amongst which rises one with golden disc, encircled with rays of silver, tipped with a delicate tint of crimson. “Dry thy tears, O Malvina,” cried the maidens; “the flower of thy bosom has given a new flower to the hills of Cromla.”——The ancient English name of the flower was Day’s Eye, in which way it was written by Ben Jonson; and Chaucer calls it the “ee of the daie.” Probably it received this designation from its habit of closing its petals at night and during rainy weather.——There is a popular superstition, that if you omit to put your foot on the first Daisy you see in Spring, Daisies will grow over you or someone dear to you ere the year be out; and in some English counties an old saying is current that Spring has not arrived until you can plant your foot upon twelve Daisies.——Alphonse Karr, speaking of the Paquerette, or Easter Daisy, says, “There is a plant that no insect, no animal attacks—that ornament of the field, with golden disc and rays of silver, spread in such profusion at our feet: nothing is so humble, nothing is so much respected.” (See Marguerite).——Daisy-roots worn about the person were formerly deemed to prove efficacious in the cure of certain maladies; and Bacon, in his Sylva Sylvarum, tells us “There is also a received tale, that boiling of Daisy-roots in milk (which it is certain are great driers) will make dogs little.”——An old writer (1696) says that they who wish to have pleasant dreams of the loved and absent should put Daisy-roots under their pillow.——It is considered lucky to dream of Daisies in Spring or Summer, but bad in the Autumn or Winter. Daisies are herbs of Venus, under Cancer.

DAMES’ VIOLET.—The species of Rocket called Hesperis matronalis, the Night-smelling Rocket, is much cultivated for the evening fragrance of its flowers: hence the ladies of Germany keep it in pots in their apartments, from which circumstance the flower is said to have obtained the name of Dames’ Violet. It is also called Damask Violet, a name derived from the Latin Viola Damascena, the Damascus Violet. In French this is Violette de Damas, which has probably been misunderstood as Violette des Dames, and has hence become, in English, Dames’ Violet. (See Rocket.) DANDELION.—The Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) derives its name from the French Dent de lion, lion’s tooth. (Latin, Dens leonis). In nearly every European language the flower bears a similar name, given to it presumably either from the whiteness of its root, the auriferous hue of its flower, which recalls the golden teeth of the heraldic lion, or its jagged leaf, which was supposed to resemble a lion’s tooth. De Gubernatis connects the name with the Sun (Helios), and states that a lion was the animal-symbol of the Sun, and that all plants named after him are essentially plants of the Sun. Certainly the appearance of the Dandelion-flower is very suggestive of the ancient representations of the Sun.——In German Switzerland, the children form chains of the stalks of Dandelions, and holding the garland in their hands, they dance round and round in a circle.——The Dandelion is called the rustic oracle: its flowers always open about five a.m. and shut at eight p.m., serving the shepherd for a clock—

As the flower is the shepherd’s clock, so are the feathery seed-tufts his barometer, predicting calm or storm. These downy seed-balls, which children blow off to find out the hour of the day, serve for other oracular purposes. Are you separated from the object of your love?—carefully pluck one of the feathery heads, charge each of the little feathers composing it with a tender thought; turn towards the spot where the loved one dwells; blow, and the seed-ball will convey your message faithfully. Do you wish to know if that dear one is thinking of you, blow again; and if there be left upon the stalk a single aigrette, it is a proof you are not forgotten. Similarly the Dandelion is consulted as to whether the lover lives east, west, north, or south, and whether he is coming or not.

Old herbalists had great faith in the Dandelion as a wonderful help to consumptive people. More recently, in the county of Donegal, an old woman skilled in simples has treated her patients for “heart fever,” or dyspepsia, as follows:—She measures the sufferer three times round the waist with a ribbon, to the outer edge of which is fastened a green thread. If the patient be mistaken in supposing himself affected with heart fever, this green thread will remain in its place, but should he really have the disorder, it is found that the green thread has left the edge of the ribbon and lies curled up in the centre. At the third measuring, the simpler prays for a blessing. She next hands the patient nine leaves of “heart fever grass,” or Dandelion, gathered by herself, directing him to cut three leaves on three successive mornings.——Hurdis, in his poem of ‘The Village Curate,’ fantastically compares the sparkling undergraduate and the staid divine to the Dandelion in the two stages of its existence:—

To dream of Dandelions betokens misfortune, enemies, and deceit on the part of loved ones. Astrologers claim the Dandelion as a plant of Jupiter.

DANEWORT.—The Dwarf Elder (Sambucus Ebulus) is said only to grow where blood has been shed, either in battle or in murder. A patch of it thrives on ground in Worcestershire, where the first blood was drawn in the civil war between the Royalists and the Parliament. The Welsh call it Llysan gwaed gwyr, or “Plant of the blood of men.” A name of similar import is its English one of Death-wort. It is chiefly in connection with the history of the Danes in England, that the superstition holds; wherever the Danes fought and bled, there did the Dwarf Elder, or Dane’s Wood, spring up and flourish. According to Aubrey, the plant obtained the name of Danewort, Daneweed, or Dane’s blood, because it grew plentifully in the neighbourhood of Slaughterford, Wilts, where there was once a stout battle fought with the Danes. Parkinson, however, thinks the plant obtained the name of Danewort because it would cause a flux called the Danes.

DAPHNE.—The generic name of Daphne has been given to a race of beautiful low shrubs, after the Nymph Daphne, who was changed by the gods into a Laurel, in order that she might escape the solicitations of Apollo (see Laurel); because many of the species have Laurel-like leaves. The sweet-scented Daphne Mezereon is very generally known as the Lady Laurel, and is also called Spurge Olive, Spurge Flax, Flowering Spurge, and Dwarf Bay. The name of Mezereon is probably derived from its Persian name, Madzaryoun, which signifies “destroyer of life,” in allusion to the poisonous nature of its bright red berries. Gerarde says, “If a drunkard doe eat one graine or berrie of it, he cannot be allowed to drinke at that time; such will be the heate of his mouth, and choking in the throte.” A decoction of this plant, mixed with other ingredients, is the Lisbon diet-drink, a well-known alterative.——The Russian ladies are reputed to rub their cheeks with the fruit of the Mezereon, in order, by the slight irritation, to heighten their colour.——The Spurge Laurel (Daphne Laureola) possess similar properties to the Mezereon. It is called Ty-ved in Denmark, and is sacred to Tyr, the Scandinavian god of war. It is the badge of the Highland Grahams.——The Flax-leaved Daphne, called by Gerarde the Mountain Widow-Wayle, is supposed to be the herb Casia, mentioned by Virgil and other Roman writers; the Cneoron of the Greeks.

DATE.—The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is the Palm of the Oases, and supplies not only food for man and beast, but a variety of useful commodities. This Palm has plume-like leaves, and grows from sixty to eighty feet high, living to a great age, and providing yearly a large crop of fruit. The male and female flowers are borne on separate trees, and it is remarkable that there is a difference in the fructification of the wild Date and the cultivated, though both are the same species. The wild Dates impregnate themselves, but the cultivated trees do not, without the assistance of art. Pontanus, an Italian poet of the fifteenth century, gives a glowing description of a female Date-tree which had stood lonely and barren, near Otranto, until at length a favouring wind wafted towards it the pollen of a male that grew at a distance of fifteen leagues. Father Labat has told of a Date-tree that grew in the island of Martinico, and produced fruit which was much esteemed; but when an increase of the number of Date-trees was wanted, not one could be reared from the seed, and they had to send to Africa for Dates, the stones of which grew readily and produced abundantly. The Date Palm is so abundant in the country between the States of Barbary and the desert (which produces no other kind of tree), that this region is designated as the Land of Dates (Biledulgerid).——The Palm of Palestine is the Date Palm. When the sacred writers wished to describe the majesty and beauty of rectitude, they appealed to the Palm as the fittest emblem which they could select. “He shall grow up and flourish like the Palm-tree” is the promise of David to the just. Mahomet, like the Psalmist of Israel, was wont to compare the virtuous and generous man to the Date-tree:—“He stands erect before his Lord; in every action he follows the impulse received from above; and his whole life is devoted to the welfare of his fellow-creatures.”——The inhabitants of Medina, who possess the most extensive plantations of Date-trees, say that their prophet caused a tree at once to spring from the kernel at his command, and to stand before his admiring followers in mature fruitfulness and beauty.——The Tamanaquas of South America have a tradition that the human race sprang again from the fruits of the Date Palm after the Mexican age of water.——The Arabs say that when Adam was driven out of Paradise, the Date, the chief of all fruits, was one of the three things which he took with him; the other two being the Myrtle and an ear of Wheat.——A popular legend concerning the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, narrates how a Date Palm, at the command of the child Jesus, bowed down its branches to shade and refresh His mother. Sozomenos relates that, when the Holy Family reached the end of their journey, and approached the city of Heliopolis, in Egypt, a tree which grew before the gates of the city, and was regarded with great veneration as the seat of a god, bowed down its branches at the approach of the infant Christ.——JudÆa was typified by the Date Palm upon the coins of Vespasian and Titus. With the Jews, the Date Palm has always been the symbol of triumph, and they carry branches of it in their right hands, in their synagogues, at the Feast of the Tabernacles, in commemoration of their forefathers having gained possession of the Promised Land. In the Christian Church, the remembrance of the Saviour’s ride into Jerusalem amid the hosannas of the people, is associated with the waving of the branches of the Date Palm by the joyous multitude.——An ardent spirit, distilled from Dates and water, is much used by Mahommedans, as it does not come within the prohibition of the Koran against wine. Palm wine is also made from the Date; it is the sap or juice of the tree, and can only be obtained by its destruction.——A curious folk-lore tale of the Chinese records how Wang Chih, a patriarch of the Taouist sect, when one day gathering fire-wood in the mountains of Ku Chow, entered a grotto where some old men were playing at chess. One of the old men handed him a Date-stone, telling him to put it into his mouth. This done, he ceased to feel hunger or thirst. By-and-bye, one of the players said: “It is long since you came here—return at once.” Wang Chih went to take up his axe, and found the handle had mouldered into dust. He went home, but found that centuries had elapsed since the day he set out to cut wood: thereupon he retired to a mountain cell, and devoting himself to religious exercises, finally attained immortality.

DEAD TONGUE.—The Water Hemlock (Œnanthe crocata) has received the name of Dead Tongue from its paralysing effects on the organs of voice. Threlkeld tells of eight lads who had eaten it, and of whom “five died before morning, not one of them having spoken a word.” Gerarde relates, that this plant having by mistake been eaten in a salad, “it did well nigh poyson those that ate of it, making them giddie in their heads, waxing very pale, staggering, and reeling like drunken men.”——The plant is described as “one of Saturn’s nosegays.”

Deadly Nightshade, or Death’s Herb.—See Nightshade.

DEODAR.—The sacred Indian Cedar (Cedrus Deodara) forms vast forests in the mountains of Northern India, where it grows to a height varying from fifty to a hundred feet and upwards. It is the DevadÂru, or tree-god of the Shastras, which, in many of the ancient hymns of the Hindus, is the symbol of power and majesty. The tree is often mentioned by the Indian poets. It was introduced into this country in 1822.

DHAK.—The Dhak, or Bastard Teak (Butea frondosa), is one of the sacred trees of India, and one of the most striking of the Indian arboreous LeguminosÆ. Both its wood and leaves are highly reverenced, and used in religious ceremonies. The natives, also, are fond of offering the beautiful scarlet flowers in their temples, and the females intertwine the blossoms in their hair.——The flowers yield a superb dye.

DILL.—The aromatic plant Dill (Anethum graveolens) is by some supposed to have derived its name from the old Norse word dilla, dull; the seeds being used as a carminative to cause infants to sleep. Boiled in wine, and drunk, the plant was reputed to excite the passions. Dill was formerly highly appreciated as a plant that counteracted the powers of witches and sorcerers:—

Astrologers assign Dill to the domination of Mercury.

DITTANY.—The ancients consecrated the Dittany of Crete (Origanum Dictamnus) to the goddess Lucina, who presided over the birth of children; and she was often represented wearing a crown of this Dittany. The root was particularly recommended by the oracle of Phthas. The Grecian and Roman women attributed to this plant the most extraordinary properties during childbirth, which, it was believed greatly to facilitate. It is reported, says Gerarde, “that the wilde goats or deere in Candy, when they be wounded with arrowes, do shake them out by eating of this plant, and heal their wounds.” According to Virgil, Venus healed the wounded Æneas with Dittany. Plutarch says that the women of Crete, seeing how the goats, by eating Dittany, cause the arrows to fall from their wounds, learnt to make use of the plant to aid them in childbirth. Gerarde recounts that the plant is most useful in drawing forth splinters of wood, bones, &c., and in the healing of wounds, “especially those made with invenomed weapons, arrowes shot out of guns, or such like.” The juice, he says, is so powerful, that by its mere smell it “drives away venomous beasts, and doth astonish them.” When mixed with wine, the juice was also considered a remedy for the bites of serpents. According to Apuleius, however, the plant possessed the property of killing serpents.

The Dittany of Crete, it should be noted, is not to be confounded with the Dittany, Dittander, or Pepper-wort of the English Herbals. This plant, the Lepidium latifolium, from its being used by thrifty housewives to season dishes with, obtained the name of Poor Man’s Pepper. It was held to be under Mars.

DOCK.—In Cornwall, as a charm, the leaves of the common Dock, wetted with spring water, are applied to burns, and three angels are invoked to come out of the East. It is a common practice, in many parts of England, for anyone suffering from the stings of a Nettle to apply a cold Dock-leaf to the inflamed spot, the following well-known rhyme being thrice repeated:—

Docks are said by astrologers to be under the dominion of Jupiter.

DRACÆNA.—The DracÆna, or Dragon-tree (DracÆna Draco), derives its name from the Greek Drakaina, a female dragon. This tree is found in the East India Islands, the Canaries, Cape Verde, and Sierra Leone. Gerarde thus describes it:—“This strange and admirable tree groweth very great, resembling the Pine-tree.” Among its leaves “come forth little mossie floures, of small moment, and turn into berries of the bignesse of Cherries, of a yellowish colour, round, light, and bitter, covered with a threefold skin, or film, wherein is to be seen, as Monardus and divers others report, the form of a dragon, having a long neck and gaping mouth, the ridge, or back, armed with sharp prickles like the porcupine, with a long taile and foure feet, very easie to be discerned.... The trunk, or body of the tree, is covered with a tough bark, very thin and easie to be opened or wounded with any small toole or instrument; which being so wounded in the dog days, bruised or bored, yields forth drops of a thick red liquor of the name of the tree called Dragon’s Tears, or Sanguis Draconis, Dragon’s Bloud.”——This Dragon’s Blood, or Gum Dragon, is well known in medicine as an astringent.——The tooth-brushes called Dragon’s-root, are made from the root of the Dragon-tree, cut into pieces about four inches long, each of which is beaten at one end with a wooden mallet to split it into fibres.——The venerable Dragon-tree of Orotava was for many centuries worshipped as a most sacred tree by the Guanches, or original inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It was considered the twin wonder of the Island of Teneriffe, dividing its interest with the mighty Peak. Humboldt saw it in 1799, when it was considered the oldest and largest of living trees (the giant trees of California being then unknown). The great traveller writes concerning it:—“Its trunk is divided into a great number of branches, which rise in the form of candelabra, and are terminated by tufts of leaves like the Yucca: it still bears every year both leaves and fruit: its aspect feelingly recalls to mind that ‘eternal youth of Nature,’ which is an inexhaustible source of motion and of life.” Since then this sacred tree has been entirely shattered and destroyed by successive storms.

Dream Plant.—See Pulsatilla.

DRYAS.—The pretty evergreen, Dryas, which blooms on the mountain summits, was so named by LinnÆus after the Dryades, or nymphs of the Oaks,—the leaves bearing some resemblance to those of the Oak.

DURIAN.—The Durian (Durio Zibethinus) is a native of the East Indies. The fruit of this tree, which is about the size of a man’s head, is regarded by the Malays as the king of fruit, and is reputed to be the most delicious of all the fruits of India. The custard-like pulp in which the large seeds are imbedded, is the part eaten fresh, and resembles cream; yet it is accompanied by such an intolerable stench that, according to Rumphius and Valentyn, it is by law forbidden to throw them out near any public path in Amboyna. The smell is said to resemble certain putrid animal substances, yet all agree that if the first repugnance is once overcome, the fruit is most enjoyable. This fruit is employed as a bait to catch the civet cat; the outer covering is boiled down, and used as a wash for the skin. The seeds are converted into flour, and also used as vegetable ivory.

DURVA.—According to Wilson, Durva is the Sanscrit name of the Agrostis linearis, but Carey applies the name to Panicum Dactylon. This species of Millet, like the sacred Kusa grass, is held in much reverence by the Hindus. In De Gubernatis’ Mythologie des Plantes, the author states that in the Atharvaveda, they implore the Durva, which grows in the water (i.e., in marshy places), and which has a hundred roots and a hundred stems, to give absolution for a hundred faults, and to prolong for a hundred years the life of him who invokes it. The fact that this herb is the tenderest, the freshest, and the most substantial food for cattle, added to its beauty, has gained it respect; but the Indians think, besides, that a nymph is hidden in the plant. When they celebrate, in India, the festival of the god Indra, on the 14th day of the lunar month Bhadra, they sing and dance, and offer fourteen different kinds of fruit to the god. In that ceremony, the devotees wear, attached to the right arm, leaves of the Durva. At Indian weddings, the women bind together the right arm of the husband and the left arm of his bride with the leaves of Durva. In the Vedic age (and the custom still exists in certain parts of India), before building a house, it was customary to place on the four corner foundation stones some Durva. This plant figures, also, among the eight ingredients which compose the Arghya, that is to say, the symbolic offering of Indian hospitality. According to a stanza of the Panchatantra, the Durva sprang from the hair of the cow, as the blue Lotus arose from the cow’s evacuations. The leaf of the Durva is so highly esteemed, that it has passed into a proverb or familiar saying. This leaf is especially attractive to gazelles. The preceding stanza proclaims how happy are those gazelles who eat the herb Durva, for they will never gaze on the face of a man whom riches have made false.

EBONY.—The Diospyros Ebenaster is generally considered to be the true Ebony-tree. This Date-Plum is a native of Ceylon, Cochin China, and the East Indies. Bishop Heber describes the Ebony-tree of Ceylon as a magnificent forest tree, with a tall, black, slender stem, spotted with white. Some judges, however, consider that the real Ebony-tree is the Diospyrus Ebenus, a native of Jamaica.——In ancient times it was much more in use and esteem. Pluto, the sovereign of the infernal regions, is represented as seated on a throne of Ebony; the statues of the Egyptian gods were wrought in Ebony. According to Pausanias, the statue of the Pythian Apollo was formed of this wood; and that writer recounts that a Cyprian, well versed in plant lore, had told him that the true and veritable Ebony was a plant that produced neither leaf, flower, nor fruit; and, moreover, that it grew entirely underground in certain places known to the Æthiopians, who periodically visited those spots, and took away the wood.——Pulverised Ebony, mixed with the charcoal of a burnt snail, is recommended by Sidrach as an application to lessen the white of the eye.——There is an old saying, that a bad man’s heart is as black as Ebony. This, probably, originated from the fact, that while the alburnum of the Ebony-tree is white, its foliage soft and silvery, and its flowers brilliant, the heart alone is really black.——Among the many wonders described by Sir John Maundevile, as having been seen by him when on his Eastern travels, in the fourteenth century, was a certain table of Ebony, or black wood, “that once used to turn into flesh on certain occasions, but whence now drips only oil, which, if kept above a year, becomes good flesh and bone.”

EDELWEISS.—The Edelweiss, or Alpine Cudweed (Leontopodium Alpinum or Gnaphalium), grows on the Swiss mountains on the line of perpetual snow, and from thence is brought down by travellers as a proof that they reached this altitude. As in many cantons it only grows in nearly inaccessible places, it is considered an act of daring to gather it, and the flower is therefore much valued by the Swiss maidens as a proof of the devotion of their lovers. Although hardy, this plant is delicate and fragile, enveloping itself in soft down, and only blooming on rocks exposed in full midday. Its bloom is surrounded by white velvety leaves; even the stem has a down upon it.——With the exception of the Alpenrose, no other mountain flower is so characteristic of the Alpine districts, so dear to the native heart, so celebrated by Alpine poets, or so popular among Swiss tourists. Indeed, its very popularity has threatened to lead to its extinction in the districts most frequented by visitors; and to prevent this, the German and Tyrolese Alpine Clubs have imposed fines for plucking the Edelweiss, and the Austrian Alpine Club has forbidden its members to continue the custom of wearing a sprig of Edelweiss in their hats.——The worst persecutors of the plant are the picturesque Bergano herdsmen and herdboys, who come up from the Italian side of the Alps at the beginning of the season, and remain on the mountains with their flocks until the snow begins to fall. They pluck up the Edelweiss mercilessly by the roots, which they endeavour to dispose of to passing travellers. The Communes of the Upper Engadine have taken the plant under their protection, and sellers of the plant in its living condition are subject to a fine. The Edelweiss, however, is plentiful still in tracts a little out of the orthodox tourists’ routes, and at Pontresina grows in such profusion as to be used as food for cattle. The Edelweiss is also known by the name of the Cotonnier, and is sometimes called Lion’s-foot, because of the resemblance of its woolly hairy flower to the foot of a lion.

EGG PLANT.—The Solanum Melongena has derived the name of Egg Plant from the shape of its fruit, which is formed like a hen’s egg, and varies in colour from white to pale yellow, pale red, and purple. In the East Indies, they broil this fruit, and eat it with pepper and salt, and the fruit is also relished in Batavia, Greece, Barbary, and Turkey. The inhabitants of the British isles in the West Indies call it Brown-John or Brown-jolly. Miller calls the plant the larger-fruited Nightshade, and says that in his time it was cultivated in the gardens of Spain by the title of Barenkeena. The Italians call it Melanzana, a corruption of the plant’s ancient Latin name of Mala insana, from whence also came its old English name of Raging Apple or Mad Apple. There does not appear to be any reason for these strange names, although Gerarde cautiously remarks that “doubtless these Apples have a mischievous qualitie, the use whereof is utterly to bee forsaken.”

EGLANTINE.—The Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa) is generally understood to be the Eglantine of old English poets, although the name has given rise to much discussion, both as to its meaning, and as to the shrub to which it applies. Chaucer and more ancient poets spelt the word “Eglatere.”

But it seems doubtful whether by Eglatere was meant the Yellow Rose (Eglanteria), the Sweetbriar, the Dog Rose, or some other species. According to Gerarde, it was a shrub with a white flower. Shakspeare, Spenser, Shenstone, Sir W. Scott, Keats, and other poets identify Eglantine with Sweetbriar; but Milton mistook it for the Honeysuckle or Woodbine, for he speaks of

According to a superstition current in Schleswig, when Satan fell from heaven, he endeavoured, in order to reascend to the celestial regions, to make himself a ladder with the thorns of the Eglantine. God, however, would not permit the Eglantine to grow upwards, but only to extend itself as a bush. Then, out of spite, Satan turned its thorns downwards, pointing towards the earth.——Another legend records that Judas Iscariot hung himself on the Eglantine, and that since then it has been an accursed tree: hence to this day its berries are called Judas beeren (Judas berries).——The five graceful fringed leaflets, which form the special beauty of the Eglantine flower and bud, have given rise to the following rhymed riddle:—

ELDER.—The Elder or Ellan-tree (Sambucus), in Scandinavian mythology, was consecrated to Hulda, the goddess of love, and to Thor, the god of Thunder, and is connected with many ancient Northern superstitions.

The Danes believe that in the Elder there dwells a being known as the Hylde-moer (Elder-mother) or Hylde-qvinde (Elder-woman), by whom all injuries done to the Elder are avenged. In a small court in the Nybonder, a district of Copenhagen, there stands a weird tree, which at dusk is reputed to move up and down the passage, and sometimes to peep through the windows at the children. It is not deemed advisable to have furniture made of Elder-wood. Tradition says that a child having been laid in a cradle made of Elder-wood, the Hylde-moer came and pulled it by the legs, nor would she let it have any rest until it was taken out of the cradle. A peasant once heard his children crying in the night, and on inquiring the cause, was told that some one had been there and sucked them; and their breasts were found to be swollen. This annoyance was believed to have arisen, from the fact that the room was boarded with Elder. The Elder branches may not be cut until permission has been asked in the words, “Hylde-moer, Hylde-moer, allow me to cut thy branches.” Then, if no objection be made by the spirit of the tree, the hewer proceeds, taking care first to spit three times, as a precaution against molestation. In Denmark, it is believed that he who stands under an Elder-bush at twelve o’clock on Midsummer Eve, will see Toly, the king of the elves, go by with all his train. Perhaps on account of the supernatural halo surrounding it, the Elder was regarded as a cure for various diseases. A Danish formula prescribes the taking of an Elder-twig by a person afflicted with toothache, who must first put it in his mouth, and then stick it in the wall, saying, “Depart thou evil spirit.” Ague may be cured by taking a twig of Elder, and sticking it in the ground, without speaking a word; the disease will then pass into the twig, and attach itself to the first person who approaches the spot.

In Russia, there is a belief that Elder-trees drive away bad and malignant spirits, out of compassion to humanity, and that they promote long life.

In Sweden, women about to become mothers kiss the Elder; and it is thought that no one can damage the tree with impunity.

In Germany, the Elder is regarded with great respect. From its leaves a febrifuge is made: from its berries a sort of sour preserve, and a wonder-working electuary; the moon-shaped clusters of flowers are narcotic, and are used in baking small cakes. The smell of the leaves and blossoms has the reputation of causing giddiness, whence arises the saying that “he who goes to sleep under an Elder-tree will never wake.” The cross which is affixed to the rod on which the Easter Palms are fastened is made of Elder-wood, as well as the cross which is carried before the coffin in the funeral procession. Although essentially a tree of shade and of death, yet it and the funeral cross just mentioned are known by the name of “Livelong.” It is a favourite hiding-place for children when playing at “hide-and-seek.” The pith of the branches, when cut in round flat shapes, is dipped in oil, lighted, and then put to float in a glass of water; its light on Christmas Eve is thought to reveal to the owner all the witches and sorcerers in the neighbourhood. Since this tree drives away spirits, it is often planted by the side of manure sheds, keeping them damp by its shade, and also protecting from evil influences the cattle in the adjoining shed. It is commonly believed that he who injures an Elder-tree will suffer from its vengeance. “Holderstock” (Elderstock) is a name of endearment given by a lover to his beloved, and is derived from Hulda, the old goddess of love.

In Lower Saxony, it was customary to ask permission of the Elder-tree before cutting it, in the words, “Lady Elder, give me some of thy wood; then will I also give thee some of mine when it grows in the forest.” This was repeated three times, with folded hands and bended knees. Pusch Kait, the ancient Prussian god of the earth, was supposed to live under the Elder-tree.

In the Tyrol, an Elder-bush, trimmed into the form of a cross, is often planted on the new-made grave; and if it blooms, it is a sign that the soul of the dead person is in Paradise. The Tyroleans have such a regard for the tree, that, in passing it, they always raise their hat.

In Bohemia, three spoonfuls of the water which has been used to bathe an invalid are poured under an Elder, with “Elder, God sends me to thee, that thou may’st take my fever upon thee.” This must be repeated on three successive days, and if the patient has not meanwhile passed over water, he will recover.——The Serbs introduce a stick of Elder, to ensure good luck, during their wedding festivities.

In Savoy, branches of Elder are carried about on May-day. In Sicily, it is thought a bough of Elder will kill serpents, and drive away robbers better than any other stick. In LabruguiÈre, France, if an animal is ill, or has a wound infested by vermin, they lead it to the foot of an Elder-tree, and twirling a bough in their hands, they bow to the tree, and address it as follows:—“Good-day, Mons. YÈble; if you do not drive away the vermin, I shall be compelled to cut both your limbs and your trunk.” This ceremony performed, a certain cure is confidently looked for. In the country districts round Valenciennes, if an Elder-bough is hung outside the door, it is indicative of a coquette inhabiting the house.

In England, the Elder has been regarded with superstition from very early times, and is looked upon as a tree of bad omen. Branches of Elder were formerly considered to be typical of disgrace and woe. In the Canones editi sub Edgaro Rege it is enacted that every priest forbid the vain practices that are carried on with Elder-sticks, and also with various other trees.

In Gloucestershire, and some other counties, the peasantry will on no account burn Elder or Ellan-wood, the reason being, that it was supposed to be one of the trees from which the wood of the Cross was formed. In a rare tract on Gloucestershire superstitions, a figure is given of an Elder-wood cross borne constantly about the person as a cure for rheumatism. This cross consisted of a small piece cut from a young shoot just above and below a joint, so as to leave the bud projecting at each end of it, after the fashion of a rude cross. To be efficient, the Elder must have grown in consecrated ground. In Tortworth and other Gloucestershire churchyards are to be found such trees, and applications for pieces of them are still made.

In Sussex, an Elder-stick, with three, four, or more knots upon it, is carried in the pocket as a charm against rheumatism.

In the Eastern counties, the Elder is popularly considered to be the tree of whose wood the Cross was made: it is therefore an unlucky tree, and one that should never be bound up in faggots. On this account, also, the Elder is considered safe from the effects of lightning. In some parts there is a vulgar prejudice that if boys be beaten with an Elder-stick, their growth is sure to be checked.

In Huntingdonshire, there exists the Danish belief in a being called the Elder-mother, so that it is not always safe to pluck the flowers. No household furniture should be made of Elder-wood, least of all a cradle, for some evil will certainly befall the child sleeping in it.

The Elder-tree has been credited with possessing a peculiar fascination for witches and elves, who love to lurk beneath the shadow of its branches, and who are wont to bury their offspring at its foot. On the other hand, the tree has been said to exercise a protective influence against the attacks of witches and wizards, and similar evil-disposed persons; and it has been suggested that this is the reason why the tree is so often found in the neighbourhood of cottages. It was thought that the tree was obnoxious to witches because their enemies use the green juice of its inner bark for anointing the eyes. Any baptised person whose eyes are touched with it can see what the witches are about in any part of the world. It was possible by magic art to render witches sensible of blows given to them with an Elder-stick, but this has to be managed by someone versed in the habits of witches. A cross made of the Elder, affixed to cow-houses and stables, was supposed to protect cattle from all possible harm.

Shakspeare, in ‘Love’s Labour Lost,’ says “Judas was hanged on an Elder,” and this belief was general among early writers, and is constantly alluded to by authors of the Elizabethan period; but the name Judas-tree was applied to the Cercis siliquastrum (which is the tree which still bears it), about the same period. Gerarde, indeed, definitely tells us of the Cercis, “This is the tree whereon Judas did hang himselfe, and not upon the Elder-tree, as is stated.” On the other hand, that old Eastern traveller, Sir John Maundevile, tells us that the very Elder-tree upon which Judas hanged himself was to be seen in his day close to the Pool of Siloe; whilst the legend which connects Judas with the Elder-tree is alluded to by Ben Jonson, and is thus referred to in ‘Piers Plowman’:—

But not only is the ill-omened Elder credited with being connected with the death of Judas, but there is a wide-spread belief that it was the “accursed tree” on which the Redeemer’s life was given up; therefore, although fuel may be scarce and these sticks plentiful, in some places the superstitious poor will not burn them.——In Scotland, according to a writer in the ‘Dublin Magazine,’ it is called the Bour-tree, and the following rhyme is indicative of the belief entertained in that country:—

In Chambers’s ‘Book of Days’ is an instance of the belief that a person is perfectly safe under the shelter of an Elder-tree during a thunderstorm, as the lightning never strikes the tree of which the Cross was made. Experience has taught that this is a fallacy, although many curious exceptional instances are recorded. In Napier’s Folk-lore of the Northern Counties we read of a peculiar custom:—the Elder is planted in the form of a cross upon a newly-made grave, and if it blooms they take it as a sure sign that the soul of the dead person is happy.

It is not considered prudent to sleep under an Elder. Evelyn describes the narcotic smell of the tree as very noxious to the air, and narrates that a certain house in Spain, seated among Elder-trees, diseased and killed almost all the inhabitants, “which, when at last they were grubbed up, became a very wholesome and healthy place.” As regards the medical virtues of the tree, Evelyn exclaims:—“If the medicinal properties of the leaves, bark, berries, &c., were thoroughly known, I cannot tell what our countryman could ail for which he might not fetch a remedy from every hedge, either for sickness or wound.” And he goes on to describe a variety of medicinal uses for the bark, buds, berries, leaves, and flowers; summing up the virtues of the Elder with the remark that “every part of the tree is useful, as may be seen at large in Blockwitzius’s anatomie thereof.” In this work is the following description of an amulet for the use of an epileptic subject, which is to be made of the Elder growing on a Sallow:—“If in the month of October, a little before the full moon, you pluck a twig of the Elder, and cut the cane that is betwixt two of its knees, or knots, in nine pieces, and these pieces, being bound in a piece of linen, be in a thread so hung about the neck that they touch the spoon of the heart, or the sword-formed cartilage; and, that they may stay more firmly in that place, they are to be bound thereon with a linen or leather roller wrapt about the body, till the thread break of itself. The thread being broken, and the roller removed, the amulet is not at all to be touched with bare hands, but it ought to be taken hold on by some instrument, and buried in a place that nobody may touch it.”

One mode of charming warts away is to take an Elder-shoot, and rub it on the part, then cut as many notches on the twig as you have warts, bury it in a place where it will soon decay, and as it rots away the warts will disappear. Another plan is to obtain a green Elder-stick, and rub the warts well with it, after which bury the stick to rot away in muck.

The black berries of the Elder are full of a deep violet-coloured juice, which, according to Virgil, the god Pan had his face smeared with, in compliance with the old Roman custom of painting their gods on solemn occasions.

To dream of Elder-berries denotes sickness. The tree is under the dominion of Venus.

ELECAMPANE.—Of the Elecampane (Inula Helenium), Rapin writes:—

When Paris carried off the celebrated Helen, the lovely wife of Menelaus was said to have had in her hand a nosegay of the bright yellow flowers of the Elecampane, which was thenceforth named Helenium, in her honour. The Romans employed the roots of Elecampane as an edible vegetable; the monks, who knew it as Inula campana, considered it capable of restoring health to the heart; and the herbalists deemed it marvellously good for many disorders, and admirable as a pectoral medicine. Elecampane lozenges have long been popular. Turner, in his ‘Brittish Physician,’ calls the Inula campana, the Sun-flower, and says that the root chewed fastens loose teeth, and preserves them from rotting, and that the distilled water of the green leaves makes the face fair. From its broad leaves, the Elecampane is sometimes called the Elf-dock.——It is held to be under Mercury.

ELICHRYSUM.—This species of everlasting flower derived its name, according to Themistagoras, from the nymph Elichrysa, who having adorned the goddess Diana with its blossoms, the plant was called after her, Elichryson. Its old English name was Golden Flower, or Golden Moth-wort, and Gerarde tells us that the blossoms, if cut before they are quite ripe, will remain beautiful a long time after. “For which cause of long lasting the images and carved gods were wont to weare garlands thereof: whereupon some have called it ‘God’s floure.’ For which purpose Ptolemy, King of Ægypt, did most diligently observe them, as Pliny writeth.”

ELM.—The ancients had a tradition that, at the first sound of the plaintive strains which proceeded from the lyre of Orpheus, when he was lamenting the death of Eurydice, there sprang up a forest of Elms; and it was beneath an Elm that the Thracian bard sought repose after his unavailing expedition to the infernal regions to recover his lost love. Rapin thus tells the tale:—

The “wedding of the Elm to the Vine,” alluded to in the above lines, was a very favourite topic among the old Roman poets; Virgil, indeed, selects the junction of the Elm and the Vine as the subject of one whole book of his ‘Georgics.’ The ancients twined their Vines round the trunks of the Elm; and the owner of a Vineyard tended his Elms as carefully as his Vines.——When Achilles killed the father of Andromache, he erected in his honour a tomb, around which nymphs came and planted Elms.——Perhaps on account of its longevity, or because it produces no fruit, the Greeks and Romans considered the Elm a funereal tree: in our own times, it is connected with burials, inasmuch as coffins are generally made of its wood.——The ancients called the Elm, the tree of Oneiros, or of Morpheus, the god of sleep. As a widespreading shady tree, it is selected by Virgil (Æn. vi.) as the roosting-place of dreams in gloomy Orcus:—

It was in connection with the title of Tree of Dreams (Ulmus Somnorum), that the Elm became, like the Oak, a prophetic tree.——On the Continent, an Elm is often found on the village-green, beneath whose boughs justice used formerly to be administered, and meetings held: there was one at Gisors, on the frontier of Normandy, where the kings of France and Dukes of Normandy used to hold conference together, and which was large enough to shelter both their trains; this tree was upwards of two hundred years old when cut down by order of King Philippe Auguste, out of hatred to our Plantagenet kings. One of the oldest Elms in England is a stump at Richmond, now fenced in, and covered with Ivy, which was planted by Queen Elizabeth herself, and has on that account always been known as the Queen’s Elm.——Formerly the leafing of the Elm was made to regulate both field and garden work, as seen in the following rustic rhyme:—

In olden times, the falling of the leaves of an Elm was thought to prognosticate a murrain. In Sicily, they have a custom of binding the trunk of a Fig-tree with branches of Elm, from a belief that they would prevent the young Figs from falling before they became thoroughly ripe.——The Elm is held to be under the influence of Saturn.——“The Seven Sisters” was the name bestowed on seven Elm-trees at Tottenham, which gave the name to the road from thence to Upper Holloway. In Bedwell’s History of Tottenham, written in the year 1631, he describes Page Green by the side of the high road at that village, and a group of Elms in a circle, with a Walnut in the centre. He says: “This tree hath this many yeares stod there, and it is observed yearely to live and beare leavs, and yet to stand at a stay, that is, to growe neither greater or higher. This people do commonly tell the reason to bee, for that there was one burnt upon that place for the profession of the Gospell.” There was also a connecting link between the Walnut-tree and the Seven Sisters, by which it was surrounded. There were seven Elms planted by seven sisters respectively. The tree planted by the smallest of the sisters was always irregular and stunted in growth. There was an eighth sister who planted an Elm in the midst of the other seven, and the legend relates that it withered and died when she died, and that then a Walnut-tree grew in its place. The Walnut-tree has long since gone, and probably the Elms have now disappeared.

ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE.—Formerly the Atropa Mandragora used to bear this name, but by some mistake it has been transferred to the CircÆa Lutetiana, an insignificant plant named after Circe, the famed enchantress, probably because its fruit, being covered with hooked prickles, lays hold of the unwary passers-by, as Circe is said to have done by means of her enchantments. The Mandrake was called “Nightshade,” from having been classed with the Solanum tribe, and “Enchanter’s” from its Latin name CircÆa, a name which it obtained, according to Dioscorides, because Circe, who was expert in herbal lore, used it as a tempting powder in amorous concerns.

ENDIVE.—The Endive or Succory (Cichorium) is, according to the oldest Greek Alexandrian translations of the Bible, one of the “bitter herbs” which the Almighty commanded the Israelites to eat with the lamb at the institution of the Feast of the Passover. The garden Endive (C. Endivia) is probably the plant celebrated by Horace as forming a part of his simple diet: its leaves are used in salads, and its root, under the name of Chicory, is extensively used to mingle with Coffee. Immense quantities of Endive were used by the ancient Egyptians, who called it Chicouryeh, and from this word is derived the generic name Cichorium.——The wild Succory (C. Intybus) opens its petals at 8 a.m., and closes them at 4 p.m.

The Germans say that once upon a time the Endives were men under a ban. The blue flowers, which are plentiful, were good men; the white flowers, much rarer, were evil-doers.——The blue star-like blossom is a most popular flower in Germany: it is the Wegewarte—the watcher of the roads; the Wegeleuchte, or lighter of the road; the Sonnenwende, or Solstice; the Sonnenkraut, or herb of the sun; and the Verfluchte Jungfer, or accursed maiden. An ancient ballad of Austrian Silesia recounts the history of a young girl who for seven years mourned for her lover, fallen in the wars. When her friends wished to console her, and to procure for her another lover, she replied: “I shall cease to weep only when I become a wild flower by the wayside.”——Another version of the German legend is that a loving maiden anxiously expected the return of her betrothed from a voyage upon which he had long since set out. Every morning she paced the road where she had last bade adieu to him; every evening she returned. Thus she wearily passed her time during many a long month. At last, utterly worn out with watching and waiting, she sank exhausted by the wayside, and, broken-hearted, expired. On the spot where she breathed her last sigh sprang up a little pale flower which was the Wegewarte, the watcher of the road.——In Bavaria, the same legend is met with, differing only in details. A young and beautiful princess was abandoned by her husband, a young prince of extraordinary beauty. Grief exhausted her strength, and finding herself on the point of death, she exclaimed: “Ah, how willingly would I die if I could only be sure of seeing my loved one, wherever I may be. Her ladies-in-waiting, hearing her desire, solemnly added: “And we also would willingly die if only we were assured that he would always see us on every roadside.” The merciful God heard from heaven their heart-felt desires, and granted them. “Happily,” said He, “your wishes can be fulfilled; I will change you into flowers. You, Princess, you shall remain with your white mantle on every road traversed by your husband; you, young women, shall remain by the roadside, habited in blue, so that the prince must see you everywhere.” Hence the Germans call the wild Succory, Wegewarten.——Gerarde tells us that Placentinus and Crescentius termed the Endive, Sponsa solis, Spouse of the Sun (a name applied by Porta to the Heliotrope), and we find in De Gubernatis’ Mythologie des Plantes, the following passage:—“Professor Mannhardt quotes the charming Roumanian ballad, in which is recounted how the Sun asked in marriage a beautiful woman known as Domna Florilor, or the Lady of the Flowers; she refused him, whereupon the Sun, in revenge, transformed her into the Endive, condemned for ever to gaze on the Sun as soon as he appears on the horizon, and to close her petals in sadness as the luminary disappears. The name of Domna Florilor, a kind of Flora, given by the Roumanians to the woman loved by the Sun, reminds us somewhat of the name of Fioraliso, given in Italy to the Cornflower, and which I supposed to have represented the Sun. The Roumanian legend has, without doubt, been derived from an Italian source, in its turn a development of a Grecian myth—to wit, the amour of the Sun, Phoebus, with the lovely nymph Clytie.” (See Heliotrope).——There is a Silesian fairy tale which has reference to the Endive:—The magician Batu had a daughter named Czekanka, who loved the youthful Wrawanec; but a cruel rival slew the beloved one. In despair, Czekanka sought her lover’s tomb, and killed herself beside it. Whilst in her death throes, she was changed into the blue Succory, and gave the flower its Silesian name Czekanka. Wrawanec’s murderer, jealous of poor Czekanka, even after her death, threw on the plant a swarm of ants, in the hope that the little insects might destroy the Succory, but the ants, on the contrary, in their rage, set off in pursuit of the murderer, and so vigorously attacked him, that he was precipitated into a crevasse on the mountain Kotancz.——In Germany and in Rome, where a variety of estimable qualities are ascribed to the plant, they sell Endive-seed as a panacea, but especially as a love philtre. They would not uproot it with the hand, but with a bit of gold or a stag’s horn (which symbolise the disk and the rays of the Sun), on one of the days of the Apostles (June 29th and July 25th). A girl thus uprooting an Endive will be assured of the constancy of her lover.——Endive, carried on the person, is supposed to enable a lover to inspire the object of his affections with a belief that he possesses all the good qualities she could wish for. Endive-root breaks all bonds, removes thorns from the flesh, and even renders the owner invisible.——The herb is held to be under the rule of Venus.

ERAGROSTIS.—Among the Hindus, the Eragrostis cynosuroides is considered a sacred Grass, and is employed by them for strewing the floors of their temples. In England, it is known as Love Grass.

ERYSIMUM.—The Hedge Mustard, Bank Cress, or Jack-by-the-Hedge (Erysimum Barbarea) is called by the French St. Barbara’s Hedge Mustard and the Singer’s Plant (herbe au chantre), and up to the time of Louis XIV. was considered an infallible remedy in cases of loss of voice. Racine, writing to Boileau, recommended the syrup of Erysimum to him when visiting the waters of Bourbonne, in order to be cured of loss of voice. Boileau replied that he had heard the best accounts of the Erysimum, and that he meant to use it the following summer.——The plant is held to be under Mercury.

ERYNGO.—The Sea Eryngo (Eryngium maritimum) is, perhaps, better known by the name of Sea Holly, which has been given it on account of the striking resemblance of its foliage to the Holly. According to Rapin, Eryngo possessed magical properties, inasmuch as, if worn by young married women, it ensured the fidelity of their husbands. On this account, Sappho employed it to secure the love of Phaon, the handsome boatman of Mitylene, for whom the poetess had conceived so violent a passion, that at length, mortified at his coldness, she threw herself into the sea. Rapin says:—

Plutarch records that, if one goat took the herb Sea Holly into her mouth, “it caused her first to stand still, and afterwards the whole flock, until such time as the shepherd took it from her mouth.” Eryngo-root was formerly much prized as a tonic, and in Queen Elizabeth’s time, when prepared with sugar, was called Kissing Comfits. Lord Bacon, recommending the yolks of eggs as very nourishing, when taken with Malmsey or sweet wine, says: “You shall doe well to put in some few slices of Eringium-roots, and a little Amber-grice, for by this meanes, besides the immediate facultie of nourishment, such drinke will strengthen the back.” EUGENIA.—In Burmah, the Eugenia is regarded as a sacred plant. When a spray is cut, prayers and supplications for absent friends and relatives are offered up before it, and twigs and leaves of it are kept in consecrated water in almost every house, and occasionally the different apartments are sprinkled with it as a protective against ghosts, ogres, and evil spirits. The twigs of Eugenia are sometimes hung about the eaves, and in many cases a small plant is kept growing in a pot in the house, so that its benign influence may keep harm away.——In cases of cholera epidemic, the natives of the affected district betake themselves to a Buddhist monastery, carrying presents and a small pot partly filled with water, and containing leaves of a species of Eugenia (Tha-byay-bin), and some coarse yellow string wound round a small stick. These pots are blessed by the Buddhist abbot, and are then taken away by the people, who either hang up the yellow string in little bags round the eaves of their houses, or else wear it coiled round the left wrist. The pots of water and sprigs of Eugenia are kept in the house to guard it from infection.

EUPATORIUM.—Agrimony has derived its name of Eupatorium from Mithridates Eupator, King of Pontus, who was skilled in botany and physic, and used this plant as an antidote against the poison with which his enemies at court attempted to destroy him. E. Ayapana, a native of Brazil, has long been famed for curing the bites of serpents, and its leaves, when fresh bruised, are useful when applied to the face of ulcers.——In Italy and Russia, magical properties are attributed to this plant.

EUPHORBIA.—The Euphorbia or Medusa Head possesses the peculiar property of blooming in warm water after apparent death. The milky juice of Euphorbia Canariensis, and some other species of Spurge, produces the drug Euphorbium. The juice of E. heptagona furnishes the Ethiopians with a deadly poison for their arrows. At Bodo, in India, before the doorway of every house is cultivated a plant of the sacred Sidj, a species of Euphorbia, which is looked upon both as the domestic and national divinity, and to this plant the natives address their prayers and offer up hogs as sacrifices.

EVERLASTING FLOWERS.—Writing of the Gnaphalium Alpinum, Gerarde tells us that in his day English women called it “Live-long,” or “Live-for-ever.” From hence has originated the name Everlasting, applied to the genus Gnaphalium. The ancients crowned the images of their gods with garlands made of these flowers, and from this circumstance they were frequently called God’s flowers. In Spain and Portugal, they are still used to decorate the altars and the images of the saints. The French have named the Gnaphalium, Immortelle, and employ it in the manufacture of the garlands and devices which they place on their coffins and graves. Old writers call the plant Cudweed, Cottonweed, Gold-flower, Goldilocks, Golden Stoechas, and Golden-flower Gentle. One species has obtained the name of Herba Impia, because the later flowers grow higher, and, as Gerarde says, “overtop those that come first, as many wicked children do unto their parents.”

EYEBRIGHT.—The Eyebright or Euphrasy (Euphrasia officinalis) was formerly called Euphrosyne, after one of the Graces. This name became subsequently corrupted to Euphrasy. The plant was also known as Ocularis and Ophthalmica, on account of its use in the treatment of disorders of the eye. According to Coles, it obtained the name of Eyebright from its being employed by the linnet to clear its sight; other old authors also say that birds made use of it to repair their vision. Arnoldus affirms that the plant restored sight to people who had been blind a long while; and Gerarde says that, taken either alone or in any other way, it preserves the sight, and, “being feeble and lost, it restores the same: it is given most fitly being beaten into pouder; oftentimes a like quantitie of Fennell-seed is added thereto, and a little Mace, to the which is put so much sugar as the weight of them all commeth to.” It was also believed to comfort the memory, and assist a weak brain. Milton, Drayton, Shenstone, and other poets have celebrated the powers of Euphrasy, and we find Spenser writing:—

Astrologers state that the Eyebright is under the sign of the Lion, and the Sun claims dominion over it.

FAIR MAIDS.—Fair Maids of February are Snowdrops, so called from their delicate white blossoms opening about the second of that month, when it was customary for maidens, dressed in white, to walk in procession at the Feast of the Purification. Fair Maids of France are double Crowfoots, or a particular variety, originally introduced from France, viz., Ranunculus aconitifolius.

FELDWODE.—Medea, the enchantress, is said by Gower to have employed a certain herb, Feldwode:—

This herb is generally supposed to have been the yellow Gentian, or Baldmoney, Gentiana lutea. (See Gentian.)

FENNEL.—Fenckle, or Fennel (Foeniculum), was employed by the ancients in the composition of wreaths, to be worn by victors after the games in the arena. The gladiators mixed this plant with their food to increase their strength. The god Sylvanus was sometimes crowned with Fennel.——In later times, Fennel was strewn across the pathway of newly-married couples, and was generally liked for its odour; thus Ophelia says: “There’s Fennel for you, and Columbine.”——Pliny records that serpents are wonderfully fond of this plant, inasmuch as it restores them to youth by causing them to cast their old skin, and by its use they recover their sight if it becomes dim. Gerarde says, that the seed “drunke for certaine daies together, fasting, preserveth the eyesight, whereof was written this distichon following:—

The ancients believed that the use of Fennel gave strength to the constitution, and made fat people grow lean. The roots of Fennel, pounded with honey, were considered a remedy for the bites of mad dogs.——Fennel is one of the numerous plants dedicated to St. John, and was formerly hung over doors and windows on his vigil.——Astrologers state it is a herb of Mercury under Virgo.

FERN.—Among Celtic and Germanic nations the Fern was formerly considered a sacred and auspicious plant. Its luck-bringing power was not confined to one species, but belonged to the tribe in general, dwelling, however, in the fullest perfection in the seed, the possessor of which could wish what he would, and the Devil would be obliged to bring it to him. In Swabia, they say that Fern-seed brought by the Devil between eleven and twelve on Christmas night enables a man to do as much work as twenty or thirty ordinary men.

In mediÆval days, when sorcery flourished, it was thought the Fern-seed imparted to its owner the power of resisting magical charms and incantations. The ancients believed that the Fern had no seeds, but our ancestors thought it had seed which was invisible. Hence, after the fantastic doctrine of signatures, they concluded that those who possessed the secret of wearing this seed about them would become invisible. Thus, we find that, in Shakspeare’s ‘Henry IV.,’ Gadshill says: “We steal as in a castle, cock-sure: we have the receipt of Fern-seed, we walk invisible.”

The people of Westphalia are wont to relate how one of their countrymen chanced one Midsummer night to be looking for a foal he had lost, and passing through a meadow just as the Fern-seed was ripening, some of it fell into his shoes. In the morning he went home, walked into the sitting-room, and sat down, but thought it strange that neither his wife, nor indeed any of his family, took the slightest notice of him. “I have not found the foal,” said he. Everybody in the room started and gazed around with scared looks, for they had heard the man’s voice, but saw no one. Thinking that he was joking, and had hid himself, his wife called him by his name. Thereupon he stood up, planted himself in the middle of the floor, and said, “Why do you call me? Here I am right before you.” Then they were more frightened than ever, for they had heard him stand up and walk, and still they could not see him. The man now became aware that he was invisible, and a thought struck him that possibly he might have got Fern-seed in his shoes, for he felt as if there was sand in them. So he took them off, and shook out the Fern-seed, and as he did so he became visible again to everybody.

A belief in the mystic power of Fern-seed to make the gatherer walk invisible is still extant. The English tradition is, that the Fern blooms and seeds only at twelve o’clock on Midsummer night—St. John’s Eve—just at the precise moment at which the Saint was born—

In Dr. Jackson’s Works (1673) we read that he once questioned one of his parishioners as to what he saw or heard when he watched the falling of the Fern-seed, whereupon the man informed him that this good seed is in the keeping of Oberon (or Elberich), King of the Fairies, who would never harm anyone watching it. He then said to the worthy doctor, “Sir, you are a scholar, and I am none. Tell me, what said the angel to our Lady; or what conference had our Lady with her cousin Elizabeth, concerning the birth of St. John the Baptist?” Finding Doctor Jackson unable to answer him, he told him that “the angel did foretell John Baptist should be born at that very instant in which the Fern-seed—at other times invisible—did fall: intimating further that this saint of God had some extraordinary vertue from the time or circumstance of his birth.”

To catch the wonder-working seed, twelve pewter plates must be taken to the spot where the Fern grows: the seed, it is affirmed, will pass through eleven of the plates, and rest upon the twelfth. This is one account: another says that Midsummer night is the most propitious time to procure the mystic Fern-seed, but that the seeker must go bare-footed, and in his shirt, and be in a religious state of mind.

In ancient days it was thought the demons watched to convey away the Fern-seed as it fell ere anyone could possess themselves of it. A writer on Brittany states that he remembers to have heard recounted by one who had gathered Fern-seed, that whilst he was prosecuting his search the spirits grazed his ears, whistling past them like bullets, knocking off his hat, and hitting him with it all over his body. At last, when he thought that he had gathered enough of the mystic seed, he opened the case he had been putting it into, and lo! it was empty. The Devil had evidently had the best of it.

M. Marmier, in his LÉgendes des Plantes, writes:—“It is on Midsummer night that you should go and seek the Fern-seed: he who is fortunate enough to find it will indeed be happy. He will have the strength of twenty men, he will discover precious metals in the bowels of the earth, he will comprehend the present and the future. Up to the present time, however, no one has been able to secure this precious seed. It ripens but for a minute, and the Devil guards it with ferocious vigilance.”

De Gubernatis, in his Mythologie des Plantes, publishes a communication sent him by the Princess Marie Galitzin PrazorovskaÏa, on the subject of the flowering of the Fern, the details of which she obtained from a Russian peasant. “On Midsummer night, before twelve o’clock, with a white napkin, a cross, a Testament, a glass of water, and a watch, one seeks in the forest the spot where the Fern grows; one traces with the cross a large circle; one spreads the napkin, placing on the cross the Testament and the glass of water. Then one attentively looks at one’s watch: at the precise midnight hour the Fern will bloom: one watches attentively; for he who shall see the Fern-seed drop shall at the same time see many other marvels; for example, three suns, and a full moon, which reveals every object, even the most hidden. One hears laughter; one is conscious of being called; if one remains quiet one will hear all that is happening in the world, and all that is going to happen.”

In a work by Markevic, the author says:—“The Fern flowers on Midsummer night at twelve o’clock, and drives away all unclean spirits. First of all it put forth buds, which afterwards expand, then open, and finally change into flowers of a dark red hue. At midnight, the flower opens to its fullest extent, and illuminates everything around. But at that precise moment a demon plucks it from its stalk. Whoever wishes to procure this flower must be in the forest before midnight, locate himself near the Fern, and trace a circle around it. When the Devil approaches and calls, feigning the voice of a parent, sweetheart, &c., no attention must be paid, nor must the head be turned, for if it is, it will remain so. Whoever becomes the happy possessor of the flower has nothing to fear: by its means he can recover lost treasure, become invisible, rule on earth and under water, and defy the Devil. To discover hidden treasure, it is only necessary to throw the flower in the air: if it turns like a star above the Sun, so that it falls perpendicularly in the same spot, it is a sure indication that treasure is concealed there.”

A very ancient method prescribed for obtaining the mystic Fern-seed is given by Dr. Kuhn. At the Summer solstice, if you shoot at the Sun when it has attained its mid-day height, three drops of blood will fall: they must be gathered up and preserved, for that is the Fern-seed.

The Franche-ComtÉ peasantry talk of a mysterious plant that misleads travellers. According to a German authority, this plant is no other than the Fern on Midsummer night. As we have seen, on that night the Fern is reputed to flower, and to let fall its seed: he who secures this seed, becomes invisible; but if the unsuspecting traveller passes by the Fern without noticing it, he will be assuredly misled, even although well acquainted with the road. This is the reason why, in Thuringia, they call the Fern Irrkraut, the misleading plant.

In Poland, there is a popular notion that the plucking of Fern produces a violent thunderstorm.

In Germany, they call the Fern Walpurgiskraut, the superstition being that, on the Walpurgisnacht, the witches procure this plant in order to render themselves invisible. In Lombardy, there exists a popular superstition akin to this. The witches, they say, are particularly fond of the Fern; they gathered it to rub in their hands during a hailstorm, turning it from the side where the hail falls the thickest.

The root of the common Male Fern (Filix mas), was an important ingredient in the love-philtres of former days. An old Gaelic bard sings:—

In olden times the young scroll-like fronds of this Fern were called Lucky Hands, or St. John’s Hands, and were believed to protect the possessor from sorcery, witches’ spells, and the Evil Eye. In Germany, the Male Fern was formerly called Johanniswurtzel; and both on the Continent, and in England, it was the custom, on Midsummer Eve, to gather this Fern, which was sold to the credulous, who wore it about their persons, and mingled it with the water drunk by their cows, as a protection against all evil spirits, and to ensure good luck. It is believed, in Thuringia, that if anyone carries Fern about him, he will be pursued by serpents until he throws it away. In Sweden, the plant is called Snake-bane.

An ancient notion prevailed, that the Male Fern had an antipathy to the Reed; and that where one grew, the other was sure to be absent. According to Dioscorides, “the root hereof is reported to be good for those that have ill spleens; and being stamped with swine’s grease and applied, it is a remedy against the pricking of the Reed.” Other old herbalists state, that the roots of the Male Fern, and the Lady Fern (Filix foemina), boiled in oil, produced “very profitable ointments to heal wounds.” The Ophioglossum had, in olden times, the reputation of being a cure for the bite of serpents. (See also Bracken).

According to Cornish fairy mythology, the Fern was connected with the Small Folk, who are believed to be the spirits of the people who inhabited Cornwall thousands of years ago—long before the birth of Christ. In the legend of the Fairy Widower, a pretty girl, Jenny Permuen, a village coquette, one day set off to “look for a place.” At the junction of four cross roads, she sat down on a boulder of granite, and thoughtlessly began to break off the beautiful fronds of Ferns which grew all around. Suddenly a young man appeared before her, and addressing her by name, enquired what brought her there. Jenny replied that she wished to obtain a situation, and was on her road to the market town. The young man said he was a widower, and in want of a young woman to take care of his little son; and that as he liked Jenny’s good looks, he would engage her there and then for a year and a day, and pay her well; but that he should require her to swear his oath, which consisted in kissing a Fern-leaf, and repeating the formula:—

Jenny was charmed and flattered; all sorts of visions rose before her eyes, and, without hesitation, she took the oath and followed the stranger eastward. In silence the pair walked on, until the girl was quite weary; then they sat down on a bank, and the young man taking a bunch of leaves passed them rapidly over Jenny’s eyes: her weariness departed as if by magic, and she found herself in fairy-land, with her mysterious master. He led her to a splendid mansion, and introduced her to his little boy, who was so beautiful that he instantly won her love. The girl continued at her duties in fairy-land for the allotted time; then, one morning, upon awaking, she found herself sleeping in her own bed in her mother’s cottage; and the old gossips of the village, upon hearing her story, knew that she had been carried by the Small People to some of their countries under the hills.

FIG.—There are several mythological accounts of the origin of the Fig. According to one, Lyceus, one of the Titans, pursued by Jupiter, was metamorphosed into a Fig-tree by the goddess Rhea. Another story attributes to her husband, Saturn, the origin of the Fig-tree, and on this account the inhabitants of Cyrene deck the statue of the god with crowns of Figs. A third myth relates that the Fig-tree is the offspring of the loves of Oxylus, King of Elis, with a Hamadryad. Bacchus, however, was generally considered to have introduced the Fig to mortals: hence the tree was sacred to him, and he is often represented as crowned with Fig-leaves. On this account, also, it was customary to make an offering of the first Figs to the jovial god. At the Canephoria festivals at Athens, in honour of Bacchus, the female votaries wore round their necks collars composed of dried Figs; and at the Dionysian festivals, a basket of Figs formed a prominent feature in the procession.——At Rome, the Fig was carried next to the Vine in the processions in honour of Bacchus, as the patron of plenty and joy; and Bacchus was supposed to have derived his corpulence and vigour, not from the Vine, but from the Fig. Under the name of the Ficus ruminalis, the Romans jealously guarded the sacred wild Fig-tree, upon the roots of which stranded the cradle containing the infants Romulus and Remus, when the Tiber bore it to the foot of the Palatine. Fig-trees are seldom affected by lightning, but this celebrated Ruminal Fig-tree of Rome was once struck during a thunderstorm, and was ever afterwards held doubly sacred; the ancients considering that lightning purified every object it touched. The Romans bestowed upon Jupiter the surname of Ruminus, because he presided over the nourishment of mankind, and they had a goddess Rumina, who presided over the female breasts, and whose oblations were of milk only. These words are both derived from ruma, a teat; and hence the tree under which Romulus and Remus had been suckled by the she-wolf was the Rumina Ficus, a name most appropriate, because the Fig was the symbol of generation and fecundity. The Fig was consecrated to Juno, as the goddess presiding over marriages and at nuptial festivities. Figs were always carried in a mystic vase. The statues of Priapus, god of orchards, were often made of the wood of the Fig, and the tree was also dedicated to Mercury. Notwithstanding this reverence for the Ficus ruminalis, the Romans considered the Fig a tree at once impure and ill-omened. This is shown by the actions of the Arvales (twelve priests of Rome, descended from the nurse of Romulus), who made special expiations when the Fig-tree—the impure tree—sprang up by chance on the roof of the temple of the goddess Dia, where Vestals officiated. After they had uprooted the desecrating tree, they destroyed the temple as being defiled.——Pausanias relates that, according to an oracle, the Messenians were to be abandoned by heaven in their struggles with the Spartans, so soon as a goat (tragos) should drink the water of the Neda: the Messenians, therefore, drove out of their country all the goats. But in Messenia grew the wild Fig, which was also called tragos. One of these wild Figs having sprung up on the banks of the Neda, its branches soon dipped into the flowing waters of the river beneath it. The oracle was fulfilled—a tragos had drunk the water of the Neda: soon afterwards the Messenians were defeated.——The soothsayer Calchas, according to tradition, owed his death in a measure to the Fig-tree. Challenged by the seer Mopsus, of whom he was jealous, to a trial of their skill in divination, Calchas first asked his antagonist how many Figs a neighbouring tree bore. “Ten thousand except one,” was the reply of his rival, “and one single vessel can contain them all.” The Figs were carefully gathered, and his predictions were literally true. It was then the turn of Mopsus to try his adversary. Calchas failed to answer the question put to him, and Mopsus was adjudged victor. So mortified was Calchas at the result of this trial, that he pined away and died.——The ancient Egyptians held the Fig-leaf sacred to the goddess Isis.——The Fig is supposed to have been the first cultivated fruit tasted by man: beneath the boughs of the Fig-tree Adam hid himself after having eaten the forbidden fruit; with its leaves he endeavoured to hide his nakedness. Cakes of Figs were included in the presents of provisions by which the wife of Nabal appeased the wrath of David (1 Sam. xxv., 18). The want of blossom on the Fig-tree was considered as one of the most grievous calamities by the Jews; for, growing as it did in Palestine on the Vine, the tree became with the Israelites an emblem of peace and plenty, and that security which, in ancient times, was thought to be enjoyed by “every man under his own Fig-tree.” Near the city of On, there was shown for many centuries the sacred Fig-tree under which the Holy Family rested during the flight into Egypt.——St. Augustine tells us, in his Confessions, that while still unconverted and in deep communion with his friend Alypius on the subject of the Scriptures, the contest within his mind was so sharp, that he hastened from the presence of his friend and threw himself down beneath a Fig-tree, weeping and lamenting. Then he heard what seemed the voice of a child proceeding apparently from the tree, repeating again and again “Tolle, lege,” (Take and read); and returning to his friend, he took up the sacred volume, and opened it at St. Paul’s words: “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” He was struck with the coincidence; and considering it a Divine call, he then and there resolved to take up the religious profession.——In India, the Fig-tree is greatly esteemed; one species, Ficus glomerata, is held sacred by the Hindus; and the Ficus Indica, or Banyan-tree, is one of the most highly venerated trees on the earth (see Banyan).——The Andalusians have a saying, “On this life depends,” in connection with the Fig-tree, the fruit of which they eat, fasting, in the morning. The Germans have a proverb, “Figs will not grow either on Brambles or Thistles.” Another proverb tells us that “He who has Figs has riches.”——In Sicily, the Fig-tree is looked upon as a tree of ill-omen. It is there thought to be the tree on which Judas hung himself, and never to have thrived well since that occurrance. There is an old superstition that in each leaf of a Fig-tree lurks an evil spirit; and certain blood-thirsty spectres, called Fauni Ficarii, are mentioned in legends.——At Avola, it is popularly believed to be unwise to sleep beneath the shade of a Fig-tree during the warmth of Summer; should, however, anyone be foolhardy enough to do so, there will appear before him the figure of a nun, holding a knife in her hand, who will compel him to say whether he will take it by the blade or by the handle; if he answer, by the blade, he will be forthwith slain; but should he select the handle, he will have all manner of good fortune in store for him.——In Palermo, they deck the Fig-tree with branches of the wild Fig woven into garlands, in order to ensure the fruit ripening.——A Fig-tree has something to do in the way of preventing hydrophobia, if we may believe the following ancient English superstition:—“For tear of mad hound, take the worms which be under a mad hound’s tongue, snip them away, lead them round about a Fig-tree, give them to him who hath been rent; he will soon be healed.”——To dream of Figs implies an accession of wealth, prosperity, and happiness, the realisation of wishes, and a happy old age.

FILBERT.—John Gower, in his Confessio Amantis, suggests that the origin of the word Filbert is to be sought in the metamorphosis of the Thracian princess Phyllis into a Nut-tree, or, more precisely, into the Almond; this view is strengthened by the fact that the old English names for both tree and nut was Fylberde, or Filberd; although another explanation of this word is that the tree was so called after a King Philibert. In olden times the distinction drawn between nuts of a good and those of the best quality, was by terming the former the short-bearded, and the latter the long-bearded, or full-bearded—whence, according to a popular belief, by corruption, Filbert.——Authorities in dream lore tell us that to dream of Filberts is a happy augury, a sign of good health and happy old age. It also denotes success in love, and happiness in the married state, with a numerous family, who will marry well, and occupy a high place in society.——Filbert-trees are held to be under the dominion of Mercury.

FIR.—The ancient Egyptians adopted the Fir-cone as the symbol of their goddess Isis.——The Fir is the Fire-tree, the most inflammable of woods. Gerarde writes of Firs in Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Lancashire, “where they grew in great plenty, as is reputed, before Noah’s floud; but then being overturned and overwhelmed, have lien since in the woods and waterie moorish grounds, very fresh and sound, untill this day; and so full of a resinous substance, that they burne like a torch or linke, and the inhabitants of those countries do call it Fir-wood and Fire-wood unto this day.”——In the traditions of northern countries, the Fir occupies a similar position to the Pine. He is king of the forest; and so, in Switzerland and the Tyrol, the Geni of the Forest is always represented with an uprooted Fir-tree in his hand. This Geni dwells by preference in the Fir, and especially loves old trees. When one of these trees is cut down, the Geni grieves, and pleads for its life. Old Firs, like old Oaks and Birches, are especially respected when standing solitary.——De Gubernatis relates an anecdote of a colossal Fir-tree which grew by itself, at Tarssok, in Russia. This tree had withstood several lightning-blasts, and was supposed to be several hundred years old, as shown by its barkless trunk and its bare branches. At last, in a gale of wind, it fell; but so great a respect had the country-people for the old tree, that they would not make any profit from the sale of the huge trunk, but presented the proceeds to the Church.——In Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Germany, they use the Fir as the Christmas-tree, and this custom has now taken firm root in England.——Just as in many parts of Germany, on Christmas-night, they beat trees, so that they may bear fruit, so at Hildesheim in Hanover, at Shrove-tide, the peasantry solicit gifts from the women, whipping them meanwhile with branches of Fir or Rosemary. This curious custom is supposed to signify their desire to have children. In Northern Germany, newly-married couples often carry in their hands branches of Fir, with lighted candles affixed, perhaps in imitation of the Roman fasces. At Weimar, and other places, they plant Fir-trees before the house where a wedding has taken place. In Austrian Silesia, the May-pole is always of Fir. In the Harz, on Midsummer night, they decorate Fir-trees with flowers and coloured eggs, or, more generally, branches of Fir, which they stick in the ground, and dance around, singing the while some verses appropriate to the occasion. In Northern Germany, when they drive the cattle to pasture for the first time, they often decorate the last cow with small boughs of Firs, as showing their wish for a pasturage favourable to the fecundity of the cattle.——From wounds made in the Balm of Gilead Fir (Abies Balsamea), a very fine turpentine is obtained, which is sometimes sold as the true Balm of Gilead.——To dream you are in a forest of Fir-trees is a sign of suffering.——A Moldavian legend relates that, out of envy, the elder sister of a queen changed the two beautiful twin princes she had just given birth to, for two ugly black children, which she placed in their cradle instead. She then buried the young princes alive in the garden, and as soon as possible went to the king, and told him his queen had given birth to two odious black babies. The king in revenge shut up his wife in a dungeon, and made the elder sister his queen. Suddenly, among the flowers of the garden, there spring up two Fir-trees, who, in the evening, talk and confide to each other that they cannot rest whilst their mother is weeping in her lonely dungeon. Then they make themselves known to the poor ex-queen as her children, and tell her how much they love and pity her. Meanwhile the wicked queen awakes one night and listens. She is filled with dread, and makes the king promise that the two Fir-trees shall be cut down. Accordingly, the young trees are felled and thrown into the fire; when, immediately, two bright sparks fly out, and fall far away among the flowers: they are the two young princes, who have again escaped, and who are now determined to bring to light the crime of their detestable aunt. Some time after there is a grand festival at the king’s palace; and a great “claca” (assembly) is gathered there to string pearls for the queen. Among the guests appear two beautiful children, with golden hair, who seem to be twin brothers. Whilst the pearl-stringing goes on, stories are told by the guests, and at last it comes to the turn of the twin brothers, who relate the sad story of the imprisoned queen, and reveal the crime of her sister. As they speak, their pearls continue to string themselves in a miraculous manner, so that the king, observing this, knows that they are telling the truth. When their story is finished, he acknowledges them as his sons, restores their mother to her position as queen, and orders her wicked sister to be torn asunder by wild horses. Flag.—See Acorus and Iris.

FLAME TREE.—The Nuytsia floribunda, called the Flame or Fire-tree, is a native of West Australia. This tree is most remarkable in many respects: it belongs to the same Natural Order as the Mistletoe—an order numerous in species, most of those inhabiting warm countries having brilliantly-coloured flowers, and, with two exceptions, strictly parasitical on the branches of other trees. One of these exceptions is the Flame-tree; but although Nuytsia floribunda is terrestrial, and has all the aspect of an independent tree, it is thought to be parasitical on the roots of some neighbouring tree or shrub, because all attempts to rear seedlings have proved unsuccessful. Its trunk is soft, like pith, yet it has a massive appearance. Its gorgeous fiery flowers are more brilliant than flames, for they are undimmed by smoke.

FLAX.—There are certain plants which, having been cultivated from time immemorial, are not now to be found in a wild state, and have no particular history. The common Flax (Linum usitatissimum) has been thought to be one of these. Flax is mentioned both in Genesis and Exodus: at least Joseph was clothed in linen, and the Flax was blighted in the fields. But modern research has shown that the Flax of the ancients was Linum angustifolium, the narrow-leaved Flax; and the same fact has been developed in regard to the Flax of the Lake-dwellers in Switzerland.——The fine linen of Egypt is frequently referred to in Scripture, and specimens of this fabric are to be seen in the linen in which the Egyptian mummies are enfolded. That Flax was also grown in ancient times in Palestine, may be inferred from the fact that Rahab hid the Hebrew spies among the Flax spread on her roof.——In the mythology of the North, Flax is supposed to be under the protection of the goddess Hulda, but the plant’s blue blossom is more especially the flower of Bertha, whose blue eyes shine in its calyx, and whose distaff is filled by its fibres.——Indian mysticism likens the grey dawn and the brightening daybreak to luminous linen and its weavers. The celestial bride, Aurora, weaves the nuptial garment—the robe of the celestial bridegroom, the Sun.——The gods attire themselves in luminous robes—white or red, silver or gold. Earthly priests have adopted the white robe in India, Egypt, Asia Minor, Rome, and in all Christian countries. The offspring of the Flax, according to a tradition, represent the rays of the Sun, and clothe the great luminary.——In Sicily, to cure headache produced by exposure to the Sun, they burn, with certain incantations, flaxen tow in a glass, from which they have poured out the water it contained: they then place the glass on a white plate, and the plate on the head of the patient: they contend that by this means they extract from his head, and impart to the Flax, all the virtue of the Sun.——Flax is the symbol of life and of prolific vegetation: on this account, in Germany, when an infant thrives but badly, or does not learn to walk, they place it naked, either in the Spring or on Midsummer-day, upon the turf, and scatter some Flax-seed on this turf and on the infant itself: then, as soon as the Flax commences to grow, the infant should also begin to thrive and to walk.——To dream of Flax is reputed to augur a good and happy marriage; to dream of spinning Flax, however, betokens coming troubles.——There is an old superstition that Flax will only flower at the time of day at which it was originally sown. He who sows it must first seat himself thrice on the sack, turning to the east. Stolen seeds mingled with the rest cause the crop to thrive.——Flax when in bloom acts as a talisman against witchcraft, and sorcery can be practised even with the dry stalks. When the shreds are spun or woven into shirts, under certain incantations, the wearer is secure from accidents or wounds.——It was the goddess Hulda who first taught mortals the art of growing Flax, of spinning, and of weaving it. According to the legendary belief in South Tyrol, she is the especial patroness of the Flax culture in that district. Hulda is also the sovereign of the Selige FrÄulein, the happy fairy maidens who keep watch and guard over the Flax-plants. Between KroppbÜhl and Unterlassen, is a cave which is believed by the country people to have been the entrance to Queen Hulda’s mountain palace. Twice a year she passed through the valley, scattering blessings around her path—once in Summer, when the blue flowers of the Flax were brightening the fields, and again during the mysterious “twelve nights” immediately preceding our feast of the Epiphany, when, in ancient days, the gods and goddesses were believed to visit the earth. Hulda visited the cottagers’ homes in the Winter nights to examine the distaff. If the Flax was duly spun off, prosperity attended the family; but laziness was punished by trouble and blighted crops. Hulda’s fairy people, the Selige FrÄulein, would sometimes visit deserving folks and aid the Flax-spinning: there is a legend that a peasant woman at Vulpera, near Tarash, thinking that she ought to reward her fairy assistants, set before them a sumptuous meal, but they shook their heads sadly, and, giving the poor woman a never-failing ball of cotton, they said, “This is the recompense for thy goodwill—payment for payment,”—and immediately vanished.

FLEA-BANE.—The star-shaped yellow Flea-bane, or wild Marigold (Inula dysenterica), received its name from the belief that its odour was repulsive to fleas, gnats, and other insects. On the flowers of this plant, as well as on those of Agnus Castus, the Grecian women were made to sleep during the feast of Thesmophoria. The Arabs extol this plant highly as a remedy for wounds. One of their traditions records that flowers of the Inula, bruised, were used by the patriarch Job as an application to those grievous sores which he so pathetically laments. Hence the Flea-bane is called by the men of the desert “Job’s Tears.” FLOS ADONIS.—In most European countries the Flos Adonis (the dark-crimsoned Adonis autumnalis) still retains in its nomenclature a legendary connection with the blood of the unfortunate Adonis, and is called by the Germans BlutstrÖpfchen to the present day.——Just as from the tears of the sorrowing Venus, which fell as she gazed on the bleeding corpse of the beautiful Adonis, there sprang the Anemone, or Wind-flower, so from the blood of the lamented boy which poured forth from the death-wound inflicted by the boar, there proceeded the Adonis-flower, or Flos Adonis. Referring to this, Rapin writes—

And Shakspeare, in his poem on Venus and Adonis, says—

FLOWER DE LUCE.—The Iris has obtained this name, which is derived from the French Fleur de Louis, from its having been assumed as his device by Louis VII., of France. This title of Fleur de Louis has been changed to Fleur de Luce, Fleur de Lys, and Fleur de Lis. (See Iris).——A curious superstition exists in the district around Orleans, where a seventh son without a daughter intervening is called a Marcon. It is believed that the Marcon’s body is marked somewhere with a Fleur de Lis, and that if a patient suffering under King’s Evil touch this Fleur de Lis, or if the Marcon breathe upon him, the malady will be sure to disappear.

Flower Gentle, or Floramor.—See Amaranth.

FLOWERS OF HEAVEN.—Under the names of Rain Tremella and Star Jelly is known a strange gelatinous substance, of no precise form, but of a greenish hue, which creeps over gravelly soils, and is found mixed up with wet Mosses on rocks besides waterfalls: when moist, it is soft and pulpy, but in dry weather it becomes thin, brittle, and black in colour. LinnÆus called it Tremella Nostoc, but it is now classed with the AlgÆ GloiocladeÆ under the name of Nostoc commune, a name first used by the alchymist Paracelsus, but the meaning of which is unknown. During the middle ages, some extraordinary superstitions were afloat concerning this plant, which was called Coelifolium, or Flowers of Heaven. By the alchemists it was considered a universal menstruum. The country people in Germany use it to make their hair grow. In England, the country folk of many parts, firmly believed it to be the remains of a falling star, for after a wet, stormy night, these Flowers of Heaven will often be found growing where they were not to be seen the previous evening.

FLOWERING ROD.—There is a legend in the Apocryphal Gospel of Mary, according to which Joseph was chosen for Mary’s husband because his rod budded into flower, and a dove settled upon the top of it. In pictures of the marriage of Joseph and Mary, the former generally holds the flowering rod. The rod by which the Lord demonstrated that He had chosen Aaron to be His priest, blossomed with Almond-flowers, and was laid up in the Ark (see Almond).

FORGET-ME-NOT.—The Forget-me-not is a name which, like the Gilliflower, has been applied to a variety of plants. For more than two hundred years it was given, in England, France, and the Netherlands, to the ground Pine, Ajuga ChamÆpitys. From the middle of the fifteenth century until 1821, this plant was in all the botanical books called Forget-me-not, on account of the nauseous taste which it leaves in the mouth. Some of the old German botanists gave the name Vergiss mein nicht to the ChamÆdrys vera foemina, or Teucrium Botrys. Forglemm mig icke, the corresponding Danish name, was given to the Veronica chamÆdrys. This plant was in English called the Speedwell, from its blossoms falling off and flying away, and “Speedwell” being an old form of leave-taking, equivalent to “Farewell” or “Good-bye.” In the days of chivalry, a plant, whose identity has not been ascertained, was called “Souveigne vous de moy,” and was woven into collars. In 1465, one of these collars was the prize at a famous joust, fought between Lord Scales, brother to Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV., and a French knight of Burgundy. Certain German botanists, as far back as the sixteenth century, seem, however, to have given the name Forget-me-not to the Myosotis palustris; and this name has become inseparably connected with the flower, borne on the wings of the following poetic legend:—A knight and his lady-love, who were on the eve of being united, whilst strolling on the bank of the blue Danube, saw a spray of these pretty flowers floating on the waters, which seemed ready to carry it away. The affianced bride admired the delicate beauty of the blossoms, and regretted their fatal destiny. At this hint, the lover did not hesitate to plunge into the stream. He soon secured the flowers, but the current was too strong for him, and as it bore him past his despairing mistress, he flung the fatal flowers on the bank, exclaiming, as he was swept to his doom, “Vergiss mich nicht!”

According to Grimm, the original Forget-me-not was a certain Luck-flower, concerning which there is a favourite legend in Germany (see Key-flower). And there is another traditional origin of the flower, which for antiquity should have the precedence of all others. According to this version, Adam, when he named the plants in Paradise, cautioned them not to forget what he called them. One little flower, however, was heedless, and forgot its name. Ashamed of its inattention and forgetfulness, the flower asked the father of men, “By what name dost thou call me?” “Forget-me-not,” was the reply; and ever since that humble flower has drooped its head in shame and ignominy.——A fourth origin of the name “Forget-me-not” is given by Miss Strickland in her work on the Queens of England. Writing of Henry of Lancaster (afterwards Henry IV.), she says:—“This royal adventurer, the banished and aspiring Lancaster, appears to have been the person who gave to the Myosotis its emblematical and poetical meaning, by writing it, at the period of his exile, on his collar of S.S., with the initial letter of his mot or watchword, Souveigne vous de moy, thus rendering it the symbol of remembrance.” It was with his hostess, at the time wife of the Duke of Bretagne, that Henry exchanged this token of goodwill and remembrance.——The Italians call the Myosotis, Nontiscordar di me, and in one of their ballads represent the flower as the embodiment of the spirit of a young girl who was drowned, and transformed into the Myosotis growing by the river’s banks.——The ancient English name of the Myosotis palustris was Mouse-Ear-Scorpion-Grass; “Mouse-Ear” describing the oval leaves, and “Scorpion” the curve of the one-sided raceme, like a scorpion’s tail.——According to some investigators, the Forget-me-not is the Sun-flower of the classics—the flower into which poor Clytie was metamorphosed—the pale blossom which, says Ovid, held firmly by the root, still turns to the sun she loves. CÆsalpinus called it Heliotropium, and Gerarde figured it as such. (See Heliotrope).——The Germans are fond of planting the Forget-me-not upon their graves, probably on account of its name; for the beauty of the flower is lost if taken far from the water.——It is said that after the battle of Waterloo, an immense quantity of Forget-me-nots sprung up upon different parts of that sanguinary field, the soil of which had been enriched by the blood of heroes.——A writer in ‘All the Year Round’ remarks, that possibly the story of the origin of the Forget-me-not’s sentimental designation may have been in the mind of the Princess Marie of Baden, that Winter day, when, strolling along the banks of the Rhine with her cousin, Louis Napoleon, she inveighed against the degeneracy of modern gallants, vowing they were incapable of emulating the devotion to beauty that characterised the cavaliers of olden times. As they lingered on the causeway-dykes, where the Neckar joins the Rhine, a sudden gust of wind carried away a flower from the hair of the princess, and sent it into the rushing waters. “There!” she exclaimed, “that would be an opportunity for a cavalier of the olden days to show his devotion.” “That’s a challenge, cousin,” retorted Louis Napoleon, and in a second he was battling with the rough waters. He disappeared and reappeared to disappear and reappear again and again, but at length reached the shore safe and sound with his cousin’s flower in his hand. “Take it, Marie,” said he, as he shook himself; “but never again talk to me of your cavalier of the olden time.”

FOXGLOVE.—The name of Digitalis (from digitale, a thimble or finger-stall) was given to the Foxglove in 1542, by Fuchs, who remarks that hitherto the flower had remained unnamed by the Greeks and Romans. Our forefathers sometimes called it the Finger-flower, the Germans named it Fingerhut, and the French GantelÉe—names all bestowed on account of the form of the flower, regarding which Cowley fancifully wrote—

The French also term the Foxglove Gants de Notre Dame and Doigts de la Vierge. Various explanations have been given as to the apparently inappropriate English name of Foxglove, which is, however, derived from the Anglo-Saxon Foxes-glof; and was presumably applied to the flower from some bygone connection it had with the fox, and its resemblance to a glove-finger. Dr. Prior’s explanation is worth quoting, however, if only for its ingenuity. He says: “Its Norwegian names, Rev-bielde, Fox-bell, and Reveleika, Fox-Music, are the only foreign ones that allude to that animal; and they explain our own, as having been, in the first place, foxes-glew, or music (Anglo-Saxon gliew), in reference to a favourite instrument of earlier times, a ring of bells hung on an arched support—a tintinnabulum—which this plant, with its hanging bell-shaped flowers, so exactly represents.”——The Foxglove is the special fairy flower: in its spotted bells the “good folk” delight to nestle. It is called in Ireland, Lusmore, or the Great Herb, and also Fairy-cap—a retreat in which the merry little elves are said to hide themselves when a human foot approaches to disturb their dances. The bending of the plant’s tall stalks is believed to denote the presence of supernatural beings, to whom the flower is making its obeisance. In the Irish legend of Knockgrafton, the hero, a poor hunchback, reputed to have a great knowledge of herbs and charms, always wears a sprig of the Fairy-cap, or Lusmore, in his little straw hat, and hence is nicknamed Lusmore. The Shefro, or gregarious fairy, is represented as wearing the corolla of the Foxglove on his head. Browne describes Pan as seeking these flowers as gloves for his mistress:—

In Wales, the bells of the Foxglove are termed Menyg Ellyllon, or goblins’ gloves. No doubt on account of its connection with the fairies, its name has been fancifully thought to have originally been the Fairy Folks’ Glove. The witches are popularly supposed to have held the Foxglove in high favour, and to have decorated their fingers with its largest bells, thence called “Witches’ Bells.”——Beautiful as it is, the Digitalis is a dangerous plant; no animal will touch it, and it exercises a singular influence over mankind: it impedes the circulation of the blood. We read in ‘Time’s Telescope’ for 1822, that the women of the poorer class in Derbyshire indulged in copious draughts of Foxglove-tea, as a cheap means of obtaining the pleasures of intoxication. It produces a great exhilaration of spirits, and has some singular effects on the system.——Robert Turner tells us that the Foxglove is under Venus, and that, in Hampshire, it is “very well known by the name of Poppers, because if you hold the broad end of the flower close between your finger and thumb, and blow at the small head, as into a bladder, till it be full of wind, and then suddenly strike it with your other hand, it will give a great crack or pop.” The Italians call the plant Aralda, and have this proverb concerning it: “Aralda tutte piaghe salda”—“Aralda salveth all sores.” Although containing a poison, the Foxglove yields a medicine valuable in cases of heart-disease, inflammatory fevers, dropsy, &c.

FRANGIPANNI.—The Plumieria acuminata, or Frangipanni plant, bears immense clusters of waxy flowers which exhale a most delicious odour: these flowers are white, with a yellow centre, and are flushed with purple behind. The plant is common throughout Malaya, where Mr. Burbidge says it is esteemed by the natives as a suitable decoration for the graves of their friends. Its Malay name, Bunga orang sudah mati, is eminently suggestive of the funereal use to which it is put, and means literally “Dead Man’s Flower.”——Frangipanni powder (spices, Orris-roots, and Musk or Civet) was compounded by one of the Roman nobles, named Frangipanni, an alchymist of some repute, who invented a stomachic, which he named Rosolis, ros-solis, sun-dew. The Frangipanni tart was the invention of the same noble.

FRANKINCENSE.—Leucothea, the daughter of the Persian king Orchamus, attracted the notice of Apollo, who, to woo her, assumed the form and features of her mother. Unable to withstand the god’s “impetuous storm,” Leucothea indulged his love; but Clytia, maddened with jealousy, discovered the intrigue to Orchamus, who, to avenge his stained honour, immured his daughter alive. Apollo, unable to save her from death, sprinkled nectar and ambrosia over her grave, which, penetrating to the lifeless body, changed it into the beautiful tree that bears the Frankincense. Ovid thus describes the nymph’s transformation:—

The tree which thus sprang from poor Leucothea’s remains was a description of Terebinth, now called Boswellia thurifera, which is principally found in Yemen, a part of Arabia. Frankincense is an exudation from this tree, and Pliny tells some marvellous tales respecting its mode of collection, and the difficulties in obtaining it. Frankincense was one of the ingredients with which Moses was instructed to compound the holy incense (Exodus xxx.). The Egyptians made great use of it as a principal ingredient in the perfumes which they so lavishly consumed for religious rites and funeral honours. As an oblation, it was burned on the altars by the priests of Isis, Osiris, and Pasht. At the festivals of Isis an ox was sacrificed filled with Frankincense, Myrrh, and other aromatics. On all the altars erected to the Assyrian gods Baal, Astarte, and Dagon, incense and aromatic gums were burnt in profusion; and we learn from Herodotus that the Arabians alone had to furnish a yearly tribute of one thousand talents of Frankincense.—-Ovid recommends Frankincense as an excellent cosmetic, and says that if it is agreeable to gods, it is no less useful to mortals.——Rapin writes that “Phrygian Frankincense is held divine.”

Dr. Birdwood states that there are many varieties of the Frankincense-tree, yielding different qualities of the “lubÂn” or milky gum which, from time immemorial, has sent up the smoke of sacrifice from high places.——Distinct records have been found of the traffic carried on between Egypt and Arabia in the seventeenth century B.C. In the paintings at Dayr al BÁhri, in Upper Egypt, are representations both of bags of Olibanum and of Olibanum-trees in tubs, being conveyed by ships from Arabia to Egypt; and among the inscriptions deciphered by Professor DÜmichen are many describing shipments of precious woods, incense, and “verdant incense trees brought among the precious things from the land of Arabia for the majesty of their god Ammon, the lord of the terrestrial thrones.”——The Philistines reverently burnt Frankincense before the fish-god Dagon. In ancient days it was accepted as tribute. Darius, for instance, received from the Arabians an annual tribute of one thousand talents of Frankincense.——When the Magi, or wise men of the East, following the guidance of the miraculous star, reached Bethlehem and paid their homage to the infant Saviour, they made an offering of gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh, by which symbolical oblation they acknowledged Him as King (gold), God (incense), and Man (Myrrh).——The Roman Catholic and Greek churches, especially the churches of South America, consume an immense quantity of Olibanum, as do the Chinese in their joss-houses.

FRAXINELLA.—The Fraxinella (Dictamnus) is deemed a most sacred plant by the fire-worshippers of India, and is highly reverenced by them on account of its singular powers of luminosity. The plant is covered with minute glands which excrete volatile oil: this is continually evaporating from its surface, and forms a highly inflammable atmosphere round the plant. If a light be brought near it, the plant is enveloped by a transient flame, but without sustaining any injury. When gently rubbed, the plant emits a delicious scent, like lemon-peel.

Friar’s Cap.—See Monkshood.

FRITILLARY.—The origin of the Fritillaria, or Crown Imperial, is given by Rapin in the following lines:—

This flower is a native of Persia, and was for some time known as Lilium Persicum. According to Madame de Genlis, it derived its majestic name of Crown Imperial from the celebrated Guirlande de Julie. The Duke de Montausier, on New Year’s Day, 1634, presented his bride, Julie de Rambouillet, with a magnificent album, on the vellum leaves of which were painted a series of flowers, with appropriate verses. The principal poem was by Chapelain, who chose this Persian Lily as his theme, and, knowing the bride to be a great admirer of Gustavus Adolphus, represented in his verses that the flower sprang from the life-blood of the Swedish King when he fell mortally wounded on the field of LÜtzen; adding that had this hero gained the imperial crown, he would have offered it with his hand to Julie, but as the Fates had metamorphosed him into this flower, it was presented to her under the name of La Couronne ImpÉriale. In later days the flower received the name of Fritillaria (from Fritillus, a dice box, the usual companion of the chequer-board), because its blossoms are chequered with purple and white or yellow.

FUMITORY.—This plant, which Shakspeare alludes to as Fumiter, derived its name from the French Fume-terre, and Latin Fumus terrÆ, earth-smoke. It was so named from a belief, very generally held in olden times, that it was produced without seed from smoke or vapour rising from the earth. Pliny (who calls it Fumaria) states that the plant took its name from causing the eyes to water when applied to them, as smoke does; but another opinion is that it was so called because a bed of the common kind, when in flower, appears at a distance like a dense smoke. Rapin has these lines on the plant:—

Dioscorides says that the juice dropped into the eyes clears the sight, and also that the juice, having a little gum Arabic dissolved therein, and applied to the eyelids when the hairs have been pulled out, will keep them from growing again.——According to astrologers, Fumitory is a herb of Saturn.

GANG FLOWER.—The Milk-wort, Flos Ambarvalis, Cross-, Procession-, Gang-, or Rogation-Flower (Polygala vulgaris), was so called from its blossoming in Gang-week or Rogation-week, when processions were made in imitation of the ancient Roman Ambarvalia (see Corn), to perambulate the parishes with the Holy Cross and Litanies, to mark boundaries, and to invoke God’s blessing upon the crops; upon which occasions Gerarde tells us “the maidens which use in the countries to walke the procession do make themselves garlands and nosegaies” of the Milk-wort, which the old herbalist likewise informs us is so called on account of its “vertues in procuring milke in the breasts of nurses.” GARLIC.—The tapering-leaved Garlic (Allium sativum) derives its name from two Anglo-Saxon words, meaning the Spear-plant. The Egyptians so appreciated Garlic, that they were accustomed to swear by it, and even to worship it. Referring to this, Juvenal satirically remarks: “Each clove of Garlic hath a sacred flower.” Nevertheless, no Egyptian priest was permitted to eat Garlic. The Israelites, who had learnt in Egypt to prize this vegetable, murmured at being deprived of its use, and expressed their preference of it to Manna itself.——In Asia Minor, Greece, Scandinavia, and Northern Germany, Garlic is popularly believed to possess magical properties of a beneficent nature. According to the ‘Lay of SigurdrÎfa,’ protection from witchcraft may be ensured by the addition of Garlic to a beverage. The Sanscrit name for Garlic means the Slayer of Monsters. Galen relates that it was considered inimical to all cold poisons, and to the bites of venomous beasts. Macer Floridus affirms that the eating of Garlic fasting ensured immunity from all ills attending change of climate or the drinking of unknown water. The roots, hung round the necks of blind cattle, were supposed to induce restoration of sight. Clusius relates that the German miners found the roots very powerful in defending them from the assaults of impure spirits which frequented mines.——In England, Garlic obtained the name of Poor Man’s Treacle, or Triacle, from its being considered an antidote to animal poison. Bacon tells us that, applied to the wrists, and renewed, Garlic was considered a cure for long agues: in Kent, and probably in other counties, it is placed in the stockings of a child with the whooping-cough, in order to allay the complaint.——De Gubernatis states that the Bolognese regard Garlic as the symbol of abundance; at the festival of St. John, everyone buys it, to preserve themselves from poverty during the year. In Sicily, they put Garlic on the beds of women during confinement, and they make three signs of the cross with it to charm away polypus. In Cuba, thirteen cloves of Garlic at the end of a cord worn round the neck for thirteen days, is considered to safeguard the wearer against the jaundice, provided that, in the middle of the night of the thirteenth day, he proceeds to the corner of two streets, takes off his Garlic necklet, and, flinging it over his head, runs instantly home without turning round to see what has become of it.——The broad-leaved Garlic was formerly called Buckrams, Bear’s Garlic, Ramsies, and Ramsins, the last name being referred to in the proverb—

We read that if a man dream of eating Garlic, it signifies that he will discover hidden secrets, and meet with some domestic jar; yet to dream he has it in the house is lucky.——Garlic is under the dominion of Mars.

Gean.—See Cherry.

GENTIAN.—The Gentian (Gentiana) was so called after Gentius, King of Illyria, who first discovered the medicinal virtues of this bitter plant. Gentius having imprisoned the ambassadors sent to his court by the Romans, they invaded his kingdom, conquered it, and led the royal botanist and his family in triumph through the streets of Rome. The old name of this flower was Gentiana cruciata, and it was also called S. Ladislai Regis herba, in regard to which latter appellation, there is a curious legend:—During the reign of King Ladislas, the whole of Hungary was afflicted with the plague. Compassionating his unfortunate subjects who were dying by thousands, the pious king prayed that if he shot an arrow into the air, the Almighty would vouchsafe to guide it to the root of some herb that might be employed efficaciously in arresting the terrible plague. The king discharged an arrow, and, in falling, it cleft the root of the Cruciata (Gentian), which was at once tried, and found to possess the most astonishing curative powers when administered to sufferers from the plague.——According to old Robert Turner, the herbalist, Gentian, or Felwort, “resists poisons, putrefaction, and the pestilence, and helps digestion; the powder of the dry roots helps bitings of mad dogs and venomous beasts, opens the liver, and procures an appetite. Wine, wherein the herb hath been steept, being drunk, refreshes such as are over-wearied by travel, or are lame in their joynts by cold or bad lodgings.” Gerarde states that it is put into counterpoisons, “as into the composition named Theriaca diatessaron, which Ætius calleth Mysterium, a mystery, or hid secret.” Formerly the names of Baldmoney and Baldmoyne were applied to the Felwort or Gentian. (See Baldmoney and Feldwode.)——Gentian is under the dominion of Mars.

Geranium.—See Crane’s Bill.

Gill.—See Ivy.

GILLIFLOWER.—The appellation of Gilliflower has been applied, apparently as a kind of pet name, to all manner of plants. Formerly the word was spelt gyllofer and gilofre, from the French giroflÉe and Italian garofalo, words derived from the Latin Caryophyllum and Greek Karuophullon, a Clove, in allusion to the flower’s spicy odour. The name was originally given by the Italians to the Carnation and plants of the Pink tribe, and was so used by Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakspeare. Afterwards both writers and gardeners bestowed the name on the Matthiola and Cheiranthus. At the present time the word has almost fallen out of use, but in books will be found to be applied to the Clove Gilliflower, Dianthus Caryophyllus (the true Gilliflower); the Marsh Gilliflower, or Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos cuculi); Queen’s, Rogue’s, or Winter Gilliflower, the Dame’s Violet (Hesperis matronalis); Stock Gilliflower (Matthiola incana); Wall Gilliflower (Cheiranthus Cheiri); and Water Gilliflower (Hottonia palustris).——The Gilliflower is in old songs represented as one of the flowers thought to grow in Paradise. Thus, in a ballad called ‘Dead Men’s Songs,’ occurs the following verse:—

(See also Carnation).

GINSENG.—The Chinese consider the far-famed Ginseng (Panax quinquefolia) the most valuable production of nature. It is their specific for all disorders of the lungs or of the stomach, curing asthma, strengthening the eyesight, renewing a worn-out constitution, delaying the approach of old age, and acting as a counterpoison. The Dutch naturalists thus described the Ginseng:—“Its name is taken from its shape, because its represents a man (in Chinese Gin) striding with his legs. It is a larger and stronger species of our Mandrake. The dried root is of a yellow colour, streaked round with blackish veins, as if drawn with ink. It yields when chewed an unpleasant sweetness, mixed with bitterness. The Chinese will give three pounds of gold for one pound of it.” To the Chinese this shrub is in some measure a foreign production, as it is found only in Manchoo Tartary; but it does not owe all its reputation to its distant origin; the Tartars also prize it, and give it a name (Orhota) expressive of its quality as the chief of plants. They endeavour to procure it at the risk of losing their lives or liberty, equally endangered by the nature of the country where it is found, and by the policy of the Chinese Government, which endeavours to monopolise this much-esteemed production. A large extent of country to the north-east of Pekin, covered with inaccessible mountains, and almost impassable forests infested with wild beasts, and affording no means of subsistence, is separated from the province of Leao Tong by a strong barrier of stakes, always carefully protected by guards of Chinese soldiers who seize and punish unlicensed intruders: this is the native country of Ginseng, and these precautions are considered necessary to preserve the valued plant from depredation. The PÈre Jartoux, who was employed in the survey of Tartary by order of the Emperor Kam-he, describes the mode of gathering the Ginseng, as it was practised at that time. He had frequently met with the party of Tartars employed on the service, but on this occasion ten thousand Tartars were commanded to gather all the Ginseng that could be found; and after deducting two ounces from the quantity gathered by each man, they were allowed for the remainder its weight in pure silver. This army of botanists divided themselves into companies of a hundred men, with a chief to each company. The whole territory was then apportioned to the several divisions; each division formed a line, and, slowly advancing, traversed that portion of country allotted to it; nearly six months were spent in the occupation, and the whole territory was thus searched through. Of the Ginseng thus collected the root is the only part preserved.

GLADIOLUS.—The Corn-flag, or Sword-flag (Gladiolus), has been thought by some to be the flower alluded to by Ovid as the blossom which sprang from the blood of Hyacinthus when he was accidentally slain by Apollo with a quoit—the flower which bears displayed upon its petals the sad impression of the Sun-god’s sighs-Ai, Ai! (See Hyacinth). The upper root of the Sword-flag was supposed by the old herbalists to provoke amatory passions, whilst the lower root was thought to cause barrenness.——The Gladiolus is a plant of the Moon.

GLASTONBURY THORN.—In Loudon’s Arboretum Britannicum, the Glastonbury Thorn is mentioned as the CratÆgus Oxyacantha prÆcox. This variety of the Hawthorn blossoms during the Winter, and was for many years believed religiously to blow on Christmas-day. The Abbey of Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, which is now a ruin, and of whose origin only vague memorials exist, was said by the monks to have been the residence of Joseph of Arimathea. The high ground on which the old abbey was erected used in early days to be called the Isle of Avalon. The Thorn-tree stood on an eminence to the south-west of the town of Glastonbury, where a nunnery, dedicated to St. Peter, was in after times erected. The eminence is called Weary-all Hill; and the same monkish legend which accounts for the name of the hill, states also the origin of the Thorn. It seems that when Joseph of Arimathea, to whom the original conversion of this country is attributed, arrived at this spot with his companions, they were weary with their journey, and sat down. St. Joseph then stuck his stick in the ground, when, although it was a dry Hawthorn staff, it took root and grew, and thenceforth commemorated the birth of Christ in the manner above mentioned. This rendered its blossoms of so much value in all Christian nations, that the Bristol merchants exported them as things of price to foreign lands. It had two trunks or bodies until the time of Queen Elizabeth, when a Puritan cut down one of them, but left the other, which was about the size of an ordinary man. This desecration of the tree brought condign punishment upon the over-zealous Puritan, for, according to James Howell, a writer of the period, “some of the prickles flew into his eye, and made him monocular.” The reputation which the Glastonbury Thorn still retained, notwithstanding the change of religion, may be estimated by the fact that King James and his Queen, and other persons of distinction, gave large sums for small cuttings from the original tree. Until the time of Charles I., it was customary to carry a branch of the Thorn in procession at Christmas time; but during the civil war, in that reign, what remained of the tree was cut down; plants from its branches are, however, still in existence, for a vintner of the place secured a slip, and planted it in his garden, where it duly flowered on the 25th December. When the new style was introduced in 1752, the alteration (which consisted of omitting eleven days) seems to have been very generally disliked by the mass of the people. The use which was made of the Glastonbury Thorn to prove the impropriety of the change is not a little curious. The alteration in the Christmas Day, which was held that year and since on a day which would have been January 5th, was particularly obnoxious, not only as disturbing old associations, but as making an arbitrary change from what was considered the true anniversary of the birth of Christ. In several places, where real or supposed slips from the Glastonbury Thorn existed, the testimony of the plant against the change was anxiously sought on the first Christmas Day under the new style. As the special distinction of the Thorn arose from its supposed connection with the great event commemorated on that day, it was argued that it must indicate the true anniversary, and that its evidence would be conclusive on the subject. The event of one of these references (at Quainton, in Buckinghamshire) is thus recorded in the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ for 1753:—“Above 2000 people came here this night (December 24th, 1752, N.S., being the first Christmas Eve under the new calendar), with lanthorns and candles, to view a Thorn-tree which grows in this neighbourhood, and which was remembered (this year only) to be a slip from the Glastonbury Thorn; that it always budded on the 24th, was full-blown the next day, and went off at night. But the people, finding no appearance of a bud, it was agreed that December 25th n.s. could not be the right Christmas Day, and accordingly they refused going to Church, or treating their friends as usual. At length the affair became so serious, that the ministers of the neighbouring villages, in order to appease the people, thought it prudent to give notice that the old Christmas Day should be kept holy as usual.” The slips of the Thorn seem to have been everywhere unanimous in this opposition to the new style. There still exist at Glastonbury, within the precincts of the ruins of the Abbey, two distinct trees, which, doubtless, sprang from the Thorn of Joseph of Arimathea, and which continue to blossom during the winter months.

GLOBE FLOWER.—The botanical name of the Globe Flower, Trollius EuropÆus, is supposed to be of Scandinavian origin, and to signify a magic flower. The plant is also called Globe Ranunculus and Globe Crow-foot, from the globular form of its calyx. The flower was formerly known as the Troll-flower, and in Scotland as the Luckan Gowan (Cabbage Daisy). Its name of Troll was probably derived from the Swedish word troll, a malignant supernatural being,—a name corresponding to the Scotch Witches’ Gowan, and given to the Trollius on account of its acrid poisonous qualities. It is a common flower on the Alps, and has been employed from time immemorial by the Swiss peasantry to make garlands of on rural festive celebrations. In the northern counties of England, at the beginning of June, the Globe-flower is sought with great festivity by the young people, who adorn their doors and cottages with wreaths and garlands composed of its blossoms.

GOAT’S BEARD.—The yellow Goat’s Beard (Tragopogon pratensis) is one of the best floral indices of the hour of the day, for it opens at sunrise and closes at noon.

Other names of this plant are Noon-day Flower, Go-to-bed-at-noon, Star of Jerusalem, and Joseph’s Flower. No satisfactory explanation has ever been given with respect to the last two names, nor is it known whether the Joseph referred to is the son of Jacob, the Virgin Mary’s husband, or Joseph of Arimathea.

GOLDEN ROD.—The tall straight-stemmed Golden Rod (Solidago virga aurea) was formerly called Wound-weed, and on account of its healing powers received its scientific name solidago, from “in solidum ago vulnera,” “I consolidate wounds.” It was brought from abroad in a dried state, and sold in the London markets by the herb-women of Queen Elizabeth’s days, and Gerarde tells us that it fetched half-a-crown an ounce. About that time, however, it was found in Hampstead ponds, and when it was seen to be a native plant, it became valueless and was discarded from use; which, says Gerarde, “plainely setteth forth our inconstancie and sudden mutabilitie, esteeming no longer of anything, how pretious soever it be, than whilest it is strange and rare. This verifieth our English proverbe, ‘Far fetcht and deare bought is best for ladies.’”——According to tradition, the Golden Rod is also a divining-rod, and points to hidden springs of water as well as to treasures of gold and silver.——Astrologers say that Golden Rod is a plant of Venus.

Gold Cup and Gold Knobs.—See Ranunculus.

Gold, Golding, and Gowan.—See Marigold.

GOLDILOCKS.—This name is applied to Ranunculus auricomus, Chrysocoma Linosyris, Amaranthus luteus (Golden Flower Gentle), and, by Gerarde, to Muscus capillaris (Golden Maidenhair Moss). Camelina sativa is the Gold of Pleasure.

GOLUBETZ.—There is a popular belief in Russia, that anyone drinking a draught of water in which this plant of the marshes has been steeped, will be exempt from attacks by bears. GOOD HENRY.—The Allgood, English Mercury, Good Henry, or Good King Harry (Chenopodium Bonus Henricus) seems to have been given its name of Good Henry to distinguish it from a poisonous plant called Malus Henricus. Grimm explains that the name Henry has reference in this case to elves and kobolds, which were called Heinz and Heinrich.

GOOL-ACHIN.—The Plumeria acutifolia, a tree of American origin, is called by the Hindus Gool-achin, and is esteemed sacred by them. It is commonly planted in Indian gardens, and particularly in cemeteries, because it keeps the graves of the departed white with its daily fall of fragrant flowers. The branches are stout, and, when wounded, exude a milky juice, which is prized.

GOOSEBERRY.—The homely Gooseberry, which derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon crÓs, a curl (German kraus, and old Dutch kroes), is an old inhabitant of England, for Tusser, who lived in the reign of Henry VIII., wrote of it—

It was formerly called Feaberry, Dewberry and Wineberry.——An old-fashioned remedy for a wart consisted in pricking it with a sharp Gooseberry-thorn passed through a wedding-ring.——To dream of ripe Gooseberries is considered as a favourable omen. It predicts a fortune, a lucrative post under Government, great fidelity in your sweetheart, sweetness of temper and disposition, many children (chiefly sons), and the accomplishment of your aims. To the sailor, to dream of Gooseberries, indicates dangers in his next voyage; to the maiden, a roving husband.——The Gooseberry is placed by astrologers under the rule of Venus.

GRAPES.—The product of the Vine was the especial fruit of the god Bacchus, who is sometimes represented like an infant, holding a thyrsus and clusters of grapes with a horn. In the Catholic Church, Grapes and Corn are symbolic of the Blessed Eucharist. According to Brocard, the finest Grapes are those grown in the vales of Eshcol and Sorek. The word sorek signifies “fine Grapes.” Clusters of Grapes have been found in Syria, weighing as much as forty pounds, worthy successors of the cluster taken by the Israelitish spies from Eshcol, which “they bare between two upon a staff.”——In some countries, the Grape is believed to have been the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.——To dream of Grapes foretells to the maiden that her husband will be cheerful, and a great songster. If the dreamer be in love, they augur a speedy union, and denote much happiness in marriage and success in trade. According to another authority, to dream that you see clusters of Grapes hanging round about you predicts future advancement and honour. To the maid it implies marriage with an ambitious man, who will arrive at great preferment, but die early. GORSE.—The Whin Gorse, or Furze (Ulex)—“the never-bloomless Furze”—caused Dillenius the greatest delight, and is said to have so affected LinnÆus, when he first came to England and saw a common covered with its golden blossoms, that he fell down on his knees in a rapture at the sight, and thanked God for its loveliness. He attempted in vain to introduce it into Sweden; but although hardy enough in England, yet it would not grow even in the garden in which LinnÆus planted it.——The old English names for this shrub were Fursbush, Furrs, Whins, and Goss.——Gorse is held to be under the dominion of Mars.

GORY-DEW.—A minute Alga bears the name of Gory-dew from its resemblance to blood-drops. During the Middle Ages, it caused much dismay by appearing like a sudden shower of blood, and it was thought to portend battle, murder, and sudden death.

GRASS.—In India, several kinds of Grass, such as the Kusa, a species of Andropogon, and Eragrostis, are held sacred by the Hindus, and employed in their temples.——In Prussia, the northern Holy Grass (Holcus odoratus) is used for strewing the floors of churches at Whitsuntide. In some parts of Germany, Holy Grass (Hierochloe borealis) is strewn before church doors on holidays.——Wheat would appear to be only the cultivated form of the Ægilops, a Grass infesting Barley-fields on the shores of the Mediterranean. Grip-grass (Galium Aparine) is so called from its gripping or seizing with its hooked prickles whatever comes in its way. The Potentilla reptans is called Five-Finger Grass, on account of its five leaflets. The only poisonous Grass (Darnel) is supposed to be the Tares of the Scriptures: LinnÆus says of this Grass (Lolium temulentum) that if the seeds are baked in bread it is very hurtful, and if malted with Barley it produces giddinness.——In Norfolk, coarse marshy Grass is called Hassock, hence the application of this name to church hassocks, which are often made of a large Sedge, the Carex paniculata.——In connection with Tussack-grass (Aira cÆspitosa), Mr. Sikes relates the following tradition current in Wales:—The son of a farmer at Drws Coed was permitted to marry a fairy-wife on condition that she should never be touched by iron. They had several children, and lived happily enough until one unfortunate day her horse sank in the deep mire, and as her husband was helping her to remount, his stirrup struck her knee. At once sweet singing was heard on the hill top, and she was parted from him; but, though no longer allowed to walk the earth with man, she used to haunt the turf lake (Llyn y dywarchen). This lake has moving islands of Tussack-grass, like Derwentwater, so on one of these islands she used to stand for hours and hold converse with her bereaved husband.——“Fairy Rings” is the popular name for the circles of dark-green Grass occasionally seen on grassy downs and old pastures, round which, according to popular belief, the

On this dark Grass rustic superstition avers that no sheep or lamb will browse. Disregarding the poetical charm which lingers around the fairy superstition, and oblivious of the poet’s asseveration that—

some naturalists have ascribed the phenomenon of these rings to lightning; others to the work of ants; and others, again, to the growth of a small esculent Fungus called Agaricus Orcades. However, Edmund Jones, a celebrated preacher, of Monmouth, who in 1813 wrote a book on apparitions, declares that in St. Matthew xii., 43, is to be found an authority for the popular belief. He says, “The fairy rings are found in dry places, and the Scripture saith that the walk of evil spirits is in dry places.”——In Sussex, elves and fairies are sometimes called “Pharisees” by the country folk, and in Tarberry Hill, on Harting, are Pharisees’ rings, where the simple people say the Pharisees dance on Midsummer Eve.——To dream of Grass is a good omen; if the Grass be fresh and green, the dream portends long life, good luck, and great wealth; but if withered and decayed, misfortunes and sickness may be expected, if not the death of loved ones. To dream of cutting Grass betokens great troubles.

GROUNDHEELE.—This plant, known in Germany as Grundheil, and in France as Herbe aux Ladres, is identified by Doctor Prior with Veronica officinalis, which he says was so called from its having cured a king of France of a leprosy, from which he had suffered some eight years—a disease, called in Germany, grind. Quoting from Brunschwygk, our author tells us that a shepherd had seen a stag, whose hind quarter was covered with a scabby eruption from the bite of a wolf, cure itself by eating of this plant, and rolling itself upon it; and that thereupon he recommended the king to try it.

Ground-Ivy.—See Ivy.

GROUNDSEL.—The Senecio vulgaris is called, in Scotland, Grundy Swallow, a term derived from the Anglo-Saxon word grundswelge, ground glutton, and of which Groundsel is evidently a corruption. Senecio Saracenicus is said to have been used by the Saracens in the cure of wounds. Common Groundsel has the power of softening water if it be poured while boiling on the plant. The Highland women often wear a piece of its root as an amulet to guard them from the Evil Eye. A bunch of Groundsel worn on the bare bosom was formerly reputed to be an efficacious charm against the ague. Pliny prescribes Groundsel for the toothache. A root must be pulled up, and a portion of it cut off with a sharp razor; then the Groundsel must be immediately replanted, and the excised portion applied three or four times to the ailing tooth. A cure is probable, says Pliny, provided the mutilated and replanted Groundsel should thrive: if otherwise, the tooth will ache more than ever. In Cornwall, if Groundsel is to be used as an emetic, they strip it upwards; if for a cathartic, downwards.——Groundsel is a herb of Venus.

GUABANA.—The Guabana or Guarabana, which is presumed to be the wild Pine Apple, Ananas sativus, first became known to Europeans in Peru some three centuries ago. In the Mythologie des Plantes, we read that the dead were, according to a ghastly popular tradition, believed to rise and eat the Guabana fruit every night. This fruit of the dead is described as tender and sweet as a Melon, of the shape of a Pine-apple, and of a splendid appearance.

GUELDER ROSE.—The Viburnum Opulus has been called the Snowball-tree, but is more generally known as the Guelder Rose, from its Rose-like balls of white blossom. The shrub is a variety of the Water Elder, introduced from Gueldres. In England, its flowers are dedicated to Whitsuntide.

HÆMANTHUS.—The HÆmanthus, or Blood-flower, is a native of Brazil, where H. multiflorus is the Imperial Flower—the especial flower and blazon of the Emperor.

HAG-TAPER.—The Verbascum Thapsus was called Hedge-taper, High-taper, or Hig-taper, because it was used as a torch on funeral and other occasions. These names became corrupted into Hag-taper during the period when the belief in witchcraft existed, from a notion that witches employed the plant in working their spells. Probably this superstition was derived from the ancients, for we read in Gerarde’s ‘Herbal’—“Apuleius reporteth a tale of Ulysses, Mercurie, and the inchauntresse Circe using these herbes in their incantations and witchcrafts.” (See Mullein).

HALLELUJAH.—The Wood-Sorrel (Oxalis Acetosella) bears the name of Hallelujah, not only in England, but in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, because it blossoms between Easter and Whitsuntide—the season at which those Psalms are sung which end with that pious ejaculation, viz., the 113th to the 117th inclusive.

HAREBELL.—Gerarde, in his ‘Herbal,’ Parkinson, in his ‘Paradisus,’ and other old herbalists, term the Hyacinthus non scriptus, or English Jacinth, the Hare-bell or Hare’s-bell. This is probably the “azure Harebell” alluded to by Shakspeare, and is the flower referred to by Browne, in his ‘Pastorals,’ as only to be worn by faithful lovers:—

The nodding Blue-bell of the heath-land (Campanula rotundifolia), however, is the Hare-bell of modern poets; but both plants are called by that name in different parts of England. The original word is said to have been either Air-bell or Hair-bell, appellations which might most appropriately be applied to the graceful and airy Campanulas, whose slender stems have sufficient elasticity to rise again when lightly trodden under foot. In some English counties the flower is familiarly called Witches’ Thimble. In France, a little white Hare-bell is common in the meadows, and from its modest and chaste appearance is called the Nun of the Fields. (See Blue-bell and Campanula).

Hassocks.—See Grass.

HAWKWEED.—The Hawk-weed or Hawk-bit (Hieracium) was a name originally applied to several plants of the Dandelion and Mouse-ear families, and in days when falconry was practised, these plants derived some importance from the notion entertained by the ancients that with them hawks were in the habit of clearing their eyesight—a notion endorsed by the later herbalists, for we find Gerarde writing that hawks are reported to clear their sight by conveying the juice hereof into their eyes. The old tradition that the hawk feed upon Hawkweed and led her young ones early to eat the plant, that by its juices they might gain acuteness of vision, was believed some centuries ago not only in England but throughout Europe. The Greeks considered the Hawkweed a holy plant, inasmuch as it was dedicated to the use of a bird they held sacred. One of these plants was, like the Scabious, called the Devil’s-bit, on account of its root presenting the appearance of having been bitten off short; another (Hieracium aurantiacum) bore the familiar name of Grim the Collier, given it from the black hairs which cover its stem and involucre. Hawkweeds were considered good for strengthening the eyesight, and were deemed efficacious against the bites of serpents and scorpions.——The plant was adjudged to be under the rule of Saturn.

HAWTHORN.—The Hawthorn, according to ancient myths, originally sprang from the lightning: it has been revered as a sacred tree from the earliest times, and was accounted by the Greeks a tree of good augury and a symbol of conjugal union. After the rape of the Sabines, upon which occasion the shepherds carried Hawthorn-boughs, it was considered propitious; its blossoming branches were borne by those assisting at wedding festivities, and the newly-married couple were lighted to the bridal chamber with torches of the wood. At the present day, the Greeks garland their brides with wreaths of Hawthorn, and deck the nuptial altar with its blossoms, whilst on May-day they suspend boughs of the flowering shrub over their portals. The ancient Germans composed their funeral-piles of Hawthorn wood, and consecrated it with the mallet, the symbol of the god Thor. They believed that in the sacred flame which shot upwards from the Thorn, the souls of the deceased were carried to heaven.——In France, the Hawthorn is called l’Epine noble, from the belief that it furnished the Crown of Thorns worn by our Lord before the Crucifixion. Sir John Maundevile has given the original tradition, which is as follows:—“Then was our Lord led into a garden ... and the Jews scourged Him, and made Him a crown of the branches of the Albespyne, that is, White Thorn, which grew in the same garden, and set it on His head.... And therefore hath the White Thorn many virtues. For he that beareth a branch thereof, no thunder or manner of tempest may hurt him: and in the house that it is in may no evil spirit enter.”——A Roman Catholic legend relates that when the Holy Crown blossomed afresh, whilst the victorious Charlemagne knelt before it, the scent of Hawthorn filled the air. The Crown of Thorns was given up to St. Louis of France by the Venetians, and placed by him in the Sainte Chapelle, which he built in Paris. The Feast of the Susception of the Holy Crown is observed at the church of Notre Dame, in Paris, in honour of this cherished relic. The Crown of Thorns is enclosed within a glass circle, which a priest holds in his hands; he passes before the kneeling devotees, who are ranged outside the altar rail, and offers the crown to them to be kissed. The Norman peasant constantly wears a sprig of Hawthorn in his cap, from the belief that Christ’s crown was woven of it.——The French have a curious tradition that when Christ was one day resting in a wood, after having escaped from a pursuit by the Jews, the magpies came and covered Him all over with Thorns, which the kindly swallows (poules de Dieu) perceived, and hastened to remove. A swallow is also said to have taken away the Crown of Thorns at the Crucifixion.——The Hawthorn is the distinguishing badge of the royal house of Tudor. When Richard III. was slain at Bosworth, his body was plundered of its armour and ornaments. The crown was hidden by a soldier in a Hawthorn-bush, but was soon found and carried back to Lord Stanley, who, placing it on the head of his son-in-law, saluted him as King Henry VII. To commemorate this picturesque incident, the house of Tudor assumed the device of a crown in a bush of fruited Hawthorn. The proverb of “Cleave to the crown, though it hang on a bush,” alludes to the same circumstance.——The Hawthorn has for centuries borne in England the favourite name of “May,” from its flowering in that month:

In olden times, very early on May-day morning, lads and lasses repaired to the woods and hedgerows, and returned, soon after sunrise, laden with posies of flowers, and boughs of blooming Hawthorn, with which to decorate the churches and houses: even in London boughs of May were freely suspended over the citizens’ doorways. Chaucer tells us how:—

In Lancashire, at the present day, the Mayers still, in some districts, go from door to door, and sing:—

Aubrey, writing in 1686, records that at Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, the people were accustomed on May-eve to go into the park and procure a number of Hawthorn-trees, which they set before their doors. In Huntingdonshire, on May-day morn, the young men used formerly to place, at sunrise, a branch of Hawthorn in blossom, before the door of anyone they wished to honour.——A curious superstition survives in Suffolk, where to sleep in a room, with the Hawthorn in bloom in it during the month of May, is considered, by country folk, to be unlucky, and sure to be followed by some great misfortune.——In some parts of Ireland, it is thought unlucky to bring blossoming Hawthorn indoors, and unsafe to gather even a leaf from certain old and solitary Thorns which grow in sheltered hollows of the moorlands, and on the fairies’ trysting places.——It is considered unlucky to cut down a Hawthorn-tree, and in many parts the peasants refuse to do it: thus we read, in a legend of county Donegal, that a fairy had tried to steal one Joe McDonough’s baby, and, telling the story to her neighbours: “I never affronted the gentry [fairies] to my knowledge,” sighed the poor mother; “but Joe helped Mr. Todd’s gardener to cut down the old Hawthorn-tree on the lawn Friday was eight days: an’ there’s them that says that’s a very bad thing to do. I fleeched him not to touch it, but the master he offered him six shillings if he’d help wi’ the job, for the other men refused.” “That’s the way of it,” whispered the crones over their pipes and poteen—“that’s just it. The gude man has had the ill luck to displease the ‘gentry,’ an’ there will be trouble in this house yet.”——Among the Pyrenean peasantry Hawthorn and Laurel are thought to secure the wearer against thunder. The inhabitants of Biarritz make Hawthorn wreaths on St. John’s Day: they then rush to the sea, plunge in after a prayer, and consider themselves safe during the ensuing twelve months from the temptation of evil spirits.——The old herbalists prescribe the distilled water of the Haws of the Hawthorn as an application suited to “any place where thorns or splinters doe abide in the flesh,” the result being that the decoction “will notably draw them out.” Lord Bacon tells us, that a “store of Haws portends cold winters.”——Among the Turks, a branch of Hawthorn expresses the wish of a lover to receive a kiss.——The Hawthorn attains to a great age, and its wood is remarkably durable: there is a celebrated tree enclosed in Cawdor Castle, near Inverness, which has stood from time immemorial. Tradition relates that the Castle was built over the tree in consequence of a dream, by which the original proprietor was instructed to erect a castle on this particular spot. From the most remote times it has been customary for guests to assemble themselves around this venerable tree, and drink success to the House of Cawdor.——The most remarkable of English Thorns is that known as the Glastonbury Thorn, which is reputed to have sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea. (See Glastonbury Thorn).——By astrologers the Hawthorn is placed under the dominion of Mars. Turner remarks that, should he “want weapons, he may make use of the prickles and let Saturn take the fruit.”

Haymaids, or Hedgemaids, the Ground-Ivy.—See Ivy.

HAZEL.—The Hazel (Corylus Avellana) is the theme of many traditions, reaching from the remotest ages, and in England the tree would seem to have acquired almost a sacred character. In Scandinavian mythology the Hazel was consecrated to the god Thor, and in the poetic Edda a staff of Hazel is mentioned as a symbol of authority, and hence employed for the sceptres of kings.——In classic mythology, the Hazel rod becomes the caduceus of the god Mercury. Taking pity on the miserable, barbarous state of mankind, Apollo and Mercury interchanged presents and descended to the earth. The god of Harmony received from the son of Maia the shell of a tortoise, out of which he had constructed a lyre, and gave him in exchange a Hazel stick, which had the power of imparting a love of virtue and of calming the passion and hatred of men. Armed with this Hazel wand, Mercury moved among the people of earth, and touching them with it, he taught them to express their thoughts in words, and awakened within them feelings of patriotism, filial love, and reverence of the gods. Adorned with two light wings, and entwined with serpents, the Hazel rod of Mercury is still the emblem of peace and commerce.——An old tradition tells us that God, when He banished Adam from the terrestrial Paradise, gave him in His mercy the power of producing instantly the animals of which he was in want, upon striking the sea with a Hazel rod. One day Adam tried this, and produced the sheep. Eve was desirous of imitating him, but her stroke of the Hazel rod brought forth the wolf, which at once attacked the sheep. Adam hastened to regain his salutary instrument, and produced the dog, which conquered the wolf.——A Hebrew legend states that Eve, after eating the forbidden fruit, hid herself in the foliage of a Hazel-bush.——It was a Hazel-tree which afforded shelter to the Virgin Mary, surprised by a storm, whilst on her way to visit St. Elizabeth. Under a Hazel-tree the Holy Family rested during their flight into Egypt.——It was of wattled Hazel-hurdles that St. Joseph, of Arimathea, raised the first English Christian church at Glastonbury.——In Bohemia, a certain “chapel in the Hazel-tree,” dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is regarded with much reverence: it was erected in memory of a butcher to whom a statue of the Virgin, near a Hazel-tree, had spoken. The butcher carried off the image to his house, but during the night the statue returned to its former place near the Hazel-tree.——For the ancient Germans, the Hazel-tree, which re-blossoms towards the end of winter, was a type of immortality. It is now considered a symbol of happy marriages, because the Nuts are seen on its branches united in pairs.——In the Black Forest, the leader of a marriage procession carries a Hazel wand in his hand. In some places, during certain processions on Sunday, the Oats stored in stables for horses are touched, in the name of God, with Hazel-branches.——It is believed that this humble shrub frightens serpents. An Irish tradition relates that St. Patrick held a rod of Hazel-wood in his hand when he gathered on the promontory of Cruachan Phadraig all the venomous reptiles of the island and cast them into the sea.——The Hazel rod or staff appears in olden times to have had peculiar sanctity: it was used by pilgrims, and often deposited in churches, or kept as a precious relic, and buried with its owner. Several such Hazel staffs have been found in Hereford Cathedral.——The Tyroleans consider that a Hazel-bough is an excellent lightning conductor.——According to an ancient Hebrew tradition, the wands of magicians were made of Hazel, and of a virgin branch, that is, of a bough quite bare and destitute of sprigs or secondary branches.——Nork says that by means of Hazel rods witches can be compelled to restore to animals and plants the fecundity which they had previously taken from them.——Pliny states that Hazel wands assist the discovery of subterranean springs; and in Italy, to the present day, they are believed to act as divining-rods for the discovery of hidden treasure—a belief formerly held in England, if we may judge from the following lines by S. Shepherd (1600):—

Extraordinary and special conditions are necessary to ensure success in the cutting of a divining-rod. It must always be performed after sunset and before sunrise, and only on certain nights, among which are specified those of Good Friday, Epiphany, Shrove Friday, and St. John’s Day, the first night of a new moon, or that preceding it. In cutting it, one must face the east, so that the rod shall be one which catches the first rays of the morning sun; or, as some say, the eastern and western sun must shine through the fork of the rod, otherwise it will be valueless. Both in France and England, the divining-rod is much more commonly employed at the present time than is generally supposed. In the eighteenth century its use was ably advocated by De Thouvenel in France, and soon afterwards in our country by enthusiasts. Pryce, in his Mineralogia Cornubiensis, states that many mines have been discovered by means of the rod, and quotes several. Sir Thomas Browne describes the divining-rod as “a forked Hazel, commonly called Moses’ Rod, which, held freely forth, will stir and play if any mine be under it.” He thinks, however, that the rod is of pagan origin, and writes:—“the ground whereof were the magical rods in poets—that of Pallas, in Homer; that of Mercury, that charmed Argus; and that of Circe, which transformed the followers of Ulysses: too boldly usurping the name of Moses’s rod; from which, notwithstanding, and that of Aaron, were probably occasioned the fables of all the rest. For that of Moses must needs be famous to the Egyptians, and that of Aaron unto many other nations, as being preserved in the Ark until the destruction of the Temple built by Solomon.” In the ‘Quarterly Review,’ No. 44, is a long account (vouched for by the editor), proving that a Lady Noel possessed the faculty of using the divining-rod:—“She took a thin forked Hazel-twig, about sixteen inches long, and held it by the end, the joint pointing downwards. When she came to the place where the water was under the ground, the Hazel-twig immediately bent, and the motion was more or less rapid as she approached or withdrew from the spring. When just over it, the twig turned so quick as to snap, breaking near the fingers, which by pressing it were indented and heated, and almost blistered; a degree of agitation was also visible in her face. The exercise of the faculty is independent of any volition.”——The use of the forked Hazel-twig as a divining-rod to discover metals is said to have been known in this kingdom as early as the days of Agricola: its derivation is probably to be sought in an ancient custom of the Israelites, to which the Prophet Hosea alludes when he says: “My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them.”——In Sweden, Hazel-nuts are believed to have the mystical power of making invisible.——An old-fashioned charm to cure the bite of an adder was to cut a piece of Hazel-wood, fasten a long bit and a short one together in the form of a cross, then to lay it softly on the wound, and say thrice in a loud tone—

To dream of Hazels, and of cracking and eating their Nuts, portends riches and content as the reward of toil. To dream of finding hidden Hazel-nuts predicts the finding of treasure.——Astrologers assign the Hazel to the dominion of Mercury. Heartsease.—See Pansy.

HEATHER.—Included under the term Heather are the six English species of Heath (Erica) and the Ling (Calluna). Although, in the Scriptures, the Prophet Jeremiah exclaims, “And he shall be like the Heath in the desert,” it is probable that the Juniper is really referred to.——In Germany, the Heath is believed to owe its colour to the blood of the slain heathen, for in that country the inhabitants of the uncultivated fields, where the Heath (heide) grew, came in time to be known as heathen, or heiden.——Heather was the badge of “Conn of a hundred fights.” The Highlanders consider it exceedingly lucky to find white Heather, the badge of the captain of Clanronald.——The Picts made beer from Heather.

The secret of the manufacture of Heather beer was lost when the Picts were exterminated, as they never divulged it to strangers. Tradition says that after the slaughter by Kenneth, a father and son, the sole survivors, were brought before the conqueror, who offered the father his life, provided that he would divulge the secret of making this liquor, and the son was put to death before the old man’s eyes, in order to add emphasis to the request. Disgusted with such barbarity, the old warrior said: “Your threats might, perhaps, have influenced my son, but they have no effect on me.” Kenneth then suffered the Pict to live, and he carried his secret with him to the grave. At the present time, the inhabitants of Isla, Jura, and other outlying districts, brew a very potable liquor by mixing two-thirds of the tops of Heath with one of malt.

HELENIUM.—The flower of the Helenium resemble small suns of a beautiful yellow. According to tradition, they sprang up from the tears shed by Helen of Troy. On this point Gerarde writes in his ‘Herbal’:—“Some report that this plant tooke the name of Helenium from Helena, wife to Menelaus, who had her hands full of it when Paris stole her away into Phrygia.”

HELIOTROPE.—The nymph Clytie, enamoured of Phoebus (the Sun), was forsaken by him for Leucothea. Maddened with jealousy, the discarded and love-sick Clytie accused Leucothea of unchastity before her father, who entombed his daughter, and thus killed her. Phoebus, enraged with Clytie for causing the death of his beloved Leucothea, heeded not her sighs and spurned her embraces. Abandoned thus by her inconstant lover, the wretched and despairing Clytie wandered half distraught, until at length—

Rapin, in error, alludes to the Sunflower (Helianthus) as owing its origin to Clytie. He says:—

The flower into which the hapless Clytie was metamorphosed was not the scented Heliotrope, common to modern gardens, which does not turn with the Sun, and, being of Peruvian origin, was of course unknown to the ancients; neither was it the Helianthus, or Sunflower, for that plant also came to us from the new world, and was therefore equally unknown in the days when Ovid wrote the tragic story of Clytie’s love and death. The Herba ClytiÆ is identified in an old German herbal (Hortus Medicus Camerarii) with Heliotropium Tricoccon. Gerarde figures four Heliotropiums, or “Tornesoles,” one of which he names Heliotropium Tricoccum; and in his remarks on the Heliotrope or Turnsole, he says: “Some think it to be Herba ClytiÆ into which the poets feign Clytia to be metamorphosed; whence one writeth these verses:—

Parkinson calls the same plant the Turnesole Scorpion Tayle. Theophrastus alludes to the same Heliotropium under the name of Herba Solaris. But we do not find that the flowers of this common European species of Heliotrope answer the description given by Ovid—“A flower most like a Violet”—or by Pliny, who says of it: “The Heliotrope turns with the Sun, in cloudy weather even, so great is its sympathy with that luminary: at night, as though in regret, it closes its blue flowers.” The insignificant Heliotropium or Turnsole, with its diminutive whitish blossom, cannot be the flower depicted by Ovid, or the plant with “blue flowers” referred to by Pliny. Moreover, Gerarde tells us that the European Turnsole he figures “is named Heliotropium, not because it is turned about at the daily motion of the sunne, but by reason it flowereth in the Summer solstice, at which time the sunne being farthest gone from the equinoctial circle, returneth to the same.” In Mentzel’s ‘Index Nominum Plantarum Multilinguis’ (1682) we find that the old Italian name of the Turnsole was Verrucaria (Wart-wort), and Gerarde, in the index to his ‘Herbal,’ states that Verrucaria is Tithymalus (Spurge), or Heliotropium minus. Referring to his description of the Spurges, we note that he figures twenty-three varieties, the first of which is called Wart-wort; and the second, Sun Spurge, which is thus described:—“The second kinde (called Helioscopius or Solisequius, and in English, according to his Greeke name, Sunne Spurge, or Time Tithymale, of turning or keeping time with the sunne) hath sundry reddish stalkes of a foot high; the leaves are like unto Purslane, not so great nor thicke, but snipt about the edges: the flowers are yellowish, and growing in little platters.” Here, then, we have perhaps a sufficiently near approach to the pale flower of Ovid; but nothing like the blue flower of Pliny. Among the Spurges described by Gerarde, however, is one which he calls the Venetian Sea Spurge, and this plant is stated to have bell-shaped flowers of a dark or blackish purple colour, so that possibly this was the flower indicated by Pliny.——De Gubernatis, in his Mythologie des Plantes, states that the flower into which Clytia was transformed is the Helianthemum roseum of Decandolle. The author of ‘Flower Lore’ says, “The classic Sunflower is an annual of an insignificant appearance, having many fabulous properties assigned to it. The Heliotrope belongs to the natural order BoraginÆ, and is a native of the south-west of Europe.” The late Mr. H.A. Bright, in ‘A Year in a Lancashire Garden,’ tells us that one of our very best living authorities on such a subject sent him “the suggestion that the common Salsafy, or possibly the Anagallis, may be the flower.” Turner, in his ‘Brittish Physician’ (1687), calls the yellow-flowered Elecampane, the Sunflower. Other botanists suggest an Aster or Calendula (Marigold): if this last suggestion be correct, the flower called by Parkinson, in his ‘Paradisus,’ the Purple Marigold, and by Gerarde Italian Starwort (Aster Italorum), comes nearest to Pliny’s description. This flower is stated by Gerarde to have been called by some the Blue Marigold, whose yellow European brother Shakspeare describes as

We may include the blue or purple Marigold among those flowers of which Bacon writes: “For the bowing and inclining the head, it is found in the great Flower of the Sunne, in Marigolds, Wart Wort, Mallow Flowers, and others.”——Albertus Magnus accords to the Heliotrope the following wonderful properties: “Gather in August the Heliotropon, wrap it in a Bay-leaf with a wolf’s tooth, and it will, if placed under the pillow, show a man who has been robbed where are his goods, and who has taken them. Also, if placed in a church, it will keep fixed in their places all the women present who have broken their marriage vow. This last is most tried and most true.” According to another version, in order to work this last charm, the Heliotrope-flower must be gathered in August when the sun is in Leo, and be wrapped in a Laurel-leaf before being deposited in the church.

HELLEBORE.—The Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger) has also been called Black Hellebore, from the colour of its roots, and Melampodium, in honour of Melampus, a learned physician who flourished at Pylos, in Peloponnesus, 1530 years before the birth of Christ. Melampus travelled into Egypt, then the seat of science, in order to study the healing art, and there he became acquainted with the cathartic qualities of the Hellebore, by noticing the effect it had upon some goats which had fed upon the herb. He afterwards cured with Hellebore the mental derangement of the daughters of Proetus, King of Argos—ancient writers affirm by causing the princesses to bathe in a cold fountain after taking the drug; but according to Pliny, by prescribing the milk of goats which had eaten this vegetable. From this circumstance, Hellebore became celebrated as a medicine, and was speedily regarded with superstitious reverence by the ignorant populace. Thus, Black Hellebore was used to purify houses, and to hallow dwellings, and the ancients entertained the belief that by strewing or perfuming their apartments with this plant, they drove away evil spirits. This ceremony was performed with great devotion, and accompanied with the singing of solemn hymns. In similar manner, they blessed their cattle with Hellebore, to keep them free from the spells of the wicked: for these purposes it was dug up with certain attendant mystic rites; the devotee first drawing a circle round the plant with a sword, and then, turning to the east, offering a prayer to Apollo and Æsculapius, for leave to dig up the root. The flight of the eagle was anxiously watched during the performance of these rites, for if the bird approached the spot, it was considered so ominous as to predict the certain death of the persons who took up the plant, in the course of the year. In digging up the roots of certain species of Hellebore, it was thought necessary to eat Garlic previously, to counteract the poisonous effluvia of the plant. Yet the root was eventually dried and pounded to dust, in which state it was taken in the manner of snuff.——R. Turner, writing in 1663, says that at that time Hellebore was thought to cure such as seemed to be possessed with the Devil, and therefore was by some called Fuga DÆmonum.——The ancient Gauls are said to have invariably rubbed the points of their arrows with Hellebore, believing that it rendered all the game killed with them more tender.——Hellebore in ancient times was considered a certain antidote against madness. In his ‘Anatomy of Melancholy,’ Burton introduces the Hellebore among the emblematical figures of his frontispiece, with the following lines:—

Hellebore formerly grew in great abundance on the Island of Anticyra, in the Gulf of Corinth: hence Naviga ad Anticyram was a common proverb applied to hypochondriacal persons.——Pausanias tells us that when the CirrhÆans besieged Athens, Solon recommended that Hellebore should be thrown in the river Plistus: this was done, and the CirrhÆans, from drinking the water, were so powerfully attacked with dysentery, that they were forced to abandon the siege.——The Hellebore has long been considered a plant of evil omen, growing in dark and lonely places. Thus Campbell says of it:—

The plant, with certain accompanying exorcisms, was reputed to be efficacious in cases of deafness caused by witchcraft. In Tuscany, the peasantry divine the harvest from the appearance of the Hellebore-plant. If it has four tufts, it will be good; if three, mediocre; if two, bad.——Astrologers say that Hellebore is a herb of Saturn.

HELMET-FLOWER.—The Scutellaria, or Skull-cap flower, is generally known by the name of the Helmet-flower, the blossoms being shaped similar to those of the Snap-Dragon. It is used in curing the tertian ague.

HEMLOCK.—The common Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is described by Dioscorides as a very evil, dangerous, hurtful, and poisonous herb, “insomuch that whosoever taketh of it into his body dieth remediless, except the party drank some wine before the venom hath taken the heart.” It is the Coneion of the ancients: that deadly poison distilled from the juices of the Hemlock, that was drunk by Socrates, Theramenes, and Phocion—the fatal drug given to him whom the Areopagus had condemned to death—the unfailing potion gulped down by ancient philosophers, who were weary of their lives, and dreaded the infirmities of old age. Resolved on their fate, these men crowned themselves with garlands, and with a smile upon their lips tossed off the fatal Coneion—dying respected by their countrymen for their fortitude and heroism.——The Hemlock is one of the deadly poisons that kills by its cold quality. Hence Pliny tells us that serpents fly from its leaves, because they also chill to the death: on this account probably it has been called Herba benedicta, or Herb Bennett.——The Eleusinian priests, who were required to remain chaste all their lives, were wont to rub themselves with Hemlock.——In Russia, the Hemlock under the name of Beh, is looked upon as a Satanic herb; and in Germany, it is regarded as a funereal plant, and as a representative of the vegetation of the infernal regions. In England, it was a favourite plant of the witches, gathered by them for use in their potions and hell-broths: it is still considered a plant of ill-omen, growing among ruins and in waste places, and being unsavoury and offensive to the senses.

The Hebrew prophet Hosea says of this sinister plant: “Judgment springeth up as Hemlock in the furrows of the field.”——At the end of Summer the dead stalks of the Hemlock rattle in the wind, and are called by country folk Kecksies, an old English word applied to the dry hollow stalks of umbelliferous plants. Formerly the Hemlock was called Kex.——Astrologers assign the plant to Saturn.

HEMP.—Herodotus speaks of Hemp (Cannabis sativa) as a novelty in his time, lately introduced into Thrace from Scythia.——A curious prophecy relating to English kings and queens, and the prosperity of England, has been preserved by Lord Bacon, who heard of it when Queen Elizabeth was “in the flower of her age”:—

“Whereby it was generally conceived that, after the princes had reigned, which had the principal letters of that word Hempe (which were Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, and Elizabeth), England should come to utter confusion, which is verified in the change of the name; for that the king’s style is now no more of England, but of Britain.”——In some parts of the country, on Midsummer Eve, but in Derbyshire on St. Valentine’s Eve, as the clock strikes twelve, young women desirous of knowing their future husbands go into a churchyard, and run round the church, scattering Hemp-seed, and repeating the while, without stopping, these lines:—

The sowing of Hemp-seed is performed by maidens, at midnight, on Midsummer Eve in Cornwall, on St. Martin’s night in Norfolk, and on All Hallow Eve in Scotland; the incantation being completed by the recital of the following or similar lines:—

The figure of the girl’s lover, it is then supposed, will appear and run after her. In the poem of ‘The Cottage Girl,’ the rite of sowing Hemp-seed is thus described:—

Perhaps the origin of this custom of Hemp-sowing is the fact that from Hemp is made cord, which is used to bind, attach, or secure an object. The Sicilians, indeed, employ Hemp as a charm to secure the affection of those they love. De Gubernatis tells us that, on Friday (the day consecrated to the remembrance of our Lord’s Passion), they take a Hempen thread, and twenty-five needlefuls of coloured silk; and at midnight they plait this, saying:

Forthwith they go to the church with the plait in their hands, and enter at the moment of the Consecration: then they tie three knots in the plait, previously adding a little of the hair of the loved one; after which they invoke all evil spirits to entice the person beloved towards the person who craves his or her love.——In Piedmont, there is a belief that Hemp spun on the last day of Carnival will bring bad luck. On that day, in some districts, the following ceremony is gone through to divine what sort of Hemp crop may be expected:—A bonfire is lighted, and the direction of the flames is attentively watched: if the flames mount straight upwards, the crop will be good; but if they incline either way, it will be bad.——In the CÔtes-du-Nord, France, there is a belief that Hemp enrages those who have been bitten by dogs. When fowls eat Hemp-seed, they cease to lay, and commence to sit. It is customary to leave the finest sprig of Hemp, that the bird St. Martin may be able to rest on it.——The Egyptians prepare an intoxicating substance from Hemp, called HashÎsh. This they roll into balls the size of a Chesnut, and after having swallowed a few of these, they experience ecstatic visions.——The Arabians concoct a preparation of Hemp, which produces the most varied hallucinations, so that those who are intoxicated by it imagine that they are flying, or that they are changed into a statue, that their head is cut off, that their limbs stretch out to immense lengths, or that they can see, even through stone walls, “the colour of the thoughts of others” and the words of their neighbours.——In the Chinese Liao chai chih ye (A.D. 60–70), it is recorded that two friends wandering among the mountains culling simples, find at a fairy bridge two lovely maidens guarding it; at their invitation, the two friends cross this “azure bridge” and are regaled with Huma (Hemp—the Chinese HashÎsh); forthwith they fall deeply in love with their hostesses, and spend with them in the Jasper City what appears to them a few blissful days: at length, becoming home-sick, they return, to find that seven generations have passed, and that they have become centenarians.——To dream of Hemp betokens ill-luck.——Astrologers assign Hemp to the rule of Saturn.

HENBANE.—There are two species of Henbane (Hyoscyamus), the black and the white: the black or common Henbane grows on waste land by roadsides, and bears pale, woolly, clammy leaves, with venomous-looking cream-coloured flowers, and has a foetid smell. Pliny calls this black Henbane a plant of ill omen, employed in funeral repasts, and scattered on tombs. The ancients thought that sterility was the result of eating this sinister plant, and that babes at the breast were seized with convulsions if the mother had partaken of it.——Henbane was called Insana, and was believed to render anyone eating it stupid and drowsy: it was also known as Alterculum, because those that had partaken of it became light-headed and quarrelsome.——According to Plutarch, the dead were crowned with chaplets of Henbane, and their tombs decorated with the baneful plant, which, for some unknown reason, was also employed to form the chaplets of victors at the Olympic games. Hercules is sometimes represented with a crown of Henbane. Priests were forbidden to eat Henbane, but the horses of Juno fed on it; and to this day, on the Continent, Henbane is prescribed for certain equine disorders.——Albertus Magnus calls Henbane the sixth herb of Jupiter, and recommends it especially for liver complaints.——In Sanscrit, Henbane is called Aj’amoda, or Goat’s Joy. Both sheep and goats will eat the plant sparingly, but swine are said really to like it, and in England it is well known as Hog’s Bean.——In Piedmont, there is a tradition that if a hare be sprinkled with Henbane juice, all the hares in the neighbourhood will run away. They also have a saying, when a mad dog dies, that he has tasted Henbane.——In Germany, there is a superstitious belief that Henbane will attract rain.——The English name of Henbane was given to the plant on account of the baneful effects of its seed upon poultry, for, according to Matthiolus, birds that have eaten the seeds perish soon after, as do fishes also.——Anodyne necklaces, made of pieces of this root, are sometimes worn by infants to facilitate teething, and the leaves are smoked by country people to allay toothache. Gerarde says, “The root boiled with vinegre, and the same holden hot in the mouth, easeth the pain of the teeth. The seed is used by mountebank tooth-drawers, which run about the country, to cause worms to come forth of the teeth, by burning it in a chafing-dish of coles, the party holding his mouth over the fume thereof; but some crafty companions, to gain money, convey small lute-strings into the water, persuading the patient that those small creepers came out of his mouth or other parts which he intended to cure.”——The plant was one of those sought for by witches, and used in their potions.

Astrologers place Henbane under the rule of Saturn.

HENNA.—In the Canticles, the royal poet says: “My beloved is unto me as a cluster of Camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.” The Camphire mentioned here, and in other parts of Scripture, is the same shrub which the Arabs call Henna (Lawsonia inermis), the leaves of which are still used by women in the East to impart a ruddy tint to the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet. Throughout Egypt, India, Persia, Arabia, and Greece, it is held in universal estimation for its beauty and sweet perfume. Mohammed pronounced it the chief of the sweet-scented flowers of this world and of the next. In Egypt, the flowers are sold in the street, the vendor calling out as he proceeds—“O, odours of Paradise! O flowers of the Henna!” The Egyptian women obtain from the powdered leaves a paste, with which they stain their fingers and feet an orange colour that will last for several weeks. This they esteem an ornament. Gerarde describes the Henna, or Henne-bush, as a kind of Privet, which in his day grew in Syria near the city Ascalon, and he says “Bellonius writeth that not onely the haire, but also the nether parts of man’s body, and nailes likewise, are colored and died herewith, which is counted an ornament among the Turks.”——The Hindus call the Henna-flower Mindi, and the females, like the Egyptians, employ it to colour their nails, fingers, and the soles of their feet an orange hue. The miraculous stone, which they call Gauri, or Parvati, received its name and its ruddy colour from being touched by the foot of the divine wife of Siva, which had previously been stained with the juice of Mindi. Henna-flowers are of a pale yellow tint, and emit a sweet perfume; they are made into garlands by the Hindus, and offered to travellers in official ceremonies; thus we read that at the reception of M. Rousselet by the King of Gwalior, the ceremony concluded by the guests being decked with garlands of Henna-flowers, placed around their necks and hands. An extract prepared from these flowers is employed in religious ceremonies.

HERB BENNETT.—The Avens, Herb Bennett, or Herba Benedicta (Geum urbanum), occurs as an architectural decoration towards the end of the thirteenth century, and is found associated with old church paintings. The Holy Trinity and the five wounds of our Lord are thought to be symbolised in its trefoiled leaf and the five golden petals of its blossom. The flower has several rural names, such as Star of the Earth, Goldy-flower, and Blessed Herb (a translation of the Latin Herba Benedicta, of which Herb Bennett is simply a corruption). This last name was given to it from an ancient belief that when the root is in the house, the Devil is powerless and flies from it; wherefore it was considered blessed above all herbs. Herb Bennett was also reported to be hostile to all venomous beasts: if grown in a garden, no such creature would approach within scent of it, and the root carried about the person of any man ensured his immunity from the attacks of monsters or reptiles.——Formerly, the appellation Herba Benedicta, was applied not only to the Avens, but also to the Hemlock and the Valerian. Dr. Prior remarks that “in point of fact the proper name of these plants was not Herba Benedicta, but Sti. Benedicti herba, St. Benedict’s herb (German, Sanct Benedicten-kraut), and was assigned to such as were supposed to be antidotes, in allusion to a legend of St. Benedict, which represents that, upon his blessing a cup of poisoned wine which a monk had given to destroy him, the glass was shivered to pieces.”——By astrologers, Avens is deemed a herb of Jupiter.

HERB CARPENTER.—The Prunella vulgaris, from its efficacy in healing wounds inflicted by chisels, sickles, and other sharp instruments used by working-men, was formerly known as Herb Carpenter, Sickle-wood, and Hook-weed, as well as by the name it is still called by—Self-heal.——It is a herb of Venus.

HERB CHRISTOPHER.—The name of Herb Christopher is applied by Gerarde to a species of Aconite, and to the Osmund Fern. Parkinson gives the Baneberry the same title.

HERB GERARD.—Aishweed, Gout-wort, or Herb Gerard (Ægopodium Podagraria), was named after St. Gerard, who used to be invoked against the gout, a disease for which this plant was highly esteemed as a remedy.

Herb Impious.—See Everlasting Flower.

HERB MARGARET.—The Daisy (Bellis perennis) was also formerly called Herba Margarita, Herb Margaret, or Marguerite (French). The flower is erroneously supposed to have been named after the virtuous St. Margaret of Antioch, “Maid Margarete, that was so meeke and milde”—who was invoked because in her martyrdom she prayed for lying-in women; whereas it derives its name from St. Margaret of Cortona. (See Marguerite).

Herb of Grace.—See Rue.

HERB OF THE CROSS.—In Brittany, the Vervain (Verbena officinalis) is called the Herb of the Cross, and is supposed to be endowed with remarkable healing qualities. J. White (1624) writes thus of it:—

In the Flax-fields of Flanders, a plant is found called the Roodselken, the crimson spots on the leaves of which betoken the Divine blood which trickled on it from the Cross, and the stain of which neither snow nor rain has ever been able to wash off.——In Palestine, the red Anemone is called “Christ’s Blood-drops,” from the belief that the flower grew on Mount Calvary. In Cheshire, the Orchis maculata, which is there called Gethsemane, is supposed to have sprung up at the foot of the Cross. The Milk-wort, Gang-flower, or Rogation-flower (Polygala vulgaris) is called the Cross-flower from its blooming in Passion week. The Galium cruciatum is called Cross-wort because its leaves are placed in the form of a cross. The early Italian painters, in their paintings of the Crucifixion, introduced the Wood-Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), probably from its triple leaf symbolising the Trinity. The four-leaved Clover is an emblem of the Cross. All cruciform flowers are of good and happy augury, having been marked with the sign of the Cross.

HERB PARIS.—The narcotic plant called One-berry, Herb True-love, or Herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia), has obtained the latter name from the Latin Herba paris (Herb of a pair—of a betrothed couple), in allusion to the four broad leaves which proceed from the top of its stalk, and form a cross; being, as Gerarde says, “directly set one against another in manner of a Burgundian Crosse or True-love knot: for which cause among the antients it hath been called Herbe True-love.” Herb Paris bears flowers of a palish green—a colour always suggestive of lurking poison. Every part of the herb contains a poisonous principle, but the leaves and berries were formerly used to expel poisons, especially Aconite, as well as the plague and other pestilential diseases. Matthiolus says that “the chymical oil of the black berries is effectual for all diseases of the eyes, so that it is called Anima oculorum.”——The herb is under the dominion of Venus.

HERB PETER.—The Cowslip (Primula veris), the SchlÜsselblume of the Germans, has obtained the name of Herb Peter from its resemblance to the badge of St. Peter—a bunch of keys.

HERB ROBERT.—The species of Crane’s Bill called Herb Robert (Geranium Robertianum) is thought to have derived its name from the fact that it was employed in Germany to cure a disease known as Ruprechts-Plage, from Robert, Duke of Normandy: hence its old Dutch names of Ruprechts-kraut and Robrechts-kraut. The Church, however, connects Herb Robert with St. Robert, Abbot of Molesme, in the eleventh century.——In olden times, the plant was used as a vulnerary; in Wales, it is believed to be a remedy for gout; and in most country places, it is considered efficacious as an insecticide.——Herb Robert is under the rule of Venus.

HERB ST. BARBARA.—Herb St. Barbara, or St. Barbara’s Cress (Barbarea vulgaris), was so called from its growing and being eaten in the Winter, about the time of St. Barbara’s Day—December 4th, old style.

Herb Trinity.—See Pansy.

HERB TWOPENCE.—The Money-wort, or Creeping Loosestrife (Lysimachia nummularia), obtained the name of Two-penny Grass, or Herb Twopence, from its circular leaves, which are arranged in pairs, resembling money in their form. The plant was formerly also called Serpentaria, from a belief that if serpents were hurt or wounded, they healed themselves with this herb. It was highly esteemed as a vulnerary.——Astrologers assign the herb to Venus.

HERB WILLIAM.—Bishop’s Weed, or Ameos (Ammi majus), is said by Gerarde to be called by some Bull-wort (Pool-wort) and Herb William, but he does not give any reason for the name. The plant, according to the old herbalist, was noted for its efficacy, when applied with honey, in removing “blacke and blewe spots which come of stripes.” Its seed was good “to bee drunken in wine against the biting of all manner of venomous beasts, and hath power against all manner of poyson and pestilent fevers, or the plague.”——It is under the dominion of Venus.

HOLLY.—The Holly or Holme (Ilex Aquifolium) derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon Holegn, whilst another ancient designation, Hulver, or as Chaucer wrote it, Hulfeere, has been taken from the old Norse Hulfr. From the use made of its branches in decorating churches at Christmas time, the monks, by an easy corruption, bestowed on the Holly the designation of the Holy-tree.——The disciples of Zoroaster, or Fire Worshippers, believe that the Holly-tree casts no shadow, and both in Persia and India they employ an infusion of its leaves for several purposes connected with their religious observances. They also sprinkle the face of a newly-born child with water impregnated with Holly-bark.—-Pliny states that if the Holly, or Hulver-tree, be planted about a house, it will keep away all malign spells and enchantments, and defend the house from lightning. He also, among other marvels, relates that the flowers of the Holly would freeze water, and would repel poison, and that if a staff of its wood were thrown to any animal, even if it did not touch him, it would so influence the animal as to cause him to lie down beside it.——The custom of decorating houses and churches with Holly at Christmas is probably derived from the Romans, who were wont to send boughs to their friends during the festival of the Saturnalia, which occurred about the same period, and the Oaks being then bare of leaves, the priests obliged the people to bring in boughs of Holly and Evergreens. There is little doubt that the early Roman Christians, disregarding the church’s interdiction, introduced the heathen practice of decorating their houses with Holly, and in course of time connected it with their own faith.——There is an old English superstition that elves and fairies join the social gatherings at Christmas, and this led to branches being hung up in hall and bower in order that the fays might “hang in each leaf, and cling on every bough during that sacred time when spirits have no power to harm.”——This Evergreen “Christmas” should be taken down on Candlemas Eve. Herrick says:—

De Gubernatis tells us, that in certain parts of France, in Switzerland, at Bologna, and in other Continental countries, there is an old custom extant of cutting branches of Holly on Christmas Eve, and hanging them in houses and stables, in the hope of driving away evil spirits and witchcraft. As the Holly-leaf is prickly, it repulses and drives away enemies. An English mediÆval ballad illustrates this custom:—

In Germany, Holly is Christdorn—the Thorn woven into the crown placed on our Saviour’s head at the Crucifixion.——Witches are reputed to detest Holly: in its name they see but another form of the word “holy,” and its thorny foliage and blood-red berries are suggestive of the most Christian associations.——In Northumberland, Holly is employed in a form of divination. There the prickly variety is called He-Holly, and the smooth, She-Holly. It is the leaves of the latter only that are deemed proper for divining purposes. These smooth leaves must be plucked late on a Friday, by persons careful to preserve an unbroken silence from the time they go out to the dawn of the following morn. The leaves must be collected in a three-cornered handkerchief, and on being brought home, nine of them must be selected, tied with nine knots into the handkerchief, and placed beneath the pillow. Then, sleep being obtained, dreams worthy of all credit will attend this rite. In another form of divination, a maiden places three pails of water on her bedroom floor, then pins to her night-dress, opposite her heart, three leaves of green Holly, and so retires to rest. She will be aroused from her first sleep by three terrible yells, followed by three horse-laughs, after which the form of her future husband will appear. If he is deeply attached to her, he will change the position of the water pails; if not, he will glide from the room without touching them. This spell is only effectual when performed on All Hallowe’en, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and Beltane, or Midsummer Eve.——Holly is under the dominion of Saturn.

HOLY PLANTS.—In England, the Angelica sylvestris, for its “angel-like properties,” was, says Parkinson, called Holy Ghost; the Vervain is the Holy Herb, from its use on ancient altars; the Holly was called by the monks of old Holy-tree; and the Hollyhock, Holy Hoke or Hock (an old name for Mallow); the Anastatica Hierochuntina is the Holy Rose of Jericho; the Lucern (Medicago sativa) is Holy Hay; the Holcus odoratus is the Northern Holy Grass; the Hierochloe borealis, the German Holy Grass; the Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) is Holy Rope, so called from its Hemp-like leaves betokening the rope with which the Saviour was bound; the seed of Wormwood is Holy Seed (Semen sanctum); and Carduus benedictus is the Holy Thistle.

HOMA.—Homa, or Haoma, is the sacred Vine of the Zoroastrians, the first of the trees planted by Ormuzd in the fountain of life, and from which one of their religious ceremonials takes its name. This consists in the extraction of the juice of the Homa-plant by the priest during the recital of prayers; the formal presentation of the liquid extracted to the sacrificial fire; the consumption of a small portion of it by one of the officiating priests; and the division of the remainder among the worshippers.——The Iranians describe two kinds of Haoma or Homa, the white and the yellow. The former is a fabulous plant, the latter, which is used in religious rites, and is extolled for its yellow colour, grows on mountains, and was known to Plutarch.——It has been attempted to identify the Zoroastrian Homa with the Vedic Soma, but the Parsees deny that their sacred plant is ever found in India, and those dwelling in Bombay use the branch of a particular tree, having a knotted stem and leaves like those of the Jasmine. To obtain supplies of the Homa-plant for sacred purposes, a priest is despatched from time to time to Kirman, in Persia, where he receives it in a dry state.

HONESTY.—Honesty (Lunaria biennis) has a variety of names. It is called Lunary and Moonwort, from the disk-like form of its great flat seed vessels, or their silvery and transparent brightness. This peculiarity accounts for its nicknames of White Satin-flower, Money-flower, and Silver Plate.——The Lunaria biennis is mentioned by Chaucer as one of the plants used in incantations:—

Drayton also refers to the virtues of the plant:—

The poet likewise tells us that this Lunary was considered efficacious in the cure of madness.

There is a popular superstition that wherever the purple Honesty is found flourishing, the cultivators of the gardens are exceptionally honest.

HONEYSUCKLE.—The Honeysuckle, or Woodbine (Lonicera), is so called on account of the honey-dew found so plentifully on its foliage. Originally, the word Honeysuckle was applied to the Meadow Clover (Trifolium pratense), which is still so called in the Western Counties. French Honeysuckle (Hedysarum coronarium) is a foreign forage-plant. Chaucer makes the Woodbine an emblem of fidelity:

Caprifolium, a specific name of the Honeysuckle, was poetically used by old botanists because the leaf, or rather the stem, climbs over high places where goats fear not to tread: hence the plant is sometimes called by country folks, Goat’s-leaf. One of its French names, also, is ChÈvrefeuille, which country patois abbreviates to Cherfeu, or Dear Flame: hence the plant is presented by ardent lovers to their sweethearts as an intimation of the state of their affections.——The French are fond of planting Honeysuckle in their cemeteries, and Alphonse Karr describes it as a plant which seems to devote itself to the tomb, the most magnificent bushes being found in cemeteries. He further says: “There is a perfume more exciting, more religious, even than that of incense; it is that of the Honeysuckles which grow over tombs upon which Grass has sprung up thick and tufted with them, as quickly as forgetfulness has taken possession of the hearts of the survivors.”——In olden times, consumptive invalids, or children suffering from hectic fever, were thrice passed through a circular wreath of Woodbine, cut during the increase of the March moon, and let down over the body from head to foot. We read of a sorceress, who healed sundry women, by taking a garland of green Woodbine, and causing the patient to pass thrice through it: afterwards the garland was cut in nine pieces, and cast into the fire.——Woodbine appears to have been a favourite remedy with Scotch witches, who, in effecting magical cures passed their patients (generally) nine times through a girth or garland of green Woodbine.——In Lower Germany, the Honeysuckle is called Albranke, the witch snare.——Astrologers consider Woodbine to be under the rule of Mercury.

HOP.—The Hop (Humulus Lupulus) is referred to in an old English proverb:—

The cultivated Hop, however, was not brought into England until the reign of Henry VIII., when it was imported from Flanders, as recorded in the distich:—

The Hop-leaf has become in Russia proverbial as the best of leaves. King Vladimir, in 985, when signing a peace with the Bulgars, swore to keep it till stone swam on the water, or Hop-leaves sank to the bottom. It is a very old custom in Russia to cover the head of a bride with Hop-leaves—typifying joy, abundance, and intoxication.——Astrologers place Hops under the rule of Mars.

HOREHOUND.—Horehound (Marrubium) is the Herb which the Egyptians dedicated to their god Horus, and which the priests called the Seed of Horus, or the Bull’s Blood, and the Eye of the Star. Strabo attributed to the plant magical properties as a counter-poison. Horehound is one of the five plants which are stated by the Mishna to be the “bitter herbs” ordered to be taken by the Jews at the Feast of the Passover. An infusion of its leaves has an ancient reputation as being valuable in consumptive cases, coughs, and colds, and, according to Gerarde, “is good for them that have drunke poyson, or that have been bitten of serpents.” It is a herb of Mercury, hot in the second degree and dry in the third.——To dream of Horehound indicates that you will suffer imprisonment.

HORNBEAM.—Gerarde tells us that the Horn Beam (Carpinus Betulus) was so called from its wood having been used to yoke horned cattle, as well by the Romans in olden times as in his own time and country, and growing so hard and tough with age as to be more like horn than wood. Hence it was also called Hardbeam and Yoke-Elm. Evelyn says the tree was called Horse-Beech; and in Essex it is known as the Witch-Hazel.——In the country districts around Valenciennes, there is a pleasant custom on May-day morning, when, over the doorway of their sweethearts, rustic lovers hasten to suspend, as a sign of their devotion, branches of Hornbeam or Birch.

HORSE-CHESNUT.—It has been suggested that the Horse-Chesnut (Æsculus Hippocastanum) derived its name from the resemblance of the cicatrix of its leaf to a horse-shoe, with all its nails evenly placed. The old writers, however, seem to have considered that the Horse-Chesnut was so called from the Nuts being used in Turkey (the country from which we first received the tree) as food for horses touched in the wind. Thus we read in Parkinson’s ‘Paradisus’:—“They are usually in Turkey given to horses in their provender to cure them of coughs, and help them being broken winded.”——Evlia Effendi, a Moslem Dervish, who travelled over a large portion of the Turkish empire in the beginning of the seventeenth century, says: “The Santon Akyazli lived forty years under the shade of a wild Chesnut-tree, close to which he is buried under a leaden-covered cupola. The Chesnuts, which are as big as an egg, are wonderfully useful in the diseases of horses.” Tradition says that this tree sprang from a stick which the saint once thrust in the ground, that he might roast his meat on it.——The Venetians entertain the belief that one of these Nuts carried in the pocket is a sure charm against hemorrhoids.——When Napoleon I. returned to France on March 20th, 1814, a Horse-Chesnut in the Tuileries garden was found to be in full blossom. The Parisians regarded this as an omen of welcome, and in succeeding years hailed with interest the early flowering of the Marronnier du Vingt Mars.——(See also Chesnut).

HORSE-KNOT.—The flowers of the Horse-knot Centaurea nigra are also called Hard-heads and Iron-Heads, from the resemblance of the knotted involucre to an old weapon called Loggerhead, which consisted of a ball of iron fixed to a long handle, the precursor of the life-preserver, and the origin of the expression “coming to loggerheads.”——In the Northern Counties, the following rite is frequently observed by young people as a divination:—Let a youth or maiden pull from its stalk the flower of the Horse-Knot, cut the tops of the stamens with a pair of scissors, and lay the flower by in a secret place, where no human eye can see it. Let him (or her) think through the day, and dream through the night, of the beloved one: then, on looking at the flower the next day, if the stamens have shot out, the anxious sweetheart may expect success in love; but if not, disappointment. (See Centaury).

HORSERADISH.—The Horseradish (Cochlearia Armoracia) is stated to be one of the five plants referred to by the Mishna, as the “bitter herbs” ordered to be partaken of by the Jews during the Feast of the Passover; the other four being Coriander, Horehound, Lettuce, and Nettle.——Horseradish is under the dominion of Mars.

HORSE-SHOE PLANT.—The Horse-shoe Vetch (Hippocrepis) derives its scientific name from the Greek words, hippos, a horse, and crepis, a shoe, in allusion to its singular pods, which resemble a number of horse-shoes united at their extremities. Gerarde grew this plant in his garden, but he tells us that it is a native of Italy and Languedoc, where it flourishes in certain untilled and sunny places. Its Italian name is Sferracavallo, and in De Gubernatis’ Mythologie des Plantes, we find a letter to the author from Mdme. ValÉrie de Gasparin, detailing the superstition current in Italy respecting this plant. The Countess writes:—“In our infancy, certain old people of the village spoke of the plant which pulls off horse-shoes. My brother tells me that this superstition is to be found in all countries. It takes its origin from the fact that the seed of the plant has the form of a horse-shoe.”——The plant is also reputed by some people to open locks. An identical superstition exists in England with regard to the Moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria), which is known as Unshoe-the-Horse. (See Moonwort).

HOUND’S TONGUE.—The Cynoglossum was probably so named on account of the form and soft texture of the leaf. It is called Hound’s Tongue not only in England, but all over the Continent, and the reason given by an old writer is, that “it ties the tongues of hounds; whether true or not, I never tried; yet I cured the biting of a mad dog with this only medicine.” Miraldus said, that if a portion of the plant were laid beneath the feet, it would prevent dogs from barking at the wearer. Robert Turner states that Hound’s Tongue “cures the biting of dogs, either mad or tame. I lay fourteen weeks once under a chyrurgeon’s hand for cure of a dog’s biting; but, at last, I effected the cure myself, by applying to the wound Hound’s Tongue leaves, changing them once in four-and-twenty hours.” The plant has a strong and disagreeable odour, which Gerarde tells us caused the Dutchmen to change the plant’s name, substituting for “Tongue” an impolite word, expressive of the odour of the foliage.——Cynoglossum is a herb of Saturn.

HOUSELEEK.—The House-leek (Sempervivum) had, in olden times, the names of Jupiter’s Beard, Jupiter’s Eye, Bullock’s Eye, and Sengreene (a word derived from the Anglo-Saxon, and expressing the same idea as the plant’s Latin name Sempervivum, evergreen). The old Dutch name of the Houseleek, Donderbloem, Thunder-flower, refers to the popular belief that the plant was a preservative against thunder. Charlemagne ordered the Houseleek to be planted on the roof of every house on this account. Miraldus is stated to have declared that this lowly plant preserves what it grows upon from fire and lightning; and Sir Thomas Browne has left on record his belief that Houseleek is a “defensative from lightning.”——In olden times there existed a belief that Houseleek would suppress in children fevers given to them by witchcraft or sorcery. According to Albertus Magnus, he who rubbed his hands with the juice of the Houseleek would be insensible to pain when taking red-hot iron in his hands.——It is considered unlucky to uproot the Houseleek; and there is a curious notion, still in existence, that it is also unlucky to let it blow; the flower-stalk is, therefore, carefully cut off directly it begins to shoot up.——In Italy, on Midsummer Eve, rustic maidens employ Houseleek for divining purposes. They gather buds to represent their various lovers, and on the following morning the bud which has flowered the most freely indicates the future husband. In Tuscany, they pound the Houseleek the first Friday after the birth of an infant, and administer to it the expressed juice, which is thought to preserve the babe from convulsions, and to ensure it a long life.——According to astrologers, Houseleek is a herb of Jupiter.

Hurt-Sickle.—See Centaury.

HYACINTH.—From the time of Homer to the present day the Hyacinth has been celebrated in the lays of the poets. Mythology tells us that the flower sprang from the blood of Hyacinthus, a comely Laconian youth, much beloved both by Apollo and Zephyr: preferring, however, the sun to the wind, he kindled in the breast of the latter god a feeling of jealousy and desire for revenge. The opportunity soon came. Unsuspecting Hyacinthus playing a game of quoits with Apollo, Zephyr, unperceived, seized the opportunity basely to cause his rival to become the innocent means of their common favourite’s death: for whilst a quoit thrown by the sun-god whirled through the air, Zephyr treacherously blew it from its course till it struck the head of the ill-fated Hyacinthus, and killed him, to the great sorrow of his innocent slayer. Unable to restore his favourite companion to life, Apollo, as a memorial of him, caused the flower which has since borne his name to spring from his blood. Rapin refers to the story as follows:—

Ovid gives a slightly different version of the tragedy, which he narrates in the following lines:—

The solemnities called Hyacinthia lasted three days, during which the people ate no bread, but subsisted on sweetmeats, and abstained from decorating their hair with garlands, as on ordinary occasions. On the second day, a troop of youths entertained spectators by playing upon the harp and flute, and chanting choruses in honour of Apollo. Numbers appeared mounted upon richly-caparisoned horses, who sang rustic songs, and were accompanied by a throng dancing to vocal and instrumental music. Females engaged in chariot races, and the most beautiful maidens, sumptuously attired, drove about in splendidly adorned vehicles, singing hymns. Hundreds of victims were offered on the altars of Apollo; and the votaries with free-handed hospitality entertained their friends and slaves.——Many allusions are made by the poets to the mournful letters A I, supposed to be visible on the petals of

Hunt, after entering into the vexed question as to the particular flower alluded to by Ovid, quotes a passage from Moschus, which he thus translates:—

There has been much diversity of opinion expressed about the Hyacinth of the ancient poets. The claims of the modern flower to be the purple blossom that sprang from the blood of Hyacinthus are disputed, and the general opinion is that the Martagon Lily was the plant referred to by the poet. The Gladiolus and the Larkspur, however, have both been named as the flower bearing the expression of grief A I, A I, on the petals.——Homer mentions the Hyacinth among the flowers which formed the couch of Jupiter and Juno.

In allusion to the crisped and curled blossoms of the Hyacinth, poets have been fond of describing curly hair as Hyacinthine locks. Milton writes:—

Byron makes the same comparison, and says the idea is common to both Eastern and Grecian poets. Collins has the same simile in his ‘Ode to Liberty.’

The old English Jacinth, or Harebell, called by the French Jacinthe des bois (Wood Hyacinth) is botanically distinguished as Hyacinthus non scriptus, because it has not the A I on the petals, and is not therefore the poetical Hyacinth. (See Harebell).

Hypericum.—See St. John’s Wort.

HYSSOP.—In the Bible, the name of Hyssop has been given to some plant that has not been identified, but is popularly associated at the present day with Hyssopus officinalis. In many early representations of the Crucifixion, wild Hyssop has been depicted, it is presumed in mockery, as forming the crown worn by our Saviour. Parkinson, in his ‘Paradisus,’ says of the Golden Hyssop, that the leaves “provoke many gentlewomen to wear them in their heads and on their armes, with as much delight as many fine flowers can give.”——To dream of Hyssop portends that friends will be instrumental to your peace and happiness.——The plant is under Jupiter’s dominion.

ILEX.—The Ilex (Quercus Ilex) is, perhaps, better known in England as the Evergreen or Holm Oak: in France, it is called ChÊne vert. On account of its dark and evergreen foliage, the Ilex is regarded as a funereal tree, and a symbol of immortality, like the Cypress, the Cedar, and other conifers. It was consecrated to Hecate, and the Fates wore chaplets of its leaves. The drunken Silenus was wont, also, to be crowned with its foliage.——Virgil associates the Ilex with the raven, and tells us that from its dark foliage may be heard issuing the mournful croakings of that funereal bird. Ovid, on the other hand, informs us that, in the Golden Age, the bees, living emblems of the immortal soul, sought the Ilex, to obtain material for their honey.——Pliny speaks of a venerable Ilex which grew in the Vatican at Rome, which bore an inscription, and was regarded as a sacred tree; and of three of these trees at Tibur, which the inhabitants venerated as being almost the founders of the people.——The Ilex being very combustible, and attracting lightning, was thought to render thereby a service to man, in drawing upon itself the effects of the anger of the gods: hence it is somewhat remarkable that in Greece it is regarded as a tree of bad omen, and has the following legend attached to it:—When it was decided at Jerusalem to crucify Christ, all the trees held a counsel, and unanimously agreed not to allow their wood to be defiled by becoming the instrument of punishment. But there was a second Judas among the trees. When the Jews arrived with axes to procure wood for the cross destined for Jesus, every trunk and branch split itself into a thousand fragments, so that it was impossible to use it for the cross. The Ilex alone remained whole, and gave up its trunk for the purpose of being fashioned into the instrument of the Passion. So to this day the Grecian woodcutters have such a horror of the tree, that they fear to sully their axe or their hearth-stones by bringing them in contact with the accursed wood. However, according to the Dicta Sancti Aegidii (quoted by De Gubernatis), Jesus Himself would seem to have a preference for the tree which generously gave itself up to die with the Redeemer; for we find that on most occasion when he appeared to the saints, it was near an Ilex-tree.——In Russia, the Ilex, so far from being regarded with disdain, is looked upon as a benefactor and worker of miraculous cures among children. In certain districts, whenever a child is ill, and especially when it is suffering from consumption, they carry it into the forest, where they cleave in two the stem of an Ilex, and pass the child thrice through the cleft, after which they close the cut stem, and bind it securely with cord. Then they carry the child round the tree thrice nine times (the number of days composing the lunar month). Lastly they hang on the branches the child’s shirt, so that the martyr-tree may generously take to itself all the disease hitherto afflicting the child.

INGUDI.—In Bengal, they ascribe to the plant Ingudi (Terminalia, catappa) the extraordinary property of begetting infants. According to De Gubernatis, the TÂpatasaru is also called the Tree of the Anchorite, because with an oil extracted from the crushed fruit the Indian ascetics prepare the oil for their lamps.

IPECACUANHA.—The root of the Psychotria emetica is used generally as an expectorant, but in India in cases of dysentery: its sexsyllabic nomenclature has been thus immortalised by George Canning:—

IPOMŒA.—The Ipomoeas are nearly allied to the Convolvuli, and are among the most lovely of all shrubs. The rosy-red KÂmalatÂ, the Love’s Creeper of the Hindus, is a plant by which all desires are granted to such as inherit the Indian Paradise. Ipomoea Bona-nox, “Good-night,” is so named in allusion to its opening its flowers in the evening.

IRIS.—The Iris of “all hues” derives its name from the goddess Iris, one of the Oceanides, a messenger of the gods, and the especial attendant of Juno. As goddess of the rainbow, she is represented with its variegated colours glistening in her wings. Thus Virgil says:—

Iris is usually depicted as descending from the rainbow, and her glorious arch is said not to vary more in its colours than the flower which bears her name. Columella observes—

The Greeks plant the Iris on tombs, possibly because the goddess Iris was believed to guide the souls of dead women to their last resting-place, as Mercury conducted the souls of men. The Iris was one of the flowers dedicated to Juno, and with the ancients was wont to be employed as the symbol of eloquence or power; hence the Egyptians placed this flower on the brow of the Sphinx, and on the sceptres of their monarchs. The three leaves of the blossom represent faith, wisdom, and valour. The Iris is supposed to be the flower which forms the terminating ornament of the sceptre of the ancient kings of Babylon and Assyria.——The Franks of old had a custom, at the proclamation of a king, to elevate him upon a shield, or target, and place in his hand a reed of Flag in blossom, instead of a sceptre, and from thence the kings of the first and second race in France are represented with sceptres in their hands like the Flag with its flower, and which flowers became the armorial figures of France.——There is a legend that Clotilda, the wife of the warlike king Clovis, had long prayed for the conversion of her husband, and at length Clovis, having led his army against the Huns, and being in imminent danger of defeat, recommended himself to the God of his sainted wife. The tide of battle turned, he obtained a complete victory, and was baptised by St. Remi. On this occasion, owing to a vision of St. Clotilda, the Lilies (Iris) were substituted in the arms of France for the three frogs or toads which Clovis had hitherto borne on his shield. In the pictures of St. Clotilda, she is generally represented attended by an angel holding a shield on which are the three Fleurs de Lys. This occurred early in the sixth century. Louis VII., in consequence of a dream, assumed it as his device in 1137, when engaged in the second expedition of the Crusaders, and the Iris-flower soon became celebrated in France as the Fleur de Louis, which was first contracted into Fleur de Luce, and afterwards into Fleur de Lys, or Fleur de Lis (Lily-flower—although it has no affinity to the Lily), and was incorporated in the arms of France, and formed one of the embellishments of the crown.——Pope Leo III. presented Charlemagne with a blue banner, semÉe of golden Fleurs de Lys, and the banner coming from the Pope was supposed by the ignorant to have descended from heaven.——Other traditions respecting this blue banner relate that an angel gave it to Charlemagne, that St. Denis gave it to the kings of France, and that an angel brought it to Clovis after his baptism.——The Fleur de Lys appertains to the Bourbon race, and was made the ornament of the northern radius of the compass in honour of Charles of Anjou, who was King of Sicily at the time of this great discovery. When Edward III. claimed the crown of France in 1340, he quartered the ancient shield of France with the lion of England. After many changes of position, the Fleur de Lys finally disappeared from the English shield in the first year of the present century. (See also Flower de Luce).

Iron-Head and Hard-Head.—See Horse-Knot.

IVY.—Kissos (Greek for Ivy) was the original name of the infant Bacchus, who, abandoned by his mother Semele, was hidden under an Ivy-bush, which was subsequently named after him. Another Hellenic tradition makes Kissos a son of Bacchus, who, whilst dancing before his father, suddenly dropped down dead. The goddess GÆa (the Earth), compassionating the unfortunate youth, changed him into the Ivy, which afterwards received his name—Kissos.——The god Bacchus is said to have worshipped the Ivy under the name of Kissos; the plant was sacred to him, and he is represented crowned with the leaves of Ivy as well as with those of the Vine. The god’s thyrsus was also crowned with Ivy. In Greece and Rome, Black Ivy was used to decorate the thyrsus of Bacchus in commemoration of his march through India. This Ivy bears yellow berries, and is common in the Himalayas; it was, therefore, appropriately selected as the shrub wherewith to crown Alexander in his Indian expedition.——According to Plutarch, the priests of Jupiter were bound to shun the Vine (in order to preserve themselves from intoxication), and to touch the Ivy, which was believed to impart a sort of prophetic transport. Bacchus, therefore, crowned with Ivy, became a god both victorious and prophetic.——At the Dionysian festivals, the worshippers were crowned with Ivy, Vine-leaves, Fir, &c. Certain of the men engaged in the procession wore chaplets of Ivy and Violets, and the women—who, worked up into a kind of frenzy, executed fantastic dances—often carried garlands and strings of Ivy-leaves.——Pliny says that Ivy-berries, taken before wine, prevent its intoxicating effects. Probably the Bacchanals’ chaplet and the Ivy-bough formerly used as the sign of a tavern, both derived their origin from the belief that Ivy in some form counteracted the effects of wine.——On this point, Coles says: “Box and Ivy last long green, and therefore vintners make their garlands thereof; though, perhaps, Ivy is the rather used because of the antipathy between it and wine.” Kennett tells us that, in olden times, “the booths in fairs were commonly dressed with Ivy-leaves, as a token of wine there sold, the Ivy being sacred to Bacchus; so was the tavern bush, or frame of wood, drest round with Ivy forty years since, though now left off for tuns or barrels hung in the middle of it. This custom gave birth to the present practice of putting out a green bush at the door of those private houses which sell drink during the fair.” De Gubernatis says, that the Ivy to be seen over the doors of Italian wine-shops has the same signification as the Oak-bough—it is a precaution to render the wine innocuous. ChÉruel tell us that the French, in suspending Ivy at the door of their cabarets, intend it as a symbol of love.——Ivy, which clings and embraces, has been adopted as the emblem of confiding love and friendship.——There is an old Cornish tradition which relates that the beauteous Iseult, unable to endure the loss of her betrothed, the valiant Tristan, died broken-hearted, and was buried in the same church, but, by order of the king, their graves were placed far asunder. But soon from the tomb of Tristan came forth a branch of Ivy, and from the tomb of Iseult there issued another branch. Both gradually grew upwards, until at last the lovers, represented by the clinging Ivy, were again united beneath the vaulted roof of the sanctuary.——In Greece, the altar of Hymen was encircled with Ivy, and a branch of it was presented to the newly-married couple, as a symbol of the indissoluble knot. It formed the crown of both Greek and Roman poets; and in modern times, female love, constancy, and dependence have been expressed by it. Friendship is sometimes symbolised by a fallen tree, firmly embraced by the verdant arms of the Ivy, with the motto: “Nothing can part us.”——In Northern mythology, Ivy, on account of its black colour, was dedicated to Thor, the god of thunder, and offered to the elf who was supposed to be his messenger.——When, in Germany, they drive the cattle for the first time to pasture, they deck them with a branch of Ivy fashioned into a crown. They believe also that he who carries on his head a crown of Ivy acquires the faculty of recognising witches. In the Tyrol, a similar belief holds good, only there, Rue, Broom, Maidenhair, and Agrimony must be bound together with Ground-Ivy in a bundle, which is to be kept about the person.——In Ross-shire, it is a May-day custom for young girls to pluck sprays of Ivy with the dew on them that have not been touched by steel.——Ivy has long been used in decorating churches and houses at Christmas: thus old Tusser directs:—“Get Ivye and Hull [Holly], woman, deck up thine house.” It seems in the middle ages to have been regarded as a most favoured and auspicious plant; one old song couples the Ivy and Holly as plants well adapted for Christmas time, and the following mediÆval carol sings loudly the plant’s praises:—

According to an old poem in the British Museum, however, Ivy was considered by some good people only fit to ornament the porches and outer passages of houses, but not the interior.

Corymbifer was a surname given to Bacchus, from his wearing a crown of corymbi, or Ivy-berries. These berries were recommended by old physicians as a remedy for the plague, and Pliny averred that when taken before wine, they prevented its intoxicating effects.——There is a popular tradition that an Ivy cup has the property of separating wine from water—the former soaking through, and the latter remaining. An old writer remarks that those who are troubled with the spleen shall find much ease by the continual drinking out of a cup made of Ivy, so as the drink may stand some time therein before it be drunk; for, he adds, “Cato saith that wine put into the Ivy cup will soak through it by reason of the antipathy that is between them;” this antipathy being so great that a drunkard “will find his speediest cure if he drunk a draught of the same wine wherein a handful of Ivy-leaves had been steeped.”——The ancient Scottish clan Gordon claim Ivy as their badge.——Ivy is under the dominion of Saturn. It is considered to be exceedingly favourable to dream of the evergreen climber, portending as it does, friendship, happiness, good fortune, honour, riches, and success.

Ground-Ivy is a name which was formerly applied to the Periwinkle, and to the Ground Pine or Yellow Bugle (called till the beginning of the present century the Forget-Me-Not), but which was afterwards transferred to the Nepeta Glechoma, a plant also known by the rustic names of Gill and Gill-by-the-ground, Haymaids, Cat’s-foot, Ale-hoof, and Tun-hoof. In olden times, it was put into ale, instead of hops, and was also used to clear ale. The juice of the leaves, tunned up in ale, was thought to cure the jaundice and other complaints.

Jacinth.—See Hyacinth.

Jack-by-the-Hedge.—See Erysimum.

Jack-of-the-Buttery.—See Stonecrop.

JACOB’S LADDER.—The Polemonium coeruleum, from its leaflets being arranged in successive pairs.

JAMBU.—The Jambu (Eugenia Jambos) is included among the great Indian cosmogonic trees. It is called, says Prof. De Gubernatis, the Fruit of Kings, on account of the great size of its fruit. According to the Vishnu purÂna, the continent JambudvÎpa took its name from the tree Jambu. The fruits of this tree are in point of fact very large, but the fruits of the Indian mythological Jambu attain to the size of an elephant; when they have ripened they fall from the mountain, and the juice which exudes feeds the river Jambu, whose waters are consequently richly endowed with salutary properties, and can neither be tainted nor defiled. We learn from the DÎrghÂgama-SÛtra, that the four cardinal points were not only represented by the four elephants which sustained the world, but by four trees of colossal bulk and grandeur. These four trees were the Ghanta, the Kadamba, the Ambala, and the Jambu. The Jambu sprang, it is said, from the south of the mountain Meru, of which the summit was believed to represent the zenith. In the cosmogonic forest of the Himalaya towers the stupendous bulk of the Jambu, and from its roots four great rivers, whose waters are inexhaustible, take their source. It bears during the entire kalpa of the renovation an immortal fruit, like unto gold, great as the vase called MahÂkala. This fruit falls into the rivers, and its pips produce the golden seed which is carried away to the sea, and which is sometimes washed up again, and to be found on its shores. This gold is of incalculable value, and has not its equal in the world for purity.——It appears, according to the SaptaÇataka of HÂla, that Indian lovers are fond of secreting themselves beneath the leaves of the Eugenia Jambos, and that the young Indian bride becomes sad with jealousy when she sees her young husband approaching, with his ears decked with the leaves of the Jambu.

JASMINE.—Perfumes and flowers play an important part in the poetry of India, and the Jasmine, which Hindu poets call the “Moonlight of the Grove,” has furnished them with countless images. Thus, in AnvÁr-i-SuhailÎ (translated by E.B. Eastwick), we read of a damsel entering the king’s chamber, whose face charms like a fresh Rosebud which the morning breeze has caused to blow, and whose ringlets are compared to the twisting Hyacinth buried in an envelope of the purest Musk:—

De Tassy, the translator of the allegories of Aziz Eddin, points out that the Arabian word yÂs-min is composed of the word yÂs, despair, and min, an illusion. In the allegories we read: “Then the Jasmine uttered this sentence with the expressive eloquence of its mute language: “Despair is a mistake. My penetrating odour excels the perfume of other flowers; therefore lovers select me as a suitable offering to their mistresses; they extract from me the invisible treasures of divinity, and I can only rest when enclosed in the folds and pleats which form in the body of a robe.”——An allusion to the Jasmine is made in the following poetic description of a young girl drooping from a sudden illness:—“All of a sudden the blighting glance of unpropitious fortune having fallen on that Rose-cheeked Cypress, she laid her head on the pillow of sickness; and in the flower-garden of her beauty, in place of the Damask-Rose, sprang up the branch of the Saffron. Her fresh Jasmine, from the violence of the burning illness, lost its moisture, and her Hyacinth, full of curls, lost all its endurance from the fever that consumed her.”——The Indians cultivate specially for their perfume two species of Jasmine—viz., the Jasminum grandiflorum, or Tore, and the J. hirsutum, or Sambac. The Moo-le-hua, a powerful-smelling Jasmine, is used in China and other parts of the East as an adornment for the women’s hair.——It is believed that the Jasmine was first introduced into Europe by some Spaniards, who brought it from the East Indies in 1560.——Loudon relates that a variety of the Jasmine, with large double flowers and exquisite scent, was first procured in 1699 from Goa, by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and so jealous was he of being the sole possessor of this species, that he strictly forbade his gardener to part with a single cutting. However the gardener was in love, and so, on the birthday of his betrothed, he presented her with a nosegay, in the midst of which was a sprig of this rare Jasmine. Charmed with its fragrance, the girl planted the sprig in fresh mould, and under her lover’s instructions was soon able to raise cuttings from the plant, and to sell them at a high price: by this means she soon saved enough money to enable her to wed the gardener, who had hitherto been too poor to alter his condition. In memory of this tender episode, the damsels of Tuscany still wear a wreath of Jasmine on their wedding days, and the event has given rise to a saying that a “girl worthy of wearing the Jasmine wreath is rich enough to make her husband happy.”——Yellow Jasmine is the flower of the Epiphany.——To dream of this beautiful flower foretells good luck; to lovers it is a sure sign they will be speedily married. JERUSALEM.—Many plants are found to have been named in olden times after the Holy City. The Lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis, is the Jerusalem Cowslip; Phlomis is Jerusalem Sage; and Teucrium Botrys is the Oak of Jerusalem, called so from the resemblance of its leaf to that of the Oak. In these three cases the prefix “Jerusalem” seems to have been applied for no particular reason—probably because the plants had an Eastern origin. Salsafy, Tragopogon porrifolius, is the Star of Jerusalem, so named from the star-like expansion of its involucre; and Helianthus tuberosus is the Jerusalem Artichoke, a plant of the same genus as the Sunflower, called Artichoke from the flavour of its tubers. The soup made from it is termed Palestine Soup. In the last two cases, Dr. Prior thinks the prefix “Jerusalem” is simply a corruption of the Italian word girasole, turn-sun, and has been applied to these plants from a popular belief that they turn with the Sun. The Lychnis Chalcedonica is the Jerusalem Cross, which has derived its name from the fact that a variety of it has four instead of five petals, of the colour and form of a Jerusalem Cross.

JEWS’ EARS.—The Auricula JudÆ is a Fungus resembling in shape the human ear, which grows usually upon the trunks of the Elder, the tree upon which Judas Iscariot is said by some to have hung himself. Sir John Maundevile relates that he actually saw the identical tree. Bacon says of this excrescence, “There is an herb called Jewes-Eare, that groweth upon the roots and lower parts of the bodies of trees, especially of Elders, and sometimes Ashes. It hath a strange propertie; for in warme water it swelleth, and openeth extremely. It is not greene, but of a darke browne colour. And it is used for squinancies and inflammations in the throat, whereby it seemeth to have a mollifying and lenifying vertue.”

JOAN’S SILVER PIN.—The red-Poppy (Papaver Rhoeas) has acquired the name of Joan’s Silver Pin, because, according to Parkinson, the gaudy flower is “fair without and foul within” (in allusion to its yellow juice). Joan’s Silver Pin was a contemptuous term applied to some tawdry ornament displayed ostentatiously by a sloven.

JOB’S TEARS.—The pretty East Indian Grass, Coix lacryma, is called Job’s Tears on account of the formation of its hard beard-like seeds, of which Gerarde says “every graine resembleth the drop or teare that falleth from the eye.”——Among the Arabs, the Fleabane (Inula dysenterica) is also called Job’s Tears (See Fleabane).

JONAH’S GOURD.—According to the Greek version of the Scriptures, the plant under which Jonah sat was a Gourd, but the Vulgate considers it a species of Ivy. The Ricinus communis, the Castor-oil-tree, with its broad palmate leaves, has been, however, identified with the Kikayon, which God caused to rise up and shelter Jonah.

Joseph’s Flower.—See Goat’s Beard.

JUDAS TREE.—The Fig, the Tamarisk, the Aspen, the Dog Rose, the Elder, and the Cercis have all been named as the tree from whose boughs the traitorous Judas, overcome with remorse, hung himself in guilty despair. The idea that the Fig-tree was the tree whereon Judas sought his fate, is a wide-spread one, and probably derives its origin from the fact of our Lord having cursed an unproductive Fig-tree,—the tradition being that, after this malediction, the tree lost its foliage, and soon died; that its wood, when put in the fire, produced smoke, but no flame; and that all its progeny from that time forth became wild Fig-trees.——A Fig-tree growing on the coast of Coromandel, bears the name of Judas’ Purse.——De Gubernatis, on the authority of Dr. J. PitrÉ, states that, according to a Sicilian tradition, Judas was not hung on a Fig, but on a Tamarisk-tree, called Vruca (Tamarix Africana), much more common than the Tamarix Gallica. The Vruca is only a shrub; but, say the Sicilians, once upon a time it was a great tree, and very handsome. Since, however, the traitor Judas hung himself from its boughs, the tree, owing to a Divine malediction, became merely a shrub, ugly, mis-shapen, small, useless, not even capable of lighting even the smallest fire; from whence has arisen the proverb: “You are like the wood of the Vruca, which neither yields cinders nor fire.”——A Russian proverb says: “There is a tree which trembles, although the wind does not blow.” In the Ukraine, they state that the leaves of the Aspen (Populus tremula) have trembled and shaken ever since the day that Judas hanged himself on a bough of that tree.——In Germany, the Dog Rose (Rosa canina) is a tree of ill repute, and according to tradition, one with which the Devil has had dealings. (See Eglantine). There is a legend that Judas hanged himself on this tree; that in consequence it became accursed, and ever after turned to the earth the points of its thorns; and that from this cause its berries, to this day, are called Judasbeeren.——In England and other countries, there has long existed a tradition that the Elder was the tree on which the traitor-disciple hanged himself. Sir John Maundevile, in his ‘Travels,’ declares that he saw the identical tree; and we read in ‘Piers Plowman’s Vision’:—

Gerarde, however, in his ‘Herbal’ (1597) denies that the Elder was the tree, but states that the Arbor JudÆ, the Judas-tree, is the Cercis Siliquastrum (Wild Carob-tree). “It may,” says the old herbalist, “be called in English Judas-tree, for that it is thought to be that whereon Judas hanged himselfe, and not upon the Elder-tree, as it is vulgarly said.” A similar belief is entertained by the French and Italians, who regard the Cercis Siliquastrum as an infamous tree. The Judas-tree grows about twenty feet high, has pale green foliage and purple papilionaceous flowers, which appear in the Spring in large clusters: they are succeeded by long flat pods, containing a row of seeds. Curiously enough, the Spaniards and Portuguese, on account of what Gerarde terms its “braveness,” call it the “Tree of Love.”

JUJUBE.—The real Jujube-tree is Zizyphus Jujuba, a native of the East Indies, nearly allied to the Paliurus, or Christ’s Thorn: it bears similar yellow flowers and fruit about the size of a middling plum. It is sweet and mealy, and highly esteemed by the natives of the countries to which the tree is indigenous. The lozenges called Jujubes are made from the fruit of Zizyphus vulgaris, which ripens abundantly in the neighbourhood of Paris.

July Flower, the Stock Gilliflower.—See Stock.

JUNIPER.—The ancients called the Juniper generally by the name of Cedar, although Pliny distinguishes the two. Thus Virgil is supposed to have alluded to the Juniper in the line in his ‘Georgic’:—

The Juniper was consecrated to the Furies. The smoke of its green roots was the incense which the ancients deemed most acceptable to the infernal gods; and they burned its berries during funerals to ban malign influences.——The Juniper has always been looked upon as a protective tree; its powerful odour is stated to defeat the keen scent of the hound, and the hunted hare at the last extremity will seek and find a safe retreat in the cover of its branches. It sheltered the prophet Elijah from the persecutions of King Ahab, and we read in 1 Kings xix., 4, that the prophet lay and slept “under a Juniper-tree.”——According to a tradition common in Italy, the Virgin Mary fled for safety with the infant Jesus, pursued by the relentless soldiers of King Herod. Whilst on their road, the Brooms and the Chick-Peas began to rustle and crackle, and by this noise betrayed the fugitives. The Flax bristled up. Happily for her, Mary was near a Juniper: the hospitable tree opened it branches as arms, and enclosed the Virgin and Child within their folds, affording them a secure hiding-place. Then the Virgin uttered a malediction against the Brooms and the Chick-Peas, and ever since that day they have always rustled and crackled. The Holy Mother pardoned the Flax its weakness, and gave to the Juniper her blessing: on that account, in Italy, branches of Juniper are hung up on Christmas Day in stables and cattle sheds, just as in England, France, and Switzerland, Holly is employed as a decoration.——In Thibet, they burn Juniper-wood as incense in a gigantic altar, with an aperture at the top, which is called Song-boom, and bears some resemblance to a limekiln.——The old notion of the ancients that the burning of Juniper-wood expelled evil spirits from houses evidently led to some superstitious practices in this country in later times. Thus we find Bishop Hall writing:—

In some parts of Scotland, during the prevalence of an epidemic, certain mysterious ceremonies are enacted, in which the burning of Juniper-wood plays an important part.——-In Germany and Italy, the Juniper is the object of a superstitious reverence on account of its supposed property of dispersing evil spirits. According to Herr Weber, in some parts of Italy, holes or fissures in houses are brushed over with Juniper-boughs to prevent evil spirits introducing sickness; in other parts, boughs of Juniper are suspended before doorways, under the extraordinary belief that witches who see the Juniper are seized with an irresistible mania to count all its small leaves, which, however, are so numerous that they are sure to make a mistake in counting, and, becoming impatient, go away for fear of being surprised and recognised.——In Waldeck, Germany, when infants fall ill, their parents place in a bunch of Juniper some bread and wool, in order to induce bad spirits to eat, to spin, and so forget the poor little suffering babe. In Germany, a certain Frau Wachholder is held to be the personification and the presiding spirit of the Juniper, who is invoked in order that thieves may be compelled to give up their ill-gotten spoils: this invocation takes place with certain superstitious ceremonies beneath the shadow of a Juniper, a branch of which is bent to the earth. In Germany, also, the Juniper, like the Holly, is believed to drive away from houses and stables, spells and witchcraft of all description, and specially to cast out from cows and horses the monsters which are sometimes believed mysteriously to haunt them. For a similar reason, in Germany, in order to strengthen horses, and to render them tractable and quiet, they administer to them on three successive Sundays before sunrise, three handfuls of salt, and seventy-two Juniper-berries. Prof. De Gubernatis tells us that from a rare Italian book which he possesses, he finds that in Bologna it is customary on Christmas Eve to distribute in most houses branches of Juniper; and moreover, that the best authorities have proved the omnipotence of Juniper against serpents and venomous beasts, who by their bites represent sins; and that the Juniper furnished the wood for the Cross of the Saviour and protected the Prophet Elijah.——In Tuscany, the Juniper receives a benediction in church on Palm Sunday.——In Venetia, Juniper is burnt to purify the air, recalling the ancient Roman custom of burning it instead of incense on the altars.——In Norway and Sweden, the floors are strewed with the tops of Juniper, which diffuse a pleasant fragrance.——Evelyn says that Juniper-berries afford “one of the most universal remedies in the world to our crazy forester,” and he wonders that Virgil should condemn the shadow of such a beneficial tree, but suspects him misreported as having written the following lines:—

The old herbalists recommended the berries of the Juniper for use as counter-poisons and other wholesome medicines, and water wherein these berries had been steeped was held to be health-giving and useful against poisons and pestilent fevers. The smoke of the leaves and wood was said to drive away serpents, “and all infection and corruption of the aire which bring the plague, or such-like contagious diseases.”——The Juniper would appear to be potent in dreams; thus, it is unlucky to dream of the tree itself, especially if the person be sick; but to dream of gathering the berries, if it be in winter, denotes prosperity; whilst to dream of the actual berries signifies that the dreamer will shortly arrive at great honours, and become an important person. To the married it foretells the birth of a male child.——The Juniper is held to be under the dominion of the Sun.

JUNO’S ROSE.—The Lilium candidum has derived its name of Juno’s Rose from the legend that relates how Jupiter, to make his infant son Hercules immortal, put him to the breast of the sleeping Juno; and how, when the babe withdrew from her, the milk which fell from his lips formed the Milky Way, and, falling on earth, caused the White Lily to spring up. (See Lily).

JUNO’S TEARS.—A name originally given by Dioscorides to the Coix lacryma (now called Job’s Tears), but for some unknown reason transferred to the Vervain (Verbena officinalis).

JUPITER’S PLANTS.—The Pink (Dianthus) is Jove’s flower; the Oak is sacred to him because he first taught mankind to live upon Acorns; his sceptre is of Cypress. The DodonÆan Jupiter is usually depicted with a wreath of Oak-leaves; the Olympian Jove wears a wreath of Olive, and his mantle is decorated with various flowers, particularly the Lily; to Jupiter Ammon the Beech is dedicated. The House-leek (Sempervivum tectorum) has obtained its name of Jupiter’s Beard (Jovis Barba) from its massive inflorescence resembling the sculptured beard of Jupiter. The same plant is also called Jupiter’s Eye from its stellate form: in its centre is a bud, and on the surrounding petals can be distinguished a little eye, from which circumstance has arisen the superstition, mentioned by Dioscorides, that this plant cures inflammation of the eyes. Jupiter’s Staff is the Mullein (Verbascum Thapsus). Jupiter’s Distaff is the Yellow Clary (Salvia glutinosa). Gerarde thus describes it: “Jovis Colus representeth in the highest top of the stalk a distaffe, wrapped about with yellow Flax, whereof it took its name.”——The Couch of Jupiter and Juno was formed of the blossoms of Lotus, Lily, Hyacinth, Crocus, and Asphodel.

KAIL.—Writing of the Cabbage or Colewort, Gerarde tells us “the apothecaries and the common herbalists do call it Caulis, of the goodnesse of the stalke.” The old English name Cole and the Scotch Kail are both derived from this Latin word Caulis, a stalk.——In Scotland, it is a custom on Hallowe’en for the young people, after being duly blindfolded, to go forth into the Kail-yard, or garden, and pull the first stalk they meet with. Returning to the fireside, they determine, according as the stalk is big or little, straight or crooked, what the future wife or husband will be. The quantity of earth adhering to the root is emblematic of the dowry to be expected, and the temper is indicated by the sweet or bitter taste of the motoc or pith. Lastly, the stalks are placed in order over the door, and the Christian names of persons afterwards entering the house signify in the same order those of the wives and husbands in futuris.

KATAKA.—The Kataka (Strychnos potatorum) is an East Indian plant, the seeds of which are sold in the bazaars for the purpose of cleansing muddy water, &c. The vessel containing the water, milk, &c., is first rubbed round the inside for a minute or two with one of the seeds, after which, by allowing the liquid to settle for a short time, however impure it may have been before, it becomes clear. The confidence of the superstitious Hindus in this property of the Kataka became so great, that in course of time they ignorantly thought the mere name of Kataka would be sufficient to cleanse water. It became, therefore, necessary to state in one of their Codes that although the seeds of the Kataka purify water, its name alone was insufficient for that purpose.

KATHARINE’S FLOWER.—The Nigella Damascena has been called Katharine’s or St. Katherine’s-flower, from the persistent styles spreading like the spokes of a wheel, the symbol of St. Katharine, who was martyred upon a wheel. As regards the seed of this plant, Gerarde tells us that if dried, powdered, and wrapped in a piece of fine lawn or sarcenet, it “cureth all murs, catarrhes, rheumes, and the pose, drieth the braine, and restoreth the sence of smelling unto those which have lost it, being often smelled unto from day to day, and made warme at the fire when it is used.”——This plant bears also the names of Fennel-flower, Bishop’s-wort, Old Man’s Beard, and Kiss-me-twice-before-I-rise.

KESARA.—The Kesara (Mimusops Elengi) is an Indian tree sacred to Krishna. According to Jones, the flowers of the Kesara ornament conspicuously the Garden of Paradise. An odoriferous water is distilled from the flowers, and the bark is used medicinally.

KERNEL-WORT.—The Scrophularia nodosa has obtained the name of Kernel-wort, from its having kernels or tubers attached to its roots, and, therefore, as Gerarde remarks, “it is reported to be a remedy against those diseases whereof it tooke his name.” It appears to have been more particularly employed as a cure for the King’s-evil; but the old herbalist tells us that “divers do rashly teach that if it be hanged about the necke, or else carried about one, it keepeth a man in health.”

KERZEREH.—The Kerzrah, or Kerzereh, is the name of an Eastern flower, the odour of which would seem to have deadly properties. It is well known in Persia, and there, it is commonly said, that if a man inhale the hot south-wind, which in June or July passes over the Kerzereh-flowers, it will undoubtedly kill him.

KETAKI.—The Indian name of the Screw Pine, Pandanus odoratissimus, is Ketaki, the male and female flowers of which are borne on separate trees. The male flowers are dried, and are then much in vogue as a scent by Indian ladies. These flowers are said by the native poets to be dear to the god Siva; and so exquisite is their perfume, that the bee, intoxicated by it, mistakes the golden blossom for a beauteous nymph, and, blinded with passion, loses its wings.

KING’S CUP.—The Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus) is also called King’s Cup, from the resemblance of its buds to a gold stud such as Kings wore. This flower was dedicated in mediÆval times to the Virgin Mary, and is the Mary-bud alluded to by Shakspeare in ‘Cymbeline’—

Kiss-me-ere-i-rise.—See Pansy.

Kiss-me-twice-before-i-rise.—See Katharine’s Flower.

Knight’s Spurs.—See Larkspur.

KNOT GRASS.—The Centinode, or Knot Grass (Polygonum aviculare) derives its name from the knottiness of its stem and its Grass-like leaves. In ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ Shakspeare refers to this plant as “the hindering Knotgrass,” because its decoction was, in olden times, believed to be efficacious in stopping or retarding the growth of children, as well as of the young of domestic animals. Thus, in Beaumont and Fletcher’s ‘Coxcomb,’ we read:—

Gerarde says that “it is given unto swine with good success when they are sick, and will not eat their meat, whereupon country people do call it Swine’s-grass or Swine’s-skir.” KOVIDARA.—The Kovidara (Bauhinia variegata) is one of trees which are represented as growing in the Indian Paradise. The flowers of this Mountain Ebony are of a purplish-red colour, marked with white, and with yellow bottoms.

KOUNALNITZA.—In Russia, a plant dedicated to the Slave-God Kounala, protector of the harvest, is named after him Kounalnitza. It would seem, however, to be now considered a herb of St. John. De Gubernatis tells us that on the eve of St. John’s Day it is customary in Russia to deck the floors of bath-rooms with this plant. Kounalnitza is thus described by a Russian lady:—“It is a herb as delicate as an arrow, having on each side nine leaves and four colours—black, green, red, and blue. This herb is very salutary. He who has gathered it on St. John’s Day, and carries it about him with a piece of gold or silver money attached, need neither fear the Devil nor wicked men at night. In course of time he will prevail against all adversaries, and will become the friend of Tzars and princes. The root of this plant is equally miraculous: if a woman be childless, she has only to drink a potion in which this plant has been powdered, and she will have children and be able to protect them from all infantile diseases. Kounalnitza is also gathered as a protection against sorcerers, who by their cries scare reapers and workers in the fields.”

KUDDUM.—The Kuddum, or Cadamba (Anthocephalus Cadamba), is one of the most sacred trees of India. According to the Chinese Buddhist scriptures, there grows to the east of the mountain Sume a great ring of trees called Kadamba, of vast proportions. The tree of Buddha sprang spontaneously from a kernel of this Kadamba, dropped in the soil. “In one moment the earth split, a shoot appeared, and the giant tree raised itself, embracing within its shadow a circumference of three hundred cubits. The fruits of this miraculous tree are a source of bitter vexation to the enemies of Buddha, and against these the Devas launch all the fury of the tempest.” The yellowish-brown flowers of the Kuddum are small and collected in dense balls: they open at the commencement of the rainy season, and they are represented by the Indian poets as having the power of recalling to lovers, with irresistible vividness, the beloved absent one.

KUSA GRASS.—The sacred Vedic herb Kusa (Poa cynosuroides) is known in the Sanscrit writings as the Ornament of the Sacrifice, the Pure Herb, the Purifier, &c. With its long pointed leaves, the sacred beverages are purified, the altar is covered, and the sacrificing priest is furnished with a natural carpet. According to the Vedas, the sacrifices offered in the Hindu temples of the Indian Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, consisted of a fire of fragrant woods lighted at each of the cardinal points. The flames were fed now and again with consecrated ointment, and around the fire was scattered the sacred herb Kusa. Thus, in the drama of ‘SakuntalÂ,’ written by KÂlidÂsa two thousand years ago, we find that Kanva, the father of the heroine (who is the chief of the hermits), offers one of these sacrifices, and exclaims:—

In those times it was apparently considered no sin to apply the sacred grass to private purposes, for one of SakuntalÂ’s handmaids compounds perfumes and unguents with consecrated paste and the Kusa-grass, to anoint the limbs of her mistress, previous to her nuptials. In the Vedas, the Kusa-grass, or Darbha, is often invoked as a god. According to the Atharvaveda, it is immortal, it never ages, it destroys enemies, and Indra, the god of thunder, employs it as his weapon.——The Vedic rituals contain directions for the employment of Kusa-grass for various mystic purposes. To cleanse butter, the priest held a small stalk of the sacred Grass, without nodes, in each hand, and, turning towards the east, he invoked Savitar, Vasu, and the rays of the sun. At the new moon, and at the full moon, they bound and fastened together the sacrificial wood and the Kusa-grass. In the third year of its age, it was customary for a Hindu child to be brought by its parents to the priest, that its hair might be cut. Then the father, placed to the south of the mother, held in his hand twenty-one stalks of Kusa-grass, which symbolised the twenty-one winds, and an invocation was made to VÂyu, the god of the winds. The father, or, in his absence, a Brahman, took three stalks at a time, and inserted them in the child’s hair seven times, the points turned towards the infant’s body; at the same time devoutly murmuring, “May the herb protect thee!” According to the Vedas, a house ought to be erected in a locality where the Kusa-grass abounds; the foundations are sprinkled with it, and care is taken to extirpate all thorny plants. When reading the sacred books, the devout Hindu should be seated either on the ground or on a flooring strewn with Kusa-grass, upon which once rested Brahma himself. It was customary, upon leaving a seminary, for the Vedic student to take, among other things, by way of memento, and as a presage of good fortune, a few blades of Kusa-grass. Anchorites employed the sacred Grass as a covering to their nudity, and it was also used as a purification in funeral rites. In the Buddhist ritual, the Vedic Kusa appears under the name of Barhis, and serves as a kind of carpet, on which come Agni and all the gods to seat themselves. Of such importance is the sacred Grass considered, that the name Barhis is sometimes even employed to signify in a general manner the sacrifice itself.

KUSHTHA.—Wilson identifies the Indian mythological tree Kushtha with the Costus speciosus, a swamp plant bearing snow-white flowers and celebrated for the sweetness of its fruits. The Kushtha forms one of the trees of heaven. In the Atharvaveda, it is stated to flourish in the third heaven, where the ambrosia is to be found: it possesses magical properties, will cure fevers, and is considered as the first of medicinal plants. It is represented also as a great friend and companion of Soma, the god of the ambrosia, and it descends from the mountain Himavant as a deity of salvation.

Lad’s Love.—See Southernwood.

LADY’S PLANTS.—When the word “lady” occurs in plant names, it alludes in most cases to Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, on whom the monks and nuns of old lavished flowers in profusion. All white flowers were regarded as typifying her purity and sanctity, and were consecrated to her festivals. The finer flowers were wrested from the Northern deities, Freyja and Bertha, and from the classic Juno, Diana, and Venus, and laid upon the shrine of Our Lady. In Puritan times, the name of Our Lady was in many instances replaced by Venus, thus recurring to the ancient nomenclature: for example: Our Lady’s Comb became Venus’s Comb (Scandix Pecten Veneris); Galium verum is called Our Lady’s Bedstraw, from its soft, puffy, flocculent stems, and its golden flowers. The name may allude more particularly to the Virgin Mary having given birth to her Son in a stable, with nothing but wild flowers for her bedding. Clematis vitalba, commonly called Traveller’s Joy, from the shade and shelter it affords to weary wayfarers, is also called Lady’s Bower, from “its aptness in making arbours, bowers, and shadie covertures in gardens.” Statice Armeria, the clustered Pink, which is called Thrift, from the past participle of the verb to thrive, is, on account of its close cushion-like growth, termed Lady’s Cushion. Alchemilla vulgaris is named Lady’s Mantle from the shape and vandyked edge of the leaf; and Campanula hybrida (from the resemblance of its expanded flower, set on its elongated ovary, to an ancient metallic mirror on its straight handle) is the Lady’s Looking-glass. Two plants with soft inflated calyces (Anthyllis vulneraria and Digitalis purpurea) are Lady’s Fingers. Neottia spiralis, with its flower-spikes rising above each other like braided hair, is Lady’s Tresses; and the Maidenhair Fern is Our Lady’s Hair. Dodder (Cuscuta), from its string-like stems, is called Lady’s Laces; and Digraphis arundinacea, from the ribbon-like striped leaves, Lady’s Garters. In Wiltshire, Convolvulus sepium is called Lady’s Nightcap. Cypripedium Calceolus, from the shape of its flower, is called Lady’s Slippers; and Cardamine pratensis, from the shape of its flowers, like little smocks hung out to dry, is the Lady’s Smock, all silver white, of Shakspeare. Lady’s Thimble is a name of the Blue or Hare Bell (Campanula rotundifolia); and Lady’s Seal is now the Black Briony. Carduus Marianus is the Lady’s Thistle, the blessed Milk Thistle, whose green leaves have been spotted white ever since the milk of the Virgin fell upon it when she was nursing Jesus, and endowed it with miraculous virtues.

LARCH.—There has long been a superstitious belief that the wood of the Larch-tree (Pinus Larix) is impenetrable by fire, and a story is told by Vitruvius of a castle besieged by CÆsar, which, from being built largely of Larch timber, was found most difficult to consume.——Evelyn calls the Larch a “goodly tree, which is of so strange a composition, that ’twill hardly burn; whence the Mantuan, Et robusta Larix igni impenetrabile lignum, for so CÆsar found it.”——Tiberius constructed several bridges of this timber, and the Forum of Augustus, at Rome, was built with it.——Evelyn tells of a certain ship found many years ago in the Numidian Sea, twelve fathoms under water, which was chiefly built of Larch and Cypress, so hardened as long to resist the fire or the sharpest tool. Nor, he adds, “was anything perished of it, though it had lain above a thousand and four hundred years submerged.”——A Manna is obtained from the Larch, called in the South of France Manna de BrianÇon; it is very rare, and met with only in little drops that adhere to the leaves.——In the case of a forest fire, if Larches are scorched to the pith, the inner part exudes a gum, called Orenburg gum, which the mountaineers masticate in order to fasten their teeth. Ben Jonson, in the ‘Masque of Queens,’ speaks of the gum or turpentine of the Larch as being used in witchcraft. A witch answers her companion:—

According to a Tyrolean tradition, the Seliges FrÄulein, dressed in white, repairs to an aged Larch beneath whose shelter she sings.——Lucan includes the “gummy Larch” among the articles burned to drive away serpents.——M. de Rialle, quoted in Mythothologie des Plantes, relates that a group of seven Larches constituted for the Ostiaks a sacred grove. Everyone passing was expected to leave an arrow, and formerly it was customary to suspend skins there, so that in course of time an immense quantity was accumulated. As these offerings were frequently stolen by strangers, the Ostiaks decided to fell one of the Larches and remove the stump to some secret locality where they might pay their devotions without fear of sacrilege. M. de Rialle found the same Larch worship at BÉrÉzof: there a tree fifty feet high, and so old that only its top bore foliage, received the homage of the Ostiaks, who showed their piety by turning to good account its singular conformation: about six feet from the ground the trunk of the tree became divided into two limbs, which joining again a little higher up, left a cleft in the centre: this aperture the devotees dedicated to the reception of their offerings.

LARKSPUR.—The Larkspur, the Delphinium or Dolphin-flower of the ancients, was considered by LinnÆus and many other botanists to be none other than the Hyacinth of the classic poets. It is not, however, generally recognised as the flower that sprang from the blood of the unfortunate Hyacinthus, and which to this day bears his name; but is rather regarded as the flower alluded to in the enigma propounded by a shepherd in one of the Eclogues of Virgil.

Tradition states that from the life-blood of the disappointed and infuriated Ajax sprang the Delphinium—the flower which we now know as the Larkspur, upon whose petals it is said may be read the letters A I A, and which the botanists consequently term Delphininium Ajacis—truly a flower upon which the name of a king is written.——The legend concerning the origin of the flower is as follows:—Ajax, the son of Telamon and Hesione, was next to Achilles worthily reputed the most valiant of all the Greeks at the Trojan war, and engaged in single combat with Hector, the intrepid captain of the Trojan hosts, who was subsequently slain by Achilles. After the death of Achilles, Ajax and Ulysses both claimed the arms of the deceased hero: the latter was awarded them by the Greeks, who preferred the wisdom and policy of Ulysses to the courage of Ajax. This threw Ajax into such a fury, that he slaughtered a flock of sheep, mistaking them for the sons of Atreus; and then, upon perceiving his error, stabbed himself with the sword presented to him by Hector; the blood spurting from his self-inflicted death-wound, giving birth, as it fell to the earth, to the purple Delphinium, which bears upon its petals the letters at once the initials of his name and an exclamation of grief at the loss of such a hero.——The generic name of the plant is derived from the Greek delphinion, a dolphin; the flower-buds, before expansion, being thought to resemble that fish. In England, the flower is known by the names of Larkspur, Lark’s-heel, Lark’s-toe, Lark’s-claw, and Knight’s-spur.

LAUREL.—Daphne, daughter of Peneus and the goddess Terra, inspired Apollo with a consuming passion. Daphne, however, received with distrust and horror the addresses of the god, and fled from his advances. Pursued by Apollo, she adjured the water-gods to change her form, and, according to Ovid—

The classical Laurel, known as the “Royal,” or “Augustan,” was the Sweet Bay, or Daphne (Laurus nobilis). Formerly the Bay-tree was called Laurel, and the fruit only named Bayes, a word derived from the French baie, a berry. By the Greeks and Romans the tree was considered sacred. The Romans decorated with Laurel the gods Apollo and Bacchus, the goddesses Libertas and Salus, Æsculapius, Hercules, &c. The victors of the Pythian games, held to commemorate Apollo’s triumph over the Pythons, wore crowns of Laurel, Palm, or Beech. Paris (called in Homer, Alexander) was crowned with Alexandrian Laurel (Ruscus racemosus), as victor in the public games, whence its names in Apuleius, Daphne Alexandrina and Stephane Alexandrina. Of all the honours decreed to CÆsar by the Senate, he is said to have valued most the privilege of wearing a crown of Alexandrian Laurel, because it covered his baldness, which was reckoned a deformity among the Romans as well as among the Jews. This is the Laurel generally depicted on busts, coins, &c. The palace gates of the CÆsars, and the high pontiffs were decorated with Laurel. Victorious Roman generals sent their letters and dispatches to the Senate enclosed in Laurel-leaves. The letter announcing the victory was called literÆ laureatÆ, and its bearer carried a branch of Laurel, which was placed in the breast of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The soldiers’ spears, tents, ships, &c., were all dressed up with Laurel, and in the triumph each soldier carried a branch in his hand. According to Plutarch, Scipio entered Carthage, holding in one hand a sceptre and in the other a branch of Laurel. Sophocles relates how Œdipus, seeing Creon arrive crowned with Laurel, believed that he brought good news. The goddess Victoria is represented as crowned with Laurel, and bearing the branch of a Palm-tree. According to Hesiod, the Muses hold Laurel in their hands.

The prophetess Manto, a daughter of the prophet Tiresias, was sometimes called Daphne (Laurel). The bough of a Laurel was considered to give to prophets the faculty of seeing that which was hidden. Dionysius calls the Laurel the prophetical plant; and Claudian, venturi prÆscia Laurus. Fulgentius states, that a Laurel-leaf placed beneath the pillow will cause coming events to be foreseen in a dream; thereby greatly assisting the prediction of future events. Diviners, like the priests of Apollo, wore Laurel wreaths, and Laurel was used in the composition of incense. Evelyn relates that the Laurel and Agnus Castus were reputed to be “trees which greatly composed the ‘phansy,’ and did facilitate true visions; and that the first was especially efficacious to inspire a poetical fury. Such a tradition there goes of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, in imitation of her father-in-law. The instance is recited out of an ancient ecclesiastical history, by Abulensis.” From hence, Evelyn thinks the Delphic Tripos, the Dodonean Oracle in Epirus, and others of a similar nature, took their origin. The Pythia, or priestess of Apollo, at Delphi, before delivering the oracles from the sacred tripod, shook a Laurel-tree and sometimes chewed the leaves with which she crowned herself, casting them afterwards into the sacred fire. The temple of Apollo at Delphi, where the celebrated oracles were delivered, was at first only a structure of Laurel-branches, which enclosed a fissure in the earth, from which a stupefying exhalation arose. Over the fissure was placed a tripod, on which the Pythia or prophetess sat, and, becoming excited by the ascending vapour, she fell into an ecstacy, and prophesied. After a temple of stone had been constructed, the Pythia prophesied in an inner and secluded cell, the only opening to which, accessible to questioners, was covered with Laurel-leaves. The Laurel being sacred to Apollo as well as to Æsculapius, was used in the temples of both these divinities, partly to induce sleep and dreams, partly to produce beneficial effects in various diseases. Whosoever wished to ask counsel was bound to appear before the altar crowned with Laurel-twigs and chewing Laurel-leaves. Every ninth year, a bower, composed of Laurel-branches, was erected in the forecourt of the temple at Delphi.

The Boeotian fÊtes, held every ninth year at Thebes in honour of Apollo, were designated Daphnephoria. On these occasions, an Olive-bough, adorned with Laurel, was carried by a beautiful and illustrious youth, dedicated to the service of Apollo, and who was called Daphnephoros (Laurel-bearer). The origin of the Daphnephoria was as follows:—The Ætolians had invaded Boeotia, but both invaders and defenders suspended hostilities to celebrate the festival of Apollo, and having cut down Laurel-boughs from Mount Helicon, they walked in procession in honour of the divinity: that same day the Boeotian general, Polemates, dreamed that a youth presented him with a suit of armour, and commanded the Boeotians to offer prayers to Apollo, and to walk in procession, with Laurel-boughs in their hands, every ninth year. Three days later, Polemates defeated the invaders, and immediately instituted the Festival of Daphnephoria.

The Laurel formerly had the power ascribed to it of being a safeguard against lightning, of which Tiberius was very fearful, and in order to avoid which he is stated to have crept under his bed and protected his head with Laurel-leaves. In Sicily, it has long been popularly believed that the shrub is a protection from thunder and lightning. The same superstition survived till recently in our own country. W. Browne tells us that “Baies being the material of poets’ ghirlands, are supposed not subject to any hurt of Jupiter’s thunder-bolts, as other trees are.” Culpeper alludes to the old belief that neither witch nor devil, thunder nor lightning, will hurt a man where a Bay-tree is; and remarks further, that Laurels resist “witchcraft very potently, as also all the evils old Saturn can do the body of man, and they are not a few. The berries are very effectual against all poisons of venomous creatures, as also against the pestilence and other infectious diseases.”

The decay of the Bay-tree, which is generally rapid, was formerly considered as an omen of disaster. It is said that before the death of Nero, though in a very mild winter, all these trees withered to the root, and a great pestilence in Padua is reputed to have been preceded by the same phenomenon. So great a reputation had the Laurel for clearing the air and resisting contagion, that the Emperor Claudius was advised by his physicians during a raging pestilence to remove his court to Laurentum. That city, in the reign of Latinus, was the capital of Latium, whose inhabitants were called Laurentini from the great number of Laurels which flourished in their country. King Latinus discovered one of unusual size and beauty when about to build a temple to Apollo, and the tree was consecrated to the god, and preserved with religious care.

The Laurel had the reputation of being generally propitious to man. At Rome, on the 15th of May, merchants used to celebrate a festival in honour of Mercury, and proceeding to a public fountain, they drew water wherein they dipped a Laurel-branch, which they then employed to bless all their merchandise. The Laurus (Bay) was held in high esteem by the old Greek physicians; and among the people there existed a belief that spirits could be banished by its means. The Greeks had a saying, “I carry a branch of Laurel,” to indicate that the speaker had no fear of poison or sorcery. They had a custom of affixing a Laurel-bough over the doorway, in the case of a severe illness, in order to avert death and drive away evil spirits. Presumably from these associations, it became the fashion to crown young doctors of physic with Laurel-berries (Bacca Lauri), and the students were called Baccalaureats, Bay-laureats, or Bachelors. Theophrastus tells us that in his time the superstitious kept Bay-leaves in their mouths all day, to guard them from misfortune. Theocritus says that young girls were wont to burn Laurel as a charm to recall errant lovers. The Bolognese use Laurel to obtain an augury of the harvest: they put Laurel-leaves in the fire, and if in burning they crackle, it is a sign that the harvest will be good; if not, it will be bad. Tibullus chronicles a similar superstition in his time.

In the days of Pliny, there still existed on Mount Aventine a plantation of Laurels, of which the branches were employed for expiations. On the other hand, there grew on the shores of the Euxine a Laurel bearing a sinister reputation, close to where Amycus, the son of Neptune, was killed and buried. The Argonauts, when passing there, broke off a branch of this Laurel, and they immediately began to quarrel among themselves: the quarrel ceased, however, directly the branch was thrown away.

Petrarch made the Laurel the constant theme of his verse, associating it with the name of his beloved mistress, Laura; and when publicly crowned in the Roman Capitol with a wreath of Laurel, the poet acknowledged himself to have experienced the greatest delight.

Sir Thomas Browne refers to a custom common in Christian countries of throwing a sprig of Bay upon the coffin when interred. In England, it has long been used, together with Holly, Rosemary, &c., to decorate houses and churches at Christmas. In Greece, on Holy Saturday, they spread Laurel-leaves on the church floor. In Corsica, they deck with Laurel-leaves the doorway of the house where a wedding is being celebrated.

To dream of a Laurel-bush is a token of victory and pleasure. If the dreamer is married it denotes an inheritance through the wife. If a married woman dreams of seeing or smelling Laurel, it is a sign that she shall bear children; if a maid, it denotes that she will be suddenly married. Astrologers consider the Laurel a tree of the Sun, under the celestial sign Leo.

The Roumanians have a legend that there was once a nymph, known as the Daughter of the Laurel, who dwelt in the midst of a Laurel-bush. One evening the Laurel had opened its branches that she might, as was her wont, issue forth and dance in the flowery valley. Whilst tripping along she was accosted by a handsome youth, who extolled her beauty, expressed his passion for her, and finally endeavoured to embrace her; but the Laurel nymph fled, and pursued by the stranger, disappeared in the flowery groves.... “The Star Queen sleeps in her palace of clouds; sleep also, gentle and lovely girl; try to calm thy sighs.” So sings the handsome stranger, and the Daughter of the Laurel falls to sleep in his arms, murmuring a prayer that her lover may never abandon her. At her waking, alas! the youth is nowhere to be seen. She shrieks for him wildly, and calls to the night; to the stars; to the rivulet running through the wood; but in vain. “Open thy branches, beautiful Laurel-tree!” then cries the deserted girl; “the night is already flying, and if I remain longer here I shall dissolve away into dew.” “Away, young and beautiful girl,” replies the Laurel-tree mournfully; “the star wreath of honour has fallen from thy brow; there is no longer any place for thee here.” Then the sun rose over the mountain, and the Daughter of the Laurel dissolved away into dew.

LAVENDER.—The ancients employed Lavender (Lavandula Spica) largely in their baths, whence its name, derived from the Latin verb, lavare, to wash. The expression “Laid up in Lavender” has arisen from the old custom of using the plant to scent newly-washed linen.

The ancients used the French Lavender (L. Stoechas), which formerly grew in great abundance on the islands near HyÈres, in France, that were named after the plant, the Stoechades. Gerarde calls this French Lavender, Sticadove, and says the herb was also known as Cassidonie, corrupted by simple country folk into “Cast-me-down.” Shakspeare makes Perdita class Lavender among the flowers denoting middle-age:—

English Lavender was formerly called Lavender Spike, and Gerarde says it was thought by some to be the sweet herb Cassia, mentioned by Virgil in his ‘Bucolics’:—

It was formerly believed that the asp, a dangerous species of viper, made Lavender its habitual place of abode, for which reason the plant was approached with extreme caution.——In Spain and Portugal, Lavender is used to strew the floors of churches and houses on festive occasions, or to make bonfires on St. John’s Day.——In Tuscany, it is employed to counteract the effect of the Evil Eye on little children.——The Kabyle women attribute to Lavender the property of protecting them from marital cruelty, and invoke it for that purpose.

LEEK.—Biblical commentators say that the Leek (Allium Porrum), as well as the Onion and Garlic, was included among those Egyptian luxuries after which the Children of Israel pined. White and green were the old Cymric colours, and these colours are found combined in the Leek, which is the national emblem of the Welsh. The following lines are from a MS. in the Harl. Col., British Museum:—

Shakspeare, in Henry V., tells us that the Leek, worn by Welshmen on St. David’s Day (March 1st), is “an ancient tradition, begun upon an honourable respect, and worn as a memorable trophy of pre-deceased valour.” This vegetable “trophy” is said to be in memory of a great victory obtained by the Welsh over the Saxons; on which occasion, they, by order of St. David, placed Leeks in their caps in order to distinguish themselves. It has also been supposed that the wearing of the Leek may have originated in the custom of Cymortha, still observed among the farmers of the country, where, in assisting one another in ploughing their land, they bring each their Leeks to the common repast of the whole party.——Drayton relates another legend, which runs as follows:—

Pliny states that Nero brought Leeks into great repute among the Romans by eating them with oil to clear his voice for singing. His folly in this respect obtained for him the satirical name of Porrophagus, the Leek Eater. Martial, referring to the disagreeable effects of the Leek upon the breath of the eater, says:—

——In Poland, the flower-stalk of the Leek is placed in the hands of the statues of our Saviour on certain special days, to represent the Reed given to Him at the Crucifixion.——Among the Sicilians, the mother of the Apostle Peter is the subject of many legends. She is always represented as bad and niggardly. The only thing she ever gave away was the leaf of a Leek, which she flung to a beggar, who importuned her one day as she was washing her potherbs. When she died, hell received her. Years afterwards, Peter, the doorkeeper of Paradise, heard a piteous voice saying: “Son Peter, see what torments I am in. Go, ask the Lord to let me out.” So Peter went and asked. But the Lord said: “She never did a nail-paring of good. Except this Leek-leaf, she never once gave a scrap away. However, here is a Leek-leaf: this angel shall take it, and shall tell her to lay hold of the other end, while he pulls her up.” So Peter’s mother grasped the Leek-leaf; but all the souls in torment ran after her, and clung to her skirts, so that the angel was dragging quite a string of them after her. Her evil disposition, however, would not permit her to keep quiet. It grieved her avaricious temperament that anyone besides herself should be saved; so she struggled and kicked, in order to shake the poor souls off, and in so doing tore the saving Leek-leaf, and fell back again, and sank deeper than before.

LENT LILIES.—The Daffodil is the Lent Lily. Mingled with Yew, which is the emblem of the Resurrection, it forms an appropriate decoration for Easter. Lent Lilies are called by the French Pauvres Filles de Ste. Clare. (See Narcissus).

LENTIL.—Like almost all vegetables, Lentils are traditionally regarded as funereal plants: formerly they were forbidden at all sacrifices and feasts.——St. Hilarion, when he arrived at man’s estate, subsisted for three years upon Lentils steeped in cold water.——To dream of Lentils is supposed to indicate sorrow and anxiety.

LETTUCE.—Pythagoras, we are told, was extremely fond of Lettuces, which formed a large portion of his diet; but Eubulus is said to have bitterly reproached his wife for having served up at a meal Lettuces, which were only recommended for funeral repasts.——The ancients considered the Lettuce (Lactuca) as an aliment appropriate in times of mourning, and they employed it largely in their funeral repasts in commemoration of the death of Adonis, son of Myrrha, whom Venus had concealed in a bed of Lettuces, and whose death had occurred from a wound inflicted by a wild boar that had come to feed on the Lettuces, and so surprised the beautiful youth.——Another legend states that the young man hidden by Venus in the Lettuce bed was Phaon, the handsome boatman of Lesbos, and not Adonis.——In mediÆval days, it was superstitiously thought that an evil spirit lurked in a bed of Lettuces, and a species known by women as Astylida was believed to affect mothers adversely, and to cause grievous ills to newly-born infants. Perhaps this may account for a saying often heard at Richmond, Surrey:—“O’er-much Lettuce in the garden will stop a young wife’s bearing.”——The old poets prescribed a bed of Lettuce for those who were unable to obtain repose; and Pliny states that Lettuces of all descriptions were thought to cause sleep. Pope, referring to its soporific qualities, has said of the Lettuce:—

Gerarde remarks that, if eaten after supper, this vegetable prevents the drunkenness resulting from too free indulgence in wine.——Lettuce is stated by the Mishna to be one of the five “bitter herbs” ordered to eaten by Jews at the Feast of the Passover.——To dream of eating salads made of Lettuce, &c., is supposed to portend trouble and difficulty in the management of affairs.

LILY.—The white Lily (Lilium candidum) was held in the highest regard by the heathen nations; it was one of the flowers employed to form the couch of Jupiter and Juno, and under the name of Rosa Junonis was consecrated to the imperious queen of the heavens, from whose milk, indeed, the flower is stated to have originally sprung. The legend is as follows:—Jupiter being desirous of rendering the infant Hercules immortal, that he might rank among the divinities, caused Somnus to prepare a nectareous sleeping-draught, which he persuaded Juno to take. The Queen of the Gods fell immediately into a profound slumber, and Jupiter then placed the little Hercules to the celestial breast, in order that the babe might imbibe the ambrosial milk that would ensure its immortality. The infant, over-eager to enjoy the delightful nutriment, drew the milk faster than he could swallow, and some drops falling to the earth, there immediately sprang from it the white Lily, the emblem of purity: some of the milk is also said to have dropped over that portion of the heavens which, from its whiteness, still retains the name of the Milky Way (lactea via). Another version of the myth states that originally all the Lilies were Orange-coloured, but that those on which Juno’s milk fell were rendered white, and produced the Lilium candidum.——The Lily was doubtless cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, and probably held in great esteem, for we find it appearing in their hieroglyphical representations, and may therefore conclude that the flower possessed some special significance. With the Greeks and Romans, the Lily was a favourite flower, and Columella tells us that the latter were wont to preserve Lilies by planting them in baskets. The frequent allusions made to the plant in the Scriptures are sufficient proof that the Hebrew race thought highly of the beauty and grace of the Lily. In their language, the name Susannah signifies a Lily. There are great diversities of opinion as to what was the particular Lily alluded to by our Saviour when He said, “Consider the Lilies of the field.” Some think the Tulip, others the Amaryllis lutea, others again the white Lily to be the flowers to which Solomon in all his glory was not to be compared.——In nearly every Catholic country, the White Lily is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and is held to be emblematic of her purity: hence the flower is frequently used to decorate her shrine, and especially so on the feast of the Visitation of Our Lady and the Annunciation. The Continental order of the Blessed Lady of the Lily was instituted by Garcia, fourth King of Navarre, on account of an image of the Holy Virgin being miraculously found, as it was reported, in a Lily, which is believed to have cured this prince of a dangerous disorder.——Rapin, the French Jesuit poet, has the following lines on the Lily, which he evidently confounds with the Iris, or Fleur de Luce (see Iris), as being the representative flower of the French nation. He says:—

The Roman Catholics assigned to the Madonna, as Queen of Heaven, the White Lily (Lilium candidum), the symbol of purity, and it is the flower appropriated to the Annunciation and to the Visitation of Our Lady. According to the Romish legend, St. Thomas, who was absent at the death of the Virgin, would not believe in her resurrection, and desired that her tomb should be opened before him; and when this was done, it was found to be full of Lilies and Roses. Then the astonished Thomas, looking up to heaven, beheld the Virgin ascending, and she, for the assurance of his faith, flung down to him her girdle.——In a picture by Gozzoli, in the National Gallery, representing St. Jerome and St. Francis kneeling at the foot of the Virgin, a red Rose-bud has sprung up at the knees of St. Jerome, and a tall White Lily at those of St. Francis—these flowers typifying the love and purity of the Virgin Mother. In the works of Italian masters, a vase of Lilies stands by the Virgin’s side, with three flowers crowning three stems. St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary, is depicted with the Lily in his hand; his staff, according to the legend, having put forth Lilies. Later painters of this school depict the angel Gabriel with a branch of White Lilies.——As the emblem of purity and chastity, the Lily is associated with numbers of saints, male and female; but, being consecrated to the Virgin, it is always placed, in the paintings of the early Italian masters, near those saints who were distinguished by their devotion to the Mother of Jesus, as in the pictures of St. Bernard.——As protector of youth, St. Louis de Gonzague bears a Lily in his hand, and the flower is also dedicated to St. Anthony, as a guardian of marriages. The flower is likewise the characteristic of St. Clara, St. Dominick, and St. Katherine of Siena. The crucifix twined with the Lily signifies devotion and purity of heart: it is given particularly to St. Nicholas of Solentine.——Lilies being emblematic of the Virgin, an order of knighthood was instituted by Ferdinand of Aragon, in 1403, called the “Order of the Lily,” the collar of which was composed of Lilies and gryphons.——From the Virgin being the patron Saint of Dundee, that town bears Lilies on its arms.——To dream of Lilies during their blooming season is reputed to foretell marriage, happiness, and prosperity; but a vision of Lilies out of their season, or withered, signifies frustration of hopes, and the death or severe illness of someone beloved.——Astrologers state that Lilies are under the dominion of the Moon.

LILY OF THE VALLEY.—In mediÆval days, the monks and nuns believed that the Convallaria was the Lily of the Valley mentioned in the Canticles (ii., 17), and the flower alluded to by Christ when he bade his disciples “consider the Lilies of the field.” The Martagon Lily, however (Lilium Chalcedonicum), is now generally considered to be the Lily of Palestine; the Lily of the Valley, or Conval Lily, being quite unknown in the Holy Land.——Lilies of the Valley are called Virgin’s Tears; they are the flowers dedicated to Whitsuntide, but in some parts of England still retain their old name of May Lilies.——There exists in Devon a superstition that it is unlucky to plant a bed of Lilies of the Valley, as the person doing so will probably die in the course of the ensuing twelve months.——In France, Germany, and Holland, these Lilies are called May-flowers.——The blossoms possess a perfume highly medicinal against nervous affections. The water distilled from them was formerly in such great repute that it was kept only in vessels of gold and silver: hence Matthiolus calls it aqua aurea. It was esteemed as a preventive against all infectious distempers. Camerarius recommends an oil made of the flowers as a specific against gout and such-like diseases. His prescription is as follows:—“Have filled a glass with flowers, and being well stopped, set it for a moneth’s space in an ante’s hill, and after being drayned cleare, set it by for use.”——There is a legend in Sussex, that in the forest of St. Leonard, where the hermit-saint once dwelt, fierce encounters took place between the holy man and a dragon which infested the neighbourhood; the result being that the dragon was gradually driven back into the inmost recesses of the forest, and at last disappeared. The scenes of their successive combats are revealed afresh every year, when beds of fragrant Lilies of the Valley spring up wherever the earth was sprinkled by the blood of the warrior saint.——The Conval Lily is under Mercury.

LIME-TREE.—The origin of the Lime-tree, according to Ovid, is to be traced to the metamorphosis of Baucis, the good-hearted wife of an aged shepherd named Philemon. This old couple lived happily and contentedly in a humble cottage in the plains of Phrygia. Here they one day, with rustic hospitality, entertained unknowingly the gods Jupiter and Mercury, who had been refused admittance to the dwellings of their wealthier neighbours. Appreciating their kindness, Jupiter bade them ascend a neighbouring hill, where they saw their neighbours’ dwellings swept away by a flood, but their own hut transformed into a splendid temple, of which the god appointed them the presiding priests. According to their request, they both died at the same hour, and were changed into trees—Baucis into a Lime, and Philemon into an Oak. Ovid thus describes the transformation:—

Rapin, in his version of the tale, makes both of the old folks become Limes, male and female:—

In honour of its descent from the worthy old couple, the Lime became the symbol of wedded love.——In Scandinavian mythology, Sigurd, after having killed the serpent Fafnir, bathes himself in its blood: a leaf of a Linden or Lime-tree falls on him between his shoulders, and renders that particular place vulnerable, although every other portion of his body had become invulnerable.——In Germany, during May-day festivities, they often make use of the Linden. Around the Linden dance the villagers of Gotha. In Finland and in Sweden, the Linden is considered as a protective tree.——In the cemetery of the hospital of Annaberg, in Saxony, there is a very ancient Linden-tree, concerning which tradition relates that it was planted by an inhabitant, with its top in the ground; and that its roots became branches, which now overshadow a considerable portion of the country.——At SÜderheistede, in Ditmarschen, there once stood a Linden which was known throughout the country, as the “Wonderful Tree.” It was much higher than other trees, and its branches all grew crosswise. Connected with this tree was an old prophecy that, as soon as the Ditmarschens lost their freedom, the tree would wither; and so it came to pass. But the people believe that a magpie will one day build its nest in its branches, and hatch five young ones, and then the tree will begin to sprout out anew, and again be green, and the country recover its ancient freedom.——According to an old legend current in Berlin, the youngest of three brothers fell in love with the daughter of an Italian, who was the Elector’s chief kapellmeister. The Italian refused the hand of his daughter, and forbade any further intercourse. Some time afterwards the three brothers met the kapellmeister on the occasion of a public execution; when, suddenly, the assembled crowd were horrified at seeing the Italian fall with a loud shriek, and pointing to a knife which had been plunged into his bosom. The brothers were all three arrested on suspicion of the murder; and the eldest, who had been standing nearest the deceased, was speedily sentenced to death. The two other brothers, to save him, however, each declared he was the real murderer, whereupon the perplexed judge referred the case to the Elector, who resolved upon a curious ordeal to ascertain the truth. He ordered each of the three brothers to carry a Linden-tree to a certain churchyard, and plant it with its head downwards, adding, that the one whose tree did not grow should be executed as the murderer. Accordingly, the brothers proceeded to the churchyard, accompanied by the clergy, the magistrates, and many citizens; and, after hymns had been sung, they planted their trees; after which solemn act, they were allowed to return home, and remained unguarded. In course of time, the upper branches of the Lindens all struck root, and the original roots were transformed into branches, which, instead of growing upwards, spread horizontally, in rich luxuriance, and, in thirty years, overshadowed the churchyard. They have since perished, but the brothers were ennobled by the Elector as Lords of Linden, and bore the effigy of the marvellous trees on their escutcheon. The youngest afterwards married the Italian’s daughter.

Ling.—See Heather.

LIVELONG.—The name of Livelong, or Liblong, is supposed to have been given to the Sedum Telephium from its remaining alive when hung up in a room. Parkinson, in his ‘Paradisus,’ states that the ladies of his time (1629) called the plant Life Everlasting; and remarks that “they are also laid in chests and wardrobes, to keep garments from moths, and are worne in the heads and arms of gentiles and others, for their beautiful aspect.” The plant is much esteemed for divining purposes. (See Orpine).

LONDON PRIDE.—A speckled Sweet John had formerly the honour of being called London Pride, and a red Sweet William, London Tufts. Saxifraga umbrosa now bears the title of London Pride, not, however, because, like the speckled Sweet John, it was the pride and ornament of old London gardens, but because it was introduced by Mr. London, a partner in the firm of London and Wise, Royal Gardeners in the early part of the eighteenth century. (See Saxifrage.) Long Purples.—See Orchis.

Lords-and-Ladies.—See Arum.

LOOSESTRIFE.—The word Loosestrife is a translation of the plant’s Latin name Lysimachia (from the Greek lysis, dissolution, and mache, strife). Gerarde, who calls the plant, also, Willow-herb, says of it:—“Lysimachia, as Dioscorides and Pliny write, tooke his name of a speciall vertue that it hath in appeasing the strife and unrulinesse which falleth out among oxen at the plough, if it be put about their yokes; but it rather retaineth and keepeth the name Lysimachia, of King Lysimachus, the sonne of Agathocles, the first finder-out of the nature and vertues of this herbe.” He adds that the smoke of the herb when burnt will drive away gnats, flies, all manner of venomous beasts, and serpents; and says that Pliny reports that snakes will crawl away at the smell of Loosestrife.

LOTOS-TREE.—Lotis, the beauteous daughter of Neptune, was unfortunate enough to attract the notice of Priapus, who attempted to offer her violence. Flying terrified from the deformed deity, the nymph invoked the assistance of the gods to save herself from his odious importunities: her prayers were heard, and she was transformed into the Lotos-tree. Dryope, the wife of AndrÆmon, passing the tree one day, in company with her sister Iole, stopped to pluck the fruit to please her infant son Amphisus, whereupon she became suddenly changed into a Lotos-tree. Iole afterwards recounted her fate to Alcmena—

The tree into which the nymph Lotis was transformed must not be confounded with the Lotus Lily, or Sacred Bean, a totally distinct plant: it was the Rhamnus Lotus, the Lotos of the Lotophagi, a people inhabiting the coast of Africa near the Syrtes. Pliny states that not far from the lesser Syrtis is the island of Menynx, surnamed Lotophagitis on account of its Lotos-trees; but Strabo affirms that the lesser Syrtis, in addition to the adjacent isle of Menynx, was thought to be Lotophagitis, the land of the Lotos-eaters. In this country, he says, there are certain monuments to be seen, and an altar to Ulysses, besides a great abundance of Lotos-trees, whose fruit is wonderfully sweet. According to Homer, the Lotos-eater became oblivious of the world and its cares; and he relates how the seductive fruit of the Lotos-tree possessed of old so potent a charm, that Ulysses, when returning from the Trojan war, dreaded it would lure his companions to give up home and friends for ever. In the ninth book of the Odyssey, the poet sings—

Gerarde describes the Lotos-tree as being as big as a Pear-tree, of a “gallant greene colour tending to blewnesse,” with leaves similar to the Nettle, dashed here and there with stripes of a yellowish-white colour. “The beries be round, and hang upon long stalks like Cherries, of a yellowish-white colour at the first, and afterwards red, but being ripe they are somewhat black.” The Lotos-eaters were held to have immunity from all stomachic complaints. The fruit which formed their food is described by Theophrastus as being of the size of a Bean, which changed its colour when ripening, like the Grape. In flavour it was sweet, pleasant, harmless, and perfectly wholesome; the most agreeable sort being that which had no kernel. Whole armies were reported to have been fed with the nutritious food afforded by the Lotos, when passing through Africa. The Lotophagi obtained a wine from their beloved fruit, which, however, Cornelius Nepos says would not endure above ten days. The Lotos and its fruit is dwelt upon by Tennyson, who tells how

The Lotos was considered by Theophrastus to be by nature everlasting. Pliny enumerates several very ancient trees growing in Rome, notably one in Vulcan’s temple built by Romulus, which was reputed to be as old as the city.——It was under the Lotos-tree, beyond which there is no passing, that Mahomed saw the angel Gabriel.

LOTUS.—The Lotus, as described by Herodotus, is the “Water Lily that grows in the inundated lands of Egypt”: it is the NymphÆa Lotus of LinnÆus, and, according to Grecian mythology, owed its origin to a young girl who was deeply in love with Hercules, and who, dying of jealousy, was transformed into the Lotus. With the Greeks, the flower was the symbol of beauty and of eloquence, perhaps because it was reputed to flourish in the fields of Helicon. Young girls twined these flowers into garlands. Theocritus writes of maidens carrying a crown of Lotus for the Princess Helen on her marriage with Menelaus. In a painted temple at Pompeii, the Lotus-flower is represented above a geni or winged god.——The Grecian god of silence (Harpocrates), who was of Egyptian origin, is represented sometimes with a Lotus-flower in his left hand; sometimes seated on a Lotus.——But it is in the East where the Lotus is supreme—a sacred plant not merely revered as a symbol, but even the object of worship in itself, and notably in Hindostan, Thibet, and Nepaul, where it is believed that from its mystic blossom came forth the all-powerful Brahma. In the Hindu theology, Om is the one Supreme Being from whom proceed the great deities Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), and Siva (destroyer). Before the creation of this world, there existed an immense sea covering its surface; on this vast sea moved the spirit of Om, and quickened into life a golden Lotus, resplendent as the sun, from which emanated the four-formed creative god Brahma, who by the radiance of his countenance dispelled the pervading gloom, and by the light and warmth of his divine presence evoked the earth from the surrounding waters. Vishnu, the pervader or preserver, is represented with four arms: from his umbilicus springs a Lotus-plant, in the beautiful calyx of which Brahma appears seated, ready to accomplish the work of creation. The breath of Vishnu is like the perfume of the Lotus, and he rests and walks, not on the earth, but on nine golden Lotus-plants, carried by the gods themselves. The heaven of Vishnu is described in the MahÂbhÂrata as blazing with golden edifices studded with innumerable gems. Descending from the superior heaven the waters of the Ganges flow through this Paradise, and here are also lovely diminutive lakes of water, upon the surfaces of which myriads of red, blue, and white Lotus-flowers, with a thousand petals, are seen floating. On a throne glorious as the meridian sun, seated on Lotus-lilies, is Vishnu, and on the right hand is his wife, the goddess LakshmÎ, also seated in a Lotus, shining like a continued blaze of lightning, while from her beauteous form the fragrance of the Lotus is diffused through the heaven. Siva, the destroyer (the third member of the Hindoo triad), is represented in many ways, but generally with three eyes; his favourite seat is a Lotus. Buddha, an emanation from Vishnu, like Brahma, first appeared on this hemisphere floating on an enormous Lotus, which spread itself over the ocean. Buddha had for his symbol a Lotus, surmounted by a trident (typical of the Sun with a flame, or the superior heaven).——The emblem of the Sun was called SÛramani (the jewel of the Sun), but when the SvÂbhÂvikas adopted the Lotus as their symbol of spontaneous generation, they called this ornament Padmi Mani (jewel of the Lotus), and inscribed their temples with these words:—

This sentence forms the Alpha and Omega of Lama worship, and is unceasingly repeated by the devotees of Thibet and the slopes of the Himalayas. For the easy multiplication of this prayer, that extraordinary contrivance, the praying-wheel, was invented. In accordance with the principles of this belief, Jin-ch’au represents all creation as a succession of worlds, typified by Lotus-flowers, which are contained one within the other, until intelligence is lost in the effort to multiply the series ad infinitum.——A legend connected with Buddha runs as follows:—In an unknown town, called Bandnumak, Bipaswi Buddh arrived one day, and having fixed his abiding place on a mountain to the east of NÂg-Hrad, saw in a pool a seed of the Lotus on the day of the full moon, in the month of Chait. Soon afterwards from this Lotus-seed sprang a Lotus-flower, in the middle of which appeared SwayambhÛ, in the form of a luminary, on the day of the full moon in the month of Asvins.——Another Buddhist legend relates that the King PÂndu had the imprudence to burn a tooth of Buddha, which was held in high reverence among the Kalingas: but a Lotus-flower sprang from the middle of the flame, and the tooth of Buddha was found lying on its petals.——In Eastern India, it is popularly thought that the god Brahma first appeared on a sea of milk, in a species of Lotus of extraordinary grandeur and beauty, which grew at Temerapu, and which typified the umbilicus of that ocean of sweetness. To that flower is given eighteen names, which celebrate the god’s different beauties; and within its petals he is believed to sleep during six months of the year.——KÂmadeva, the Indian Cupid, was first seen floating down the sacred Ganges, pinioned with flowers, on the blossom of a roseate Lotus.——The Hindus compare their country to a Lotus-flower, of which the petals represent Central India, and the eight leaves the surrounding eight divisions of the country. The sacred images of the Indians, Japanese, and Tartars are nearly always found seated upon the leaves of the Lotus.——The sacred Lotus, as the hallowed symbol of mystery, was deemed by the priests of India and China an appropriate ornament for their religious structures, and hence its spreading tendrils and perfect blossoms are found freely introduced as architectural enrichments of the temples of the East.——Terms of reverence, endearment, admiration, and eulogy have been freely lavished by Indian writers on the flowers of the Lotus, dear to the sick women of their race from the popular belief of its efficacy in soothing painful feelings. Nearly every portion of the human body has been compared by Indian poets to the Lotus; and in one of their works, the feet of the angels are said to resemble the flowers of that sacred plant.——The Persians represent the Sun as being robed with light and crowned with Lotus.——By the Japanese, the Lotus is considered as a sacred plant, and pleasing to their deities, whose images are often seen sitting on its large leaves. The blossom is deemed by them the emblem of purity because it is unsullied by the muddy waters in which it often grows: with the flowers of the Mother-wort it is borne aloft in vases before the body in funeral processions.——The Chinese make the Lotus typical of female beauty: their god Puzza is always represented as seated upon the leaves of the plant.——The Lotus is stated to be held sacred by the Egyptians because it conceals the secret of the gods; from the throne of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys, it rises in the midst of the waters, bearing on the margin of its blossom the four genii. It is the “Bride of the Nile,” covering the surface of the mighty river, as it rises, with its fragrant white blossom. Like the Indians, the ancient Egyptians represented the creation of the world under the form of a NymphÆa that floated on the surface of the waters. The Lotus was consecrated by the Egyptians to the Sun, and the dawn of day was figured by them as a youth seated upon a flower of the NymphÆa. The god Osiris (the Egyptian Phoebus) is represented as having his head decorated with the sacred Lotus. Oblations of flowers were common among the offerings of the Egyptians to their gods. A papyrus in the British Museum (lent by the Prince of Wales) represents the altar of the god Re or Ra piled up with Lotus-blossoms and other offerings. Upon approaching a place of worship, the ancient Egyptian always held the flower of the Lotus or Agrostis in his hand. A single flower was sometimes deemed a suitable oblation, or a bouquet of the Lotus or Papyrus, carefully arranged in a prescribed form, was offered.——The Lotus typified Upper Egypt; the Papyrus, Lower Egypt. In the British Museum are several Egyptian statues with sceptres of the Lotus; and a mummy with crossed arms, holding in each hand a Lotus-flower. In the mummies of females the Lotus is found, placed there probably to typify regeneration or purification. A bust of Isis emerging from a Lotus-flower has often been mistaken for Clytie changing into a Sunflower.——The Egyptians cultivated three species of NymphÆaceÆ—the NymphÆa cerulea, or blue-flowered Lotus; the NymphÆa Lotus, a white-flowered variety, which still grows profusely in Lower Egypt, and which is the flower represented in the mosaic pavement at PrÆneste; and, lastly, the Nelumbium speciosum, or Sacred Bean—the “Rose Lily” of Herodotus—the true Lotus of the Egyptians, whose blossoms are of a brilliant red colour, and hang over broad peltated leaves: its fruit is formed of many valves, each containing a Nut about the size of a Filbert, with a taste more delicate than that of the Almond. It has been thought that the use of the seeds in making bread, and the mode of sowing them, by enclosing each seed in a ball of clay, and throwing it into the water, may be alluded to in the text, “Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.” The Nelumbo maintains its sacred character in Africa, India, China, Japan, Persia, and Asiatic Russia; it has, however, disappeared from Egypt.——The Arabians call the Lotus, Nuphar; and the Syrians regard it as a symbol of the cradle of Moses, and typify, also, the Ark of Noah by the same flower.——The collar of the order of the Star of India is composed of the heraldic Rose of England, two Palm-branches crossed, and a Lotus-flower, alternating with each other.

LOVE PLANTS.—The Clematis Vitalba was formerly called Love, because of its habit of embracing; from its clinging to people, the Galium Aparine has obtained the name of Loveman; Levisticum officinale is Loveage; the Solanum Lycopersicum is the Apple of Love; Nigella damascena is Love-in-a-mist; the Pansy is called Love-in-idleness and Love-and-idle; and Amaranthus caudatus has been named Love-lies-bleeding, from the resemblance of its crimson flowers to a stream of blood.

LUCK-FLOWER.—There is in Germany a favourite legend of a certain mystical Luck-flower which possesses the extraordinary power of gaining admittance for its owner into the recesses of a mountain, or hidden cave, or castle, wherein vast treasures lie concealed. The legend generally runs that the fortunate discoverer of the receptacle for wealth is a man who has by chance found a beautiful flower, usually a blue one, which he sticks in his hat. Suddenly the mountain he is ascending opens to admit him; astounded at the sight, he enters the chasm, and a white lady or fairy bids him help himself freely from the heaps of gold coin he sees lying all around. Dazzled at the sight of so much wealth, he eagerly fills his pockets, and is hastening away when she calls after him, “Forget not the best!” He thinks, as he feels his stuffed pockets, that he cannot find room for any more, but as he imagines the white lady wishes to imply that he has not helped himself to enough, he takes his hat and fills that also with the glittering gold. The white lady, however, alluded to the little blue flower which had dropped from his hat whilst he stooped to gather up the gold coins. As he hurries out through the doorway the iron door shuts suddenly behind him with a crash of thunder, and cuts off his right heel. The mountain side instantly resumes its old impenetrable appearance, and the entrance to the treasure hall can never be found again. As for the wonderful flower, that has vanished, but is to this day sought for by the dwellers on the KyffhÄuser, on the QuÄstenburg, and even on the north side of the Harz. It was from this legend that, according to Grimm, the little blue flower “Forget-me-not” originally received its name, which at first was indicative of its magic virtue, but afterwards acquired a sentimental meaning from the tale of the drowning lover of the Danube and his despairing death cry.

Lunary.—See Moonwort and Honesty.

LUPINE.—The Romans cultivated the Lupine (Lupinus) as an article of food, and Pliny declared that nothing could be more wholesome than white Lupines eaten dry, and that this diet imparted a fresh colour and cheerful countenance.——The eating of Lupines was also thought to brighten the mind and quicken the imagination. It is related of Protogenes, a celebrated painter of Rhodes, that during the seven years he was employed in painting the hunting piece of Ialysus, who was the accredited founder of the State of Rhodes, he lived entirely upon Lupines and water, with an idea that this aliment would give him greater flights of fancy.——Virgil called the Lupine, Tristis Lupinus, the Sad Lupine, and this expression has given rise to much discussion—the only tangible explanation being that when the Lupine pulse was eaten without preparation to destroy the bitter, it was apt to contract the muscles and give a sorrowful appearance to the countenance.——The seeds are said to have been used by the ancients, in their plays and comedies, instead of pieces of money: hence the proverb, Nummus Lupinus, a piece of money of no value.——The Bolognese have a tradition that during the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, the Lupine received the maledictions of the Virgin Mary, because, by the clatter and noise they made, certain plants of this species drew the attention of Herod’s minions to the spot where the tired and exhausted travellers had made a brief halt.

LYCHNIS.—The scarlet Lychnis Coronaria is, in the Catholic Church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and the text in which he is described as “a light to them which sit in darkness,” being taken in a literal sense, the flame-coloured flower was said to be lighted up for his day, and was called Candelabrum ingens. This flower is also called Rose-Campion, and, on the Continent, Cross of Jerusalem and Cross of Malta. By old writers it was known as Flower or Campion of Constantinople, Flower of Bristow, and Nonsuch.

MAGNOLIA.—The Magnolia grandiflora is one of those shrubs the baneful emanations from which have procured for them an ill name. It is a native of Carolina, and has large white blossoms of powerful fragrance. When wafted to a distance upon the air, the scent is delicious, but when inhaled in the immediate neighbourhood of a group of Magnolias in flower, it becomes overpowering. The Indians carefully avoid sleeping under a Magnolia in blossom, and it is stated that so powerful is the perfume of the flower, that a single blossom placed in a bedroom suffices to cause death in one night.

Maghet.—See Mayweed.

MAHWAH.—The Bassia latifolia, or Mahwah, is esteemed a sacred tree in India, and is, besides, interesting as being one of the few plants whose flowers are used as food by the human race. They are eaten raw by the poor of India, and are also employed largely in the distillation of a spirit somewhat resembling Scotch whiskey. A kind of flour is produced from them when dried, and so valuable are they to the Indians, that the prosperity of some parts of the country depends largely on their abundance. The Almond-like fruit is eaten, and an oil is obtained from it: the wood is hard, and is used by the Indians in constructing their huts. Among certain uncivilised hill tribes, the Mahwah is regarded as equal to a deity, so great is their affection for this tree, under whose branches they hold their assemblies and celebrate their anniversaries; on whose boughs they suspend, when not in use, their spears and their ploughshares, and beneath whose shadow they exhibit those mysterious circles of flint which take the place of idols with them. So, when attacked by the Hindus, the wild tribes fight with desperation for the defence of their Mahwahs, which their enemies, when at war with them, make a point of seizing and destroying.

MAIDENHAIR FERN.—Adiantum, or Capillus Veneris, derived its name from the Greek adiantos, unmoistened, in relation, doubtless, to its property of repelling water—a peculiarity noticed by Theophrastus, and also by Pliny, who says it is in vain to plunge the Adiantum in water, for it always remains dry. This property of remaining unmoistened by water was attributed to the hair of Venus, when she rose from the sea; and hence the Adiantum obtained the name of Capillus Veneris. Nevertheless, Adiantum was specially dedicated to Pluto and to Proserpine. Maidenhair is called polytrichon, because it brings forth a multitude of hairs; callitrichon, because it produces black and fair hair; Capillus Veneris, because it produces grace and love.——According to Egyptian symbolism, Adiantum indicated recovery from illness.——In the Catholic Church, the Maidenhair Fern is known as the Virgin’s Hair.

MAITHES or MAIDS.—The Pyrethrum Parthenium was formerly known by the name of Maithes (Maids), because by the old herbalists it was considered efficacious in hysterical and other irregularities of the system to which maidens are subject. In the same category are the plants formerly known as Maghet, Mather, or Maydweed (Anthemis Cotula), the Maydweed (Matricaria Chamomilla), Maudlein, or Costmary (Balsamita), Maudlin-wort or Moon Daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum), the Maudlin, or Herba divÆ MariÆ (Achillea Ageratum), the Marguerite (Bellis perennis), and some others. These plants, bearing flowers with white ray florets, were thought to resemble the Moon, which, as it regulated the monthly periods of the year, was supposed, says Dr. Prior, to have an influence over female complaints. By the ancients these plants were consecrated to Isis, Juno Lucina, and Artemis, or Diana, the virgin goddess of the night; but were transferred by the Catholics to St. Mary Magdalene and St. Margaret of Cortona.

MAIZE.—The American aborigines worshipped Maize as a divinity. Children were kept to watch the precious grain as it grew, and guard it from the ravages of birds; but some of the tribes protected the thievish crow because of the legend that a crow had brought them the first seed of the sacred plant.——At the present day, the Indians regard it with superstitious veneration. They esteem it, says Schoolcraft, so important and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various tales in which this idea is symbolised under the form of a special gift from the Great Spirit. The Ojebwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, or the Spirit’s grain or berry, cherish a legend, in which the stalk in full tassel is represented as descending from the sky, under the guise of a handsome youth, in response to the prayers of a young man offered up at his fast of virility.——Among the American colonists, the husking of the Maize was always accompanied with a rustic ceremony and gathering of the villagers.——Longfellow tells us how—

MALLOW.—The ancient Romans had some kind of Mallow (Malva) served up as vegetables, and the Egyptians, Syrians, and Chinese also use them as food. In Job’s days, these plants were eaten by those wandering tribes who, as the patriarch says, “cut up Mallows by the bushes, and Juniper-roots for their meat.” The Mallow formed one of the funeral flowers of the ancients, with whom it was customary to plant it around the graves of departed friends. The plant yields a fibre capable of being woven into a fabric; and there is an Eastern tradition that Mahomed was so delighted with the texture of a robe made of this material, that he forthwith miraculously turned the Mallow into a Pelargonium. The seeds of the Mallow are called by country children, cheeses. Clare recalls the days of his childhood, when he and his playmates sat—

Pliny ascribes a magical power to Mallows. He says, “Whosoever shall take a spoonful of any of the Mallows shall that day be free from all the diseases that may come unto him;” and he adds, that it is especially good against the falling sickness. The same writer, quoting Xenocrates, attributes to the seed of Mallows the power of exciting the passions. Gerarde, writing of the Malva crispa, commends its properties in verse:—

MANCHINEEL.—The Manchineel-tree (Hippomane Mancinella) is one of ill repute. Its exhalations are stated to cause certain death to those who sleep beneath its foliage. It abounds in a white milky juice, which is highly poisonous; a single drop causing instant pain if it touches the human skin.

MANDRAKE.—The Atropa Mandragora derives its name from Atropos, the eldest of the all-powerful ParcÆ, the arbiters of the life and death of mankind. Clothed in sombre black robes, and holding scissors in her hands, Atropos gathers up the various-sized clues of thread which, as the chief of the inexorable Fates, it is her privilege to cut according to the length of the persons’ lives they represent.——Another name bestowed by the Greeks upon the Mandrake was that of Circeium, derived from Circe, the weird daughter of Sol and Perseis, celebrated for her witchcraft and knowledge of magic and venomous herbs.——From the earliest ages, the Atropa Mandragora appears to have been deemed a mystic plant by the inhabitants of Eastern countries, and to have been regarded by them as stimulating the passions; on which account it is still used for preparing love potions. It is generally believed that the Mandrake is the same plant which the ancient Hebrews called Dudaim; and that these people held it in the highest esteem in Jacob’s time is evident from the notice in Genesis (xxx., 14) of Reuben finding it and carrying the plant to his mother Leah. From the remotest antiquity the Mandrakes were reputed in the East to possess the property of removing sterility; hence Rachel’s desire to obtain from Leah the plants that Reuben had found and given to his mother. It is certain that the Atropa Mandragora was looked upon by the ancients as something more than a mere vegetable, and, in fact, as an embodiment of some unquiet or evil spirit. In an Anglo-Saxon manuscript of the tenth or eleventh century, the Mandrake is said to shine in the night like a candle. The Arabs call it the Devil’s Candle, because of this nocturnal shining appearance; and in allusion to this peculiarity, Moore says of it in ‘Lalla Rookh’:—

From times long past has come down the legend that the Mandrake is a dweller in the dark places of the earth, and that it thrives under the shadow of the gallows, being nourished by the exhalations or flesh of the criminals executed on the gibbet. Amongst other mysterious attributes, we are told by old writers that the Mandrake has the power of emitting sounds, and that when it is pulled out of the ground, it utters dreadful shrieks and groans, as if possessed of sensibility. Shakspeare thus describes these terrible cries:—

And Moore relates in verse another tradition—

These screams were so horrible and awe-inspiring, that Shakspeare tells us the effect was maddening—

One other terrible attribute of this ill-omened plant was its power, by its pestilential effects, severely to injure, if not, indeed, to strike with death, the person who had the hardihood to drag the root from its bed. To guard against these dangers, therefore, the surrounding soil was removed, and the plant securely fastened to the tail of a dog, which was then driven away, and thus pulled up the root. Columella, in his directions for the site of gardens, says they may be formed where

The Romans seem to have been very superstitious as to the manner of taking up the root. According to Pliny, those who undertook the office were careful to stand so that the wind was at their back; and before commencing to dig, they made three circles around the plant with the point of the sword; then, turning to the west, they proceeded to take it up. Probably the plant’s value as a narcotic and restorative alone induced the gathering of so dangerous a root.——In mediÆval times, when ignorance and credulity were dominant in Europe, the mountebank quack doctors palmed on the credulous fictitious Mandrake-roots, which were largely sold as preventives against mischief and dangers. Speaking of this superstition, Lord Bacon, in his ‘Natural History,’ says, “Some plants there are, but rare, that have a mossie or downie root, and likewise that have a number of threads, like beards, as Mandrakes, whereof witches and impostours make an ugly image, giving it the forme of a face at the top of the root, and leave those strings to make a broad beard down to the foot.”——Madame de Genlis speaks of an author who gravely gives a long description of the little idols which were supposed to be roots of the Mandrake, and adds that they must be wrapped up in a piece of sheet, for that then they will bring unceasing good luck. The same author, she says, gives this name Mandragora (Mandrake) to certain sprites that are procured from an egg that must be hatched in a particular manner, and from which comes forth a little monster (half chick and half man) that must be kept in a secret chamber, and fed with the seed of Spikenard, and that then it will prophesy every day. Thus it can make its master lucky at play, discover treasures to him, and foretell what is to happen.——The credulous people of some nations have believed that the root of the Mandrake, if dislodged from the ground, becomes the good genius of the possessor, and not only cures a host of maladies, but discovers hidden treasures; doubling the amount of money locked up in a box, keeping off evil spirits, acting as a love charm, and rendering other notable services. According to Pliny, the Mandrake was sometimes conformed like a man, at others like a woman: the male was white, the female black. In the mountain of Pistoia, the peasants think they can trace the form of a man in the leaves of the Mandrake, and of the human face in the roots.——In Germany, since the time of the Goths, the word alruna has borne the double meaning of witch and Mandrake. Considering the roots to possess magical properties, the Germans formed from them little idols, to which they gave the name of Alrunen. These images were regularly habited every day, and consulted as oracles; their repute becoming very great, large numbers were manufactured and sold in cases: in this state they were brought over to this country during the reign of Henry VIII., and met with a ready sale. Fraudulent dealers used to replace the Mandrake-roots with those of the White Briony, cut to the shape of men and women, and dried in a hot sand bath.——In France, under the names of Main de gloire or Maglore, the Mandrake became a species of elf; and, till the eighteenth century, there existed a wide-spread superstition among the peasantry connected therewith. Sainte-Palaye writes: “When I asked a peasant one day why he was gathering Mistletoe, he told me that at the foot of the Oaks on which the Mistletoe grew, he had a Mandrake (Main de gloire); that this Mandrake had lived in the earth from whence the Mistletoe sprang; that he was a kind of mole; that he who found him was obliged to give him food,—bread, meat, or some other nourishment; and that he who had once given him food was obliged to give it every day, and in the same quantity, without which the Mandrake would assuredly cause the forgetful one to die. Two of his countrymen, whom he named to me, had, he said, lost their lives; but, as a recompense, this Main de gloire returned on the morrow double what he had received the previous day. If one paid cash for the Main de gloire’s food one day, one would find double the amount the following; and so with anything else. A certain countryman, whom he mentioned as still living, and who had become very rich, was believed to have owed his wealth to the fact that he had found one of these Mains de gloire.”——The Chinese physicians assert that the Mandrake has the faculty of renovating exhausted constitutions.

MANGO.—The Indian mythologists relate that the daughter of the Sun, persecuted by a wicked enchantress, plunged into a pool, where she was transformed into a golden Lotus. The king became enamoured of the beautiful flower, so the enchantress burnt it; but from its ashes rose the Mango (Mangifera Indica). Then the king fell in love, first with the Mango-flower, and next with the fruit, which he ordered to be carefully preserved for his own use. At last, just as the fruit was ripe, it fell from the bough, and out of it issued the daughter of the Sun, whom the king, after having lost and forgotten, now recognised as his former wife.——The Indian poets are never tired of singing the praises of the Mango, the beauty of its flowers, and the sweetness of its fruit. The Indian Cupid KÂmadeva is represented as having five arrows, each tipped with the blossom of a flower which pierce the heart through one of the five senses. A young maiden once plucked one of these blossoms, and offered it to the god, saying:—

KÂmadeva accepted the offering, and tipped with the Mango-flower one of his darts, which, from that time, was known as the arrow of love, and is the god’s favourite dart. Along with Sandalwood, the wood of the Mango is used by the Hindus in burning their dead. Among the Indian jugglers, the apparent production and growth of the Mango-tree is a performance executed in such a marvellous manner as to excite the astonishment of those who have most determined to discover how the illusion is effected.

MANNA.—Some naturalists consider that the Manna miraculously provided for the sustenance of the Children of Israel in the Desert was a species of Lichen—the Parmelia esculenta. Josephus, however, describes it as a kind of dew which fell, like honey in sweetness and pleasant taste, but like in its body to Bdellium, one of the sweet spices, but in bigness equal to Coriander-seed. The origin of the different species of Manna or sugary exudations which cover certain trees, has at all times been a subject of wonder, and for a long time it was thought that these saccharine tears, which appear so quickly, were simply deposits from the atmosphere. The Manna used in medicine is principally procured from the flowering Ash (Fraxinus ornus), which is cultivated for the purpose in Sicily and Calabria: the puncture of an insect of the cochineal family causes the sap to exude. The Manna of Mount Sinai is drawn from the Tamarisk by puncture of the coccus: it exudes in a thick syrup during the day, falls in drops, congeals in the night, and is gathered in the cool of the morning. The Larch-tree furnishes the Manna of BrianÇon. A sweet substance resembling Manna exudes from the leaves of the Eucalyptus resinifera, dries in the sun, and when the leaves are shaken by the wind, falls like a shower of snow. In some countries, even herbs are covered with an abundant sugary exudation similar to Manna. Bruce observed this in Abyssinia. Matthiolus relates that in some parts of Italy the Manna glues the grass of the meadows together in such a manner as to impede the mowers at their work.——To dream of Manna denotes that you will be successful through life, and overcome all troubles.

MAPLE.—The wood of the Maple (Acer) was considered by Pliny to be, in point of elegance and firmness, next to the Citron itself. The veined knobs of old Maples, known as the bruscum and molluscum, were highly prized by the Romans, and of these curiously-marked woods were made the famous Tigrine and Pantherine tables, which were of such immense value, that when the Romans reproached their wives for their extravagance in jewels, they were wont to retort and (literally) “turn the tables” upon their husbands. Evelyn tells us, that such a table was that of Cicero, “which cost him 10,000 sesterces; such another had Asinius Gallus. That of King Juba was sold for 15,000; and yet that of the Mauritanian Ptolemy was far richer, containing four feet and a half diameter, three inches thick, which is reputed to have been sold for its weight in gold.”——Some centuries ago, Maple-wood was in great request for bowls and trenchers. The unfortunate Fair Rosamond is reputed to have drunk her fatal draught of poison from a Maple bowl; and the mediÆval drinking-vessels, known as mazers, were chiefly made of this material—deriving their name from the Dutch Maeser, Maple.——On May-day, in Cornwall, the young men proceed, at daybreak, to the country, and strip the Maple (or Sycamore) trees—there called May-trees—of all their young branches, to make whistles, and with these shrill musical instruments they enliven their way home with “May music.”——In Germany, the Maple is regarded with much superstitious reverence. There existed formerly, in Alsace, a curious belief that bats possessed the power of rendering the eggs of storks unfruitful. When once a stork’s egg was touched by a bat, it became sterile; and so, in order to preserve it, the stork placed in its nest some branches of the Maple, and the wonderful power of this tree sufficed to frighten away every intruding bat.——De Gubernatis relates a Hungarian fairy tale, in which the Maple plays a conspicuous part. According to this legend, a king had three daughters, one of whom, a beautiful blonde, was in love with a shepherd, who charmed her with delightful music he produced from a flute. One night, the king, the princess, and the shepherd, were disturbed by disquieting dreams. The king dreamt that his crown had lost its diamonds; the princess that she had visited her mother’s tomb and was unable to get away from it; the shepherd that two fallow deer had devoured the best lamb in his flock. After this dream, the king called his three daughters to him, and announced to them that she who should first bring to him a basket of Strawberries should become his pet daughter, and inherit his crown and seven kingdoms. The three daughters hastened to a neighbouring hill to gather the Strawberries. There, setting down their baskets, each one in turn wished that her basket might be filled with fruit. The wishes of the two elder sisters were unheeded; but when it came to the blonde’s turn, her wish was no sooner expressed, than her basket was filled with Strawberries. At this sight, the two sisters, mad with envy, fell upon the poor blonde, and slew her; then, having buried her under an old Maple-tree, they broke her basket in two, and divided the Strawberries between them. On their return to the palace, they told the king that their sister had been devoured by a fallow deer. On hearing this sad news, the unhappy father exclaimed: “Alas! I have lost the most precious diamond of my crown.” At the approach of the new moon, the shepherd took up his flute to play a tune; but it was mute, for the fair princess was no longer there to listen to its tuneful notes. Meanwhile, on the third night, there sprang from the stem of the old Maple on the hill a new shoot, on the spot where the poor princess had met her cruel death. The shepherd, happening to pass by, saw this fresh shoot from the Maple, and thought he would make from it a new flute. So he cut the Maple-shoot, and from it fashioned a flute; but the moment he placed it to his lips, the flute sang, “Play, play, dearest. Once I was a king’s daughter; then I was a Maple-shoot; now I am a flute made from the Maple-shoot.” The shepherd rushed off with the flute to the king, who put it to his lips, when instantly it sang, “Play, play, my father. Once, &c.” Then the two wicked sisters approached, and each in turn put the flute to her lips—only, however, to hear it hiss, “Play, play, murderess. Once, &c.” Then the king, becoming aware of the sisters’ wickedness, cursed them, and drove them with bitter reproaches from his palace into the wide world.——The Maple has been made the emblem of reserve, because its flowers are late in opening, and slow to fall.——A curious belief exists in some parts of England, that the Maple can confer longevity on children, if they are passed through its branches. In West Grinstead Park, Sussex, was an old Maple much used for this purpose, and, upon a rumour reaching the parish, that the ancient tree was to be felled, many petitions were made that it might be spared.——Pliny says that Maple-root, pounded, is a remedy for pains in the liver, and Gerarde states that, steeped in wine, it is useful in stopping pain in the side. He quotes a verse from Sammonicus, which he thus translates:—

MARGUERITE.—The Daisy (Bellis perennis), which Chaucer called “douce Margarette,” derives its French name of Marguerite from its supposed resemblance to a pearl. In Germany, indeed, it is known as the Meadow-pearl, and Chaucer, in describing the flower, says:—

The Greek word for pearl, Margarites, became in Latin Margarita, remained the same in Italian, and in French was spelt Marguerite; the same word in each language indicating both the pearl and the flower we call Daisy. This flower was formerly employed in the treatment of certain female complaints, and on that account, perhaps, was dedicated by the Monks to St. Margaret of Cortona. Chaucer, in error, referred the name Margaret, as bestowed on the Daisy, to St. Margaret of Hungary, who was martyred in the thirteenth century; but in an old legend it is stated

This St. Margaret of Cortona, who in mediÆval days was very popular, had for some years, says Mrs. Jameson, led an abandoned life, but having repented and been canonised, she was regarded by the people of her native town as a modern Magdalene; and, like her prototype, was supposed, on account of her early habits, to preside over uterine diseases, and others peculiar to young women. The Daisy, and other flowers which were supposed from their shape to resemble the Moon, were by the ancients dedicated to the virgin goddess of the night, Artemis, or Diana: but in Christian times were transferred to the two saints who replace her, namely, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Margaret of Cortona. Dr. Prior, in his work on plant names, points out that this latter saint has often been confounded with a St. Margaret of Antioch, who was “invoked as another Lucina, because in her martyrdom she prayed for lying-in-women.” This maiden of Antioch is described in old metrical legends as

“Maid Marguerite that was so meeke and milde.”

The Daisy has been connected with several eminent women of the name of Margaret. Margaret of Anjou wore the flower as her device, and had it embroidered on the robes of her courtiers. Lady Margaret, the mother of Henry VII., wore three white Daisies; Margaret, the sister of Francis I., also wore the Daisy, and was called by her brother his Marguerite of Marguerites—his pearl of pearls. (See Daisy).

MARIGOLD.—The African Marigold (Tagetes erecta) is regarded as a sacred flower in Northern India, where the natives adorn the trident emblem of MahÂdeva with garlands of it; and both men and women wear chaplets made of its flowers on his festival.——The Romans named the European Marigold Calendula—the flower of the Calends—from a notion that it blossoms the whole year.——In the oldest of English herbals, the ‘Grete Herball,’ the Marigold is called Mary Gowles, but by the old poets it is frequently alluded to as Gold simply, and it is still called Goules or Goulans in some counties of England. Another old English name for these flowers was Ruddes.——From its tawny yellow blossom the Marigold is presumed to have been the Chrusanthemon, or Gold Flower, of the Greeks.——In mediÆval times, this flower, along with numerous others, was dedicated by the monks and nuns to the Virgin, and had the prefix Mary appended to its name. According to an old tradition, however, the Marigold was so called because the Virgin Mary wore this flower in her bosom.——Shakspeare, in ‘Cymbeline,’ speaks of the flower as the Mary-bud, and in ‘A Winter’s Tale,’ alludes to its habit of closing at sunset and opening at sunrise:—

LinnÆus states that the flower is usually open from 9 a.m. till 3 p.m., and this foreshows a continuance of dry weather. Should the blossom remain closed, rain may be expected. This circumstance, and the plant’s habit of turning its golden face towards the sun, has gained for it the name of the “Sun-flower” and the “Spouse of the Sun”.——Marguerite of Orleans, the maternal grandmother of Henri IV., chose for her armorial device a Marigold turning towards the sun, and for a motto, “Je ne veux suivre que lui seul.”——In America, Marigolds are called Death-flowers, in reference to an existing tradition that the crimson and gold-coloured blossoms sprang upon ground stained by the life-blood of those unfortunate Mexicans who fell victims to the love of gold and arrogant cruelty of the early Spanish settlers in America.——In the reign of Henry VIII., the Marigold was called Souvenir, and ladies wore wreaths of them intermixed with Heart’s-ease.——To dream of Marigolds appears to be of happy augury, denoting prosperity, riches, success, and a happy and wealthy marriage.——The Marigold is deemed by astrologers a Solar herb, under the sign Leo.

MARJORAM.—The origin of Marjoram (Origanum vulgare: Greek, Amarakos) is related by the Greeks as follows:—A young man named Amaracus was employed in the household of Cinyras, King of Cyprus: one day, when carrying a vase containing perfumes, he unfortunately let it fall, and was so frightened at the mishap that he lost all consciousness, and became metamorphosed into an odoriferous herb called at first Sampsuchon, and afterwards Amarakos. According to Rapin, the goddess Venus first raised Sweet Marjoram. He says:—

The Greeks and Roman crowned young married couples with Marjoram, which in some countries is the symbol of honour.——Astrologers place the herb under the rule of Mercury.

MARSH MALLOW.—The name AlthÆa (from a Greek root meaning to cure) was given to this plant on account of its manifold healing properties, which were duly appreciated by the old herbalists. It was sometimes called Bismalva, being held to be twice as good in medicinal properties as the ordinary Mallow. As an ointment, it was celebrated for mollifying heat, and hence it became invaluable as a protection to those who had to undergo the ordeal of holding red-hot iron in their hands. This ordeal was practised by the ancient Greeks; for we read in the ‘Antigone’ of Sophocles, that the guards placed over the body of Polynices—which had been carried away surreptitiously—offered, in order to prove their innocence, to take up red-hot iron in their hands: a similar ordeal was extant in the Middle Ages, when invalids and delicate persons, particularly monks and ecclesiastics, were exempted from the usual mode of single combat, and were required to test their innocence by holding red-hot iron in their hands. These trials were made in the church during the celebration of mass, inspection being made by the clergy alone. The suspected person, therefore, if he had any friends at hand, was easily shielded by covering his hand with a thick coating of some substance which would enable him to resist the action of heat. Albertus Magnus describes a paste compounded in the thirteenth century for this express purpose. The sap of the Marsh Mallow, the slimy seeds of a kind of Fleabane, and the white of a hen’s egg, were combined to make the paste adhere, and the hands covered with it were perfectly safe.——According to a German tradition, an ointment made of the leaves of the Marsh Mallow was employed to anoint the body of anyone affected by witchcraft.——The Marsh Mallow is held by astrologers to be a herb of Venus.

MARSH MARIGOLD.—According to Rapin, the Sicilian shepherd Acis originally discovered the Marsh Marigold (Caltha) growing in his native pastures:—

The flower’s modern Italian name, Sposa di Sole, has probably been given to it in reference to this legend. On May-day, country people strew Marsh Marigolds before their doors, and twine them into garlands. Some think the Caltha palustris to be Shakspeare’s “winking May-bud with golden eye,” which, if plucked with due care, and borne about, will hinder anyone from speaking an angry word to the wearer.

MASTIC.—The Mastic or Pistachio-tree (Pistacia Lentiscus), the symbol of purity and virginity, was particularly dear to Dictynna, a nymph of Crete, and one of Diana’s attendants. Following her example, the Greek virgins were fond of adorning themselves with Mastic-sprays; and at the present time, in the isle of Chios, where the Mastic-tree flourishes, they eat the gum to preserve sweetness of breath. The Mastic is stated to have been under the special protection of Bacchus, as being the tree under which the Bacchanals found and slew Pentheus, King of Thebes, who had forbidden his subjects to acknowledge the new god.

Mather.—See Mayweed.

Maudlein, Maudelyne, or Maudlin.—See Costmary.

Maudlin Wort.—See Moon Daisy.

MAURITIA.—The Moriche Palm (Mauritia flexuosa) is regarded as a sacred tree by the Mexican Indians. Certain tribes live almost entirely on its products, and, strange to say, build their houses high up amongst its leaves, where they live during the floods. These Indians have a traditional Deluge, which they call the Water Age, when there was only one man and one woman left alive. To re-people the earth, the Deucalion and Pyrrha of the new world, instead of stones, threw over their shoulders the fruit of the Moriche Palm, and from its seeds sprang the whole human race. The Moriche is regarded as a deity among the Tamancas, a tribe of Oronoco Indians.

MAY.—The Hawthorn has obtained the name of May, or May-bush, from the time of its flowering. In Suffolk, it is believed to be unlucky to sleep in a room in which there is May in bloom. In Sussex, to bring a branch of blossoming May into the house is thought to portend a death. It was a custom in Huntingdonshire, forty years ago, for the rustic swains to place a branch of May in blossom before sunrise at the doorway of anyone they wished to honour, singing the while—

An Italian proverb describes the universal lover as “one who hangs every door with May.” (See Hawthorn).

MAYFLOWER.—The Mayflower of New England, EpigÆa repens, is the emblem of Nova Scotia. The trailing Arbutus, or Mayflower, is a native of North America; it grows abundantly in the vicinity of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and was the first flower that greeted the Pilgrims after their terrible winter.

MAYWEED.—The Mayweed, or more properly Maydweed (Anthemis Cotula), owes its name to its having been formerly used for the complaints of young women. In olden times, the plant was also known as Maghet, and Mather or Mauther, words signifying a maid.——The flower is distinguished as having, for its fairness, been likened to the brow of the Northern divinity Baldr.——The Matricaria Chamomilla is called Stinking Maydweed. (See Maithes, Costmary, and Moon Daisy.) MELON.—According to a tradition of the Arabs, the Melon is to be found in Paradise, where it signifies that God is One, and that Ali is his true prophet.——Sebastian, a Roman traveller of the seventeenth century, recorded that on Mount Carmel, in the Holy Land, he had seen a field of Melons which had been turned into stones by the curse of Elias.——An old Tuscan legend records how the wife of a certain young king bore him three children, which were represented by the Queen’s jealous sisters to be a cat, a piece of wood, and a snake. The enraged king, upon this, cast his unfortunate wife into prison, whilst the three infants were secured by the wicked sisters in a box, and cast into the sea. A gardener found the box, and compassionating the helpless babes, brought them up, and taught them to tend his garden. Through the kindly offices of a good fairy, the king came to dinner one day, and a large Water Melon was gathered from the garden and placed before him. The king cut the Melon, when in place of seeds he discovered inside a number of precious stones. In astonishment, he demanded: “How is it possible that a Melon can produce gems?” Then the good fairy responded: “And how, sire, is it possible that a woman could give birth to a cat, a piece of wood, and a snake? Behold your three children, and hasten, cruel man, to release the poor innocent queen. The envy of her sisters has occasioned all this mischief.” The king was deeply affected; he embraced his children, and forthwith hastened with all speed to his wife, whose pardon he implored. Then he ordered public fÊtes and rejoicings to take place, but condemned the wicked sisters to the stake.——According to dream oracles, a young woman who dreams of Melons is destined to marry a rich foreigner, and to live with him in a foreign land. If a young man dreams of Melons, it denotes that he will marry a rich foreign lady, by whom he will have a large family, but they will die young. If a sick person dreams of Melons, it is a prognostic of recovery by reason of their humidity or juicy substance.

Midsummer Men.—See Orpine.

MIGNONETTE.—The Mignonette, or Little Darling, is supposed to be an Egyptian plant, and to have been brought to England from the South of France, where it is called Herbe d’Amour, or Love-flower. Although a flower of no heraldic fame, the Mignonette is nevertheless, to be seen on the armoured shield of a noble Saxon house, and the origin of its adoption is related in the following legend:—A Count of Walstheim was betrothed to Amelia von Nordburg, a young and beautiful heiress, whose poor cousin Charlotte, an amiable girl of no particular personal charms, had been brought up with her from infancy. Returning one evening from a charitable visit, the humble dependent found her aunt’s saloon full of guests, the ladies busily occupied in selecting flowers for which their admirers were expected to improvise mottoes. Charlotte was invited to follow the example of her betters. Amelia von Nordburg had selected the Rose as her emblem, and her companions had naturally chosen such popular flowers as were best calculated to elicit gallant compliments. Thus most of the floral favourites had been appropriated; so Charlotte placed a modest spray of Mignonette in her dress. Noticing as she did so that her coquettish cousin was neglecting the Count of Walstheim for the fascinations of a gallant colonel, and anxious to recall the thoughtless heiress to her lover’s side, Charlotte asked the Count what motto he had ready for the Rose. Taking out his pencil, he wrote: “Elle ne vit qu’un jour, et ne plait qu’un moment;” and then presented her with this motto for her own Mignonette: “Ses qualitÉs surpassent ses charmes.” His wilful fiancÉe took offence at the Count’s discrimination, and revenged herself by treating him with studied coldness and neglect; the result being that the Count transferred his affections to the dependent Charlotte, whom he soon afterwards married, and to celebrate the event added a spray of Mignonette to the ancient arms of his family.

MILK THISTLE.—The Thistle Silybum Marianum is called the Milk Thistle from a supposition that it derived the colour of its leaves from the Milk of the Virgin Mary having fallen on them as she suckled the infant Jesus.

MILKWORT.—In olden times, the Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), bore the names of Cross-flower, Rogation-flower, Gang-flower, and Procession-flower, which were given it because, according to ancient usage, maidens made garlands of the flower, and carried them in procession during Rogation Week. At this period it was customary to offer prayers against plagues, fires, and wild beasts, and as the bounds of the parish were traversed on one of the days, it was also termed Gang Week. This custom was a relic of the ancient Ambarvalia. The bishop, or one of the clergy, perambulated the limits of the parish with the Holy Cross and Litanies, and invoked the blessing of God upon the crops; on which occasion, Bishop Kennett tells us, the maidens made garlands and nosegays of the Milkwort, which blossomed in Rogation Week, the next but one before the Whitsuntide.——Gerarde relates that, in Queen Elizabeth’s time, Milkwort-flowers were “vulgarly knowne in Cheapside to the herbe women by the name of Hedge Hyssop.” The plant was called Milkwort from an old belief that it increased the milk of mothers who took it.——A Javanese species, Polygala venenata, is greatly dreaded by the natives of Java for its poisonous effects; violent sneezing and faintness seizes anyone touching the leaves of this ill-omened plant.

MILLET.—According to Schlegel, Millet has, among the Chinese, given its name to the constellation Tien-tzi, “Celestial Millet,” which is composed of five stars, and presides at the grain harvest. Its clearness and brilliance presage an abundant harvest, its absence foretells famine. This constellation the Chinese consider as the residence of the King of the Cereals.——The grain of Millet has become proverbial as indicative of anything minute: possibly on this account, Millet portends misery if seen in a dream.——There is a legend in North Germany, that, long ago, a rich merchant had a fine garden, in which was a piece of land sown with Millet. One day the merchant discovered that a part of the Millet had been shorn during the preceding night, so he set his three sons to watch in case the theft should be repeated. Both the eldest and the second son fell asleep during their respective vigils; and on each occasion the theft was repeated, and further portions of the Millet disappeared. On the third night, the youngest son, John, agreed to watch: he surrounded himself with Thorns and Thistles, so that if he felt sleepy, and began to nod, the Thorns should prick him, and thus keep him awake. At midnight he heard a tramping, and then a sound of munching among the Millet: pushing aside the Thorns, John sprang out from his hiding-place, and saw a beautiful little colt feeding on the Millet. To catch the little animal was an easy task, and it was soon safely locked up in the stable. The merchant, overjoyed at the capture his vigilant son John had made, made him a present of the colt, which he named Millet-thief. Soon after this, the brothers heard of a beautiful princess who was kept by enchantment confined in a palace that stood on the top of a glass mountain, which no one, on account of its being so slippery, could ascend; but it was said that whosoever should be so fortunate as to reach its summit, and ride thrice round the palace, would disenchant the princess and obtain her hand in marriage. Numbers had already endeavoured to ride up the slippery mountain, but were precipitated to its foot; and their skeletons lay bleaching all around. The three brothers determined to try and ascend the mountain, but, alas, the two eldest fell with their horses down the treacherous mountain side, and lay sorely hurt. Then John saddled his little colt Millet-thief, and to his delight, when ridden to the mountain, he easily rattled up to its summit, and trotted round the palace three times as though he knew the road perfectly. Soon they stood in front of the palace-gates, which opened spontaneously, and the lovely princess stepped forth with a cry of joy, as she recognised in Millet-thief her own little colt, who had been accustomed to take her by night down the steep mountain, so that she might enjoy a gallop across the green fields—the only indulgence permitted her by the cruel enchanter. Then the princess bestowed her hand upon her deliverer, and they lived happily, far removed from worldly cares, in the palace on the glass mountain.

MIMOSA.—The Mimosa Catechu, according to Indian mythology, was the tree which sprang from the claw lost by a falcon whilst engaged in purloining the heavenly Soma, or Amrita, the drink of immortality. The Vedas recount that, when the gods were pining for the precious beverage, the falcon undertook to steal it from the demons who kept it shut up: the attempt was successful, but the falcon, whilst flying off with its prize, was wounded by an arrow discharged by one of the demons, and lost a claw and a feather. They fell to earth, and struck root there; the claw becoming the Indian Thorn-tree, or Mimosa Catechu—the younger branches of which have straight thorns, that afterwards become hooked, and bear a strong resemblance to a bird’s claw.——Bishop Heber tells us that, whilst travelling in Upper India, he saw, near Boitpoor, a Mimosa-tree, with leaves at a little distance so much resembling those of the Mountain Ash, that he was for a moment deceived, and asked if it did not bear fruit. The Bishop says: “They answered no; but that it was a very noble tree, being called the Imperial Tree for its excellent properties. That it slept all night, and awakened, and was alive all day, withdrawing its leaves if any one attempted to touch them. Above all, however, it was useful as a preservative against magic. A sprig worn in the turban, or suspended over the bed, was a perfect security against all spells, Evil Eye, &c., insomuch that the most formidable wizard would not, if he could help it, approach its shade. One, indeed, they said, who was very renowned for his power (like Lorinite, in the Kehama) of killing plants and drying up their sap with a look, had come to this very tree and gazed on it intently; but, said the old man, who told me this with an air of triumph, look as he might, he could do the tree no harm. I was amazed and surprised to find the superstition which in England and Scotland attaches to the Rowan-tree here applied to a tree of nearly similar form. What nation has, in this case, been the imitator? Or from what common centre are these common notions derived?”——The Mimosa sensitiva is the true Sensitive Plant, which collapses its leaflets upon the slightest touch (see Sensitive Plant); and another member of this singular family droops its branches whenever anyone approaches; hence Moore has called it

Frankincense is the product of the Egyptian Mimosa, a tree spoken of by Theophrastus as an Acanthus, and referred to by Virgil.

MIMUSOPS.—The Mimusops Elengi is one of the sacred trees of India, and dedicated to the god Krishna. An odoriferous water, highly prized, is distilled from the flowers, and the astringent bark of the tree is used medicinally.

MINT.—Ovid tells us, in his ‘Metamorphoses,’ that the nymph Minthe, a daughter of Cocytus, was beloved of Pluto, and that Proserpine, discovering her husband’s infidelity, transformed his mistress into the herb which is called by her name.——In olden times, Mint (Mentha) was called Herba bona and Herba sancta, and the ancients were wont to weave garlands of its foliage to be worn by brides—corona Veneris. In later days, the herb was dedicated to the Virgin, under the name of Herba SanctÆ MariÆ.——It was formerly customary to strew the churches with Mint or other herbs or flowers. In ‘Appius and Virginia,’ an old play, is an illustration of this custom:—

Among the women of the Abruzzi there exists a curious superstition. If, whilst walking, they should chance to come across a plant of Mint, they will bruise a leaf between their fingers, in order to ensure that, on the day of their death, Jesus Christ will assist them.——In Holstein, at the funeral of peasants, Mint is carried by youths attending the ceremony.——Pliny was of opinion that “the smell of Mint doth stir up the minde and taste to a greedy desire of meat;” and other old writers state that Mint should be smelled, as being refreshing for the head and memory; probably on this account it was formerly a custom to strew it “in chambers and places of recreation, pleasure, and repose, and when feasts and banquets are to be made.” Gerarde says of this herb:—“It is poured into the eares with honied water. It is taken inwardly against scolopendres, beare-wormes, sea scorpions and serpents. It is applied with salt to the bitings of mad dogs.”

MISTLETOE.—According to Scandinavian mythology, Baldr (the Apollo of the North) was rendered by his mother FrÎgg proof against all injury by the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water: Loki, the evil spirit, however, being at enmity with him, fashioned an arrow out of Mistletoe (which proceeded from neither of the elements), and placed it in the hand of HÖdr, the blind deity, who launched the fatal dart at Baldr, and struck him to the earth. The gods decided to restore Baldr to life, and as a reparation for his injury, the Mistletoe was dedicated to his mother FrÎgg; whilst, to prevent its being again used adversely to her, the plant was placed under her sole control so long as it did not touch the earth, the empire of Loki. On this account it has always been customary to suspend Mistletoe from ceilings; and so, whenever persons of opposite sexes pass under it, they give one another the kiss of peace and love, in the full assurance that this plant is no longer an instrument of mischief.——Like the Indian Asvattha, and the Northern Rowan, the Mistletoe was supposed to be the embodiment of lightning: hence its Swiss name, Donnerbesen; and like them, again, it is very generally believed to spring from seed deposited by birds on trees. Some naturalists, indeed, say that the seeds will not vegetate until they have passed through the stomach of a bird, and so recommend that fowls should be caused to eat the seeds, which, after evacuation, should be sown. This old belief in the Mistletoe-seed being sown by birds is referred to by Lord Bacon in his ‘Natural History.’ His lordship says:—“They have an idle tradition that there is a bird called a Missel-bird that feedeth upon a seed which many times she cannot digest, and so expelleth it whole with her excrement, which, falling upon a bough of a tree that hath some rift, putteth forth the Misseltoe.”——In Druidic times, the Mistletoe was regarded as a divine gift of peculiar sanctity, only to be gathered with befitting ceremonies, on the sixth day, or at latest on the sixth night, of the sixth moon after the winter solstice, when their year commenced.——Pliny tells us that “the Druids hold nothing more sacred than the Mistletoe and the tree upon which it is produced, provided it be an Oak. They make choice of groves of Oak on their own account, nor do they perform any of their sacred rites without the leaves of these trees, so one may suppose that for this reason they are called by the Greek etymology Druids, and whatever Mistletoe grows upon the Oak they think is sent from heaven, and is a sign of God Himself as having chosen that tree. This, however, is rarely found, but, when discovered, is treated with great ceremony; they call it by a name which in their language signifies the curer of all ills, and, having duly prepared their feast and sacrifices under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time tied; the priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and, with a golden pruning-hook, cuts off the Mistletoe, which is received into a white sagum, or sheet; then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless His own gift to those on whom He has bestowed it.” As the Druids attributed to the Mistletoe marvellous curative properties, they placed it in water, and distributed this water to those who deserved it, to act as a charm against the spells of witches and sorcerers. If any portion of this plant came in contact with the earth, it was considered as ominous of some impending national disaster.——The practice of decorating dwellings with Mistletoe and Holly is undoubtedly of Druidic origin. Dr. Chandler states that, in the times of the Druids, the houses were decked with boughs in order that the spirits of the forest might seek shelter among them during the bleak winds and frosts of winter.——Among the Worcestershire farmers, there is a very ancient custom of taking a bough of Mistletoe, and presenting it to the cow that first calved after New Year’s Day, as this offering is presumed to avert ill-luck from the dairy.——In some provinces of France, they preserved for a long period the custom of gathering the Mistletoe of the Oak, which they regarded as a talisman. Many public documents attest that, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, large gatherings of the country-people took place at the fÊtes held in commemoration of the ceremony of the sacred Mistletoe, and which was called Auguilanneuf (Gui de l’an neuf).——In Holstein, the peasantry call the Mistletoe the “Spectre’s wand,” from the supposition that a branch borne in the hand will enable the holder not only to see ghosts, but to compel them to speak.——The magical properties of the Mistletoe are alluded to by Virgil in his Æneid, as well as by Ovid and other ancient writers. Albertus Magnus states that the Mistletoe, which the ChaldÆans called Luperax, the Greeks Esifena, and the Latins Viscus Querci, like the herb Martagon (Moonwort), possessed the property of opening all locks. The Druids called it All-heal, and represented it as an antidote to all poisons, and a cure for all diseases. When there were no longer any Druids in England left to gather the holy plant with the customary sacred rites, it was gathered by the people themselves, with a lack of due solemnity, so that, according to Aubrey, this want of reverence met with miraculous punishment. He relates how some ill-advised folk cut the Mistletoe from an Oak, at Norwood, to sell to the London apothecaries: “And one fell lame shortly after; soon after each of the others lost an eye; and a rash fellow, who ventured to fell the Oak itself, broke his leg very shortly afterwards.” At this time, the powder of an Oak-Mistletoe was deemed an infallible cure for epilepsy; and Culpeper, the astrological herbalist, prescribed the leaves and berries of this precious plant, given in powder for forty days together, as a sure panacea for apoplexy, palsy, and falling sickness. Clusius affirmed that a sprig of the sacred plant worn round the neck was a talisman against witchcraft, always providing that the bough had not been allowed to touch earth after being gathered.——In the West of England, there is a tradition that the Cross was made of Mistletoe, which, until the time of the Crucifixion, had been a noble forest tree, but was thenceforth condemned to exist only as a mere parasite. Culpeper remarks that it was sometimes called lignum sanctÆ crucis—wood of the holy cross—from a belief in its curative virtues in cases of consumption, apoplexy, and palsy—“not only to be inwardly taken, but to be hung at their neck.”——In Sweden, Oak-Mistletoe is suspended in the house to protect it from fire and other injuries; a knife with an Oak-Mistletoe handle is supposed by the Swedes to ward off the falling sickness: for other complaints, a piece of this plant is hung round the patient’s neck, or made into a finger-ring.

MOLY.—The Moly was a magical plant, beneficent in its nature, which Homer tells us, in the ‘Odyssey,’ was given by Mercury to Ulysses to enable him successfully to withstand and overcome the enchantments of the sorceress Circe, and obtain the restoration of his comrades whom the witch-goddess had by her enchantments transformed into swine. Ulysses, distressed at the fate of his companions, was visited by Mercury, who promised to give him a plant of extraordinary powers, which should baffle the spells of Circe;

The Moly is generally supposed to have been a species of Garlick (a plant credited with many magical qualities), and Gerarde, in his ‘Herbal,’ describes several plants under the head of “Moly, or Sorcerer’s Garlick,” one of which he particularises as Homer’s Moly (Moly Homericum). The identity of the plant has, however, long been a matter for speculation among botanists of all ages. DodonÆus, Anguillara, and CÆsalpinus consider it to be Allium magicum; Matthiolus and Clusius, Allium subhirsutum; Sprengel, Allium nigrum; and Sibthorp, a plant which he names Allium Dioscoridis. Various treatises have appeared on the subject, in one of which the Moly is thought to be identified with the Lotus. Milton, in his ‘Comus,’ mentions a magical plant, designated HÆmony, which possessed similar properties to the Moly, and was potent in dispelling enchantments, ghostly apparations, mildew-blast, and unwholesome vapours.

Money Flower.—See Honesty.

MONK’S HOOD.—Aconitum has two English names, Monk’s Hood and Wolf’s Bane. The former has been given it from the resemblance of the plant’s upper sepal to the cowl of a monk. The latter is of great antiquity, being the same as that of the Anglo-Saxon. By the ancients (who were unacquainted with mineral poisons) the Aconite was regarded as the most virulent of all poisons, and their mythologists declare it to be the invention of Hecate, who caused the plant to spring from the foam of the many-headed Cerberus, when Hercules dragged him from the gloomy regions of Pluto. The legend is thus told by Ovid:—

With this venomous plant the ancients were wont to poison their arrow-heads when engaged in war and also when in pursuit of wild beasts. As a poison, it had a sinister reputation. Ovid was of opinion that the Aconitum derived its name from growing on rocks almost barren; and he describes, in his ‘Iron Age,’ the step-dame occupied in preparing a deadly potion of this plant:—

“Lurida terribiles miscent Aconita novercÆ.”

In Greece, the Wolf’s Bane is credited with many malignant influences, and the fevers so common in the neighbourhood of Corinth were attributed to it. Until the Turks were dispossessed, the Aga proceeded every year in solemn procession to denounce it and hand it over to destruction.——In North India, a species, Aconitum ferox, is used as a poison for arrows—the poison which is obtained from the roots being of remarkable virulence and activity when infused into the blood.

MOON DAISY.—The Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, a large Daisy-like flower, resembles the pictures of a full moon, and on this account has acquired the name of Moon Daisy. From its use in uterine diseases, this plant was dedicated by the ancients to Artemis, goddess of the Moon, Juno Lucina, and Eileithuia, a deity who had special charge over the functions of women—an office afterwards assigned by the Romish Church to St. Mary Magdalene and St. Margaret. Hence, in the Middle Ages, the Moon Daisy became known as Maudelyne or Maudlin-wort.——The plant is also called the Ox-eye and Midsummer Daisy; and in France, this flower, known as the Paquerette, is employed, like the Bluet, as a divining-flower, to discover the state of a lover’s affections.——The Midsummer Daisy is dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

MOONWORT.—The Fern Botrychium Lunaria has derived its name of Moonwort from the crescent shape of the segments of its frond. Perhaps it is this lunar form which has caused it to be so highly esteemed for its supposed magical properties. The old alchymists professed to be able, by means of the Moonwort, which they called Lunaria minor, or Lesser Lunary, to extract sterling silver from Mercury. By wizards and professors of necromancy no plant was held in greater repute, and its potency is attested by many old writers. Gerarde refers to the use made by the alchymists of this Fern in those mystic compounds over which they pored night and day, and he also states that it was a plant prized by witches, who called it Martagon. In Ben Jonson’s ‘Masque of Queens,’ a witch says to her companions:—

Coles, referring to the mystical character of the Moonwort, observes: “It is said, yea, and believed by many, that Moonwort will open the locks, fetters, and shoes from those horses’ feet that goe on the places where it groweth; and of this opinion was Master Culpeper, who, though he railed against superstition in others, yet had enough of it himselfe.” Du Bartas, in his ‘Divine Weekes,’ thus refers to this superstition—

Culpeper tell us that the Moonwort was a herb which, in his days, was popularly believed to open locks and unshoe horses that trod on it. “This,” he adds, “some laugh to scorn, and those no small fools neither, but country people that I know call it Unshoe-the-Horse. Besides, I have heard commanders say that on White Down, in Devonshire, near Tiverton, there were found thirty horse-shoes, pulled off from the Earl of Essex’s horses, being there drawn up in a body, many of them being newly shod, and no reason known, which caused much admiration; and the herb described usually grows upon the heaths.”—In Virginia, the Botrychium Lunaria is called the Rattle-snake Fern, because that reptile shelters itself beneath its fronds.

MOSS.—The Sifjar haddr, or Hair Moss (Polytrichum commune), which supplies the Lapp with bedding, is dedicated to Sif, the wife of Thor. The Supercilium Veneris is Freyja’s hair.—The good fairies called by the Germans Moosweibchen are represented as being entirely covered with Moss. They live in the hollows of forest trees, or on the soft Moss itself. These beneficent fairies of the forest spin soft Moss of various kinds, which they weave into beautiful fabrics, and, according to their custom, occasionally make handsome presents to their protÉgÉs.——There is a legend that Oswald, King of Northumbria, erected a certain cross, which, after his decease, acquired miraculous properties. One day, a man who was walking across the ice towards this venerated cross, suddenly fell and broke his arm; a friend who was accompanying him, in dire distress at the mishap, hurried to the cross, and plucked from it some Moss, which was growing on the surface. Then, hastening back to his friend, he placed the Moss in his breast, when the pain miraculously ceased, and the broken arm became set, and was soon restored to use.——The Bryum Moss, which grows all over the walls of Jerusalem, is supposed to be the plant referred to by Solomon as “the Hyssop that groweth out of the wall.”——According to tradition, headache is to be removed by means of snuff made from the Moss which grows on a human skull in a churchyard; and Gerarde says that this Moss is “a singular remedie against the falling evill and the chin-cough in children, if it be powdered, and then given in sweet wine for certain daies together.” Robert Turner tells us of this Moss that it is “a principal ingredient in the Weapon Salve; but the receipt is, it should be taken from the skull of one who died a violent death.”——The dust from the spore cases of Club-Moss is highly inflammable, and is used in fireworks; it is the Blitz-mehl, or lightning-meal, of the Germans. (See Club-Moss.)

MOSS ROSE.—The country of the Moss Rose or Moss Provins Rose (Rosa Muscosa) is unknown, but the origin of its mossy vest is thus given by a German writer:—

The Moss Rose is one of the flowers specially plucked at the fall of the dew on Midsummer Eve for the purposes of love divination. This rite of rustic maidens is fully described in the poem of ‘The Cottage Girl’:—

MOTHERWORT.—According to Parkinson, the Motherwort (Leonurus Cardiaca) was so called from its being “of wonderful helpe to women in the risings of the mother;” its name of Cardiaca was given because the herb was formerly noted for curing not only heartburn but the mental disorder known as heart-ache.——In Japan, the Motherwort is in great estimation. In bygone times it is related that to the north of the province of Nanyo-no-rekken, there was a village situated near a hill covered with Motherwort. At the foot of the hill, fed by the dew and rains that trickled down its sides, ran a stream of pure water, which formed the ordinary beverage of the villagers, who generally lived till they had attained an age varying from a hundred to a hundred and thirty years. Thus the people ascribe to the Motherwort the property of prolonging life. At the Court of the Cairi, the ecclesiastical potentate of Japan, it is a favourite amusement to drink zakki, a kind of strong beer prepared from Motherwort-flowers. The Japanese have five grand festivals in the course of the year. The last, which takes place on the 9th of the 9th month, is called the Festival of Motherwort; and the month itself is named Kikousouki, or month of Motherwort-flowers. It was formerly the custom to gather these flowers as soon as they had opened, and to mix them with boiled rice, from which they prepared the zakki used in celebrating the festival. In the houses of the common people, instead of this beverage, you find a branch of the flowers fastened with a string to a pitcher full of common zakki, which implies that they wish one another a long life. The origin of this festival is as follows:—An emperor of China who succeeded to the throne at seven years of age, was disturbed by a prediction that he would die before he attained the age of fifteen. An immortal having brought to him, from Nanyo-no-rekken, a present of some Motherwort-flowers, he caused zakki to be made from them, which he drank every day, and lived upwards of seventy years. This immortal had been in his youth in the service of the Emperor, under the name of Zido. Being banished for some misdemeanour, he took up his residence in the valley before mentioned, drinking nothing but the water impregnated with these flowers, and lived to the age of three hundred years, whence he obtained the name of Sien-nin-foso.

MOUSE-EAR.—The plant now known as Forget-me-not, was formerly called Mouse-Ear, from its small, soft, oval leaves. It is called Herba Clavorum, because, according to tradition, it hinders the smith from hurting horses when he is shoeing them.

MULBERRY.—According to tradition, the fruit of the Mulberry-tree was originally white, but became empurpled by human blood. Referring to the introduction of the Mulberry by the Greeks, Rapin writes:—

This tale of forbidden love is narrated at length by Ovid: Pyramus, a youth of Babylon, and his neighbour, Thisbe, became mutually enamoured, but were prohibited by their parents from marrying; they therefore agreed to meet at the tomb of Ninus, under a white Mulberry-tree. Thisbe reached the trysting-place first, but was compelled to seek safety in a cave, owing to the arrival of a lioness, who besmeared with blood a veil which the virgin dropped in her flight. Soon afterwards Pyramus reached the spot, and finding the bloody veil, concluded that Thisbe had been torn to pieces. Overcome with grief, he stabbed himself with his sword; and Thisbe, shortly returning, and beholding her lover in his death throes, threw herself upon the fatal weapon. With her last breath she prayed that her ashes should be mingled with her lover’s in one urn, and that the fruit of the white Mulberry-tree, under which the tragedy occurred, should bear witness of their constancy by ever after assuming the colour of their blood.

Lord Bacon tells us that in Calabria Manna falls upon the leaves of Mulberry-trees during the night, from whence it is afterwards collected.——Pliny called the Mulberry the wisest of trees, because it is late in unfolding its leaves, and thus escapes the dangerous frosts of early spring. To this day, in Gloucestershire, the country folks have a saying that after the Mulberry-tree has shown its green leaves there will be no more frost.——At Gioiosa, in Sicily, on the day of St. Nicholas that saint is believed to bless the sea and the land, and the populace sever a branch from a Mulberry-tree and preserve it for one year as a branch of good augury.——In Germany, at Iserlohn, the mothers, to deter the children from eating the Mulberries, sing to them that the Devil requires them for the purpose of blacking his boots.——According to Gerarde, “Hegesander, in AthenÆus, affirmeth that the Mulberry-tree in his time did not bring forth fruit in twenty yeares together, and that so great a plague of the gout then raigned, and raged so generally, as not onely men, but boies, wenches, eunuches, and women were troubled with that disease.”——A Mulberry-tree, planted by Milton in the garden of Christ’s College, Cambridge, has been reverentially preserved by successive college gardeners. The Mulberry planted by Shakspeare in Stratford-on-Avon was recklessly cut down in 1759; but ten years later, when the freedom of the town was presented to Garrick, the document was enclosed in a casket made from the wood of the tree. A cup was also wrought from it, and at the Shakspeare Jubilee, Garrick, holding this cup aloft, sang the following lines composed by himself:—

To dream of Mulberries is of good import: they denote marriage, many children, and all sorts of prosperity: they are particularly favourable to sailors and farmers.——Among the hill tribes of Burmah, the Mulberry-tree is regarded as sacred, and receives a kind of worship.——A Chinese folk-lore tale records that in the Tse dynasty, one Chang Ching, going out at night, saw a woman in the south corner of his house. She beckoned him to come to her, and said: “This is your honour’s Mulberry-ground, and I am a shÊn (fairy); if you will make next year, in the middle of the first moon, some thick congee and present it to me, I will engage to make your Mulberry-trees a hundred times more productive.” Ching made the congee, and afterwards had a great crop of silkworms. Hence came the Chinese custom of making thickened congee on the fifteenth of the first month.

MULLEIN.—The Mullein (Verbascum) was formerly employed by wizards and witches in their incantations. The plant is known as the Flannel-flower from its stem and large leaves being covered with wool, which is often plucked off for tinder. The Great Mullein (V. Thapsus) was called by the old Romans Candela regia, and Candelaria, because they used the stalks dipped in suet to burn at funerals, or as torches; the modern Romans call the plant Light of the Lord. In England, the White Mullein was termed Candle-week-flower; and the Great Mullein’s tall tapering spikes of yellow flowers suggested, at a period when candles were burnt in churches, the old names of Torches, Hedge-taper, High-taper, and Hig-taper, which became corrupted into Hag-taper, from a belief that witches employed the plant in working their spells.——The little Moth Mullein (V. Blattaria) derives its specific name from blatta, a cockroach, it being particularly disliked by that troublesome insect. Gerarde explains its English prefix by stating that moths and butterflies, and all other small flies and bats, resort to the place where these herbs are laid or strewed.——Mullein is known by country people as Bullock’s Lungwort, a decoction of the leaves being considered very efficacious in cases of cough: probably we are indebted to the Romans for this specific, for they attributed extraordinary properties to the Mullein as a remedy for coughs. (See also Hag-taper).

MUGWORT.—The old Latin name for this species of Wormwood was Artemisia, mater herbarum; and, according to Gerarde, the plant was so named after Artemisia, the wife of Mausolus, King of Caria, who adopted it for her own herb.

Other authorities say that Artemisia is derived from Artemis, one of the names of Diana, and that the plant was named after that goddess, on account of its being used in bringing on precocious puberty. Among the ancients, the Mugwort had a reputation for efficacy in the relief of female disorders. It was also used for the purpose of incantations. Pliny says that the wayfarer having this herb tied about him feels no fatigue, and that he who hath it about him can be hurt by no poisonous medicines, nor by any wild beast, nor even by the sun itself. Apuleius adds that it drives away lurking devils and neutralises the effect of the evil eye of men. The plant was also considered a charm against the ague.—T—here is an old Scotch legend which tells how a mermaid of the Firth of Clyde, upon seeing the funeral of a young girl who had died of consumption, exclaimed—

In Italy, there is still a superstitious custom extant of consulting Mugwort as to the probable ending of an illness. Some leaves of Mugwort are placed beneath the pillow of the patient without his knowledge. If he falls asleep quickly, his recovery is certain: if he is unable to sleep, it is a sign that he will die.——Mugwort is one of the plants associated with St. John the Baptist, and is, indeed, called the Herb of St. John in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Holland. There is a curious superstition regarding it which is related by Lupton in his ‘Notable Things.’ He says:—“It is certainly commonly affirmed that, on Midsummer Eve, there is found under the root of Mugwort a coal which keeps safe from the plague, carbuncle, lightning, and the quartan ague, them that bear the same about them: and Mizaldus, the writer hereof, saith that it is to be found the same day under the root of Plantain, which I know for a truth, for I have found them the same day under the root of Plantain, which is especially and chiefly to be found at noon.” Paul Barbette, writing in 1675, says, these coals were old dead roots, and that it was a superstition that “old dead roots ought to be pulled up on the Eve of St. John the Baptist, about twelve at night.”——In some parts of England, girls pull a certain root which grows under Mugwort, and which, they believe, if pulled exactly at midnight, on the eve of St. John, and placed under the pillow, will cause dreams of the future husband.——De Gubernatis tells us that, in Sicily, on the eve of the Ascension, the women of Avola form crosses of Mugwort, and place them on the roofs of their houses, believing that, during the night, Jesus Christ, as He re-ascends to heaven, will bless them. They preserve these crosses of Mugwort for a year. Placed in stables, they are believed to possess the power of taming unmanageable animals.——The same author gives the following legends:—In the district of Starodubsk, Russia, on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, a young girl was searching for Mushrooms in a forest, when she saw a number of serpents curled up. She endeavoured to retrace her steps, but fell into a deep pit, which was the abode of the serpents. The pit was dark, but at the bottom she found a luminous stone; the serpents were hungry; the queen of the golden-horned serpents guided them to the luminous stone, and the serpents licked it, and satisfied their hunger; the young girl did the same, and remained in the pit until Spring. On the arrival of Spring, the serpents interlaced themselves in such a manner as to form a ladder on which the young girl ascended to the mouth of the pit. But in taking her leave of the queen of the serpents, she received, as a parting gift, the power of understanding the language of plants, and of knowing their medicinal properties, on the condition that she should never name the Mugwort, or Tchornobil (that which was black): if she pronounced that word, she would forget all that she had come to know. The damsel soon understood all that the plants talked about; but, one day, a man suddenly asked her, “What is the plant which grows in the fields by the side of the little footpaths?” Taken by surprise, the girl replied, Tchornobil; and, at the same moment, all her knowledge forsook her. From that time, it is said, the Mugwort obtained the additional name of Zabytko, or the Herb of Forgetfulness.——In Little Russia, Mugwort has obtained the name of Bech, which has a legendary etymology. The story goes, that the Devil had, one day, offended his brother, the Cossack Sabba, who took him and bound him, saying he should remain a prisoner until he did him some great service. Soon afterwards, a troop of Poles arrived in the neighbourhood, and began to make merry at a rustic feast, leaving their horses to graze. The Cossack Sabba wished to seize their horses, and promised the Devil his liberty if he would aid him to accomplish his object. The Devil despatched certain demons to the fields where the horses were feeding, who caused Mugwort to spring up. As the horses trotted away, the plant moaned “Bech, Bech”: and now, whenever a horse treads on the Mugwort, recollecting the horses of the Poles, the plant always moans, “Bech, Bech”; hence, the name which has been given to it in the Ukraine.——The Japanese manufactured a kind of tinder, called Moxa, from the dried leaves of Mugwort, and, according to Thunberg, twice in a year, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, were indiscriminately burnt with it, either to prevent disorders, or to cure rheumatism, &c.——Astrologers state that Mugwort is a herb of Venus.

MUSHROOM.—On account of their apparently spontaneous generation, Porphyrius calls Mushrooms sons of the gods.——In Indo-European mythology, the Sun-hero is represented as sometimes hiding under a Mushroom. He also appears as King of the Peas, and in a Russian legend, in this capacity, gives battle to the Mushroom tribes.——In Wales, the poisonous Mushroom is called Bwyd Ellyllon, or the meat of the goblins.——In many parts of England it is believed that the changes of the moon influence the growth of Mushrooms, and in Essex there is an old saying that

There is an old belief that Mushrooms which grow near iron, copper, or other metals, are poisonous; the same idea is found in the custom of putting a piece of metal in the water used for boiling Mushrooms, in order that it should attract and detach any poison from the Mushrooms, and thus render them innocuous.——Bacon characterises Mushrooms as “venereous meat,” but Gerarde remarks that “few of them are good to be eaten, and most of them do suffocate and strangle the eater. Therefore, I give my advice unto those that love such strange and new-fangled meates, to beware of licking honey among thornes, least the sweetnesse of the one do not countervaile the sharpnesse and pricking of the other.”——The Burman, if he comes across Mushrooms at the beginning of a journey, considers it as a most fortunate omen.——Dream oracles state that Mushrooms forbode fleeting happiness; and that to dream of gathering them indicates a lack of attachment on the part of lover or consort.

MUSTARD.—Among the Jews, “Small as a grain of Mustard-seed” was a common comparison; and our Saviour referred to it as being “the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” (Matthew xiii., 31, 32). The Mustard-tree here alluded to is not, however, the English Mustard (Sinapis nigra), but a tree called by the Arabs Khardal (Salvadora Persica), a tree with numerous branches, among which birds may take shelter, while the seed is exceedingly small. In the north-west of India, this plant is known as Kharjal.——One of the Sanscrit names given to the Mustard-tree is the She-devil or Witch. By means of the seed the Hindus discover witches. During the night they light lamps and fill certain vessels with water, into which they gently drop Mustard-seed oil, pronouncing the while the name of every woman in the village. If, during this ceremony, as they pronounce the name of a woman, they notice the shadow of a female in the water, it is a sure sign that such woman is a witch.——In India, the Mustard-seed symbolises generation: thus, in the Hindu myth of the ‘Rose of Bakawali,’ the king of Ceylon destroys the temple in which the nymph Bakawali is incarcerated; having been condemned by Indra to remain there transformed into marble for the space of twelve years. A husbandman ploughs over the site of this temple, and sows a Mustard-seed. In course of time the Mustard ripens, is gathered, pressed, boiled, and the oil extracted. According to the custom of his class, the husbandman first tastes it, and then his wife: immediately she, who before had been childless, conceives, and nine months afterwards gives to the world a daughter (Bakawali), beauteous as a fairy.

MYROBALAN.—The Myrobalan Plum-tree produces a fruit similar to a Cherry, but containing only a juice of so disagreeable a flavour that the very birds refuse to feed upon it: the fruit, however, is much employed in Indian medicines. According to Hindu tradition, the wife of SomaÇarman struck twice with a wand a Myrobalan-tree, whereupon the tree rose from the earth with her, and carrying her away, at last placed her on a golden hill in a golden town.

MYRRH.—Myrrh is an exudation from the tree Balsamodendron Myrrha; but the precious resin was held by the ancients to have been first produced by the tears of Myrrha, daughter of Cinyras, King of Cyprus, and mother of Adonis. Flying from the avenging sword of her father, for whom she had conceived an incestuous passion, the guilty Myrrha, after long and weary wanderings, reached the Arabian continent, and at length, in the SabÆan fields, overcome with fatigue and the misery of her situation, prayed with her dying breath to the gods to accept her penitence and to bestow upon her, as a punishment for her sin, a middle state “betwixt the realms above and those below.” “Some other form,” cries she, “to wretched Myrrha give, nor let her wholly die, nor wholly live.”

Myrrh is one of the ingredients of the sacred ointment or oil of the Jews, with which were anointed the Tabernacle, the Ark, the altars, and the sacred vessels (Exodus xxx.) It was also used to consecrate Aaron and his sons. The purification of women, as ordained by the Jewish law, lasted one year; the first six months being accomplished with oil of Myrrh, and the rest with other sweet odours. After our Lord’s death, Nicodemus brought a mixture of Myrrh and Aloes, about an hundred pounds weight, that his body might be embalmed.——Myrrh formed part of the celebrated Kuphi of the Egyptians—a preparation used in fumigations and embalmings. At the fÊte of Isis, which was celebrated with great magnificence, they sacrificed an ox filled with Myrrh and other aromatics. This ancient people delighted in displays of perfumes: in a religious procession which took place under one of the Ptolemies, marched one hundred and twenty children, carrying incense, Myrrh, and Saffron in golden basins, followed by a number of camels bearing precious aromatics.——At Heliopolis, the city of the sun, where the great luminary was worshipped under the name of Re, incense was burnt to him thrice a day,—resin at his rising, Myrrh when in the meridian, and the compound called Kuphi at his setting. In the temples of Isis similar rites were observed. According to Herodotus, powdered Myrrh formed one of the principal ingredients inserted in the bodies of mummies.——The Persian kings usually wore on their heads crowns composed of Myrrh and Labyzus.——In mediÆval times, it was customary for the king to make an oblation on Twelfth Day. In pursuance of this custom, we read that so late as 1762 George III. made the usual offering at the Chapel Royal, of gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh—the gifts of the Magi, offered to the infant Saviour at Bethlehem; the gold typifying king; Frankincense, God; and Myrrh, man.

MYRTLE.—The father, mother, and brothers of Myrene, a beautiful Grecian, were murdered by robbers, who despoiled their home, and carried Myrene away. She escaped, however, and on her return was made a priestess of Venus. On the occasion of a festival, she discovered one of the assassins of her family, who was seized, and disclosed the hiding-place of his confederates. Myrene’s lover promised that, if she would yield him her hand, he would bring the rest of the band to punishment. He was successful, and received his promised reward; but Venus, offended at being deprived of her favourite priestess, caused the bridegroom to expire suddenly, and changed the bride into the Myrtle, which she ordained, as a proof of her affection, should continue green and odoriferous throughout the year. The Myrtle became, therefore, an especial favourite with Venus. Reputed to possess the virtue not only of creating love, but of preserving it, it was, both by the Greeks and Romans, considered symbolic of love, and was appropriately consecrated to Venus, the goddess of love, around whose temples groves of Myrtle were planted. It was behind a Myrtle-bush in the island of Cythera, that Venus sought shelter when disturbed at her bath by a band of Satyrs; with Myrtle she caused Psyche to be chastised for daring to compare her charms with the heaven-born beauty of her mother-in-law; and with Myrtle the goddess selected to deck her lovely brows when Paris adjudged to her the golden Apple—the prize for supremacy of beauty: hence the shrub was deemed odious to Juno and Minerva. Because she presided over the Myrtle, Venus was worshipped under the name of Myrtea, and had a temple dedicated to her under that appellation at the foot of Mount Aventine. It is probable that the Myrtle was dedicated to Venus because of its fondness for the sea—from the foam of which the goddess sprang, and was wafted by the Zephyrs to the shore, where she was received by the HorÆ, and crowned with Myrtle. Myrtle chaplets were worn by her attendants, the Graces, and by her votaries when sacrificing to her. During her festivals in April, married couples (her protÉgÉs) were decked with Myrtle wreaths. The Myrtle of which the nuptial crowns were composed was the Myrtus latifolia of Pliny, called by Cato Myrtus conjugula.——The Myrtle was adopted by Minerva and Mars; the priests of the latter deity being sometimes crowned with it. The plant was also associated with Hymen, the son of Venus, and the Muse Erato, whose chaplet was composed of Roses and Myrtle. It sometimes symbolised unchaste love. In the festivals of Myrrha, the incestuous mother of Adonis, the married women crowned themselves with Myrtle. Virgil represents the victims of love in the infernal regions hiding themselves behind bunches of Myrtle. At the festival of the Bona Dea at Rome, where all other flowers and shrubs might be used, Myrtle was forbidden to be placed on the altar, because it encouraged sensual gratification.——The Greeks were extremely partial to the Myrtle. At their most sacred festival, the Eleusinian mysteries, the initiates, as well as the high priest, who officiated at the altar of Ceres, were crowned with Myrtle. The Athenian magistrates wore chaplets of the fragrant shrub in token of their authority; and bloodless victors entwined Myrtle with their Laurel wreaths. When Aristogiton and Harmodius set forth to free their country from the tyranny of the PisistratidÆ, their swords were wreathed with Myrtle.——With the Romans, the Myrtle was a highly-esteemed plant, and invariably expressive of triumph and joy. It also symbolised festivity, and, when steeped in wine, was supposed to impart to it invigorating qualities. On the 1st of April, Roman ladies, after bathing beneath the Myrtle-trees, crowned themselves with the leaves, and proceeded to the shrine of Venus to offer sacrifice. The Roman bridegroom decked himself with Myrtle on his bridal day; and the hero wore it as a badge of victory, and sometimes interweaved it with Laurel in honour of Venus and Mars. When the Romans fought to guard the captured Sabine women, they wore chaplets of Myrtle on their heads, and, according to Pliny, after the combatants had at length become reconciled, they laid down their weapons under a Myrtle, and purified themselves with its boughs. The tree was sacred to the Sabine Mars Quirinus; and two Myrtles stood before his temple, as two Laurels stood before the temple of the Roman Mars, symbolising the union of the Roman and Sabine peoples.——The Romans crowned themselves with Myrtle after a victory, but only when blood had not been shed.——Pliny relates that Romulus planted in Rome two Myrtles, one of which became the favourite of the patricians, the other of the people. When the nobles won, the people’s Myrtle drooped; when, on the other hand, the people were victorious, the patricians’ Myrtle withered. As a charm to ensure a successful journey, Roman pedestrians were accustomed to procure and wear a Myrtle wreath.——At Temnos, in Asia Minor, there is a statue in Myrtle-wood consecrated by Pelops to Venus, as a thank-offering for his marriage with Hippodamia. After the death of Hippolytus, PhÆdra, maddened with passionate grief, pricked innumerable small holes in the leaves of a Myrtle with a hair-pin. The geographer Pausanias states that this Myrtle was in his time to be seen near the tomb of PhÆdra at Troezen.——The same writer relates that a Myrtle which had been the hiding place of a hare was selected by Diana to mark the site of a new city.——With the Jews, the Myrtle is a symbol of peace, and is often so referred to in the Old Testament, notably by Nehemiah and the prophets Zechariah and Isaiah. A variety, called the Broad-leaved Jew’s Myrtle, is held in especial veneration, and is frequently used in Hebrew religious ceremonies. Branches of this and other Evergreens are used in the erection of their tents at the Feast of Tabernacles. At Aleppo, these tabernacles are made by fastening to the corner of a wooden divan four slender posts as supports to a diaper-work of green Reeds on all sides, leaving only a space in front for the entrance, which on the outside is covered with fresh Myrtle. Jewish maidens were wont to be decked with a bridal wreath of Myrtle; but this wreath was never worn by a widow, or by divorced women. This custom is still retained in Germany, where the bride is adorned with a Myrtle wreath.——The Oriental nations are extremely partial to the Myrtle, and there is a tradition among the Arabs that, when Adam was expelled from Paradise, he brought the Myrtle with him, as being the choicest of fragrant flowers.——It is a popular belief in Somersetshire, that, in order to ensure its taking root, it is necessary when planting a sprig of Myrtle, to spread the skirt of your garment, and to look proud. In the same county, there is a saying that “the flowering Myrtle is the luckiest plant to have in your window, water it every morning, and be proud of it.”——In Greece, there is a superstitious notion that no one should pass near an odoriferous Myrtle without gathering a perfumed bunch; indifference to the attractions of Myrtle being considered a sign of impotence and death.——In the allegories of Azz Eddin, the Rose says that the Myrtle is the prince of odoriferous plants.——Rapin calls the Myrtle “of celestial race,” and in his poem has the following lines on it:—

To dream of seeing a fine Myrtle portends many lovers and a legacy. If a married person dreams of Myrtle, it prognosticates a second marriage. A similar dream for the second time portends a second marriage to a person who has also been married before. Myrtle seen in a dream denotes, as a rule, a numerous family, wealth, and old age.

NARCISSUS.—The white, or Poet’s, Narcissus owes its origin to a beautiful youth of Boeotia, of whom it had been foretold he should live happily until he beheld his own face. Caressed and petted by the Nymphs, and passionately loved by the unhappy Echo, he slighted and rejected their advances; but one day, when heated by the chase, he stopped to quench his thirst in a stream, and in so doing beheld the reflection of his own lovely features. Enamoured instantly of his own beauty, he became spell-bound to the spot, where he pined to death. Ovid relates how the flower known by his name sprang from the corpse of Narcissus:—

The cup in the centre of the flower is fabled to contain the tears of Narcissus. Virgil alludes to this (Georgic IV.) when, in speaking of the occupations of bees, he says: “Some place within the house the tears of Narcissus.” Milton also refers to this fancy in the following lines, when introducing the Narcissus under its old English name of Daffodil:—

The Daffodil is supposed to be one of the flowers which Proserpine was gathering when she was seized and carried off by Pluto (Dis). The Earth, at the instigation of Jupiter, had brought forth the lovely blossom for a lure to the unsuspecting maid. An old Greek hymn contains the tale:—

Shakspeare, in ‘A Winter’s Tale,’ alludes to the same story:—

Other accounts of a similar legend, slightly varied, state that it was at the instigation of Venus that Pluto employed the Narcissus to entice Proserpine to the lower world.——Ancient writers referred to the Narcissus as the flower of deceit, on account of its narcotic properties; for although, as Homer assures us, it delights heaven and earth by its odour and beauty, yet, at the same time, it produces stupor, madness, and even death.——It was consecrated both to Ceres and Proserpine, on which account Sophocles poetically alludes to it as the garland of the great goddesses. “And ever, day by day, the Narcissus, with its beauteous clusters, the ancient coronet of the ‘mighty goddesses,’ bursts into bloom by heaven’s dew” (Œdipus Coloneus).——The Fates wore wreaths of the Narcissus, and the Greeks twined the white stars of the odorous blossoms among the tangled locks of the Eumenides. A crown composed of these flowers was wont to be woven in honour of the infernal gods, and placed upon the heads of the dead.——The Narcissus is essentially the flower of Lent; but when mixed with the Yew, which is symbolical of the Resurrection, it becomes a suitable decoration for Easter:—

Herrick, Shakspeare, Milton, Wordsworth, all sing the praises of the Narcissus, or Lent Lily, the Daffodil and Daffadowndily of our forefathers,—names which they formed from the still older one of Affodilly, a corruption of Asphodelus. NASTURTIUM.—According to Rapin, the Nasturtium was once a young Trojan huntsman; but the Jesuit poet gives no details of the metamorphosis, merely stating that

The shield-like form of the Nasturtium’s leaves and its curiously-shaped flowers, which resemble golden helmets, have obtained for the plant the Latin name of “TropÆolum” (trophy). Its old English names were Yellow Lark’s-heels and Indian Cress.——The seed of the Nasturtium, according to Macer Floridus, possess a great power to repel serpents.——LinnÆus has recorded that his daughter Elizabeth Christina observed the flowers of the Nasturtium emit spontaneously, at certain intervals, sparks like electric ones, visible only in the evening.

NEEM.—The Neem-tree (Azardirachta Indica) is considered by the Indians a sacred tree, and is described by their poets as the type of everything bitter. Its bark is used as a substitute for Cinchona in cases of fevers.

NELUMBO.—The Nelumbo, Sacred Lotus, or Padma (Nelumbium speciosum), was the Sacred Bean of Egypt, the Rose Lily of the Nile spoken of by Herodotus. The beauty of its blossoms, which are sometimes of a brilliant red colour, but rarely white, hanging over broad peltated leaves considerably above the surface of the water, render this the most lovely and graceful of all the Water Lilies; and at the same time it is the most interesting on account of its remote historical associations. Four thousand years ago the Nelumbo was the emblem of sanctity in Egypt amongst the priests of a religion long since defunct; and the plant itself has long been extinct in that country, though in India and China the flowers are held especially sacred, and the plant is commonly cultivated. The Chinese call this sacred flower the Lien-wha, and prize it above all others. Celebrated for its beauty by their poets, and ranked for its virtues among the plants which, according to Chinese theology, enter into the beverage of immortality, this Lien-wha is to the Chinese what the Gul or Rose is to the Persians; and a moonlight excursion on a tranquil river covered with its yellow blossoms is numbered by the inhabitants of the Flowery Land among the supreme delights of mortal existence. (See also Lotus and NymphÆa).

NETTLE.—The Nettle is one of the five plants which are stated by the Mishna to be the “bitter herbs” ordered to be partaken of by the Jews at the Feast of the Passover.——In Ireland, the Nettle of Timor is known as Daoun Setan, or the Devil’s Apron; and in the southern parts of the island it is a common practice for schoolboys, once a year, to consider themselves privileged to run wildly about with a bunch of Nettles, striking at the face and hands of their companions or of such other persons as they fancy they may venture to assault with impunity.——The Roman Nettle (Urtica pilulifera) is the most venomous of British Nettles, and is found abundantly about Romney, in Kent, where, according to Camden, the Roman soldiers brought the seed with them, and sowed it for their own use, to rub and chafe their limbs when, through extreme cold, they should be stiff and benumbed; having been told before they came from home that the climate of England was so cold that it was not to be endured without having recourse to some friction to warm their blood and to stir up natural heat.——Among the various remedies once prescribed for the “trembling fever,” or ague, by Catherine Oswald, a noted herbalist, was one which related to plucking up a Nettle by the root three successive mornings before sunrise. In bygone times, Nettle and Milfoil carried about the person used to be believed to drive away fear, and to be a certain charm against malignant spirits.——The Scotch say that to cure the sting of a Nettle, the person stung must rub the leaves of a Dock over the part affected, repeating at the same time: “Nettle in, Dock out; Dock rub Nettle out.” This charm was known to Chaucer, who uses it as a common saying, implying lovers’ inconstancy, in ‘Troilus and Cresside’:—

In German mythology, the Nettle was consecrated to the god Thor.——In the Tyrol, during thunderstorms, the mountaineers throw Nettles on the fire to avert danger, and more especially to guard themselves from lightning; this custom also prevails in some parts of Italy.——In Germany, there exists a superstition that Nettles gathered before sunrise will drive away evil spirits from cattle.——The god Thor was, among the ancient Germans, regarded as the guardian deity of marriage; hence it is, perhaps, that in Germany Nettle-seed is believed to excite the passions and to facilitate births.——In dream lore, to fancy you are stung by Nettles indicates vexation and disappointment; to dream of gathering Nettles denotes that someone has formed a favourable opinion of you; and if the dreamer be married, then that the domestic circle will be blessed with concord and harmony.——Astrologers place Nettles under the dominion of Mars.

NIGHTSHADE.—The Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna), or Death’s Herb, is a plant of ill omen, and one of which witches are reported to be fond: it is so poisonous in its nature, that Gerarde says: “If you will follow my counsell, deale not with the same in any case, and banish it from your gardens, and the use of it also, being a plant so furious and deadly; for it bringeth such as have eaten thereof into a dead sleepe, wherein many have died.” Buchanan relates that the Scots, under Macbeth, being desirous of poisoning the Danes, treacherously took the opportunity, during a period of truce, to mix the poisonous Nightshade with the beer with which they had agreed to supply them. Thus stupefied, Sweno’s army slept soundly, and the Scots, falling upon their enemies, destroyed them in their helplessness.——According to Gassendi, a shepherd in Provence produced visions and prophesied, through the use of Deadly Nightshade.——The Nightshade (Solanum Dulcamara) has poisonous red berries; but the root and leaves have been applied to several medicinal uses.——The Vale of Furness, Lancashire, is still known by the name of Valley of Nightshade, on account of the plant being exceedingly plentiful there. Sprigs of Nightshade appeared on the ancient seals of the Abbey.

NIMBU.—The Nimbu (Melia Azedarach) is a native of the warm parts of Asia, and bears a variety of names in different countries, such as the Holy Tree, Pride of India, Bead Tree (in allusion to the seeds being strung for chaplets), Persian Lilac, and Hill Margosa. Bishop Heber saw it in India, and states that the natives have a profound reverence for the tree, which they believe has the power to ward off witchcraft and the Evil Eye.

NIPA PALM.—The Nipa, or Susa (Nipa fruticans), is the sacred tree of Borneo, and is the most valuable of all growing things to the Dyaks of that country. The seeds, it is recorded, lie dormant in the fruit several years before germination, when the fruit becomes detached from the plant and is floated off by the tide to establish itself on some other mudbank. This plant only grows where fever and Mangroves flourish.

None-so-Pretty, or Nancy-Pretty.—See London Pride.

Nosebleed.—See Yarrow.

NUTMEGS.—In the Middle Ages, a curious belief existed that Nutmegs, Cloves, Cinnamon, and Ginger all grew on the same tree.——The strength of the Nutmeg in the season is said so to overcome the birds of Paradise, that they fall helplessly intoxicated.——To dream of Nutmegs is stated to be a sign of many impending changes.

NUTS.—When the Scandinavian god Loki, transformed into a falcon, rescued Idhunn, the goddess of youthful life, from the power of the Frost-giants, it was in the shape of a Hazel-nut that he carried her off in his beak.——The Hazel was sacred to Thor, and was in olden times regarded as an actual embodiment of lightning: hence it possessed great virtue as a promoter of fruitfulness, and Hazel-nuts became a favourite medium in divinations relating to love and marriage.——In old Rome, Nuts were scattered at marriages, as they are now in Italy and in Altmark.——In Westphalia and other parts of Germany, a few Nuts are mixed with the seed-corn to act as a charm in making it prolific.——In Hertfordshire and other parts of England, as well as in Germany, a certain relation is believed to exist between the produce of the Hazel-bushes and the increase of the population; a good Nut year always bringing an abundance of babies. In Westphalia, the proverb runs, “Plenty of Nuts, plenty of babies.”——Brand says it is a custom in Iceland, when a maiden would know if her lover is faithful, to put three Nuts upon the bar of a grate, naming them after her lover and herself. If a Nut crack or jump, the lover will prove faithless; if it begin to blaze or burn, it is a sign of the fervour of his affection. If the Nuts named after the girl and her swain burn together, they will be married. This divination is still practised in Scotland on Hallowe’en, whose mysterious rites Burns has immortalised in his poem, containing these lines:—

A similar custom has for years existed in Ireland; and Gray, long before Burns, had evidenced that the superstitions of Hallowe’en or Nutcrack Night (October 31st) were known and practised in England, as thus—

In Bohemia, on Christmas Eve, girls fix coloured wax lights in the shells of the first parcel of Nuts they have opened that day, light them all at the same time, and set them floating in the water, after mentally giving to each the name of a wooer. He whose lighted bark first approaches the girl will be her future husband. If an unwelcome suitor seems likely to be first in, the girl endeavours to retard the shell by blowing against it, and by this means the favourite’s bark usually wins. Should, however, one of the lights be perchance blown out, it is accounted a portent of death.——The instrument used by the nutter in robbing the Hazel of its fruit seems to have been formerly regarded as opprobrious, and as suggestive of a thief: thus, in the ‘Merry Wives of Windsor,’ Nym says: “If you run the Nut-hook’s humour on me,” or, in other words, “If you call me a thief.” Again, in ‘Henry IV.,’ Part II., Doll Tearsheet cries out to the beadle: “Nut-hook, Nut-hook, you lie!”——In Sussex, there is a proverb current: “As black as the De’il’s nutting bag;” and it is held to be dangerous to go out nutting on Sunday, for fear of meeting the Evil One, who haunts the Nut-bushes, and sometimes appears to nutters in friendly guise, and holds down the branches for them to strip.——In bygone times, it was believed that a spirit of a weird and sinister character inhabited a Nut-grove.——There is a superstition that the ashes of the shells of Hazel-nuts have merely to be applied to the back of a child’s head to ensure the colour of the iris in the infant’s eyes turning from grey to black.——In Germany, Nuts are placed in tombs, as being emblematic of regeneration and immortality. Searchers in the old tombs of Wurtemburg sometimes found Pumpkins and Walnuts, but always a number of Nuts.——In some countries, Hazel-nuts are supposed to be endowed with the power of discovering or attracting wealth. Thus, in Russia, there is a belief that anyone carrying a Nut in his house will make money; and on this account many of the Russian peasantry invariably carry a double Nut in their purses. In fairy tales, we often find good fairies using Nuts as their carriages: as, in ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ Mercutio speaks of Queen Mab arriving in a Nut-shell.——There is a legend that St. Agatha every year crosses the sea from Catania to Gallipoli on a Nut-shell, which she employs as a boat.——Authorities on the subject say that to dream that you see Nut-trees, and that you crack and eat their fruit, signifies riches and content gained with toil and pain. Clusters of Nuts imply happiness and success: to dream of gathering Nuts is a bad omen; and to dream of finding Nuts that have been hid signifies the discovery of treasure.

NYMPHÆA.—The NymphÆa coerulea is the Lily of the Nile, the Lotus of ancient Egypt; but not the Sacred Bean, which was the Nelumbium speciosum. (See Lotus and Nelumbo).——According to German tradition, the Undines often conceal themselves from mortal gaze under the form of NymphÆas.——This beautiful Water-lily was deemed by the Frisians to have a magical power. Dr. Halbertsma has stated that, when a boy, he remembers people were extremely careful in plucking and handling them; for if anyone fell with such a flower in his possession, he became immediately subject to fits.——The Wallachians have a superstition that every flower has a soul, and that the Water-lily is the sinless and scentless flower of the lake, which blossoms at the gates of Paradise to judge the rest, and that she will enquire strictly what they have done with their odours.

OAK.—Rapin tells us that among the ancients there were many conjectural reports as to the origin of the Oak, and the country which first knew the sacred tree: but the popular tradition which met with most credence, he considers, was as follows:—

To do full justice to the legendary lore connected with the Oak, it would be necessary to devote a volume to the subject: the largest, strongest, and as some say, the most useful of the trees of Europe, it has been generally recognised as the king of the forest,

“Lord of the woods, the long-surviving Oak.”

An emblem of majesty and strength, the Oak has been revered as a symbol of God by almost all the nations of heathendom, and by the Jewish patriarchs. It was underneath the Oaks of Mamre that Abraham dwelt a long time, and there he erected an altar to the Lord, and there he received the three angels. It was underneath an Oak that Jacob hid the idols of his children, for this tree was held sacred and inviolable (Gen. xxxv., 2–4). Under the “Oak of weeping,” the venerable Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, was interred. The messenger of the Lord that appeared to Gideon sat beneath an Oak; and it was a branch of one of these trees that caught the flowing hair of Absalom, and so caused the death of King David’s beloved son. The Oaks of Bashan are several times mentioned in the Bible, and in the sacred volume we are informed that the Israelites worshipped and offered sacrifices beneath the shadow of Oaks which they considered as sacred (Hosea iv., 13; Ezekiel vi., 13; Isaiah i., 29).

The ancient Greeks attributed the deluge of Boeotia to the quarrels between Jupiter and Juno. After the rain had ceased and the water subsided, an oaken statue became visible, erected, it is supposed, as a symbol of the peace concluded between the king of the gods and his consort. The Oak was thought by the Greeks to have been the first tree that grew on the earth, and to have yielded for man Acorns and honey, to ensure nourishment and fecundity. They called it, indeed, the mother-tree, and they regarded it as a tree from which the human race had originally sprung—a belief, shared by the Romans, for we find Virgil speaking

Acorns were the first food of man, and there is an old Greek proverb in which a man’s age and experience are expressed by saying that he had eaten of Jove’s Acorns. Some of the classic authors speak of the fatness of the earliest inhabitants of Greece and Southern Europe, who, living in the primeval forests, were supported almost wholly upon the fruit of the Oak; these primitive people were called Balanophagi (eaters of Acorns).

Homer mentions people entering into compacts under Oaks as places of security, for the tree was highly reverenced by the Greeks, and held a prominent place in their religious and other ceremonies. The Arcadians believed that by stirring with an Oak-branch the waters of a fountain near a temple of Jupiter, on Mount Lycius, rain could be caused to fall. The Fates and Hecate were crowned with Oak-leaves; and a chaplet of Oak adorned the brow of the DodonÆan Jove.

The Pelasgic oracle of Jupiter, or Zeus, at Dodona, was situated at the foot of Mount Tamarus, in a wood of Oaks, and the answers were given by an aged woman, called Pelias: and as pelias, in the Attic dialect, means dove, the fable arose that the doves prophesied in the Oak groves of Dodona. Respecting the origin of this oracle, Herodotus narrates that two priestesses of Egyptian Thebes were carried away by Phoenician merchants: one of these was conveyed to Libya, where she founded the oracle of Jupiter Ammon; the other to Greece. The latter remained in the DodonÆan wood, which was much frequented on account of the Acorns. There she had a temple built at the foot of an Oak in honour of Jupiter, whose priestess she had been in Thebes, and here afterwards the oracle was founded. This far-spreading speaking Oak was a lofty and beautiful tree, with evergreen leaves and sweet edible Acorns (the first sustenance of mankind). The Pelasgi regarded this tree as the tree of life. In it the god was supposed to reside, and the rustling of its leaves and the voices of birds showed his presence. When the questioners entered, the Oak rustled, and the Peliades said, “Thus speaks Zeus.” Incense was burned beneath the tree, and sacred doves continually inhabited it; and at its foot a cold spring gushed, as it were, from its roots, and from its murmur the inspired priestesses prophesied. The ship Argo having been built with the wood of trees felled in the DodonÆan grove, one of its beams was endowed with prophetic or oracular power, and counselled the hardy voyagers. Socrates swore by the Oak, the sacred tree of the oracles, and consequently the tree of knowledge.

The Romans regarded the Oak as sacred, and the chosen tree of Jupiter, who was sheltered by it at his birth. Thus Lucan mentions “Jove’s DodonÆan tree,” and Ovid, in alluding to the primitive food of man, speaks of Acorns dropping from the tree of Jove. The Oak, says Virgil, is

We have seen how Acorns formed the earliest food of mankind, and in ancient Rome the substitution of Corn was attributed to the bounty of Ceres, who, through the instrumentality of Triptolemus, taught the inhabitants of the earth its use and cultivation.

To commemorate this gift, Oak was worn in the festivals in honour of Ceres, as also by the husbandmen in general at the commencement of harvest. In the Eleusinian mysteries, Oaken chaplets were worn.

A Roman who saved the life of another was adjudged a crown of Oak-leaves: thus Lucan writes:—

This civic crown of Oak conferred many notable tokens of honour upon its possessor, who was exempted from all civil burdens, and enjoyed many rights. At Roman weddings, boughs of Oak were carried during the ceremonies as emblems of fecundity.

Like the Greeks and Romans, the Scandinavians, in their mythology, traced the origin of mankind from either the Ash or the Oak. By the Teutons and Celts the Oak was invested with a mystical sacred character, and it was connected with the worship of their god Teutates. Among the German people, who consecrated the Oak to the god Thunar, the cultus of the sacred tree lingered for a long time, even after Boniface, the apostle of the Germans, at Geismar, on the Weser, had caused the Oak consecrated to the god of thunder to be uprooted. After the establishment of Christianity, the Oak was long supposed to be the abiding-place of the terrible Northern god, and was, consequently, regarded with superstitious awe. Bishop Otho, of Bamberg, in the year 1128, found at Stettin pagan temples, situate near an Oak and a fountain, which had been objects of worship, and were still regarded with superstitious awe, as being consecrated to a god. As the good bishop could not induce the people to cut down these sacred Oaks, he persuaded them that they were inhabited by evil spirits and demons; and, in course of time, the people who before had prostrated themselves before the trees, shunned them in superstitious dread and terror.

The ancient Britons dedicated the Oak to Taranis, their god of thunder; and the Celts, under the form of an Oak, are by some authorities stated to have worshipped Baal, the god of fire. On the occasion of an auto-da-fÉ, we are told that fagots of “grey” Oak were always selected. The festival of Baal was kept at Yule (Christmas); and on the anniversary, the Druids are said to have ordained that every fire should be extinguished, and then re-lighted with the sacred fire, which, in their sacerdotal character, they always kept burning. In this rite, it is supposed, may be traced the origin of the Yule-log, the kindling of which, at Christmas-time, is still kept up in England, though in this country the log is often of Ash. Among the Germans, Czechs, Serbs, and Italians, however, the Yule-log is always of Oak.

The Mistletoe which grew on an Oak was regarded by the Druids as the most holy; it was beneath the shade of venerated Oaks that they performed their sacred rites; and when they offered up human sacrifices, the victims, in grim mockery, were crowned with Oak-leaves. The baskets in which they were immolated were composed of Oaken twigs, and the brands with which the sacrificial fires were kindled were cut from Oak-trees. The priests scattered branches of the Oak upon the altars, and after the sacrifice fresh Oak-leaves were cast upon the blood-stained stones.

Alluding to the human sacrifices which polluted the recesses of the Druidic groves of Oak, and caused them to be regarded with shuddering terror, Tighe says:—

When an Oak died, the Druids stripped off its bark, and shaped it reverently into the form of a pillar, a pyramid, or a cross, and still continued to worship it as an emblem of their god. In Anglesea, the ancient Mona, are still dug up great trunks of Oak, relics of the Druids’ holy groves. The central Oak was the peculiar object of veneration. The poet relates how men of old,

The Druids it is believed revered the form of the cross. It is stated to have been their custom to seek studiously for a large and handsome Oak-tree, growing up with two principal arms in the form of a cross beside the main stem. If the two horizontal arms were not sufficiently adapted to the figure, they fastened a crossbeam to it. Then they consecrated it by cutting upon the right branch the word Hesus, upon the middle stem Taranis, and upon the left branch Belenus, and over them the word Thau. The tree thus inscribed was deemed peculiarly sacred, and to it they directed their faces when offering prayer.

It was beneath the shade of the Oak that Druidic criminal trials were held—the judge and jury being seated under the branches, and the prisoner placed in a circle traced by the wand of the chief Druid. With the Saxons, the Oak retained its sacred character, and their national meetings were held beneath its shelter. It was below the Oaks of Dartmoor that they held their conference with the Britons, whose land they were invading.

In Great Britain, the Oak remained an object of veneration long after the establishment of Christianity. It was under an aged Oak that St. Brigid of Ireland established her retreat for holy women, whence called Kildara, or cell of the Oak. Here had been burning for many centuries the sacred fire of the Druids, but by the piety of St. Brigid the light of Christianity was henceforth to emit its flame from beneath

Many of the Druidical sacred Oaks were utilised by the early preachers of the Christian faith, who from beneath their boughs preached the gospel of Christ to the pagan inhabitants. Hence these trees became noted throughout the country as Gospel Oaks, a name which still appertains to many ancient trees existing at the present time in England. It is right to say, however, that other authorities consider the origin of the name to have been the custom of reading the Gospel of the day at a certain tree, when the priest went round the fields to bless the crops.

The Sclavonians worshipped Oaks, which they enclosed in a consecrated court. This spot was the sanctuary of all the country, and had its priest, its festivals, and its sacrifices. The inner sanctuary, where grew the sacred Oak, was reserved especially for the priests, sacrificers, and people in danger of their life, who had sought of the priests an asylum. It is said that the ancient Russians, upon arriving at the Isle of St. George, offered up sacrifices beneath a great Oak, before which the people and priests chanted a Te Deum. After the ceremony, the priest distributed the branches of the Oak among the people.

It is curious to note how the old Grecian belief in the sacred and supernatural character of the Oak has lingered in Italy. Prof. de Gubernatis tells us that in the Campagna of Rome, about seventeen years ago, a young shepherdess, during a storm, sought shelter under an Oak, and prayed to the Madonna. Whilst she prayed, a gracious lady appeared before her, and, thanks to her intercession, no rain fell on the Oak, and the girl was enabled to reach home without being wetted by a single drop. Everyone saw it was a miracle; the curÉ examined her, and from his representations the young girl was received into a convent at Rome, where she probably is preparing herself for canonisation. Under similar circumstances, two centuries ago, a Tuscan shepherdess, Giovanna of Signa, was canonised. In the district of Signa, near Ginestra, the villagers still show a sacred Oak, which people kneel to and adore. The story runs that one day the shepherdess Giovanna, surprised by a storm, called around her the shepherds and their flocks, and stuck her shepherdess’s crook into the ground; when, wondrous to relate, at the same instant shot forth an Oak, which sheltered beneath its branches shepherds and sheep. No one was wetted by the rain. On account of this miracle, Giovanna was made a saint, and near the sacred Oak a little chapel was erected to the Virgin. Strange to say, the tree throws down anyone climbing into its branches to cut boughs; but people are permitted to pluck sprays, which are believed to guard themselves and their houses from the effects of storms, provided that the names of Jesus and Mary are invoked with certain ceremonies.

Among the Bolognese, who inhabit a district once occupied by the Celts, and consequently Druidic, the sacred character of Oak-trees was long acknowledged. In the fourteenth century, there stood in Bologna an ancient Oak, which was regarded with the greatest reverence, and beneath its boughs all important gatherings of the people took place. In their religious processions the children still carry garlands of the Oak and Olive. In the country districts, images of the Virgin are often suspended from Oak-trees, and these effigies are called after the trees, the little Madonnas of the Oak. A legend of Bologna relates that in a chapel an image of the Virgin had long been neglected, and overlooked, till, one day, a pious shepherd took it away, and placed it in the trunk of a Cork-tree (a species of Oak, the Quercus Suber). Henceforth he visited it daily, and to honour the Virgin played on the flute. The thief having been denounced, the shepherd was seized and condemned to death; but during the night, through the intervention of the Madonna, the statue and the shepherd both returned to their favourite tree, and notwithstanding subsequent efforts to remove them, they again took up their place beneath its boughs. Then the people recognised a miracle performed by the Virgin, and falling on their knees before the statue in the Oak, they asked pardon of the shepherd.

The time-honoured belief in the sacred and supernatural attributes of the Oak have doubtless caused it to be regarded, even at the present day, as a tree which would vicariously bear the diseases of men. Thus, in England, Cross Oaks, which were trees planted at the juncture of cross-roads, were formerly resorted to by people suffering from ague, for the purpose of transferring to them their malady: this they did by pegging a lock of their hair into one of the trees, and then, by a sudden wrench, transferring the lock from their heads to the Oak, and with the lock the ague.

In Germany, there still exists a custom of creeping through an Oak cleft to cure hernia and other disorders. There was, near Wittstock, in Altmark, a bushy Oak, the branches of which had grown together again at some distance from the stem, leaving open spaces between them. Whoever crept through these spaces was freed from his malady, whatever it might be, and many crutches lay about, which had been thrown away by visitors to the tree whose ailments had been cured. In Russia, a similar custom is extant, the favourite tree there being the Quercus Ilex.

A belief that Oak-trees were the homes of Dryads, Hamadryads, spirits, elves, and fairies has existed since the days of the ancient Greeks. Pindar speaks of a Hamadryad as “doomed to a term of existence coeval with the Oak.” Callimachus represents Melia “deeply sighing for her coeval Oak,” and tells us that

Preston, in his translation of Apollonius, makes a Hamadryad plead in vain for her existence, threatened by the destruction of the Oak in which she dwelt:—

In Germany, the holes in the trunks of Oaks are thought to be utilised by the elves inhabiting the trees as means of entry and exit; in our own country, Oaks have always been reputed as the trees in whose boughs elves delighted to find shelter. The fairies, too, were fond of dancing around Oaks: thus Tighe, apostrophising the monarch of the forest, exclaims:—

In these lines allusion is made to a famous tree in Windsor Forest, one of a long series of celebrated Oaks—“lusty trees,” which, as Robert Turner writes, England “did once so flourish with, that it was called Druina by some.” One of these, known as the Cadenham Oak, in the New Forest, is said, like the Glastonbury Thorn, to mark the birthday of our Lord by budding on Christmas Day. Another, renowned as the Royal Oak, is reverenced as having been the hiding-place of Charles II., after the battle of Worcester. In this tree, not far from Boscobel House, the king, and his companion, Col. Careless, or Carless, resorted when they thought it no longer safe to remain in the house—the family giving them victuals on a Nut-hook. From this tree Charles gathered some Acorns, and set them himself in St. James’s Park:—

In many parts of England, Oak-branches are suspended over doorways, and gilded Oak-leaves and Oak-Apples are worn, on Royal Oak Day (May 29th), in celebration of King Charles’s restoration, and his preservation in the Boscobel Oak, which is still extant.

Seven Oaks have given a name to a village in Kent; and Dean Stanley has described a row of seven Oaks standing at a particular spot in Palestine to which the following curious legend is locally attached:—After Cain had murdered his brother, he was punished by being compelled to carry the dead body of Abel during the lengthened period of five hundred years, and then to bury it in this place. Upon doing so, he planted his staff to mark the grave, and out of this staff grew up the seven Oak trees.

The aged Oaks of Germany excited the wonder and respect of Tacitus, who, speaking of one of the giants of the Hercynian forest, exclaims: “Its majestic grandeur surpasses all belief; no axe has ever touched it; contemporary with the creation of the world, it is a symbol of immortality.” Sacred trees, or pillars formed of living trunks of trees, many of which were Oaks, were to be found in ancient Germany, called Irmenseule. The world-tree of Romowe, the ancient sacred centre of the Prussians, was an evergreen Oak. The Oak of St. Louis at Vincennes, and the Oak of the Partisans at St. Ouen, are trees regarded with reverence by the French.

Evelyn considers that the wood used for our Saviour’s cross was Oak; founding his belief on the statements made by divers learned men who had studied the subject, and “upon accurate examination of the many fragments pretended to be parcels of it.” The same author speaks of “the fatal prÆadmonition of Oaks bearing strange leaves”; and tells us that sleeping under Oak-trees will cure paralysis, and recover those whom the malign influence of the Walnut-tree has smitten. Paulus, a Danish physician, averred that one or two handfuls of small Oak-buttons mingled with Oats given to black horses will change them in a few days to a fine dapple-grey. Bacon says that there is an old tradition that if boughs of Oak be put into the earth, they will bring forth wild Vines; he also remarks that in his day country people had “a kind of prediction that if the Oake-apple, broken, be full of wormes, it is a signe of a pestilent yeare.” It is said that when the Oak comes out before the Ash, it is a sign that there will be fine weather in harvest. The Kentish people have a saying:—

and that if the Oak comes out before the Ash, the summer will be hot; but if after the Ash, that it will be wet. Authorities in dream lore state that it is a very favourable omen to dream of an Oak-tree: if covered with verdure, it signifies a long and happy life; if devoid of foliage or withered, it betokens poverty in old age; to see many young Oaks thriving foretells male children, who will reap distinction by bravery; Oaks bearing Acorns betoken great wealth; and a blasted Oak forebodes sudden death.

Astrologers state that the Oak-tree is under the dominion of Jupiter.

OATS.—Oats did not enjoy a good reputation among the ancient Romans, and Pliny writes of them:—Primum omnium frumenti vitium Avena est. In old English books, the Oat is called Haver or Hafer corn, and to this day in Wales it is still called Hever. In Scandinavian mythology, the “Hafer” of the evil genius Loki is synonymous with Oats of the Devil, a term originally applied to all herbs hurtful to cattle.——The Danes call the plant Polytrichum commune Loki’s Oats; and in the tradition that the diabolic God of the North is wont mischievously to sow weeds among the good seed is probably to be found the origin of the English saying, “He is sowing his wild Oats.”——In the Ukraine, there is a tradition that on one occasion the Devil besought the Almighty to make him a present. God responded: “What is there that I can give you? I cannot part with the Rye, or the Barley, or the Millet: I must give you the Oats.” The Devil, well pleased, withdrew, crying, “Hurrah! the Oats, the Oats, are mine!” Then God inquired of St. Peter and St. Paul: “What can I do, seeing that I have handed them over to him?” “Verily,” said Paul, “I will at once go and get them from him.” “How will you manage that?” “Leave that to me,” replied Paul. “Very well—go!” St. Paul passed the Devil, and hid himself beneath a bridge. Presently the Devil came along shouting “Oats! Oats!” St. Paul commenced to shriek. The Devil stopped short. “Why have you thus frightened me?” he asked. “God has given me a plant, and now you have made me quite forget its name.” “Was it Rye?” “No,” “Wheat?” “No.” “Could it have been the Sow-thistle?” “Ah! that was it, that was it!” exclaimed the Devil, and he ran off shouting, “Sow-thistle, Sow-thistle.”——The contortions of the Animal Oat (Avena sterilis) are very noticeable: the strong beards, after the seeds have fallen off, are so sensible of alteration in the atmosphere, that they maintain an apparently spontaneous motion, resembling that of some grotesque insect. In olden times, conjurors and wizards predicted events and told fortunes by means of the awns of these Oats, which they caused to wriggle about by holding them in a damp hand, or breathing upon them. In these jugglers’ hands the Wild Oat became a magical plant, figuring at their will as the leg of an enchanted spider, Egyptian fly, or some other wonderful insect.——To dream of a field of ripe Oats just ready for the sickle is a most favourable omen, under all circumstances.

Old Man.—See Southernwood.

OLEANDER.—The banks of the Meles, the rivulet sacred to Homer, are in some parts thickly set with Nerium Oleander, a plant which bears a funereal and sinister character, and in Italy is considered as ill-omened and as bringing disgrace and misfortune. In Tuscany and Sicily, it is customary to cover the dead with Oleander-blossoms, and in India chaplets of these flowers are placed on the brows of the departed: the blossoms are also in that country much used in the decoration of temples. The Hindus call the shrub the “Horse-killer,” from a notion that horses inadvertently eating of its foliage are killed by it. The Italians bestow a similar name on the plant—Ammazza l’Asino, Ass-bane. Gerarde remarks that the flowers and leaves prove fatal to many quadrupeds, and that sheep and goats drinking water wherein the leaves have fallen are sure to die. In England, the plant is known as the Rose Bay and Laurel Rose. In Tuscany, it is called Mazza di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph’s Staff), and there is a legend that this staff commenced to blossom directly St. Joseph took it in his hands.

OLIVE.—The legend runs, that in the days of Cecrops, king of Attica, the two rival deities, Neptune and Minerva, strove for the worship of the Athenians. Each claimed priority of right: Neptune, by a salt spring, which his trident had opened in the rock of the Acropolis; Minerva, by pointing to the Olive-tree, which at her command had sprung from the soil. The gods in council decided that the latter was the earlier, as well as the more useful, gift; and so Minerva became the tutelary deity of the city, and the early Athenian rulers endeavoured to turn the attention of the citizens from warlike and seafaring pursuits, to the cultivation of the soil and the peaceful arts. On the coins of Attica, before the time of Pericles, an Olive-branch appeared with the moon and owl. Goats were sacrificed to Minerva, because they were thought to do special injury to the Olive-tree, and the goddess is styled by Virgil OleÆ inventrix. There was a deeper meaning attached to this Attic legend, the realisation of which appears as far off as it was in the days of Cecrops: still the Olive-branch remains the emblem of that period of peace and plenty which the world still hopes for.——The most sacred of the Athenian Olives grew in the temple of Minerva since the time of the dispute between Minerva and Neptune: it was burnt by Xerxes with the temple; but it was stated to have shot up again suddenly, after having been destroyed. The Athenians punished with great severity those who damaged their venerated Olive, which to them appears to have been emblematic of peace. It indicated liberty, hope, chastity, pity, and supplication; and special directions for the mode of planting the sacred tree had place among the institutes of Solon. Pliny asserts that the identical Olive-tree, called up by Minerva, was standing in his time.——The Olive is frequently mentioned in the Bible, both in a literal and figurative manner. The dove sent forth by Noah from the Ark, brought back an Olive-leaf (probably from Assyria, a country famous for Olive-trees), which the bird probably selected because the leaves would continue green beneath the water. As an emblem of peace, a garland of Olive was given to Judith when she restored peace to the Israelites by the death of Holofernes. The tree is still with the Jew the emblem of peace and plenty, with an added significance of holiness; and the association of it with the last days of Christ has made it also sacred to sorrow.——As an emblem of peace and reconciliation, the Olive is figured on the tombs of the early martyrs. As the attribute of peace, it is borne by the angel Gabriel, and St. Agnes, and St. Pantaleon. By Romanists the Olive is deemed a fitting emblem of the Virgin Mary, as the mother of Christ, who brought peace on earth, and who was the Prince of Peace.——In regard to the Olive-trees of the Garden of Gethsemane, eight of which are still stated to exist, Dean Stanley says: “In spite of all the doubts that can be raised against their antiquity, or the genuineness of their site, the eight aged Olive-trees, if only by their manifest difference from all others on the mountain, have always struck even the most indifferent observers. They are now, indeed, less striking in the modern garden enclosure, built round them by the Franciscans, than when they stood free and unprotected on the rough hillside; but they will remain so long as their already protracted life is spared, the most venerable of their race on the surface of the earth. Their gnarled trunks and scanty foliage will always be regarded as the most affecting of the sacred memorials in or about Jerusalem.”——According to the Jewish legend of Abimelech, the trees, once upon a time, desiring a king, addressed themselves first of all to the Olive, who refused the honours of royalty. The trees next in turn invited the Fig, the Vine, and other trees to become their monarch, but they all declined. At last the crown was offered to the Oak, who accepted it.——Grecian mythologists relate that the club of Hercules, which was made of Olive-wood, took root, and became a tree. In the Olympic games, instituted by Hercules, the victor was rewarded with a crown of Olive. The club of Polyphemus was the green trunk of an Olive-tree.——The caps of the priests of Jupiter were surmounted with a twig of Olive. The Olympian Jove is represented as wearing a wreath of Olives. Herodotus recounts that Xerxes, before his Grecian expedition, dreamed that he was crowned with an Olive wreath, the sprays of which turned towards the sun; but that a moment afterwards, this crown had disappeared.——The Athenians went to consult the Delphic oracle, holding in their hands branches of Olive, and asking for a favourable response in the name and through the favour of the Olive-trees; and Tigranes, when before Xerxes, reproached Mardonius with having carried on a war against a people who, in their Olympian games, were content with a crown of Olives as the reward of victory, and who fought not for plunder and riches, but for love of country and glory.——There stood in the Forum of Megara a wild Olive, on which it became the custom to hang the arms of local heroes. In course of time the bark of the Olive grew over these arms, and they were forgotten. An oracle, however, had declared that when the tree had brought forth arms, its destruction would take place. When the tree was cut down, the arms and helmets alluded to were discovered; and it was seen that the oracle had been fulfilled.——The ProvenÇaux, at harvest time, sing a curious song, called the Reapers’ Grace, the first part of which narrates how Adam and Eve were put into the Garden of Eden; Adam is forbidden to eat of the fruit of life; he eats thereof, and the day of his death is foretold him. He will be buried under a Palm, Cypress, and Olive, and out of the wood of the Olive the cross was made.——According to a German tradition, from the tomb of Adam, the father of the human race, sprang an Olive: from this Olive was plucked the branch that the dove from the ark carried to Noah, the regenerator of the human race; and from the same Olive was made the cross of the Redeemer—the spiritual redeemer of the human race.——A tradition very general relates that the cross was formed of the Olive, Palm, Cedar, and Cypress, representing the four quarters of the globe.——In Central Europe, the Olive is everywhere regarded as the emblem of peace. It is planted in the midst of fields to ensure a good harvest and to protect the crops from hail: and in Venetia a branch is placed on the chimney-piece during thunder-storms as a preservative from lightning—a prayer being offered up at the same time to St. Barbara and St. Simon.——In some parts of Italy, young girls employ an Olive-branch as a means of divination. Having moistened a spray of Olive with their lips, they throw it in the fire; if the leaf jumps three times or darts out of the fire, they will find a husband; but if it burns without moving, it is a sure sign of celibacy. In Rome and Tuscany, the superstitious peasants imagine that no witch or sorcerer will enter a house where an Olive-branch that has been blessed is kept, and in order to ascertain whether they are suffering from the dire effects of an Evil Eye, they drop some Olive-oil in water, and from the appearance satisfy themselves on the point.——To dream of Olive-trees or Olives is considered a good omen, denoting happiness, prosperity, and success, and a speedy marriage to the lover; but to dream of plucking Olives is unpropitious, announcing trouble and vexation. To dream of Olive-trees bearing Olives denotes peace, delight, concord, liberty, dignity, and fruition of your desires. To dream that you beat the Olives down is lucky for all but servants.

ONION.—By the ancient Egyptians the Onion was regarded as a plant partaking of a sacred character and as a symbol of the Universe. With them it was a common object of worship, and their veneration for this and other vegetable products is ridiculed by the satirist Juvenal—

The Onions of Egypt, which were of large size and exquisite flavour, were remembered with regretful longings by the discontented Israelites in the wilderness; and although the priests of ancient Egypt were forbidden to partake of them, yet they were admitted among the offerings placed on the altars of the gods.——Mythologists relate that the goddess Latona, having, during an indisposition, lost her appetite, regained it by eating an Onion, and thenceforth adopted this vegetable, which was accordingly consecrated to her.——The disciples of Pythagoras abstained from eating Onions, ostensibly because they grew during the falling moon, but probably because, like Beans, they were considered too stimulating in their effects. Among the Greeks, it would seem that the Onion was considered symbolic of generation, since we find that at the nuptials of Iphicrates with the daughter of King Cotys, he received, among other presents, a jar of snow, a jar of Lentils, and a jar of Onions.——It is thought that, as with the Egyptians, or with the English Druids, the Onion was an emblem of the deity, and to this day it is a custom in some parts of England for girls to divine by it. Barnaby Googe, in ‘Ye Popish Kingdome,’ tells us:—

In olden times, country lasses used to resort to a method of divination with an Onion named after St. Thomas: this they peeled and wrapped in a clean kerchief; then, placing it under their heads, they repeated the following lines:—

In the South of England this species of divination is still extant, but the procedure is different. When the Onions are bought, the purchaser must take care to go in by one door of the shop and come out by another—a shop being selected that has two doors. These Onions, placed under your pillow on St. Thomas’s Eve, are sure to bring visions of your true-love, your future husband.——According to astrologers, the Onion is under the dominion of Mars.——To dream of Onions is considered of evil augury, portending sickness and misfortune.

ORANGE.—Both Spenser and Milton held the opinion that the Orange is the veritable “golden Apple” presented by Juno to Jupiter on the day of their nuptials; hence, perhaps, the association of the Orange with marriage rites. This golden fruit grew only in the garden of the Hesperides, situated near Mount Atlas in Africa, where they were carefully tended by the three daughters of Hesperus—Ægle, Arethusa, and Erythia—and guarded by an ever-sleeping dragon. It was one of the labours of Hercules, to obtain some of these golden Apples. After slaying the dragon, he succeeded in plucking the auriferous fruit, and took them to Eurystheus, but they were afterwards carried back to the garden of the Hesperides by Minerva, as they could not be preserved elsewhere. Milton alludes to the Orange as a tree

These, again, were the golden Apples given by Venus to the subtle Hippomenes, and by means of which he cunningly contrived to wrest victory in his race with the swift-footed Atalanta. Perhaps, also, Spenser’s opinion is correct, and the Orange may be the fruit, the bestowal of which upon Venus was the origin of the Trojan war. Spenser states his opinion in the following stanzas of his ‘FaËrie Queene’:—

At Brighton, there exists a curious custom of bowling or throwing Oranges along the high-road on Boxing-day. He whose Orange is hit by that of another, forfeits the fruit to the successful hitter.——An Andalusian tradition, given by De Gubernatis, relates that the Virgin Mary, journeying with the infant Jesus and with Joseph, came to the Orange-tree, which was guarded by an eagle, and begged of it one of the Oranges for the holy child. The eagle miraculously fell asleep, and the Virgin thereupon plucked not one but three Oranges, one of which she gave to the infant Jesus, another to Joseph, and the third she kept for herself. Then, and not till then, the eagle that guarded the Orange-tree awoke.——According to Evelyn, the first China Orange-tree which reached Europe was sent as a present to the old Conde Mellor, then Prime Minister to the King of Portugal. Writing in 1697, the Jesuit Le Comte states that “the first and unique Orange-tree, from which it is said all others have sprung, is still preserved at Lisbon, in the house of Count St. Laurent.”——In Sicily, statues of the Madonna are decorated with branches of the Orange; at Avola, in Sicily, on Easter Sunday, two posts are set up, and decorated with Orange-boughs.——The Orange is one of those rare trees which produce at the same time fruit, flowers, and foliage; hence it is in some countries considered as typifying great fulness, and has thus become connected with wedding ceremonies. The practice of wearing Orange-blossoms and wreaths by brides has been derived from the Saracens, amongst whom the Orange-flower was regarded as emblematic of a happy and prosperous marriage. In Crete, the bride and bridegroom are sprinkled with Orange-flower-water. In Sardinia, it is customary to attach Oranges to the horns of oxen which draw the nuptial carriage.——To dream of Oranges would appear to be at all times a very unfavourable omen.

ORCHIS.—From mythology we learn that the Orchis owes its origin to the wanton son of the satyr Patellanus and the nymph Acolasia, who presided at the feasts celebrated in honour of Priapus. The headstrong Orchis, being present at the celebration of the feast of Bacchus, laid violent hands on one of the priestesses of that god; and this sacrilegious conduct so incensed the Bacchanals against the youth, that they forthwith set upon him, and in their fury literally tore him in pieces. His father adjured the gods, but the only remedy he could obtain was that his son’s mangled corpse should be transformed into a flower, which should ever after bear the name of Orchis, as a blot upon his memory.——Among the early Romans, the Orchis was often called Satyrion, because it was believed to be the food of the satyrs, and as such excited them to those excesses which were characteristic of the attendants of Bacchus. Hence, the Orchis-root not unnaturally became famous as a powerful stimulating medicine, and is so described by all herbalists from the time of Dioscorides.——A very old tradition exists that Orchids sprang from the seed of the thrush and the blackbird.——Bishop Fleetwood writes of these curious flowers that they represent apes, birds, wasps, bees, flies, butterflies, gnats, spiders, grasshoppers, and other insects; “but the most curious sort is that which is called Anthropophora, because it represents a man or a woman very exactly.” He further tells us “this flower, resembling a man, appears in the beginning of Autumn; but that which represents women comes in May. These two Orchids were, in 1671, engraved by order of the Academia Curiosorum NaturÆ, and were described as Orchis Anthropophorus Mas., and O.A. Foemina.”——A tradition is attached to the English species, Orchis mascula, which usually has its leaves marked with deep purple spots. It is said that these spots are the stains of the precious blood which flowed from our Lord’s wounded body on the cross at Calvary, as this species of Orchis is reported to have grown there. In Cheshire, the plant is called Gethsemane.——The sweet-scented Orchis, Gymnadenia conopsea, is the Northern goddess Frigg’s Grass.

ORPINE.—On Midsummer Eve, Orpine (Sedum Telephium), Fennel, Lilies, and Hypericum used formerly to be hung over doors and windows. The plant is commonly called ‘Midsummer Men’ and ‘Livelong,’ from a custom of country lasses to try their lovers’ fidelity with it on Midsummer Eve: this they do by setting up two plants of Orpine—one representing themselves, and another their lovers—upon a slate or trencher, and afterwards judging of the state of their lover’s affections by his plant living and turning to their own, or not. Wives, also, place over their heads the Orpine-plant, and by the bending of the leaves to the right or to the left divine whether husbands are true or false. (See Livelong.)

OSMUND ROYAL.—The stately flowering Fern Osmunda Regalis is said to derive its name from the following legend:—A waterman, named Osmund, once dwelt on the banks of Loch Fyne, with his wife and daughter. One day a band of fugitives, bursting into his cottage, warned Osmund that the cruel Danes were fast approaching the ferry. Osmund heard them with fear; he trembled for those he held dearer than life. Suddenly the shouts of furious men roused him to action. Snatching up his oars, he rowed his trembling wife and child to a small island covered with this beautiful Fern; and helping them to land, he bade them lie down beneath the shady foliage for protection. Scarcely had the ferryman returned to his cottage, ere a company of fierce Danes rushed in, but knowing that he could be of service to them, they did him no harm. During the day and night, Osmund was occupied in ferrying the troops across the lake. When the last company had landed, Osmund kneeled beside the bank, and returned thanks to Heaven for the preservation of his wife and child. Often in after years did he speak of that day’s peril; and his daughter called the Fern by her father’s name. Gerarde, in describing the stem of the Osmunda, which, on being cut, exhibits a white centre, calls this portion of the Fern the “heart of Osmund, the waterman,” probably in allusion to the above tradition.

Our Lady’s Plants.—See Lady’s Plants.

Ox-Eye.—See Moon Daisy.

PALASA.—Palasa is a Sanscrit word, meaning “leaf,” but in course of time it became applied to the Butea frondosa as well as the name Parna, which also signifies a leaf. The modern Indian name of the tree is Dhak. The Palasa is in India a sacred tree, and has a special cultus; as such, it is held to be imbued with the immortalising Soma, the beverage of the gods. According to the Vedas, it owed its origin to a feather dropped by a falcon who, when the gods were pining for the precious Soma fluid, succeeded in stealing some from the demons who had charge of it. In flying off with its prize, the falcon was wounded by an arrow shot by one of the demons, which wounded it and caused a feather impregnated with the divine fluid to fall to earth, where it took root and became a Palasa-tree (called also Parna), which has a red sap and scarlet blossoms—emblems of the sacred fire. The falcon was a transformed god—some say Indra—hence the tree which sprang from the god-bird’s feather was in its nature divine.——The Palasa was much employed by the Hindus in religious ceremonies, particularly in one connected with the blessing of calves to ensure them proving good milkers. To this end, at the time of the sacrifice offered in the new moon (the season of increase), the priest, on behalf of the Hindu farmer, selected a Palasa-branch that grew on the north-east, north, or east side of the tree, and cut it off, saying, “For strength cut I thee.” Then, having stripped off the leaves, he struck both calves and dams with it, blessing the latter and bidding them be good milkers and breeders, and profitable animals to their masters. This done, he stuck up the Palasa rod eastward of the holy fire, and bade it protect the cattle. The object in thus touching the cattle was that the divine Soma contained in the rod might pass into and enrich the udders of the beasts. The Palasa is triple-leaved, and hence was deemed to typify, like the trident, the forked lightning, an appropriate attribute, inasmuch as it originally sprang from a god of the lightning. In this respect, it resembled the rod of Mercury (a fire-god), the Sami, and the Rowan rod.——The staff of the Brahman ought to be made of Palasa wood. (See Dhak.) PALM.—The Palm-tree is symbolic of victory, of riches, and of generation. It was considered by the ancients also an emblem of light, and was held sacred to Apollo. The Palm of Delos was supposed to have existed from the time of the god Apollo himself. Among the Greeks, there existed a legend that the Palm, like the Olive, was brought into Greece by Hercules, on his return from the infernal regions. The Orphics venerated the Palm as an immortal tree, which never grew old; hence, as a symbol of immortality, and especially of the immortality of glory, it was associated with the goddess Victoria, called also Dea Palmaris.——In India, as amongst the Arabs, the Palm is considered a sacred tree.——According to an Indian legend, the Palm of the Lake of Taroba, in Central India, was only visible during the day; in the evening it re-entered the earth. It is related that a rash pilgrim climbed one morning to the top of the Palm, but the tree grew to such a height above the earth’s surface, that the pilgrim was scorched to death by the sun’s rays, and the Palm itself was reduced to tinder. On the spot where the miraculous Palm is said to have once grown stands the idol of the Geni of the Lake, called Taroba.——Christian legend has associated the Palm with the history of Jesus. According to the Apocryphal Gospel, the Virgin Mary, whilst journeying, became fatigued and oppressed with the great heat; in passing by a great desert, she saw a large and beautiful Palm-tree, beneath which she wished to seek rest and shelter; so she asked Joseph to drive the ass upon which she was seated towards the tree. When she reached the foot of the tree, she dismounted, and, looking up, noticed that the tree was laden with fruit. Then she said to Joseph: “I wish to have some of the fruit of this tree, for I am hungry.” To this, Joseph replied: “Mary, I marvel that you should desire to eat of this fruit.” Then Jesus Christ, who was seated in his mother’s lap, ordered the Palm to bend down, so that his mother might partake of its fruit at pleasure. And forthwith the tree bent down to the Virgin Mary, and she partook of its fruit, and still the Palm remained bent downwards. Then, Jesus perceiving this, ordered the Palm to resume its natural position, and it immediately did so. This legend has been widely diffused in Italy and elsewhere, sometimes with the following addendum: “Jesus, after this act of devotion on the part of the Palm, gave the tree his benediction, chose it as the symbol of eternal salvation for the dying, and declared that he would make his triumphant entry into Jerusalem with a Palm in his hand.”——The Palm was early assumed by the Christian Church as the universal symbol of martyrdom, in accordance with Revelation vii., 9: “And after this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude stood before the throne, clothed with white robes, and with Palms in their hands.... And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation.” Hence, in early Italian paintings of the saints, as well as on the sculptured effigies of Christian heroes, the Palm is represented as borne by those who suffered martyrdom; and, in some instances, by those conspicuous for their victory over pain and temptation.——In old religious paintings, St. Christopher (who lived in the middle of the fourth century) is represented as a man of Herculean proportions, who uses, as a supporting staff, an entire Palm-tree with leaves and branches. The legend is, that having, when still unconverted, entreated a hermit to show him Christ, the holy man admonished him that he must do some good and acceptable work, and recommended him to go to the banks of a deep and swollen river, and by his great strength assist travellers to cross over it. Christopher readily undertook the task, and went and dwelt by the side of the river. Having rooted up a Palm-tree, he used it as a staff to guide and support his steps, and aided all who were overcome by the stream, and carried the weak on his shoulders across it. After he had spent many days at this toil, he, one night, whilst lying resting in his hut, heard a voice calling him from the shore. He arose and looked out, but saw nothing. So he lay down again, and the same thing occurred to him a second and third time. Then he took his lantern and searched about the river bank, and at last discovered a little child, who plaintively said to him: “Christopher, carry me over this night.” Thereupon the stalwart young man lifted the little child on his shoulders, and grasping his Palm-staff, entered the stream. As he struggled across, the waters kept rising higher and higher; the waves roared, and beat against him, and the winds blew. The infant on his shoulder became heavier and still heavier, till Christopher felt that he must sink under the excessive weight, and began to feel afraid: nevertheless, taking fresh courage, and staying his tottering steps with his Palm-staff, he at length reached the opposite bank. Gently placing the child down, he looked at him with astonishment, and asked, “Who art thou, child, that hast placed me in such extreme peril? Had I carried the whole world on my shoulders, the burthen had not been heavier.” Then the child replied: “Wonder not, Christopher, for thou hast not only borne the world, but Him who made the world, upon thy shoulders. Me wouldst thou serve in this thy work of charity; and, behold, I have accepted thy service; and in testimony that I have accepted thy service and thee, plant thy staff in the ground, and it shall put forth leaves and fruit.” Christopher did so, and the dry Palm-staff flourished as a Palm-tree in the season, and was covered with clusters of Dates. But the miraculous child had vanished. Then Christopher fell on his face, and confessed and worshipped Christ.——According to the legend of the death of the Virgin Mary, she was, one day, filled with an inexpressible longing to behold her Son again, and whilst weeping, an angel suddenly appeared, and said: “Hail, O Mary! I bring thee here a branch of Palm, gathered in Paradise; command that it be carried before thy bier in the day of thy death; for in three days thy soul shall leave thy body, and thou shalt enter into Paradise, where thy Son awaits thy coming.” After conversing with the Holy Mother, the angel departed into heaven, and the Palm-branch which he had left behind him shed light from every leaf, and sparkled as the stars of the morning. At the same instant, the apostles, who were dispersed in various parts of the world, were miraculously caught up and deposited at Mary’s door. Then, having thanked the Lord, she placed in the hands of St. John the shining Palm, and desired him to bear it before her at the time of the burial—an office which he faithfully discharged.——Some authorities mention the Palm as one of the four trees which furnished the wood of which the Redeemer’s Cross was composed; this notion is derived from Canticles vii., 8: “I will go up to the Palm-tree,” &c. Hence the old rhyme:—

The praises of the Palm have been sung by Hebrew, Indian, Persian, and Arabian poets of all ages. According to Strabo, a Persian hymn, but according to Plutarch a Babylonian hymn, records the three hundred and sixty benefits conferred on mankind by this noble tree; whilst a poem in the Tamil language, although enumerating eight hundred and one uses of the Palmyra Palm, does not exhaust the catalogue.——In the Indian Vishnu PurÂna, the fruitfulness of the Date Palm is alluded to. The youthful Bala RÂma slays the monster Dhenuka, and casts the carcase at the foot of a Date Palm: then the Dates fell upon him just as rain, beaten by the winds, patters down on the earth.——In India, the Palm has given rise to a proverb on account of the facility with which it takes root: the natives say of a vile and despised enemy, that he takes root as a Palm.——To dream of a Palm-tree is a very good omen, particularly if it is in full blossom, in which case it predicts much success and good fortune.

PANSY.—The Pansy (Viola tricolor) derives its name from a corruption of the French word pensÉes, thoughts: thus poor Ophelia says:—

Spenser designated the flower “the pretty Pawnce;” Milton spoke of it as the “Pansy freak’d with jet;” and Drayton sings:—

Rapin writes of the flower as Flos Jovis—the flower of Jove:—

In addition to this grandiose title, the little flower rejoices in a multiplicity of epithets bestowed on it by rural admirers. It is Heart’s-ease, Forget-me-not, Herb Trinity, Three-Faces-under-a-Hood, Love-and-Idle, Love-in-idleness, Live-in-Idleness, Call-me-to-you, Cuddle-me-to-you, Jump-up-and-kiss-me, Kiss-me-ere-I-Rise, Kiss-me-at-the-Garden-Gate, Tittle-my-Fancy, Pink-of-my-John, and Flamy, because its colours are seen in the flame of wood. In the North-east of Scotland, and in Scandinavia, the flower is with a spice of irony called Step-mother. In ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ Shakspeare gives the Heart’s-ease magical qualities. Oberon bids Puck procure for him “a little western flower” on which Cupid’s dart had fallen, and which maidens called “Love-in-Idleness.” Says the fairy king:—

The poet Herrick tells us, in regard to the origin of these favourite flowers, that—

The Pansy was the accidental cause of Bertram, the first American botanist, devoting himself to the study of botany. The stamens and pistil of this flower have something grotesque in their appearance when disclosed, resembling to a fanciful mind an animal with arms, and a head projecting and stooping forward. Bertram, who was originally a farmer, while superintending his servants in the field, and giving them directions, gathered a Pansy that was growing at his feet, and thoughtlessly pulled off its petals one after another. Struck with the stamens and pistil, Bertram conveyed it home, that he might examine it more carefully. Its examination created in him that thirst for the knowledge of the construction and habits of plants which afterwards rendered him so famous, and won for him the friendship of LinnÆus.——The Heart’s-ease is said to be sacred to St. Valentine. As the Herba Trinitatis, or Herb Trinity, it is the special flower of Trinity Sunday.——It is considered to be a herb of Saturn.

PAPYRUS.—Plutarch tells us that the vessel on which the Egyptian goddess Isis embarked on her voyage to search for the remains of Osiris, was constructed of the Reeds of the Papyrus (Papyrus antiquorum), and that the crocodiles, out of respect and fear of the goddess, dared not approach the bark.——The Papyrus is the Rush described in the Hebrew Scriptures by the word GÔme, and in an ark of GÔme the mother of the infant Moses put her babe, and laid it in the Flags by the brink of the river Nile. The ancient Egyptians plaited the stems of the Papyrus not only into little boats, but into sails, mats, and sandals. The fabrication in particular of little boats appears to have been practised by them to an immense extent, and to have commenced in the very earliest days of the nation. M. de Castelnau says that the Reed-boats still in use amongst the Peruvians exactly resemble the pictured representations of the Egyptian ones, as preserved on the walls of the tomb of Rameses III. at Thebes. Bundles of Papyrus-stems furnished models for the shafts of some of the pillars of the ancient Egyptian temples, and the bases of these were ornamented with representations of the sheaths that encircle the foot of the flower-stalk. The Papyrus-plant supplied the material of which the famous paper, both rough and fine, was manufactured in ancient times. Papyrus paper made 2000 years B.C., or anterior to the time of Abraham, is still in existence. It was an article of commerce long before the time of Herodotus, and it remained in use till the seventh century. This Papyrus paper was prepared from the white pith of the stoutest stems of the Reeds which grew in great abundance in the pools caused by the overflowing of the Nile.——Plutarch relates, that when Agesilaus visited Egypt, he was so delighted with the chaplets of Papyrus sent him by the king, that he took some home when he returned to Sparta.

PARSLEY.—Hercules is said to have selected Parsley to form the first garlands he wore. The Greeks held Parsley (Petroselinum) in great reputation. A crown of dried and withered Parsley was given to the victor at the Isthmian games; and one of green Parsley to the conqueror at the Nemean games, in memory of the death of Archemorus, the infant son of Lycurgus, who, laid down by his nurse on a sprig of Parsley, was killed by a serpent.——A branch of Laurel and a crown of Parsley were given to the god of banquets. At Greek banquets the guests wore crowns of Parsley, under the belief that the herb created quiet and promoted an appetite.——Greek gardens were often bordered by Parsley and Rue; hence arose the saying, when an undertaking was in contemplation, but not really commenced: “Oh, we are only at the Parsley and Rue!” Parsley, again, was in great request for the purpose of decorating graves; and the Greeks were fond of strewing sprigs of the herb over the bodies of the dead. A despairing lover cries:—

From these funereal associations the herb acquired an ominous significance; and “to be in need of Parsley” was a proverbial expression meaning to be on the point of death. Plutarch tells of a panic created in a Greek force marching against the enemy by their suddenly meeting some mules laden with Parsley, which the soldiery looked upon as an ill omen. In our own country, to this day, there is an old saying among the people of Surrey and Middlesex, that “Where Parsley’s grown in the garden, there’ll be a death before the year’s out.”——There are several other English superstitions connected with Parsley. Children are often told that newly-born infants have been found in a Parsley bed. The seed of this herb is apt to come up only partially, according as the Devil takes his tithe of it. If, after having bruised some sprigs of Parsley in her hands, the housewife should attempt to raise her glasses, they will generally snap, and suddenly break. In some parts of Devonshire, the belief is widely spread that to transplant Parsley is an offence to the spirit who is supposed to preside over Parsley beds, entailing sure punishment either on the offender himself or some members of his family within a year. The peasants of South Hampshire will on no account give away Parsley, for fear of misfortune befalling them; and in Suffolk there is an old belief that to ensure the herb coming up “double,” Parsley-seed must be sown on Good Friday.——In the Southern States of America, the negroes consider it unlucky to transplant Parsley from an old home to a new one.——To dream of cutting Parsley is said to indicate a cross in love; to dream of eating it foretels good news.——The herb is held to be under Mercury.

PASQUE-FLOWER.—The Anemone Pulsatilla is the Paschal or Pasque-flower, especially dedicated to the Church’s Easter festival, The petals of the flower yield a rich green colour, which in olden times was used for the purpose of staining the eggs to be presented, according to custom, as Easter gifts. (See Anemone.)

PASSION-FLOWER.—The Passion-flower (Passiflora coerulea) is a wild flower of the South American forests, and it is said that the Spaniards, when they first saw the lovely bloom of this plant, as it hung in rich festoons from the branches of the forest trees, regarded the magnificent blossom as a token that the Indians should be converted to Christianity, as they saw in its several parts the emblems of the Passion of our Lord.——In the year 1610, Jacomo Bosio, the author of an exhaustive treatise on the Cross of Calvary, was busily engaged on this work when there arrived in Rome an Augustinian friar, named Emmanuel de Villegas, a Mexican by birth. He brought with him, and showed to Bosio, the drawing of a flower so “stupendously marvellous,” that he hesitated making any mention of it in his book. However, some other drawings and descriptions were sent to him by inhabitants of New Spain, and certain Mexican Jesuits, sojourning at Rome, confirmed all the astonishing reports of this floral marvel; moreover, some Dominicans at Bologna engraved and published a drawing of it, accompanied by poems and descriptive essays. Bosio therefore conceived it to be his duty to present the Flos Passionis to the world as the most wondrous example of the Croce trionfante discovered in forest or field. The flower represents, he tells us, not so directly the Cross of our Lord, as the past mysteries of the Passion. It is a native of the Indies, of Peru, and of New Spain, where the Spaniards call it “the Flower of the Five Wounds,” and it had clearly been designed by the great Creator that it might, in due time, assist in the conversion of the heathen among whom it grows. Alluding to the bell-like shape assumed by the flower during the greater part of its existence (i.e., whilst it is expanding and fading), Bosio remarks: “And it may well be that, in His infinite wisdom, it pleased him to create it thus shut up and protected, as though to indicate that the wonderful mysteries of the Cross and of his Passion were to remain hidden from the heathen people of those countries until the time preordained by His Highest Majesty.”——The figure given of the Passion-flower in Bosio’s work shows the crown of thorns twisted and plaited, the three nails, and the column of the flagellation just as they appear on ecclesiastical banners, &c. “The upper petals,” writes Bosio in his description, “are tawny in Peru, but in New Spain they are white, tinged with rose. The filaments above resemble a blood-coloured fringe, as though suggesting the scourge with which our blessed Lord was tormented. The column rises in the middle. The nails are above it; the crown of thorns encircles the column; and close in the centre of the flower from which the column rises is a portion of a yellow colour, about the size of a reale, in which are five spots or stains of the hue of blood, evidently setting forth the five wounds received by our Lord on the Cross. The colour of the column, the crown, and the nails is a clear green. The crown itself is surrounded by a kind of veil, or very fine hair, of a violet colour, the filaments of which number seventy-two, answering to the number of thorns with which, according to tradition, our Lord’s crown was set; and the leaves of the plant, abundant and beautiful, are shaped like the head of a lance or pike, referring, no doubt, to that which pierced the side of our Saviour, whilst they are marked beneath with round spots, signifying the thirty pieces of silver.” Such is Bosio’s description of what he designates the “stupendous flower,” and the stir which his writings caused among the botanists and theologians of Italy soon brought about the introduction of the plant itself, which, before the year 1625, had established itself and blossomed in the garden of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, at Rome. Aldinus, who was both the Cardinal’s physician and the controller of his garden, has left his description of the Passion-flower, and says of it:—“This is the famous plant sung by poets and celebrated by orators, the plant reasoned about by philosophers with the utmost subtlety, praised by physicians for its marvellous virtues, sought for eagerly by the sick, wondered at by theologians, and venerated by all pious Christians.” In his description of the flower Aldinus sets forth “what theologians may really find in it.” He says: “The nails on the top are represented so exactly, that nothing more perfect can be imagined.... In the open flower they are twisted and marked with dark blood-like spots, as if they had been already removed from the Cross. The small undeveloped seed-vessels may be compared to the sponge full of vinegar offered to our Lord. The star-form of the half-opened flower may represent the star of the Wise Men; but the five petals, fully opened, the five wounds. The base of the ovary is the column of the flagellation. The filaments represent the scourges spotted with blood, and the purple circle on them is the crown of thorns, blood covered. The white petals symbolise the purity and brightness of Our Lord, and His white robe. The corniculata folia, the sub-petals, white inside and green without, figure hope and purity, and are sharply pointed, as if to indicate the ready eagerness with which each one of the faithful should embrace and consider the mysteries of the Passion. The leaves of the whole plant are set on singly, for there is one God, but are triply divided, for there are Three Persons. The plant itself would climb toward heaven, but cannot do so without support. So the Christian, whose nature is to climb, demands constant assistance. Cut down, it readily springs up again; and whoever holds the mysteries of the Passion in his heart cannot be hurt by the evil world. Its fruit is sweet and delicate, and the Passion of our Lord brings sweet and delectable fruit to us.” In his ‘Paradisus Terrestris,’ John Parkinson, writing in 1629, speaks of the “Virgin Climer,” as “a brave and too-much-desired plant,” with flowers which “make a tripartite shew of colours most delightfull,” and are “of a comfortable sweet sent, very acceptable.”——The plant’s native Indian name was Maracot; from the likeness of the fruit to a small Pomegranate, it was sometimes called Granadilla; the Mexican Jesuits named it Flor de las cinca llagas; but in Italy, it was usually known as Fior della Passione, the name which it has retained throughout Europe.

PAULOWNIA.—The noble hardy tree, Paulownia imperialis, was so named in 1840 in honour of the Hereditary Princess of the Netherlands, a daughter of the Emperor of Russia. The Paulownias are famous throughout Japan for the hardness and beauty of their wood: they attain a height of about thirty feet, and produce dark lilac flowers, which are borne in three spikes upon a tri-lobed sinuous leaf. These flowers, which resemble the blossom of the Catalpa, constitute one of the crests of the Mikado of Japan.

PAVETTA INDICA.—A race of Malays, called the Aruans, when burying their dead, carry the body into the forest, and hoist it upon the summit of four posts. A tree, usually the Pavetta Indica, is then planted near it, and at this final ceremony none but nude females are allowed to be present.

PEA.—The priests of ancient Egypt were not allowed to partake of Peas.——The Pea, like most trailing and climbing plants, has always traditionally been connected with celestial fire. According to a mediÆval legend, the ancient Midsummer or St. John’s Day fires were kindled at the season of the Summer solstice for the purpose of scaring away pestilential dragons; and these dragons carried Peas in their flight, which they cast down in such quantities as to fill up the wells, and their smell was so foul that the cattle refused to eat them: these Peas represent lightning, and their smell is the sulphurous fume that clings to everything struck by it. The ancient German Zwergs, who are dwarfs closely connected with the thunder-god Thor, and who forged for him his lightning hammer, are exceedingly fond of Peas, and often plunder the Pea-fields. Peas were consecrated to Thor himself, and to this day in Berlin Peas with Saurkraut are a standing dish on Thor’s Day (Thursday). The Pea was the favourite vegetable of Thor himself, and St. Nicholas, who in some countries has replaced him, is sometimes represented as being clad in Peas-straws. In the North of England, if a lass’s lover has proved unfaithful to her, she is, by way of consolation, rubbed with Peas-straw by neighbouring lads. A Scottish ballad says:—

Similarly when a Cambrian youth has been jilted, and his sweetheart marries a rival, the same operation is performed upon him, as a solace, by the village lasses. In the North of England, Carling Sunday (the fourth in Lent) is universally celebrated by feasts of Peas and butter. The use of Peas in divination concerning love affairs probably arises from the fact that they are sacred to the patron of marriage. In Bohemia, the girls go into a Pea-field, and there make a garland of five or seven kinds of flowers, all of different hues. This garland they use as a pillow, lying down with their right ear upon it, and then they hear a voice from underground, which tells them what manner of man they will have for a husband. A curious custom, known as “Peascod wooing,” was formerly extant in many country places; it was performed, according to Brand, by selecting one growing on the stem, snatching it away quickly, and if the good omen of the Peas remaining in the husk was preserved, then presenting it to the chosen lady. A girl shelling Peas will, if she should chance to find a pod containing nine, place it on the lintel of the kitchen door, and the first single man who enters is considered to be marked out for her future husband. Gay alludes to this custom in the following lines:—

The village girls in Hertfordshire lay the pod with nine Peas under a gate, and believe they will have for husband the man who first passes through, or, at any rate, one whose Christian name and surname have the same initials as his.——It is always considered a good augury to dream of Peas.——In Suffolk, there is a legend that the Lathyrus Maritimus, or Everlasting Pea of the sea-side, sprang up on the coast there for the first time in a season when greatly needed; and Fuller says of this particular Pea that “in a general dearth all over England, plenty of Peas did grow on the sea-shore, near Dunmow, in Suffolk, never set or sown by human industry, which, being gathered in a full ripeness, much abated the high price in the markets, and preserved many hungry families from perishing.”

PEACH.—There is an old tradition that the falling of the leaves of a Peach-tree betoken a murrain.——There is a superstitious belief in Sicily, that anyone afflicted with goÎtre, who on the night of St. John, or of the Ascension, eats a Peach, will be cured, provided only that the Peach-tree dies at the same time; the idea being that the tree, in dying, takes the goÎtre away with it, and so delivers the sufferer from the affliction. In Italy, as a charm to cure warts, Peach-leaves are carefully buried in the earth, so that as they perish the wart may disappear.——To dream of Peaches in season denotes content, health, and pleasure.

PEAR.—Among the ancients, the Pear was specially consecrated to Venus. Columella knew a species called Pyrus Venerea, the Pear of Love. The Scots claim that “fair Avalon,” the Celtic “Isle of the Blest,” is an island in Loch Awe, Argyleshire; and the Gaelic legend changes the mystical Apples into the berries of the Pyrus cordata, a species of wild Pear, found both in the island of Loch Awe, and in Aiguilon.——On the Continent, there is a belief that orchards are infested by malignant spirits, which attack the fruit-trees, and in the DÉpartement de l’Orne, to drive away the demons which attack Pears and Apples, the peasants burn the Moss on the trunk and branches, singing the while an appropriate rhyme or incantation. In Aargau, Switzerland, when a boy is born, they plant an Apple-tree; when a girl, a Pear.——To dream of ripe Pears betokens riches and happiness; if unripe, adversity; if baked, great success in business; to a woman a dream of Pears denotes that she will marry above her in rank.

PEEPUL.—The Ficus religiosa, the Asvattha or Pippala of the Hindus, is a tree held in the highest sanctity by the Buddhists, near whose temples it is always found. It is this tree—the Bodhidruma, the Tree of Wisdom—under which Buddha sat absorbed in a species of intellectual ecstacy, and which his followers regard as the tree of creation, life, wisdom, and preparation for Paradise, as well as the yielder of ambrosia and rain. From ancient Vedic tradition the Buddhists have inherited the worship of this sacred tree: they say that at the hour of Buddha’s nativity, whilst around Kapilavastu suddenly arose magnificent woods, an enormous Asvattha, or Bo-tree, sprang from the very centre of the universe.——Hiouen-thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, professed to have found the Bodhidruma, or some tree that passed for it, twelve hundred years after Buddha’s death, at a spot near Gaya Proper, in Bahar, where still may be seen an old temple and ruins.——De Gubernatis tells us that there is represented in the KÂthaka Upanishad a heavenly cosmogonic Asvattha under precisely the same form as the Indian Bo-tree. “The eternal Asvattha, it is said, has its roots above, its branches below; it is called the Germ, Brahma, Ambrosia; beneath it all the worlds repose, above it nothing exists.” With its wood and that of the Acacia Suma (Sami) the sacred fire is lighted—the Asvattha representing the male, the Sami the female. The Asvattha, in rubbing the Sami, engenders the fire, and thus becomes an emblem of generation. From its heavenly origin and from its maintaining the fire of purification, the Bo-tree is credited with marvellous medicinal properties. Into a vase made of Asvattha-wood the priests pour the divine drink Soma.——In the Atharvaveda, says De Gubernatis, we are told that the Asvattha grows in the third heaven, and produces the Ambrosia under the name of Kushtha, or flower of the Amrita. He who eats the ambrosial food becomes intelligent. The cosmogonic tree of the Vedas is also the Tree of Intelligence, hence Buddha, the apostle of intelligence, sought refuge beneath its shade.——In a book of travels by two Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, translated by Mr. Beal, we find it stated that the only spot indicated by the gods as propitious to the acquirement of supreme wisdom is beneath the tree Peito, which the translator identifies with the Peepul, Bo-Tree, or Ficus religiosa. In the same narrative we learn that the gods constructed from the tree Sal (Shorea robusta) to the tree Bo a splendid road, three thousand cubits wide. The young Prince Buddha traverses the road during the night, surrounded by the Devas, the NÂgas, and other divine beings. Under the tree Peito Buddha walked from east to west, and was worshipped by the gods for the space of seven days; after that the gods constructed, north-west of the tree, a palace of gold, where Buddha stayed for seven days. Then he repaired to the lake Mukhalinda, where he sought the shadow of the tree Midella. Then the rain fell for seven days, and so the NÂga Mukhalinda came forth from the lake and sheltered Buddha with his hood. As showing the extreme fondness of Buddha for the Bo-tree, it is related by the Chinese that at the commencement of his conversion, he withdrew habitually beneath the tree Peito to meditate and fast. The Queen became exceedingly uneasy, and, in the hope of bringing back Buddha to his home, she gave orders for the Peito to be cut down. But at the sight of his beloved Bo-tree razed to the earth, so bitter became the grief of the seer, that he fell in a swoon to the ground. They sprinkled him with water, and when, after considerable trouble, he was restored to consciousness, he sprinkled on the roots one hundred jars full of milk; then prostrating himself with his face to the earth, he pronounced this vow:—“If the tree does not revive, I shall never arise again.” The tree at the same moment shot forth branches, and little by little raised itself until it attained its present height, which is about 120 feet. The number of Bo-trees which have become objects of veneration among the Hindus, and especially the Buddhists, is infinite, and the worship of the sacred Bodhidruma is still extant in India.——The Bo-tree is also specially consecrated to Vishnu, who is often portrayed as seated on its heart-shaped and pointed leaves. It is represented in the Vedas as being frequented by various birds, who eat its sweet Figs.——In the sacred city of AnurÂdhapura, in Ceylon, is a Bo-tree, which is supposed to be one of the oldest trees in existence, and its age is not merely legendary, but substantiated by authentic records. Kings have dedicated their dominions to it, in testimony of their belief that it sprang from a branch of the identical tree under which Buddha reclined for seven years whilst undergoing his apotheosis. The precious branch was taken to Ceylon by the king Asoka, and the tree of which it was the parent was planted by the king Tissa, in the year 288 B.C. When planting it Tissa prophesied that it should flourish eternally, and that it should be an evergreen. It is too sacred to be touched by a knife, but the leaves, as they fall, are eagerly gathered and treasured by Buddhist pilgrims.——In Java, the Bo-tree is also held sacred, and a species of Mistletoe which grows on its branches is supposed to afford much gratification to the shades of the departed which revisit earth. The Buddhists of Thibet call the sacred Bo-tree the bridge of safety—the bridge by which mortals pass from the shores of the world to the shores of the immortal land.

PENNYROYAL.—The Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium) used formerly to be called Puliol Royal, and derived its name from the Latin word pulices, fleas—insects it was thought to be specially efficacious in destroying. In most of the Western Counties the plant is known as Organ-herb, and is much prized by old-women herbalists as a blood purifier. According to an ancient recipe, Organ broth was used in witchcraft to make people see double.——In Sicily, children put Pennyroyal in their cots on Christmas Day, under the belief that at the exact hour and minute when the infant Jesus was born this plant puts forth its blossom. The same wonder is repeated on Midsummer Night. In Sicily, also, Pennyroyal is given to husbands and wives who quarrel.——According to astrologers, Pennyroyal is a herb of Venus.

PEONY.—The Peony, or healing plant (PÆonia), commemorates the Homeric god PÆon, the first physician of the gods, who healed the divinities Ares and Hades of their wounds. Tradition asserts that the Peony is the floral descendant of PÆon, who was a pupil of the great Æsculapius. PÆon first received the flower on Mount Olympus, from the hands of the mother of Apollo, and by its means he cured Pluto of a wound he had received from Hercules; but this cure created so much jealousy in the breast of Æsculapius, that he secretly caused the death of PÆon. Pluto, however, retained a grateful sense of his service, and so transformed his body into the flower which to-day bears his name.——Rapin has a totally different tale to tell as to the origin of the blooming Peony, although from what source he derived his information we are unable to discover. According to the French poet, PÆonia is a nymph whose crimson hue is not the blush of modesty, but the tell-tale witness of the sin of a shepherdess of Alcinous, King of PhÆacia, who seems to have been unable to withstand the amorous advances of the Sun-god.——In the emblematic language of flowers, the Peony is the representative of bashful shame.——Speaking of the Peony, Rapin says:—

The ancient Greeks held the Peony in great repute, believing its origin to have been divine. It was thought to have been an emanation from the moon, and that the flower shone during the night, chased away evil spirits, and protected the dwellings of those who cultivated it. Hence, in later days, it came to be ranked as a miraculous plant; and it was thought that evil spirits would shun the spot where it was planted, and that even a small piece of the root, worn round the neck as an amulet, would protect the wearer from all kinds of enchantment. To this day, in Sussex, necklaces of beads turned from the Peony-root are worn by young children, to prevent convulsions and assist them in teething. Apuleius states that the Peony is a powerful remedy for insanity. Lord Bacon tells us, in his ‘Natural History,’ that “it hath beene long received, and confirmed by divers trialls, that the root of the male Piony dried, tied to the necke, doth help the falling sicknesse, and likewise the incubus, which we call the Mare. The cause of both these diseases, and especially of the epilepsie from the stomach, is the grossenesse of the vapours, which rise and enter into the cells of the braine; and therefore the working is by extreme and subtill alternation, which that simple hath.”——In Germany, the Peony is the Pentecostal Rose.——Astrologers say that both male and female Peonies are herbs of the Sun, and under the Lion. PERIWINKLE.—In France, the Periwinkle is considered the emblem of the pleasures of memory and sincere friendship, probably in allusion to Rousseau’s recollection of his friend Madame de Warens, occasioned, after a lapse of thirty years, by the sight of the Periwinkle in flower, which they had once admired together.——In Italy, garlands of Periwinkle are placed upon the biers of deceased children, for which reason the plant has acquired the name of the Flower of Death; but in Germany it becomes the symbol of immortality.——Culpeper, in his ‘Herbal,’ says that the Periwinkle is owned by Venus, and that the leaves eaten together by man and wife, cause love between them.

PESTILENCE WEED.—The Butterbur Coltsfoot (Tussilago Petasites) obtained the name of Pestilence Weed from its having in olden times been held in great repute as a sovereign remedy for the plague and pestilent fever.

PHYTOLACCA.—A species of Phytolacca found by M. LÉvy in Nicaragua in 1876, and named by him P. electrica, may well be called the electrifying plant. The discoverer, when gathering a branch, experienced a veritable electric shock. Experimenting with a compass, he found the needle was agitated at a distance of eight paces, and became more so the nearer he approached; the action changing to a rapid gyratory motion when he finally placed the compass in the midst of the shrub. There was nothing in the soil to account for what may be termed the “shocking” proclivities of the shrub, which are slight in the night-time, becoming gradually intensified until about two o’clock p.m. In stormy weather, the intensity of action is increased, and the plant presents a withered appearance until the fall of rain. Neither insect nor bird was seen by M. LÉvy to approach this terrible shrub.

Pick-purse, or Pick-pocket.—(See Shepherd’s Purse).

PIMPERNEL.—The scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) is well known as the Poor Man’s Weather-glass, or Shepherd’s Barometer; both names having been given on account of the plant invariably closing its petals before and during rain. Darwin alludes to this peculiarity of the Pimpernel in the following lines:—

Besides being a barometrical, the Pimpernel is a horological, plant, opening its petals about 7 a.m., and closing them about 2 p.m. The plant was also considered a surgical plant, inasmuch as the old herbalists ascribed to it the power of drawing out arrows which were embedded in the flesh, as well as thorns and splinters, or “other such like things.” The bruised leaves were believed to cure persons bitten by mad dogs, and the juices of the plant were considered efficacious in complaints of the eyes, and in hypochondriacal cases. Its manifold virtues have passed into a proverb:—

Pliny records that sheep avoided the blue, and ate the scarlet, Pimpernel, and that if, by mistake, they ate the blue, they immediately sought for a plant which is now unknown. In Dyer’s ‘English Folk Lore,’ it is stated that, according to a MS. on magic, preserved in the Chetham Library, Manchester, “the herb Pimpernell is good to prevent witchcraft, as Mother Bumby doth affirme.” The following lines may be used when it is gathered:—

“Saying this fifteen dayes together, twice a day, morning earlye fasting, and in the evening full.”——Pimpernel is considered to be a herb of the Sun.

PINE.—The Pine was called the tree of Cybele (or Rhea), the mother of the gods. She was passionately fond of Atys, a Phrygian shepherd, and entrusted him with the care of her temple, under a vow that he should always live in celibacy. This vow, however, Atys violated by an amour with the nymph Sangaris, upon which he became delirious, and mutilated himself with a sharp stone. Then, as he was about to lay violent hands upon himself, Cybele transformed him into a Pine-tree. Ovid records that—

Rapin considers the Pine to have been regarded by the ancients as a sacred tree. He says—

After the metamorphosis of Atys into the Pine, Cybele sought refuge beneath the tree’s branches, and sat mourning there the loss of her faithless lover, until Jupiter promised that the Pine should remain ever green. It was tied to a Pine-tree, that Marsyas, the Phrygian flute-player, met his death. He became enamoured of Cybele, and journeyed with her as far as Nysa. Here

The Pine was dedicated to Bacchus, and at the Dionysian festivals the votaries sometimes wore garlands of its foliage: its cone is frequently represented surmounting the god’s thyrsus, possibly as being symbolic of fecundity and reproduction. The connection of the Pine with Bacchus is still maintained by the Greeks, who place the cones in their wine vats, to preserve and flavour the wine by means of the resin. The Pine-cone was considered a symbol of the heart of ZagrÆus, who was destroyed by the Titans, and whose ashes were given to Semele, the mother of Bacchus.——We find the Pine also dedicated to Pan, because Pitys, one of the many nymphs whom he loved, was changed into that tree, to escape the importunities of Boreas.——The wood of the Pine was employed in the construction of the first boats: hence the tree was also sacred to the sea-god Neptune.——Ovid introduces Pan as “crowned with a pointed leaf of Pine-leaf,” in reference to the sharpness of its narrow leaves. The length and straightness of its trunk, and freedom from branches, rendered it a suitable walking staff for the giant Polyphemus (Æn. iii.); and Turnus (from the resinous nature of this tree) is represented as raising a flaming brand of Pine-wood to set on fire the ships of the Trojans.——In Assyrian monuments, we find the Pine-cone offered to the god guarding life.——According to a Roman legend, two lovers who had died of love and were buried in the same cemetery, were changed, the one into a Pine, the other into a Vine, and were thus enabled to continue their fond embraces.——Prof. De Gubernatis remarks that, despite the legend of St. Martin, written by Sulpicius, who represented the Pine as a diabolic tree, Christianity itself has consecrated it. The town of Augsburg, which has for its badge a Pine-cone, is under the protection of St. Afra. In Sicily, they believe that the form of a hand is to be seen in the interior of the fruit—the hand of Jesus blessing the Pine which had saved Him during the flight into Egypt by screening Him and His mother from Herod’s soldiers.——At Ahorn, near Coburg, a frightful wind sent by a sorceress had bent the church steeple, which thus became an object of derision to the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. A shepherd, to save his village from such a standing reproach, attached a short rope to a Pine, which the inhabitants still pointed out in Nork’s time, and by dint of invocations and magical imprecations succeeded in straightening the steeple. Nork adds that in the year 1300, at Krain, near a convent, a statue of the Madonna, concealed in the trunk of a Pine, miraculously made itself heard by a priest: on that account a church has been erected in honour of the Virgin, in the immediate vicinity.——King Croesus threatened the inhabitants of Lampsacus that the destruction of their town should be as complete as a felled Pine, which, once cut down, never sprouts out again. The comparison was particularly apt, inasmuch as the town of Lampsachus was reputed to have been formerly called Pityusa—“the place planted with Pines.”——In a Pompeian design, we find a rural Cupid with a crown of Pine. Ovid crowns the Fauns with Pine. Virgil calls the Pine Pronuba, because the torches used at weddings were made of Pine-wood.——In the hymn of Callimachus to Diana, virgins are represented as wearing chaplets of Pine.——The Pine-cone unopened symbolised virginity.——In Podolia, in Little Russia, the bride-cake is ornamented with sprigs of Pine.——In Japan, the Pine has become a symbol of constancy and conjugal fidelity, because it is always verdant, even beneath the snow.——The Pine is a funereal tree, and, as is the case with all others of its class, it symbolises immortality and generation. Like the Cypress and the Fir, on account of the durability of its wood and its evergreen foliage, it represents the perpetuity of life,—a symbol that appears singularly in keeping with the funereal rites of a people who believed in the immortality of the soul.——In Russia, when the coffin is being carried to the cemetery, it is covered with branches of Pine or Fir.——The Fijian believes that, after death, the spirit, with his war-club and a whale’s tooth, journeys to the world’s end: there grows the sacred Pine, and at it the spirit hurls his whale’s tooth. If he strikes it, he proceeds on his way rejoicing, but if he misses his mark, his further progress is stopped.——Crowns of Pine were worn by victors at the Isthmian games.——The Pine was one of the trees ordered to be used by the Jews in erecting their tents at the Feast of the Tabernacles.——According to tradition, the Pine seen in a dream portends dissolution.

PINK.—The Pink (Dianthus) has been said to derive its name from the Dutch word Pinkster—Whitsuntide—the season at which a species called of old the Whitsuntide Gilliflower, is in flower. In Bologna, however, the flower is held sacred to St. Peter, who is believed to have been partial to it above all others; the 29th of June is there considered to be the day of Pinks.——In an old work quoted by Alphonse Karr, the author recommends the water distilled from Pinks as an excellent remedy against epilepsy, and adds: “but if a conserve be composed of it, it is the life and delight of the human race.” A vinegar made of Pinks was formerly prized for its efficacy against the plague.

Pixie-stool.—See Toadstool.

PLANE.—The Plane-tree (Platanus orientalis) was specially venerated in Greece. In the school of Plato, the philosophers used to walk and converse under the shadow of these delightful trees.——Pausanias mentions a Plane tree of extraordinary size and beauty in Arcadia, supposed to have been planted by Menelaus thirteen hundred years before.——The Plane was held sacred to Helen, the wife of Menelaus.——Evelyn gives an account of the passion conceived by Xerxes for a Plane-tree. Whilst marching through Lydia, he is said to have stopped his vast army of 1,700,000 soldiers, that he might admire the beauty of one of these trees, and became so enamoured of it, that, spoiling both himself, his concubines, and great persons, of all their jewels, he covered it with gold, gems, necklaces, scarfs, bracelets, and infinite riches. For some days, neither the concerns of his portentous army, nor the objects of his expedition, could divert his thoughts from the stately tree, and when at length he was forced to leave it, he caused the figure of it to be stamped on a medal of gold, which he continually wore about him.——In Greece, when lovers are obliged to separate, they exchange, as a gage of fidelity, the halves of a leaf of the Plane. When they meet again, each one produces the half-leaf, and they then fit them together.

PLANTAIN.—According to Grimm, the Plantain or Waybread (like the Endive or Succory—the German Wegewarte) is said to have been once a maiden, who, worn out with constantly watching the roadway for her lover, was changed into a plant, that still clings to a position by the wayside. In Devonshire, they say that once in seven years it becomes a bird—either the cuckoo or its helpmate, known as the “dinnick,” which is said to follow the cuckoo wherever it goes.——In Aargau, the Plantain is called Irrwurzel, and the peasantry there ascribe to it the power of disordering the wits.——The Greeks called the plant “Lamb’s-tongue,” and no less a personage than Alexander the Great ascribed to it magical properties, and asserted that its root was marvellously potent in the cure of headaches. According to Macer Floridus, a root suspended round the neck prevented scrofula; and Dioscorides affirmed that the water derived from three roots cured the tertian, and from four the quartan ague.——In England, the Plantain or Waybread has always had a high reputation as a vulnerary. Chaucer notices it as an application to wounds, and Shakspeare makes Romeo, when referring to a broken shin, say, “Your Plantain-leaf is excellent for that.” Clare, in his ‘Shepherd’s Calendar,’ recounts the following rustic divination common among the Midland country-folk:—

In Henderson’s ‘Folk Lore of the Northern Counties’ is an account of a curious rustic divination practised in Berwickshire by means of kemps or spikes of the Ribwort Plantain. Two spikes—one to represent the lad, the other the lass—are plucked when in full bloom, and after all the blossom has been carefully removed, the kemps should be wrapped in a Dock-leaf and laid under a stone. If the spikes shall have again blossomed when visited the next morning, the popular belief is that there will be “Aye love between them twae.”——Plantain is held by astrologers to be under the rule of Venus.

PLUM.—The Japanese, once a year, hold a popular festival in honour of the Plum-tree.——To dream of Plums is said to augur but little good to the dreamer: they are the forerunners of ill-health, and prognosticate losses, infidelity, and sickness, and much vexation in the married state.

POLYPODIUM.—According to a German tradition, the Polypodium vulgare sprang from the milk that the goddess Freyja, and after her the Virgin Mary, let fall on the earth.

POMEGRANATE.—The fruit of the Pomegranate has always been highly prized in the East. Rapin says of it:—

The Pomegranate was one of the plants assigned to Bacchus, and the origin of the tree is said to be due to a nameless nymph, beloved by Bacchus, to whom a priest had foretold that she should wear a crown. Bacchus kept the letter, but not the spirit of this prophecy, for, instead of espousing the betrayed maiden, he transformed her into a Pomegranate-tree, and twisted up the calyx of the blossom into the crown-like form it has ever since retained. Rapin relates the story as follows:—

Oppian gives another legend as to the origin of the Pomegranate, according to which, a man having lost his first wife, became enamoured of his daughter Side (Greek for Pomegranate-tree): to escape his cruel persecution, the unfortunate young girl killed herself; but the gods, compassionating her, metamorphosed Side into the Pomegranate-tree, and her unnatural father into a sparrow-hawk: so, according to Oppian, the sparrow-hawk will never alight upon the Pomegranate, but always persistently shuns the tree.——According to M. Lenormant, the Pomegranate sprang from the blood of Adgestis. The name Rimmon (Pomegranate) was that given in certain parts of Syria, near Damascus, to the young god, who died but to spring into a new life—reminding one of the story of Adonis.——The great number of seeds which the fruit of the Pomegranate contains has caused it to become the symbol of fecundity, generation, and wealth. Probably on this account the plant was sacred to Juno, the patroness of marriage and riches. In the Isle of Euboea, there was formerly a statue of this goddess, holding in one hand a sceptre, and in the other a Pomegranate. Prof. De Gubernatis suggests that the uterine form of the opened Pomegranate is the reason why Pausanias, after having said that Juno held a Pomegranate in her hand, adds, that she did not wish to divulge the mystery which appertained to this symbolic fruit. This is also the reason why (according to Cicero) Proserpine did not wish to leave the infernal regions without having eaten the Pomegranate which she plucked from a tree growing in the Elysian Fields. Ceres, inconsolable for the loss of her daughter, had begged Jupiter to release her from the power of Pluto. Jupiter decreed that if Proserpine had not tasted any food in the infernal regions, she might be restored to her mother; but, as Ovid tells us, by an unfortunate mischance,

Ceres, enraged, would not permit the earth to yield any fruits till her daughter was restored to her, and Jupiter at last decided that Proserpine should spend six months of the year with her mother, but as she had partaken of the Stygian Pomegranate, she was to stay the other six months with Pluto.——A legend states that from having been planted on the grave of King Eteocles, the fruit of the Pomegranate has ever since exuded blood. Another account relates that the blood of the Pomegranate had its origin in the life-blood of the suicide Menoeceus. On account of this blood which seems to flow from its fruit, the Pomegranate has acquired a somewhat sinister signification. As a rule, however, the sanguineous juice and innumerable seeds of the Pomegranate are considered a happy augury of fecundity and abundance.——There is a tradition that the fruit of the Tree of Life presented by Eve to Adam was the Pomegranate. It is also the opinion of some, that Paris adjudged a Pomegranate to Venus, and not an Apple; and that nearly always where the latter fruit is alluded to in legends or popular customs relating to marriage, the Pomegranate is meant.——In Turkey, the bride throws a Pomegranate on the ground, and from the number of seeds which exude from the broken fruit judges of the extent of her future family.——In Dalmatia, it is the custom for a young man, when asking the hand of his bride from her parents, to speak figuratively, and so he vows to transplant into his own garden the beautiful red flowers of the Pomegranate which are then flourishing in the paternal parterre.——In Sicily, they use a branch of the Pomegranate-tree as a divining-rod to discover hidden treasures: it is reported to be unfailing provided that it is manipulated by an expert or by some one who knows the mystical formulary.——Many references to the Pomegranate are to be found in the Bible, where it is usually associated with the idea of fruitfulness. Moses described the promised land as a land of Wheat and Barley, and Vines, and Fig-trees, and Pomegranates; a land of oil-Olive and honey. Solomon speaks of “an orchard of Pomegranates with pleasant fruits.” It was used to flavour wine and meats, and a wine was made from its juice: “I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my Pomegranate” (Canticles viii., 2). The Jews employed the fruit in their religious ceremonials. The capitals of the pillars in the Temple of Jerusalem were covered with carved Pomegranates. On the hem of Aaron’s sacred robe were embroidered, in blue, in purple, and in scarlet, Pomegranates, alternating with golden bells. A similar adornment of the fringes of their robes was affected by the ancient Kings of Persia, who united in their own person the regal and sacerdotal offices.——In Christian art, the Pomegranate depicted as bursting open, and the seeds visible, was an emblem of the future—of hope in immortality. St. Catherine, as the mystical Sposa of Christ, is sometimes represented with a Pomegranate in her hand; and the infant Saviour is often depicted holding this fruit and presenting it to the Virgin.——Moore speaks of the “charmed leaf of pure Pomegranate,” in allusion to the Persian idea as to its purifying attributes. In the ceremonies of the Ghebers (fire-worshippers) round their sacred fire, the Darvo gives them water to drink and Pomegranate-leaf to chew in their mouth, to cleanse them from inward uncleanness.——The Pomegranate was the device of Henry IV., who took it from the Moorish kings of Grenada, with the motto, “Sour, yet sweet.” The crown-like shape of its calyx probably induced Anne of Austria to adopt it, with the motto, “My worth is not in my crown.” The Pomegranate was the emblem of Katherine of Arragon, and in one of the masques held in honour of her marriage with our Henry VIII., a bank of Roses and Pomegranates typified the union of England and Spain. Her daughter, Queen Mary, took the Pomegranate and white and red Roses.——Parkinson tells us that from the rind of the Pomegranate is made writing-ink “which is durable to the world’s end.”——The Athenian matrons, during the Thesmophoria (festivals in honour of Ceres), were expressly forbidden to eat Pomegranates.——To dream of Pomegranates is a fortunate augury, foretelling good fortune and success; to the lover such a dream implies a faithful and accomplished sweetheart, and to the married an increase of riches and children, and great success in trade.

Poor Man’s Parmacetty.—See Shepherd’s Purse.

POPLAR.—In allusion to the reputed origin of this tree, RenÉ Rapin, in his poem on Gardens, says:—

The Heliades, sisters of the rash PhaËthon (who had yoked the horses to the chariot of the Sun before his fatal drive), on finding his tomb upon the banks of the river Po, became distracted with grief, and for four days and nights kept mournful watch with their disconsolate mother around the grave. Tired out with their exhausting vigil, they endeavoured at length to obtain some repose for their weary limbs, when to their dismay they found them rooted to the ground. The gods, pitying their intense grief, had changed the seven sisters into Poplars, and their tears into Amber. Ovid thus narrates the incident:—

The species of Poplar into which the Heliades were transformed was the Black Poplar (Populus nigra). This Poplar was consecrated to the goddess Proserpine. The White Poplar was considered to be an antidote to the bite of a serpent, and was dedicated to Hercules, who sometimes wore a crown of Poplar-leaves. When the demi-god destroyed Cacus in a cavern on Mount Aventine, which was covered with Poplars, he bound a branch of one round his brow in token of his victory. On his return from Hades, he wore a crown of Poplar-leaves, the outer portions of which were turned black by the smoke of the infernal regions, whilst the inner surface was blanched by the perspiration from the hero’s brow. At all ceremonies and sacrifices to Hercules, his worshippers wore garlands of Poplar-leaves, as did those who had triumphed in battle, in commemoration of the demi-god’s victory. Groves of Poplar-trees were frequently planted and dedicated to Hercules.——The White Poplar was also dedicated to Time, because its leaves were constantly in motion, and, being dark on one side and light on the other, they were emblematic of night and day.——Of the wood of this tree the Romans made bucklers, on account of its lightness, and covered them with ox-hides: hence, Pliny says, Populus apta scutis.——The prophet Hosea is thought to have referred to the White Poplar when he accused the Children of Israel of sacrificing and burning incense under Poplars “because the shadow thereof is good” (Hosea iv.)——The similarity of sound, in Latin and French, between the words for “Poplar” and “People” seems to be the reason which has led to the tree being regarded as a republican emblem. In the French Revolution of 1848, Poplars were transplanted from gardens, and set up in the squares of Paris, where they were glorified as Trees of Liberty, and hung with wreaths of Everlasting Flowers. Napoleon III. had them all uprooted and burnt.——Under the head of Aspen will be found several legends respecting the quivering foliage of the Populus tremula—the “Quiggen-epsy” of the good folk of Ulster. Mrs. Hemans, in her ‘Wood Walk,’ thus alludes to one of these old traditions, in which the Cross of Christ is represented as having been made of the wood of this species of Poplar:—

Among the Highlanders, there is a tradition that the Cross of Christ was made of the wood of the White Poplar, and throughout Christendom there is a belief that the tree trembles and shivers mystically in sympathy with the ancestral tree which became accursed.——The Greeks regarded the Poplar as a funereal tree. In the funeral games at Rhodes, the victor was crowned with Poplar leaves consecrated to the Manes.——Like several other funereal trees, the Poplar has become a symbol of generation. Thus, in Bologna, at the birth of a girl, the parents, if able, will plant one thousand Poplar-trees, which they religiously tend till the maiden marries, when they are cut down, and the price given as a marriage portion to the bride. Alphonse Karr says that a similar custom exists in certain northern countries among the better class of farmers.——In Sicily, and especially at Monterosso, near Modica, on Midsummer Eve, the people fell the highest Poplar, and with shouts, drag it through the village. Numbers of the villagers mount the trunk during its progress, beating a drum. Around this great Poplar, symbolising the greatest solar ascension and the decline which follows it, the crowd dance and sing an appropriate refrain.——Astrologers state that the Poplar is under the dominion of Saturn.

POPPY.—The origin of the Poppy (Papaver) was attributed by the ancient Greeks to Ceres, who, despairing of regaining her daughter Proserpine, carried off by Pluto, created the flower, in order that by partaking of it she might obtain sleep, and thus forget her great grief. Browne thus speaks of this legend:—

The ancients considered the Papaver RhÆa, or Corn-Rose, so necessary for the prosperity of their Corn, that the seeds of this Poppy were offered up in the sacred rites of Ceres, whose garland was formed with Barley or bearded Wheat interwoven with Poppies. The goddess is sometimes depicted holding Poppies in her hand. The somniferous and quieting effects of the Poppy, which were well known to the Greeks, probably led them to represent the deities Hypnos (Sleep), Thanatos (Death), and Nyx (Night), either as crowned with Poppies, or holding Poppies in their hands.——Rapin, speaking of the effects of the Poppy as a narcotic, says:—

It was customary with the Romans, to offer Poppies to the dead, especially to those whose names they were desirous of appeasing. Virgil, in his ‘Georgics,’ calls the flower the Lethean Poppy, and directs it to be offered as a funeral rite to Orpheus. The Grecian youths and maidens were wont to prove the sincerity of their lovers by placing in the hollow of the palm of the left hand a petal or flower-leaf of the Poppy, which, on being struck with the other hand, was broken with a sharp sound: this denoted true attachment; but if the leaf failed to snap, unfaithfulness. From Greece, this usage passed to Rome, and finally to modern Italy, where, as well as in Switzerland, it is still extant.

A superstitious belief exists that the red Poppies which followed the ploughing of the field of Waterloo after Wellington’s victory sprang from the blood of the troops who fell during the battle.——According to a Bengali legend, the origin of Opium was as follows:—There once lived on the banks of the holy river Ganga a Rishi, or sage, in whose hut, made of Palm-leaves, there was a mouse, which became a favourite with the seer, and was endowed by him with the gift of speech. After awhile, the mouse, having been frightened by a cat, at his earnest solicitation, was changed by the Rishi into a cat; then, alarmed by dogs, into a dog; then into an ape; then into a boar; then into an elephant; and finally, being still discontented with its lot, into a beautiful maiden, to whom the holy sage gave the name of Postomani, or the Poppy-seed lady. One day, whilst tending her plants, the king approached the Rishi’s cottage, and was invited to rest and refresh himself by Postomani, who offered him some delicious fruit. The King, however, struck by the girl’s beauty, refused to eat until she had told him her parentage. Postomani, to deceive the king, told him she was a princess whom the Rishi had found in the woods and had brought up. The upshot was that the king made love to the girl, and they were married by the holy sage. She was treated as the favourite queen, and was very happy; but one day, whilst standing by a well, she turned giddy, fell into the water, and died. The Rishi then appeared before the king, and begged him not to give way to consuming grief, assuring him that the late queen was not of royal blood. Said he: “She was born a mouse, and, according to her own wish, I changed her successively into a cat, a dog, a boar, an elephant, and a lovely girl. Let her body remain in the well; fill up the well with earth. Out of her flesh and bones will grow a tree, which shall be called after her Posto, that is, the Poppy-tree. From this tree will be obtained a drug called Opium, which will be celebrated through all ages, and which will be either swallowed or smoked as a wondrous narcotic till the end of time. The Opium swallower or smoker will have one quality of each of the animals to which Postomani was transformed. He will be mischievous like a mouse, fond of milk like a cat, quarrelsome like a dog, filthy like an ape, savage like a boar, and high-tempered like a queen.”——According to astrologers, the Poppy is a flower of the Moon. POTATO.—Although introduced into Europe as late as 1584, the Potato (Solanum tuberosum) has been made the subject of several popular superstitions. In Birmingham and many other districts, it is believed that a Potato carried in the trousers pocket is a sure charm against rheumatism so long as the tuber is kept there; and the Dutch believed that a Potato begged or stolen is a preservation against the same malady.——In Germany, they take precautions against the Potato demon or wolf (Kartoffelwolf): after the last Potatoes have been dug up, the peasants dress up a puppet which they call Erdapfelmann, and carry the figure in procession to the house of their master, where they recite a doggrel verse. A luminosity, powerful enough to enable a bystander to read by, issues from the common Potato when in a state of putrefaction; this was particularly remarked by an officer on guard at Strasburg, who thought the barracks were on fire in consequence of the light that was emitted from a cellar full of Potatoes.

Prick Madam.—See Stonecrop.

Priest’s Pintle.—See Arum.

PRIMROSE.—Anciently the Primrose was called Paralisos, after the name of a handsome stripling, the son of Priapus and Flora, who died of grief for the loss of his betrothed Melicerta, but was snatched from the jaws of death by his parents, and metamorphosed into “the rathe Primrose that forsaken dies.”——The name Primrose anciently appertained to the Daisy, and is written by Chaucer Primerole, from the old French Primeverole, the first Spring flower; Primerole became changed to Primrolles, and then to Primrose, the first Rose of Spring; and it was not until the sixteenth century that it attached itself to the flower which now bears its name.——In Worcestershire, it is regarded as exceedingly unlucky in Spring-time to take less than a handful of Primroses or Violets into a farmer’s house, as a disregard of this rule is popularly believed to invite destruction of the good wife’s brood of ducklings and chickens.——In East Norfolk, it is thought that if a less number of Primroses than thirteen be brought into a house on the first occasion of introducing any, so many eggs only will each goose hatch that season.——Henderson, in his ‘Folk-lore of the Northern Counties,’ gives the following superstitious custom: “Let a youth or maiden pull from its stalk the flower, and after cutting off the tops of the stamens with a pair of scissors, lay it in a secret place where no human eye can see it. Let him think through the day and dream through the night of his sweetheart; and then, upon looking at it the next day, if he find the stamens shot out to their former height, success will attend him in love; if not, he can only expect disappointment.”——Browne tells us—

Shakspeare makes it a funeral flower for youth:—

In recent times, the Primrose has become associated with the memory of Lord Beaconsfield, and a society called the “Primrose League” has been formed, having for its object the dissemination of those constitutional principles which were so dear to the late Earl.——In Germany, the Primrose is called the SchlÜsselblume, or Key-flower, in reference to the numerous legends of a flower opening the locks of doors to treasure-caves, &c.; resembling in its magical functions the Russian Rasrivtrava, the Eisenkraut (Vervain), the Fern, Mistletoe, Hazel, Springwort, and Moonwort.——The goddess Bertha is supposed to entice children to enter her enchanted halls by offering them beautiful Primroses.——Astrologers claim the Primrose as a herb of Venus.

Procession Flower.—See Milkwort.

PTERIS ESCULENTA.—The New Zealand tohunga, or priest, professes the following rite to be a cure for headache. The officiant pulls out two stalks of the Pteris esculenta, from which the fibres of the root must be removed; and beating them together over the patient’s head, he offers a prayer to Atua.

Puck-fist.—See Toadstool.

PULSATILLA.—In the Ukraine, the Pulsatilla patens is called Sontrava, the Dream-plant. It is believed by the people of the country that the flowers of this plant, which blossoms in the month of April, if placed between the pillow and the bed, will cause the sleeper to dream of what will undoubtedly be accomplished.

PUMPKIN.—Among the East Indians, there is a legend that there once existed a mighty man named IaÏa, whose only son died. The father wished to bury him, but did not know where. So he placed him in an enormous Pumpkin, which he conveyed to the foot of a mountain, not far from his habitation. Impelled by his love for the departed one, he one day had the curiosity to revisit the spot, and, desirous of once again seeing his son, he opened the Pumpkin. Immediately whales and other immense fish jumped out. IaÏa, affrighted, returned home, and told what he had seen to his neighbours, adding that the Pumpkin appeared to be filled with water and quantities of fish. Four brothers who had been born at one time rushed off in haste to the spot indicated, in order to secure the fish for food. IaÏa followed, to prevent them from injuring the Pumpkin. The brothers, who had succeeded in lifting the gigantic vegetable, were frightened at seeing IaÏa approach, and let fall the Pumpkin, which was, in consequence, cracked in several places. From the fissures thus made poured forth such a volume of water, that the whole earth was inundated: and from this circumstance the oceans were formed.——The Chinese honour the Pumpkin or Gourd as the emperor of vegetables. The vegetable was considered by the ancients to be an emblem of abundance, fecundity, prosperity, and good health. To dream of Pumpkins, however, is considered a very bad omen.

Purification Flower.—See Snowdrop.

PURSLANE.—Purslane (Portulaca), strewn about a bed, used in olden times to be considered a sure protection against evil spirits.——Astrologers classify it among the herbs of the Moon.

QUINCE.—The fruit of the Quince-tree (Cydonia) was consecrated to Venus, and was looked upon by Grecian lovers as a love token. According to AthenÆus, the chariot of the goddess of Love was not only filled with Myrtles and Roses, but also with Quinces, and in many ancient effigies of the goddess, she is represented with a Quince in her hand. By a decree of Solon, which gave to an ancient popular custom the countenance of the law, a Grecian bride, before seeking the nuptial couch, had to eat a Quince.——The Greeks called the Quince Chrysomelon, or Golden Apple; hence it is not surprising to find it asserted that the golden fruit of the Hesperides were Quinces, and that these tempted Hercules to attack the guardian dragon. In confirmation of this opinion, a statue of the demi-god holding a Quince in his hand as a trophy is referred to. It is also alleged that it was by means of Quinces given to him by Venus, that Hippomenes beguiled Atalanta during his race with her, and so won it.——It was by means of a Quince that Acontius won his bride: this youth, when at Delos, to attend the sacrifices of Diana, fell in love with the beautiful Cydippe: fearing to demand her hand, on account of his obscure origin, the crafty lover threw into the Temple of Diana, whilst Cydippe was performing her devotions, a Quince, with this inscription:—“I swear, by the divinity of Diana, to become the wife of Acontius.” The young girl, having picked up the Quince, read aloud the inscription, and, being compelled by the oath she had thus inadvertently taken in the sacred presence of the goddess, she obtained her parents’ consent to marry the quick-witted Acontius.——Turner, in his ‘Brittish Physician,’ says that the juice of raw Quince is accounted an antidote against deadly poison.——To dream of Quinces is stated to be favourable to the dreamer, denoting speedy release from troubles, sickness, &c.

QUICKEN-TREE.—The Mountain Ash, Wild Service, or Rowan-tree (Pyrus aucuparia), is also known by the names of the Quicken or Quick-beam, Witchen or Wicken, appellations which, from the Rowan-tree having been long regarded as a preservative against witchcraft, some writers have erroneously connected with the Anglo-Saxon word wicce, a witch. Evelyn calls this tree the Quick-beam, and says that in Wales it is planted in every churchyard, and that “on a certain day in the year everybody religiously wears a cross made of the wood, and it is reputed to be a preservative against fascination and evil spirits, whence perhaps we call it Witchen; the boughs being stuck about the house, or the wood used for walking-staves.” (See Rowan).

RADISH.—The Germans have given to a species of wild Radish bearing blue flowers the name of Hederich, and they have an old superstition that whoever wears a crown composed of Hederich is enabled to detect witches. A wreath of Hederich is sometimes placed on cows before leaving their stalls to be milked, in order to protect them from the effect of the Evil Eye.——In England, to dream of Radishes signifies the discovery of secrets, domestic quarrels, and misfortune.——In Germany, they call a certain evil spirit, or Geni of the mountain, RÜbezahl, the Counter of Radishes; and the legend relates that on one occasion this Geni took advantage of the absence of her lover to pay his odious addresses to a young princess, whom he kept confined in her castle. As the princess expressed a desire for companions, the Geni gathered some Radishes, which she touched with a magic wand, and changed into young girls, who, however, only remained young so long as the Radishes retained their juice. Then the Geni gave her some fresh Radishes, one of which, on being touched with the magic wand, became a bee. The princess, who was jealously guarded by the Geni, sent off the bee as a messenger to her lover, to inform him that she was in the Geni’s power. The bee did not return. She touched a second, which became a cricket, and despatched it in search of her lover. The cricket never returned. Then the princess desired the Geni to count the Radishes, and he, to please her, did so. Whilst so occupied, the princess touched one of the Radishes with her wand, and it became a horse. In an instant, she sprang on its back, and rode away at full speed; and fortunately meeting her lover, they both escaped together.

RAGGED ROBIN.—The Ragged Robin, Cuckoo Flower, Meadow Campion, or Meadow Pink (Lychnis Flos cuculi) owes the first of these names to the finely-cut but ragged appearance of its petals. It is dedicated to St. Barnabas.

RAG-WEED.—The large Rag-weed (Senecio JacobÆa) has a traditional reputation of having been employed by witches as horses when they took their midnight rides.——To the south of the famed Logan Rock on the Cornish coast is a high peak of granite known as the Castle Peak, which is locally reputed to have been for ages the midnight rendezvous for witches; and thither, according to tradition, witches were constantly seen flying on moonlight nights, mounted on the stems of the Rag-weed, and carrying with them the things necessary to make their charms potent and strong. The Rag-weeds or worts were also called Stagger-worts because they were found effectual to cure the staggers in horses. Hence these plants were dedicated to St. James, the patron of horses, and are still known as St. James’s Worts; they also blossom about this great warrior and pilgrim saint’s day, July 25th. This connection of the plant with horses probably explains the tradition of its having been employed as the witches’ steed.

Ramp.—See Arum.

RAMPION.—The Rampion (Campanula Rapunculus) was considered by the ancients as a funereal vegetable or root. In the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the esculent roots of the Rampion were highly esteemed as appropriate food, and were carried on golden plates. Among the Italians, there exists an old superstition that the possession of a Rampion engenders among children a quarrelsome disposition, and excites their anger to such a degree, that unless checked, murder would result. Hence, in ancient dream-books, a dream in which the Rampion is seen is interpreted as a sure sign of an impending quarrel.

RANUNCULUS.—The name Ranunculus (which is the diminutive of rana, a frog) was applied by the Latins to this species of plants because they were observed to grow in places frequented by frogs.——Rapin tells us that the flower was originally a young Libyan noted for his sweet voice:—

The Latin herbalists also called the plant Strumea, because it was used as a remedy for a complaint similar to the King’s-evil, termed StrumÆ. With one of the species of Ranunculus the ancients were wont to poison the points of their arrows.——The Buttercup, also known as King’s Cup, Gold Cup, Gold Knobs, Leopard’s Foot, and Cuckoo-bud, belongs to the Ranunculus family.——The Crowfoot or Crowflower (the Coronopus of Dioscorides) is also a Ranunculus: this plant possesses the power of raising blisters on the skin, and is employed by mendicants to raise wounds on their limbs, in order to excite sympathy. Cattle generally refuse the acrid Crowfoot (R. acris), but if they perchance eat it, it will blister their mouths. The Illyrian Crowfoot (R. Illyricus), Gerarde tells us, is thought to be the Gelotophyllis mentioned by Pliny (Book xxiv.), “which being drunk, saith he, with wine and Myrrhe, causeth a man to see divers strange sights, and not to cease laughing till he hath drunk Pine-apple kernels with Pepper in wine of the Date-tree (I think he would have said until he be dead), because the nature of laughing Crowfoot is thought to kill laughing, but without doubt the thing is clean contrary, for it causeth such convulsions, crampe, and wringings of the mouth and jaws, that it hath seemed to some that the parties have died laughing, whereas, in truth, they have died in great torment.”——The Double Crowfoot, or Bachelor’s Buttons, used formerly to be called St. Anthony’s Turnip, because of its round bulbous root: this root was reputed to be very efficacious in curing the plague, if applied to the part affected. According to Apuleius, it was a sure cure for lunacy, if hung round the neck of the patient, in a linen cloth, “in the wane of the Moon, when the sign shall be in the first degree of Taurus or Scorpio.”——The Persian Ranunculus is the Ranunculus of the garden. The Turks cultivated it under the name of Tarobolos Catamarlale, for several ages before it was known in other parts of Europe. Their account of its introduction is, that a Vizier, named Cara Mustapha, first noticed among the herbage of the fields this hitherto neglected flower, and decorated the garden of the Seraglio with it. The flower attracted the notice of the Sultan, upon which he caused it to be brought from all parts of the East where varieties could be found. This collection of Ranunculus flowers was carefully preserved in the Seraglio gardens alone, and only through bribery did at last some few roots find their way into other parts of Europe.——Astrologers hold the Ranunculus to be under the rule of Mars.

RASRIVTRAVA.—The Rasrivtrava is the Russian name of a plant which has magical powers, enabling it to fracture chains and break open locks,—properties which appertain also to the Primula veris or Key of the Spring, to the Eisenkraut or Vervain, the Mistletoe, the Lunary or Moonwort, the Springwort, the Fern, and the Hazel. The word Rasrivtrava means literally the “Plant that Opens.”

RASPBERRY.—Formerly the Raspberry was very generally known as the Hindberry; and this name is still retained in some counties.——It is thought that to dream of Raspberries betokens success, happiness in marriage, fidelity in a sweetheart, and good news from abroad.

REED.—King Midas is said to have expressed the opinion that the Reed-pipes of the god Pan produced better music than the lyre of Apollo. The offended god in consequence changed the king’s ears to those of an ass. Midas concealed his deformity as long as he was able; but at length a barber discovered his secret, and being unable to keep it, and at the same time dreading the king’s resentment, he dug a hole in the earth, and after whispering therein, “King Midas has the ears of an ass,” he covered up the hole, and in it, as he hoped, the words divulging the secret. But on that spot grew a number of Reeds, and when they were agitated by the wind, instead of merely rustling, they repeated the buried words—“King Midas has the ears of an ass.”—Cato tells us the Roman country folks, when they had broken an arm or a leg, split a Reed, and applied it, with certain precautions, to the wounded part, accompanying the operation with a rustic incantation, such as the following:—

A Devonshire charm for the thrush is:—Take three Reeds from any running stream, and pass them separately through the mouth of the infant; then plunge the Reeds again into the stream, and as the current bears them away, so will the thrush depart from the child.——From the Reed (Calamus) the first pen was invented, and of Reeds arrows were made. The root of Calamus aromaticus was highly esteemed in eastern countries: thus we read in Gerarde’s ‘Herbal,’ that “the Turks at Constantinople take it fasting, in the morning, against the contagion of the corrupt aire; and the Tartars have it in such esteeme, that they will not drinke water unlesse they have first steeped some of the root therein.”——In the Ukraine, is current a version of the tradition alluded to under the head of Oats. In this version, the Reed belongs to the Devil, and has, in fact, been his habitation since the days of Jesus Christ. One day, having met the Saviour, he prayed Him to give to him as his portion the Oats and Buckwheat, because, after having assisted the Almighty to create the world, he had never received for himself any consideration. The Saviour consented, and the Devil was so delighted, that he skipped off without even thanking his benefactor. The wolf met him, and seeing him so elated, asked him why he was jumping and skipping about? This question confused the Devil, who, instead of replying “because God has given me the Oats and Buckwheat,” said: “I am skipping because God has given me the Reed and the Sow-thistle.” From that time, it is said, the Devil never could recollect the present that God had made him, but always imagined that it was the Reed and the Sow-thistle.——According to English dream oracles, for the slumberer to see Reeds betokens mischief between him and his friends.

REED-MACE.—The Bulrush, or Cat’s-Tail (Typha latifolia), has acquired the name of Reed-Mace from the fact that Rubens and the early Italian painters, in their Ecce Homo pictures, depict the Saviour as holding in His hands this Reed as a mace or sceptre. The Reed-Mace is, on certain days, put by Catholics into the hands of statues of Christ.

Resurrection-Flower.—See Rose of Jericho.

RHAMNUS.—The Rhamnus Spina Christi, or Syrian Christ’s Thorn, has acquired that name because it is supposed by many to have supplied the crown of Thorns at our Saviour’s crucifixion. An English species, Rhamnus Paliurus, is also called by Miller Spina Christi. (See Thorn and Buckthorn.) RICE.—Among Orientals, Rice is esteemed the symbol of life, generation, and abundance. The Dyaks of Borneo and the Karens of Burmah look upon it as a divinity, and address prayers to it to ensure a good harvest. In Siam, Rice and honey are offered to trees before they are felled.——Rice plays an important part in the marriage ceremonies of India. At the altar, the bride is three times approached by her friends, who on each occasion place Rice in her hands. They also scatter Rice on the head of the bridegroom. On the last day of the nuptial ceremonies, the bride and bridegroom together offer the sacrifice of Soma, during which they throw in the fire Rice moistened with butter. The Brahmans, when performing the marriage rites, after having recited a variety of prayers, consecrate the union of the couple by throwing a handful of Saffron mixed with the flour of Rice on their shoulders. Offerings of Rice and Saffron are made by married women in India to obtain healthy children, and to procure from the divinity exemption from the maladies of their sex. On the birth of a son, the Brahman father, after having banished the females from the apartment, takes the infant and places on its head Rice coloured red: this is done in order to avert the Evil Eye. Another method is to envelope small portions of Rice in cloths marked with the names of women suspected of being witches, and to place the whole in a nest of white ants. Should the ants devour the Rice in any of these mystic bundles, the charge of sorcery is thereby established against the woman whose name it bears. Young girls desirous of husbands offer dressed Rice to the gods. At the consecration of a Brahmanic disciple, the father of the candidate carries in his hands a cup filled with Rice, and the assistants, after the bath, cover the candidate with Rice. Rice is employed in many of the Hindu sacrifices and religious ceremonies, and is regarded as sacred: no one would touch it without having first made his ablutions. At the time of sowing it, certain ceremonies are solemnly observed.——In China, during the Spring Festival of the Fire, the priests of Tao march round the brasier, carrying a basket filled with Rice and salt, of which from time to time they cast a handful into the fire, to conjure the flame and to obtain an abundant harvest.——A Japanese legend relates that in ancient times the Bonzes (priests) of Nikko, like the other natives, lived solely on herbs and roots, not knowing any other kind of nourishment. One day, however, a Bonze observed a mouse hiding some Rice and other grains in a corner. He could not understand where the mouse could have obtained it, so he set a trap, and having caught the little creature, he tied to one of its hind legs a silken thread; and then, holding the other end of the thread in his hand, he set the mouse free, and determined to follow wherever it should run. The mouse led the priest into a remote and unknown land, where Rice grew in abundance. The Bonze learnt how to cultivate it, and speedily introduced it into his own country, where it proved such a blessing, that the inhabitants worshipped the mouse as a god, under the name of Daikoku-sama. From that day the mouse has been held sacred by the Japanese poor, and its effigy is found suspended in many of their houses as a fetish.——Among the Arabs, Rice is considered as a sacred food, and tradition runs that it first sprang from a drop of perspiration which fell from Mahomet in Paradise. Another tradition current among the Arabs is, that the national dish, composed of a mixture of Rice with other ingredients, and called Kuskussu, was revealed to Mahomet by the angel Gabriel himself.——The Bushmen of Central Africa have the following legend concerning Rice:—A pretty woman having eaten a certain Bushman-rice, called “ant’s-egg,” became transformed into a lioness; but after the spell was broken by reason of her little sister and her brothers also eating this particular Rice, she regained her original form, and from that day detested the Bushman-rice. This beautiful woman is supposed to have been the wife of the star called Heart of the Dawn.——In England, the Oriental practice of employing Rice at wedding festivities has of late become very general; and it is customary for showers of Rice to be thrown after the bride and bridegroom, as the happy pair quit the bride’s home; this is thought to promote their success and future happiness.——According to a work on the subject, to dream of eating Rice denotes abundance of instruction.

ROCKET.—This is a name given to several different plants the most noted of which are the London Rocket (Sisymbrium Irio) and the Dame’s, or Garden Rocket (Hesperis matronalis). The former plant is said to have first appeared in the metropolis in the Spring succeeding the Great Fire of London, when young Rockets were seen everywhere springing up among the ruins, where they increased so marvellously, that in the Summer the enormous crop crowding over the surface of London created the greatest astonishment and wonder.——The Garden Rocket (Hesperis) boasts of many other old-fashioned names:—Dame’s Violet, Damask Violet, Queen’s Gilliflower, Rogue’s Gilliflower, Winter Gilliflower, and Close Sciences (originally Close Sciney). It is the Cassolette (smelling-bottle), Julienne, and la Juliana of the French; and the Bella Giulia and Giuliana of the Italians.——According to Pliny, as quoted by Gerarde, “whosoever taketh the seed of Rocket before he be whipt, shall be so hardened that he shall easily endure the paines.” Turner remarks that all sorts of Rockets, but especially the seed, quicken nature and excite the passions; the seed he recommends as efficacious “against the bitings of the shrew-mouse and other venomous beasts.” Moreover, if mixed with vinegar, it is stated to remove freckles and pimples from the face.——Rocket is held to be under the dominion of Mars.

Rogation-Flower.—See Gang-Flower and Milkwort.

Root of the Holy Ghost.—See Angelica. ROSE.—It is worthy of notice how little the name of the Rose varies amongst different nations. The Greeks call it Rodon, the Latins Rosa (a form adhered to by Italians, Russians, Spaniards, and Portuguese), the English, French, Germans, and Danes, Rose, the Poles Roza, the Dutch Roos, and the Swedes Ros. Roses embellish the whole earth, and are natives of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; Nature having apparently, in this generous distribution, designed to offer these flowers to all people, as the type of grace and beauty. The origin of the queen of flowers is told us by the Jesuit poet Rapin, according to whose verse—

Of her numerous suitors, Brias, Orcas, and Halesus, a warrior, were the principal. Provoked at their importunities, she haughtily bade them “from arms and not entreaties seek a bride;” and then, to rid herself of them, she entered the temple of Apollo and Diana with her father and people. The lovers, not to be denied, combined in an attack upon the temple gates, and the excitement of the combat so enhanced the maiden’s beauty, that the people shouted, “Let Rhodanthe be a goddess, and let the image of Diana give place to her!” Rhodanthe being therefore placed upon the shrine, Phoebus, Diana’s brother, became so incensed at the insult to his sister, that he turned his scorching rays against the would-be goddess, who bitterly repented that she had ever appeared a deity; for—

Her too ardent lovers were transformed respectively into a worm, a drone, and a butterfly.

This account bears a general resemblance to the legend recounted by Sir John Maundevile, who visited Bethlehem in the fourteenth century, and found there the field Floridus, wherein, he tells us, a fair maiden who had been unjustly accused of wrong was doomed to be burned; and, after praying devoutly to God that, inasmuch as she was not guilty, He would help her, and make her innocence known to all men, “she entered the fire, and immediately the fire was extinguished, and the faggots that were burning became red Rose-bushes full of Roses, and those that remained unkindled became white Rose-bushes; and these were the first Rose-trees and Roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw.” “Thus,” concludes Sir John, “was this mayden saved be the grace of God. And therfore is that feld clept the Feld of God florysscht: for it was fulle of Roses.” Southey, in his poem on the Rose, has commemorated this old story in the following lines:—

According to a Roumanian tradition, the Rose was originally a young and beauteous princess, who, while bathing in the sea, so dazzled the Sun with the radiance of her loveliness, that he stood still to gaze upon her, and covered her with kisses. Then for three days he forgot his duty, and obstructed the progress of night. Since that day the Lord of the Universe has changed the princess into a Rose, and this is why the Rose always hangs her head and blushes when the Sun gazes on her.

Anacreon gives the following poetic account of the origin of the Rose, connecting it with the goddess of love and beauty:—

Bion describes the Rose as springing from the blood of the slain Adonis; and the Mahometans have a legend that it was produced from a drop of perspiration which fell from the brow of Mahomet.

Relative to the colour of the Rose, we find a number of stories left us by the ancients. Catullus tells us, that the Rose is red from blushing for the wound it inflicted on the foot of Venus as she hastened to the assistance of Adonis; Claudian, when Venus plucks a Rose, says it is in remembrance of Adonis; an ancient epigram mentions her wishing to defend Adonis from Mars, when

Anacreon tells us that the flower was dyed with nectar by the gods:—

Still another legend is to the effect that Cupid, whilst leading a dance in heaven, stumbled and overset a bowl of nectar, which, falling upon the earth, stained the Rose.

The Rose—the flower of love, poetry, and beauty—was specially dedicated to Venus, who is sometimes represented crowned with Roses, and sometimes with a sceptre terminated with that flower. One of the Three Graces—the attendants of Venus—usually carried a Rose in her hand. Cupid is often depicted crowned with Roses, and the chaplet of Hymen consisted generally of Marjoram or Roses, which latter flowers were used in his feasts. The Thracians crowned Bacchus (Sabazius) with Roses, and, in the vicinity of PangÆus, held a feast called Rosalia. In the procession of the Corybantes, the goddess Cybele was pelted with white Roses.

The Rose was a domestic flower sedulously cultivated by the ancients, but especially by the Romans. It is said to have early flourished at Rhodes, and possibly gave its name to that island. The Roses of Campania, Miletus, PrÆneste, Malta, Cyrene, and Sybaris were all noted; but especially celebrated were those of PÆstum: to this day the insignia of PÆstum—a Syren holding a Rose—remains sculptured on the ruined arch of one of its gates.

Among the ancients, it was customary to crown brides and bridegrooms with a chaplet of red and white Roses. The Roman bride was decorated with a wreath of Roses and Myrtle. The shrines of the gods and of illustrious men in Rome were surmounted with wreaths of Roses. The triumphal arches were adorned with these flowers, and garlands of Roses were thrown into the chariots. At the public games, wreaths of Roses were presented to the senators, and sometimes to the performers and spectators. At the private entertainments of the ancients, the guests wore wreaths of blooming Roses. The Romans thought to impart additional relish to their feasts by the aid of the fragrance of the Rose. Pacutus relates that “even in the time of the Republic, people were not satisfied unless the cup of Falernian wine were swimming with Roses.” The Spartan soldiers, after the battle of Cirrha, were so fastidious as to refuse wine that was not perfumed with Roses. At the famed regatta of BaiÆ, the whole surface of the Lucrine Lake used to be strewn with these flowers. At some of his banquets, Nero caused showers of Roses to be rained down upon his guests from apertures in the ceiling. Heliogabalus carried this practice to such an absurd extent, as to cause the suffocation of some of his guests, who could not extricate themselves from the heap of flowers. Cleopatra, in the entertainment she gave in honour of Antony, spent an immense sum in Roses, with which she had the floor of the banqueting chamber covered to the depth of an ell, and over the flowers a thin net was drawn. The Romans were at great expense to procure Roses in the Winter. Suetonius affirms that Nero spent upwards of four million sesterces (about £30,000) for Roses, at one supper. Horace, alluding to this custom, says: “Seek not for late-blowing Roses; I ask no other crown than simple Myrtle.” In those days, Rose-wine was celebrated, and we learn that Heliogabalus was wont to indulge largely in this drink, and bathed himself in it. He even caused a large swimming-bath to be filled with the costly liquid.

Milto, a fair young maiden, of obscure birth, was wont to deposit every morning garlands of fresh flowers in the temple of Venus, as she was too poor to make costlier offerings. Her rare beauty was once in danger of being destroyed by a tumour which grew on her chin, but in a dream she one night beheld the goddess, who told her to apply to it some of the Roses from her altar. Milto obeyed; the tumour soon disappeared, and she grew more lovely than ever; eventually attracting the notice of the younger Cyrus, whose favourite wife she became. From that time the medicinal properties of the Rose met with general recognition, and the flower formed the basis of many lotions.

In classical times, the Rose was regarded as the emblem of joy, and Comus, the god of feasting, is represented as wearing a garland of bedewed Roses. As, during the intoxication of mirth, the mouth is apt to run over when the heart is full, the ancients feigned that Cupid presented a Rose to Harpocrates, the grave god of silence, as a bribe not to betray the amours of Venus. The flower thus became a symbol of secrecy and silence, and as such, a Rose was formerly suspended over the guest table, that the sight of it might remind the guests that the conversation should not be repeated elsewhere. More recently, a Rose was painted on the ceiling of dining-rooms, and in our own time the plaster ornament in the centre of the ceiling is still called a Rose. This custom gave rise to the saying “Under the Rose”—an injunction of secrecy. Hence it fell out that the Jacobins adopted the white Rose as a political symbol of the Pretender, since his adherents were compelled to help him “under the Rose.”

The Rose held an important place in early ecclesiastical history. As an emblem of love and beauty, the queen of flowers was especially dedicated by the Romish Church to the Virgin Mary: she is the Rose of Sharon, the Mystic Rose (Rosa mystica), as well as the Lily of the Valley. In old Italian paintings of the Madonna, a plantation, garden, or hedge of Roses is often introduced, enclosing the principal figure. In mediÆval days, the Rose had a Sunday of its own at Rome, and the reigning Pope officiated at the ceremony of the blessing of the Golden Rose upon Mid-Lent Sunday. A Golden Rose is, even in our own enlightened times, annually blessed by the Pope and sent as a mark of signal pontifical favour to some royal personage. Ecclesiastical tradition affirms that Roses and Lilies were found in the tomb of the Virgin Mary after her assumption into heaven, and Roses were conveyed by St. Dorothy, at the instance of Theophilus, from the heavenly garden. Roses replaced the alms of Elizabeth of Hungary, when her apron was rudely torn from her grasp by those who shared not her charitable zeal for the poor. A legend of the twelfth century, quoted in a German work by Wolf, relates how Iosbert, a pious monk, having fallen dead, whilst worshipping at a shrine of the Virgin Mary (in honour of whom he had been accustomed to recite five psalms every day), there sprang from his mouth, from his eyes, and from his ears, five Roses. The bishop, on his arrival, plucked one of the miraculous flowers, and solemnly placed it upon the altar. No sooner had he done so, however, than the other four Roses instantly faded away. In old paintings of the saints, Roses are sometimes introduced in allusion to the saint’s name. St. Rosalia, of Palermo, St. Rosa di Viterbo, St. Rosa di Lima, all wear the crown of Roses, or it is presented by an angel. The last-named saint, who is the patroness of America, was canonised by Clement X. According to the Peruvian legend, the pope, when entreated to canonise her, absolutely refused, exclaiming: “Indian and saint! as likely as that it should rain Roses!” whereupon a miraculous shower of Roses began to fall in the Vatican, and ceased not until the incredulous pontiff acknowledged himself convinced of her sanctity. A legend of St. Francis of Assisi relates that as the saint was one day shivering in his cell, in the depth of Winter, a demon whispered in his ear suggestions of ease and luxury. He repelled the temptations by going out and rolling himself in the snow on a heap of Thorns. From the Thorns sprinkled with his blood sprang Roses of Paradise, which he piously offered up to Christ and the Madonna.

The Rosary was introduced by St. Dominick, in commemoration of his having been shown a chaplet of Roses by the blessed Virgin. It consisted formerly of a string of beads made of Rose-leaves tightly pressed into round moulds, when real Roses were not strung together. The use of a chaplet of beads as a minute of the number of prayers recited is of Eastern origin, and dates from the time of the Egyptian anchorites. Beads were also used by the Benedictines, and are to this day in use among Mahometan devotees. St. Dominick invented a novel arrangement of the chaplet, and dedicated it to the honour and glory of the Virgin Mary. A complete Rosary consists of fifteen large and 150 small beads, the former representing the number of Paternosters, the latter the number of Ave-Marias. The Indian Buddhists use a Rosary of 99 beads: the Chinese and Japanese Buddhists one of 108 beads, corresponding to the daily prayers offered against the 108 possible sins.

In the sixth century, St. MÉdard, Bishop of Noyon, France, instituted a festival at Salency, his birth-place, for adjudging a prize to the girl who should be acknowledged the most amiable, modest, and beautiful. The prize consisted of a simple crown of Roses, and the founder of the festival had the gratification of crowning his own sister as the first Rose Queen of Salency, in which obscure village this pleasant institution still exists. At the present time, however, the RosiÈre has a douceur of three hundred francs presented to her. Of late years the institution of the RosiÈre has been introduced into this country by a Roman Catholic priest who labours in the east of London. The Academy of Floral Games at Toulouse, founded in 1322, and still in existence, was wont to give a Rose as a prize for the best poem. From 1288 to 1589 the French dukes and peers of all degrees were obliged in the Spring which followed their nomination to present a tribute of Roses to Parliament.

The association of the flower with our own country dates from a very early period; and we find Pliny doubting whether the name Albion referred to the white cliffs of our island or the white Roses which grew there in abundance. In Edward the Third’s reign a gold coin was struck called the “Rose noble,” which bore the figure of a Rose on one of its faces. As the badge of the rival houses of York and Lancaster, the flower became celebrated in English history—the White Rose being the hereditary cognisance of the house of York, and the Red Rose that of Lancaster. Shakspeare (in Henry VI.) represents the feud between the two houses as having originated in the Temple Gardens, where after a fierce altercation, Warwick addresses Plantagenet thus:—

Like the Gilliflower, the Rose was occasionally taken as a quit-rent; thus we find in 1576 that the then Bishop of Ely granted to Sir Christopher Hatton the greater portion of Ely House, Holborn, for a term of twenty-one years, on consideration of the tenant paying annually a red Rose for the garden and gate-house, and giving the Bishop free access to the gardens, with the right of gathering twenty bushels of Roses every year.

In the East, the Rose is an object of peculiar esteem. The Oriental poets have united the beauteous Rose with the melodious nightingale; and the flower is fabled to have burst forth from its bud at the song of the warbler of the night. The poet Jami says—“You may place a handful of fragrant herbs and flowers before the nightingale; yet he wishes not in his constant heart for more than the sweet breath of his beloved Rose.”

Persia is the veritable land of Roses: nowhere does the queen of flowers reign in such glorious majesty. Zoroaster himself, the apostle of the Persians, and the introducer of the worship of the sacred fire, is connected in a legend with the Rose. An astrologer having predicted the birth of a child who would dethrone the King of Babylon, the monarch at once gave orders for the assassination of all women who were about to become mothers. Thousands were slain; but one gave birth secretly to the future prophet. This having come to the King’s ear, he sent for the child, and tried to kill him with his own hand, but his arm was withered on the spot. Alarmed, and furious with rage, he had the babe placed on a lighted stake, but the burning pile changed into a bed of Roses, on which the little one lay quietly sleeping. Some persons present saved a portion of the fire, which has been kept up to the present day in memory of this great miracle. The king made two other attempts to destroy Zoroaster, but his temerity was punished miraculously by a gnat, which entered his ear and caused his death. A festival is held in Persia, called the Feast of the Roses, which lasts the whole time they are in bloom.

Pelting with Roses is still common in Persia during the time of the blooming of the flowers. A band of young musicians repair to the places of public entertainment to amuse the guests, and on their way through the streets they pelt the passengers whom they meet with Roses. The Persians regard the Rosa centifolia as the flower of an archangel. Zoroaster affirmed that the Rose was free from thorns until the entrance into the world of Ahrimanes (the evil spirit).

The “bed of Roses” is not altogether a poetic fiction. In ancient days, the Sybarites used to sleep upon mattresses that were stuffed with Rose-leaves. A similar luxury was afterwards indulged in, both in Greece and Rome. Men would sit at their meals upon cushions, and sleep by night on beds of Roses. The tyrant Dionysius had couches stuffed with Roses, on which he lounged at his revels. Verres used to travel on a litter reclining on a mattress stuffed with Roses. He wore, moreover, garlands of Roses round his head and neck, and had Rose-leaves intertwined in a thin net, which was drawn over the litter. It was a favourite luxury of Antiochus to sleep in a tent of gold and silver on a mattress stuffed with Roses.

The Indians have a tradition respecting the discovery of the mode of preparing the far-famed Attar of Roses, a perfume perhaps unrivalled in its refreshing qualities. To gratify the voluptuous Jehanghir, his favourite sultana is said to have had the royal bath in the palace garden filled with Rose-water. The action of the sun speedily concentrated the oleaginous particles floating on the surface, and the careful attendant, fearing lest the Rose-water should have become corrupt, hastened to skim it in order to remove the oily flakes. The globules burst whilst this operation was being performed, and emitted such an exquisite odour, that the idea of preparing the delicious attar was at once suggested. Avicenna, an Arabian doctor of the tenth century, was the first to extract from Roses their fragrant perfume by distillation. He selected the Rosa centifolia for his experiments, and succeeded in producing the delicious liquid known as Rose-water, which is held in such repute in the East, that when a stranger enters a house, it is considered a mark of distinction and welcome to sprinkle him over with Rose-water. When Saladin entered Jerusalem in 1187, he had the floor and walls of Omar’s mosque entirely washed with this delicate perfume.

At all times, in all countries, Roses have been employed for planting and strewing upon graves. The dying Antony begged Cleopatra to scatter perfumes on his tomb and cover it with Roses; and both Greeks and Romans were desirous of having their graves bedecked every year with the fragrant flowers. So religiously did they observe the practice of planting Roses round graves, that they annexed codicils to their wills, as appears by an old inscription at Ravenna, and another at Milan, by which Roses are ordered to be yearly strewed upon the graves. In the German portions of Switzerland, churchyards are called “Rose gardens.” A Rose is sculptured on the tombs of maidens in Turkey. In Poland, the coffins of little children are covered with Roses, and Roses are thrown from the windows as the funeral procession passes along the streets. In the South of England, a chaplet of white Roses is borne before the corpse of a maiden, by a young girl of the same age as the deceased, and afterwards hung up over her accustomed seat in church. In South Wales, and in many parts of England, it was formerly customary to strew Roses and plant Rose-trees on graves, and, indeed, the custom is still extant. Camden says that at Ockley, in Surrey, the custom of planting Rose-trees on graves had been observed “time out of mind.”

The Rose is one of the plants used for love divinations on Midsummer Eve. In Cornwall, Devon, and other counties, if a young lady will, on Midsummer Eve, walk backwards into the garden, and pluck a Rose, she is reputed to have the means of knowing who is to be her husband. The Rose must be cautiously sewn up in a paper bag, and put aside in a dark drawer, there to remain until Christmas morning, when the bag must be carefully opened in silence, and the Rose placed by the lady in her bosom. Thus she must wear it to church. Some young man will either ask her for the Rose or take it from her without asking; and that young man is destined eventually to become the lady’s husband. Herrick probably refers to this charm in the ‘Hesperides,’ when, in allusion to a bride, he says:—

There is a curious old divination rite to be employed on the 27th of June, according to which maidens are enjoined on that morning to gather secretly a full-blown Rose, between three and four o’clock. The flower is then to be held for about five minutes over the smoke of a chafing-dish containing some brimstone and charcoal; then, before the Rose gets cool, it is to be placed on a sheet of paper, on which is inscribed the maiden’s name and that of the swain she loves, together with the date of the year, and the name of the morning star. This paper, having been folded and thrice sealed, is to be buried at the foot of the Rose-tree from which the flower was plucked, and allowed to remain there until the 6th of July, when it is to be taken up, and placed beneath the maiden’s pillow, with the result that, before morning, she will, in a dream, have her fate revealed. The Rose is utilised as a love-charm in Thuringia; there a maid who has several lovers will name a Rose-leaf after each, and then scatter them upon the water; that which sinks the last representing her future husband.

It was a common belief formerly, that when Roses or Violets flourished in Autumn, there would be a plague or some pestiferous disease during the ensuing year. Lord Bacon points out that a profusion of Roses in their season predicts a severe Winter, and the belief is still extant.

A writer in the Gardener’s Chronicle tells us, that “in some parts of Germany it is customary to throw Rose-leaves on a coal-fire as a means of ensuring good luck. In Germany, as well as in France and Italy, it is believed that if a drop of one’s blood be buried under a Rose-tree, it will ensure rosy cheeks. The Rose is also associated in Westphalia with a charm against nose-bleeding and other hÆmorrhages. This charm consists in the repetition of the words: ‘In Christ’s Garden stand three Roses, one for the good God, the other for God’s blood, the third for the angel Gabriel: blood, I pray you, cease to flow.’ In Suabia, it is somewhat different: ‘On our Lord’s grave spring three Roses; the first is Hope, the second is Patience, the third is the will of God: blood, I pray you be still.’”

Strangely enough, the Rose has the reputation of being a death portent. In England, it is on that account deemed very unlucky to scatter the leaves of a red Rose on the ground. In Italy, this flower is deemed an emblem of an early death; and it is thought an evil omen if its leaves perchance fall to the ground. In Ireland, there is a legend of a sick man who saw a Rose pass across the panes of the window of his room: it was a death warning, and the man died. Roses not only act as portents of death, but in some cases they spring up as memorials of the dead. Thus, at Roncevalles, where Roland and the douze pairs stained the soil with their blood, Roses are popularly believed to have sprung up:—

And again, in our own country, a tradition relates that after the battle of Towton, there sprang up in the field where the Yorkists and Lancastrians fell, a peculiar kind of wild Rose, only there to be found, and which will not bear being transplanted from “the bloody meadow.”

A white Provins Rose was the emblem of the Stuarts upon the accession of the Duke of York to the throne of England as James II. It was said to come into flower on the 10th of June, a day interesting to Jacobites, as being the birthday of the Chevalier St. George.

Under the title of Roisin dubh, the “Little Black Rose,” we find Ireland symbolised in a song composed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Dream oracles tell us that nothing can be more favourable than to dream of Roses, as they are certain emblems of happiness, prosperity, and long life. To a lover, they foretell he will marry the object of his choice, and that happiness and joy will result from the union. To the farmer and sailor, the appearance of these flowers in a dream is said to predict great prosperity and ultimate independence. To dream of withered Roses, however, is ominous of decay of fortune and disappointment.

Astrologers state that red Roses are under the government of Jupiter, Damask Roses under Venus, and white Roses under the rule of the Moon.

ROSE-BRIAR.—The Rose-briar, or Rosa canina, according to tradition, is the plant from which was formed the crown of Thorns placed on our Saviour’s brow at the Crucifixion. It has attached to it the legend that when the sacred drops of blood trickling from the wounded Saviour fell to the ground, they blossomed into Roses.

The Wild, or Dog, Rose, it has also been supposed, composed the thicket in which Abraham caught the ram, as well as the bush in the midst of which the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, and from which God addressed him. It is probably the plant alluded to in the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the desolation of Jerusalem (v., 6): “I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or digged; but there shall come up Briars and Thorns.” Chandler tells us that he saw no other tree nor shrub within the walls of the Holy City when he visited it.——The Rose-briar is connected with an incident in the life of St. Benedict. This godly man, in his early life, lived for three years a solitary existence among the rocks of Subiaco, a wilderness forty miles from Rome. During this time he underwent many temptations, and on one occasion was so disturbed by the recollection of a beautiful woman whom he had seen in Rome, that he was well-nigh quitting his retreat and returning to the city. He felt, however, that the temptation proceeded from the devil, and, tormented by his distracting desires, he rushed from his cave, and flinging himself into a thicket of Briars, he rolled himself in them until the blood flowed freely from his lacerated flesh; then the fiends left him, and he was never again assailed by the same temptation. In the garden of the monastery at Subiaco they show the Rose-bushes which have been propagated from those very briars.

ROSEMARY.—Rosmarinus, the botanical name of Rosemary, signifies the “dew of the sea,” and has been applied to the plant on account of its fondness for the sea-shore. Formerly it was called Rosmarinus coronarius because of its use in chaplets and garlands, with which the principal guests at feasts were crowned. In place of more costly incense, the ancients often employed Rosemary in their religious ceremonies, and especially at funeral rites. The Romans ornamented their Lares, or household gods, with this plant, and at the Palilia, or festival held in honour of Pales, the purification of the flocks was made with the smoke of Rosemary. But the plant is essentially funereal in its character: its aroma serves to preserve the corpse of the departed, and its leaves, ever green, symbolise immortality: hence, like the Asphodel and Mallow, it was frequently planted near tombs:—

In the Northern counties, mourners at funerals often carry a branch of Rosemary, and it is still customary in some rural districts to distribute sprigs of the plant at funerals, in order that those attending may cast them into the grave. Gay refers to this custom in his ‘Shepherd’s Week’:—

Sprigs of Rosemary were, however, in olden times, worn at weddings, as well as at funerals. Herrick says:—

Shakspeare and others of our old poets make frequent mention of Rosemary as an emblem of remembrance, and as being worn at weddings, possibly to signify the fidelity of the lovers. Thus Ophelia says:—

“There’s Rosemary for you, that’s for remembrance; pray you, love, remember.”

Sprigs of Rosemary mingled in the coronal which bound the hair of the unfortunate Anne of Cleves on the occasion of her nuptials with King Henry VIII. In olden times, Rosemary garlanded the wassail bowl, and at Christmas the dish of roast beef, decked with Rosemary and Bays, was ushered in with the carol beginning—

The silvery foliage of this favourite plant mingled well with the Holly, Mistletoe, and Bays employed in decking rooms, &c., at Christmas-tide—a custom which may perhaps be accounted for by a Spanish tradition that the Rosemary (like the Juniper in other legends) afforded shelter and protection to the Virgin Mary during her flight with the infant Saviour into Egypt. The plant is said to flower on the day of the Passion of our Lord because the Virgin Mary spread on a shrub of Rosemary the under linen and little frocks of the infant Jesus; and according to tradition, it brings happiness on those families who employ it in perfuming the house on Christmas night.——In Germany, there exists a curious custom of demanding presents from women on Good Friday, at the same time striking them with a branch of Rosemary or Fir.——It is a common saying in Sicily, that Rosemary is the favourite plant of the fairies, and that the young fairies, under the guise of snakes, lie concealed under its branches.——In the rural districts of Portugal, it is called Alecrim, a word of Scandinavian origin (Ellegrim), signifying Elfin-plant.——Rosemary occupied a prominent place in monastic gardens, on account of its curative properties, and in Queen Elizabeth’s time, its silvery foliage grew all over the walls of the gardens at Hampton Court. Now-a-days the plant is rarely seen out of the kitchen garden, and indeed a common saying has arisen that “Rosemary only grows where the mistress is master.” The plant was formerly held in high estimation as a “comforter of the brain,” and a strengthener of the memory. In England, Rosemary worn about the body is said to strengthen the memory, and to afford successful assistance to the wearer in anything he may undertake.——In an ancient Italian recipe, the flowers of Rosemary, Rue, Sage, Marjoram, Fennel, Quince, &c., are recommended for the preservation of youth. In Bologna, there is an old belief that the flowers of Rosemary, if placed in contact with the skin, and especially, with the heart, give gaiety and sprightliness. Spirit of wine distilled from Rosemary produces the true Hungary water. By many persons Rosemary is used as tea for headaches and nervous disorders.——An Italian legend, given in the Mythologie des Plantes, tells that a certain queen, who was childless, one day, whilst walking in the palace gardens, was troubled with a feeling of envy whilst contemplating a vigorous Rosemary-bush, because of its numerous branches and offshoots. Strange to relate, she afterwards gave birth to a Rosemary-bush, which she planted in a pot and carefully supplied with milk four times a day. The king of Spain, nephew of the queen, having stolen this pot of Rosemary, sustained it with goat’s milk. One day, whilst playing on the flute, he saw to his astonishment a beautiful princess emerge from the Rosemary-bush. Captivated by her beauty, he fell desperately in love with this strange visitor; but being obliged to depart to fight for his country, he commended the Rosemary-bush to the special care of his head gardener. In his absence, his sisters one day amused themselves by playing on the king’s flute, and forthwith the beautiful princess emerged once more from the Rosemary. The king’s sisters, tormented by jealousy, struck her; the princess forthwith vanished, the Rosemary began to droop, and the gardener, afraid of the king’s wrath, fled into the woods. At the midnight hour, he heard a dragon talking to its mate, and telling her the story of the mystic Rosemary-bush. The dragon let fall the fact, that if the Rosemary was to be restored, it could only be by being fed or sprinkled with dragons’ blood: no sooner did the gardener hear this, than he fell upon the male and female dragons, slew them, and carrying off some of their blood, applied it to the roots of the king’s Rosemary. So the spell was broken: the king returned, and soon after married the charming Princess Rosa Marina.——A curious charm, or dream-divination, is still extant in which Rosemary plays an important part; the mode of procedure is as follows:—On the eve of St. Magdalen, three maidens, under the age of twenty-one, are to assemble in an upper room, and between them prepare a potion, consisting of wine, rum, gin, vinegar, and water, in a ground-glass vessel. Into this each maid is then to dip a sprig of Rosemary, and fasten it in her bosom; and after taking three sips of the potion, the three maids are silently to go to sleep in the same bed. As a result, the dreams of each will reveal their destiny. Another elaborate spell for effecting the same result on the first of July, consists in the gathering of a sprig of Rosemary, a red Rose, a white Rose, a blue flower, a yellow flower, nine blades of long Grass, and a sprig of Rue, all of which are to be bound together with a lock of the maiden’s hair who wishes to work the spell. This nosegay is to be sprinkled with the blood of a white pigeon and some salt, and laid beneath the maid’s head when she retires to rest. Her dreams will then portend her fate.——Rosemary is deemed a herb of the Sun.

ROSE OF JERICHO.—From the Casa Nuova Convent of Jerusalem pilgrims bring away little dried-up plants, which after a time appear to be quite dead, but if they are placed in water their branches will soon be covered with fresh bursting buds. These are the Roses of Jericho, or Resurrection Flowers, which grow among the sands of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, and are also found in Barbary. The Anastatica Hierochuntina is cruciform; and when its flowers and leaves have withered and fallen off, the branches as they dry curl inwards, and form a round mass, thence called a Rose. The roots die; the winds tear the plant up, and blow it about the sands till it lodges in a moist spot, or is wetted with the rain; then the curled-up globe expands, and suffers the seeds to escape from the seed vessel in which they were enclosed, and becoming embedded in the sands, they germinate anew; hence its name Anastatica—Resurrection. The Holy Rose of Jericho is regarded with peculiar reverence in Palestine and other places in the East, and is supposed to be the plant alluded to in Ecclesiasticus: “I was ... as a Rose-plant in Jericho.” The Arabs call this plant Kaf Maryam (i.e., Mary’s hand); it is also known as Rosa-MariÆ (Rose of the Virgin). The pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre fancied it sprang up wherever the Holy Family rested in their flight into the Egypt, and called it the Rosa Hierosolymitana. There is a cherished legend that it first blossomed at our Saviour’s birth, closed at the crucifixion, and opened again at Easter, whence its name of Resurrection Flower. The tradition that it blossomed at the moment when our Lord was born, and was endowed with qualities propitious to nativity, caused the plant to be greatly esteemed by the Eastern women, who, when occasion requires, are anxious to have one of these dried plants expanding in a vase of water beside them, firmly believing it has a salutary effect. In like manner, the matrons of Bologna, who call the plant the Rose of the Madonna, believe in its efficacy at the birth of children. They place the plant in water at the bedside with the conviction that at the moment when it has fully expanded itself the expected infant will first see the light.——In Germany, a similar belief exists, and the Rose of Jericho is called (after its Arabic name) Mary’s Hand, in allusion to the office assigned to the Madonna of patroness of matrons.

ROSE OF SHARON.—The Hebrew word rendered in Canticles ii., 1, and Isaiah xxxv., 1, as “Rose,” is thought by some to signify “Tulip.” Interpreters, indeed vary between Rose, Lily, Narcissus, and Tulip; so that it is impossible to say with any certainty what flower we are to understand by the Rose of Sharon. According to travellers, the Narcissus, or Jonquil (Narcissus Jonquila), grows abundantly on the plain of Sharon, yet so low that it may be unobserved among more showy plants; and again we find it stated that, in the season, the plain is literally covered with Tulips. Though Palestine abounds in flowers, it is doubtful whether the Rose of our gardens is alluded to in the Bible. In the Apocrypha (Wisdom xi., 8), it may, perhaps, be intended, but more probably the Oleander is there referred to.

ROWAN-TREE, or MOUNTAIN-ASH.—The Mountain Ash (Pyrus Aucuparia), called also by the old names of Rodden, Rowan-tree, Quicken-tree, and Witchen-tree, is a tree of good omen. In Scandinavian mythology, it is Thor’s Helper, because it bent to his grasp when he was crossing the river Vimur, on his way to the land of the Frost Giants. The wood of the Rowan was also used to preserve the Norse ships from Ran, who delighted in drowning mariners. The Rowan is generally considered to have been one of the sacred trees of the Druids. Stumps of the Mountain Ash have frequently been found within or near the circle of a Druid temple, thus proving that the tree must have been an object of great veneration with the Druids, who doubtless practised their sacred rites beneath its shade. This connection of the tree with Druidic customs affords some explanation of the many superstitious ideas appertaining to the Mountain Ash which are still extant. Lightfoot tells us that the Rowan-tree is discovered in the Druidic circles of North Britain more frequently than any other, and that even now pieces of it are carried about by superstitious people as charms to protect them from witchcraft. Like the Indian Mimosa (a tree of the same genus and of a similar character), or the Palasa, which it resembles in its graceful foliage and berries, the Mountain Ash has for ages been held in high repute as a preservative against magic and sorceries. Thus we find in Jamieson’s ‘Scottish Dictionary,’ that “the most approved charm against cantrips and spells was a branch of the Rowan-tree planted and placed over the byre. This sacred tree cannot be removed by unholy fingers.” The Scotch peasantry considered the Rowan a complete antidote against the effects of witchcraft and the Evil Eye, and, in consequence, a twig of it was very commonly carried in the pocket; but that it might have complete efficacy, it was necessary that it should be accompanied by the following couplet, written on paper, wrapped round the wood and secured by a red silk thread:—

Another version of this charm renders it thus:—

Pennant remarks that the Scotch farmers carefully preserve their cattle against witchcraft by placing branches of Honeysuckle and Mountain Ash in the cowhouses on the 2nd of May; the milkmaids of Westmoreland often carry in their hands or attached to their milking-pails a branch of the Rowan-tree, from a similar superstitious belief; the dairymaids of Lancashire prefer a churn-staff of Rowan-wood to that of any other tree, as it saves the butter from evil influences; and in the North of England a branch of “Wiggin” (Mountain Ash) is frequently hung up in stables, it being deemed a most efficacious charm against witchcraft. Formerly, in some parts of the country, it was considered that a branch or twig held up in the presence of a witch was sufficient to render her deadliest wishes of no avail.——In an ancient song, called the “Laidly Worm of Spindlestone Heughs” is an allusion to this power of the Rowan-tree over witches:—

In Cornwall, the Mountain Ash is called “Care,” and if there is a suspicion of a cow being bewitched or subjected to the Evil Eye, the herdsmen will suspend a branch over her stall, or twine it round her horns. Evelyn says that the Mountain Ash was reputed to be a preservative against fascination and evil spirits, “whence, perhaps, we call it ‘Witchen;’ the boughs being stuck about the door or used for walking-staves.” In Wales, this tree was considered so sacred in his time, that there was not, he tells us, a churchyard without one of them planted in it.——At the present time, in Montgomeryshire, it is customary to rest the corpse on its way to the churchyard under a Mountain Ash, as that tree is credited with having furnished the wood of the Cross.——In olden times, collars of the wood of the Rowan-tree were put upon the necks of cattle, in order to protect them from spells or witchcraft. In many parts of England, it was formerly the custom in cases of the death of animals supposed to be bewitched, to take out the heart of one of the victims, stick it over with pins, and burn it to a cinder over a fire composed of the wood of a Rowan-tree, which, as we have seen, has always been considered a terror and dread to witches.

A witch touched with a branch of this sacred tree by a christened man was deemed doomed to be the victim carried off by the Devil, when he next came to claim his tribute.——Like the Hazel, Thorn, and Mistletoe, it was deemed, according to Aryan tradition, to be an embodiment of the lightning, from which it sprang, and was, moreover, thought to possess the magical power of discovering hidden treasure.——In the days of the Fenians, according to the Gaelic legend, of ‘The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne,’ there grew in Ireland a celebrated Mountain Ash, called the Quicken-tree of Dubhros, which bore some wonderful berries. The legend informs us that, “There is in every berry of them the exhilaration of wine, and the satisfying of old mead, and whoever shall eat three berries of them, has he completed a hundred years, he will return to the age of thirty years.” These famed berries of the Quicken-tree of Dubhros were jealously guarded by one Searbhan Lochlannach, “a giant, hideous and foul to behold,” who would allow no one to pluck them: he was, however, slain by Diarmuid O’Duibhne, and the berries placed at the disposal of his wife Grainne, who had incited her husband to obtain them for her.——At Modrufell, on the north coast of Ireland, is or was a large Rowan, always on Christmas Eve stuck full of torches, which no wind could possibly extinguish; and one of the Orkneys possessed a still more mysterious tree with which the fate of the islands was bound up, since, if a leaf was carried away, they would pass to some foreign lord.

RUDRÂKSHA.—De Gubernatis tells us, that RudrÂksha, which means literally the Eye of Rudra (Siva), or the Tear of Rudra, is a name given, in India, to the fruit of the Eleocarpus, of which the natives manufacture their Rosaries, which are specially used in the worship of the god Siva. It is said that during the war of the gods with the Asuras, or demons, Siva burnt three towns; but he was grieved, and wept went he was told that he had also burnt the inhabitants. From the tears he then shed, and which fell to the earth, sprang the climbing plants whose fruits are to this day called by the faithful, RudrÂkshas.

RUE.—It has been conjectured that the Moly, which, according to Homer, Mercury gave to Ulysses as an antidote to the enchantress Circe’s beverage, was the root of the wild Rue. In olden times, Rue (Ruta graveolens) was called Herb of Grace, from the fact that the word rue means also “repentance,” which is needful to obtain the grace of God. It was also known as the Serving-men’s Joy, but was specially held in high repute by women, who attributed to it all sorts of miraculous qualities. R. Turner states that “it preserves chastity, being eaten; it quickeneth the sight, stirs up the spirits, and sharpeneth the wit.... It is an excellent antidote against poisons and infections; the very smell thereof is a preservation against the plague in the time of infection.” Its virtues as a disinfectant are noted in the quaint rhyme of old Tusser:—

Dioscorides recommended the seed as a counterpoison against deadly medicines, the bitings of serpents, scorpions, wasps, &c.: and Gerarde adds, “It is reported that if a man bee anointed with the juice of Rue, these will not hurt him, and that the serpent is driven away at the smell thereof when it is burned: insomuch that when the weasell is to fight with the serpent, shee armeth her selfe by eating Rue, against the might of the serpent.”——The famous counter-poison of Mithridates, King of Pontus, was composed of twenty leaves of Rue, two Figs, two Walnuts, twenty Juniper-berries, and a little salt. Rue entered into the composition of the once noted “vinegar of the four thieves.” It is said that four thieves, during the Plague of Marseilles, invented this anti-pestilential vinegar, by means of which they entered infected houses without danger, and stole all property worth removing. Piperno, a Neapolitan physician, in 1625, recommended Rue as a specific against epilepsy and vertigo: it sufficed for the patient to suspend some round his neck, renouncing at the time, in a stated formula, the devil and all his works, and invoking the Lord Jesus. This same doctor advocated the employment of Rue to cure dumbness caused by enchantment.——In England, Rue was thought to be efficacious in the cure of madness. Drayton gives the magic potion:—

In combination with Euphrasy, the herb appears to have been considered potent as an eye lotion.

In olden times, there was a tradition that Rue always throve best when stolen from a neighbour’s garden; and it was popularly believed that the gun-flint boiled in Vervain and Rue ensured the shot taking effect.——In Venice, Rue is kept as a charm in a house, to maintain its good fortune; but it is reserved for the single members of the family; with it goes the luck of the house. When a plant cannot be procured, care is taken that at least a sprig is worn by some one between the stocking and leg.——In some parts of Italy, Rue is considered to be a protection against the Evil Eye and witchcraft.——In the Tyrol, anyone bearing a bundle of herbs, comprising Rue, Broom, Maiden-hair, Agrimony, and Ground Ivy, is enabled to see witches.——Astrologers claim Rue as a herb of the Sun, under Leo.

RUSH.—The sea-nymph Galatea was devotedly attached to Acis, a young shepherd of Sicily, who warmly returned her affection. Unfortunately Galatea was passionately loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus, whom she treated with the greatest disdain. One day the Cyclops surprised the lovers who fled from his jealous wrath. The giant, however, hurled a mass of broken rock after Acis, and a fragment striking him, he was crushed to death. Galatea, inconsolable for the loss of her lover, determined to change him into a stream. The blood of the mangled shepherd issuing from the fragment of rock which had overwhelmed him gradually changed into flowing water. Simultaneously

The Flowering-rush (Butomus umbellatus) is considered to be the plant which sprang from the blood of Acis. The ancients knew it under name of the Juncus floridus, and Gerarde calls it the water Gladiole.——The flower now known as Acis is a dwarf Amaryllid.——In olden times, before carpets were known, it was usual to strew the floor with sweet Rushes, which diffused a fragrance. When William the Conqueror was born in Normandy, where that custom prevailed, at the very moment when the infant first saw the light and touched the ground, he filled both hands with the Rushes strewn on the floor, firmly grasping what he had taken up. This was regarded as a propitious omen, and the persons present declared the boy would become a king. This custom of strewing sweet Rushes was in vogue during Elizabeth’s reign, for we find several allusions to it in Shakspeare’s plays. Cardinal Wolsey, when in the zenith of his power, had the strewings of his great hall at Hampton Court renewed every day. It was customary formerly to strew Rushes on the floors of Churches on the Feast of Dedication, and on all high days. Till recently the floor of Norwich Cathedral was strewn with Acorus Calamus on feast days, or, if the Acorus was scarce, then with yellow Iris-leaves. At the Church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Rushes are strewn every Whitsuntide.——In Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Westmoreland, the old custom of Rush-bearing is observed, which apparently had for its origin the ancient practice of carrying Rushes to adorn the Church on the Feast of Dedication. The following account of a Rush-bearing at Ambleside is taken from ‘Time’s Telescope,’ for 1824:—“July 26, 1823.—On this and the following day, the antient custom of Rush-bearing took place at Ambleside. At seven o’clock on Saturday evening, a party of about forty young girls went in procession to the Church, preceded by a band of music. Each of the girls bore in her hands the usual Rush-bearings, the origin and signification of which have so long puzzled the researches of our antiquarians. These elegant little trophies were disposed in the Church, round the pulpit, reading-desk, pews, &c., and had a really beautiful and imposing effect. They thus remained during the Sunday, till the service was finished in the afternoon, when a similar procession was formed to convey these trophies home again. We understand that formerly, in some parts of Lancashire, a similar ceremony prevailed, under the same designation, in which the Rush-bearings were made in the form of females, with a fanciful rosette for the head; and on looking at these in Ambleside, some faint resemblance of the female form may be traced in the outline. No satisfactory explanation of this ceremony has ever yet been given: the attempt at one is, that it is a remnant of an antient custom, which formerly prevailed, of strewing the church-floors with Rushes to preserve the feet from damp; but we cannot perceive what resemblance there is between the practice of strewing the church with Rushes, and the trophies which are now carried from time immemorial.”——To dream of Rushes portends unpleasantness between friends.

RYE.—The Rye-fields are thought by the superstitious German peasantry to be infested by an evil spirit known as the Roggenwolf, or Rye-wolf, and in some districts the last sheaf of Rye is left as a shelter for this field demon during the winter.——In Germany, when a horse is tired, the peasantry will place on his back some crumbs of Rye bread, with a sure conviction that his fatigue will vanish.

SAD TREE.—The Indian Sad Tree (Nyctanthes Arbor-tristis) is a species of Jasmine whose sweet-smelling flowers open at sunset and fall at sunrise, so that it is unadorned during the day, and has thus obtained the name of the Sad Tree. Its flowers, which resemble Orange-blossoms, are much used in temples.——Thunberg relates that the ladies of Batavia, when in the evening they pay visits to one another, are decorated in a particular manner about the head with a wreath of flowers of the Nyctanthes, run upon a thread. “These flowers are brought every day fresh to town for sale. The smell of them is inconceivably delightful, like that of Orange and Lemon-flowers: the whole house is filled with the fragrant scent, enhancing, if possible, the charms of the ladies’ company.”——At Goa, this flower is called Parizataco, a name given to it from the following circumstances:—A governor, named Parizatacos, had a beautiful daughter, who inspired the Sun with passionate love; but after a time he transferred his affections to another, and the poor deserted one was seized with such despair, that at last she put an end to her existence. Over her grave sprang up the Parizataco, or Night Jasmine, the flowers of which have such a horror of the Sun, that they always avoid gazing on it.

Saffron.—See Crocus.

SAGE.—Many species of Sage are highly esteemed in European countries for their medicinal qualities, and most of the continental names of the plant are like the botanical one of Salvia, from Salvo, to save or heal. The ancients ascribed to the herb manifold virtues, and regarded it as a preserver of the human race (“Salvia, Salvatvix, naturÆ conciliatrix.”).——In mediÆval times, the plant, on account of its numerous properties, obtained the name of Officinalis Christi, and was reported to have been blessed by the Virgin Mary.——So wholesome was the herb considered, that the school of Salerno summed up its surpassing merits in the line—

“Cur morietur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?”

“How can a man die who grows Sage in his garden?”

Probably this saying gave rise to the piece of advice contained in the old English proverb—

Parkinson remarks that “Sage is much used in the month of May, fasting, with butter and Parsley, and is held of most to conduce much to the health of man,” and Turner says that “it restores natural heat, and comforts the vital spirits, and helps the memory, and quickens the senses; it is very healthful to be eaten in May with butter, and also to be drank in ale.” The Greeks of Crete (where Sage is grown abundantly) are very careful to gather the herb either on the first or second day of May, before sunrise.——In Sussex, to charm away ague fits, the peasantry eat Sage-leaves fasting for nine mornings consecutively. In Franche-ComtÉ, the herb is believed to mitigate grief, moral as well as physical.——In Piedmont, there exists a tradition that if Sage is placed in a glass phial and buried beneath a dung-heap, a certain animal will grow, the blood of which, if tasted by dogs, will cause them to lose consciousness. There exists, also, a belief among Piedmontese girls that in every Sage-leaf is concealed a little toad; and Robert Turner, in his work on English plants (1687), states that “Rue is good to be planted amongst Sage, to prevent the poison which may be in it by toads frequenting amongst it, to relieve themselves of their poison, as is supposed; but Rue being amongst it, they will not come near it.”——There is an old superstition that, with the aid of Sage, young women may see their future husbands by practising the following extraordinary spell:—On Midsummer Eve, just after sunset, three, five, or seven young women are to go into a garden, where there is no other person, and each is to gather a sprig of Red Sage, and then, going into a room by themselves, set a stool in the middle of the room, and on it a clean bason full of Rose-water, on which the sprigs of Sage are to be put; and tying a line across the room, on one side of the stool, each maiden is to hang on it a clean smock, turned the wrong side outwards; then all are to sit down in a row, on the opposite side of the stool, as far distant as the room will allow, in perfect silence. At a few minutes after twelve, each maid’s future husband will take her sprig of Sage out of the Rose-water and sprinkle her smock with it.——Sage is held to be a herb of Jupiter.

SAINFOIN.—As at present applied, the name Sainfoin appertains to Hedysarum Onobrychis, but the name was first given to the Lucerne Medicago sativa. Sainfoin was, in earlier times, called Holy Hay; the smell of this plant is supposed to excite the braying of asses; hence the specific name is taken from two Greek words, signifying an ass, and to bray. An Indian species (H. gyrans), which grows on the banks of the Ganges, exhibits a singular instance of spontaneous motion: its leaves constantly move up and down, now with sudden jerks, anon with a gentle waving motion. By day or night, and in whatever weather, this plant is never at rest.

SAINTS’ PLANTS.—In monastic days, certain plants received the names of saints either from some peculiarity in their structure, or from their association with the objects of which the saint whose name the particular plant bore was patron. Thus St. Anthony, the patron saint of pigs, gave his name to the Bunium flexuosum (St. Anthony’s Nut), and the Ranunculus bulbosus (St. Anthony’s Rape). St. James’s-wort was so called because it was used for the diseases of horses, of which the saint was patron. St. Thomas, St. Christopher, and St. Benedict have each given their names to plants. The Nigella Damascena is St. Katherine’s Flower, from its resemblance to her wheel. The Saxifraga umbrosa obtained the name of St. Patrick’s Cabbage because it grew in the West of Ireland, where St. Patrick lived. The Primula veris is St. Peter’s-wort from its resemblance to a bunch of keys. Most of these saintly names were, however, given to the plants because their day of flowering is connected with the feast day of the saint. Hence Hypericum quadrangulare is the St. Peter’s-wort of the modern floras, from its flowering on the twenty-ninth of June; Hypericum perforatum is St. John’s-wort, being gathered to scare away demons on St. John’s Eve; Barbarea vulgaris, growing in the winter, is St. Barbara’s-cress, her day being the fourth of December, old style; and Centaurea solstitialis derives its specific Latin name, as well as its popular name, St. Barnaby’s Thistle, from its flourishing on the longest day, the eleventh of June, old style, which is now the twenty-second.

SAINT JOHN’S WORT.—The common St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) has leaves marked with red blood-like spots, which tradition avers always appear on the 29th August, the day on which St. John was beheaded; but the plant derived its name from its being, according to ancient custom, gathered with great ceremony on the eve of St. John’s Day, the 24th of June, to be hung up in windows as a preservative against evil spirits, phantoms, spectres, storms, and thunder; whence it derived its ancient name of Fuga DÆmonum (Devil’s Flight).

For the same reason, the plant was also called Sol Terrestris, the Terrestrial Sun, because it was superstitiously believed that all the spirits of darkness vanish at the approach of the sun; and St. John’s Day falls on the summer solstice, the 24th day of June, the last of the three days which mark the culminating point of the solar ascension—the day when, in some latitudes, the sun never sets, and the heavens are illuminated and radiant with its glory through the night. The bright yellow blossom of the Hypericum perforatum, with its glittering golden stamens, was not inappropriately called Sol Terrestris, as symbolising the sun (which, by its effulgence, disperses all evil spirits), and St. John the Baptist, of whom the Scriptures say he was “a light to them which sit in darkness.”——At the present time this plant is almost everywhere known by the name connecting it with the saint. The peasantry of France and Germany still gather it on St. John’s Day to hang over their cottage doors or in the windows, in the belief that its sanctity will drive away evil spirits of all kinds, and will also propitiate their patron saint.——In Switzerland, young girls on the Eve of St. John make nosegays composed of nine different flowers, of which the principal one is the Hypericum, or St. John’s Wort. These nine flowers are plucked from nine different places. The posy is placed beneath the maiden’s pillow before she retires to bed, and she then endeavours to sleep and dream: should she, in her dream, see a young man, he will not fail soon to arrive and to make her his wife.——Somewhat similar customs to this, in connection with the Rose, the Moss-Rose, and the Sage, exist in England, one of which is, perhaps, referred to by Harte, who, when alluding to certain flowers, adds:—

In Lower Saxony, the peasant girls on the Eve of St. John hang sprigs of Hypericum against the head of their bed or the walls of their chambers; if it remains fresh on the following morning, they are persuaded they will be married within a year; but if, on the contrary, it droops and fades, they have no hope of marriage within that time.

In Italy, the Hypericum is called both St. John’s Wort and the Devil-chaser. On the Night of St. John it is worn about the person, as a preservative from witchcraft and sorcery, and it is suspended over doorways and windows with the same object.——In Scotland, it is carried about as a charm against witchcraft and enchantment, and the peasantry fancy it cures ropy milk, which they suppose to be under some malignant influence. According to Pennant, it is customary in Wales to stick sprigs of St. John’s Wort over every door on the Eve of St. John’s; and Stowe, in his ‘Survey of London,’ tells us that, “on the Vigil of St. John the Baptist, every man’s door being shadowed with green Birch, long Fennel, St. John’s Wort, Orpine, white Lilies, and such like, garnished upon with garlands of beautiful flowers, had also lamps of glass with oil burning in them all the night.”——The peasantry of the Isle of Man have a tradition that if you tread on the St. John’s Wort after sunset, a fairy horse will rise from the earth, and, after carrying you about all night, will leave you in the morning wherever you may chance to be at sunrise.——St. John’s Wort was by old medical writers deemed of great utility in the cure of hypochondriacal disorders, and B. Visontius commends the herb to one troubled with heart-melancholy. For this purpose it was to be gathered on a Friday, in the hour of Jupiter, when he comes to his effectual operation (that is, about the full moon in July); “so gathered, and borne or hung about the neck, it mightily helps this affection, and drives away all phantastical spirits.” Another remarkable quality ascribed to the plant was its power of curing all sorts of wounds: hence originated its old name of Tutsan, a corruption of its French cognomen la Toute-saine, or All-heal. In Sicily, they gather Hypericum perforatum, and immerse it in Olive-oil, which is by this means transformed into an infallible balm for wounds. A salve made from the flowers, and known as St. John’s Wort salve, is still much used and valued in English villages: it is a very old remedy, whose praises have been spoken by Dioscorides and Pliny, Gerarde, Culpeper, and all the old English herbalists. As these flowers, when rubbed between the fingers, yield a red juice, it has, among fanciful medical men, obtained the name of sanguis hominis (human blood).

SALLOW.—The Sallow (Salix caprea) is the Selja of the Norsemen, an ill-omened plant possessing many magical properties. No child can be born in safety where a branch of this sinister tree is suspended; and no spirit can depart in peace from its earthly frame, if it be near them. It is the badge of the Scottish Clan Cumming.

SAL-TREE.—The SÂla or SÂl (Shorea robusta) is one of the sacred trees of India. According to the Buddhists’ belief, it was while holding in her hand a branch of the sacred SÂla, that the mother of Buddha gave birth to the divine infant prince. It was beneath the shelter of two twin SÂl-trees, that Buddha passed his last night on earth, near KuÇinagara, “beneath a rain of flowers, with which the SÂl-tree growing there covered his venerated body.” Thus we read in Da Cunha’s ‘Life of Buddha’—“He then retired to KuÇinagara, and entered a grove of SÂl-trees (Shorea robusta); there, during the night, he received a gift of food from an artizan named Chanda, and was seized with illness. At early dawn next day, as he turned on to his right side with his head to the north, the SÂl-trees bending down to form a canopy over his body, he ceased to breathe.” It was not the season for SÂl-trees to bloom, but the twin trees beneath which he lay were covered with blossoms from crown to foot. Blossoms fell down on him, a shower of flowers fell from heaven, and heavenly melodies sounded over head as the Perfect One passed away. At the moment of his death, the earth quaked, thunders rolled, and the wife of Brahma announced the entry of Buddha into Paradise.

SAMI.—The Indians employ the wood of Sami (Mimosa Suma) a species of Acacia for the production of fire in their sacrifices. For this purpose they rub a stick of Asvattha (representing the male element) against a stick of the Acacia Sami (regarded as the female symbol), in accordance with the Indian legend which relates how Pururavas, the Indian Prometheus, created fire by rubbing two woods together. At Indian weddings, after the sacrifice has been made, the husband and wife take in their hands some Rice (symbol of abundance) and some leaves of Sami (symbol of generation). Before building a house, it is customary to sprinkle the site by dipping a branch of Sami into some holy water. In the same way, the Indians sprinkle the spot when a grave is to be made.

SAMPHIRE.—Samphire (Crithmum maritimum) grows on the rocky cliffs of our Southern shores, the name being a corruption of St. Pierre. The plant, from its love of sea-cliffs, was long ago dedicated to the fisherman saint, whose name in Greek (petros) signifies a rock. Samphire used formerly to be gathered from the cliffs at Dover by men suspended from the summit by a rope: hence Shakspeare’s lines in ‘King Lear’:—

By astrologers Samphire is placed under the influence of Jupiter.

SAMOLUS.—The Samolus was a plant held in high esteem by the Druids. It grew in damp places, and was only to be gathered by a person fasting—without looking behind him—and with his left hand. It was laid in troughs and cisterns where cattle drank, and when bruised was a cure for various distempers.

SANDAL.—The Sandal-wood of India (Santalum album) is a small tree celebrated by the poets on account of its beauty and the perfume of its wood, which is used as incense in temples and also for medicinal purposes. In Hindu temples, the Du, or god, is, before the services, anointed with oil of Sandal-wood or with Sandal dust and water, and adorned with flowers; he is also presented with Betel-leaves. The Chinese Buddhists give the Sandal a place in the celebrated groves of their Paradise, and they say that the chariot of the Sun is made of gold and Sandal-wood. In an Indian religious fÊte called Mariatta Codam, the devotees anoint themselves with Saffron ointment, and go about collecting alms, in return for which they distribute scented sticks, partly composed of Sandal-wood, which are received with great veneration. In the Burman empire, it is customary on the 12th of April (the last day of their calendar) for ladies to sprinkle with Rose-water and Sandal-wood all they meet, to wash away the impurities of the past year, and commence the new one free from sin. The Mussulmans of India in all their religious ceremonies burn ood, an incense compound of Sandal-wood, Aloe, Patchouli, Benzoin, &c. Sundul, or Sandal-wood ointment, is likewise used in innumerable instances for religious purposes; and it is employed to exorcise evil spirits. Magic circles, squares, and figures are drawn on a plank with Sundul, and the individual supposed to be possessed of a demon is made to sit in the centre: then the exorciser pronounces an incantation in Arabic, and burns some incense under the nose of the patient, who solemnly inhales the fumes, and by that means smokes out the demon. The Parsis, who are followers of Zoroaster, renew the undying sacred fire of their altars with Sandal and other precious woods.

SANICLE.—The healing virtues of the Sanicle (Sanicula) have, in England, passed into a proverb: “He that hath Sanicle needeth no surgeon;” whilst the French have a corresponding old saying, recording its curative powers:—

In England, it was in former days called Self-heal, for according to one old herbalist, it would “make whole and sound all wounds and hurts, both inward and outward.”——Sanicle is held to be under the rule of Venus.

SARDEA.—It is considered that the Sium latifolium is the plant known by the ancients as Sardea, which was supposed to grow in Sardinia, and which possessed the singular power of provoking sardonic laughter. Sallust speaks of this mystic plant as resembling Celery.

SATYRION.—The appellation of Satyrion (from the Greek Saturos, a Satyr) is applied to several species of Orchis, from their reputed aphrodisiac character. The Romans believed that the roots of these plants formed the food of the Satyrs, and, on account of its exciting nature, prompted them to commit those excesses which were one of their characteristics.——In Gerarde’s ‘Herbal,’ we read that most of these plants were used for the purpose of exciting the amatory passions: some of them were called Serapiades, because “sundry of them do bring forth floures resembling flies and such like fruitful and lascivious insects, as taking their name from Serapias [Serapis], the god of the citizens of Alexandria, in Egypt, who had a most famous temple at Canopus, where he was worshipped with all kinds of lascivious wantonnesse, songs and dances.” Turner says of the roots of Satyrion, that all the species have a double root, which alter every year, “when one waxeth full, the other perisheth and groweth lank.” The full root, he says, powerfully excites the passions, but the lank ones have exactly the opposite effect.——Astronomers place Satyrion under the rule of Venus.

SAVIN.—The Savin (Juniperus Sabina), in some parts of Italy, is held in great abhorrence as a plant of evil repute: it is called the “Devil’s-tree,” and the “Magician’s Cypress,” on account of the great use of it made in olden times by sorcerers and witches when working their spells.——Savin is reputed by astrologers to be a herb of Mars.

SAVORY.—Savory or Satureia was considered by the ancients as a herb belonging to the Satyrs; hence matrons were specially warned to have nothing to do with it, as the plant was supposed to have disastrous effects on those about to become mothers.——Savory is held to be under the dominion of Mercury.

SAXIFRAGE.—Of the genus Saxifraga, twenty species are indigenous to Great Britain. In olden times, it was noticed that these plants split rocks by growing in their cracks, so, on the doctrine of signatures, certain of the species were supposed to be efficacious in cases of calculus, and were indeed highly esteemed on that account by the Roman physicians. In England, the name Breakstone was bestowed on them for the same reason; the plants most employed by the herbalists being the Meadow Saxifrage, or Mead Parsley, the White Saxifrage, and the Burnet Saxifrage. To this family of plants belongs S. umbrosa, the familiar London Pride, known also by the names of None-so-pretty, Prattling Parnell, and St. Patrick’s Cabbage (from its growing in the West of Ireland).——Astrologers state that the Moon governs the Saxifrages.

Scorpion Grass.—See Forget-me-Not.

Sea Holly.—See Eryngo.

SEA POPPY.—The Sea Poppy or Horned Poppy (Glaucium) is named after Glaucus, a Boeotian fisherman, who, whilst pursuing his calling, observed that all the fishes which he laid on the grass received fresh vigour as they touched the ground, and immediately escaped from him by leaping back into the sea. He attributed the cause of it to some herb growing among the grass, and upon tasting the foliage of the Sea Poppy, he found himself suddenly moved with an intense desire to live in the sea. Upon this he leaped into the water, and was made a sea god by Oceanus and Tethys. This Glaucium or Sea Poppy was called in the middle ages Ficus infernalis: it was supposed to possess magical properties, and was prized by witches and sorcerers, who used it in their incantations. Ben Jonson, in the ‘Witches’ Song,’ says:—

Borlase tells us that, in the Scilly Isles, “this root (the Sea Poppy), so much valued for removing all pains in the breast, stomach, and intestines, is good also for disordered lungs, and is so much better here than in other places, that the apothecaries of Cornwall send hither for it; and some people plant them in their gardens in Cornwall, and will not part with them under sixpence a root. A very simple notion they have with regard to this root, which falls not much short of the Druids’ superstition in gathering and preparing their Selago and Samolus. This root, you must know, is accounted very good both as an emetic and cathartic. If, therefore, they design that it shall operate as the former, their constant opinion is that it should be scraped and sliced upwards—that is, beginning from the root, the knife is to ascend towards the leaf; but if it is intended to operate as a cathartic, they must scrape the root downwards.”

SELAGO.—Selago was the name of a herb held in great repute by the Druids, and intimately connected with some of their mysterious rites. It was known as the Golden Herb or Cloth of Gold, and was reputed to confer the power of understanding the language of birds and beasts. It is variously supposed to have been the Club-Moss (Lycopodium Selago), the Camphorosma Monspeliaca, or a kind of Hedge Hyssop, which used in olden times to be called Gratiola and Dei Gratia, and was regarded as a charm as well as a medicine. Pliny, in his ‘Natural History’ (xxiv., 62), tells us with respect to the Druidic Selago, that it resembles Savin; and that it is gathered as if by stealth, without the use of iron. The person who gathers it must go barefoot, with feet washed, clad in white, having previously offered a sacrifice of bread and wine, and must pluck the plant with his right hand through the left sleeve of his tunic. It is carried in a new cloth. The Druids of the Gauls asserted that it was to be regarded as useful against all diseases, and that its smoke was a remedy for all affections of the eyes.——In Johnson’s edition of Gerarde’s ‘Herbal,’ it is said that the Club Moss, or Heath Cypress, is thought to be the Selago mentioned by Pliny. “The catkins of this plant are described as being of a yellowish colour; and it is stated to be found growing in divers woody, mountainous places of Germany, where they call it Wald Seuenbaum, or Wilde Savine.”——In his work on the Druids, called the ‘Veil of Isis,’ Mr. Reade gives a similar account of the gathering of the Selago, excepting that he states it was cut with a brazen hook. He further tells of a mysterious sisterhood of Druidesses who inhabited the island of Sena (now Sain) at the mouth of the River Loire, where there was a Druidic oracle. These Sibyls devoted themselves chiefly to the service of the Moon, and worshipped her under the name of KÊd or Ceridwen, the Northern name for the Egyptian Isis. They consecrated a herb to her called Belinuncia, in the poisonous sap of which they dipped their arrows to render them deadly. It was one of their rites to procure a virgin, and to denude her as an emblem of the moon in an unclouded sky. Then they sought for the mystic Selago, or Golden Herb. She who pressed it with her foot slept, and heard the language of animals. If she touched it with iron, the sky grew dark and a misfortune fell upon the world.

When they had found the precious herb, the virgin traced the circle round it, and covering her hand in a white linen cloth which had never before been used, rooted it out with the tip of her little finger—a symbol of the crescent moon. Then they washed it in a running spring, and having gathered green branches, plunged into a river and splashed the virgin, who was thus supposed to resemble the moon clouded with vapours. When they retired, the virgin walked backwards, “that the moon might not return upon its path in the plain of the heavens.”

Self-heal.—See Sanicle.

SENSITIVE-PLANT.—The leaves of most species of the genus Mimosa are more or less sensitive to the touch, but M. pudica is the true Sensitive Plant, of which Browne writes:—

SERVICE-TREE.—The true Service-tree is thought by some to have obtained its name from the Latin word cervisia, because from ancient times its fruit has been used for making a fermented liquor of the nature of beer. In France, the Service or Sorb-tree is called Sorbier or Cormier, and an excellent drink, something like Cider, is made from its berries.——De Gubernatis tells us that among the Fins the Sorb is specially reverenced above all trees. In the poem ‘Kalevala’ allusion is made to a nymph of the Sorb-tree (Sorbus terminalis), who is regarded as the protectress of cattle. The Finnish shepherd sticks his staff of Sorb-wood in the middle of a field, and offers up his prayers for the safety of his flock. A branch of the Sorb-tree is the symbol of the lightning, which, according to the Vedic legend, first brought fire to the earth, whilst imparting it to certain privileged trees—on which it fell, not to destroy them, but to conceal itself.——Among the superstitious Scandinavian and German peasantry the Sorb is esteemed a magical tree, typical of fecundity and generation; it is also regarded as a funereal tree, and Mannhardt relates an Icelandic legend, according to which the Sorb sprang from the bodies of two young men, who, although quite innocent, had been condemned to death.

SESAME.—It is from the delightful story of ‘The Forty Thieves,’ in the ‘Arabian Nights’ Entertainment,’ that most English people have become acquainted with the Sesame—the wondrous plant that at the command of Ali Baba—“Open, Sesame!”—gained him an entrance to the secret treasure-cave. In this capacity of opening the doors of caverns, &c., the Sesamum-flower resembles the Springwort, and, like that mystic plant, would seem to be an embodiment of lightning, if we may judge from its Indian name of Vajrapushpa, Thunderbolt-flower.——Gerarde, in his ‘Herbal,’ speaks of it as “the oily pulse called Sesamum” (or Sesama), and says “it is one of the summer grains, and is sown before the rising of the seven stars, as Pliny writeth.”——The plant is a native of the East Indies, and the Hindus say that it was created by Yama, the god of death, after a lengthy penance. They employ it specially in funeral and expiatory ceremonies as a purificator and as a symbol of immortality. In their funeral rites in honour of the departed, they pour Sesame grain into the three sacrificial vases, wherein the sacred Kusa and the holy oil have already been placed, the while invoking the pulse as “the Sesame consecrated to the god Soma.” At the annual festival in honour of the childless god Bhishma, the four Indian castes pray for the departed god, and by this act of piety procure for themselves absolution for all sins committed during the past year, provided that, at the conclusion of the ceremony, an offering is made of water, Sesame, and Rice. Sesame, with Rice and honey, enters into the composition of certain funeral cakes offered to the Manes in the ceremonies, but eaten by the persons present. The Indian funeral offering, made at six different periods, is called “the offering of six Sesames,” and if this is faithfully made, the natives hope to be delivered from misfortune on earth and to be rewarded with a place in the heaven of Indra. At an Indian funeral, when the corpse has been burnt, the devotees bathe in a neighbouring river, and leave on its banks two handfuls of Sesame, as nourishment for the soul of the departed whilst on its funeral journey, and as a symbol of the eternal life offered to the deceased.

SHAMROCK.—The word Shamrock (which means Little Trefoil) is from the Erse seamrog, a diminutive of seamar, Trefoil. The Shamrock, or Trefoil, in heraldry, is the badge of the kingdom of Ireland, and St. Patrick, the patron saint of that isle, is represented in the habit of a bishop, holding a Trefoil—St. Patrick’s Cross, as it is called by Irishmen. It is said that St. Patrick, when on an evangelising mission in Ireland, made the doctrine of the Trinity, one day, the subject of his discourse. Finding his hearers unable to understand it, he plucked a leaf of Shamrock, and used it as an illustration. So easy and simple was the application, that their difficulties were removed, and they accepted Christianity. Ever since, the Shamrock has been the national emblem of Irishmen, and has been worn by them for many centuries on the 17th of March, which is the anniversary of St. Patrick. As to what was the herb which furnished the saint with so excellent an illustration of the Three in One, there is amongst botanists much dispute, but the plants that for a long time past have been sold in Dublin and London on St. Patrick’s Day as the national badge are the Black Nonsuch (Medicago lupulina), and the Dutch Clover (Trifolium repens). Several writers have advocated the claims of the Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), which is called by the old herbalists Shamrog, and is proved in olden times to have been eaten by the Irish,—one old writer, who visited their country in the sixteenth century, stating that it was eaten, and that it was a sour plant. Wood Sorrel is a sour-tasting plant, is indigenous to Ireland, and is trifoliated. It grows in woods, where the people used to assemble, and where the priests taught and performed their mystic rites; and therefore it may have been the plant plucked by St. Patrick. It has also been contended that the Watercress (called “Shamrock” by Holinshed in 1586) was the plant gathered by the saint, but as its leaf is not trifoliate, this claim has not found much favour. The plant which is figured upon our coins, both English and Irish, is an ordinary Trefoil. Queen Victoria placed the Trefoil in her royal diadem in lieu of the French Fleur-de-lis.

SHEPHERD’S PURSE.—The Capsella Bursa is commonly known as Pickpocket or Pickpurse, from its robbing the farmer by stealing the goodness of his land. It was known to our forefathers by the names of St. James’s-wort, Poor Man’s Parmacetty, Toywort, and Caseweed, and was considered to be “marvellous good for inflammation.” (See Clappedepouch.)

SHOLOA.—The Sholoa is a medicinal plant, employed by the Bushmen of South Africa. Before going into battle, they rub their hands with Sholoa, in order to be able to chafe the badly wounded to preserve their life. When they dig up this plant, they deem it necessary, to avert danger from themselves, to replant immediately a portion of the root, so that it may spring up again. Tradition says that a man who neglected this precaution was found speechless and motionless enveloped in the toils of serpents. These serpents were killed by the Bushmen in order to regain possession of the root, which was replanted. Their women are afraid of these roots, when freshly dug up; they are, therefore, always put into a bag before being taken into a hut.

SNOWDROP.—The Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) was formerly held sacred to virgins, and this may account for its being so generally found in the orchards attached to convents and old monastic buildings.

It is also dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and a monkish tradition asserts that it blooms on the second of February, or Candlemas Day, the day kept in celebration as that on which the holy Virgin took the child Jesus to the Jewish Temple and there presented an offering. Hence the flower is called the Fair Maid of February; as on the Day of the Purification of the Virgin Mary her image used to be removed from the altar, and Snowdrops strewed over the vacant place.——The legendary account of the flower’s creation is as follows:—“An angel went to console Eve when mourning over the barren earth, when no flowers in Eden grew, and the driving snow was falling to form a pall for earth’s untimeous funeral after the fall of man; the angel, catching as he spoke a flake of falling snow, breathed on it, and bade it take a form, and bud and blow. Ere the flake reached the earth Eve smiled upon the beauteous plant, and prized it more than all the other flowers in Paradise, for the angel said to her:—

The angel’s mission being ended, away up to heaven he flew; but where on earth he stood, a ring of Snowdrops formed a posey.”——An old name for the plant was the Winter Gilliflower. Dr. Prior thinks that the name Snowdrop was derived from the German Schneetropfen, and that the “drop” does not refer to snow, but to the long pendants, or drops, worn by the ladies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, both as earrings and hangings to their brooches, and which we see represented so often by Dutch and Italian painters of that period.——In some parts of England it is considered by the peasantry unlucky to take the first Snowdrop into a house—the flower being regarded as a death-token, inasmuch as it looks like a corpse in its shroud.

SOLANUM.—To this family belong the Love Apple, the Mad Apple, and the Bitter-Sweet. Several species of the genus Solanum are poisonous and highly dangerous plants. It is related that when Sweno, king of Norway, was besieging Duncan of Scotland in the town of Betha, Macbeth, his cousin, managed to leave the town, whereupon Duncan began to treat with the enemy as to the terms of a surrender, promising them a supply of provender. The Danes accepted the terms, and Duncan sent them their provisions, which they duly partook of; but soon after they were overcome by a profound lethargic sleep, for their wine and ale had been drugged with Solanum. In this condition they fell an easy prey to Macbeth, who attacked them and utterly routed their forces. Ten only of the soldiers, who had entertained suspicions with regard to Duncan’s gift of supplies, remained in their senses, and these carried off King Sweno, in a lifeless condition, to the mouth of the river Tay, and thence conveyed him home in a fishing-boat.

SOLOMON’S SEAL.—The appellation of Solomon’s Seal has been given to the Convallaria Polygonatum, because, on cutting the roots transversely, some scars are seen resembling the device known as Solomon’s Seal—a name given by the Arabs to a six-pointed star, formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting each other. To the old herbalists these marks (according to the doctrine of signatures) were an indication of the plant’s virtues or uses: it was sent to seal or consolidate wounds. Gerarde says: “That which might be written of the herbe as touching the knitting of bones, and that truely, would seeme with some incredible; but common experience teacheth that in the world there is not to be found another herbe comparable to it for the purposes aforesaid; and therefore, in briefe, if it be for bruises inward, the roots must be stamped, some ale or wine put thereto, strained, and given to drink. It must be given in the same manner to knit broken bones, against bruises, black or blew marks gotten by stripes, falls, or such like; against inflammation, tumours, or swellings, that happen unto members whose bones are broken, or members out of joynt, after restauration: the roots are to be stamped small, and applied pultesse or plaister wise, wherewith many great workes have been performed beyond credit.”——The plant is also known by the name of Lady’s Seal, Seal-wort, White-root, Ladder-to-heaven, and Jacob’s-ladder.——By astrologers it is held to be under the rule of Saturn.

SOMA.—The Soma, or Moon Plant, is one of the most sacred plants of India. It is supposed to be the Sarcostemma viminale, or Cyanchum viminale (Asclepias acida), which grows on the Coromandel hills and in the PunjÂb. According to Dr. Haug, the plant at present used by the sacrificial priests of the Dekhan is not the sacred Soma of the Vedas, although it appears to belong to the same order. In the Hindu religion, by a truly mystic combination, Soma represents at once the moon or moon-god, the genius presiding over the Soma, and the plant itself. In the Vedic hymns to Soma, the notion of the plant predominates, but intermixed are references which are only applicable to the lunar character of the divinity. The description of the plant given in Garrett’s ‘Classical Dictionary of India’ is as follows:—“It grows to the height of about four or five feet, and forms a kind of bush consisting of a number of shoots, all coming from the same root; their stem is solid, like wood, the bark greyish, they are without leaves, the sap appears whitish, has a very stringent taste, is bitter but not sour; it is a very nasty drink, but has some intoxicating effect. The sap referred to is sharp and acid, and, according to Decandolle, would be poisonous if taken in large quantities; in many cases the nerves are affected by it, as if by a narcotic; but it is benumbing in its influence, as it hinders the activity of the nerves, without inducing sleep.” From this sacred plant, which has the mystic five white petals, is obtained a milky exudation (symbolising the motherhood of Nature), out of which is made the Vedic Amrita, a divine beverage that confers immortality; and, probably on this account, the plant itself is worshipped as a god. Thus we find it so addressed in a hymn from the Rigveda, translated by Muir:—

The Soma sap is used as the Soma drink for the initiation of the Djoga; it is said to produce the magical condition in which, raised above the universe to the great centre, and united with Brahma, the seer beholds everything.——In the Hindu worship, libations to the gods were of three kinds—butter, honey, and the fermented juice of the Soma-plant. The butter and honey were poured upon the sacrificial fire; the Soma juice was presented in ladles to the deities invoked, part sprinkled on the fire, part on the Kusa, or Sacred Grass, strewed upon the floor, and the rest invariably drunk by those who had conducted the ceremony. The exhilarating properties of the fermented juice of the Soma filled the worshippers with delight and astonishment; and the offering of this sacred liquid was deemed to be especially pleasing to the Hindu gods.——In the lunar sacrifices, the Soma drink was prepared with mystical ceremonies, with invocations of blessings and curses, by which the powers of the world above and below were incorporated with it. According to their intended use, various herbs were mixed with the principal ingredient. Windischmann remarks that the use of the Soma was looked upon in early ages as a holy action, and as a sacrament, by which the union with Brahma was produced; thus, in Indian writings, passages similar to the following, often occur: “PrÂjapati himself drinks this milk, the essence of all nourishment and knowledge—the milk of immortality.”——The Gandharvas, a race of demigods, are represented in certain of the Vedic legends as custodians of the Soma or Amrita, and as keeping such close watch over the divine beverage, that only by force or cunning can the thirsty gods obtain a supply of the immortalising drink.——One of the Hindu synonymes of Soma is madhu, which means a mixed drink; and this word is the methu of the Greeks, and the mead of our own Saxon, Norse, and Celtic ancestors. SORREL.—From May to August the meadows are often ruddy with the Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa), the red leaves of which point out the graves of the Irish rebels who fell on Tara Hill, in the “Ninety-Eight;” the popular and local tradition being that the plants sprang from the blood of the patriots shed on that occasion.——Sorrel is under the planetary influence of Venus.

SOW-THISTLE.—Theseus, king of Athens, is said to have received as a gift from the hands of Hecate, the Sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) and the Sea Fennel (Crithmum maritimum). Like the Sesame, the Sow-thistle, according to tradition, sometimes conceals marvels or treasures; and in Italian stories are found the exclamation, “Open Sow-thistle,” used with the same magical results as attend the invocation of the Sesame. A Russian legend states that the Devil considers the Sow-thistle to be peculiarly his property, although in so doing he is in error (see Oats and Reed).——The Sow-thistle is considered by astrologers to be under the dominion of Venus.

SOUTHERNWOOD.—The Abrotanum (Southernwood) is a species of Wormwood, to which the Greeks and Romans, and in more recent times the Germans and French, attributed wonderful magic properties. According to Pliny, it should be classed as an aphrodisiac plant, for, if it be placed under a mattress, it will evoke sensual passions. Gerarde says the same thing; and adds that “it helpeth against the stinging of scorpions,” and that, “being strewed upon the bed, or a fume made of it upon hot embers, it driveth away serpents.” Lucan refers to this latter quality in the following lines (Book 9):—

Macer Floridus states that it will drive away serpents; and Bauhin narrates that it used to be employed against epilepsy.——From an ointment made with its ashes, and used by young men to promote the growth of a beard, the plant obtained the name of Lad’s Love.——Astrologers place Southernwood under the rule of Mercury. (See also Mugwort and Wormwood.)

SPEEDWELL.—The Veronica ChamÆdrys appears in olden times to have been called “Forget-me-Not,” a name that has since been universally applied to the Myosotis. Now-a-days it is sometimes called by country folk Cat’s-eye. The plant derives its name of Speedwell from the fact of its corolla falling off and flying away as soon as it is gathered; “Speedwell” being the old-fashioned equivalent of “Good-bye!” The bright blue blossom of the Germander Speedwell is in some places better known as Veronica, an appellation derived from Vera (Latin) and Icon (Greek), and signifying “true image.”——When our Saviour was on his way to Mount Calvary, bearing his cross, he passed by the door of Veronica, a compassionate woman, who beholding with pity the Lord’s distressed condition, and the drops of agony on His brow, wiped His face with a kerchief, or napkin, and the features of the Redeemer remained miraculously impressed upon the linen. The kerchief itself was styled the Sudarium, and from some resemblance of the blossom of the Germander Speedwell to this saintly relic, bearing the features of Christ, the plant received the name of Veronica.——Francus wrote an entire work on the virtues of the Veronica orientalis, which is said to have cured a King of France of the leprosy and to have given children to a barren wife. R. Turner calls the plant Fluellin, or Lluellin—a name, he remarks, “the Shentleman of Wales have given it because it saved her nose, which disease had almost gotten from her.”

SPIGNEL.—Spignel (Meum athamanticum) is also known as Mew, Bear-wort, or Bald-money. The latter name is of obscure etymology, but we may safely reject the derivation which some writers have suggested from the name of the god Baldr, the Scandinavian Apollo.——Spignel is held to be under the rule of Venus. (See Baldmoney).

SPIKENARD.—We read in Canticles: “While the king sitteth at his table, my Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” And again: “Thy plants are an orchard of Pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; Camphire, with Spikenard, Spikenard and Saffron.” The true nature of Spikenard has for ages been the subject of much controversy; but it is now generally accepted that it was obtained from the Valeriana Jatamansi. Ptolemy notices these odoriferous plants, the best of which grew at Rangamati, and on the borders of the country now called Bootan. Pliny says there are twelve varieties of it—the best being the Indian, the next in quality the Syriac, then the Gallic, and in the fourth place, that of Crete. He thus describes the Indian Spikenard: “It is a shrub with a heavy thick root, but short, black, brittle, and yet unctuous as well; it has a musty smell, too, very much like that of the Cyperus, with a sharp acrid taste, the leaves being small, and growing in tufts. The heads of the Nard spread out into ears; hence it is that Nard is so famous for its two-fold production, the spike or ear, and the leaf.” The price of genuine Spikenard was then one hundred denarii per pound, and all the other sorts, which were merely herbs, were infinitely cheaper, some being only worth three denarii per pound. Galen and Dioscorides give a somewhat similar account of Spikenard or Nardostachys, but the latter states that the so-called Syrian Nard came in reality from India, whence it was brought to Syria for shipment. Mr. E. Rimmel, in his ‘Book of Perfumes,’ points out that “the ancients appear to have confounded Spikenard with some of the fragrant Grasses of India, which would account for the report that Alexander the Great, when he invaded Gedrosia, could smell from the back of his elephant the fragrance of the Nard as it was trod upon by the horses feet. This error was shared by LinnÆus, who did not attempt to classify the plant, but was inclined to think it was the same as the Andropogon Nardus, commonly called Ginger Grass. Sir William Jones, the learned orientalist, turned his serious attention to this question, and after a laborious investigation succeeded in establishing beyond doubt that the Spikenard of the ancients was a plant of the Valerianic order, called by the Arabs Sumbul, which means ‘spike,’ and by the Hindus Jatamansi, which signifies ‘locks of hair,’ both appellations being derived from its having a stem which somewhat resembles the tail of an ermine, or of a small weasel. He, consequently, gave it the name of Valeriana Jatamansi, under which it is now generally classed by botanists. It is found in the mountainous regions of India, principally in Bootan and Nepaul. Its name appears to be derived from the Tamil language, in which the syllable nÁr denotes any thing possessing fragrance, such as nÁrtum pillu, ‘Lemon Grass;’ nÁrum panei, ‘Indian Jasmine;’ nÁrtum manum, ‘Wild Orange,’ &c. It is highly probable, however, that the word Spikenard was often applied by the ancients as a generic name for every sort of perfume, as the Chinese now designate all their scents by the name of hËang, which properly means incense, it being for them the type of all perfumes.”——In an Indian poem, the hero, compelled to go upon his travels immediately after wedding the girl of his heart, takes leave of her in his garden, and showing her a Spikenard of his own planting, enjoins her to watch over it with loving care; for as long as it thrives all will go well with him, but should it wither some fatal misfortune will certainly befall him. Years pass away before he can turn his steps homewards. Then he assumes the garb of a mendicant, goes to his home, gains admission to the garden, and there sees his faithful wife weeping over the precious Spikenard, grown into a mighty plant, telling its own tale. The finish can well be guessed.

SPRINGWORT.—The Springwort, or Blasting-root, is famed in German legends for its magical power of opening locks, however strong, hidden doors, rocks, and secret entrances to caves where are stored inexhaustible treasures. In Kelly’s ‘Indo-European Tradition,’ we read that as a rule the Springwort has been regarded as an unknown species of plants, and therefore most difficult to find; but some few accounts specify known plants, and Grimm mentions the Euphorbia Lathyris, which he identifies with the Sferracavallo of the Italians, so named because it acts so potently on metals, that horses, if they tread on it, have their shoes drawn off. (The Sferracavallo, however, was stated by Mentzel in 1682 to be a Vetch now known as the Hippocrepis). The Springwort is procured by plugging up the hole in a tree in which a green or black woodpecker has its nest with young ones in it. As soon as the bird is aware of what has been done, it flies off in quest of a wondrous plant, which men might look for in vain, and returning with it in its bill, holds it before the plug, which immediately shoots out from the tree, as if driven by the most violent force. But if one conceals himself before the woodpecker returns, and scares it when it approaches, the bird will let the root fall; or a white or red cloth (representing water or fire) may be spread below the nest, and the bird will drop the root upon the cloth after it has served its own turn. This is Grimm’s version of the matter, and Pliny’s account coincides, except that he adds that the plug is driven out with an explosion, caused, as one may conclude, by the electricity contained in the plant which is applied to it by the bird. Now it is worthy of remark that the woodpecker is mythically alleged to be a fire- or lightning-bearer; and so is called by the Romans Picus Martius, after the god Mars, and Picus Feronius, from the Sabine goddess Feronia, who had a certain control over fire. In the Sanscrit, a species of Euphorbia is called the Thunderbolt Thorn, and some others are termed Thunderbolt-wood. It is curious to notice, by the way, that the Indian name of the Sesame-flower, Vajrapushpa, connects with the thunderbolt the flower that opens treasure-caves. In Swabia, they say that the hoopoe brings the Springwort, and lets it fall into water or fire to destroy it: to obtain it, therefore, one must have in readiness a pan of water, or kindle a fire; the original notion having been that the bird must return the plant to the element from which it springs,—that being either the water of the clouds, or the lightning-fire enclosed therein. The connection between the Springwort and the lightning is also manifested in an old Swabian tradition, that when the plant is buried in the ground at the summit of a mountain, it draws down the lightning, and divides the storm, causing it to pass off to right and left.——In the Oberpfalz, the Springwort is called Johanniswurzel, because it is there believed that it can only be found among the Fern on St. John’s Night. It is said to be of a yellow colour, and to shine in the night like a candle, resembling in this respect the Mandrake. Moreover, it never stands still, but darts about continually to avoid the grasp of men. Here then, in the luminosity and the power of rapid movement attributed to the Springwort, we see the embodiment of electricity in the plant.——In Switzerland, the Spreng-wurzel is carried in the right pocket, to render the bearer invulnerable to dagger or bullet; and in the Harz mountains it is said to reveal treasures.——With regard to this magical property of disclosing concealed treasures, a story is related by Kuhn in his North German Legends, from which we learn that a shepherd who was driving his flock over the Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his staff, the mountain suddenly opened, for there was a Springwort in his staff without his knowing it. Inside the mountain he discovered an enchanted princess, who bade him take as much gold as he pleased; so he filled his pockets, and then prepared to retire; but he had forgotten his staff with the Springwort in it, which he had laid against the wall when he stepped in; so that just as he was on the point of stepping out of the opening, the rock suddenly slammed together, and cut him in two. In this version of the German legend, the Luckflower is identified with the Springwort.

SPURGE LAUREL.—The Spurge Laurel, called in Denmark Ty-ved, is sacred to Tyr, the god of war. This plant is the badge of the Scottish Clan Graham.

SQUILL.—The Scilla maritima, or Sea Onion, was of old consecrated in Egypt to the god Typhon. The mummies of Egyptian women often hold the Squill in one hand, probably as an emblem of generation. The Egyptians planted the Squill in groves, and hung it in their houses to preserve them from evil spirits. In Arcadia, at the festival of the god Pan, the statue of the deity was decorated with Squills.

STAR OF BETHLEHEM.—The Ornithogalum umbellatum is called the Star of Bethlehem on account of its white stellate flowers resembling the pictures of the star that indicated the birth of the Saviour of mankind. As the plant is abundant in the neighbourhood of Samaria, it was thought by LinnÆus and also by several biblical commentators to be the “dove’s dung” mentioned as the food of the famished inhabitants of that city during the siege recorded in the Book of Kings. The Star of Bethlehem is horological—it never unfolds its petals before eleven o’clock, and hence has acquired the nickname of the Eleven o’Clock Lady.

STOCK.—The Stock, or Stock-Gilliflower (Mathiola), was one of the earliest inmates of English gardens, where it was known as the Gilliflower, a word corrupted from the French name of the flower, GiroflÉe.

The principal kinds grown in gardens are the Queen’s Stock-Gilliflower, of which the Brompton Stock and the White Stock are varieties, and the annual, or Ten-weeks’ Stock (M. annua). The old English name of Gilliflower was familiarly given to several other plants dear to early English gardeners: thus we find it applied to the Carnation, the Pink, the Rocket, the Wall-flower, the Ragged Robin, and some others. Parkinson (who is the first writer to mention the double Stock) remarks of the flower: “We call it in English generally Stock-Gilloflower (or as others do, Stock Gillover), to put a difference between them and the Gilloflowers and Carnations, which are quite of another kindred.” The word Gilliflower afterwards became corrupted to July-flower, and was so written by the poet Drayton.——Baron Cuvier had a great partiality for the double Stock: it had been the favourite flower of his mother, and the great naturalist, on that account, always prized the fragrant plant, and whilst it was in season made it a rule to have a bunch on his table, that he might inhale its grand perfume.

STONECROP.—Like the House-leek, the Stonecrop was supposed to be a protective against thunder and lightning, and hence was planted on the roofs of cottages, stables, &c. The old herbalists valued the small Houseleek, or Stonecrop, as a cure for ague and expeller of poisons. It was used as an outward application, and, when boiled in beer, was considered good for pestilential fevers. Among country folks the plant was known as Wall Pepper (from its pungent flavour), Jack of the Buttery, Gold Chain, and Prick Madam, the last name being a corruption of the French Trique Madame.——Stonecrop is held by astrologers to be under the dominion of the Moon.

STORAX.—The Styrax, or Storax-tree, has been held in great estimation from the time of Dioscorides and Pliny, both of whom described it. Although the tree is indigenous to many of the southern parts of Europe, yet the precious and deliciously fragrant gum that exudes from it, known as Storax-tears, can only be obtained in perfection from Asiatic Turkey. Old Gerarde says “of this gum, there are made sundry excellent perfumes, pomanders, sweet waters, sweet bags, sweet washing-balls, and divers other sweet chains and bracelets.”——Storax-tears are still used as incense in the churches and mosques of Asia Minor.

STRAW.—In the HÁvamÁl, or the ‘Divine Discourse of Odin,’ who gave these precepts of wisdom to mankind, it is stated that “Straws dissolve enchantment.” Hence, probably, was derived the custom of laying two Straws crosswise in the path where a witch was expected to pass, under the belief that by stepping over Straws, arranged so as to form the sign of the Cross, a witch was rendered powerless. In Ireland, on May-eve (neen na Beal tina), the ceremony is practised of making the cows leap over lighted Straw or faggots.——In Cornwall, lasses desirous of knowing when they are to be married, are accustomed to repair either to Madron Well, or to a well at St. Austell: there two pieces of Straw, about an inch long, are crossed and fastened by a pin. This Straw cross is then dropped into the water, and the rising bubbles carefully counted, as they mark the number of years which will pass ere the arrival of the happy day.——In Devonshire, to charm warts away, they take a Wheat Straw with as many knots as there are warts on the hand to be dealt with, name over the Straw the person afflicted, and then bury it: as it decays, the warts will disappear.——In the county of Donegal, Ireland, a sufferer from warts procures ten Straws, ties a knot in each, throws the tenth away, and carefully rubs the warts with the other nine knotted Straws; this done, he makes a white paper parcel of the Straws, and throws it upon the high road, sure that the person who picks up and opens the parcel will become the possessor of the warts.——An old German cure for sleeplessness was to place beneath the pillow a “composing wisp,” that is Straw which workwomen put under the burdens on their backs; but taken from people unknown to them.——If a hen wants to sit, the German peasants make her nest of Straw out of the bed of the husband and wife: if cock chickens are wished, from the man’s side; if hen chickens, from the wife’s side.——A Swedish popular tale narrates how a king’s son, passing a cottage one day, saw a pretty girl sitting on the roof spinning. Curious to know why she chose so unusual a place, he enquired of the girl’s mother, who told him that she sat there to let the people see how clever she was; adding, “She is so clever that she can spin gold from clay and long Straw.” The truth was, the girl, although good-looking, was idle in the extreme, and had been set to spin on the roof of the cot so that all the world might judge of her sloth. The king’s son, however, knew naught of this, and being captivated by the girl’s pretty face, he resolved, if she could really spin gold from long Straw and clay, to take her to the palace, and make her his consort. The mother having given her consent, the girl accompanied the prince to the royal residence, where she was given a bundle of Straw, and a pailful of clay, in order to prove if she were so skilful at spinning as her mother had said. The poor girl, knowing her incompetence, soon began to weep when left by herself in her chamber; whereupon suddenly a little ugly and deformed old man stood before her, and demanded to know the cause of her grief. The girl told him; and forthwith the old man produced a pair of gloves, which he gave to the girl, saying, “Fair maiden, weep not: here is a pair of gloves; when thou hast them on, thou wilt be able to spin from long Straw and clay. To-morrow night I will return, when, if thou hast not found out my name, thou shalt accompany me home, and be my bride.” The brave girl shuddered, but agreed to the old man’s condition, and he went his way. Then she pulled on the gloves, and, without difficulty, soon spun up all the Straw and clay into the finest gold. There was great joy in the palace, and the king’s son was delighted that he had obtained so charming and so skilful a wife; but the young maiden did nothing but weep at the dread prospect of being claimed by the ugly, undersized old man. Late in the day, the king’s son returned from the chase, and seeing his bride so melancholy, began to tell her of an adventure he had just met with in the forest. Said he: “I suddenly came upon a very little ugly old man dancing round a Juniper-bush, singing a curious song, at the end of which he loudly bawled, ‘I am called Titteli Ture.’” Then the pretty maid’s face brightened up, for she knew that she had learnt the name of her mysterious visitor. So she set to work to spin more gold from Straw and clay alone in her chamber, and kept repeating the old man’s name, so that she might not forget it. At midnight the door of her room noiselessly opened, and the hideous old man entered with beaming eyes. On beholding him the girl sprang up, and said: “Titteli Ture, Titteli Ture, here are thy gloves.” When the dwarf heard his name pronounced, he was overcome with passion, and bursting through the roof of the apartment, hastened away through the air. The maiden was espoused by the king’s son the following day, and nothing more was ever seen of Titteli Ture.

STRAWBERRY.—Strawberries were reputed to be the favourite fruit of the goddess Frigg, who presided over marriages. In German legends, Strawberries symbolise little children who have died when young. According to one of these legends, before St. John’s Day mothers who have lost their little ones take care not to eat Strawberries, because they think that young children ascend to heaven concealed in Strawberries. Mothers who eat Strawberries are considered to have wronged the Virgin Mary, to whom the Strawberry is dedicated, and who would assuredly refuse an entry into heaven to those children whose mothers had defrauded her of the fruit specially set apart for her.——A representation of the leaf of the Strawberry is set in the gold coronets worn by certain of the English nobility: a duke’s coronet has eight leaves, an earl’s eight, and that of a marquis four. Strawberry-leaves and the Flower-de-luce are used in the coronets of the younger members of the royal family. Don John, son of King John I. of Portugal, adopted the Strawberry as his device, to show his devotion to St. John the Baptist, who lived on fruits. It is mentioned by Hollinshed, and the fact has been dramatised by Shakspeare, that Glo’ster, when he was contemplating the death of Hastings, asked the Bishop of Ely for Strawberries.

LinnÆus was cured of frequent attacks of gout by the use of Strawberries, and the fruit is accounted an excellent remedy in putrid fevers.——To dream of Strawberries is reputed to be a good omen: to a youth they are supposed to denote that “his wife will be sweet tempered, and bear him many children, all boys.”——A legend of the Fichtelgebirge (a mountain range at the junction of Saxony, Bavaria, and Bohemia) records that one Midsummer Day a woman went with her child to look for Strawberries in a wood. She chanced to light upon some plants, which when plucked in the night, were not to be exhausted; and after awhile she perceived a cavern which she entered with her child. Here, to her astonishment, lay heaps of gold scattered about; and three white maidens gave her permission to take as much of the treasure as she could collect with one grasp. Her greed, however, induced her to make three swoops, and then, fearful of the consequences, and forgetting her child, she rushed out of the hollow, when the entrance was immediately closed upon her, and a warning voice informed her that she could not regain her child until the next St. John’s Day. When this day arrived, the woman repaired to the cave, and found to her joy the entrance once more open, and her little one awaiting her with a rosy Apple in its hand. Disregarding the treasures scattered in the cave, the mother rushed with outstretched arms towards her child, and the white maidens finding that the mother’s love was stronger than her greed handed over the little one to her.——There is, in this district, another legend anent the gathering of Strawberries, which will be found under the head of Club Moss.

SUGAR-CANE.—In the Sugar plantations of the Indies, several superstitious ceremonies are preserved. It being customary to reserve a few plants, it sometimes happens after the fields are planted, that there remain several superfluous canes. Whenever this happens, the husbandman repairs to the spot on the 11th of June, and having sacrificed to the Nagbele, the tutelar deity of the Sugar-cane, he immediately kindles a fire, and consumes the whole. If a Sugar-cane should flower again at the end of the season, and produce seeds, it is looked upon as a funereal flower, and as portending misfortune to the owner of the estate or his family. If, therefore, a husbandman sees one of these late-flowering canes, he plucks it up, and buries it without allowing his master to know anything of the unfortunate occurrence, willingly taking to himself any ill-luck which may accrue.——The bow of KÂmadeva, the Indian Cupid, is sometimes represented as being formed of Sugar-cane, sometimes of flowers, with a string composed of bees. His five arrows were each tipped with a blossom, presented to KÂmadeva by Vasanta (Spring).

SUNFLOWER.—The Helianthus annuus derived its name of Sunflower from its resemblance to the radiant beams of the Sun, and not, as is popularly supposed and celebrated by poets, from its flowers turning to face the Sun—a delusion fostered by Darwin, Moore, and Thompson, the latter of whom tells us that unlike most of the flowery race—

The Helianthus has also been falsely identified with the Sunflower of classical story—the flower into which poor Clytie was transformed when, heart-broken at the desertion of her lover Phoebus, she remained rooted to the ground, and became, according to Ovid, metamorphosed into a flower resembling a Violet. “Held firmly by the root, she still turns to the Sun she loves, and, changed herself, she keeps her love unchanged.” Now the Helianthus, or modern Sunflower, could not have been the blossom mentioned by Ovid, inasmuch as it is not a European plant, was not known in his day, and first came to us from North America. In its native country of Peru, the Helianthus is said to have been much reverenced on account of the resemblance borne by its radiant blossoms to the Sun, which luminary was worshipped by the Peruvians. In their Temple of the Sun, the officiating priestesses were crowned with Sunflowers of pure gold, and they wore them in their bosoms, and carried them in their hands. The early Spanish invaders of Peru found in these temples of the Sun numerous representations of the Sunflower in virgin gold, the workmanship of which was so exquisite, that it far out-valued the precious metal of which they were formed. Gerarde, writing in 1597, remarks:—“The floure of the Sun is called in Latine Flos Solis; for that some have reported it to turn with the Sunne, which I could never observe, although I have endeavoured to finde out the truth of it: but I rather thinke it was so called because it resembles the radiant beams of the Sunne, whereupon some have called Corona Solis and Sol Indianus, the Indian Sunne-floure: others Chrysanthemum Peruvianum, or the Golden Flower of Peru: in English, the Floure of the Sun, or the Sun-floure.” (See Heliotrope.)

SYCAMORE.—Sycamore is properly the name of an Egyptian tree, the leaves of which resemble those of the Mulberry and the fruit that of the wild Fig; whence it was named from both Sukomoros; sukon signifying a Fig, and moros a Mulberry-tree.——Thevenot gives an interesting tradition relating to one of these trees. He writes:—“At Matharee is a large Sycamore, or Pharaoh’s Fig, very old, but which bears fruit every year. They say, that upon the Virgin passing that way with her son Jesus, and being pursued by the people, this Fig-tree opened to receive her, and closed her in, until the people had passed by, when it re-opened; and that it remained open ever after to the year 1656, when the part of the trunk that had separated itself was broken away.” The tree is still shown to travellers a few miles north-east of Cairo.——Another version relates that the Holy Family, at the conclusion of their flight into Egypt, finally rested in the village of Matarea, beyond the city of Hermopolis, and took up their residence in a grove of Sycamores, a circumstance which gave the Sycamore-tree a certain degree of interest in early Christian times. The Crusaders imported it into Europe, and Mary Stuart, probably on account of its sacred associations, brought from France and planted in her garden the first Sycamores which grew in Scotland.——From the wood of this Egyptian Fig-tree or Sycamore (Ficus Sycomorus), which is very indestructible, the coffins of the Egyptian mummies were made.——By a mistake of Ruellius the name Sycamore became transferred to the Great Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), which is the tree commonly known in England as the Sycamore or Mock-Plane. This mistake, Dr. Prior considers, may perhaps have arisen from the Great Maple having been, on account of the density of its foliage, used in the sacred dramas of the Middle Ages to represent the Fig-tree into which Zaccheus climbed on the day of our Saviour’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem—the Ficus Sycomorus mentioned above.

In Scotland, the most remarkable Sycamores are those called Dool-trees or Grief-trees. They were used by the powerful barons in the west of Scotland for hanging their enemies and refractory vassals on.——The Great Maple is called in France, as with us, Sycomore or Faux Platane (Mock-Plane); the Italians call the same tree Acero Fico (Fig-Maple); but in both these countries there grows the Melia Azadirachta, or False Sycamore, which is called the Sacred Tree in France, and the Tree of Our Father in Italy. In Sicily, it is known as the Tree of Patience, and is regarded as emblematic of a wife’s infidelity and a husband’s patience.——To dream of the Sycamore-tree portends jealousy to the married; but to the virgin it prognosticates a speedy marriage. (See also Maple).

SYRINGA.—The Arcadian nymph Syrinx pursued by Pan, who was enamoured of her, fled to the banks of the river Ladon. Her flight being there stopped, she implored relief from the water-nymphs, and was changed into a Reed, just as Pan was on the point of catching her. Ovid thus describes her transformation:—

The Philadelphus coronarius is the shrub into which, according to Ovid, the nymph Syrinx was metamorphosed. The stems of this shrub are used in Turkey for making pipe-sticks. Evelyn applied the name Syringa also to the Lilac, which for the same reason was called “Pipe-tree.” TAMARIND.—The Tamarindus Indica is in Ceylon dedicated to Siva, as the god of destruction. The natives of India have a prejudice against sleeping under the Tamarind, and the acid damp from the tree is known to affect the cloth of tents that are pitched under them for any length of time. So strong is the prejudice of the natives against the Tamarind-tree, that it is difficult to prevent them from destroying it, as they believe it hurtful to vegetation. It is chiefly cultivated for its seed-pods, which are used medicinally, and for food.——Dreams connected with Tamarinds are of ill omen, portending trouble, loss, and disappointment.——The Tamarind is held to be under the dominion of Venus.

TAMARISK.—The Tamarix orientalis is also known as the Tamarisk of Osiris. The ancient Egyptians believed that at the commencement of the world Osiris was born from the midst of chaos, from whence also proceeded his wife Isis, the Queen of Light, and Typhon, the Spirit of Darkness. Osiris was the ruler of all the earth; but Typhon, being jealous of him, seized him by strategy, nailed him in a chest, and cast it into the Nile, that it might float out to sea. Isis in despair wandered all over the country, searching for the dead body of her husband, and at length heard that the chest had been cast on shore at Byblos, and had there lodged in the branches of a Tamarisk-bush, which quickly shot up and became a large and beautiful tree, growing round the chest so that it could not be seen. The king of the country, amazed at the vast size of the Tamarisk-tree, ordered it to be cut down and hewn into a pillar to support the roof of his palace, the chest being still concealed in the trunk. Here it was discovered by Isis, who cut open the pillar, and took the coffin with her to Egypt, where she hid it in a remote place; but Typhon found it, and divided the corpse of Osiris into fourteen pieces. After a long and weary search, in which Isis sailed over the fenny parts of the land in a boat made of Papyrus, she recovered all the fragments except one, which had been thrown into the sea.——The Tamarix Gallica is called the Tamarisk of Apollo: the Apollo of Lesbos is represented with a branch of Tamarisk in his hand. Nicander called the Tamarisk the Tree of Prophecy. In Persia, the Magian priests (who claimed supernatural power) arrived at a knowledge of future events by means of certain manipulations of the mystic baresma, or bundle of thin Tamarisk twigs, the employment of which was enjoined in the Zendavesta books as essential to every sacrificial ceremony.——Herodotus informs us that the Tamarisk was employed for a similar purpose by other nations of antiquity; and Pliny states that the Egyptian priests were crowned with its foliage.——According to tradition, it was from Tamarisk-trees that the showers of Manna descended on the famishing Israelites in the desert.——At the present day, the Manna of Mount Sinai is produced by a variety of Tamarix Gallica: it consists of pure mucilaginous sugar.——Astrologers state that the Tamarisk is under the rule of Saturn. TANSY.—The herb Tansy (Tanacetum) has derived its name from the Greek athanasia, immortality, it being supposed that this herb was referred to in a passage in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods, where Jupiter, speaking of Ganymede, says to Mercury, “Take him away, and when he has drunk of immortality [athanasia], bring him back as cup-bearer to us.” In the Catholic Church the herb is dedicated to St. Athanasius, and in Lent cakes are flavoured with it. Gerarde says that the name athanasia was given to the plant because the flowers do not speedily wither: he also tells us that “in the Spring time are made with the leaves hereof newly sprung up, and with egs, cakes or tansies, which be pleasant on taste, and good for the stomacke.”——In some country places, it is customary to eat Tansy pudding at Easter, in allusion to the “bitter herbs” at the Passover. In Sussex, a charm against ague is to wear Tansy leaves in the shoe.——In some parts of Italy, people present stalks of the Wild Tansy to those whom they mean to insult.——The Tansy is held to be a herb of Venus.

TEA.—A Japanese Buddhist legend attributes the origin of the Tea-plant (Thea Sinensis) to the eyelids of a devotee, which fell to the ground and took root. The legend relates that about A.D. 519 a Buddhist priest went to China; and, in order to dedicate his soul entirely to God, he made a vow to pass the day and night in an uninterrupted and unbroken meditation. After many years of such continual watching, he was at length so tired, that he fell asleep. On awaking the following morning, he was so grieved that he had broken his vow, that he cut off both his eyelids and threw them on the ground. Returning to the same spot on the following day, he was astonished to find that each eyelid had become a shrub. This was the Tea-shrub (until then unknown in China)—the leaves of which exhibit the form of an eyelid bordered with lashes, and possess the gift of hindering sleep.—One Ibn Wahab, who travelled in China some time in the ninth century, makes the first authentic mention of Tea as a favourite beverage of the Chinese. He describes it as the leaf of a shrub more bushy than the Pomegranate; and says that an infusion is made by pouring boiling water upon it.

TEREBINTH.—The Terebinth (Pistacia Terebinthus) is a tree much venerated by the Jews. Abraham pitched his tent beneath the shade of a Terebinth at Mamre, in the valley of Hebron, and an altar was afterwards erected close by. The spot whereon the tree of Abraham had flourished was in the time of Eusebius still held in great reverence and sanctity, and a Christian church was erected there. Josephus, in his ‘History of the Jews,’ recounts that the Terebinth of Abraham had flourished ever since the creation of the world; but a second legend states that it sprang from the staff of one the angels who visited Abraham. At Sichem is shown the Terebinth of Jacob, near which Joshua raised an altar. The angel appeared to Gideon to encourage him to engage in battle near a Terebinth-tree at Ophra, and on this spot, after the victory, Gideon raised an altar. The Jews, by preference, bury their dead beneath the shadow of a Terebinth.

THISTLE.—The Thistle (Carduus), in the first days of man, was sent by the Almighty as a portion of the curse passed upon him when he was made a tiller of the soil. God said, “Thorns and Thistles shall it bring forth to thee (Gen. iv.). One species, the Milk Thistle (Carduus Marianus), is distinguishable by the milky veins of its leaves, which were supposed to have derived their peculiar colour from the milk of the Virgin Mary having fallen upon them. This is sometimes called the Scotch Thistle, but it is not so: it grows on the rocky cliffs near Dumbarton Castle, where, if tradition be true, it was originally planted by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. The Thistle of Scotland is believed to be the Onopordum Acanthium, the Cotton Thistle, which grows by the highways: this is the national insignia, and its flower-cup and bristling leaves accord well with the motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit.” Tradition says that the Thistle, with the motto rendered in homely Scotch, “Wha daur meddle wi’ me?” was adopted as the symbol of Scotland from the following circumstance:—A party of invading Danes attempted to surprise the Scotch army by night. Under cover of darkness, they approached the slumbering camp, but one of them trod upon a prickly Thistle, and his involuntary cry of pain roused some of the Scots, who flew to arms, and chased the foe from the field. The Onicus acaulis, or stemless Thistle, is by some considered to be the true Scotch Thistle, as it accords best with the legend of the defeated Norsemen, and is, besides, the Thistle seen in the gold bonnet-piece of James V. Carduus acanthoides and C. nutans are by others supposed to be the

The Thistle has given its title to a Scotch order of knighthood, which is said to have been instituted by Achaius, king of the Scots, when he obtained a victory over Athelstan. The insignia borne by the knights of the Order of the Thistle is a gold collar, with Thistles and a sprig of Rue interlaced. A gold medal is also worn, bearing a figure of St. Andrew.——Mannhardt states that in Mecklenburg there is a legend current which relates that in a certain wild and barren spot, where once a murder had been committed, there grows every day at noon a strangely-formed Thistle: on the weird plant are to be seen human arms, hands, and heads, and when twelve heads have appeared, the ghastly plant mysteriously vanishes. A shepherd, one day, passed the spot where the mystic Thistle was growing. His staff became tinder, and his arms were struck with paralysis.——According to Apuleius, the wild Thistle, carried about the person, possessed the magical property of averting all ills from the bearer.——In Esthonia, they place Thistles on the Corn that has first ripened, to drive away any evil spirit that may come to it.——In divining, by an old English rite, a girl, to find out which of three or four persons loves her best, takes three or four heads of Thistles, cuts off their points, gives each Thistle the name of one of these persons, and lays them under her pillow. That Thistle which bears the name of the person loving her most will put forth a fresh sprout.——To dream of being surrounded by Thistles is a lucky omen, portending that the dreamer will be rejoiced by some pleasing intelligence in a short time.——Astrologers state that Thistles are under the rule of Mars.

THORN.—According to a German tradition, the Black Thorn springs from the blood of the corpse of a heathen slain in battle. In Germany, the Easter fire was anciently called Buckthorn because it was always kindled with that wood, as it is to this day at Dassel, in Westphalia. Kuhn thinks the tree itself (Bocksdorn) was so called from the sacrificial buck-goat which was burned upon its wood in heathen times.——The Celts have always reverenced the Thorn-bush, and its wood was used by the Greeks for the drilling-stick of their pyreia, an instrument employed for kindling the sacred fire. The Thorn was also held by the Greeks to be a preservative against witchcraft and sorcery. Nevertheless, in some parts of England, witches were formerly reputed to be fond of a Thorn-bush, and both in Brittany and in some parts of Ireland it is considered unsafe to gather even a leaf from certain old and solitary Thorns, which grow in sheltered hollows of the moorland, and are the fairies’ trysting places. To this day, it is thought in many rural districts to be a death-token, and therefore to take a branch or blossom into a house is deemed to be unlucky.——Josephus tells us that the “bush” out of which the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire was a Thorn. He writes: “A wonderful prodigy happened to Moses: for a fire fed upon a Thorn-bush; yet did the green leaves and the flowers continue untouched, and the fire did not at all consume the fruit branches.”——According to Aryan tradition, the Hawthorn sprang from the lightning, and as with other trees of like mythical descent, it was considered a protective against fire, thunderbolts, and lightning. Sir John Maundevile bears witness to this old belief, when, speaking of the Albespyne, or Whitethorn, he says:—“For he that beareth a braunche on hym thereof, no thondre, ne no maner of tempest may dere [harm] hym; ne in the hows that yt is ynne may non evil ghost entre.”——The Whitethorn or Hawthorn has long had the reputation of being a sacred tree, and the plant which had the mournful distinction of supplying the crown of Thorns worn by our Saviour at His crucifixion. Many other plants, however, have been credited with this distinction, including the Buckthorns (Rhamnus Paliurus and Rhamnus Spina Christi), and the Paliurus aculeatus, or Christ Thorn.——In the thirteenth century, there existed among Christians a strong passion for relics, and when the Emperor Baldwin II. came to beg aid from Louis IX. (St. Louis of France), he secured his goodwill at once by offering him the holy Crown of Thorns, which for several centuries had been preserved at Constantinople, and had been pledged to the Venetians for a large sum of money. Louis redeemed this precious and venerable relic, aided Baldwin with men and money, and then triumphantly brought the crown of Thorns to Paris, carrying it himself from Sens, barefoot and bareheaded. Having also been so fortunate as to obtain a small piece of the true Cross, he built in honour of these treasures the exquisite chapel since called La Sainte Chapelle. In pictures of St. Louis, he is usually depicted with his special attribute, the Crown of Thorns, which he reverently holds in one hand.——In Brittany, there is a superstition current which will explain the cause why the robin has always been a favourite and protÉgÉ of man. It is said that while our Saviour was bearing His Cross, one of these little birds took from His Crown one of the Thorns steeped in His blood, which dyed the robin’s breast; and ever since the redbreasts have been the friends of man.——St. Catherine of Siena is frequently represented with the Crown of Thorns, in reference to the legend that, having been persecuted and vilified by certain nuns, she laid her wrongs, weeping, at the feet of Christ. He appeared to her, bearing in one hand a crown of gold and jewels, in the other His Crown of Thorns, and bade her choose between them. She took from His hand the Crown of Thorns, and pressed it hastily on her own head, but with such force that the Thorns penetrated to her brain, and she cried out with the agony.——In a painting of Murillo, Santa Rosa de Lima is depicted crowned with Thorns, in allusion to the legend that when compelled by her mother to wear a crown of Roses, she so adjusted it on her brow that it became a veritable crown of Thorns.——In representations of St. Francis of Assisi, the Crown of Thorns is sometimes introduced, the saint having been considered by his followers as a type of the Redeemer.——In many parts of England charms or incantations are employed to prevent a Thorn from festering in the flesh. The following are some of the magic verses recited:—

In Herefordshire, the burning of a Thorn-bush is supposed to act as a charm against smut or mildew in Wheat. When the crop is just springing out of the ground, the farmer’s servants rise before daybreak, and cut a branch of some particular Thorn; they then make a large fire in the field, in which they burn a portion of it, and hang up the remaining portion in the homestead.——Tradition affirms that, at Hemer, in Westphalia, a man was engaged in fencing his field on Good Friday, and had just poised a bunch of Thorns on his fork, when he was at once transported to the Moon. Some of the Hemer peasants declare that the Moon is not only inhabited by this man with his Thorn-bush, but also by a woman who was churning her butter one Sabbath during Divine Service. Another legend relates how the Man in the Moon is none other than Cain with a bundle of Briars.——To dream you are surrounded by Thorns, signifies that you will be rejoiced by some pleasing intelligence in a very short time.

THORN APPLE.—Gerarde, in his ‘Herbal,’ calls the Datura Stramonium Thorny Apple of Peru: he speaks of it as a plant of a drowsy and numbing quality, resembling in its effects the Mandrake, and he tells us that it is thought to be the Hippomanes, which Theocritus mentions as causing horses to go mad. The words of the poet are thus translated by the old herbalist:—

The juice of Thorn-Apples Gerarde guarantees, when boiled with hog’s grease and made into a salve, will cure inflammations, burnings and scaldings, “as well of fire, water, boiling lead, gunpowder, as that which comes by lightning.” In India, the Datura is sometimes employed by robbers as a magical means of depriving their victims of all power of resistance: their mode of operation being to induce them to chew and swallow a portion of the plant, because those who eat it lose their proper senses, become silly and given to inordinate laughter, feel a strong desire to be generous and open-handed, and finally will allow anyone to pillage them. The Indians apply to the Datura the epithets of the Drunkard, the Madman, the Deceiver, and the Fool-maker. It is also called the tuft of Siva (god of destruction). The Rajpoot mothers are said to besmear their breasts with the juice of the leaves, in order to destroy their new-born infant children. Acosta states that the Indian dancing girls drug wine with the seeds of the Datura Stramonium. He adds that whoever is so unfortunate as to partake of it is for some time perfectly unconscious. He often, however, speaks with others, and gives answers as if he were in full possession of his senses, although he has no control over his actions, is perfectly ignorant of whom he is with, and loses all remembrance of what has taken places when he awakes.——The Stramonium, or Thorn-Apple, is one of the plants commonly connected with witchcraft, death, and horror. Harte, describing the plants growing about the Palace of Death, says:—

THYME.—Among the Greeks, Thyme denoted the graceful elegance of the Attic style, because it covered Mount Hymettus, and gave to the honey made there the aromatic flavour of which the ancients were so fond. “To smell of Thyme” was, therefore, a commendation bestowed on those writers who had mastered the Attic style.——With the Greeks, also, Thyme was an emblem of activity; and as this virtue is eminently associated with true courage, the ladies of chivalrous times embroidered on the scarfs which they presented to their knights, the figure of a bee hovering about a spray of Thyme, in order to inculcate the union of the amiable with the active.——In olden times, it was believed that Thyme renewed the spirits of both man and beast; and the old herbalists recommended it is a powerful aid in melancholic and splenetic diseases.——Fairies and elves were reputed to be specially fond of Wild Thyme. Oberon exclaims with delight:—

The fairy king’s musical hounds would willingly forsake the richest blossoms of the garden in order to hunt for the golden dew in the flowery tufts of Thyme. Of witches it is said, that when they

In the South of France, when a summons to attend a meeting of the votaries of Marianne is sent, it is accompanied by tufts of Wild Thyme, or Ferigoule, that being the symbol of advanced Republicanism.

TOADSTOOL.—The name of Toadstool was originally applied to all descriptions of unwholesome Fungi, from the popular belief that toads sit on them. Thus Spenser, in his ‘Shepherd’s Calendar,’ says:—

Fungi are in some parts of the country called Paddock-stools from the same notion that toads are fond of sitting on them; and in the Western counties they bear the name of Pixie-stools. In Sussex, the Puff-ball (Lycoperdon) is called Puck’s-stool; and in other places these fungi are known among country folks as Puckfists. These names tend to identify Puck, the mischievous king of the fairies, with the toad (pogge), which is popularly believed to be the impersonation of the Devil himself: hence Toad-stools, Paddock-stools, Puck’s-stools, Puckfists, and Pixie-stools have been superstitiously thought to be the droppings of elves or of Satan, and in some districts are known as Devil’s droppings.

TOBACCO.—With the Aborigines of Southern America, the Tobacco (Nicotiana) was regarded as a sacred plant, and Darwin has described how, in the pampas of Patagonia, he saw the sacred tree of Wallitchon. This tree grew on a hill in the midst of a vast plain, and when the Indians perceived it afar off, they saluted it with loud cries. The branches were covered with cords, from which were suspended votive offerings, consisting of cigars, bread, meat, pieces of cloth, &c. In a fissure of the tree they found spirits and vegetable extracts. When smoking, they blew the Tobacco smoke towards the branches. All around lay the bleached bones of horses that they had sacrificed to the sacred tree.——The Indians believe that this worship ensures good luck to themselves and their horses. In other parts of America, the Indians throw Tobacco as an offering to the spirit supposed to inhabit the waterfalls and whirlpools.——M. Cochet, a French traveller, recounts that the Indians of Upper Peru, entertain a religious reverence for Tobacco. They consider it an infallible remedy for the sting of serpents, and each year a festival-day is consecrated to the plant. On that day they construct, in the most secluded portion of the forest, a round hut, adorned with flowers and feathers. At the foot of the central pillar which supports the hut is placed a basket richly decorated, containing a roll of Tobacco. Into this hut troop in one by one the Indians of the district, and before the shrine of the sacred Tobacco perform their customary acts of worship.——In reference to the use of Tobacco by pagan priests in the delivery of their oracles, Gerarde tells us that the “priests and enchanters of hot countries do take the fume thereof until they be drunke, that after they have lien for dead three or foure houres, they may tell the people what wonders, visions, or illusions they have seen, and so give them a prophetical direction or foretelling (if we may trust to the Divell) of the successe of their businesse.”——In the Ukraine, Tobacco is looked upon as an ill-omened plant, and the Raskolniks call it the Herb of the Devil, and make offerings of it to appease “genis, spirits, and demons of the forest.”——Until the time of Peter the Great, the use of Tobacco was forbidden in Russia, and those who transgressed the law had their noses split.

TREACLE-MUSTARD.—The names of French Mustard, Treacle-Mustard, and Treacle Worm-seed were given to the Erysimum cheiranthoides, the two last because, in mediÆval times, the seed of this plant formed one of the seventy-three ingredients of the far-famed “Venice treacle,” a noted antidote to all poisons, believed to cure “all those that were bitten or stung of venomous beastes, or had drunk poisons, or were infected with the pestilence.” The origin of this counter-poison was the famous Mithridaticum, a preparation invented by Mithridates, king of Pontus. Andromachus added to this comparatively simple compound other ingredients, and especially vipers; changing, on that account, the name to Theriaca (from the Greek therion, a small animal). Dr. Prior tells us that this remedy, which was known in England originally as Triacle, was the source of many popular tales of sorcerers eating poison, and was retained in the London Pharmacopoeia till about a century ago.

TREFOIL.—Among the Romans, the Grass crown made of Trefoil-leaves was esteemed a mark of very high honour. (See Clover and Shamrock).

TROLL-FLOWER.—The Globe-flower (Trollius EuropÆus) acquired the sobriquet of Troll-flower in allusion to the Trolls, who were malignant elves, and because of the plant’s acrid poisonous qualities. (See Globe Flower).

True-Love.—See Herb Paris.

TUBEROSE.—The name Tuberose is simply a corruption of the plant’s botanical title Polianthes tuberosa. The Malayans call this sweet-scented flower “The Mistress of Night:” when worn in the hair by a Malayan lady, the blossom is an indication to her lover that his suit is pleasing to her. The Tuberose is a native of India, whence it was first brought to Europe towards the close of the sixteenth century. Its blossoms were at first single, but La Cour, a Dutch florist, obtained the double-flowering variety from seed. So tenacious was he of the roots, that even after he had propagated them so freely as to have more than he could plant, he caused them to be cut to pieces in order that he might have the pleasure of boasting that he was the only person in Europe who possessed this flower.

TULASI.—The Indian name of the Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum) is Tulasi, under which appellation this sacred plant is worshipped as a goddess. (See Basil). TULIP.—The origin of the brilliant and dazzling Tulip has been given us by the poet Rapin, who relates that the flower was a modest Dalmatian nymph, metamorphosed into a Tulip to save her from the importunities of Vertumnus. The story is thus told by the Jesuit poet:—

The Tulip is a favourite flower of the East, and is believed originally to have come from Persia. The French formerly called the flower Tulipan, which, as well as the English name, is derived from Thoulyban, the word used in Persia for turban.——The Tulip is considered to be one of the flowers loved by fairies and elves, who protect those that cultivate them.——In Turkey, the flower is held in the highest estimation, and a Feast of Tulips used to be celebrated annually in the Sultan’s seraglio, when the gardens were brilliantly illuminated and decorated with Oriental magnificence, and the fÊte was attended by the Sultan and his harem.——The garden Tulip is a native of the Levant: LinnÆus says of Cappadocia. It is very common in Syria, and is supposed by some persons to be the “Lily of the field” alluded to by Jesus Christ.——In Persia, the Tulip is considered as the emblem of consuming love. When a young man presents one to his mistress, he gives her to understand, by the general colour of the flower, that he is impressed with her beauty, and by the black base of it that his heart is burnt to a coal.——In India, the Tulip seems to typify unhappy love. In the ‘Rose of Bakawali,’ a Hindustani story, the author, while describing the beautiful fairy of the heaven, Bakawali, says “the Tulip immersed itself in blood because of the jealousy it entertained of her charming lips!” When bidding adieu to the fairy, Taj-ul-muluk says: ‘I quit this garden carrying in my heart, like the Tulip, the wound of unhappy love—I go, my head covered with dust, my heart bleeding, my breast fevered.’——The Tulip is supposed to have been brought from Persia to the Levant, and it was introduced into Western Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century by Busbeck, ambassador from the Emperor of Germany to the Sublime Porte, who to his astonishment found Tulips on the road between Adrianople and Constantinople blooming in the middle of winter. In Europe, they soon became universal favourites, and were imported into England in 1577.——In Holland, about the middle of the seventeenth century, a perfect mania for possessing rare sorts seized all classes of persons. From 1634 to 1637 inclusive all classes in all the great cities of Holland became infected with the Tulipomania. A single root of a particular species, called the Viceroy, was exchanged, in the true Dutch taste, for the following articles:—2 lasts of Wheat, 4 of Rye, 4 fat oxen, 3 fat swine, 12 fat sheep, 2 hogsheads of wine, 4 tuns of beer, 2 tons of butter, 1000 pounds of cheese, a complete bed, a suit of clothes, and a silver beaker—value of the whole, 2500 florins. These Tulips afterwards were sold according to the weight of the roots. Four hundred perits (something less than a grain) of Admiral Liefken, cost 4400 florins; 446 ditto of Admiral Van der Eyk, 1620 florins; 106 perits Schilder cost 1615 florins; 200 ditto Semper Augustus, 5500 florins; 410 ditto Viceroy, 3000 florins, &c. The species Semper Augustus has been often sold for 2000 florins; and it once happened that there were only two roots of it to be had, the one at Amsterdam, and the other at Haarlem. For a root of this species one agreed to give 4600 florins, together with a new carriage, two grey horses, and a complete harness. Another agreed to give for a root twelve acres of land; for those who had not ready money promised their moveable and immoveable goods, houses and lands, cattle and clothes. The trade was followed not only by mercantile people, but also by all classes of society. At first, everyone won and no one lost. Some of the poorest people gained, in a few months, houses, coaches and horses, and figured away like the first characters in the land. In every town some tavern was selected which served as an exchange, where high and low traded in flowers, and confirmed their bargains with the most sumptuous entertainments. They formed laws for themselves, and had their notaries and clerks. During the time of the Tulipomania, a speculator often offered and paid large sums for a root which he never received, nor ever wished to receive. Another sold roots which he never possessed or delivered. Often did a nobleman purchase of a chimney-sweep Tulips to the amount of 2000 florins, and sell them at the same time to a farmer, and neither the nobleman, chimney-sweep, nor farmer had roots in their possession, or wished to possess them. Before the Tulip season was over, more roots were sold and purchased, bespoke, and promised to be delivered, than in all probability were to be found in the gardens of Holland; and when Semper Augustus was not to be had, which happened twice, no species perhaps was oftener purchased and sold. In the space of three years, as Munting tells us, more than ten millions were expended in this trade, in only one town of Holland. The evil rose to such a pitch, that the States of Holland were under the necessity of interfering; the buyers took the alarm; the bubble, like the South Sea scheme, suddenly burst; and as, in the outset, all were winners, in the winding up, very few escaped without loss.

TUTSAN.—The Hypericum AndrosÆmum was in former days called Tutsan, or Tutsayne, a word derived from the French name, Toute-saine, which was applied to the plant, according to Lobel, “because, like the Panacea, it cures all sickness and diseases.” The St. John’s Wort (H. perforatum) was also called Tutsan.

TURNIP.—The Turnip (Brassica Rapa) was considered by Columella and Pliny as next to corn in value and utility. Pliny mentions some of the Turnips of his times as weighing forty pounds each.——In Westphalia, when a young peasant goes wooing, if Turnips be set before him, they signify that he is totally unacceptable to the girl he would court.——To dream of Turnips denotes fruitless toil.

UNSHOE-THE-HORSE.—The Hippocrepis comosa, from its horseshoe-shaped legumes, is supposed, upon the doctrine of signatures, to have the magical power of causing horses to cast their shoes. This Vetch is the Sferracavallo of the Italians, who ascribe to it the same magical property. Grimm, however, considers that the Springwort (Euphorbia Lathyris) is, from its powerful action on metals, the Italian Sferracavallo. The French give a similar extraordinary property to the Rest-Harrow (Ononis arvensis); and it is also allotted to the Moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria):—

UPAS.—The deadly Upas of Java has the terrible reputation of being a tree which poisons by means of its noxious exhalations. Two totally distinct trees have been called the Upas,—one, the Antjar (Autiaris toxicaria), is a tree attaining a height of one hundred feet; the other, the Chetik, is a large creeping shrub peculiar to Java. Neither of them, however, answers to the description of the poisonous Upas, which rises in the “Valley of Death,” and which was seen and reported on by Foersch, a Dutch physician, who travelled in Java at the end of the last century. Foersch wrote that this deadly Upas grew in the midst of a frightful desert. No bird could rest in its branches, no plant could subsist, no animal live in its neighbourhood: it blighted everything near with its malaria, and caused the birds of the air that flew over it to drop lifelessly down. Leagues away, its noxious emanations, borne by the winds, proved fatal. When a Javanese was condemned to death, as a last chance, his pardon was offered to him if he would consent to go into the Valley of Death, and gather, by means of a long Bamboo-rod, some drops of the poison of the Upas. Hundreds of unhappy creatures are said to have submitted to this trial, and to have miserably perished.

VALERIAN.—The ancient name of this plant, according to Dioscorides, was Phu, and in botanical phraseology Garden Valerian is still Valeriana Phu. The Latins called the plant Valeriana, some say from its medicinal value, others from one Valerius, who is reputed first to have used the herb in medicine; but the derivation is really uncertain. The old English name of the plant was Setewale, Setwal, or Set-wall. Chaucer writes:—

And, speaking of the Clerk of Oxenforde, he says:—

Gerarde tells us that the plant was known in his day by the name of Valerian, Capon’s Tail, and Setwall, but that the last name really belonged to the Zedoaria, which is not Valerian. The old herbalist also records that the medicinal virtues of Valerian were, among the poorer classes in the North, held in such veneration, “that no broths, pottage, or physical meats are worth anything if Setwall were not at an end: whereupon some woman poet or other hath made these verses:—

Cats are so fond of the perfume of Valerian, that they are said to dig up the roots, rolling on them with ecstatic delight, and gnawing them to pieces. The action of the Valerian-root (which the herbalists found out was very like a cat’s eye) on the nervous system of some cats undoubtedly produces in time a kind of pleasant intoxication. Rats are also attracted by the odour of this plant.——Astrologers say that Valerian is under the rule of Mercury.

Venus’ Plants.—See Lady’s Plants.

Veronica.—See Speedwell.

VERVAIN.—The Vervain, or Verbena, has from time immemorial been the symbol of enchantment, and the most ancient nations employed this plant in their divinations, sacrificial and other rites, and in incantations. It bore the names of the Tears of Isis, Tears of Juno, Mercury’s Blood, Persephonion, Demetria, and Cerealis. The Magi of the ancient Elamites or Persians made great use of the Vervain in the worship of the Sun, always carrying branches of it in their hands when they approached the altar. The magicians also employed the mystic herb in their pretended divinations, and affirmed that, by smearing the body over with the juice of this plant, the person would obtain whatever he set his heart upon, and be able to reconcile the most inveterate enemies, make friends with whom he pleased, and gain the affections, and cure the disease of whom he listed. When they cut Vervain, it was always at a time when both sun and moon were invisible, and they poured honey and honeycomb on the earth, as an atonement for robbing it of so precious a herb.——The Greeks called it the Sacred Herb, and it was with this plant only that they cleansed the festival-table of Jupiter before any great solemnity took place; and hence, according to Pliny, the name of Verbena is derived. It was, also, one of the plants which was dedicated to Venus. Venus Victrix wore a crown of Myrtle interwoven with Vervain.——With the Romans, the Vervain was a plant of good omen, and considered strictly sacred:—

They employed it in their religious rites, swept their temples and cleansed their altars with it, and sprinkled holy water with its branches. They also purified their houses with it, to keep off evil spirits; and in order to make themselves invulnerable, they carried about their persons a blade of Grass and some Vervain. Their ambassadors, or heralds-at-arms, wore crowns of Vervain when they went to offer terms of reconciliation, or to give defiance to their enemies, a custom thus noticed by Drayton:—

Virgil mentions Vervain as one of the charms used by an enchantress:—

The Druids, both in Gaul and in Britain, regarded the Vervain with the same veneration as the Hindus do the Kusa or Tulasi, and, like the Magi of the East, they offered sacrifices to the earth before they cut this plant. This ceremony took place in Spring, at about the rising of the Great Dog Star, but so that neither sun nor moon would be at that time above the earth to see the sacred herb cut. It was to be dug up with an iron instrument, and to be waved aloft in the air, the left hand only being used. It was also ordained by the Druidical priests, for those who collected it, “that before they take up the herb, they bestow upon the ground where it groweth honey with the combs, in token of satisfaction and amends for the wrong and violence done in depriving her of so holy a herb. The leaves, stalks, and flowers were dried separately in the shade, and were used for the bites of serpents infused in wine.” Another account states that the Druidesses held Vervain in as great veneration as the Druids did the Mistletoe. They were never permitted to touch it. It was to be gathered at midnight, at the full of the moon, in this manner:—A long string with a loop in it was thrown over the Vervain-plant, and the other end fastened to the left great toe of a young virgin, who was then to drag at it till she had uprooted it. The eldest Druidess then received it in a cloth, and carried it home, to use it for medicinal purposes and offerings to their gods. In the Druidic procession, to the gathering of the Mistletoe, the white-clad herald carried a branch of Vervain in his hand, encircled by two serpents. The priests, when performing their daily functions of feeding the never-dying fires in the Druidic temples, prayed for the space of an hour, holding branches of Vervain in their hands. Pliny tells us that the Druids made use of it in casting lots, as well as in drawing omens and in other pretended magical arts; he also says that if the hall or dining chamber be sprinkled with the water wherein Vervain lay steeped, all that sat at the table should be “very pleasant and make merry more jocundly.”

In mediÆval days, the sacred character of Vervain was still maintained, and the plant was greatly prized, and used in compounding charms and love-philtres. Known in our country as Holy Herb and Simpler’s Joy, it was credited with great medicinal virtues.

Its juice was given as a cure for the plague, and the plant was prescribed as a remedy in some thirty different maladies, and was suspended round the neck as an amulet. Gerarde, however, tells us that “the devil did reveal it as a secret and divine medicine;” and R. Turner writes (1687):—“It is said to be used by witches to do mischief, and so may all other herbs if by wicked astrologers used to accomplish their wretched ends.” But notwithstanding that it was used by witches and wizards in their incantations and spells, and was in fact called the Enchanter’s Plant, Vervain was considered to possess the power of combating witches: thus Aubrey says:—

and Michael Drayton writes:—

and again—

On the Eve of St. John (June 23rd), Vervain was for a long time associated with the observances of Midsummer Eve. Thus we read in ‘Ye Popish Kingdome:’—

J. White, Minister of God’s Word, writes in 1624:—“Many also use to weare Vervein against blasts; and when they gather it for this purpose firste they crosse the herb with their hand, and then they blesse it thus:—

In many rural districts, Vervain is still regarded as a plant possessing magical virtues as a love philtre. It has the reputation of securing affection from those who take it to those who administer it. The gun-flint boiled in Vervain and Rue ensures the shot taking effect. The root of Vervain tied with a white satin ribbon round the neck acts as a charm against ague. Vervain and baked toads, worn in silken bags around the neck, are a cure for the evil.——In the northern provinces of France, the peasants still continue to gather Vervain under the different phases of the moon, using certain mysterious ejaculations known only to themselves whilst in the act of collecting the mystic herb, by whose assistance they hope to effect cures, and charm both the flocks and the rustic beauties of the village.——The Germans present a hat of Vervain to the newly-married bride, as though placing her under the protection of Venus Victrix, the patroness of the plant.——Gerarde tells us that in his time it was called “Holie Herbe, Juno’s Teares, Mercurie’s Moist Bloude, and Pigeon’s Grasse, or Columbine, because Pigeons are delighted to be amongst it, as also to eate thereof.”——Astrologers place Vervain under the dominion of Venus.

VINE.—The Vine was held by the ancients sacred to Bacchus, and the old historians all connect the jovial god with the “life-giving tree”: he is crowned with Vine-leaves, and he holds in his hand a bunch of Grapes, whilst his merry followers are decked with garlands of the trailing Vine, and love to quaff with their master the divine juice of its luscious violet and golden fruit, styled by Anacreon “the liquor of Bacchus.” The old heathen writers all paid honour to the Vine, and attributed to the earliest deified sovereigns of each country the gift of this ambrosial tree. Thus Saturn is said to have bestowed it upon Crete; Janus bore it with him to Latium; Osiris similarly benefitted Egypt; and Spain obtained it through Geryon, her most ancient monarch. Old traditions all point to Greece as the native place of the Vine, and there it is still to be found growing wild.——There are many allusions to the Vine in the Scriptures. Noah, we find, planted a Vineyard (Gen. ix., 20); enormous bunches of Grapes were brought by the Israelitish spies out of Palestine; Solomon had a Vineyard at Baalhamon. “He let out the Vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring one thousand pieces of silver” (Cant, viii., 11). The Bible contains many illustrations borrowed from the husbandry of the Vineyard, showing that Vine culture was sedulously pursued, and formed a fruitful source of wealth. In Leviticus xxv., 4, 5, we find a command that every seventh year the Vines were to be left untouched by the pruning knife, and the Grapes were not to be gathered.——Of the ancient pagan writers who have alluded to the Vine in their works, Cato has left abundant information as to the Roman Vine-craft, and Columella, Varro, Palladius, Pliny, and Tacitus have all given details of the Vine culture of the ancients. More than sixty varieties of the Vine appear to have been known to the Greeks and Romans, one of which, called by Columella and Pliny the Amethystine, has certainly been lost, for they record that the wine from its Grapes never occasioned drunkenness.——The Elm was preferred to any other tree by the ancients as a prop for Vines, and this connexion has led to numerous fanciful notices by the poets of all ages. Statius calls it the “Nuptial Elm;” Ovid speaks of “the lofty Elm, with creeping Vines o’erspread;” Tasso says:—

Beaumont tells us that—

Cowley speaks of the “beauteous marriageable Vine,” and Browne writes of “the amorous Vine that in the Elm still weaves.” Horace, however, connects the Vine with the Poplar, instead of the Elm. Milton, describing the pursuits of our first parents in Eden, says:—

In the Mythologie des Plantes, we find it stated that the Persians trace the use of wine in Persia to the reign of the blessed JemshÎd. A woman who wished to poison herself drank some wine, thinking that it was poison; but she only fell into a profound sleep, and thus the Persians learnt in JemshÎd’s reign the use of the juice of the Grape. Olearius, in 1637, heard in Persia the following legend:—To console the poor and unhappy, God sent on earth the angels Aroth and Maroth, with the injunctions not to kill anyone, not to do any injustice, and not to drink any wine. A beautiful woman, who had quarrelled with her husband, appealed for justice to the two angels, and asked them to partake of some wine. The angels not only consented, but, after having indulged rather freely, began to ask other favours of the lovely woman. After a little hesitation, she agreed to comply, provided that the angels should first show her the way to ascend to heaven, and to descend again to the earth. The angels assented; but when the woman, who was as virtuous as she was beautiful, reached heaven, she would not descend again to earth, and there she remains, changed into the most brilliant star in the skies.——With the Mandans, a tribe of American Indians, the Vine is connected with the tradition concerning their origin. They believe that the whole nation resided in one large village, underground, near a subterraneous lake. A Grape Vine extended its roots down to their habitation, and gave them a view of the light. Some of the most adventurous climbed up the Vine, and were delighted with the sight of the earth, which they found covered with buffaloes, and rich with all kinds of fruit. Returning with the Grapes they had gathered, their countrymen were so pleased with the taste of them, that the whole nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the upper region. Men, women, and children, therefore forthwith proceeded to ascend by means of the Vine, but when about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a very stout woman, who was laboriously clambering up the Vine, broke it with her weight, and debarred herself and the rest of the nation from seeing the light of the sun. Those who had reached the earth’s surface made themselves a village, and formed the tribe of the Mandans, who, when they die, expect to return to the original settlement of their forefathers; the good reaching the ancient village by means of the subterranean lake, which the burden of the sins of the wicked will not enable them to cross.——Wild Vines differ in many respects from the cultivated Vine; several distinct species are found in Java, India, and America; one first found on the banks of the Catawba, from which the famous Catawba wine is made, is now extensively cultivated on the Ohio, or La Belle RiviÈre; its product has been lauded by Longfellow, who sings—

The wood of the Vitis sylvestris was used by the Greeks in the instrument they employed for producing fire. The Aryan method of kindling sacred fire by wood friction was practised both by Greeks and Romans down to a late period. The Greeks called their kindling instrument pyreia, and the drilling stick which worked in it trupanon; and according to Theophrastus and Pliny, the lower part of the pyreia was formed of the wood of the wild Vine, Ivy, or Athragene.——To dream of Vines denotes health, prosperity, abundance, and fertility, “for which,” says a dream oracle, “we have the example of Astyages, King of the Medes, who dreamed that his daughter brought forth a Vine, which was a prognostic of the grandeur, riches, and felicity of the great Cyrus, who was born of her after this dream.”——Culpeper states that the Vine is “a gallant tree of the Sun, very sympathetical with the body of man; and that is the reason spirits of wine is the greatest cordial among all vegetables.”

VIOLET.—According to Rapin, the Violet was once a fair nymph, who was changed by Diana into this flower to avoid the importunities of Apollo. The poet thus describes the metamorphosis:—

Ion, the Greek name for the Violet, is reputed to have been bestowed on it because, when Jupiter had metamorphosed Io into a white heifer, he caused sweet Violets to spring from the earth, in order to present her with herbage worthy of her.

In one of the poems of his ‘Hesperides,’ however, Herrick gives a different version of the origin of Violets. According to the wayward fancy of this old poet, Violets are the descendants of some unfortunate girls, who, having defeated Venus in a dispute she had with Cupid on the delicate point as to whether she or they surpassed in sweetness, were beaten blue by the goddess in her jealous rage.——Some etymologists trace the Greek names Ion to Ia, the daughter of Midas, who was betrothed to Atys, and transformed by Diana into a Violet in order conceal her from Phoebus.——Another derivation of the name is found in the story that some nymphs of Ionia, who lived on the banks of the river Cytherus, first presented these flowers to Ion, who had led an Ionian colony into Attica.——The Greek grammarian Lycophron, who lived in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus (about 280 years B.C.), was fond of making anagrams, and from the name of the Queen Arsinoe extracted “Violet of Juno.” Shakspeare, calls these favourite flowers

In all eastern countries, the Violet is a favourite flower, and a sherbet flavoured with its blossoms is a common drink at Persian and Arabian banquets. So delicious is this beverage, that Tavernier specially remembers that it is drunk by the Grand Seignior himself. There is a legend, that Mahomet once remarked: “The excellence of the extract of Violets above all other extracts is as the excellence of me above all the rest of the creation: it is cold in Summer, and it is hot in Winter.” Another Oriental saying is, “The excellence of the Violet is as the excellence of El Islam above all other religions.”—At the floral games, instituted at Toulouse by Clemence Isaure in the early part of the fourteenth century, in the time of the Troubadours, the prize awarded to the author of the best poetical composition consisted of a golden Violet. The fair founder of these games is stated, whilst undergoing a weary imprisonment, to have sent her chosen flower, the Violet, to her knight, that he might wear the emblem of her constancy; and the flower thus became, with the Troubadours, a symbol of this virtue. These floral games are still celebrated every year.——Along with other flowers, the Violet was assigned by the ancients to Venus.——It is said that Proserpine was gathering Violets as well as Narcissus when she was seized by Pluto.——The Athenians more especially affected the Violet; everywhere throughout the city of Athens they set up tablets engraven with the name, and preferred for themselves above all other names, that of “Athenian crowned with Violets.” The Romans, also, were extremely partial to the Violet, and cultivated it largely in their gardens. A favourite beverage of theirs was a wine made from the flower.——The Violet was, in olden days, regarded in England as an emblem of constancy, as we find by an old sonnet:—

The Violet is considered to be a funeral flower, and we find that in mediÆval times it was among the flowers used in the old ceremony called “Creeping to the Crosse,” when on Good Friday priests clad in crimson, and “singing dolefully,” carried the image of the Cross, accompanied by another image representing a person just dead—

It was formerly commonly believed in England that when Violets and Roses flourished in Autumn, there would be some epidemic in the ensuing year. In Worcestershire, the safety of the farmer’s young broods of chickens and ducks is thought to be sadly endangered by anyone taking less than a handful of Violets or Primroses into his house.——Pliny had so high an opinion of the medicinal virtues of the Violet, as to assert that a garland of Violets worn about the head prevented headache or dizziness. In the time of Charles II., a conserve, called Violet-sugar or Violet-plate, was recommended by physicians to consumptive patients.——The Violet has always been in high favour with the French, and is now the recognised badge of the Imperial party. The flower became identified with the Bonapartists during Napoleon the First’s exile at Elba. When about to depart for that island, he comforted his adherents by promising to return with the Violets:—

His followers, perhaps remembering that “Violet is for faithfulness,” henceforth adopted the flower as their badge, and during his exile were accustomed to toast his health under the name of Caporal Violette, or “the flower that returns with the Spring.” So well understood did the political significance of the flower become, that when Mddle. Mars appeared on the stage wearing Violets on her dress, she was loudly hissed by the body-guard of King Louis. It is said that the Empress EugÉnie, when wooed by Napoleon III., signified her willingness to share with him the throne of France by appearing one evening wearing Violets in her dress and hair, and carrying Violets in her hands. Afterwards, when living at Chiselhurst, Violet bouquets were sent in profusion to the Imperial exiles, and, mingled with immortelles, were piled upon the tomb of Napoleon III.——The famous actress, Clairon, was so fond of the Violet, that one of her worshippers took pains to cultivate it for her sake, and for thirty-seven years never failed to send her a bouquet of Violets every morning during their season of bloom; an offering so greatly appreciated by its recipient, that she used to strip off the petals every evening, make an infusion of them, and drink it like tea.——To dream of admiring the Violet in a garden is deemed a prognostic of advancement in life.——By astrologers the Violet is held to be under the dominion of Venus.

VIPER’S BUGLOSS.—The Echium vulgare, or Viper’s Bugloss, is one of the handsomest of English wild flowers. Its seed resembling the head of the viper, it was supposed on the doctrine of signatures to cure the bite of that reptile: whilst its spotted stem indicated to the old herbalists and simplers that the plant was specially created to counteract the poison of speckled vipers and snakes. Dioscorides affirmed that anyone who had taken the herb before being bitten would not be hurt by the poison of any serpent. The French call it la VipÉrine, and the Italians Viperina.——In England it is also known as Snake’s Bugloss and Cat’s Tail.——According to astrologers, the Viper’s Bugloss is a herb of the Sun.

VIPER’S GRASS.—Scorzonera edulis has obtained its Latin name from the Italian Scorzone, a venomous serpent whose bite the grass is supposed to heal, and whose form its twisted roots are thought to resemble. According to Monardus, a Spanish physician, quoted by Parkinson, the English name of Viper’s Grass was given to it because “a Moor, a bond-slave, did help those that were bitten of that venomous beast, the viper, which they of Catalonia called Escuerso, with the juice of this herbe, which both took away the poison, and healed the bitten place very quickly, when Treakle and other things would do no good.”

Virgin Mary’s Plants.—See Lady’s Plants.

Virgin’s Bower.—See Clematis.

Wake Robin.—See Arum. WALLFLOWER.—The Wallflower (Cheiranthus Cheiri) belongs to the family of Stocks, and was, in fact, introduced from Spain under the name of Wall Stock-Gillofer, which afterwards became Wall Gilliflower, and finally Wallflower. In Turner’s ‘Herbal,’ it is called Wall-Gelover and Hartis Ease.——Tradition gives a poetical origin to this flower. It tells that, in bygone days, a castle stood near the river Tweed, in which a fair maiden was kept a prisoner, having plighted her troth and given her heart’s affection to the young heir of a hostile clan; but blood having been shed between the chiefs on either side, the deadly hatred cherished in those lawless days forbade all thoughts of the union. The gallant tried various stratagems to get possession of his betrothed, all of which failed, until at last he gained admission to the castle disguised in the garb of a wandering troubadour, and as such he sang before his lady-love, and finally arranged, with the aid of a serving-woman, that the maiden should effect her escape, while he should await her arrival with a noble courser and armed men. Herrick tells us the conclusion of the story in the following lines:—

From the fact that Wallflowers grew upon old walls, and were seen on the casements and battlements of ancient castles, and among the ruins of abbeys, the minstrels and troubadours were accustomed to wear a bouquet of these flowers as the emblem of an affection which is proof against time and misfortune.——Dreams of Wallflowers imply—to a lover that the object of his affection will be true and constant; to a sickly person that recovery will shortly follow; to a lady who dreams that she is plucking the flower for her bouquet, that the worthiest of her admirers has yet to propose to her.——According to astrologers, the Moon governs the Wallflower.

WALNUT.—The origin of the Walnut-tree is to be found in the story of Carya, the youngest of the three daughters of Dion, king of Laconia. These sisters had received the gift of prophecy from Apollo as a reward for the hospitality their father had shown to the god, but on the condition that they were never to misuse the divine gift, and never to enquire into matters of which it became their sex to remain ignorant. This promise was broken when Bacchus convinced Carya of his love for her. The elder sisters, being jealous, endeavoured to prevent Bacchus from meeting Carya, and he in revenge turned them into stones, and transformed his beloved Carya into the tree so called in Greek—the Nux, or Walnut-tree of the Latins, the fruit of which was considered by the ancients, in consequence of these intrigues, to promote the powers of love.——It is necessary, in considering the folk-lore of the Walnut, to separate the tree from the nut. The tree is feared as a tree of ill omen, and is regarded as a favourite haunt of witches. The shade of the Walnut-tree was held by the Romans to be particularly baneful. The Black Walnut will not let anything grow under it, and if planted in an orchard will kill all the Apple-trees in its neighbourhood. The Nut is, on the contrary, considered propitious, favourable to marriage, and the symbol of fecundity and abundance. The ceremony of throwing Nuts at a wedding, for which boys scrambled, is said to have been of Athenian origin. A similar custom obtained among the Romans, at whose marriage festivities Walnuts were commonly strewed. Catullus exclaims:—

Virgil alludes to the custom of scrambling for Nuts at weddings, in his Eighth Pastoral:—

Prof. De Gubernatis says, that the young bridegroom of modern Rome throws Nuts on the pathway, evidently as a symbol of fecundity. In Piedmont, there is a saying that “Bread and Nuts are food for married people.” In Sicily, at Modica, they strew Nuts and Corn in the path of the newly-married couple. In Greece, the bride and bridegroom distribute Nuts among those assisting at the marriage rites. In Roumania, Nuts are distributed at weddings; and among the Lettish peasantry, Nuts and Gingerbread-Nuts are presented to wedding-guests.——A Lithuanian legend recounts that at the deluge, as men were being drowned, Perkun (the chief deity of the race) was eating Nuts. He dropped the shells in the raging waters, and in the shells certain virtuous people escaped, and afterward repeopled the earth. De Gubernatis, referring to this legend, says that here the Walnut becomes undoubtedly an emblem of regeneration: “This is the reason why, in Belgium, on Michaelmas Day (a funereal day), young girls take marriage auguries from Nuts. Having mingled some full Nuts with others which have been emptied, and the shells carefully fastened together again, they shut their eyes, and select one at hazard. If it happens to be a full Nut, it betokens that they will soon be happily married, for it is St. Michael who has given them good husbands.” In Italy, a Nut with three segments is considered most lucky. Carried in the pocket, it preserves its owner from lightning, witchcraft, the Evil Eye, and fever; it facilitates conquest, gives happiness, and performs other benign services. In Bologna, it is thought that if one of these Nuts be placed under the chair of a witch, she will be unable to get up; and it thus becomes an infallible means of discovering witches.——The Walnut has become in Europe, and especially in Italy, an accursed tree. The ancients thought it was dear to Proserpine and all the deities of the infernal regions. In Germany, the Black Walnut is regarded as a sinister tree, just as the Oak is looked upon as a tree of good omen.——At Rome, there is a tradition that the church Santa Maria del Popolo was built by order of Paschal II., on the spot where formerly grew a Walnut-tree, round which troops of demons danced during the night. Near Prescia, in Tuscany, we are told by Prof. Giuliani, there is a Walnut-tree where witches are popularly supposed to sleep: the people of the district say that witches love Walnut-trees. At Bologna, the peasantry think that witches hold a nocturnal meeting beneath the Walnut-trees on the Vigil of St. John. But among all other Walnut-trees, the most infamous and the most accursed is the Walnut of Benevento, regarding which there are many tales of its being haunted by the Devil and witches. It is said that St. Barbatus, the patron of Benevento, who lived in the time of Duke Romuald, was a priest who was endowed with the power of exorcising devils by his prayers. At that time the inhabitants still worshipped a Walnut-tree on which was to be distinguished the effigy of a viper, and beneath this tree the people performed many superstitious and heathenish rites. The Emperor Constantius laid siege to Benevento; the citizens were in despair, but Barbatus rebuked them, and persuaded them that God had taken this means to punish them for their idolatry; so, with Romuald, they agreed to be converted to Christianity, and made Barbatus bishop of the town. Then Barbatus uprooted the accursed Walnut-tree, and the Devil was seen in the form of a serpent crawling away from beneath its roots. Upon being sprinkled with holy water, however, he disappeared; but through his satanic power, whenever a meeting of demons is desired, or a witches’ sabbath is to be held, a Walnut-tree as large and as verdant as the original appears by magic on the precise spot where it stood.——A Walnut-tree with very different associations once grew in the churchyard on the north side of St. Joseph’s Chapel at Glastonbury. This miraculous tree never budded before the feast of St. Barnabas (June 11th), and on that very day shot forth leaves and flourished like others of its species. Queen Anne, King James and many high personages are said to have given large sums of money for cuttings from the original tree, which has long since disappeared, and has been succeeded by a fine Walnut of the ordinary sort.——According to an old custom (which at one time prevailed in England), every household in the district of Lechrain, in Bavaria, brings to the sacred fire which is lighted at Easter a Walnut-branch, which, after being partially burned, is carried home to be laid on the hearth-fire during tempests, as a protection against lightning.——In Flanders, as a charm against ague, the patient catches a large black spider, and imprisons it between the two halves of a Walnut-shell, and then wears it round his neck.——In our own land, it is a common belief among country people that whipping a Walnut-tree tends to increase the crop and improve the flavour of the Nuts. This belief is found embodied in the following curious distich:—

Evelyn, alluding to this custom, says it is thought better to beat the Nuts off than to gather them from the tree by hand. “In Italy,” he tells us, “they arm the tops of long poles with nails and iron for the purpose, and believe the beating improves the tree, which I no more believe than I do that discipline would reform a shrew.”——The Brahmans of the Himalaya observe a festival called the Walnut Festival, Akrot-ka-pooja, at which, after offering a sacrifice, the priest, with a few companions, takes his place in the balcony of the temple, and all the young men present pelt them liberally with Walnuts and green Pine-cones, which the group in the balcony rapidly collect and return in plentiful volleys.——To dream of Walnuts portends difficulties and misfortunes in life: in love affairs, such a vision implies infidelity and disappointment.

Water Lily.—See NymphÆa.

Waybread.—See Plantain.

WHORTLEBERRY.—Whort or Whortleberry (the Anglo-Saxon Heorutberge is another name for the Bilberry or Blaeberry, (Vaccinium Myrtillus). A species of Whortleberry, called Ohelo (Vaccinium reticulatum), is found in Hawaii, springing up from the decomposed lava of the volcanoes of that island. Its flame-coloured berries are sacred to PÉlÉ, the goddess of the volcano, and in heathen days no Hawaiian dared taste one till he had offered some to the goddess, and craved her permission to eat them. Miss Gordon Cumming relates that when Mr. Ellis visited the island in 1822, he and his trusty friends rejoiced on discovering these large juicy berries, but the natives implored them not to touch them lest some dire calamity should follow. Though themselves faint and parched, they dared not touch one till they reached the edge of the crater, where, gathering branches loaded with the tempting clusters, they broke them in two, and throwing half over the precipice, they called PÉlÉ’s attention to the offering, and to the fact that they craved her permission to eat of her Ohelos. (See also Bilberry.)

WIDOW’S FLOWER.—The Indian or Sweet Scabious (Scabiosa atropurpurea) is called by the Italians Fior della Vedova, and by the French Fleur de Veuve, or Widow’s Flower. Phillips says of these flowers that they present us with “corollas of so dark a purple, that they nearly match the sable hue of the widow’s weeds; these being contrasted with anthers of pure white gives the idea of its being an appropriate bouquet for those who mourn for their deceased husbands, and this we presume gave rise to the Italian and French name of Widow’s Flower.”

WILLOW.—The Willow seems from the remotest times to have been considered a funereal tree and an emblem of grief. So universal is the association of sadness and grief with the Willow, that “to wear the Willow” has become a familiar proverb. Under Willows the captive Children of Israel wept and mourned in Babylon. Fuller, referring to this melancholy episode in their history, says of the Willow:—“A sad tree, whereof such as have lost their love make their mourning garlands; and we know that exiles hung their harps on such doleful supports. The very leaves of the Willow are of a mournful hue.” Virgil remarks on

“The Willow with hoary bluish leaves;”

and Shakspeare, when describing the scene of poor Ophelia’s death, says:—

Chatterton has a song of which the burden runs:—

Spenser designates the gruesome tree as “the Willow worn of forlorn paramours;” and there are several songs in which despairing lovers invoke the Willow-tree.

Herrick tells us how garlands of Willow were worn by neglected or bereaved lovers, and how love-sick youths and maids came to weep out the night beneath the Willow’s cold shade. The following wail of a heart-broken lover is also from the pen of the old poet:—

Jason, in his voyage in search of the golden fleece, passed the weird grove of Circe, planted with funereal Willows, on the tops of which the voyagers could perceive corpses hanging. Pausanias speaks of a grove consecrated to Proserpine, planted with Black Poplars and Willows; and the same author represents Orpheus, whilst in the infernal regions, as carrying a Willow-branch in his hand. Shakspeare, in allusion to Dido’s being forsaken by Æneas, says:—

The Willow was considered to be the tree of Saturn. The Weeping Willow (Salix Babylonica), as being a remedy for fluxes, was, however, consecrated to Juno Fluonia, who was invoked by Roman matrons to stop excessive hemorrhage.——The Flemish peasantry have a curious custom to charm away the ague. The sufferer goes early in the morning to an old Willow, makes three knots in one of its branches, and says “Good morning Old One; I give thee the cold, Old One.”——The Willow wand has long been a favourite instrument of divination. The directions are as follows:—Let a maiden take a Willow-branch in her left hand, and, without being observed, slip out of the house and run three times round it, whispering all the time, “He that’s to be my gude man come and grip the end of it.” During the third run, the likeness of her future husband will appear and grasp the other end of the wand.——De Gubernatis says that at Brie (Ile-de-France), on St. John’s Eve, the people burn a figure made of Willow-boughs. At Luchon, on the same anniversary, they throw snakes on a huge effigy of a Willow-tree made with branches of Willow; this is set on fire, and while it is burning the people dance around the tree.——In China, the Willow is employed in their funeral rites, the tree having been there considered, from the remotest ages, to be a symbol of immortality and eternity. On this account they cover the coffin with branches of Willow, and plant Willows near the tombs of the departed. They also have a custom of decorating the doors of their houses with Willow-branches on Midsummer Day. With them the Willow is supposed to be possessed of marvellous properties, amongst which is the power of averting the ill effects of miasma and pestilential disorders.——To dream of mourning beneath a Willow over some calamity is considered a happy omen, implying the speedy receipt of intelligence that will cause much satisfaction.——By astrologers the Willow is placed under the dominion of the moon.

Wind Flower.—See Anemone.

Witch-Hazel.—See Hornbeam. Witch- or Wych-Elm, Ulmus montana.

Wolf’s Bane.—See Monk’s Hood.

Woodbine.—See Honeysuckle.

WORMWOOD.—The old Latin name of Wormwood was Absinthium, and a variety known as A. Ponticum is alluded to by Ovid as being particularly bitter:—

Johnston, in his Thaumatographia naturalis, notes a curious superstition, according to which we are assured that an infant will not during its life be either hot or cold provided that its hands are rubbed over with the juice of Wormwood before the twelfth week of its life has expired. The ancients mingled Wormwood in their luscious wines, or used it before or after drinking them in order to counteract their effects. Sprays of Wormwood are often seen suspended in cottages to drive away moths and other insects.

Its powerful odour is so disliked by all kinds of insects that country people often place Wormwood in their drawers to protect their clothes, &c., from moths: hence its French name, Garde-robe. Gerarde says that, mixed with vinegar, it is a good antidote to the poison of Mushrooms or Toadstools, and taken with wine counteracts the poisonous effects of Hemlock and the bites of the shrew mouse and sea dragon.——Branches of Sea Wormwood (Absinthium marinum) were, according to Pliny, carried in processions by Egyptian priests dedicated to the service of the goddess Isis. A species called Sementina was formerly called Holy Wormwood, and its seed Holy Wormseed (semen sanctum)—for what reason is not known.——Dreams connected with Wormwood are considered of good augury, implying happiness and domestic enjoyment. Astrologers adjudge Wormwood to be a herb of Mars.

YARROW.—The Yarrow, or Milfoil (Achillea Millefolium), is a plant which delights to find a home for itself in churchyards. Probably on account of this peculiarity it has been selected to play an important part in several rustic incantations and charms. In the South and West of England, damsels resort to the following mode of love-divination:—The girl must first pluck some Yarrow from a young man’s grave, repeating the while these words:—

She must then sleep with the Yarrow under her pillow, and in her dreams her future husband will appear.——Another formula states: The Yarrow must be plucked exactly on the first hour of morn: place three sprigs in your shoe or glove, saying:—

Observe, a young man must pluck the Yarrow off a young maiden’s grave, and a female must select that off a bachelor’s. Retire home to bed without speaking another word, or it dissolves the spell; put the Yarrow under your pillow, and it will procure a sure dream on which you may depend.——In another spell to procure for a maiden a dream of the future, she is to make a posey of various coloured flowers, one of a sort, some Yarrow off a grave, and a sprig of Rue, and bind all together with a little hair from her head. She is then to sprinkle the nosegay with a few drops of the oil of amber, using her left hand, and bind the flowers round her head when she retires to rest in a bed supplied with clean linen. This spell it is stated will ensure the maid’s future fate to appear in a dream.——The Yarrow acquired the name of Nosebleed from its having been put into the nose to cause bleeding, and to cure the megrim, as we learn from Gerarde. Dr. Prior adds, that it was also called Nosebleed from its being used as a means of testing a lover’s fidelity, and he quotes from Forby, who, in his ‘East Anglia,’ says that, in that part of England, a girl will tickle the inside of the nostril with a leaf of this plant, crying:—

By a blunder of the mediÆval herbalists, the name and remedial character of the Horse-tail, which was formerly called Herba sanguinaria and Nosebleed, were transferred without reason to the Yarrow, which has since retained them.——The Yarrow is also known as Old Man’s Pepper, and was formerly called the Souldier’s Woundwort. The Highlanders make an ointment from it; and it was similarly employed by the ancient Greeks, who said that Achilles first made use of this plant as a wound herb, having learnt its virtues of Chiron, the Centaur—hence its scientific name Achillea.——Astrologers place the herb under the dominion of Venus.——To dream of gathering Yarrow for medicinal purposes denotes that the dreamer will shortly hear of something that will give him or her extreme pleasure.

YEW.—The dark and sombre Yew-tree has from the remote past been invested with an essentially funereal character, and hence is appropriately found in the shade of churchyards and in propinquity to tombs. Blair, addressing himself to the grave, says:—

The Egyptians regarded it as a symbol of mourning, and the idea descended to the Greeks and Romans, who employed the wood as fuel for their funeral pyres. The Britons probably learned from the Romans to attach a funereal signification to the Yew, and inasmuch as it had been employed in ancient funeral rites, they regarded the tree with reverence and probably looked upon it as sacred. Hence, in course of time, the Yew came to be planted in churchyards, and, on account of its perpetual verdure, was, like the Cypress, considered as a symbol of the resurrection and immortality.

R. Turner remarks that if the Yew “be set in a place subject to poysonous vapours, the very branches will draw and imbibe them: hence it is conceived that the judicious in former times planted it in churchyards on the west side, because those places being fuller of putrefaction and gross oleaginous vapours exhaled out of the graves by the setting sun, and sometimes drawn into those meteors called ignes fatui, divers have been frightened, supposing some dead bodies to walk; others have been blasted, &c.” Prof. Martyn points out that a Yew was evidently planted near the church for some religious purpose; for in the ancient laws of Wales the value of a consecrated Yew is set down as £1, whilst that of an ordinary Yew-tree is stated as only fifteen pence. “Our forefathers,” says he, “were particularly careful to preserve this funereal tree, whose branches it was usual to carry in solemn procession to the grave, and afterwards to deposit therein under the bodies of their departed friends. Our learned Ray says, that our ancestors planted the Yew in churchyards because it was an evergreen tree, as a symbol of that immortality which they hoped and expected for the persons there deposited. For the same reason this and other evergreen trees are even yet carried in funerals, and thrown into the grave with the body; in some parts of England and in Wales, planted with flowers upon the grave itself.” Shakspeare speaks of a “shroud of white, stuck all with Yew,” from which one would infer that sprigs of Yew were placed on corpses before burial. Branches of Yew were, in olden times, often carried in procession on Palm Sunday, instead of Palm, and as an evergreen Yew was sometimes used to decorate churches and houses at Christmas-time.——Parkinson remarks that in his time it was used “to deck up houses in Winter; but ancient writers have ever reckoned it to be dangerous at the least, if not deadly.” Many of the old writers were of Parkinson’s opinion as to the poisonous character of the Yew. CÆsar tells how Cativulcus, king of the Eburones, poisoned himself by drinking a draught of Yew. Dioscorides says that a decoction of the leaves occasions death; Galen pronounces the tree to be of a venomous quality and against man’s nature; and White, in his ‘History of Selborne,’ gives numerous instances in which the Yew has proved fatal to animals. Gerarde does not consider the berries poisonous, but thinks non-ruminating animals are injured by eating the foliage. He tells us that “Nicander, in his booke of counter-poisons, doth reckon the Yew-tree among the venomous plants, setting downe also a remedy, and that in these words, as GorrÆus hath translated them:—

Virgil attributed the notoriously unwholesome qualities of the honey of Corsica to the bees feeding upon the Yew, and he warns bee-keepers to be careful that no Yew-trees grow near their hives. Owing to its being so frequently found in churchyards, a ghastly superstition has arisen respecting this sinister tree: it is said that it preys and invigorates itself upon the dead who lie beneath its sombre shade. Thus, in ‘In Memoriam,’ we read:—

Even in the principal use the Yew was put to, the tree maintained its connection with death, for from its wood man fashioned an instrument of warfare and destruction. Its great pliancy and toughness made it particularly suitable for bows, and for this purpose it was unrivalled. Virgil tells us that in his time “the Yews were bent into IturÆan bows”; Chaucer speaks of “the Shooter Yew;” and Browne writes of

Camden has recorded a grim legend in connection with the name of Halifax. It seems that a certain amorous clergyman fell in love with a pretty maid who refused his addresses. Maddened by her refusal he cut off her head, which being hung upon a Yew-tree till it was quite decayed, the tree was reputed as sacred, not only whilst the virgin’s head hung on it, but as long as the tree itself lasted: to which the people went in pilgrimage, plucking and bearing away branches of it as a holy relique, whilst there remained any of the trunk; persuading themselves that those small veins and filaments resembling hairs were the hairs of the virgin. But what is yet stranger, the resort to this place, then called Houton, a despicable village, occasioned the building of the now famous town of Halifax, in Yorkshire, the name of which imports “holy hair.”——In the cloister of Vreton, in Brittany, there grew a Yew-tree which was said to have sprung from the staff of St. Martin. Beneath it the Breton princes were accustomed to offer up a prayer before entering the church. This tree was regarded with the highest reverence; no one ever plucked a leaf from its sombre boughs, and even the birds refrained from pecking the scarlet berries. A band of pirates, however, happening to visit the locality, two of them spied the tree, and forthwith climbed into its venerable boughs and proceeded to cut bow-staves for themselves: their audacity speedily brought about its own punishment, for they both fell and were killed on the spot.——Both in old Celtic and in Anglo-Saxon the Yew-tree was called Iw. By early English authors its name was variously spelt Yew, Yeugh, Ewgh, Ugh, and Ewe. In Switzerland, it is known as William Tell’s Tree.——Dream oracles state that there is but one signification to dreams concerning the Yew, viz., that it is the certain forerunner of the demise of an aged person, through which the dreamer will derive substantial benefits.

YGGDRASILL.—The mythical Scandinavian World-tree, or Mundane Ash, is the greatest and best of all trees: beneath it the gods assemble in counsel; its branches spread over the whole world and reach above heaven; and its roots penetrate to the infernal regions. On its summit is perched an all-seeing eagle, with a hawk between his eyes. A squirrel continually carries news to him, while serpents coiled round the vast trunk endeavour to destroy him. Serpents, also, constantly gnaw the roots, from which come the fountains of wisdom and futurity. The Norns always keep a watch upon the Yggdrasill: they fix the lifetime of all men, and dispense destinies. Under the tree is hidden the horn which shall be sounded and rouse the world at the last great conflict.