Part the Second. (continued 5)

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 Cœlifolium, 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 fœmina, 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 Phœbus (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. Phœbus, 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 Prœtus, 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.