Whose undeserved ruin Phasias * sought Thrice howls, thrice barks at once with his three heads, SANDYS'S OVID. The real virulence of the Aconite has been proved by fatal experience. Some persons, only by smelling the fullblown flower, are said to have been seized with swooning fits, and to have lost their sight for two or three days. The root is the most powerful part of the plant; and a criminal has been put to death by being made to swallow one drachm of it. Dodonæus mentions an instance, recent in his time, of five persons at root by mistake, and all died. Antwerp who ate of the Instances have also been died from eating of this recorded of persons who have in a salad, instead of celery; and some experiments upon animals have been made with it, which are too horrible to repeat. Yet, when used with skill and caution, this plant has been found in some cases a useful medicine. Those with blue flowers are considered as the most powerful. There is a species called the Wholesome Aconite-in French, maclou-which has been recommended as an antidote to the poisonous kinds. This, however, is poisonous, though not so powerfully so as the others. All the kinds have rather deep roots, which render them unfit for grow+ Hercules. * Medea. ing in pots. They are here mentioned rather to speak of their dangerous tendency than to recommend their in crease. LABIATE. MOTHERWORT. LEONURUS. DIDYNAMIA GYMNOSPERMIA. The common kind is called in French, l'agripaume; la cordiale.— Italian, agripalma; cardiaca. THE Common Motherwort, and the Curled, when the seeds are once sown in the spring, require no further care than occasionally to water them, and to keep them clear of weeds. The roots last many years: they are usually of a pale red in the first, pure white in the latter kind. The Small-flowered, Tartarian, and Siberian, require no more care than the other kinds, but to sow them oftener. They do not blow till the second year, and blow but once. Their colours are flesh-coloured, yellow, and red: blowing from June to August. In a garden they sow their own seeds; and, when once introduced, give no further trouble. In Japan, the Motherwort is in great estimation. It seems there was formerly, to the north of the province of Nanyo-no-rekken, a village situated near a hill covered with Motherwort flowers. At the foot of the hill was a valley, through which ran a stream of pure water, formed by the dew and rains that trickled down the sides of the hill. This water was the ordinary beverage of the villagers, who generally lived to the age of a hundred, or a hundred and thirty. To die at seventy was considered as a premature death. Thus the people have still an idea that the Motherwort has the property of prolonging life. At the court of the Dairi, the ecclesiastical sovereign of Japan, they amuse themselves with drinking zakki*, prepared from these flowers. The Japanese have five grand festivals in the course of the year. The last festival, which takes place on the 9th of the ninth 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 this 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: It is related by several authors, that a Chinese emperor, who succeeded to the throne at seven years of age, was distressed 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 of the beautiful yellow flowers of the Motherwort, 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. The Japanese are, indeed, very fond of flowers in ge * Zakki is a kind of strong beer; the common beverage in Japan. ` neral; and the houses of respectable people have always pots of flowers in the windows. They have a great esteem for plum and cherry trees, and for the beauty of their blossoms. Some dwarf trees of these kinds are cultivated in boxes behind the houses almost invariably; and persons in easy circumstances have in their apartments one or more branches, when in flower, in a porcelain vase*. MYRTLE. MYRTUS. MYRTEE. ICOSANDRIA MONOGYNIA. So named from Myrsine, an Athenian damsel, and favourite of Minerva, who was metamorphosed into this shrub, which is consecrated to Venus. The connexion between Minerva's favourite and Venus is not clear; but nothing can be fitter for rendering sacred to Venus than the myrtle. It is the perfection of neatness and elegance, and leaf and flower are alike worthy of each other.-French, le myrthe; myrte.Italian, mirto. THE Myrtle is a native of Asia, Africa, and the South of Europe; and though not very tender, is not quite hardy enough to bear our winters without some protection, except in the most southern and western parts of the island. The beauty and fragrance of the flower are exquisite : it blossoms in July and August, but does not bear fruit in England. The Common Broad-leaved or Roman Myrtle does not grow higher in England than eight or ten feet; but in Italy it grows much higher, and is the principal under * See Titsingh's Illustrations of Japan, translated from the French by F. Shoberl. S the Motherwort has the property of prolonging life. At the court of the Dairi, the ecclesiastical sovereign of Japan, they amuse themselves with drinking zakki*, prepared from these flowers. The Japanese have five grand festivals in the course of the year. The last festival, which takes place on the 9th of the ninth 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 this 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: It is related by several authors, that a Chinese emperor, who succeeded to the throne at seven years of age, was distressed 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 of the beautiful yellow flowers of the Motherwort, 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. The Japanese are, indeed, very fond of flowers in ge * Zakki is a kind of strong beer; the common beverage in Japan. ` |