58 
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wrote from hearsay. However this may be, the early form of the 
word which he adduces disposes of the notion that the meaning is 
' water-gatherer/ 
Caspar Bauhin, probably regarding the first two syllables of 
Aquilegia as due to an original acui^ from acus (cf. aquifolium^ now 
the specific name of the European holly, for acuifolium)^ says that 
the name was applied to the plant ''ob florum mucrones aduncos." 
Grassmann (Deutsche Pflanzennamen, p. 28), commenting upon this 
explanation, says that it " is much more applicable to the German 
[name]/' The German popular name of the columbine, aglei^ is 
derived by Kluge, in his recent Elymologisches Worterbuch der 
deutschen Sprache (Strassburg, 1S84) from Lat. aquilegia^ and the 
word is traced back by him, through M. H. Ger. agleie, to O. H. Ger. 
ageleia. But, if we examine the history of the Ger. word, we shall 
find that in O, H. Ger. (period between the 8th to the close of the nth 
century) ageleia was the name, not of the columbine, but, ot a totally 
different plant — Dipsacus fuUonutn, L. In M H. Ger. the same name, 
with its numerous variants, was applied to Aquilegia vulgaris, L., and, 
later still, to Ranunculus arvejisis, L., and Ononis spinosa, L. What 
is there in common between these so diverse plants that they should 
have received the same popular name ? The etymology of the 0. H. 
Ger. word answers this: Ageleia is a derivative from old Ger. 
but 
agele, ' chaff,' ' awn,' ' spike ' (cognate with Lat. aculeus.) The Dip- 
sacus was so called, then, from the aculeate chaff of its heads of 
fruit, Aquilegia from the aculeate spurs of its flowers, Ranunculus 
from its bur-like fruit, and Ononis from its spiny leaves. 
In DuCange's Glossarium mediae et infimas Latinitatis we find 
aquilea, 'herba valens ad oculos.' This points to Dipsacus, the water 
contained in the cup-shaped bases of the leaves of which was 
anciently used as a collyrium. In the Middle Ages aquileus (changed 
from aquilus) was an adjective of color meaning *brown' or 'black*; t 
aquilea, which at first sight would seem to be the feminine form of this 
adjective, must have had a different origin, and we may assume that 
It arose through a confusion, by the scribes, of the first two syllables 
of the Ger. name with aqua^ ' water.' 
There would appear to be no doubt, that aquilea (later, 
aquilegia) is a mere corruption of the Ger. word ageleia. This is the 
view of it taken by those who have investigated the Ger. popular 
names of plants, e. g., E. Meyer, H. Grassmann, and Pritzel and 
Jessen. 
It is worthy of remark that no people seem to have seen in the 
spurs of the Aquilegia a resemblance to the talons or beak of an eagle, 
and so in no language do we find any popular name for this plant 
that embodies any such idea. 
The five spurred petals with incurved tips were at an early 
period compared to five doves, the sepals representing the wings; and 
this suggested the herbalist's Lat. name columbina (sc. herba) * dove- 
like (herb),' whence O. Fr, columbine, Eng. colwnbine and Ital. colom' 
hino. , The herbalist's name aquilina, used as a substitute for what 
was regarded as an irregularly formed derivative from aquila.p-'^^ 
Ital. aquilina, and the translated names, Polish orlik, 'aquiline and 
