742 THE UNIVERSE. 



But the case becomes still more serious when we see the 

 most learned ornithologist of the Renaissance, Aldrovandus, 

 propagate such ridiculous fables in his great work. He 

 there maintains that sea-ducks are the product of certain 

 trees, and he even represents these with the fruits which 

 they bear. But, by an unpardonable error for a naturalist, 

 these pretended fruits from which the birds are issuing are 

 only barnacles (Lepas anatifera), crustaceans which live at 

 the bottom of the sea, and with which he nevertheless over- 

 loads the miraculous boughs ! 



After this one may well ask, Which is the most censura- 

 ble the savant who transcribes such absurdities, or the 

 public who believe in them ? 



Some plants have also become celebrated in the annals 

 of charlatanism. There were plants that warded off evil, 

 plants that caused injury, and magical plants. Antiquity 

 possessed a long list of these, and we have not fallen be- 

 hind it. 



On one side we find a venerated plant, the Artemisia vul- 

 garis, or St. John's-wort, which, gathered at the moment 

 pointed out by the legend and hung over the outer door, 

 preserved the house from lightning. On the other was a 

 long list of cabalistic plants, among which the thorn-apple, 

 Datura Stramonium, ought to be mentioned in the first 

 rank. This was the frightful poison which sorcerers made 

 use of to intoxicate their senses, and procure for themselves 

 the spectacle of the Sabbath. 



But no magical herb ever enjoyed more celebrity than 

 the mandrake, an indispensable ingredient in all the phil- 

 tres employed by the old sorcerers. Antiquity had already 



