HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



89 



cruidt, has the same meaning. Old French, gent' de 

 nostre Dame (gloyes of our Lady) ; and doigtier 

 (fingerstall). 



The old Italian name was Aralda ; the plant appears 

 to have been much esteemed for its medical virtues, 

 hence the proverb, Aralda piagha salda (Aralda salveth 

 all sores). 



The origin^of the popular names of plants must 

 for ever remain more or less doubtful ; many of them 

 are mispronunciations of the Greek or Latin names, 

 or they have been misunderstood ; as for example, 

 lukos wolf (instead of leukos white), orbufonio, instead 

 of bubonio, see " Ortus Sanitatis," ch. 431. The word 

 Hebenon was discussed some years since in Science- 

 Gossip (Hamlet calls it the '* cursed " not " deadly " 

 hebenon), and I believe it was generally supposed to 

 mean henbane. " Love in idleness," or rather " love 

 in idle," i.e. in vain, from the A.-S. ydel, is the Viola 

 tricolor. Shakespeare's allusion to the " Faire vestal 

 throned by the west," in connection with "Love in 

 idle," leaves little doubt as to the flower intended. 



Haemony is probably the same as Emony, a 

 popular corruption of Anemone. I have often heard 

 Anemones called Nemonies, and a single flower a 

 nemony. "The insane root that takes the reason 

 prisoner," is no doubt Atropa Mandragora, with 

 whichCirce bewitched the comrades of Ulysses. 



Standergrass : this name seems to have been applied 

 to various species of Orchis. Old Lobel says, " Dese 

 naevolghende soerten van Standelcruyden ziin in 

 Greecks geheeten Cynosorchides, in nederduytsch 

 Hundtscullekens," Boldberries query, in allusion to 

 the two pseudo-tubers. 



Asparagus is the pure Greek name, and is not a 

 corruption of speargrass as Talbot * supposes. Clove 

 carnation, so called on account of its clove-like perfume. 

 Houseleek means house plant; leek = A.-S. leac, a 

 plant, not the leek ^Allium porrum). 



Gooseberry is not derived from Johannis Beeren.f 

 but from the Flemish, Kroes-besie ; in Old German 

 Kreuzbeer Crossberry, so called on account of the 

 triple spines which often have a cruciform arrange- 

 ment. Rue, apparently a corruption of the Latin 

 name of Ruta. Herb o' grace, a play upon the word 

 rue, repentance. " There's rue for you and some for 

 me, we may call it Herb of grace a Sundays." 

 {Ha7?tkt). 



Southernwood is called in the Leechdom sutherne- 

 wude, an abbreviation of sutheme-wermod, southern 

 wormwood. Wermod (A.-S.) means a plant to keep 

 away worms or maggots. Lady's traces (Neottia 

 spiralis) should be tresses, the flower spikes re- 



sembling braided hair. 



F. KiTTON. 



* "English Etymologies," by H. F. Talbot, 1847. I have 

 somewhere seen it stated that Sparrergrass was a corruption of 

 Speargrass._ His etymologies are mostly incorrect. 



+ Johannisbeeren are currants, Johannisbeerstrauch currant- 

 bubh, &c. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Cutting Sections of Coal.— It has been stated 

 in various treatises on the preparation of microscope 

 objects (dating from 1856 to 1881) that thin sections 

 of coal may be cut with a razor, if the specimen has 

 been previously macerated for about a week in 

 carbonate of potash. This direction has been copied 

 sometimes with, and sometimes without acknowledg- 

 ment, from the " Micrographic Dictionary," in 

 which the author of the paragraph on "Coal " gives the 

 above quoted formula as "the method that has been 

 attended with most success in our hands." In my 

 hands it has been attended with complete failure. I 

 soaked some pieces of coal about a cubic quarter-inch 

 in size for a week, in a strong solution of carbonate 

 of potash, but found them as hard as they were 

 previous to the maceration. I replaced the fragments 

 and again tried them at the expiration of a months 

 with the same result. I again replaced them and did 

 not try them until something like twelve months had 

 passed away (having in fact forgotten them)— result 

 as before. I now as a dernier ressort added more 

 carbonate, and starved them for about twelve hours — 

 result the same as before. Will any of the readers of 

 Science-Gossip who have tried the above process, 

 kindly state their success or non-success with it ? If 

 their trial of the "method" has been like mine, a 

 failure, it is a very pregnant instance of the vitality of 

 error, and also that the authors, or rather compilers, 

 of the numerous treatises on the microscope have 

 never tried the processes they recommend. The 

 following very simple plan would, I think, very 

 effectually prevent useless, and perhaps harmful 

 formulae attaining the respectable age of a quarter of 

 a century, viz., that those who have tried any new 

 process should state in a few words the result in the 

 pages of this or any similar publication. — F. Kit ton. 



What is the meaning of the Sign x ?— I am 

 led to trouble you with a few lines respecting the use 

 of the above sign, from having occasionally noticed a 

 statement something of this kind. " This diagram is 

 taken from an object seen under an inch objective, 

 say X 50, but it has been enlarged ten times and 

 therefore represents the object x 500." Here 

 evidently is a misconception of the sign X. This 

 surely denotes something more than amplification. 

 It includes a definite amount of detail, e.g., an object 

 seen under an eighth objective may correctly repre- 

 sent X 500. Let this image be compared with that 

 of the same objective under an inch power of, say 50 

 diam. enlarged ten times, the difference will be most 

 marked. Take another example. An object drawn 

 by means of a camera or tinted reflector at ten inches 

 from the eye -piece, would be twice as large as if 

 drawn at five inches, but both pictures would rej3re- 

 sent the same magnifying power. Unless, therefore, 

 there be detail corresponding with the amplitude, the 

 object is not X so many diameters. — T. R. J. 



