172 The Scottish Naturalist. 



The badge of Clans Murray, Ross, M'Leod, and the Athole 

 Highlanders. 



J. sabina — Savin. Gaelic : samhan (Armstrong), alteration of 

 "sabina," the "sabina herba" of Pliny. Common in Southern 

 Europe, and frequently cultivated in gardens, and used medicin- 

 ally as a stimulant, and in ointments, lotions, &c. 



Taxus — According to Benfey, is derived from the Sanskrit, 

 taksh, to spread out, to cut a figure, to fashion. Persian tak. 

 Greek : to£o<$, an arrow. Irish and Gaelic : tuagh, a bow made 

 of the taxos or yew, now applied to the hatchet used in place of 

 the old bow. 



T. baccata — Common yew. Gaelic and Irish : iuthar, 

 iubhar, iughar, from ////. Greek : <ds, an arrow, or anything 

 pointed. Arrows were poisoned with its juice; hence in old 

 Gaelic it was called iogh, a severe pain, and ioghar (Greek, 

 t\ M p, ichor) pus, matter. The yew was the wood from which 

 ancient bows and arrows were made, and that it might be ready 

 at hand, it was planted in every burial-ground. 



" 'N so fein, a Chuchullin, tha' n uir, 



'S caoin iuthar 'tha 'fas o'n uaigh." 1 — OssiAN. 



In this same spot Chuchullin, is their dust, 

 And fresh the yew-tree grows upon their grave. 



Hence another form of the name eo, a grave. Si/isior, sinnsior 

 (O'Reilly), long standing, antiquity, ancestry. The yew is re- 

 markable for its long life. The famous yew of Fortingall in 

 Perthshire, which once had a circumference of 56^ feet, is 

 supposed to be 3500 years old. Sincadhfeadha (O'Reilly), pro- 

 tracting, extending. 



The badge of Clan Fraser. 



ENDOGENS. 



Orchidace^e. 



Orchis — Greek : opx^, a plant with roots in the shape of 

 testicles. " Mirabilis est orchis herba, sive serapias, gemina 

 radice testiculis simili" — Pliny. 



0. maculata — The spotted orchis. Gaelic and Irish : urach 



1 Laing is not correct when, in attaching the genuineness of the poems of 

 Ossian, he asserts that the yew, so often mentioned in these poems, is not 

 indigenous. There are various places, such as Gleniur, Duniur, &c, that 

 have been so named from time immemorial, which prove that the yew was 

 abundant in these places at least many centuries ago. 



