298 The Scottish Naturalist. 



and convulsions." — Lightfoot. According to De Theis, "Se- 

 lago " is derived from the Celtic, sel (scallad/i), sight, and jack 

 (10c) — Greek : taoa? — a remedy, being useful for complaints in 

 the eyes. 



Badge of Clan M'Rae. 



L. clavatum, L. annotinum, and the rest of this family, are 

 called las bhalgaire, the fox- weed. 



EQUISETACE/E. 



Equisetum, from cqaus, a horse, and seta, hair, in allusion to 

 the fine hair-like branches of the species. Those plants of this 

 order growing in watery places are called in Gaelic and Irish, 

 clois, do uisge, the names given to fluviatile, palustre, ramosum ; 

 and those flourishing in drier places, earbuill-each, horse-tail. 

 Clois seems a contraction of db-uisge (O'Reilly), — do, a nail-pen 

 or peg, perhaps suggested by the appearance of the fruiting 

 stems, and uisge, water. 



E. hyemale — Dutch rushes, shave-grass. Gaelic : a bhiorag, 



— bior, a pointed small stick, anything sharp or prickly. Or 



water (see Appendix). This species was at one time extensively 



used for polishing wood and metal, a quality arising from the 



cuticle abounding in siliceous matter — hence the use made of 



the plant for scouring pewter and wooden things in the kitchen. 



A large quantity used to be imported from Holland, hence 



the name " Dutch rushes/' Irish : gadliar, from gad, a withe, 



a twig. Liobhag, from liobh, smooth, polish. It grows in shady 



places, often near water. Cuiridin (O'Reilly), because growing 



on marshy ground. 



Bryace^e. 



Gaelic and Irish : coinncadi, caoineach, from caoi/i, soft, lowly, 

 &c. The principal economic use of moss to the ancient Gaels 

 was in making bed-stuffs, just as the Laplanders use it to this day. 



" Tri coilceaclha na Feinne, barr gheal chrann, coinneach, 'us iir luachair. " 

 The three Fenian bed-stuffs — fresh tree-tops, moss, and fresh rushes. 



Welsh : ni7i>s7cg, moss. 



Sphagnum — Bog-moss. Gaelic: mointeach liath (mom, peat, and 

 Hath, grey). From its roots and decayed stalks peat is formed. 

 Fionnladi, from fibnn, white. It covers wide patches of bog, and 

 when full grown it is sometimes almost white ; occasionally the 

 plant has a reddish hue (coinncadi dhearg, red moss). Martin re- 

 fers to it in his ' Western Islands : ' " When they are in any way 

 fatigued by travel or otherways, they fail not to bathe their feet 



