40 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Feb. 1, 1870. 



reader of Science-Gossip, who is well up in the 

 Chinese tongue, will kindly tell us the meaning of 

 Yong tsao, the name the Celestials know it best by. 

 The Welsh Jthos Mair signifies Mary's Rose ; be- 

 cause, so say some of the village crones, the plant 

 never thrives well in a garden where the mistress is 

 not master. It is the good wife's evidence of 

 authority is a well-to-do rosemary-bnsh, and I am 

 told a like belief is held in some parts of Gloucester- 

 shire respecting it. 



The wild Rosemary is larger than the cultivated, 

 and there are two kinds or varieties of the latter- 

 one the silver, from its . white striped leaves ; the 

 other the golden, because it has yellow bars on the 



foliage. 



Our continental neighbours use Rosemary far 

 more extensively than we do. German house- 

 keepers steep it in a pickle, which they prepare for 

 hams and tongues. I was once induced to try the 

 effect of adding a handful of the flowers to a 

 spiced pickle, which my cook was boiling up for 

 the purpose of curing some beef, aud I found the 

 flavour it imparted to the meat so liked that I 

 always afterwards put a few tops in with both ox- 

 tongues and hams. 



As a good cosmetic it has long been much lauded. 

 The famous Hungary water had a very considerable 

 portion of the extract of Rosemary in it. Rimmel 

 in his "Book of Perfumes" (an admirable and most 

 interesting work it is, too) mentions essence of rose- 

 mary as an agent in scenting soap, and notices the 

 remarkable- resemblance it bears in taste to cam- 

 phor, whose medicinal properties I believe it also 

 partakes of. It stimulates, and is highly approved 

 of in nervous diseases. Many persons drink a tea 

 made of the fresh young tops, which are said to 

 possess greater power than the flowers. Then, as 

 a hair-wash, hairdressers recommend it ; but I 

 really believe it tends in some way or other to turn 

 the hair grey. More than one young lady of my 

 acquaintance, who used Rosemary wash when it was 

 so very highly introduced a few years ago, became 

 grey quite early in life, and a medical man assured 

 me then that the cause lay in the strong decoctions 

 of Rosemary they had been applying to their pates. 

 Grey hair in the present day is almost unknown. 

 The herb of remembrance, as the ancients called 

 it, was much in request at funerals and weddings. 

 I never have known it used at marriages ; but the 

 custom of wearing a spray of Rosemary in the coat 

 at a burial, and of taking it out and casting it into 

 the grave, is still kept up by the lower classes in 

 parts of South Wales. 



" To show their love, the neighbours far and near 

 Followed with wistful looks the damsel's bier ; 

 Sprigged Rosemary the lads and lasses bore, 

 While dismally the parson walked before. 

 Upon her grave the Rosemary they threw, 

 The Daisy, Buttercup, and Endive blue." 



RUE. 



" Here did she drop a tear ; here in this place, 

 I'll set a bank of Rue, sour herb of grace." 



Rue, despite its strong and disagreeable scent, 

 was doubtless much used in nosegays formerly ; for 

 one rarely takes up an old work but what it is men- 

 tioned. I wonder at the taste of those who used it, 

 for I think [ share in the dislike evinced by toads 

 to it. You know of course that in ancient gardens 

 it was always planted amongst Sage to keep off 

 these reptiles. Insects of all kinds detest it, and 

 shun a Rue plant; and my belief is, that the toads, 

 not finding any provender in their Sage larders 

 when Rue grew near, gave up such beds of Salvia, 

 went to happier hunting-grounds, and so gained 

 credit for the good taste of disliking Rue. 



The stamens of the Rue are well worthy the 

 careful notice of the botanist. They exhibit a 

 singular phenomenon. Something similar has been 

 observed in the Barberry, only in the latter case 

 the effect is produced by touching the stamens. In 

 the Rue they rise up spontaneously, and discharge 

 the pollen when it is ripe, and then fall back to 

 their former position on the petals. 



Rue is not a native. It came originally from the 

 south of Europe, and has been cultivated by us for 

 ages, the wild Rue possessing all the bad qualities 

 of its educated relative in a still stronger degree. 



Even Pythagoras speaks of its power. It was 

 known in the days of the philosopher, who pro- 

 pounded the still wise saying, or maxim, that 

 "Everything was not to be told everybody." I do 

 not mean that such a doctrine should hold good in 

 regard to science, or else good-bye to our charming 

 Science-Gossip, which one looks forward to with 

 such interest monthly ; and I know I shall be taken 

 up for saying that Pythagoras spoke of the Rue, and 

 told that none of his writings exist now. If he did 

 not, some of his friends did— the countryman per- 

 chance who, 



" Carnivorous sinner, 

 Had pullets yesterday for dinner." (See Gay.) 



Helen E. Watney. 



The Brighton Aquarium soon promises to 

 become an established fact ; a company has been 

 formed, a prospectus issued, and the services of our 

 old correspondent, Mr. W. Alford Lloyd, of the 

 Hamburg Aquarium, secured. The site of the pro- 

 posed aquarium, which will be upwards of 700 feet 

 long and 100 feet wide, commences at the toll- 

 houses of the Chain Pier, and extends to within a 

 few yards of that structure. On the south side 

 there will be a sea-wall and approach-road, towards 

 which the Corporation of Brighton have agreed to 

 contribute £7,000. Further particulars of John 

 McMillan, Esq., Secretary, 7, Westminster Cham- 

 bers, London, S.W. 



