HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



35 



■exceed their normal number, and in former times the 

 flower was then called a " truelove," and was much 

 affected by the maidens of old. Both plants have, 

 however, been esteemed for other qualities than their 

 beauty and fragrance. In medicine they have been 

 used from the earliest ages, the roots of our English 

 violet having a share in the emetic properties possessed 

 by all violaceous plants, and which are so largely 

 developed in the Brazilian species, yielding woody 

 ipecacuanha. In old times the parts most generally 

 used, for their cooling and emollient qualities, were 

 the fresh leaves and blossoms ; externally, in the form 

 ■of lotion or poultice ; internally, in a decoction or 

 syrup. The latter, though not officinal, is at present 

 sometimes given to children ; it was more largely 

 employed as a test for acids (which turn it red), and 

 alkalies (which change the colour to green), but for 

 -this purpose it has been almost entirely superseded 

 by litmus. 



The roots of the primrose, dried and powdered, 

 were used as a snuff in nervous disorders, and of the 

 leaves a healing salve was made, " Wherefore," says 

 Culpeper, " do not (you that have ingenuity in you) 

 •see your poor neighbours go with wounded limbs, 

 when a half-penny cost will heal them." Primroses 

 ■are not now used in medicine, but a wine has been 

 made from the flowers, in no wise equal, however, to 

 that obtained from the cowslip. The Romans made 

 -a wine from violets. Astrologically considered, both 

 plants are under the dominion of Venus, and the 

 violet is regarded as the emblem of humility. Yet 

 was it the favourite flower of Mahomet ; also of the 

 Athenians, who wove it into their chaplets, and 

 cultivated it assiduously ; and now it is universally 

 recognised as the badge of the Bonapartes. Napoleon 

 the First was called " Le pere de la violette," and 

 during his enforced stay in Elba, engravings were 

 -sold to his partisans, in which the petals of a violet 

 were so arranged as to give the profile of the emperor ; 

 ■underneath was the motto: "II reviendra avec le 

 printemps." No need to tell of the heaps of violets, 

 ■sent from all France, at the funeral of Napoleon III. 

 and his son. In English heraldry the violet has no 

 place, but the primrose figures in the arms of the 

 earls of Rosebery. I will close my paper with the 

 love story of Lantrec and Clemence, of Toulouse. 

 Clemence's father was so sternly opposed to their 

 marriage, that he shut her up in a tower, so as to 

 effectually separate her from her lover. She then sent 

 ■to Lantrec a violet, eglantine, and marigold, bidding 

 him not to despair, but to fight for glory, and as her 

 knight. Nobly he carried out his lady's behest ; 

 bravely he fought, and at length fell at an attack on 

 Toulouse, warding off the blows aimed at Clemence's 

 father. After the death of Clemence (hastened by 

 grief), floral games were instituted at Toulouse in 

 •commemoration of the unfortunate lovers, and at 

 these games the chief prize was a gold violet. 



R. M. 



LIST OF ASSISTING NATURALISTS. 



{Continued from page 14. Any additional names to be sent to 

 the Editor.'] 



Devonshire. 



Plymouth. G. C. Bignell, 7 Clarence Place, Stone- 

 house. Macro-Lepidoptera. 



Torrington. George Mark Doe, Castle Street. 

 Lepidoptcra, particularly Butterflies. 



Durham. 



Bishop Auckland. J. P. Soutler, 1 Clyde Terrace. 



Phanerogamic Botany. 

 Monk Wearmouth, Sunderland. Paul Kent, 131 



Wayman Street. Flowering-plants, Ferns, and 



Lepidoptera. 



Gloucestershire. 



Clifton. W. K. Mann, Wellington Terrace, Lepi- 

 doptera, especially Macros., Oology. 



Hampshire. 



Itchen Abbas, 5 miles by rail from Winchester. 

 A. Drake, Chilland Cottage. Phanerogamic 

 Botany. 



Kent. 



Rainham. Roland Green. Ornithology, Oology, 

 Entomology , Botany. 



Leicestershire. 



Leicester. F. T. Mott, F.R.G.S., 18 Galltree Gate; 

 residence, Birstal Hill, 3 miles distant. British 

 Botany and Zoology. 



Middlesex. 



London, N. E. M. Holmes, F.L.S., 30 Arthur 

 Road, Hollo way. Cryptogams, especially Marine 

 Algae. 



F. Palmer, 12 Grove Road, Highgate Road, High- 

 gate. 



Notts. 



Nottingham. C. T. Masson. British land and 

 fresh-water Mollusca, Geology. 



Sussex. 



Brighton. Robert H. Stevens, 25 Western Road. 

 Local Geology. 



Lewes. J. H. A. Jenner, Hon. Sec. L. & E. Sussex. 

 Nat. Hist. Soc. Phatterogamia, Macro-Lepidoptera, 

 Diptera, land and fresh-water Shells, all British. 



Yorkshire. 



Baldersby, Thirsk. W. Gregson, Local Sec, York- 

 shire Geol. Soc. Geology (Carboniferous, Permian, 

 Trias, Rhretic, and Lias formations). 



WALES. 



Anglesea, Rhianva, Bangor. Mrs. Verne}'. Botauy 

 for children. 



