mis. 201 



It was first introduced by Mr. Jolnr Bell, in 

 1784, but being lost, was again raised 1'roni seed 

 sent from the Berlin garden to Messrs, Whitley 

 and Co., of the Fulham nursery, where it flowered 

 ill August, 1817, and was found sufficiently 

 hardy to stand in a sheltered border in the open 

 ground. 



The root of our native Yellow Water-Flag, Iris 

 Pseudo-Avonis, that flowers so abundantly in our 

 fens and marshes during the month of June, had 

 formerly a place in the " London Pharmacopoeia," 

 under the name of Gladiolus luteus. It is much 

 praised by Ettmuller, as a very certain and power- 

 ful styptic in spitting and vomiting of blood. At 

 present this acrid root is but little used in medi- 

 cine. It is of so powerfully astringent a nature, that 

 it may be employed as a substitute for galls in 

 making ink. 



The common blue or purple Flower de Luce of 

 our gardens, Iris Germanica, yields a most beauti- 

 ful paint for water-colours, for which purpose the 

 flower-petals are collected before they are fully 

 expanded, " and pounded in a stone mortar with a 

 stone-capped or wooden pestle — then put into a 

 glass, and placed for some days in a cellar or other 

 moist place : after the space of about a fortnight, 

 the mass, which is now become liquid, is to be set 



