FRITILLARY. 231 



Persian Lily growing in the European gardens, 

 Alphonsus Paucius, physician to the Duke of 

 Florence, when he sent a drawing of it to M. John 

 de Brandon, named it Corona Imperlalls. Madame 

 de Genlis thinks the name originated from the cele- 

 brated Guirlande de Julie, Chapelain having under 

 the painting of this flower written a poor metamor- 

 phosis in compliment to Julie, who was a great 

 admirer of Gustavus Adolphus the King of Sweden, 

 who lost his life in the battle he gained in the 

 plains of Lutzen. The poet says, that had this 

 monarch gained the Imperial Crown, he would 

 have offered it with his hand to Julie ; but, as the 

 Fates have metamorphosed him into this plant, it is 

 given to her under the name of Couronne Imperiale. 

 This title appears to have been adopted in all the 

 European languages, — the German name being 

 Kaiserkrone, Danish Keiserkrone, Swedish Keisar- 

 hrona, Italian La Corona Imperiale, Spanish La 

 Corona Imperial, French La Couronne Imperiale ; 

 but in later days these ingenious people, like the 

 Greeks of old, named it after the resemblance 

 which the flowers have to a familiar object; and 

 as they have none more ready at hand than their 

 dice-box, it was called Fritillaire Imperiale, from 

 fritillus, the Latin for dice-box. Modern botanists 

 have since bestowed the name of Fritillaria on a 

 family of plants, of which this is, from its noble 



