MANDRAKE. 331 



which, at first, stand erect, but when grown to 

 their full size, which is about a foot in length, and 

 five inches broad, of an ovate-lanceolate shape, 

 waved at the edges, these spread open and lie on 

 the ground : they are of a dark green, and give 

 out a fetid scent. About the month of April the 

 flowers come out among the leaves, each on a scape 

 about three inches long : they arc of a bell shape, 

 with a long tube, and spread into a five-cleft co- 

 rolla. The colour of the flower is of an herbaceous 

 white, but frequently it has a tinge of purple. The 

 flower is succeeded by a globular soft berry, when, 

 full grown, as large as a common cherry, but of a 

 yellowish green colour when ripe, and full of pulp, 

 intermixed with numerous reniform seeds. The 

 Mandrake grows naturally in Spain, Portugal, 

 Italy, and the Levant ; it is also indigenous to 

 China, where it enters into the compositions pre- 

 pared by the most skilful physicians of that coun- 

 try, and taken by the Mandarins, with the flatter- 

 ing hope of having their existence prolonged by 

 their powers. 



This plant is propagated by sowing the seeds in 

 the autumn soon after they are ripe, which come 

 up in the spring, but if the seeds are kept until the 

 spring they seldom succeed. The earth should be 

 light, and of considerable depth, for the root can- 

 not make its way through chalk or gravel; and 



