144 FLOR.V HISTOniCA. 



were esteemed good for mitigating pains ; and we 

 learn from Pliny, that the Reseda was considered 

 to possess even the power of charming away many 

 disorders. He tells us that it grew near the city of 

 Ariminum, now Rimini, in Italy ; and that when it 

 was used to resolve swelhngs, or to assuage inflam- 

 mations, it was the custom to repeat the following 

 words, thrice spitting on the ground at each repeti- 

 tion : 



Reseda, morhos Reseda ; scisne, scisne, qitis hie pullos egerit ? 

 Radices nee caput nee pedes haheant. 



Reseda, cause these maladies to cease : knowest thou, knowest 

 thou, who hath driven these pullets here ? Let the roots have 

 neither head nor foot. 



We notice these absurd superstitions of the 



ancients, which are scarcely yet extinct in many 



country villages of this and other countries, to show 



how much the minds of the ignorant have always 



been prone towards the marvellous, and not that 



we 



Hold each strange tale devoutly true. 



Althousrh it is so short a time since the Sweet 

 Reseda has been known in Europe, we find that it 

 has crept into the armorial bearings of an illustrious 

 family of Saxony ; and, as Cupid does not so fre- 

 quently bestow heraldic honours as his father Mars, 

 we cannot avoid relating the romantic tale which 

 introduced this fragrant and modest little flower to 

 the Pursuivant-at-Arms. 



