234 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. 



VI. 



open in the day time; though some derive the name from dais, 

 a canopy, from the shape of the flower, as in the line, 



" The daisie did unbraid her crownaU small " — 



crownall meaning coronal, the upper part of a canopy. 



Other names derive their origin from the uses to which the 

 plant is put, as the Dogwood ; which is not named after the ani- 

 mal, but because the wood was formerly used for making skew- 

 ers, the proper name being dawkwood, or skewer-wood, this 

 name coming from the Anglo-Saxon dale or dole; German, 

 dolch ; Spanish, daga ; French, dague ; and old English, dugge. 



A curious instance of confusion and transposition of names is 

 to be found in the Forget-me-not, as this name has only been 

 given to the pretty blue Myosotis within the past forty or fifty 

 years. For more than two hundred years the name had been 

 given by the English to the AJuga chamcepifj/s, or Ground-pine, 

 on account of the unpleasant taste it leaves in the mouth. Some 

 of the German botanists and herbalists gave the name to a plant 

 known botanically as Teucrium Botrijs- Id Denmark and some 

 parts of Germany the name was applied to the Speedwell or Ver- 

 onica chamoedrya, and by others to GnapTialiuin leontopodium. 

 The name appears properly to belong to the Veronica, having 

 reference to the way in which the flowers fall ofi" and are blown 

 away as soon as it is gathered ; hence the valediction '-'Speed- 

 well," "Farewell," " Good-by," '-Forget-me-not," etc., as ap- 

 plied to this plant. The later application was brought about by 

 the legend in a story of modern date in which a drowning lover 

 snatches it from the river bank, and as he sinks throws it ashore, 

 as a token of remembrance. 



J. H. in " Hearth and Home." 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



OBITUARY. — SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, BART., K.C.B., 

 LL.D., D.C.L., M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., &C., &C., &C. 



The death of Sir Roderick Murchison, although at the ripe 

 a^e of 80 years, is a loss which Geologists and Geographers are 

 alike called upon to mourn. In relation to both these sciences, 

 he has for many years justly occupied the most prominent positi- 

 ons. But, apart from his high social and scientific standing, he 

 was a man full of genial and kindly feeling, who could be readily 



