136 MALVACE^ 



But all the praises of the Mallow are outdone by those of Plinj'-, who gravely 

 assures us,— "Whosoever shall take a spoonful of any of the Mallows, shall 

 that day be free from all the diseases that may come unto him ; " and adds 

 that it is a special good against the falling sickness. No wonder that nervous 

 disorders were less common in those days, when men and women went forth 

 forearmed, as they believed, against the attacks of the most terrible epidemics, 

 if they used only the aid of the plant which grew by the wayside ; and when, 

 however they might feel for the sufferings of others, they believed themselves 

 to be invulnerable to so many ills. 



Dr. Bromfield found a variety of the Common Mallow in the Isle of Wight, 

 with flowers of a sky-blue colour. Another variety has prostrate stems, and 

 a third bears small blossoms. The French call the mallow La Mauve ; it is 

 Die Halve of the Germans, the Malume of the Dutch, and the Malva of the 

 Spaniards and Italians. 



2. Dwarf Mallow {M. rotundifdlia). — Stem prostrate ; leaves roundish, 

 heart-shaped, with five shallow lobes ; fruit-stalks bent down ; fruit downy. 

 Plant annual. This species, which is altogether smaller than the last, is not 

 so frequent, though in some parts of England it is not uncommon. It is rare 

 in Scotland. It is easily distinguished, not only by its prostrate stems, but 

 by its much smaller and lighter-tinted flowers, which are of a pale greyish 

 lilac. It blossoms from June to September, and its stems are from four to 

 twelve inches long. 



Both this and the Common Mallow are valued as food in Eastern countries, 

 and both extend from Europe to the north of India. The Dwarf Mallow is 

 cultivated in gardens at Rosetta, where it is called Hobere ; and it is one of 

 the culinary vegetables in most common use there, and daily eaten with 

 meat. Many writers have supposed that one or other of these species was 

 referred to by Job, when he says of those who in his distress assumed a 

 superiority over him, that they formerly " cut up the Mallows by the bushes 

 for their meat." The Mallow of the patriarch has been an object of much 

 learned discussion, the Hebrew word niaUnach having a resemblance to the 

 Greek malahhi, which signifies mallow, and also to mahich, which is said 

 to be the Syriac name of a species of Atriplex. It is quite likely that both 

 these plants may have been eaten in Arabia, as they are still in other parts 

 of the East. Russell mentions that the fields about Aleppo are planted with 

 bugloss. Mallow, and asparagus, which the people use as pot-herbs. A plant 

 commonly called Jews' Mallow may, however, be the one intended. This is 

 the Cdrchorus olitornis of the botanist, and is a species of Mallow, of glutinous 

 substance, and with roughish pods. It is commonly used in Eastern dishes, 

 and is called by the Arabs Mallow Keali. The learned Bochart, and some 

 other writers, think that the Hebrew word implies a saltish plant, and refer 

 the Mallow of Job to the tall shrubby orache of the Continent {Atriplex hali- 

 mus) ; while other writers have believed that some of the saltworts (Salsola) 

 are intended. These plants are all articles of Eastern diet, and common on 

 the dry saline soils of the deserts which extend from the south of Europe to 

 the north of India, 



3. Musk Mallow (M. mosclidta). — Stem erect; root-leaves kidney- 

 shaped, deeply 5 or 7-lobed, and cut; stem-leaves deeply 5-lobed, and 



