MALLOW TRIBE 139 



in the thirteenth century, by Albertus Magnus, a Dominican monk. The 

 sap of the Marsh Mallow, the slimy seeds of a kind of Flea-l)ane (which were 

 until recently used in Grermany by hat-makers and silk-mercers), together 

 with the white of an egg, were combined, to 'make the paste adhere, and the 

 hands were then as safe as if covered with a pair of gloves. Beckmann, 

 remarking on this, says — "The use of this juggling trick is very old, and 

 may be traced back to a Pagan origin. In the ' Antigone ' of Sophocles, the 

 guards placed over the body of Polynices, which had been carried away 

 conti'ary to the orders of Creon, offered, in order to prove their innocence, 

 to submit to any trial. ' We will,' said they, ' take up red-hot iron in our 

 hands, or walk through fire.' " 



The ancients planted some kinds of Mallow about the tombs of their 

 departed friends, and made large use of them as vegetable food; but the 

 particular species which they used cannot be ascertained. It is not likely 

 that the Marsh Mallow would be planted in a cemetery ; most probably, 

 therefore, some of the many species common in our gardens, several of which 

 grew wild in the South of Europe, are the kinds used by the Greeks and 

 Romans. The beautiful hollyhocks of our flower-beds — la rose d'oidre mer, 

 as the old French writers termed it — are all varieties of the Althma rosea, 

 which is a native of China. Its leaves are said to yield a colouring matter 

 little inferior to indigo. A large number of other species of Althma are 

 common, too, as border flowers. 



2. Hispid Marsh Mallow {A. hirsuta). — Leaves cordate, rough with 

 hairs, lobed, and crenate; stem hairy; flower-stalks single-flowered, longer 

 than the leaves. Plant annual. This Althma may be easily distinguished 

 from the other species by its solitary flowers, and its bristly stem and rough 

 leaves. It is very rare, growing between Cobham and Cuxton, in Kent, 

 occurring there in considerable abundance ; and near Somerton in Somerset- 

 shire. Although it has been considered by Hooker and others to be only 

 naturalized in its Kentish locality, it is a fact that it has held its ground 

 there for many years, Avhile Mr. Baker, who discovered its Somersetshire 

 station, is inclined to consider it as indigenous there. 



Order XVII. TILIACEiE— LIME TRIBE. 



Sepals 4 or 5, valvate when in bud ; petals of the same number as the 

 sepals, often with a little pit at the base, sometimes wanting; stamens 

 numerous ; glands 4 or 5 at the base of the petals ; ovaiy single, of from 

 2 to 10 united, rarely distinct, carpels ; style 1, with as many stigmas as 

 carpels ; capsule with one or more seeds in each cell. This Order consists 

 of trees or shrubs, and a few herbaceous plants, the latter being found only 

 in tropical countries. Though less viscid than the Malvaceoi, they are all 

 mucilaginous and innocuous, and some, like the lime-tree, have a thick tough 

 bark. One genus, Oorchorns, is the Jews' Mallow, which, as has been before 

 stated, is by some believed to be the Mallow of Scripture. The fibres of 

 another species, Corrhorvs mpsularis, are twisted into fishing lines and nets by 

 the Indians. The Sloanea of the hothouse is one of this Order ; it is a native 

 of South America. It has very large white flowers, and fruit as large and 



18—2 



