44 UMBELLIFEE^ 



and the large, fleshy, someAvhat bitter roots penetrate the hot sand to some 

 depth. These roots were formerly much prized as a sweetmeat, and believed 

 to have many tonic properties. The oldest writers on plants, like Dioscorides, 

 praised their restorative virtues ; and in Queen Elizabeth's time, when 

 prepared with sugar, they were called Kissing Comfits. Shakspere represents 

 FaLstaif as referring to them by this name. Boerhaave considered them 

 highly tonic, and they are still prized by the Arabs. The candied roots were 

 introduced into general use by Robert Buxton, an apothecary ; and the town 

 of Colchester was long famous for this sweetmeat. Even as lately as the 

 year 1836, an immense quantity was sold, in consequence of the inhabitants 

 of that town having presented a box of the Eryngo roots to a member of the 

 Royal Family who passed through the place. The root is little used now, 

 but is still recommended in some cases, by respectable authorities, as a good 

 medicine. 



The young tops of the Sea Holly are eaten in Sweden like asparagus ; 

 and Belon says in his " Singularities," that the people of Crete eat them as 

 food. In the United States, the roots of an aquatic species, E. aqudficuin, 

 are very much used medicinally ; and those of E. fcetidum are in Jamaica 

 esteemed a febrifuge. Our seaside species is not common on the shores of 

 Scotland generally, though more frequent on the Western coast. It occurs 

 in Ireland and the Channel Islands, and is a common plant on the shores of 

 several European countries. It is called in France Panicaut ; in Germany, 

 Krausdidel ; and in Holland, Kruisclistel. It is the Eiingio of the Italians, 

 and the Carclo corredor of the Spaniards. 



2. Field Eryngo {E. campdstre). — Root-leaves somewhat ternate, lobes 

 pinnatifid ; stem-leaves clasping, twice pinnatifid, all with spiny teeth ; leaves 

 of the involucre spinous ; scales of the receptacle entire. Plant perennial. 

 This rare species much resembles the Sea Holly, but is more bushy, taller, 

 and more slender. It formerly grew in sandy fields at Stonehouse, in 

 Devonshire ; but is now extinct there, as it also is on a spot near Daventry, 

 Avhere it once grew. It is believed to be ti'uly wild only in Kent, and to 

 have been so formerly in Suffolk ; in the other stations it is thought to have 

 been introduced with ballast. The petals are purplish, or white, and may be 

 seen on the chaffy receptacle in July and August. Its roots, when dried and 

 powdered, are said to form the chief ingredient of a medicine celebrated in 

 Spain as a remedy against the bites of serpents. Gerarde said of our seaside 

 species that it was " good for such as M'ere bitten by any venomous animal." 



* * Umbels com/pound ; fruit of two fattened lobes, neither prirldy nor beaked. 

 4. Water-Hemlock (Cicuta). 

 Cowbane, or Water-Hemlock (C. mrdsa). — Stem hollow, branched ; 

 lower leaves on long stalks, pinnate; upper ones twice ternate; umbels 

 stalked. Plant perennial. Like many of our umbelliferous plants which 

 grow in the water, this herb is highly poisonous, and various instances of its 

 fatal effects are on record. Some animals, as sheep, goats, and horses, eat it 

 Avith impunity, but to cows it proves deleterious. Cattle are usually guided 

 by their instincts to the selection of plants which afford them wholesome and 

 nutritious food ; and when this Water-Hemlock is fully developed, and has 



