138 COMPOSITE 



this downy plume and seed, might learn the pious lesson taught by Martin 

 Tupper : — 



" And doubtless the sailing of a cloud hath Providence to its pilot, 

 Doubtless the root of an oak is gnarl'd for a special purpose ; 

 The foreknown station of a rush is as fixed as the station of a king, 

 And chaff from the hand of the winnower steer'd as the stars in their courses." 



Besides the uses of the Dandelion to child, bee, and butterfl}'', besides the 

 pleasant thoughts which it may bring to the philosopher, the Dandelion has 

 various important economic uses. The leaves are grown in some Continental 

 countries, and, after being blanched, are eaten in salads ; nor is the bitterness 

 which exists in the green leaf, and which even blanching cannot wholly 

 remove, disagreeable to all palates. The peasants about Gottingen, besides 

 mingling the leaves with their dish of lettuce and sorrel, have long been 

 accustomed to roast the roots as a substitute for coffee ; and when on one 

 occasion a swarm of locusts had destroyed the harvest in the Island of 

 Minorca, many of the inhabitants were supported for a time by the roots 

 and foliage of this plant. In some parts of Grermany the roots are boiled for 

 the table, and the French eat them, when sliced, in salads. Many writers 

 think that the substitution of this root for coffee is rather advantageous than 

 otherwise. A physician of Edinburgh said of the Dandelion : " It possesses 

 all the fine flavour and exhilarating properties of coffee, without any of its 

 deleterious effects. The plant being of a soporific nature, coffee made from 

 it, when drunk at night, produces a tendency to sleep, instead of exciting 

 wakefulness, and may be safely used as a cheap and wholesome substitute 

 for the Arabian berry, being equal in substance and flavour to the best Mocha 

 coffee." Mrs. Moodie, in her work on Canadian life, remarks that she had 

 read this opinion previously to leaving England ; and that one day, observing 

 a large number of Dandelion roots in some land which belonged to their 

 farm, she was reminded of it, and resolved to make the experiment. She 

 therefore carefully washed the roots, without depriving them of the fine 

 brown skin which covers them, and in which the aromatic flavour exists. 

 She observed, while roasting them, that the odour so nearly resembled 

 that of roasted coffee, that it might have been taken for it. When, by this 

 process, the pieces of Dandelion-root had acquired the brownness of coff"ee, 

 they were ground and prepared in the usual way for the morning meal, and 

 proved very superior to the coffee which she had been able to procure from 

 the stores in the neighbourhood. "For years," adds Mrs. Moodie, "we used 

 no other article ; and my Indian friends who frequented the house gladly 

 adopted the root, and made me show them the whole process of manufac- 

 turing it into coffee. Experience has taught me that the root of the 

 Dandelion is not so good when applied to this purpose in spring as it is in 

 the fall. I tried it in the spring ; but the juice of the plant having con^ 

 tributed to the production of leaves and flowers, was Aveak, and destitute of 

 the fine bitter flavour of coflee." She adds, that the roots dried in the siui 

 will keep for years, and also that the plant cultivated in trenches may be, 

 by being covered with straw, blanched to a beautiful cream-colour, and will 

 make a salad equal to endive. In many parts of the United States, particu- 

 larly in new districts where vegetables are scarce, it is used, early in the 



