BORAGE TRIBE 267 



leaves. From its name of Madwort we might infer that it was a fancied 

 remedy for mental disease ; it is also one of several of our wild flowers called 

 in some country places bugloss. After the flowers have been fertilized the 

 five-lobed calyx increases greatly in size, and becomes transformed into two 

 triangular lobes with jagged edges. These lobes are applied to each other, 

 face to face, and so protect the ripening seeds within. The French call it 

 Porte-feuille ; the Germans term it Scharf kraut ; the Dutch, ScJierpkniid ; the 

 Italians, Asperngine. It is the Rapelle of the Danes, and the Ormogen of the 

 Swedes. 



11. Hound's-tongue {OijnogUssum). 



1. Common Hound's-tongue (C officinale). — Lower leaves elliptical, 

 stalked, covered with down ; upper ones lanceolate, narrowing below, some- 

 Avhat heart-shaped, half clasping ; flowers in racemes, without bracts ; biennial. 

 The flowers of the Hound's-tongue are of most peculiar tint — a tint showed 

 by no other native blossom. They expand from June to August, and are of 

 dull reddish-purple, of the shade commonly called claret colour ; the petals 

 veined. The fruits which succeed them are very singular in form, very rough ; 

 the nuts are flattened in front, and surrounded by a thickened prominent 

 margin, and the prickles so firm and thick that they are like burs. The 

 whole plant has a strong and disagreeable odour, like that of mice. 



We find that this flower has, in several European countries, a name 

 synonymous with ours. It is the Hundizunge of the Germans, and the 

 Hondsiong of the Dutch ; while the Portuguese call it Lingua de Cao ; the 

 Italians term it Cinoglossa, and the French Cynoglosse. The whole plant is 

 very soft and downy, of an unvarying greyish-green colour, and the form and 

 texture of the leaf must have originated its familiar names. Mizaldus said 

 that if a portion of the plant were laid beneath the feet, it would prevent 

 dogs from barking at the wearer ; but so far as we have been able to discover, 

 dogs seem quite unconscious of its presence. It was formerly' thought 

 eflScacious in manj^ disorders, and the leaves were especially directed to be 

 applied to the Avound made by the teeth of a mad dog. Culpepper said of 

 the plant, " It is called Hound's-tongue because it ties the tongues of hounds ; 

 whether true or not, I never tried, yet I cured the biting of a mad dog with 

 this only medicine." A decoction of the roots, as well as an outward 

 application of them, is recommended by some modern physicians in cases of 

 enlargement of the joints. Professor Lindley remarks that some writers 

 consider the leaves narcotic. They are somewhat bitter in flavour, and 

 produce a fat, strongly-scented oil. Sir Joseph Hooker, who found two 

 species of the Cynoglossum on the Himalaya Mountains, observed that one 

 kind was there used as a pot-herb. 



Our common Hound's-tongue is sometimes found in a less downy condition 

 than ordinary. It is an herbaceous plant, with a stem about one or two feet 

 high. It grows by road-sides and on waste places ; and though not rare, yet 

 it is not very frequent. 



2. Green-leaved Hound's-tongue (C. sylvdticum). — Stem-leaves 

 lanceolate, broad at the base, sessile, slightly hairy, and rough, especially 

 beneath ; upper ones slightly narrowed l^elow, clasping ; root-leaves on long 



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