144 pfant bore, begeT^/, cmel bijric/. 



Apuleius tells us that the Eagle, when he wishes to soar high 

 and scan far and wide, plucks a wild Lettuce, and expressing the 

 juice, rubs with it his eyes, which in consequence become wonder- 

 fully clear and far-seeing. The Hawk, for a similar purpose, was 

 thought to employ the Hawk-bit, or Hawk-weed (Hieracium). 

 Pigeons and Doves, not to be behind their traditional enemy, dis- 

 covered that Vervain possessed the power of curing dimness of 

 vision, and were not slow to use it with that object: hence the plant 

 obtained the name of Pigeon's-grass. Geese were thought to 

 "help their diseases " with Galium aparine, called on that account 

 Goose-grass ; and they are said to sometimes feed on the Potentilla 

 anserina, or Goose Tansy. On the other hand, they were so averse 

 to the herb known to the ancients as Chenomychon, that they took 

 to flight the moment they spied it. 



There is an old tradition of a certain hfe-giving herb, which 

 was known to birds, and a story is told of how one day an old man 

 watched two birds fighting till one was overcome. In an almost 

 exhausted state it went and ate of a certain herb, and then returned 

 to the onslaught. When the old man had observed this occur several 

 times, he went and plucked the herb which had proved so valuable to 

 the little bird ; and when at last it came once more in search of the 

 life-giving plant, and found it gone, it uttered a shrill cry, and fell 

 down dead. The name of the herb is not given ; but the story has 

 such a strong family likeness to that narrated by Forestus, in which 

 the Goat's Rue is introduced, that, probably, Galega is the life- 

 giving herb referred to. The story told by Forestus is as follows: — 

 A certain old man once taking a walk by the bank of a river, saw 

 a Lizard fighting with a Viper ; so he quietly lay down on the 

 ground, that he might the better witness the fight without being 

 seen by the combatants. The Lizard, being the inferior in point 

 of strength, was speedily wounded by a very powerful stroke from 

 the Viper — so much so, that it lay on the turf as if dying. But 

 shortly recovering itself, it crept through the rather long Grass, 

 without being noticed by the Viper, along the bank of the river, 

 to a certain herb (Goat's Rue), growing there nigh at hand. The 

 Lizard, having devoured it, regained at once its former strength, 

 and returning to the Viper, attacked it in the same way as before, 

 but was wounded again from receiving another deadly blow from 

 the Viper. Once more the Lizard secretly made for the herb, 

 to regain its strength, and being revived, it again engaged with 

 its dangerous enemy — but in vain; for it experienced the same 

 fate as before. Looking on, the old man wondered at the plant 

 not less than at the battle; and in order to try if the herb pos- 

 sessed other hidden powers, he pulled it up secretly, while the 

 Lizard was engaged afresh with the Viper. The Lizard having 

 been again wounded, returned towards the herb, but not being 

 able to find it in its accustomed place, it sank exhausted and 

 died. 



