150 pfanC Tsors, laege'r^t)/, and. Isi^ric/, 



Rattle Grass is said to instantly kill Horses who unfortunately 

 eat it. The Indians call the Oleander Horse's Death, and they 

 name several plants after different parts of the Horse. In con- 

 nection with Horses, we must not forj^et to mention the Moonwort, 

 which draws the nails out of the Horses' shoes, and of which 

 Culpeper writes: "Moonwort is an herb which they say will open 

 locks and unshoe such Horses as tread upon it ; this some laugh 

 to scorn, and those no small fools neither; but country people that 

 I know, call it Unshoe-the-Horse. Besides, I have heard com- 

 manders say that, on White Down, in Devonshire, near Tiverton, 

 there were found thirty horse-shoes, pulled off from the Earl of 

 Essex's horses, being then drawn up in a body, many of them 

 being newly shod, and no reason known, which caused much 

 admiration, and the herb described usually grows upon heaths." 

 In Italy, the herb Sfervacavallo is deemed to have the power of un- 

 shoeing Horses out at pasture. The Mouse-ear, or Hevha clavorum, 

 is reputed to prevent blacksmiths hurting horses when being shod. 

 The Scythians are said to have known a plant, called Hippice, 

 which, when given to a Horse, would enable him to travel for some 

 considerable time without suffering either from hunger or thirst. 

 Perhaps this is the Water Pepper, which, according to English 

 tradition, has the same effect if placed under the saddle. 



The humble Hedgehog has suggested the name of Hedgehog 

 Parsley for Caucalis daucoides, on account of its prickly burs. 



In a previous chapter, a full description has been given of 

 the Barometz, that mysterious plant of Tartary, immortalised by 

 Darwin as the Vegetable Lamb. From the shape of its leaf, the 

 Plantago media has gained the name of Lamb's Tongue ; from its 

 downy flowers, the Anthyllis vtdneraria is called Lamb's Toe ; 

 either from its being a favourite food of Lambs, or because it 

 appears at the lambing season, the Valerianella olitona is known 

 as Lamb's Lettuce; and the Atriplex patula is called Lamb's 

 Quarters. 



The Leopard has given its name to the deadly Doroniaim 

 Pardalianches (from the Greek Pardalis, a Leopard, and ancho, to 

 strangle) ; hence our name of Leopard's Bane, because it was 

 reputed to cause the death of any animal that ate it, and it was 

 therefore formerly mixed with flesh to destroy Leopards. 



The Lion, according to Gerarde, claimed several plants. The 

 Alchemilla vtdgans, from its leaf resembling his foot, was called 

 Lion's Foot or Paw; a plant, called Leontopetalon by the Greeks, 

 was known in England as Lion's Turnip or Lion's Leaf; and two 

 kinds of Cudweed, Leontopodimn and L. parvum, bore the name of 

 Lion's Cudweed, from their flower-heads resembling a Lion's foot. 

 The Leontopodimn has been identified with the Gnaphalium Alpinum, 

 the Filago stellata, the Edelweiss of the Germans, and the Perliere 

 des Alpes of the French. De Gubernatis points out that, inasmuch 

 as the Lion represents the Sun, the plants bearing the Lion's name 



