pPant/ al^t) J\aimaf/. 153 



and Cedronella, and ascribed to it, as to other Dragon plants, the 

 faculty of being a remedy for the bites and stings of venomous 

 beasts, as well as for the bites of mad Dogs. The Tarragon 

 {Artemisia Dyacunculus), " the little Dragon," is the Dragon plant of 

 Germany and the northern nations, and the Herbe au Dragon of the 

 French. The ancient herbalists affirmed that the seed of the Flax 

 put into a Radish-root or Sea Onion, and so set, would bring forth 

 the herb Tarragon. The Snake Weed was called by the ancients, 

 Dragon and Little Dragon, and the Sneezewort, Dragon of the 

 Woods. The Snap-dragon appears to have been so named merely 

 from the shape of its corolla, but in many places it is said to have 

 a supernatural influence, and to possess the power of destroying 

 charms. 



Snakes are represented by the Fyitillaria Meleagris, which is 

 called Snake's Head, on account of its petals being marked like 

 Snakes' scal-es. The Sea Grass {Ophiiirus inairvatus) is known as 

 Snake's Tail, and the Bistort [Polygonum Bistorta) is Snake Weed. 



Vipers have the Echium vulgare dedicated to them under the 

 name of Viper's Bugloss, a plant supposed to cure the bite of 

 these reptiles; and the Scorzouera edulis, or Viper's Grass, a herb 

 also considered good for healing wounds caused by Vipers. 



The Scorpion finds a vegetable representative in the Myosotis, 

 or Scorpion Grass, so named from its spike resembling a Scorpion's 

 Tail. 



It is not surprising to find that Toads and Frogs, living as 

 they do among the herbage, should have several plants named 

 after them. The Toad, according to popular superstition, was the 

 impersonation of the Devil, and therefore it was only fit that 

 poisonous and unwholesome Fungi should be called Toad Stools, 

 the more so as there was a very general belief that Toads were in 

 the habit of sittting on them: — 



' ' The griesly Todestol grown there mought I see, 



And loathed paddocks lording on the same." — Spenser. 



Growing in damp places, haunted by Toads croaking and piping 

 to one another, the Equisetum limosum, with its straight, fistulous 

 stalks, has obtained the name of Toad Pipe. The Linavia vulgaris, 

 from its narrow Flax-like leaves, is known as Toad Flax, from a 

 curious mistake of the old herbalists who confounded the Latin 

 words bubo and bufo. 



Frogs claim as their especial plants the Frog Bit [Morsus rana), 

 so called because Frogs are supposed to eat it ; Frog's Lettuce 

 (Potamogeton dcnsus) ; Frog Grass [Salicornia herbacea); and Frog 

 Foot, a name originally assigned to the Vervain (the leaf of which 

 somewhat resembles a Frog's foot) ; but now transferred to the 

 Duck Meat, Lemna. 



Bees are recognised in the Delphinium grandijlorum, or Bee 

 Larkspur; the Galeopsis Tetrahit, or Bee Nettle; the Ophrys apijcra, 

 or Bee Orchis; and the Daucus Carota, or Bee's Nest. 



