pPaat gijmSoPjiTQ. 179 



wort, Liver-wort, Pile-wort, Nit-grass, Tooth-cress, Heart-clover, 

 and many others known to the ancient herbalists. It was their 

 endeavours to find out whether or no the curious forms, spots, and 

 markings of such plants really indicateti their curative powers, that 

 led to the properties of other herbs being discovered, and a sug- 

 gestive nomenclature being adopted for them, such as is found in 

 the names Eyebright, Flea-bane, Canker -weed, Hunger -grass, 

 Stone-break, &c. 



Lastly, in the fifth seiflion of symbolical plants we come to 

 those which point to a time when symbols were expressed by 

 letters, such as appear on the Martagon Lily — the true poetical 

 Hyacinth of the Greeks — on the petals of which are traced the 

 woeful AI, AI, — the expression of the grief of Phoebus at the death 

 of the fair Adonis. 



" In the flower he weaved 



The sad impression of his sighs ; which bears 



At, At, displayed in funeral characters." 



In this section also are included plants which exhibit in some 

 portion of their structure typical markings, such as the Astragalus, 

 which in its root depicfts the stars; the Banana, whose fruit, when 

 cut, exhibits a representation of the Holy Cross; and the Bracken 

 Fern, whose stem, when sliced, exhibits traces of letters which are 

 sometimes used for the purposes of love divination. 1 In Ireland, 

 however, the Ptcris aquilina is called the Fern of God, because the 

 people imagine that if the stem be cut into three sections, on the 

 first of these secflions will be seen the letter G, on the second O, 

 and on the third D — forming the sacred word God. 



In the science of plant symbols, not only the names, but the 

 forms, perfumes, and properties of plants have to be considered, as 

 well as the nimierical arrangements of their parts. Thus of all sacred 

 symbolical plants, those consisting of petals or calyx-sepals, or 

 leaves, divided into the number Five, were formerly held in peculiar 

 reverence, because among the races of antiquity five was for ages a 

 sacred number. The reason of this is thus explained by Bunsen : — 

 " It is well known," he says, " that the numeral o«^, the undivided, 

 the eternal, is placed in antithesis to all other numerals. The 

 figure four included the perfecft ten, as 1+2+3+4=10. So four 

 represents the All of the universe. Now if we put these together, 

 4-I-1 will be the sign of the whole God-Universe." Three is a 

 number sacred to the most ancient as well as modern worship. 

 Pythagoras called it the perfecft nimiber, expressive of " beginning, 

 middle, and end," and therefore he made it a symbol of deity. 

 Three therefore plays its role in plant symbology. Thus the 

 Emblica officinalis, one of the sacred plants of India, was once the 

 exclusive property of the priests, who kept its medicinal virtires 

 secret : it was held in peculiar reverence because of its flowers 

 possessing a six-parted calyx ; three stamens, combined ; three 

 dichotomous styles ; a fleshy fruit, tricoccous and six-seeded ; 



N— 2 



