pfaat teopc, T&egcr^ti/, anel TsijpIc/*, 207 



quoted by De Gubcrnatis, Indra had slain Vriitra and other 

 (lemons, when he encountered the demon Namuchi and wrestled 

 with him. Vanquished, he made peace with Namuchi on the 

 understanding that he should never kill anything with a solid body, 

 nor with a liquid body, neither by night nor by day. So Indra 

 gathered a vegetable, which is neither solid nor liquid, and comes 

 during the daybreak, when the night is past, but the day has 

 not yet come. Then with the vegetable he attacked the monster 

 Namuchi, who complained of this treachery. From the head of 

 Namuchi sprang the plant Apamdrga. Indra afterwards destroyed 

 all the monsters by means of this plant. As may be supposed after 

 such a marvellous origin, the plant was soon looked upon as a 

 powerful talisman. According to the Atharvaveda, it should be 

 held in the hand, and invoked against the malady Kshetriya, and 

 against witches, monsters, and nightmares. They call it the Victor, 

 having in itself the strength of a thousand, destroying the effects 

 of maledi(flions, and especially of those inimical to generation, 

 which produce hunger, thirst, and poverty. It is also called the 

 Lord of salutary plants, son of Vibhindant, having received all its 

 power from Indra himself. The Hindus believe that the plant is 

 a security against the bites of scorpions. 



Aconite. — See Monkshood. 



ACORUS. — This aromatic Reed, or Sweet Flag, is absurdly 

 said to have been called Acorus, from the Greek hoye, pupil, 

 because it was esteemed good for diseases of the eye. The sacred 

 oil of the Jews — the "oil of holy ointment" — used to anoint the 

 tabernacle, the ark of the testimony, the altar of burnt offerings, 

 the altar of incense, the candlesticks, and all the sacred vessels, 

 has the oil of Acorus as one of its ingredients. It is the " Sweet 



Calamus" mentioned in Exodus xxx. The Acorus is a plant of 



the Moon. 



ADDER'S TONGUE.— The Adder's Tongue, or to give it its 

 old Latin name, Christ's Spear {Ophioglossum vulgatum), was formerly 

 much prized as a remedy for wounds. Gerarde declared that 

 boiled in olive oil it produced " a most excellent greene oyle, or 

 rather a balsam for greene wounds comparable to oyle of St. John's 

 wort, if it doth not far surpasse it." A preparation called the 

 " green oil of charity " is still in request ; and Adder's Spear oint- 

 ment (a compound of Adder's Tongue Fern, Plantain, and sundry 

 herbs) is well known in country places as a vulnerary. In olden 

 times an Adder's Tongue was reputed to be a wondrous cure for 

 tumours, if plucked at the falling of the Moon, and applied with 



the accompaniment of an incantation. Witches highly esteemed 



Adder's Tongue as a plant to be employed in their spells. Astro- 

 logers class it as a herb of the Moon. 



Ai-FADYL. — See Narcissus. 



