pPaat "bore, begcr^t)/, onB. '\9^r\cf, 243 



without any process of embalming. The magnificent snowy 

 blossoms are regarded with peculiar reverence at the instant they 

 open into bloom. The leaves are used medicinally, and as a con- 

 diment ; dried and powdered, they constitute Lalo, a favourite 

 article with the Africans, who mix it daily with their food, to pre- 

 vent undue perspiration; a fibre is obtained from the bark that is 

 so strong as to have given rise in Bengal to the saying, " As 

 secure as an elephant bound with a Baobab rope." The gourd-like 

 fruit, called Monkey-bread and Ethiopian Sour Gourd, is also 

 eaten, and is prized for its febrifugal qualities. 



BARBERRY. — The Ba-Therry (Berberis vulgaris) was formerly 

 called the Pipperidge-bush, and was regarded with superstitious 

 dislike by farmers, who believed that it injured Wheat crops, 

 even if growing a hundred yards off, by imparting to the Corn the 



fungus which causes rust. In Italy, the Barberry is looked upon 



as the Holy Thorn, or the plant which furnished the crown of 

 Thorns used at our Lord's crucifixion : it seems to be so regarded 

 because its Thorns grow together in sets of three at each joint of 

 the branch. The Barberry is under the dominion of Venus. 



BARLEY. — Barley is a symbol of riches and abundance. 

 The God Indra is called " He who ripens Barle}-," and in many of 

 their religious ceremonies the Indians introduce this cereal, viz., 

 at the birth of an infant, at weddings, at funerals, and at certain 



of their sacrificial rites. Barley is claimed by astrologers as 



a notable plant of Saturn. 



BAROMETZ.— The Barometz, or Scnhian Lamb (Poly- 

 podium Baronutz), is a name given to a Fern growing in Tartary, 

 the root of which, says Prof. Martyn, from the variety of its form, 

 is easily made by art to take the form of a lamb (called by the 

 Tartars Borametz), " or rather that of a rufous dog, which the common 

 names in China and Cochin-China imply, namely, Cau-tich and Kenf- 

 tsie." The description given of this strange Fern represents the root 

 as rising above the ground in an oblong form, covered all over with 

 hairs : towards one end it frequently becomes narrower and then 

 thicker, so as to give somewhat of the shape of a head and neck, 

 and it has sometimes two pendulous hair}- excrescences resembling 

 ears ; at the other end a short shoot extends out into a tail. Four 

 fronds are chosen in a suitable position, and are cut off to a proper 

 length, to represent the legs : and thus a vegetable lamb is pro- 

 duced. Loureiro affirms that the root, when fresh cut, yields a 



juice closely resembling the blood of animals. Kircher has given 



a figure of the Tartarian Lamb, in which the lamb is represented as 



the fruit of some plant on the top of a stalk. Parkinson, in the 



frontispiece to his Paradisus Terresiris, has depicted this Lamb-plant 

 as growing in the Garden of Eden, where it appears to be browsing 

 on the surrounding herbage. Scaliger has given a detailed ac- 

 count of the Barometz, which he calls " a wondrous plant indeed 



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