270 pfaat Isorc, T^ege'^/, and "bLjricy. 



substitute for the costly Indian Cloves in flavouring dainty dishes 

 as well as liquors. The Gilliflower was also thought to possess 

 medicinal properties. Gerarde assures us, that " The conserve 

 made of the flowers of the Clove Gilloflower and sugar is exceeding 

 cordiall, and woonderfully above measure doth comfort the heart, 

 being eaten now and then." It was, also, thought good against 



pestilential fevers. A red Carnation distinguishes several of 



the Italian painters. Benvenuto Tisio was called " II Garofalo," 

 from his having painted a Gilliflower in the corner of his picftures. 



The Carnation is under the dominion of Jupiter. (See also 



Gilliflower). 



CAROB. — The Carob-tree, or St. John's Bread {Ceratonia 

 Siliqiia) flourishes in the East, and in Palestine (to quote from 

 Gerarde) there is " such plenty of it, that it is left unto swine and 

 other wilde beasts to feed upon, as our Acorns and Beech-mast." 

 Hence it has long been supposed by many that the shells of the 

 Carob-pod were the husks which the Prodigal Son was fain to feed 

 upon, although they were what " the swine did eat ; and no man 



gave unto him' (Luke xv., 16). In Germany, as in England, 



the Carob obtained the name of St. John's Bread, from the popular 

 belief that the Baptist fed upon it whilst in the wilderness. Gerarde 

 says: "This is of some called Saint John's Bread, and thought 

 to be that which is translated Locusts, whereon Saint John did 

 feed when he was in the wildernesse, besides the wilde honey 

 whereof he did also eat ; but there is small certainty of this ; but it 

 is most certain that the people of that country doe feed on these 

 cods." By others it has been supposed that the Locusts on which 

 John the Baptist fed were the tender shoots of plants, and that the 

 wild honey was the pulp in the pod of the Carob, whence it derived 



the name of St. John's Bread. According to a Sicilian tradition, 



the Carob is a tree of ill-repute, because it was on one of this 



species that the traitor Judas Iscariot hung himself. In Syria 



and Asia Minor, the Carob, venerated alike by Christian and 

 Mussulman, is dedicated to St. George, whose shrines are always 

 erecfted beneath the shadow of its boughs. 



CARROT. — The wild Carrot (Dancus Cavota) is also called 

 Bird's-nest or Bee's-nest, because, in its seeding state, the umbel 



resembles a nest. In the reign of James the First, ladies adorned 



their head-dresses with Carrot-leaves, the light feathery verdure of 

 which was considered a pleasing substitute for the plumage of birds. 



The ancient Greeks called the Carrot PJiileon, because of its 



connecftion with amatory affairs. We read in Gerarde in what this 

 consisted. He remarks that the Carrot " serveth for love matters; 

 and Orpheus, as Pliny writeth, said that the use hereof winneth 

 love; which things be written of wilde Carrot, the root whereof is 

 more effe(5tual than that of the. garden." According to Galen, the 

 root of the wild Carrot possessed the power of exciting the passions. 



