pFant Tsore, "begel^tJ/j cmsl "kLjric/*, 297 



allowed himself to be convinced of this, and accordingly descended 

 in his turn to the bottom of the earth by the aid of a rope composed 

 of Cotton, which he had sown for the first time on the occasion. 

 The first men brought to earth by means of Sacaibu's rope were 

 small and ugly, but the more rope he pulled up, the handsomer be- 

 came the men, until just as he was about to pull out the hand- 

 somest the Cotton rope broke, and the brightest specimens of 

 humanity were doomed for ever to remain in the bowels of mother 

 earth. That is the reason why, in this earth of ours, beauty is so 

 scarce. 



Coventry Bells. — See Campanula. 



COWSLIP. — The familiar name, Cowslip, is presumed to be 

 derived from the Anglo-Saxon Cn-slyppc: Skeat thinks because the 

 plant was supposed to spring up where a patch of cow-dung had 

 fallen. The flowers of the common Cowslip, Petty Mullein, or 

 Paigle {Primula veris), are, in some parts of Kent, called Fairy Cups. 

 The odour of Cowslips is said to calm the heart. A pleasant and 

 wholesome wine is made from them, resembling Muscadel. It is 

 said to induce sleep. Says Pope : — 



" For want of rest, 

 Lettuce and Cowslip w'mQ^probatum est." 



Cowslip-balls are made in the following manner: — The umbels or 

 heads are picked off as close as possible to the top of the main 

 stalks. From fifty to sixty of these are hung across a string 

 stretched between the backs of two chairs. The flowers are then 

 pressed carefully together, and the string tied tightly, so as to 

 collecft them into a ball. Care should be taken to have all the 



flowers open, so as to make the surface of the ball even. 



Culpeper, the astrological herbalist, says that the Greeks gave the 

 name of Paralysis to the Cowslip because the flowers strengthened 

 the brain and nerves, and were a remedy for palsy. He adds, that 

 Venus la}s claims to this herb, and it is under the sign Aries. 



COWSLIP OF JERUSALEM.— The Virginian Cowslip 

 or Lungwort {Pulmonavia officinalis), is called Cowslip of Jerusalem, 

 Sage of Jerusalem, Sage of Bethlehem, Wild Comfrey and Lung- 

 wort, being supposed, from its spotted leaves, to be a remedy for 

 diseased lungs. Linnaeus christened the plant Dodecatheon, or 

 Twelve Divinities, because, in April, it is crowned with twelve pink 



flowers reversed. The Lung-wort is considered to be a herb of 



Jupiter. 



COW-TREE. — The ancient inhabitants of Venezuela re- 

 garded as sacred the Chichiuhalquehuill, Tree of Milk, or Celestial 

 Tree, that distilled milk from the extremity of its branches, and 

 aroimd which were seated infants who had expired a few days after 

 their birth. A Mexican drawing of this Celestial Tree is preserved 

 in the Vatican, and is noticed by Humboldt, who first heard of the 

 Palo\ de Vaca, or Cow-tree, in the year 1800, and supposed it to be 



