pPaat Tsore, Tscge't^/j anel T^ijric/'. ^i-? 



DHAK. — The Dhak, or Bastard Teak {Buiea frondosa), is one 

 of the sacred trees of India, and one of the most striking of the 

 Indian arboreous L^^M»n'«os^. Both its wood and leaves are highly- 

 reverenced, and used in religious ceremonies. The natives, also, 

 are fond of offering the beautiful scarlet flowers in their temples, 



and the females intertwine the blossoms in their hair. The 



flowers yield a superb dye. 



DILL. — The aromatic plant Dill [Ancihum frraveoleus) is by 

 some supposed to have derived its name from the old Norse word 

 dilla, dull ; the seeds being used as a carminative to cause infants to 

 sleep. Boiled in wine, and drunk, the plant was reputed to excite 

 the passions. Dill was formerl}' highly appreciated as a plant that 

 counteratfled the powers of witches and sorcerers: — 



" The Vervain and tlie Dill, 

 That hiiulereth witches of their will." 



Astrologers assign Dill to the domination of Mercury. 



DITTANY. — The ancients consecrated the Dittany of Crete 

 {Origanum Dictamnus) to the goddess Lucina, who presided over the 

 birth of children ; and she was often represented wearing a crown 

 of this Dittany. The root was particularly recommended by the 

 oracle of Phthas. The Grecian and Roman women attributed to 

 this plant the most extraordinary properties during childbirth, 

 which it was believed greatly to facilitate. It is reported, says 

 Gerarde, " that the wilde goats or deere in Candy, when they be 

 wounded with arrowes, do shake them out by eating of this plant, 

 and heal their wounds." According to Virgil, Venus healed the 

 wounded iEneas with Dittany. Plutarch says that the women of 

 Crete, seeing how the goats, by eating Dittany, cause the arrows to 

 fall from their wounds, learnt to make use of the plant to aid them 

 in childbirth. Gerarde recounts that the plant is most useful in 

 drawing forth splinters of wood, bones, &c., and in the healing of 

 wounds, "especially those made with invenomed weapons, arrowes 

 shot out of guns, or such like." The juice, he says, is so powerful, 

 that by its mere smell it " drives away venomous beasts, and doth 

 astonish them." When mixed with wine, the juice was also con- 

 sidered a remedy for the bites of serpents. According to Apuleius, 

 however, the plant possessed the propert}' of killing serpents. 



The Dittanj' of Crete, it should be noted, is not to be con- 

 founded with the Dittany, Dittander, or Pepper-wort of the English 

 Herbals. This plant, the Lepidium latifolium, from its being used by 

 thrifty housewives to season dishes with, obtained the name of 

 Poor Man's Pepper. It was held to be under Mars. 



DOCK. — In Cornwall, as a charm, the leaves of the common 

 Dock, wetted with spring water, are applied to burns, and three 

 angels are invoked to come out of the East. It is a common prac- 

 tice, in many parts of England, for anyone suffering from the stings 



