its livinpj condition are subjecfl to a fine. The Edelweiss, however, 

 is plentiful still in tratfts a little out of the orthodox tourists' routes, 

 and at Pontresina fjrows in such profusion as to be used as food 

 for cattle. The Edelweiss is also known by the name of the Coton- 

 jiiey, and is sometimes called Lion's-foot, because of the resem- 

 blance of its woolly hairy flower to the foot of a lion. 



EGG PLANT. — The Solanum Melongenahzs dcxwod the name 

 of Egg Plant from the shape of its fruit, which is formed like a hen's 

 c^,g, and varies in colour from white to pale yellow, pale red, and 

 purple. In the East Indies, they broil this fruit, and eat it with 

 pepper and salt, and the fruit is also relished in Batavia, Greece, 

 Barbary, and Turkey. The inhabitants of the British isles in the 

 West Indies call it Brown-John or Brown-jolly. Miller calls the 

 plant the larger-fruited Nightshade, and says that in his time it was 

 cultivated in the gardens of Spain by the title of Barenkeena. The 

 Italians call it Mclanzana, a corruption of the plant's ancient Latin 

 name of Mala insana, from whence also came its old English name 

 of Raging Apple or Mad Apple. There does not appear to be 

 any reason for these strange names, although Gerarde cautiously 

 remarks that "doubtless these Apples have a mischievous qualitie, 

 the use whereof is utterly to bee forsaken." 



EGLANTINE. — The Sweet Briar {Rosa nibiginosa) is gene- 

 rally understood to be the Eglantine of old English poets, although 

 the name has given rise to much discussion, both as to its meaning, 

 and as to the shrub to which it applies. Chaucer and more ancient 

 poets spelt the word " Eglatere." 



*' The hegge also, that yede in compas, 

 And closed in all the greene herbere, 

 With Sicamour was set and Eglatere." 



But it seems doubtful whether by Eglatere was meant the Yellow 

 Rose {Eglaitteyia), the Sweetbriar, the Dog Rose, or some other 

 species. According to Gerarde, it was a shrub with a white flower. 

 Shakspeare, Spenser, Shenstone, Sir W. Scott, Keats, and other 

 poets identify Eglantine with Sweetbriar; but Milton mistook it 

 for the Honeysuckle or \\'oodbine, for he speaks of 



" Sweetbriar or the Vine, 

 Or the twisted Eglantine." 



According to a superstition current in Schleswig, when Satan fell 

 from heaven, he endeavoured, in order to reascend to the celestial 

 regions, to make himself a ladder with the thorns of the Eglantine. 

 God, however, would not permit the Eglantine to grow upwards, 

 but only to extend itself as a bush. Then, out of spite, Satan 



turned its thorns downwards, pointing towards the earth. 



Another legend records that Judas Iscariot hung himself on the 

 Eglantine, and that since then it has been an accursed tree: hence 



to this day its berries are called Judas heertn (Judas berries). 



The five graceful fringed leaflets, which form the special beauty of 



