pPant "bore, "bcge?^/, ani. "bijric/'. 325 



in its place. The Walnut-tree has long since gone, and probably 

 the Elms have now disappeared. 



ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE.— Formerly the ^/w/>a 

 Mandragora used to bear this name, but by some mistake it has been 

 transferred to the Circira Liitctiana, an insignificant plant named 

 after Circe, the famed enchantress, probably because its fruit, being 

 covered with hooked prickles, lays hold of the unwary passers-by, 

 as Circe is said to have done by means of her enchantments. The 

 IMandrake was called " Nightshade," from having been classed with 

 the Solanum tribe, and " Enchanter's " from its Latin name Circaea, 

 a name which it obtained, according to Dioscorides, because Circe, 

 who was expert in herbal lore, used it as a tempting powder in 

 amorous concerns. 



ENDIVE. — The Endive or Succory [Cichovinm) is, according 

 to the oldest Greek Alexandrian translations of the Bible, one of 

 the "bitter herbs " which the Almighty commanded the Israelites 

 to eat with the lamb at the institution of the Feast of the Passover. 

 The garden Endive (C Endivia) is probably the plant celebrated 

 by Horace as forming a part of his simple diet : its leaves are used 

 in salads, and its root, under the name of Chicory, is extensively 

 used to mingle with Coffee. Immense quantities of Endive were 

 used by the ancient Egyptians, who called it Chicouryeh, and from 

 this word is derived the generic name Cichoyium. The wild Suc- 

 cory (C. Intyhus) opens its petals at 8 a.m., and closes them at 4 p.m. 



" On upland slopes the shepherds mark 

 The hour when, to the dial true, 

 Cichorium to the towering lark 

 Lifts her soft eye, serenely blue." 



The Germans say that once upon a time the Endives were men 

 under a ban. The blue flowers, which are plentiful, were good 



men ; the white flowers, much rarer, were evil-doers. The blue 



star-like blossom is a most popular flower in Germany: it is the 

 Wegexvavte — the watcher of the roads; the IVegelcuchte, or lighter of 

 the road; the Sonmniijende, or Solstice; the Sonnenkmut, or herb of 

 the sun ; and the Verfluchte Jtmgfey, or accursed maiden. An ancient 

 ballad of Austrian Silesia recounts the history of a young girl who 

 for seven years mourned for her lover, fallen in the wars. When 

 her friends wished to console her, and to procure for her another 

 lover, she replied: " I shall cease to weep only when I become a 



wild flower by the wayside." Another version of the German 



legend is that a loving maiden anxiously expe(51:ed the return of her 

 betrothed from a voyage upon which he had long since set out. 

 Every morning she paced the road where she had last bade adieu 

 to hun ; every evening she returned. Thus she wearily passed her 

 time during many a long month. At last, utterly worn out with 

 watching and waiting, she sank exhausted by the wayside, and, 

 broken-hearted, expired. On the spot where she breathed her last 



