328 pfaat Isore, Istege^f, an^ Tsi^ric/". 



EUGENIA. — In Burmah, the Eugenia is regarded as a sacred 

 plant. When a spray is cut, prayers and supplications for absent 

 friends and relatives are offered up before it, and twigs and leaves of 

 it are kept in consecrated water in almost every house, and occasion- 

 ally the different apartments are sprinkled with it as a protecflive 

 against ghosts, ogres, and evil spirits. The twigs of Eugenia are 

 sometimes hung about the eaves, and in many cases a small plant 

 is kept growing in a pot in the house, so that its benign in- 

 fluence may keep harm away. In cases of cholera epidemic, 



the natives of the affecfled distrid^ betake themselves to a Buddhist 

 monastery, carrying presents and a small pot partly filled with 

 water, and containing leaves of a species of Eugenia (Tha- 

 byay-bin), and some coarse yellow string wound round a small 

 stick. These pots are blessed by the Buddhist abbot, and are 

 then taken away by the people, who either hang up the yellow 

 string in little bags round the eaves of their houses, or else wear 

 it coiled round the left wrist. The pots of water and sprigs of 

 Eugenia are kept in the house to guard it from infedlion. 



EUPATORIUM. — Agrimony has derived its name oi Eupa- 

 torium from Mithridates Eupator, King of Pontus, who was skilled 

 in botany and physic, and used this plant as an antidote against 

 the poison with which his enemies at court attempted to destroy 

 him. E. Ayapana, a native of Brazil, has long been famed for 

 curing the bites of serpents, and its leaves, when fresh bruised, are 



useful when applied to the face of ulcers. In Italy and Russia, 



magical properties are attributed to this plant. 



EUPHORBIA. — The Euphorbia or Medusa Head possesses 

 the peculiar property of blooming in warm water after apparent 

 death. The milky juice of Euphorbia Canariensis, and some other 

 species of Spurge, produces the drug Euphorbium. The juice of 

 E. heptagona furnishes the Ethiopians with a deadly poison for their 

 arrows. At Bodo, in India, before the doorway of every house is 

 cultivated a plant of the sacred Sidj, a species of Euphorbia, which 

 is looked upon both as the domestic and national divinity, and to 

 this plant the natives address their prayers and offer up hogs 

 as sacrifices. 



EVERLASTING FLOWERS.— Writing of the Gmpha- 

 lium Alpinum, Gerarde tells us that in his day Englishwomen called 

 it " Live-long," or " Live-for-ever." From hence has originated 

 the name Everlasting, applied to the genus Gnaphalium. The 

 ancients crowned the images of their gods with garlands made of 

 these flowers, and from this circumstance they were frequently 

 called God's flowers. In Spain and Portugal, they are still used 

 to decorate the altars and the images of the saints. The French 

 have named the Gnaphalium, Immortelle, and employ it in the 

 manufacture of the garlands and devices which they place on their 

 coffins and graves. Old writers call the plant Cudweed, Cotton- 



