o 



68 pPant 'bore, l^eQer^Of, and l^qrlc/. 



HELLEBORE.— The Christmas Rose {Hcllchovus nigev) 

 has also been called Black Hellebore, from the colour of its 

 roots, and Melampodium, in honour of Melampus, a learned 

 physician who flourished at Pylos, in Peloponnesus, 1 5 30 years 

 before the birth of Christ. Melampus travelled into Egypt, then 

 the seat of science, in order to study the healing art, and there he 

 became acquainted with the cathartic qualities of the Hellebore, 

 by noticing the effecft it had upon some goats which had fed upon 

 the herb. He afterwards cured with Hellebore the mental derange- 

 ment of the daughters of Proetus, King of Argos — ancient writers 

 affirm by causing the princesses to bathe in a cold fountain after 

 taking the drug ; but according to Pliny, by prescribing the milk 

 of goats which had eaten this vegetable. From this circumstance, 

 Hellebore became celebrated as a medicine, and was speedily 

 regarded with superstitious reverence by the ignorant populace. 

 Thus, Black Hellebore was used to purify houses, and to hallow 

 dwellings, and the ancients entertained the belief that by strewing 

 or perfuming their apartments with this plant, they drove away evil 

 spirits. This ceremony was performed with great devotion, and 

 accompanied with the singing of solemn hymns. In similar manner, 

 they blessed their cattle with Hellebore, to keep them free from 

 the spells of the wicked : for these purposes it was dug up with 

 certain attendant mystic rites; the devotee first drawing a circle 

 round the plant with a sword, and then, turning to the east, 

 offering a prayer to Apollo and ^sculapius, for leave to dig up the 

 root. The flight of the eagle was anxiously watched during the 

 performance of these rites, for if the bird approached the spot, it 

 was considered so ominous as to predicfl the certain death of the 

 persons who took up the plant, in the course of the year. In 

 digging up the roots of certain species of Hellebore, it was thought 

 necessary to eat Garlic previously, to counterat51: the poisonous 

 effluvia of the plant. Yet the root was eventually dried and 

 pounded to dust, in which state it was taken in the manner of snuff. 



R. Turner, writing in 1663, says that at that time Hellebore 



was thought to cure such as seemed to be possessed with the Devil, 



and therefore was by some called Fuga Dccmonum. The ancient 



Gauls are said to have invariably rubbed the points of their arrows 

 with Hellebore, believing that it rendered all the game killed with 



them more tender. Hellebore in ancient times was considered a 



certain antidote against madness. In his 'Anatomy of Melan- 

 choly,' Burton introduces the Hellebore among the emblematical 

 figures of his frontispiece, with the following lines: — 



" Borage and Hellebore fill two scenes, 

 Sovereign plants to purge the veins 

 Of melancholy, and cheer the heart 

 Of those black fumes which make it smart ; 

 To clear the brain of misty fogs, 

 Which dull our senses, and soul clogs ; 

 The best medicine that e'er God made 

 For this malady, if well assaid." 



