pPant Isore, Tscgc^/, cml TsLjric/. 373 



fume thereof; but some crafty companions, to gain money, convey 

 small lute-strings into the water, persuading the patient that those 

 small creepers came out of his mouth or other parts which he 



intended to cure." The plant was one of those sought for by 



witches, and used in their potions. 



" And I ha' been plucking plants among 

 Hemlock, Henbane, Adder's-tongue. — Bm Jonson. 



Astrologers place Henbane under the rule of Saturn. 



HENNA. — In the Canticles, the royal poet says: " My be- 

 loved is unto me as a cluster of Camphire in the vineyards of 

 Engedi." The Camphire mentioned here, and in other parts of 

 Scripture, is the same shrub which the Arabs call Henna [Lawsonia 

 inermis), the leaves of which are still used by women in the East to 

 impart a ruddy tint to the palms of their hands and the soles of their 

 feet. Throughout Egypt, India, Persia, Arabia, and Greece, it is 

 held in universal estimation for its beauty and sweet perfume. Mo- 

 hammed pronounced it the chief of the sweet-scented flowers of this 

 world and of the next. In Egypt, the flowers are sold in the street, 

 the vendor calling out as he proceeds — " O, odours of Paradise ! 

 O flowers of the Henna ! " The Egyptian women obtain from the 

 powdered leaves a paste, with which they stain their fingers and 

 feet an orange colour that will last for several weeks. This they 

 esteem an ornament. Gerarde describes the Henna, or Henne- 

 bush, as a kind of Privet, which in his day grew in Syria near the 

 city Ascalon, and he says " Bellonius writeth that not onely the 

 haire, but also the nether parts of man's body, and nailes likewise, are 

 colored and died herewith, which is counted an ornament among 



the Turks." The Hindus call the Henna-flower Mindi, and the 



females, like the Egyptians, employ it to colour their nails, fingers, 

 and the soles of their feet an orange hue. The miraculous stone, 

 which they call Gauri, or Parvati, received its name and its ruddy 

 colour from being touched by the foot of the divine wife of Siva, 

 which had previously been stained with the juice of Mitidi. Henna- 

 flowers are of a pale yellow tint, and emit a sweet perfume ; they 

 are made into garlands by the Hindus, and offered to travellers in 

 official ceremonies ; thus we read that at the reception of M. 

 Rousselet by the King of Gwalior, the ceremony concluded by the 

 guests being decked with garlands of Henna-flowers, placed around 

 their necks and hands. An extracl prepared from these flowers is 

 employed in religious ceremonies. 



HERB BENNETT.— The Avens, Herb Bennett, or Herhci 

 Bcncdida (Geum urbanum), occurs as an architecflural decoration 

 towards the end of the thirteenth century, and is found associated 

 with old church paintings. The Holy Trinity and the five wounds 

 of our Lord are thought to be symbolised in its trefoiled leaf and 

 the five golden petals of its blossom. The flower has several rural 

 names, such as Star of the Earth, Goldy-flower, and Blessed Herb 



