488 pfant Tsore, "begc^/, anil "bi^rioy. 



says: "The nails on the top are represented soexacftly, that nothing 



more perfedl: can be imagined In the open flower they are 



twisted and marked with dark blood-Hke spots, as if they had been 

 already removed from the Cross. The small undeveloped seed- 

 vessels may be compared to the sponge full of vinegar offered to 

 our Lord. The star-form of the half-opened flower may represent 

 the star of the Wise Men; but the five petals, fully opened, the five 

 wounds. The base of the ovary is the column of the flagellation. 

 The filaments represent the scourges spotted with blood, and the 

 purple circle on them is the crown of thorns, blood covered. The 

 white petals symbolise the purity and brightness of Our Lord, and 

 His white robe. The corniculata folia, the sub-petals, white inside 

 and green without, figure hope and purity, and are sharply pointed, 

 as if to indicate the ready eagerness with which each one of the 

 faithful should embrace and consider the mysteries of the Passion. 

 The leaves of the whole plant are set on singly, for there is one 

 God, but are triply divided, for there are Three Persons. The 

 plant itself would climb toward heaven, but cannot do so without 

 support. So the Christian, whose nature is to climb, demands 

 constant assistance. Cut down, it readily springs up again ; and 

 whoever holds the mysteries of the Passion in his heart cannot be 

 hurt by the evil world. Its fruit is sweet and delicate, and the 

 Passion of our Lord brings sweet and deledliable fruit to us." In 

 his 'Paradistis Terrestris,' John Parkinson, writing in 1629, speaks of 

 the " Virgin Climer," as " a brave and too-much-desired plant," 

 with flowers which " make a tripartite shew of colours most de- 

 lightfull," and are "of a comfortable sweet sent, very acceptable." 



The plant's native Indian name was Maracot; from the likeness 



of the fruit to a small Pomegranate, it was sometimes called 

 Granadilla ; the Mexican Jesuits named it Flor de las cinca llagas; but 

 in Italy, it was usually known as Fior della Passione, the name which 

 it has retained throughout Europe. 



PAULO WN I A. — The noble hardy tree, Paulownia imperialis, 

 was so named m 1840 in honour of the Hereditary Princess of the 

 Netherlands, a daughter of the Emperor of Russia. The Paulow- 

 nias are famous throughout Japan for the hardness and beauty of 

 their wood : they attain a heignt of about thirty feet, and produce 

 dark lilac flowers, which are borne in three spikes upon a tri-lobed 

 sinuous leaf. These flowers, which resemble the blossom of the 

 Catalpa, constitute one of the crests of the Mikado of Japan. 



PAVETTA INDICA.^A race of Malays, called the Aruans, 

 when burying their dead, carry the body into the forest, and hoist 

 it upon the summit of four posts. A tree, usually the Pavetta Indica, 

 is then planted near it, and at this final ceremony none but nude 

 females are allowed to be present. 



PEA. — The priests of ancient Egypt were not allowed to par- 

 take of Peas. — ■- — The Pea, like most trailing and climbing plants, has 



