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POTATO. — Although introduced into Europe as late as 

 1584, the Potato (Solatium tuberosum) has been made the subje(ft of 

 several popular superstitions. In Birmingham and many other 

 districfts, it is believed that a Potato carried in the trousers pocket is 

 a sure charm against rheumatism so long as the tuber is kept there ; 

 and the Dutch believed that a Potato begged or stolen is a pre- 

 servation against the same malady. In Germany, they take 



precautions against the Potato demon or wolf (Kartoffelwolf) : after 

 the last Potatoes have been dug up, the peasants dress up a puppet 

 which they call Erdapfelmann, and carry the figure in procession to 

 the house of their master, where they recite a doggrel verse. A 

 luminosity, powerful enough to enable a bystander to read by, issues 

 from the common Potato when in a state of putrefaction ; this 

 was particularly remarked by an officer on guard at Strasburg, who 

 thought the barracks were on fire in consequence of the light that 

 was emitted from a cellar full of Potatoes. 



Prick Madam. — See Stonecrop. 



Priest's Pintle. — See Arum. 



PRIMROSE. — Anciently the Primrose was called Paralisos, 

 after the name of a handsome stripling, the son of Priapus and 

 Flora, who died of grief for the loss of his betrothed Melicerta, but 

 was snatched from the jaws of death by his parents, and meta- 

 morphosed into " the rathe Primrose that forsaken dies." 



The name Primrose anciently appertained to the Daisy, and is 

 written by Chaucer Primerole, from the old French Primeverole, the 

 first Spring flower; Primerole became changed to Primrolles, and 

 then to Primrose, the first Rose of Spring; and it was not until the 

 sixteenth century that it attached itself to the flower which now 



bears its name. In Worcestershire, it is regarded as exceedingly 



unlucky in Spring-time to take less than a handful of Primroses or 

 Violets into a farmer's house, as a disregard of this rule is popularly 

 believed to invite destrucftion of the good wife's brood of ducklings 



and chickens. In East Norfolk, it is thought that if a less number 



of Primroses than thirteen be brought into a house on the first occa- 

 sion of introducing any, so many eggs only will each goose hatch 



that season. Henderson, in his ' Folk-lore of the Northern 



Counties,' gives the following superstitious custom : " Let a youth 

 or maiden pull from its stalk the flower, and after cutting off" the 

 tops of the stamens with a pair of scissors, lay it in a secret place 

 where no human eye can see it. Let him think through the day 

 and dream through the night of his sweetheart; and then, upon 

 looking at it the next day, if he find the stamens shot out to their 

 former height, success will attend him in love ; if not, he can only 

 expe(5l disappointment." Browne tells us — 



" The Primrose, when with six leaves gotten grace, 

 Maids as a true-love in their bosoms place." 



