pPant Tsorc, "l^cger^Ci/, oriel Isi^ric/". 58 1 



His followers, perhaps remembering that " Violet is for faithful- 

 ness," henceforth adopted the flower as their badge, and during 

 his exile were accustomed to toast his health under the name of 

 Caporal Violette, or " the flower that returns with the Spring," So 

 well understood did the political significance of the flower become, 

 that when Mddle, Mars appeared on the stage wearing Violets on 

 her dress, she was loudly hissed by the body-guard of King Louis. 

 It is said that the Empress Eugenie, when wooed by Napoleon III., 

 signified her willingness to share with him the throne of France by 

 appearing one evening wearing Violets in her dress and hair, and 

 carrying Violets in her hands. Afterwards, when living at Chisel- 

 hurst, Violet bouquets were sent in profusion to the Imperial 

 exiles, and, mingled with immortelles, were piled upon the tomb 



of Napoleon III. The famous a(5\ress, Clairon, was so fond of 



the Violet, that one of her worshippers took pains to cultivate it 

 for her sake, and for thirty-seven years never failed to send her a 

 bouquet of Violets every morning during their season of bloom ; an 

 offering so greatly appreciated by its recipient, that she used to 

 strip off the petals every evening, make an infusion of them, and 



drink it like tea. To dream of admiring the Violet in a garden 



is deemed a prognostic of advancement in life. By astrologers 



the Violet is held to be under the dominion of Venus. 



VIPER'S BUGLOSS.— The Echiiim vulgare, or Viper's 

 Bugloss, is one of the handsomest of English wild flowers. Its seed 

 resembling the head of the viper, it was supposed on the doeftrine of 

 signatures to cure the bite of that reptile : whilst its spotted stem 

 indicated to the old herbalists and simplers that the plant was 

 specially created to counteracft the poison of speckled vipers and 

 snakes. Dioscorides affirmed that anyone who had taken the herb 

 before being bitten would not be hurt by the poison of any serpent. 



The French call it la Viperine, and the Italians Viperina. In 



England it is also known as Snake's Bugloss and Cat's Tail. 



According to astrologers, the Viper's Bugloss is a herb of the Sun, 



VIPER'S GRASS. — Scorzonera edulis has obtained its Latin 

 name from the Italian Scorzone, a venomous serpent whose bite the 

 grass is supposed to heal, and whose form its twisted roots are thought 

 to resemble. According to Monardus, a Spanish physician, quoted 

 by Parkinson, the English name of Viper's Grass was given to it 

 because " a Moor, a bond-slave, did help those that were bitten 

 of that venomous beast, the viper, which they of Catalonia called 

 Escuerso, with the juice of this herbe, which both took away the 

 poison, and healed the bitten place very quickly, when Treakle and. 

 other things would do no good." 



Virgin Mary's Plants. — See Lady's Plantsv 



Virgin's Bower. — See Clematisv 



Wake Robin. — See Arum. 



