514 



In Aloe the pistil is solitary, and three-cleft; but the style 

 is divided to the very base into three parts in Mefauthium, 

 Helonias, Veratrum, and one species of Ornithogalum. 

 All the tribe have a capsule of three cells, and three 

 valves, the seeds being placed one above another." 



" There is no uniformity in the qualities of the Coro- 

 naria, there being among them a great diversity of scent. 

 The nauseous smell of Frilillaria imperialis and Veratrum 

 indicates a very poisonous quality, of which likewise Aloe 

 partakes. Lilium is mild; its root inodorous and muci- 

 laginous; its qualities therefore are emollient and lubri- 

 cating. Scilla maritima is in the highest degree acrid 

 and diuretic, dissolving viscid humours. The root of Or- 

 nithogalum umbellatum, as well as of O. luteutn, is eatable. 

 The former appears to be the Dove's dung, sold for so 

 high a price during the siege of Samaria, as recorded in 

 the Second Book of Kings, chap. vi. ver. 25; in the first 

 place, because it is very abundant in Palestine, whence 

 the English call it Star of Bethlehem ; secondly, because 

 the flower resembles the dung of pigeons and other birds, 

 in its greyish and white partycoloured hue, whence also 

 comes the name Ornithogalum, or bird's milk, alluding to 

 the white substance, always accompanying the dung of 

 these animals ; and lastly, because the root in question is 

 to this day eaten in Palestine, at least by the poor." (See 

 English Botany, t. 130.) 



" Wepfer has proved by many experiments, the very 

 poisonous nature of the root of the Crown Imperial, which 

 kills dogs, wolves, and various other animals. The an- 

 cients relate that the honey of its flowers caused abortion. 

 No flower, except Melianthus, produces more of this fluid, 

 yet the bees do not collect it ! We owe this fine plant, now 

 so common, to Clusius, who more than two hundred years 

 ago received it, along with the Horse-Chestnut, from the 

 east. He likewise acquired many other bulbs before un- 

 known, now become the ornaments of our gardens. From 

 his time no one has taken the same pains. Certainly if 



