AUTUMN AND AUTUMNAL FLOWEKS. 277 



odour is more offensive than agreeable, and may be compared to tliose 

 persons who depend more on their wardrobe tlian their conduct for 

 making themselves agreeable, and we therefore present them as em- 

 blematical of vulgar minds. 



Meadow Saffron, or Autumn Crocus. Colchicum Autumnale. 



Sliakspeare says, in his play of Cymbeline,' — 



" One that sick o' th* gout, had rather 

 Groan so in perplexity, than be cur'd 

 By th' sure physician death." 



To such sufferers we therefore address our history of the singular plant 

 which has been named Colchicum, from its growing so abundantly in 

 the vicinity of Colchis, a city of Armenia, celebrated for its numerous 

 poisonous plants, and as the birthplace of Medea. 



It is thus noticed by Horace, in the thirteenth ode of his second 

 book : — 



" Or temper'd every baleful juice 

 Which poisonous Colchian glebes produce." 



Fabulous history informs us that this autumnal flower owes its origin 

 to some drops being spilt in the fields of the magic liquor which Medea 

 had prepared to restore the aged ^son to the bloom and vigour of 

 youth ; and on this account the Colchicum was anciently regarded as a 

 preservative against all sorts of maladies. 



Could we divest the tales of antiquity of their fabulous dress, we 

 should find them all explanatory of real events, and not the mere ideas 

 of poetical imaginations ; perhaps we should then discover that Medea 

 having relieved ^son from a fit of the gout, his subjects celebrated her 

 praise as having restored this monarch to youth and sprightliness. As 

 Medea is sometimes called Colchis, we will surmise, for the consolation 

 of our gouty friends, that it was the Colchicum that relieved ^son 

 from his infirmities; and we will also hope that they may derive similar 

 benefit through the aid of their medical friend, assisted by the virtues 

 of this powerful plant. Most of our superstitious customs, liowever 

 ridiculous they now appear, originated in the first instance from some 

 reasonable cause ; and thus, because tiie Colchicum was a remedy 

 against one complaint, credulity magnified its powers as a sovereign 

 antidote. The Swiss peasants tie the flower of this plant around the 

 necks of their children, with a firm belief that it will render them 

 invulnerable to all diseases. 



The Colchicum is thought to be the same root as the hermodactylus 

 of the ancient physicians, and which, after having been entirely dis- 

 regarded for many generations, is now again become an important 

 article in the Materia Medica. It was for some time employed in the 

 form of a concealed medicine, under the name of Eau Medicinalc, 

 which attracted great attention by its success in relieving the gout and 

 rheumatic affections of the joints. 



Tlie poisonous properties of tin's plant seem known to all animals, 

 as it were by instinct, since no cattle will toucli it ; the very lambs fly 

 at its aspect ; yet the young sheplierdesses of the mountains become 

 sorrowful when it appears amongst the grass, lest their playful flock 



