54 THE HEDGE-BANK. 



base is surrounded by a green leaf. The berry 

 contains a deadly poison, and the whole plant 

 is, I believe, no less poisonous. Its juice, when 

 rubbed on the eyelid, has the remarkable pro- 

 perty of dilating the iris, so as to increase the 



size of the pupil, 

 and is on that ac- 

 count found use- 

 ful in operations 

 on the eye. You 

 will probably find 

 also two species 

 of Potentilla,* 

 which have large, 

 bright, and very 

 beautiful yellow 

 flowers, rising but 

 a short distance 

 from the ground. 

 One of them, 

 called " Cinque- 

 foil," has, as its 

 name implies, 

 five leaves grow- 

 ing from a com- 

 mon stem ; the 

 other,called "Sil- 

 ver weed," is re- 

 markable for hav- 

 ing leaves which 

 are thickly in- 

 vested With a CO- 

 NIGHT-SHADE, OR BITTER SWEET. VCHng like white 



* P. reptans and P. anserina. 



