202 CHAPTER XXV II. 



7(5). On the red soil of 

 the Mt. Vinaigrier it 

 grows so thickly in 

 some places that you 

 might suppose it to be 

 a most abundant crop 

 of some carefully culti- 

 vated vegetable. The 



natives Call this Arum Fi - 76. ARISAKVM VULOARE. 



a " little lamp." To see the resemblance, you should 

 turn the livid spathe on its back, then the curved 

 spadix represents the wick. Arisarum has been 

 likened, still more appropriately, to a cobra with 

 hood erect. It must be almost impossible to eradicate 

 this weed ; for when the spade cuts through a corm, 

 it only makes two plants of one. 



Some people object to the odour of the Garlic 

 (A Ilium), but there is no one who does not admire the 

 pretty white umbels of A. Neapolitanum. It re- 

 sembles our British A. Ursinum, but is not so strong- 

 smelling. Great quantities of these flowers are sent 

 from Mentone to London and Paris, where they are in 

 great demand about Easter time.* It is said that people 

 who reek of garlic do not take cholera. This pachy- 

 dermatous microbe, which laughs at our most potent 

 drugs, potions, and specifics, cannot endure the smell 

 of garlic. There might be a gleam of hope for suffer- 

 ing humanity if this principle could only be carried 

 out: Discover the particular perfume for which a 

 given microbe has the greatest repugnance, and 

 cultivate a taste for it. Then, instead of nostrums 

 we shall have nosegays, and for serious cases strong 

 scents will be prescribed. Thus, for cholera, garlic ; 



* Tn England the flower is passed off as a Star of Bethlehem. T. H. 



