402 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



June. He considers it in the light of a " morbid production, 

 and in reality a curse to the soil, as there is nothing whatever 

 that can be grown or sown in its vicinity." It is curious, too, 

 that the same method of gathering should have been practised 

 in Pliny's day as that which we have described. When speaking 

 of gathering this plant by the aid of the twisting stick, he 

 Bays, " Bone or holm oak make the best levers." During the 

 period in which he wrote, the esparto was extensively used for 

 the manufacture of cordage, couch and bed stuffing, torches, 

 shoes, coarse garments for shepherds and out-door labourers, 

 and for fuel. Such of our readers as may be desirous of 

 examining the structure of the esparto, may do so by purchasing 

 a pennyworth of pipe-cleaning rush at any tobacconist's. 



It is curious and interesting to note the fact, that whilst the 

 early Egyptians and Greeks had recourse to the papyrus rush 

 for a material on which to transcribe their records and historical 

 events, we, after minute research and laborious investigation 

 into the secrets of the vegetable world, find in a sedge or rush 

 the elements so anxiously sought after. 



Before concluding our remarks on the reed, rush, and grass 

 families, it may not prove unprofitable, if we pass in review a 

 few of the scattered members of the latter order of plants to 

 which we are indebted for special products. Amongst these we 

 must give a place to the oil grass, or Andropogon of India. 

 This genus has many representatives, each of which is cele- 

 brated for a peculiar product. The celebrated grass oil of 

 Nemaur is one of these ; it is prepared extensively in the villages 

 situated about the spurs of the Vindhya Hills. Here is found 

 the plant yielding it, the " Vittievayr," or Kuscus (Andropogon 

 muricatus), known to the ancients as Calamus aromaticus. 

 The Kuscus is used also in the manufacture of a species of 

 matting, which, when hung as a sun-screen and sprinkled with 

 water, gives off an agreeable and refreshing perfume. A per- 

 fume called " mousseline " is made from this plant : it was so 

 named because the muslin brought from India was scented with 

 the root of this grass. 



Andropogon Jwarancusa is another oil-yielding grass, possessed 

 of great fragrance, and yields the oil of spikenard of the per- 

 fumer. Lemon-grass oil is also obtained from a plant of the 

 genus Andropogon. 



The Indians obtain the oil from these various grasses by 

 gathering the flower-heads or tassels just before they come into 

 full blossom. These are tied in small sheaves or bundles (as in 

 Fig. 2), and placed in a peculiar arrangement of canes, pots, 

 and stones, which performs the duty of a still. Fig. 3 represents 

 one of these ingenious make-shift arrangements. As the oil, 

 vaporised by heat, flows through the still-head, formed of a tree- 

 trunk luted with clay, and the cane tube, A, it is condensed by 

 the wet grass and cold water used in the bark trough, B. It 

 now floats in eyes or tears on the surface of clean cold water 

 placed in the receiver c, from the surface of which it is carefully 

 skimmed with a small unio, or fresh- water mussel-shell, fitted to 

 the end of a stick, as shown in Fig. 4. When thus collected, 

 the oil is of an amber tint, and ready for placing in bottles by 

 the aid of a cocoa-nut shell and reed, as shown in Fig. 5. 



The general reader is cautioned against receiving the term 

 " grass," as applied to many kinds of fibrous substance, as cor- 

 rect. The so-called " China grass," used in the manufacture 

 of dresses for ladies, pocket-handkerchiefs, etc., is in reality the 

 fibre of a member of the nettle family (Urtica tenacissima). 



The Grass Tree of Australia has of late been much brought 

 into notice as possessing various useful and remarkable qualities. 

 It yields food, gum, medicine, a cement for caulking canoes, and 

 a natural material well adapted for making plaisters for wounds. 

 This curious and anomalous tree (the Xanthorrhcea), like many 

 other Australian productions, appears like some strange freak 

 of Nature's handiwork. Its main crown or stalk is not unlike a 

 large tuft of pampas grass growing on a stem, whilst in its 

 centre shoots up a straight spathe or shaft, which might be 'mis- 

 taken for a bulrush. Yet the grass tree, as it has been named, 

 is a member of the order Liliacece, and has no more relation to 

 grass, properly so called, than has a tulip or a hyacinth. 



This tree is not the only remarkable member of the " lily " 

 tribe, and one which at first sight shows no signs of affinity to 

 the family to which it belongs. Another singular tree of the 

 order Liliacece is the Dragon Tree of Orotava, of which an 

 illustration will be found in our " Lessons in Botany," page 24, 

 Vol. I., of the POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



LESSONS IN LATIK LI. 



GOVERNMENT. 



GOVERNMENT involves dependence between words as agree- 

 ment involves similarity. One word is said to govern another 

 when the one is dependent on the other, and is modified in form 

 and meaning by the other. Take, as an instance, the words 



Pignus amoris, pledge of love. 



This is an example of dependence or government, for amoris is 

 dependent on pignus, and is changed by that dependence into 

 the genitive amoris. 



Government may take place between 



1. One noun and another noun. | 6. Verbs and nouns or pronouns. 



2. A pronoun and a noun. i 7. Verbs and verbs. 



3. An adjective and a iioun. 8. Verbs and relatives. 



4. An adverb and a noun. 9. Verbs and conjunctions. 



5. Prepositions and uouns. 



1. One noun may govern another, as 



Hie est hortus regis; 



This is the garden of tha Icing ; 



where regis is in the genitive case governed by the noun 

 hortus. 



The rule then is One noun governs another in the genitive 

 case. 



This construction resembles the English this is the king's 

 garden, where Icing's is in the possessive or genitive case 

 governed by garden. King's, it will be observed, is a form 

 derived from king, as regis is a modification of rex. Here the 

 Latin idiom agrees with the English idiom. 



The effect of this genitive, or of the governed word, is to 

 define more exactly the governing word : for example, we may 

 ask, "Whose garden ?" The answer is, " The king's garden." 

 The noun in the genitive then performs the part of an attribu- 

 tive, and the phrase " hortus regis " is pretty much the same 

 as hortus regius, the royal garden. 



This instance of a noun-government denotes possession. 

 Similar is the import when relationship is indicated ; as, 

 Heotoris uxor Andromache, Andromache, the wife of Hector. 



The genitive also denotes a whole of which a part is taken, 

 and hence is termed partitive (genitivus partitivus); as, partes 

 corporis, parts of the body. 



It may, moreover, signify the originator, cause, or producer ; 

 and hence the word genitive, from gigno, I beget; for instance : 

 conjuratio Catilinse, Catiline's conspiracy, that is, the con- 

 spiracy originated by Catiline; desiderium patriee, desire fur 

 one's native land, that is, the longing caused in the mind by 

 one's native land. 



Of is the general sign of the genitive, but here we have 

 employed for ; for is sometimes the only word which will give 

 the sense of the original. The Latin genitive has a wider 

 application than the English. 



In English we employ the partitive genitive where there is 

 in reality no partition. Thus, we say, " There were four of us," 

 that is, "we were four ; " so said the Latins, quatuor eramus, 

 avoiding the previous form. 



2. A pronoun may govern a noun or another pronoun : for 

 example 



1. Animalium alia, rationis expertia sunt, alia utentia. 



O/ animals, some are deaoid of reason, others use (reason). 



2. Quis vestrum est rnedicus ? 

 Which of you is a physician ? 



Alia governs animalium in the genitive ; vestrum is governed in 

 the genitive by quis. The rule then is 



A pronoun governs a noun or a pronoun in the genitive case. 

 Instead of the partitive genitive, a preposition with its proper 

 case is often used ; the prepositions so employed are e, de, inter, 

 in, as 



Acerrimus ex omnibus nostris sensibm est sensus videndi. 

 The sense of sight is the keenest of all our senses. 



The neuter quid used partitively governs a genitive case, as 



Quid mulieris habes uxorem ? 

 What sort of a wife have you 1 



3. An adjective may govern a noun, as 



Gallorum omnium fortissimi suiit 



Belgffi. 

 The Beiges are the bravest of all the 



Gauls. 



Sum unus multorum. 



I am one of many. 



Conou erat prudens rei militarise 



Conon teas wise in military affairs. 



