128 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



specific against the bite of this creature. As the plant 

 grows freely in many other countries, and as in our own 

 happy land in the good old times the scorpion was believed 

 to be bred from many substances that are now credited 

 with no such potent effect, the plant and the animal could 

 actually or theoretically have been brought together, and 

 that, at least, is a point that renders the etymology not 

 hopelessly impossible. The remedial effect of the herb is a 

 further point that may or may not be supported by facts. 

 The common English name is a sad misnomer, as the plant 

 has nothing whatever to do, botanically, with the ivy, nor, 

 indeed, is there anything but the most superficial re- 

 semblance, not more, indeed, than the fact that the present 

 plant and the ivy are both at times found trailing on the 

 hedge-bank. In all other respects they are widely different. 

 Our ancestors used the plant for flavouring beer ; it was 

 supposed not only to improve its taste, but also to render 

 it clearer. In old herbals the ground-ivy has a great many 

 names, but as they are never used at the present day it is 

 scarcely worth while to dwell on them at all, though some 

 of them are not altogether lacking in history and interest 

 when analysed. 



