130 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



in general are fond of it, and pigs in particular eat it with 

 great avidity, hence one of its old names is swine's grass. 

 In the " Grete Herball " we see it is called swynel -grass. 

 The "Grete Herball" was published in England in the year 

 1516, and had so great a measure of popularity that it 

 passed through several editions. It was printed in the old 

 black letter, and illustrated with particularly rude wood- 

 cuts, which in some cases bore no resemblance to anything 

 whatever, and in many the same illustration had to do duty 

 for more than one plant. Our readers will readily see the 

 inconvenience of this to those who would refer to the book, if 

 they will imagine that we, for the saving of a little trouble 

 and expense, had not troubled to draw the knot-grass at 

 all, but had quietly described it, and slipped in an old plate 

 of the primrose instead. Though the botanical merits of 

 the work are naturally not great, botanical science being 

 then practically unknown, it is full of interest as being, 

 with one exception, the very inferior herbal of Macer, 

 the first book, and for a long time, the only book, 

 on the subject in the vulgar tongue. 



When a plant of knot-grass grows singly in a 

 favourable soil, and clear of other vegetation, it w r ill often 

 cover a circle of a yard or more in diameter, the stems 

 being almost prostrate on the ground, and the leaves broad 

 and large ; but when it has to grow thickly together, and 

 share the accommodation with other plants, the stalks be- 

 come more upright, and all the parts are frequently smaller. 

 Our specimen is a very fairly typical one. In its natural 

 growth it was evidently in an upright position, and we see 

 this at once on looking at the leaves: had it come from a 

 trailing plant all the leaves would have turned one way the 

 way in which, when the plant was growing, all had turned 



