206 



CHAPTER XIII. 



SOLANACE2E OEOBANCHiCE^] SCEOPHTJLAEIlCE M 

 LABlATJE VEEBEMCE^ LENTIBULAEllCE^ PEI- 



MULACE^E PLUMBAGINlCE^ PLANTAGINACE^. 



f 



" God might have made the earth bring forth 



Enough for great and small, 

 The Oak tree and the Cedar tree, 

 Without a flower at all. 



" He might have made enough, enough 



For every want of ours, 

 For luxury, medicine, and toil, 

 And yet not have made flowers. 



" Then wherefore, wherefore were they made 



All dyed with rainbow light, 

 All fashioned with supremest grace, 

 Upspringing day and night? 



" To comfort man, to whisper hope 



Whene'er his faith is dim ; 

 For Whoso careth for the flowers 

 Will much more care for him." 



MART HOWITT. 



AGAIN we come to a poisonous tribe of plants, the NIGHTSHADES, 

 but there is much to be said in favour of these. They possess 

 a great variety of qualities ; some poisonous, some harmless, 

 some actually nutritious. The Deadly Nightshade is nearly 

 related to the wholesome Potato, the mild Tomato to the pun- 

 gent Capsicum, and the innocent Egg-plant to the poisonous 

 Tobacco. Here, as in many of the Umbellifers, the evil 

 qualities existing in the esculent members of the tribe are 

 dissipated by heat, and thus they are changed from slightly 

 deleterious to decidedly wholesome. Leigh Hunt must have 

 had the medicinal qualities in mind when he wrote 



" Sage are yet the uses 

 Mixed with our sweet juices, 



