62 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



that before he could get to the towne of Boston he 

 could not speak, and no doubt had lost his life, if that 

 the Lord God had not blessed those good remedies 

 which presently he procured and used." 



The two hellebores, H.fcetidus, L., and H. viridis, 

 L., also belong to the Buttercup family, and are both, 

 especially the former, narcotic-irritant poisons. These 

 handsome plants are but seldom met with in a wild 

 state, but, curious to relate, they both flourish, as has 

 been already noticed, in the historic parish of Selborne, 

 and on the same spots where Gilbert White discovered 

 them more than a century and a half ago. The green 

 hellebore may be seen in the early spring growing 

 abundantly on a steep bank in one of the dark hollow 

 lanes which form so characteristic a feature in the 

 scenery of Selborne. Its rarer and more striking 

 relative, the stinking hellebore, sometimes known as 

 bear's-foot and setterwort, also manages to maintain 

 a position in its old locality, but with difficulty, per- 

 haps owing to its ornamental appearance, which has 

 led to its removal to walks and shrubberies. 



But far more deadly than either of the hellebores 

 is Aconitum Napellus, L., the monk's-hood or wolf's- 

 bane, known as friar's cap in Devonshire. This plant 

 contains one of the most virulent of vegetable poisons. 

 It was known to the ancients for its deadly properties, 

 and is mentioned, among other writers, by Virgil and 

 Pliny. In Great Britain the aconite as a wild plant 

 is rare, but it is indigenous in Wales and in several 

 English counties the specimen in the writer's her- 

 barium came from Somerset while in gardens, from 

 its handsome efflorescence, it is frequently met with. 

 Among the early herbalists the plant is often alluded 

 to because of its poisonous character, or supposed 



