202 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



and then carefully wrap it in a winding sheet. Mar- 

 vellous virtues were ascribed to it, not the least of 

 which were, that it doubled the prices of money 

 around which it was wrapped ; while the Arabs still 

 call it the " DemVs apple" from its power to excite 

 voluptuous feeling. 



This plant belongs to the family of the Solonce, 

 and its scientific name is Atropa mandragora. 

 tit is a poisonous plant, and grows in dark wood by 

 river banks ; and in those mysterious localities not- 

 often visited by the rays of the sun. The root is 

 thick and long, whitish in color, and generally forked 

 like the legs of a man. Oval leaves crown the 

 root and spread all around, hanging downwards. 

 Its white flowers are tinged with purple ; its fruit, 

 which resembles a small apple, has, like the whole 

 plant, a fetid odor. It is principally the bifurca- 

 tion of the root which makes the plant look a little 

 like a human body. Another plant used for the same 

 purpose, as mentioned by Schleiden, is a bulb (Alr 

 lium victoriaUs, to which similar powers are as- 

 cribed. 



In the same class with the mandragora, we must 

 mention the ginseng of Tartary, discovered in 1616, 

 by Father Lah'tau, and presented by him to the 

 Duke of Orleans the Regent of France. He relates 

 his discovery in the following words : 



" Having spent nearly three months in vain search 

 for the ginseng, chance showed it me when I least 

 expected to find it. It was then in its maturity, and 

 the red color of its fruit attracted my attention. I at 



