POPULAR WEEDS 8r 



hands, they can touch molten lead without being in- 

 jured." 



The description which Dioscorides* gives of the Linozosis, 

 which he also calls Parthenion^ or Mercury's Plant ('E^uoD 

 (Sordviov), applies, in the main, to our Dog Mercury. It is 

 true that its leaves " are not like those of the basilic " (p/X?>a 

 o^o/a OX//UP) but they resemble in all respects those of the 

 smooth variety of cultivated mint j and, apparently, the basilic 

 of Dioscorides was one of our mints. The fruit of the female, 

 he adds, evidently meaning the male flowers, are disposed 

 in clusters. 



Both species of the Herb or Dog Mercury belong to the 

 family Euphorbiacece. 



Our attention must now be directed to another point. It 

 is a fact, that in winters of moderate severity the Mercury con- 

 tinues to infest our gardens and cultivated fields. It only 

 succumbs to a frost equal to six to ten degrees below freezing- 

 point ; then its congealed stem totters, and grows black, and 

 its leaves mingle so completely with the soil that it is difficult 

 to discover any vestiges. 



How singular a contrast ! The plants most destructive in 

 our kitchen- gardens are frequently the most useful in medicine. 

 There are no drugs more popular than the weeds which we 

 call Herb Mercury, Garden Nightshade, and Dog's-tooth 

 grass. All belong to families whose properties are strongly 

 marked. As already stated, the Mercury ranks among the 



* Dioscorides, " Materia Medica," iv. 191. 



