36 THE ROOT. PART I* 



gradually like the spindle-shaped root, but terminat- 

 ing abruptly as if the lower extremity were cut or 

 bitten off. It is exemplified in the plant called 

 DevilVbit, or Devil's-bit Scabious Scabiosa suc- 

 Jts sup- cisa ; which affords, at the same time, an example 



posed me- . . . . , 



dical of the whimsical and superstitious notions enter- 

 tained by the simplists of ancient times with regard 

 to the virtues inherent in plants. Almost all plants 

 were supposed to possess some peculiar and medici- 

 nal virtues. But here was a plant with part of the 

 root bitten off. The inference accordingly was, that 

 the part wanting must have been bitten off by the 

 Devil out of sheer malice to mankind, and on ac- 

 count of the peculiar potency of its medical 

 virtues.* But unluckily for the patients of modern 

 times, the medicinal virtues of this plant do not, 

 upon inquiry, turn out to be any way remarkable ; 

 and the deficiency of the part bitten off has been 

 accounted for in another way. 



SUBSECTION III. 



The Fibrous or Capillary Root. The fibrous or 

 capillary root (PI. I. Fig. 3.) is a root consisting 

 of several small and thread-like fibres, of which one 

 is generally central, and the rest lateral, supporting 

 the plant not by their individual strength but by 

 their numbers and distribution, elongating in a 



* Gerard's Herbal, 58?. 



