PREFACE. 7 



The rhodiola is called by the French St. 

 John's herb. You will wish to know, perhaps, 

 my dear lady, the reason for this name. We 

 will cheerfully satisfy your curiosity. In many 

 parts of France the rhodiola grows abundantly 

 on the outskirts of the woods, and there the 

 experiment of its flowering without earth and 

 without water is repeated every year in almost 

 every peasant's cottage. If it blooms before 

 the feast of St. John the Baptist, (the 24th 

 of June,) they draw from this circumstance a 

 favorable augury with regard to the success 

 of a project or the accomplishment of a wish. 

 In the contrary case, the presage is regarded as 

 unfavorable. I must not omit to add, that 

 this, which, in the middle ages, had truly all 

 the reality and power of superstition, is now no 

 longer any thing more than an amusement of 

 young girls, in whom the oracle of St. John's 

 herb inspires no more confidence than that of 

 the white daisy. 



Should it so happen that you wish to do a 

 little gardening in your room, without being 

 able to afford even the very small expense that 

 the purchase of a bunch of rhodiola requires, 

 a thing which may happen to any one, spend 

 nothing at all. Ask some kind acquaintance to 



