FEBRUARY. 



15 



It is a native of Asia Minor, and is supposed 

 to be one of the plants which, \nth the rhodo- 

 dendron, poisoned the honey of the bees, and 

 caused tlie death of the soldiers, in the famous 

 retreat of the "ten thousand" recorded by 

 Xenophon. 



It is remarkable that the nectar of some 

 flowers should yield a honey poisonous to those 

 who eat it, but quite innoxious to the bees; 

 yet it is undoubtedly the case. Professor Lind- 

 ]ey observes of the rhododeiadron, kalmia, and 

 andromeda, that they have not only noxious 

 leaves and branches, but that their very honey 

 is poison, " as has been too fatally experienced 

 by those who have fed on the produce of the 

 hives of Trebizonde." 



There are in our gardens two varieties of the 

 common mezereon, one with red, the other vnth. 

 •white flowers ; and the twin-flowered spurge 

 laurel, though a wild plant of Britain, is com- 

 monly cultivated. The sweet-scented mezereon 

 (Daphne oclora) is a pretty shrub, but needs 

 the shelter of the greenhouse. 



Several kinds of daphne are used in the 

 south of Europe to dye wool yellow ; from 

 other kinds cordage is made ; and a soft paper 

 is manufactured from the bark of a species 

 common in Nipal. The inner bark of one 

 kind, called the lace bark tree of Jamaica, 

 {Daphne lagetto) is so beautifully formed into 

 a network, that it is worn as lace. It has a 

 white shining surface, like silk, and when taken 

 carefully from the plant, the hand may be put 



