MAncii. 33 



value in the healing art. Fleur de St. Jacques 

 is also its old name in France, and it was, doubt- 

 less, dedicated to some patron saint, in the days 

 when men sought the intercession of some de- 

 parted man, like themselves, of a sinful nature, 

 but renowned for deeds of piety, instead of 

 seeking God, in the only appointed way which 

 he has himself revealed. A small green flower 

 the gloryless, or moschatel, (Adoxa Moschatel- 

 lina,) may be gathered now in the wood, or on 

 the shady hedge-bank. The stem has four or 

 five flowers at its summit, and the leaves, two or 

 three in number, are on very long stalks. It 

 is not particularly pretty, but is remarkable for 

 its musk-like scent, which, however, is little per- 

 ceptible during the day, though strong when 

 the plant is wet with the pearls of morn and 

 evening dew. 



The woods, so beautiful in the coming month, 

 begin to show here and there a woodland flower, 

 which peeps a])ove the withered leaves and green 

 wintry mosses. The primrose {Prinnda vul- 

 garis) is to us what the Italians call the daisy, 

 flower of spring. The violet too, (Viola odo- 

 rata,) that long noted favourite of the poet, half 

 liidden among its broad green leaves, betrays 

 itself, by its sweet odour, to the rambler in tho 

 woods. The old naturalist Pliny had so high 

 an opinion of the virtues of this flower, as to 

 state, that a garland of violets, worn al)out the 

 head, prevented headache, or dizziness. Modem 

 writers hold a far diff'erent opinion; fo;- it is a 

 well-knowTi fact, that a great number of violets, 



B 



