JUNE. 115 



That the bugloss " paints the sterile soil," is 

 very evident from its places of growth; yet 

 Loudon says truly, it is perhaps the handsomest 

 of our native flovi'ers. About Cambridge, where 

 the country, by its barren soil and stunted vege- 

 tation, reminds us of the sea-coast, the bugioss 

 is very commonj and is called by country people, 

 cat's tail. 



The foliage of this flower is so thickly beset 

 with prickles, that even those animals, which, 

 like the donkey, browse on the thistle-tops, 

 shrink from its spiny leaves and stems ; and 

 professor Martyn observes, that when the bees 

 pause in their flight, to suck the honey from its 

 rich blue bells, their delicate wings are torn, 

 before they can make their escape from the 

 plant. The same writer, speaking of its fre- 

 quency in Cambridge, among the spring-corn, 

 says, "that the agriculturists of that land, 

 have remarked, that it appears most plentiful 

 every third year, when the fields are quite blue 

 with its flowers." 



The general name of viper's bugloss is com- 

 mon to the plant in several countries of Europe. 

 Thus the Spaniard calls it herhu de la vibora ; 

 and the Frenchman la viperine ; and it is 

 amusing to trace the odd fancies which led to 

 its being thus designated. The spotted stem re- 

 sembles the skin of a snake, and the seeds are 

 each like a viper's head ; and our forefathers, 

 who looked upon these marks as the signs of 

 some corresponding virtues, inferred that the 

 plant must heal the bite of a viper. On the 



