156 ^Y1LD FLOWERS. 



land. Sometimes the plant was called shave- 

 grass ; and comb-makers and other workmen 

 who wanted a polish to the articles they made, 

 rubbed them with its rough hard substance ; 

 but it was not known till recently that this 

 hardness was caused by an abundance of flint 

 in this plant. One species of horsetail (Eqiiise- 

 tiim hyemale) is still much used by whitesmiths 

 and cabinet-makers in their work, and also by 

 the Northumbrian dairymaids in cleaning their 

 milk-pails. It grows in our bogs, but not very 

 generally ; and as the swampy grounds of 

 Holland furnish it in great quantities, it is 

 imported hither from that country, and called 

 Dutch rushes. Our great water horsetail, 

 {Equisetum Jluviatile,) very frequent in ponds, 

 was a common article of food among the 

 Romans. The reindeer, which will not feed 

 upon hay, will eat this plant. 



And now the white bunches of flowers on 

 the elder tree, are gradually giving way to the 

 green elder-berries, which in a few weeks vnll 

 be quite black. The elder {Samhucus nigra) is 

 very common in woods and hedges, and its 

 wood is so hard that Pliny said of the plant 

 that it was all skin and bones. The berries are 

 poisonous to poultry, yet they make an excel- 

 lent wine. The Romans were accustomed to 

 stain their hair black with their juice ; and 

 these fruits, as well as the bark and leaves, are 

 used medicinally. So highly did the celebrated 

 physician of Leyden, Boerhaave, estimate the 

 properties of this plant, that he never passed 



