56 FIRST STEPS IN GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



otherwise, and it is from one* of its family that we 

 get saffron. The saffron crocus flowers in Sep- 

 tember, and is of a deep purple, with orange- 

 coloured stamens, which, when dried, form the 

 saffron." 



" Why does mamma put saffron in the canary's 

 drinking-glass when he is moulting?" asked 

 Eobert. 



" Because it is of a warm and stimulating 

 nature, and appears to render the same sort of 

 service to the bird, in helping him to throw off his 

 feathers, as it does to human beings in helping 

 them to throw out troublesome eruptions of the 

 skin. Medical men frequently use it for this 

 latter purpose on the Continent, and I believe in 

 this country also. In the same tribe are some 

 handsome garden flowers, the Gladiolus Ixia, and 

 the varieties of Iris, all more or less suspicious in 

 their qualities. We have now to leave these fa- 

 miliar plants, and pass to a small tribe containing 

 the plantains and bananas, valuable tropical fruits, 

 of which you have often heard." 



" It seems strange to pass from our little cro- 

 cuses to those great trees," said Eobert. 



* Crocus sativus. 



