90 FIRST STEPS IN GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



their branched form ; but the wood is very light 

 and spongy." 



" Nettles are of no 'use, are they, papa, but really 

 mischievous, on account of their sting ?" 



" We have no right to say of any created thing 

 that it is of no use ; and if you were acquainted 

 with old herbals, you would find great virtues 

 ascribed to nettles, and to their relation, ' Pellitory 

 of the Wall.' But if we do not place entire faith 

 in these accounts, we yet learn that cordage can 

 be made from nettles ; that a species with tuberous 

 roots* has been used instead of potatoes, and that 

 even the stinging quality has been made use of 

 in cases of paralysis, the benumbed limb being 

 flogged with nettles, to restore sensation." 



Mary said, that if there was any life left in the 

 limb, the person would be sure to feel the sting ; 

 but her father told her that he had never heard of 

 a case in which this rough treatment was of much 

 service. 



"As some nettles/' he said, "can be made into 

 cordage, so the HEMP tribe, which follows, is of 

 great service, on account of the tough fibres of the 

 well-known hemp,t from which our ropes, door- 



* Urtioa tuberosa. t Canndbis sativa. 



