THE GOOSEFOOT TRIBE. 171 



" I think that must have been your fancy," said 

 his father : " but it certainly is one of the most 

 detestable odours in vegetable nature ; and I can- 

 not wonder at your hatred of it. Some of the 

 species, common in our own fields and waste 

 ground, have an unpleasant scent; but it is not 

 to be compared to that of this sea-side species, 

 which most resembles putrid fish." 



Mary wondered what could be the use of such 

 disagreeable weeds ; and her father told her that 

 stinking goosefoot is spoken highly of as a remedy 

 for spasmodic complaints. Eobert said he thought 

 it would stop his breath entirely to be obliged to 

 swallow such a dreadful medicine ; but he was 

 assured that when the body is racked with violent 

 pain, people never inquire whether the medicine 

 is nauseous or otherwise, but gladly and thankfully 

 receive whatever is likely, by the blessing of God, 

 to afford them relief. 



His father here passed by some foreign tribes of 

 plants, with the mere mention of the useful pepper 

 plants, on the one hand, and the ornamental ine- 

 sembryanthemums, on the other; "But not far 

 from these," he said, " come a number of hand- 

 some shrubs, contained in the MEZEREUM and 



