THE BUTTERWORT TRIBE. 201 



whose properties are dangerous instead of whole- 

 some ; and even the blossom, which may seem to 

 you at first sight to be shaped like that of salvia, 

 is really very different, having in some cases a long 

 spur at the back, arid not growing in whorls, be- 

 sides other less conspicuous botanical differences. 

 The snapdragon belongs to the FIGWORT tribe, 

 which contains also the curious calceolaria or 

 slipper-flower, the mimulus, fox-glove, mullein, 

 and others, not forgetting the figwort itself, a 

 plant of ill odour, which you have found in the 

 woods, with dull greenish flowers in a cluster, 

 purplish at the lip. Near to these plants there is 

 a small tribe called BUTTERWORTS, which perhaps I 

 should have passed over, except for a curious use 

 to which the common butterwort is put in Lapland, 

 and which has been described by Linnaeus." 



The children wished to know what that use was, 

 and they were told that the fresh leaves of the 

 plant are laid on a sieve, and a quantity of milk, 

 warm from the cow, is poured over them, and 

 allowed to stand a day or two, when it becomes 

 solid and compact, and most delicious to the taste. 

 The plant, it is stated, prevents the formation of 

 cream or whey, but renders the whole of the milk 



