188 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



its blossom out of the earth before either its 

 leaves or stalk; and it has therefore been 

 called Filius ante Patrem, the father before 

 the son. 



The true saffron crocus is that which 

 grows and blossoms in autumn, of a blue 

 purplish colour, and of a pleasant scent; the 

 beautiful yellow stamina of which form the 

 saffron of the Materia Medica, and it is truly 

 wonderful how rich these chives are in 

 odour, taste, and colour, and how power- 

 ful their virtues are in medicine. Provi- 

 dence seems to have ordained that certain 

 parts of particular vegetables should possess 

 a determined kind of body, so different from 

 others in its virtues and powers, that they 

 seem intended to employ our minds in seek- 

 ing for the benefits bestowed on us through 

 the vegetable world ; for of some plants 

 man takes the root, of others the stalk, the 

 leaves, the blossoms, the buds, the fruit, the 

 seed, the pod, the bark, the fibres, the sap, 

 and the pith, to add to his gratifications ; but 

 in the crocus every part is neglected, but 

 the organs of fructification, so minutely has 

 nature been investigated to discover remedies 

 for our maladies ; and this September flower 

 seems particularly to tell us, " The Lord 



