

THE MULLEIN. 61 



in medicine ; though the Kentish, like the Nor- 

 wegian, farmers consider its decoction a sovereign 

 remedy for coughs, and winter leanness, of cows. 

 Gerarde tells us, that " there be some who think that 

 this herb being but carry ed aboute one, dothe help 

 the fallinge sickness ; especially the leaves of that 

 plant which hath not as yet born flowers, and 

 gathirid when the sun is in Virgo, and the moon in 

 Aries/' prudently adding, however, " which thing, 

 notwithstanding, is vaine and superstitious : " though 

 11 Apuleius reporteth a tale of Ulysses, Mercury, and 

 the Inchantresse Circe, and their vse of these herbes 

 in their incantations and witchcrafts/' Pliny 

 and Dioscorides allude to the use of Verbascum 

 leaves for preserving figs, which are said never to 

 decay if folded in them. It is one of the many 

 herbs said to poison, or rather to stupefy fish. And, 

 according to Alexander Trallianus, its ashes, made 

 into a soap, will restore hair, which has become 

 grey, to its original colour. The seeds, which yield 

 a fine purple dye, are said by Pursh to preserve 

 their vegetative powers for very lengthened periods, 

 and thus to spring up, with an air of great mystery, 

 in ground which has been newly broken, or burnt. 



Most persons are familiar with our common 

 woolly, or great mullein (F. Thdpsus), which 

 is conspicuous for its blanket-like leaves ; but 

 the remaining British species are somewhat more 

 rare. These are the beautiful slender mullein (F. 

 virgdtum), with purple and tufted anthers, which is 

 represented in the engraving ; the moth mullein (F. 

 Blattdria), so called from its supposed powers of 



