THE VIOLET. 197 



formerly believed to counteract the effects of a 

 scorpion's sting. The peasant mother though she 

 no longer uses the violet in her "pottage" ad- 

 ministers its syrup to her infant as a medicine suited 

 to its tender age ; the Moslem quaffs a similar pre- 

 paration as one of his favourite sherbets ; and the 

 chemist employs it as his most delicate test for acids 

 or alkalis ; the former giving it a red tinge, and the 

 latter one of green.* The French make the greatest 

 use of the flowers in their "confitures" and house- 

 hold remedies, and on turning over Machet's " Con- 

 fiseur Moderne/' and works of a similar character, 

 we are surprised to find the frequency of recipes for 

 conserve de violettes, glaces a la violette, marma- 

 lade de violettes, Pains souffles a la violetle (in 

 which however Prussian blue and carmine usually 

 do duty for the hue of the flower, while " iris de 

 Florence en poudre" represents its scent and 

 flavour), Pastille a la violette, pates de violettes, 

 gomme de violettes, sirop de violettes, and number- 

 less confections of a similar character. 



The root of the sweet violet V. odordta acts as a 

 most powerful emetic, and is frequently used to 

 adulterate ipecacuanha, and in fact the whole of the 

 Violacece are thus, though in various degrees, dis- 

 tinguished ; the active principle of their roots, 

 which is called violene, closely resembling emetin.'f' 



* It however only serves for this purpose when quite 

 fresh. 



f Orfila, in the "Journal de Pharmacie," January 1824, 

 describes this principle as intensely poisonous, and states 

 that it equally occurs in the flowers, leaves, seeds, and 



