210 WILD FLOWERS. 



rheumatism, and intermittent fevers, and the Ger- 

 man nurses appear to imply its use in consumption. 

 But it is now, happily, like many other virulent 

 medicines discontinued ; having, perhaps, lost much 

 of its fame through the incalculable harm done by 

 the once much vaunted " Portland powder," a so- 

 called specific for gout, of which this plant formed 

 the basis. It is still much used in Paris as a cos- 

 metic under the title of poudre de Cypre, and the 

 leaves, blossom, &c., contain a saponaceous principle 

 in so large a quantity that cottage " housewives " 

 frequently use it for washing linen, blankets, &c. 

 Yery large quantities of the root are annually 

 gathered, and supplied to dealers for the manufac- 

 ture of the finer kinds of starch. Hence one of the 

 old English names of the plant is " starch-wort/' 

 Dioscorides says that the leaves dried and boiled 

 form an excellent food ; and Wedelius, as quoted 

 by Dr. Withering, supposes this to have been the 

 herb on which, under the name of chara, the sol- 

 diers of Caesar subsisted when encamped at Dyr- 

 rachium. A curious belief is recorded by ^Elian, 

 Aristotle, and others, that when bears were nearly 

 starved from hybernating with no nourishment 

 save that obtained by " sucking their paws/' they 

 were, in the spring, completely and suddenly re- 

 stored by eating this plant. 



The arum is called by Pliny aris and aron, the 

 last of which appears to have formerly been the 

 usual mode of writing the name in English. He 

 attributes to it an Egyptian origin. A great deal 

 of ingenuity has been expended by modern writers 



