316 WILD FLOWERS. 



species are, I believe, the only Linums which have 

 other than mild, emollient, and mucilaginous quali- 

 ties ; notwithstanding which, we learn from Sir 

 John Herschell the astonishing fact, that old linen 

 rags will, when treated with sulphuric acid, yield 

 more than their own weight of sugar* Verily 

 chemists are the real alchemists ; the genii whose 

 wands are more potential than those of the most 

 wonderful fairies of old ! It is something even to 

 have lived in days when our worn-out napkins may 

 possibly re-appear on our tables in the form of 

 sugar ! 



A mere description of the little plant, L. cathdrti- 

 cum, could convey no adequate idea of its appear- 

 ance ; and rather than attempt it, I would guide 

 the reader to the hill-sides where it abounds, and 

 show him how its silvery- shaped blossoms open in 

 the bright sunshine, or gently incline their delicate 

 heads towards the dew-laden turf, through which 

 its white blossoms gleam like a pearly web : I 

 would guide him to the spots where the pink stars 

 of the lesser centaury, and the pretty wild spurrey 

 grow on the open grounds ; for there he would 

 usually find, in the months of June and July, the 

 fairy's flax in all its native beauty. 



In Great Britain we have only four Linums, the 

 common flax (L. usitat'tssimum), the perennial (L. 

 perenne), the narrow-leaved (L. awgustifoliuni), 

 and the L. cathdrticum ; and doubts have even 

 been raised as to whether the first is not an intro- 

 duced plant, though now truly wild in many localities. 

 See Ids " Natural Philosophy." 



