THE BINDWEED. 



" I pianti pietosi 

 Dei teneri amici 

 Pe'l cuore infelice, 

 Che '1 duolo colpi, 

 Son come del Cielo 

 Le molli rugiade, 

 Sul languido stelo 

 Del fior' che appasai." 



These are the " hedge bells " and " withiwinde " 

 of the old writers ; of which every flower, leaf, 

 stem, and spiral fold, is a perfect study for the artist ; 

 whether as regards form, the play of light, or the 

 shade on its surface. And were an artist, from any 

 cause to be restricted to a single plant, he might 

 well be satisfied with this, so innumerable are the 

 models it presents for his pencil. 



Nor is beauty the only merit of the plant : the 

 root has properties similar to those of the G. scam- 

 monia, and has been used as its substitute, under 

 the names of Montpellier, Bourbon, and scammony ; 

 and Galen, as we are informed by Gerarde, recom- 

 mends the leaves to be laid on hard swellings, in 

 order to disperse them. Gerarde, however, will by 

 no means admit that any plants of the tribe are 

 medicinal, treating the whole of them with the 

 utmost contempt as " not fit for medicine, and un- 

 profitable weedes, and hurtfulle unto each thing 

 that groweth next them : " and classing them amongst 

 the herbs employed by " runnagat phy sick-mongers, 

 quacksaluers, old women leeches, arid abusers of 

 phvsick, and deceiuers of people ! " But in spite of 

 this strange category of ill names, Gerarde admits 

 that the Calystegia (Convolvulus) Soldanella 



