FLORA DOMESTICA. 



liquor. We are told by Linnaeus that the Swedes pre- 

 pare a beer from them, which they consider very efficacious 

 in scorbutic cases ; and that for the same purpose the 

 Laplanders drink an infusion of them, as we do tea or coffee. 

 Juniper wine is sometimes made, and is said to be a very 

 wholesome one. 



Who would suppose that the word Gin has most likely a 

 common origin with a female name famous in poetry and 

 romance Ginevra, or Gineura ? The Italian word for Ju- 

 niper is Ginebro, or Ginepro, which, by an alteration com- 

 mon to the South, becomes Ginevro. The French word is 

 Genevre, corrupted into our word Geneva. The name of 

 Ariosto's favourite lady was Gineura, which gave him oc- 

 casion to immortalize the Juniper-tree, as Petrarch did the 

 laurel. He says, in one of his sonnets, that with the leave 

 of Apollo and Bacchus he will be crowned with Juniper, 

 and not with the bay or the ivy : 



" Quell* arboscel, che in le solinghe rive 

 A 1* aria spiega i rami orridi ed irti, 

 Ed' odor vince i pin, gli abeti, e i mirti, 

 E lieto e verde al caldo, e al ghiaccio vive. 



II nome ha di colei, che mi prescrive 

 Termine e leggi a' travagliati spirti 

 Da cui seguir non potran Scille o Sirti, 

 Ritrarmi, o le brumali ore, o lo estive ; 



E se benigno influsso di pianeta, 

 Lunghe vigilie, od amorosi sproni, 

 Son per condurmi ad onorata meta ; 



Non voglio (e Febo, e Bacco mi perdoni) 

 Che lor frondi mi mostrino poeta, 

 Ma che un Ginebro sia che mi coroni." 



ARIOSTO, SONN. 7. 



" The shrub that on solitary shores spreads to the air its dark and 

 bristled branches, outscenting pines, and firs, and myrtles ; still green 

 in summer's heat, and winter's cold ; bears the name of her who pre- 

 cribes terras and laws to my troubled soul : laws that I will not be 

 turned from following, either by rocks, or whirlpools ; either in the 



