PEONY. 323 



through the middle, which gives the house an agreeable 

 fragrance : the negro girls, taking one half in each hand, 

 keep singing aloud while they rub the boards. 



Speaking of the negro, Captain Stedman says " his 

 teeth are constantly kept as white as ivory : for this purpose 

 he uses nothing but a prig of Orange-tree, bitten at one 

 end until the fibres resemble a small brush ; and no negro, 

 male or female, is to be seen without this little instrument, 

 which has, besides, the virtue of sweetening the breath*."" 



Thunberg speaks of a curious Lilliputian kind of Orange, 

 growing in Japan : " A very small species of Orange 

 (Citrus Japonica) is frequently cultivated in the houses, in 

 pots. This shrub hardly exceeds six inches in height, and 

 its fruit, which is sweet and palatable, like China Oranges, 

 is not larger than an ordinary cherry -f-. 



PEONY. 



P^ONIA. 



RANUNCULACE^E. POLYANDRIA DIGYNIA. 



From Pseon, an eminent physician of antiquity. It is also a name 

 given both to Apollo and to Esculapius. French, la pivoine ; pione : 

 in the village dialect, herbe de mallet ; flor de mallet. Italian, rosa 

 de' monti [mountain rose] . 



THE Peony, from the nature of its roots, requires very 

 deep pots. There are many and beautiful varieties. The 

 White-flowered Peony is a native of Siberia : it is a hand- 

 some flower, with the scent of the Narcissus. 



The Daurians boil the roots in their broth, and grind 

 the seeds to put into their tea : they call it Dschina. 



* Captain Stedman's Expedition to Surinam, Vol. I. pages 998, 304, 

 306, 313, 362. Vol. II. p. 293. 



t Thunberg's Travels, Vol. IV. p. 121. 



