348 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



and this sense certainly appears better to accord with the 

 context. It has indeed little or no meaning, as translated 

 by Davidson. Virgil is warning a youth not to put too 

 much value on beauty, and, as Miller observes, would be 

 more likely to draw his comparison from the flowers and 

 fruit of the same plant than to mention two different ones. 

 In mentioning the hyacinth, too, his comparison has no 

 weight, since that flower is generally esteemed as excelling 

 the Privet flower in beauty. 



The Privet blossom has been frequently celebrated for 

 its whiteness : 



" Amarilli, del candido ligustro 

 Piu Candida e piu bella, 

 Ma dell' aspido sordo 

 E piu sorda, e piu fera, e piu fugace." 



GCJARINJ, PASTOR FIDO, Act 1, Scene 2. 



" Amaryllis, yet more fair, 

 More white than whitest privets are ; 

 But than the cruel aspic still 

 More cruel, wild, and terrible." 



-" The privet, too, 



Whose white flowers rival the first drifts of snow 

 On Grampia's piny hills." 



GRAINGER. 



The blossom of the Privet, when exposed to the noon- 

 day sun, withers almost as soon as it blows : in the shade 

 it not only lasts longer, but is much larger. The leaves, 

 too, like those of the Laburnum, are much larger and finer 

 when so placed. 



Upon Pliny's authority, it has been affirmed that the 

 Privet is the Cyprus of the East. Gerarde confers that 

 distinction on the Mock-Privet, or Phillyrea, He asserts 

 that the Mock-Privet is the Cyprus of old authors, and the 

 Henna of the Turks and Arabians, used to dye the hair 

 and nails. 



