IMAGINARY KNOWLEDGE. 291 



solemn quackery 8 ; thus, they direct us to gather 

 some plants, standing from the wind, and with our 

 bodies anointed ; some by night, some by day, some 

 before the sun falls on them. So far there may 

 be something in their rules. But others are too 

 fantastical and far-fetched. It is, perhaps, not ab- 

 surd to use a prayer in plucking a plant ; but they 

 go further than this. We are to draw a sword 

 three times round the mandragora, and to cut it 

 looking to the west : again, to dance round it, and 

 to use obscene language, as they say those who sow 

 cumin should utter blasphemies. Again, we are 

 to draw a line round the black hellebore, standing 

 to the east and praying; and to avoid an eagle 

 either on the right or on the left ; for say they, ' if 

 an eagle be near, the cutter will die in a year.' " 



This extract may serve to show the extent to 

 which these imaginations were prevalent, and the 

 manner in which they were looked upon by Theo- 

 phrastus, our first great botanical author. And we 

 may now consider that we have given sufficient 

 attention to these fables and superstitions, which 

 have no place in the history of the progress of real 

 knowledge, except to show the strange chaos of 

 wild fancies and legends out of which it had to 

 emerge. We proceed to trace the history of the 

 knowledge of plants. 



U2 



