ir 



pittlUitt. 





DcrbttSCUin tl)afiSU3. Natural Order: ScrophuIa>-iacece—Figv:ort Family. 



LRBASCUM, or Mullein, is a common wayside plant, that 



Ik we will dignify with a place in this volume as a slight 



recompense lor the abuse it has ever, and will ever, receive. 



^^ Condemned as a weed, considered as evidence of an untidy 



landholder wherever it is seen occupying the fields, its statel}' 



stalk a target for every roadside rambler's stick, it has at least 



some Mitues, and less vice than it generally obtains credit for, and 



t^ shall leceive a tribute for the memory of childhood, when we remem- 

 - - bei seeing its golden blossoms so far above our head. The whole 

 plant piesents a gray appearance, from the dense woolly texture that 

 'co\eis Its leaves and stalk. It is said to have been used in ancient 

 rtimes as wicks for lamps, or was placed in small vessels of oil, and one 

 end lighted, the oil continually creeping up its dense surface, supplying the flame 

 with fuel; and many a country lassie has been indebted for her rosy cheeks to a 

 pilfered leaf, whose rough surface she has furtively applied to her smooth skin. 

 The plant has several medicinal properties, being demulcent, anti-spasmodic, and 

 useful as an anodj'ne. The German name is zvollkrant, signifying wool-plant. 



iooh "^atur^. 



/"'OOD humor only teaches charms to last, 

 ^ Still makes new conquests, and maintains 



TTE keeps his temper'd mind serene and pure, 

 And ev'ry passion aptly harmonized, 



Amid a jarring world. 



- Tliompsi 



A SWEETER and a lovelier gentleman, 

 Framed in the prodigality of nature. 

 The spacious world cannot again afford. 



—Shakesi 



qp HOUGH time her bloom is stealing, 



A There 's still beyond his art — 

 The wild-flower wreath of feeling. 



The sunbeam of the heart. —Hallec/.: 

 214 



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