r 



li^ttu. 



lll'tita Moica. Natural Order: Ui-ticacecc — Nettle Family. 





l\TICA, from the Latin tiro, I burn, is the very expressive 

 .I'll! appropriate botanical name of this familiar nuisance, as one 

 I iMiiot come in contact with it without being stung. Through 

 11^ innumerable tubular hairs there passes a viscous, venomous 

 --■iLn. fluid into the pores of the skin, creating a sensation that is 

 '^'■fintensely disagreeable and indescribable. Hence the term 

 <'ncttled is a synonym for chagrin or any mortifying sensation. The 

 "Greek epithet dioica denotes belonging to the household, or familiar. 

 "ip^Tlie flowers of the nettle are small and green. The leaves of the 

 ik-r yo'J"Ji plants are sometimes used as a potherb, but of course have to 

 *^^ be gathered with gloves. Some of the Asiatic varieties yield a fiber 

 \^ that is sometimes utilized as a substitute for hemp. There are in all 

 ibout twenty-three genera and three hundred species of nettles. 



^bnbn 



'Tj'ROM door to door vou might have seen him speed, 



Or plac'd amid a group of gaping fools, 

 And whispering in their ears witli his foul lips. 



-Pollotk. 



I shaft, at random sent. 

 Finds mark the archer little meant; 

 And many a word, at random spoken, 

 Mav soothe or wound a heart that's broke 





OLANDEROUS reproaches and foul infamies, 

 ^ Leasings, backbitings and vainglorious crakes, 

 Bad counsels, praises, and false flatteries; 

 All these against that fort did bend their batteries. 



—Sputser. —Scott. 



TF I am traduc'd by tongues, whicli neither know 



My faculties nor person, yet will be 

 The chroniclers of my doing — let me say, 

 'Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake 

 That \irtue must go through. —.'ilmkesfrnre. 



OKILL'D by a touch to deepen scandal's tints While mingling truth with falsehood, sneers with smiles, 

 ^ With all the kind mendacity of hints. And thread of candor \vith a web of wiles. 



