CHAPTER IV 



Museum facilities for the identification of plants The Star of 

 Bethlehem Dame d'onze heures The greater and lesser 

 periwinkles Live and let live Sorcerer's herb The 

 " Historic of Plants, set forth from the Almaigne toong " 

 The columbine, or culverwort Lion's-tooth The u Para- 

 disus " of Parkinson Red valerian The fragrant garlic 

 The mariner's defence Our rampant stray-berries 

 The " Via Recta " of Venner Our various geraniums 

 The Doctrine of Signatures Celandine The mystical 

 vervain. 



IN some of our provincial museums it has become 

 an excellent custom to make collections of 

 living wild plants, placing them in bottles of 

 water, and naming them. 1 It is very pleasant to see 

 the attention they receive from the visitors, some of 

 whom bring with them fresh plants to add to the 



1 The Corporation Museum at Brighton has done this 

 notably well for some years. There are museums and 

 museums. In the museum of another popular seaside resort 

 on the South Coast we saw exhibited in one glass case three 

 Greek vases, the horn of a narwhal, the saucer used by 

 Nelson on the morning of his death, a Babylonian stamped 

 brick, and a mummified fish ! The over-broad classification 

 that can group together things so incongruous seems to call 

 for reconsideration. 



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