276 OUR ROCK-GARDEN 



the habit of regarding indulgence in opium as a 

 comparatively modern vice. Camerarius affirms 

 that in Italy it is " fryed with egges, as wee doe 

 tansies, and eaten with great delight." An appli- 

 cation of the bruised leaves of the feverfew with a 

 little salt and powdered glass was once in great 

 vogue as a remedy for ague, being bound to the 

 wrists of the patient. " I see no reason wherefore," 

 candidly writes one old authority, when it comes to 

 adding the glass, and more recent authorities would 

 be disposed to agree with him. " The feuerfew 

 ioyeth to grow any rubbish. There is oftentimes 

 found when it is digged up a little cole vnder the 

 strings of the roote, and neuer without it, wherof 

 Cardane, in his booke of Subtelties, setteth downe 

 diuers vaine and trifling things." The fact of "a 

 little cole " being found in a rubbish-heap does not 

 strike us as altogether improbable. It is curious to 

 notice how the old writer gathers assurance as his 

 fable unravels itself: he commences by " oftentimes," 

 but soon gets to " always," feeling, doubtless, that a 

 halting and wavering narrative would receive but a 

 halting and wavering reception. 



The common red campion Lychnis diurna that 

 we find so commonly in the country hedges in the 

 early Summer, we always welcome, since in its 

 growth and colouring it is a very attractive plant. 

 We figure it on Plate XL VI. In addition to the 

 clear pink of the corolla the whole plant is often 



