PLANT NAMES 37 



Mignonette, is from resido, to abate, from its virtue 

 for bruises. Wormwood has no reference either to 

 worms or wood. Its German form is Vermuth, and 

 its Hteral sense is " ware mood " — i.e., preserver of 

 the mind, a safeguard against madness. Tansy is 

 a shortened form of athanasia, the Greek for immor- 

 taHty, from its supposed virtue to prolong hfe. 

 Erynguim is from a Greek word meaning " to belch," 

 Dioscorides says because it was a remedy against 

 flatulence. Tussilago, or Coltsfoot, comes from tussis, 

 a cough. Pliny states that it had been in use from 

 remote times for curing colds, the fumes of the 

 burning weed being inhaled through a reed. And 

 some have suggested that Coltsfoot is properly 

 coldswood, but this is unlikely. A good many 

 Enghsh folk-names of plants arose from the sup- 

 posed likeness of the leaf to the foot of an animal, 

 and contained the syllables " hoof," " cloot," and 

 *' foot." Such names are given to the Violet, the 

 Marsh Marigold, the Burdock, and the yellow Water 

 Lily. 



