DOG'S-BANE. 



the leaf, or retain any particle of its juice. I caught some 

 of them, and put them into a phial ; but neglecting to add 

 some leaves of the Herbe-a-la-puce, they had by the next 

 morning lost their splendid coat, and merely resembled 

 the common red lady-fly which we have in England. I 

 then caught a few more, and having supplied them well 

 with the leaves of that plant, they retained their gold 

 tinge equally as well as in the open air. In a few days 

 they had reduced the leaves to mere skeletons, but as 

 long as there remained a morsel of the stalks or fibres to 

 feed upon, their beautiful appearance continued. I kept 

 them upwards of a month in this manner ; giving them 

 occasionally fresh leaves of the plant, and admitting the 

 air through some holes that I pricked in the paper with 

 which I had covered the mouth of the phial. They would 

 feed upon no other plant than the Herbe-a-la-pucs, from 

 which alone they derived their beauty. I afterwards gave 

 them their liberty, and they flew away apparently little 

 the worse for their confinement*." 



The Tutsan-leaved, the St. John's-wort-leaved, and the 

 Spear-leaved kinds will bear the open air, if not exposed 

 to too much wet ; which, as they are very succulent, would 

 rot them. They may be increased by parting the roots, 

 which should be done in March. 



Hemp Dog's-bane, a native of North America, is used 

 by the Indians for various purposes: they prepare the 

 stalks as we do hemp, and make twine, fishing-nets and 

 lines, bags, and linen of them. According to Kalm, this 

 is the species which the Canadians call Herbe-a-la-puce. 



In Mrs. Charlotte Smith's Conversations are some lines 

 upon the fate of a poor fly, lured to its prison by the de- 

 ceitful sweetness of the Apocynum. 



* Lambert's Travels through Canada, &c. vol. i. p. 435. 



