218 LETTER XVIII. 



cup, but their anthers arise from its border, which at 

 once distinguishes them from the Daffodil. 



It is to this order that also belong the golden 

 Sternbergia of autumn, the scarlet Amaryllises of Bra- 

 zil, the Belladonna Lilies of the Cape, and Crinums, 

 with their long and relaxed petals, sometimes of the 

 French white, and sometimes deeply stained with 

 crimson. Sjioiu-drops, too (Galanthus), and Snow- 

 flakes (Leucojum), whose names so well express their 

 colour, the ruby-petaled Nerines, to which belongs 

 the Guernsey Lily; dindi Blood-flowers (Hsemanthus), 

 whose juice is a mortal poison, are all allies of the 

 Narcissus. 



We have often seen that venomous properties lurk 

 beneath the fairest forms, and that external appear- 

 ance offers no beacon to warn the traveller of the 

 plants in which danger lies concealed. The Nar- 

 cissus tribe affords another instance ; the bulbs of the 

 Daffodil are emetic, those of the Blood-flower yield a 

 deadly gluey poison, with which the African savages 

 smear their arrow-heads, and the bulbs of the whole 

 tribe are suspicious. Fortunately, however, its bota- 

 nical characters are so precise, that there is no difli- 

 culty in distinguishing it from all others. 



So like is a Crocus to some of the Narcissus tribe, 

 that a student would naturally suppose it to belong 

 to it, especially when he found that it also had an in- 

 ferior ovary, with three cells, and its sepals and petals 

 so much alike, as to be distinguishable only by one 

 being rather differently coloured, and placed on the 

 outside of the other. It differs, however, in having 



