LETTER XL. 



THE MEZEREUM TRIBE — THE CINNAMON TRIBE. 

 (Plate XLI.) 



It is by no means an unusual thing for the prettiest 

 and most splendid species of the vegetable kingdom 

 to conceal the deadliest qualities. Rhododendrons, 

 Azaleas, and Kalmias, in the Heath Tribe, Blood- 

 flowers (Hsemanthus) and Crinums in the Narcissus 

 Tribe, Foxglove in its own tribe, and Ranunculuses, 

 Aconites, and Larkspurs, in that of the Crowfoot 

 are familiar instances of this ; to which you now 

 may add that of the various pretty species of the 

 Mezereum Tribe. The plant from which the name 

 is derived (Daphne Mezereum), the Spurge Laurel 

 (Daphne Laureola), the lovely trailing Cneorum 

 (Daphne Cneorum), and various other species of the 

 same genus, together with the Gnidias, and Struthiolas 

 of the greenhouse, are all acrid, suspicious plants, and in 

 some instances extremely dangerous. The berries of 

 the Mezereum and the Spurge Laurel are fatal poisons 

 to man, although birds feed upon them uninjured ; the 

 bark of all the species is so acrid, that if moistened and 

 bound down upon the skin it raises blisters, and even 

 the perfume of those which have fragrant flowers will 

 often produce fainting in persons with delicate nerves. 



