LETTER XLIII. 



THE MADDER TRIBE THE SCABIOUS TRIBE. 



Plate XLIV. 



Your old housekeeper is right; on this occasion 

 she proves a better Botanist than her mistress. There 

 is no danger whatever in using Goosegrass for a sieve ; 

 and it is quite true that it was formerly so employed, 

 until the cheapness of wire- work superseded it. Only 

 take a handful of the dry stems, press them into a 

 bowl without a bottom, or into a colander, and pour 

 over them any thing you have a mind to strain. You 

 will see that the liquid will come away as clear as if 

 it had been poured through a sieve. Goosegrass 

 possesses this property in consequence of its surface 

 being covered over with myriads of fine hairs, har- 

 dened and curved by the hand of nature into hooks 

 {Plate XLIV. l./^.4.& 7.), which catch up and hold 

 fast whatever may float in water, with just as much 

 certainty as it would be intercepted by the close 

 meshes of a sieve. As to its harmless qualities, you 

 need have no fear upon that score, if you remark its 

 near affinity to the Honeysuckle and Coffee Tribes 

 (Vol. I. p. 17G.)' Let me just note down the principal 

 points that are worthy of notice in its structure. 



GooscyrasSj Cleavers, Whiptomjue (Galium Aparine\ 



