IRIDACEJE. 147 



it is particularly atnndaut. It was at ono time considered as peculiarly sacred to 

 the Virgin Mary, as shown in the legend of the old knight, who, more devout than 

 learned, became a monk, but could never retain in his memory more than two words 

 of a prayer to the Virgin. These wore "Ave Maria," and with these he constantly 

 addressed his prayer to heaven. Night and day his prayer continued, until the good 

 old knight died, and was laid in the chapel-yard of the convent, when, as a proof of 

 the acceptance of his brief but earnest prayer, there sprang up a plant of fleur-de-lys, 

 which displayed in every flower the words " Ave Maria " shining as golden letters. 

 The sight induced the monks, who had despised him during his lifetime on ac- 

 count of his ignorance, to open his grave ; and there they found the root of the plant 

 resting upon the lips of the good old soldier who lay moiildeiing there. 



Writers who have thought and made research on the subject of the origin of the 

 fleur-de-lys as an emblem in the arms of France, conclude that it was a conventional 

 symbol long before it was thus adopted, that it was employed as an ornament in that 

 country two centuries before the reign of Louis IX., and that it is rather the triple 

 leaf which, being anciently used in heraldry, suggested the form of the fleur-de-lys. 

 It is still a question whether the form was intended to represent the flower, or a 

 halbert's head, or, as some say, a toad. 



The flower was called, according to Philinns, " the wolf," from its supposed 

 resemblance to the lips of that animal ; and some made it the symbol of a messenger, 

 on account of its name of Iris. It was held in the highest esteem in medicine, curing 

 coughs, bruises, "evil spleens," convulsions, dropsies, and serpents' bites, and as 

 Gerarde says, " doth mightihe and vehementlie draw forth choler." It was even em- 

 ployed as a cosmetic, and still finds favour with our rustic maidens for this purpose. 

 But it must be used with caution, as Gerarde thus refers to its powers : " Clene washed 

 and stamped with a few drops of rosewater, and laid plaisterwise upon the face of 

 man or woman, it doth in two dales at most take awaie the blacknesse and blewnesse 

 of any stroke or bruse, so that if the skinne of the same woman, or any other person, 

 be very tender and delicate, it shall be needful that ye laye a piece of silk, sendaUe, 

 or a piece of fine laune, between the plaistre and the skinne, for otherwise in such 

 tender bodies it often causeth hete and inflammation." 



The Romans called the plant cmisecratrix, from its being used in purifications, 

 and Pliny mentions certain ceremonies in digging up the plant, which are very 

 similar to those described by him and by Theophrastus in other cases. The juice of 

 the plant has been employed to produce sneezing, and so relieve headache, and a slice 

 of the root held in the mouth is said to relieve toothache. It is singular that its acrid 

 qualities are entirely dissipated by drying, after which it acts only as an astringent. 

 With sulphate of iron it yields a black dye. The angular seeds, when ripe, form a 

 good substitute for coflee, but must be well roasted before using. The dried rhizome 

 of one species of Iris growing in southern countries is known by the name of " orria 

 root," and ia a frequent ingredient ki toothpowder. 



SPECIES ni.— IRIS TUBEROSA. Linn. 



Plate MCCCGXCVI. 



Helch. Ic. n. Germ, et Helv. Vol. IX. Tab. CCCXLVIII. 



Hermodactylus tuberosus,,SrtZw6. Gren. & Godr.'E\. de Fr. Vol. III. p. 2-15. Pari. 

 Fl. Ital. Vol in. p. 313. 



Iihizoine an oblong-cylindrical horizontal conno-tuber, the old 



