118 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



astringent herb, which may be infused in wine as a corro- 

 borant. In Turner's Herbal (1568) it is thus introduced 

 to us : — " Blewbottel, otherwise caled Blewblawej is named 

 in Greek, Kyanos ; in Latin, Cyanus, or Ceruleus ; in Duche, 

 Blaw Cornblumen ; in Frenche, au fioin, or blaueole, or 

 bleuet. Some herbaries call it baptisecula, or blaptisecula, 

 because it hurteth sides, which were ones called of olde 

 writers seculae." After a few words of description Turner 

 gives us two touches of romance, thus : — " About mid- 

 summer the chylder use to make garlandes of the floure. 

 It groweth much amongst rye, wherefore I thinke that 

 goode rye in an euell and vnseasonable yere doth go out 

 of kinde into this wede/'' But it was quite a common 

 belief of the time that a plant might, in growing, change 

 its nature without the aid of the ages and the slow- 

 working influences required by the modern doctrine of 

 evolution. The staying of the sickle by the corn-flower 

 is noticed by many of the old writers. Gerarde calls it 

 " hurt sickle," and saith " it hindereth and annoieth 

 the reapers by dulling and turning the edges of their 

 sickles in reaping of corne." 



Whether the old generic and specific name Cyaiiun be 

 commemorative of a beautiful youth, or whether it refers 

 directly to the blue colour of this flower, we would not 

 venture to declare. Cyanus is the name of this flower, 

 and cyaneus colour is necessarily a blue colour. The juice 

 of this flower, treated with alum, yields a beautiful blue dye, 

 which, however, is now scarcely known in the arts, because 

 long since superseded. Thus, our plant is excluded from the 

 utilities, unless we reckon as one of them what is said by 

 Turner, that " about midsummer the chylder use to make 

 garlandes of the floure." However, there is a large con- 



