flowers, which renders them so well adapted for use, when dried, in winter 

 "bouquets. Ouce more we are carried into the heart of the great aster faTnil)^ 

 orN.O., ^htrr<ircf/\ Linn.t:an : 10, Sijiifjenc.sia ; 2, Si(pcrjh(a. — The alliance 

 oi helichrysuni is \vith a^ihelexis. j>. '_*0. 



3VEUSK, fmm the Arnhic ii//f.'<c/i, the name of an animal from whirh a 

 perfunied substance is obtained, probably the Muntjak {Cvrnis niosrlial /is). 

 X.(_)., ScroiiJiiilariacc'C. Linn.'Ean : 14, I>i<hjnai)ihi ; 2, Ai'i/idsprniw. — 

 For s\nnniury see '■ Miniulus.*' p. o3. 



NARCISSUS, named in houoin- of Xarcissus, a youth beloved by 

 Echo. The story will be found in the third book of Ovid's " Metamorphoses." 

 It is by no means certain that the flower now known as the narcissus is that 

 which Ovid bad in view when he described the nymphs as looking in the 

 water fur the corpse of the hapless youth, but 



" (Jnly foiuiil 

 A rising stalk ^vitll yulbiw blossoms LTowrtM." 



It is, perhaps, a niatter of very small importance, but it has lieen suggested 

 that the uarcissus is not an aquatic 2:)]ant, and that the uarthecium answers 

 fairly to the conditions and the description, and may really be the nn.rcissns 

 of the fable. N.O., -Linari/iridacecc. LinnjiIAN : 6, JI(-xa)iih-l(i ; 1, Mmti)- 

 i/ijii'ki. — This is an interesting order, and should be carefully studied, more 

 esiJecially as to the jioints in which it agrees or differs mth JAViaced-^ for 

 grave mistakes are made by lovers of plants in determining the relations of 

 members of these orders. All the Amaryllids are herbaceous perennials, and 

 the majority liave bulbous roots, but this is not a constant character. The 

 leaves are sword-shaped ; the flowers are liennaphrodite, with six divisions, 

 the stamens six, the ovary three-celled, the fruit a three-celled capsule. In 

 the narcissus will be seen a striking departure from the simple structur..' of 

 the flower of a true amaryllis. The tube or corona in the centre of th." 

 flower has greatly perplexed the botanists, many of whom regard it as 

 composed of confluent stamens. In the lovely eucharis, which may be called 

 the Daffodil of the Amazons, we have a similar structure, aud the same 

 problem as to its origin. The amaryllids are scattered pretty freely about 

 the world, both in temperate aud tropical climates ; they are mostly acrid in 

 their properties, and not a few of them are decidedly poisonous. On the 

 other hand, although the lilies are in some cases acrid and dangerous, very 

 many of them are useful as food aud medicinal plants, ivhich is not often tlie 

 case with amaryUids. In this order we have in addition to the narcissus, 

 which is so acrid that cattle never eat it, the snowdrop, suowflake, nerine, 

 crinum, pancratium, hippeastrum, agave, and vuUota, all much-prized 

 garden plants. /'■ '">/• 



WINTER HEATH. The Erici derives its name from rnco, to 

 break, in allusion to the brittle nature of the wood. X. 0. , Ertcivec:. LiNNiEAN : 



