THE HAWKWEED. 



TV the iivst su))staiiti;il lx)ok of 

 botany in tlie Eno'lish lan- 

 guage — the " Herbal " of 

 AVilliam Turner, l.jGS — tlie 

 hawkweed is aduiitted to the 

 liigli dignity of affording a 

 jiroldeni in nomenclature. Tlio 

 older botanists were so ready 

 at all times to Ijelieve any- 

 thing, that it is quite amusing 

 to find Turner saying, " I 

 can not gessc why this herbe 

 shoulde have the name of a 

 liawkc, seing other herbes have 

 the same properties that this 

 hath." But it sugg'ests to us 

 that I'higlishmen were begin- 

 ning to think for themselves in 

 the reign of Elizaljeth, and the v,'nj was fast preparing for 

 that true science whereof the great Lord Bacon was destined 

 to s[ieak as a prophet and to act as a master. However, 

 to keep to Tui'ucr for a moment, and forget all that happened 

 after him, he comforts us with a liit of philosophical 

 etymolo<^-\'. He says the hawkwcod probably takes its name 



