MONKESHOOD, 
i 
you to your cost, they are not so good as they seem 
to be.” 
It is amusing to note how these grand old masters, who 
produced such books as we, degenerate triflers, dare not 
even think of because of the years of work and the 
thousands of pounds we should have to expend upon them 
—it is amusing to note how they struggled against super- 
stition with the right hand, and occasionally opened the 
door for it to enter with the left. There is a charming 
winter-fHowerine aconite that should be grown in every 
garden ; its flowers are pale yellow, and it 1s known as 
Hranthis hyematis, Parkinson’s name bene cond/um 
hyemale. his is the ‘ counter-poison monkeshood,” the 
roots of which “are effectual not only against the poison 
of the poisonful helmet flower, and all others of that kind, 
but also against the poison of all venomous beasts, the 
plague or pestilence, and other infectious diseases, which 
raise spots, pockes, or markes in the outward skin, by ex- 
pelling the poison from within, and defending the heart as 
a most sovereign cordial.” 
Apart from the consideration of its possible and actual 
mischievousness, the monkshood is a noble border flower. 
It grows to a height of three to four feet, the upper half 
of the strong stems being closely beset with hooded flowers 
of a fine dark blue colour, elegantly accompanied with 
leaves that are deeply and distinctly cut into narrow- 
pointed segments. Its name, Aconitum nupellus, is derived 
from dAcouz,* the supposed place of its origin, and napus, 
a turnip, from the likeness of its roots to the long white 
* Theophrastus so derives it, from ’Axdéva:, but Ovid derives it from 
axdyvn, as growing on sharp steep rocks. But as all the species require 
some depth of good soil, the reference of Ovid must be to some other plant. 
