fhithich, raven's berry ; caor fionnaig, crow-berry), the berries which 

 the Highland children are very fond of eating, though rather 

 bitter. Taken in large quantities, they cause headache. Grouse 

 are fond of them. Boiled with alum they are used to produce a 

 dark-purple dye. Lus na stalog (O'Reilly), the starling's plant. 

 Brallan du. Threlkeld probably means breallan dubh, the black 

 knobby plant, on account of its black berries. 



Badge of the Macleans ; by some authorities, also of the 

 Camerons. 



EUPHORBIACE^E. 



Euphorbia exigua }_ Spurge . Gaelic and Irish : spuirse 



„ helioscopia ) 



= spurge. Foinne - lus, wart-wort. Manx : lus-ny-fahnnashyn, 



same meaning. 



E. Hiberna — Meacan buidhe an t-sleibhe. Meaning — the yellow 

 plant of the hill. The Journal of Botany, 1873, gives the name 

 as "Makkin bwee\" "A name of some interest as being one of 

 the few Gaelic names that has found its way (spelt as 'Makinboy') 

 into English books.'' Our common plants are distinguished by 

 the milky juice they exude when bruised, growing frequently on 

 cultivated fields. The peasantry of Kerry use this plant for 

 stupefying fish. So powerful are its qualities that a small basket, 

 filled with the bruised plant, suffices to poison the fish for several 

 miles down a river. 



E. peplus — Petty spurge. Gaelic and Irish : lus leigheis, 

 healing plant. The plants of this genus possess powerful cathartic 

 and emetic properties. E. helioscopia has a particularly acrid 

 juice, which is often applied for destroying warts, hence it is 

 called foinne-lus. Irish : gear neimh (gear or geur, severe, and 

 neimh, poison, the milky juice being poisonous). 



E. paralias — Sea-spurge. Irish : buidhe na ningean, (O'Reilly), 

 the yellow plant of the waves (nin, a wave), its habitat being 

 maritime sands. Not found in Scotland, but in Ireland, on the 

 coast as far north as Dublin. 



Buxus sempervirens— Box. Gaelic and Irish : bocsa, an altera- 

 tion of Trvgos, the Greek name. Latin : buxus. 



" Suidhichidh mi aims an fhasach an giuthas, an gal] ghiuthas, agus as 

 bocsa le cheile." — Isaiah. 



I will set in the desert the fir-tree and the pine and the box together. 



