The Mandrake. 173 



were produced from the flesh of criminals which fell from the 

 <ribbet, and that they only grew in such situations ; others pre- 

 tended it grew only in one small spot in China, from whence 

 they were procured with the greatest risk and danger. Gerard 

 states, to overcome this prejudice, that both himself and servant 

 had frequently dug up these roots without receiving harm, or 

 hearing any of the shrieks it was pretended these roots sent forth. 

 Madame de Genlis speaks of an author who gave the name of 

 Mandrake to certain sprites that are procured from an egg, which 

 must be hatched in a particular manner, and which comes forth 

 a little monster, half chick and half man, that must be kept in a 

 secret chamber and fed with the seed of spikenard, and that it 

 will then prophesy every day ; which grave author also tells his 

 readers that some people of a weak judgment and fond of the 

 marvellous, pretend that these Mandrakes pay a tribute of a pis- 

 tole a day ; but this he assures them is not true, and that all they 

 can do is to make their masters lucky at play, discover to them 

 treasures, and foretell what is to happen. In the Hist. Plant, 

 ascript. Boerhave, it is stated that this plant, brought into a 

 chamber or closed room, procures sleep to those that want it. 

 The Mandrake is a species or rather belongs to the family of the 

 deadly nightshade, which grows with a long taper root like the 

 parsnip, frequently running three or four feet deep. These roots 

 are frequently forked, which assisted to enable the old quacks 

 to give it the shape of a monster. This plant does not send up 

 a stalk, but immediately arises from a circle of leaves which at 

 first stand erect; but when grown to their full size, which is 

 about a foot in length and five inches broad, of an ovate lanceo- 

 late shape, waved at the edges ; these spread open and lie on 

 the ground ; they are of a dark green, and give out a foetid scent. 

 About the month of April in England, the flowers come out 

 among the leaves, each on a scape about three inches long; they 

 are of a bell shape, with a long tube and spread into a five-cleft 

 corolla. The color of the flowers of an herbaceous white ; but 

 frequently it has a tinge of purple. The flower is succeeded by 

 a globular soft berry, when full grown, as large as a common 

 cherry, but of a yellowish green color when ripe, and full 

 of pulp intermixed with reniform seeds. It grows naturally 

 in Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Levant; it is also indige- 

 nous to China, where it enters into the compositions prepared 



