WALLFLOWER. 19 



Italian garofano. We need scarcely remind any who read 

 these remarks that the etymology of our language was in 

 mediaeval times in a very chaotic state, and we find the plant 

 appearing in various old authors as the gilofre, the gyl- 

 lofer, jereflouris, and gariofilus, all more or less corrupt 

 renderings of the Latin Gary ophy Hum, a name bestowed on 

 it from its clove-like odour. The name was, however, 

 originally bestowed on the true clove, a species of pink ; 

 and while some of our earlier writers refer to this latter 

 plant as the gillofer, later authors have transferred the 

 name to the wallflower. 



The botanical name, Cheiranthus, is not altogether clear 

 in meaning. It was bestowed upon the genus by the great 

 Linnaeus, and the motive that influenced his choice seems 

 to have been lost. Some authorities boldly go to the 

 Greek, and taking the words in that language which stand 

 for ' ' the hand " and " a flower," consider that the matter 

 is settled, that the fragrance and beauty of the flower are 

 such that one willingly carries it in the hand and forms it 

 into nosegays, much in the same way as we see by the 

 Egyptian mural paintings in the tombs that the lotus was 

 a favourite flower amongst that ancient people. We see 

 the Egyptian ladies carrying it in their hands at social 

 gatherings or adorning themselves with chaplets of the 

 blossoms. Such a flower might truly be called Cheiranthns , 

 but the term seems somewhat far-fetched as applied to the 

 wallflower, which might share it at least equally appro- 

 priately with many others the violet, the primrose, the 

 cowslip, and other rural favourites. Another explanation 

 of the term is based on the Arabic word K/ieyry. In 

 mediaeval times the Arabic authorities are often quoted in 

 science and medicine, and we find that the name we have 



