96 



THE HERB-GARDEN 



times it is spoken of as * Upstart,' for the flower 

 rises bare from the earth in the autumn, and the 

 leaves do not appear till the following spring. 

 The bulb provides the well-known medicine called 

 Colchicum. This is very powerful, and no un- 

 skilled person should meddle with it. Colchicum 

 as a physic for rheumatism and for gout has long 

 been known both in England and France. James 

 the First was prescribed the remedy by a then 

 famous physician, Sir Theodore Mayerne, who 

 mixed it with the powder of unburied skulls. 



In the year 1563 persons who were using 

 Colchicum were warned by Turner that ' much of 

 it is sterke poyson, and will strongell a man and 

 kill him in the space of one day.' The peasantry 

 of France call the bulbs Tue chien, or Morte auoc 

 chiens^ which shows they are aware of their dan- 

 gerous qualities. The bulbs are taken up in the 

 spring. The colour of the flower is a light purple, 

 often more or less mottled. 



Like most other bulbous plants, all those we 

 have mentioned like a sandy soil and perfect 

 drainage. A sandy loam suits them very well. 



