270 



THE YOUNG NATUBALIST. 



wound wort (Stachys sylvatica), black 

 horehound [Ballota foetida) and tlie 

 hemlock, whilst ■ in the fennel and 

 sweet cicely {Myrrhis odorata) the 

 odour is pleasant and agreeable, the 

 same cannot be said of the stinking 

 cranesbill {Geranium r oh ertianum) } the 

 beautiful scarlet stems and red flowers 

 of which are sadly belied by its un- 

 pleasant smell. The mountain ground- 

 sel (Seneeio sylvaticus) and the common 

 ragweed (S. jacobea) have fairly earned 

 a place in this category. So offensive 

 is the odour of certain exotic plants, 

 such as the stapelias and rafflesia that 

 carrion flies actually lay their eggs on 

 the malodorous blossoms. But to our 

 nostrils the most intolerabb effluvia 

 are emitted by the fungi, chiefest of 

 which is the notorious stinkhorn 

 (Phallus impudicus), compared with 

 which rotting carrion is mild and 

 bland ; and yet, for as intolerable as it 

 is to us, flies greedily devour the slimy 

 exudation with which it is covered. 

 The peculiar odours of fermentation 

 and putrif action are both caused by 

 low forms of fungoid life ; and so dis- 

 tinct are certain classes of vegetable 

 odours that when we speak of a fungoid 

 or ferny smell, the difference is quite 

 comprehended by the popular mind. 

 The pleasant and attractive odours 

 which emanate from many kinds of 

 ripe fruits, as the delicious aroma from 

 the luscious strawberry, the raspberry, 

 currants, &c, and the more pungent 



secretions in the fruits of various urn- 

 beilifers as carraway, dill, anise, &c, 

 may be referred to the attractive sec- 

 tion as alluring birds to feed on the 

 fruit and thereby disseminate the seeds. 

 Perhaps the most puzzling and inex- 

 plicable of the phenomena of plant per- 

 fumes are the odours exhaled during 

 the drying and dessicating of plants. 

 Thus the peculiar balmy fragrance of 

 newly mown hay, is attributed to a 

 characteristic chemical change taking 

 place in the stems of the sweet scented 

 vernal grass (Anihoxanlhum odoratum), 

 this product is called coumarin, and 

 can be exactly imitated in the labora- 

 tory of the chemist ; but these combi- 

 nations technically known as carbo- 

 hydrates are proverbially unstable and 

 extremely liable to have their equilib- 

 rium disturbed by heat or moisture. 

 To this principle we also owe the 

 delicious aroma which emanates from 

 the dried leaves of woodruff: when 

 fresh, the flowers emit a delicate per- 

 fume; but when drying, the whole 

 plant becomes powerfully fragrant — a 

 property which it retains for a long 

 time. In rural districts it is a common 

 practice to place the plant between the 

 leaves of books so as to retain its scent, 

 and the rustic ploughman used to 

 insert the wheel -shaped whorl of leaves 

 in the old-fashioned double-cased 

 watches; but as these are fast be- 

 coming obsolete, the innocent custom 

 will also doubtless soon be extinct. 



