Druidkal Botany. y 
With refped: to this herb, the hterobQta?2e^ 
the facra herba of DiosCorides, although 
:the modern botanifts have now agreed to 
confine the term to the verbena^ which 
Pliny has defcribed, as having narrower 
and fmaller leaves than the oak, it may be 
remarked, that there has been a diverfity 
of opinions among the commentators, re- 
lating to the plant i and it is acknowledged 
that verbena or verbenaceay Vv^as alfo applied^ 
as a general term for all plants ufed about 
the altar in facrifices. To this day the 
. Tufcans apply the word vervena to flips,, 
fhoots, fuckers, or bundles of plants of any 
kind. 
The felago was not to be cut with iron :^ 
jior touched with the naked hand^ but with 
the fagiim ; the Druid cloathed in white, and 
-his feet narked, with other magic ceremo^ 
nies. Thus colleded^ and confecrated, it 
became a remedy for difeafed eyes^ and a 
charm againft misfortunes*. 
It is, neverthelefs, equally difficult to 
determine the felago of the Druids ; Pliny" 
* lb, lib. xxiv. c. II, 
having 
