NAT. ORDER. — IRIDACE^. 
17 
from all we can learn it is a native of Asia. It has long been culti- 
vated in many countries; but the English Saffron is generally preferred 
here to that which is imported from other countries, and may be dis- 
tinguished by its being larger and broader. All the different plants 
f this genus are by Linnaeus considered only as varieties of the Cro- 
cus sativus. Jacquin, however, makes a distinct species of the Spring 
Crocus: in that he has been followed by Curtis; and Miller, who de- 
scribes four species of this family, thinks all of them must be allowed 
to be specifically different, since they do not vary from each other. 
The stigmata of the Crocus which we have given, and which consti- 
tutes the officinal Saffron, are easily to be distinguished from those of 
the other varieties, and are in the places where it is chiefly cultivated 
prepared for use in the following manner. In autumn, when the flow- 
ers appear, they are gathered every morning, and are spread upon a 
table ; the stigmata, along with a portion of the style, are then picked 
from the other parts of the flowers, which are thrown away as useless. 
The stigmata being thus collected in sufficient quantity, are then dried, 
which is effected by means of portable kilns, of a peculiar construc- 
tion, over which a hair cloth is stretched ; and upon this are placed a 
few sheets of white paper, on which the stigmata are strewed, about 
two or three inches thick, and then covered with several sheets of 
paper, over which is laid a coarse blanket, five or six times folded, or 
a canvas bag filled with straw ; and when the fire has heated the 
kiln, a board, on which a weight is put, is placed upon the blanket, in 
order to press the Saffron into a cake. For the first hour a pretty 
strong fire is employed; the Saffron is then found to be formed into a 
cake, which, after being turned, is subjected for another hour to the 
same degree of heat: it is then turned a second time, and a more gen- 
tle heat is applied for about twenty-four hours, or till the cake becomes 
dry, during which time it is turned every half hour. 
According to the Grecian mythology, the name of this flower is 
derived from Crocas, a youth who was consumed by the ardor of his 
love for the nymph, Smilax, and afterwards changed into the flower 
