132 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
The Valerian is too large and scrambling a plant 
to hold a place in the parterre of choice flowers ; 
besides which, cats are so fond of the smell of its 
blossom as to be attracted to it, and by rolling over 
the plant to destroy its beauty, as well as that of 
the contiguous flowers. They are equally fond of 
its root, which has a disagreeable smell : they will 
roll on it and gnaw it to pieces with ecstatic delight ; 
and it seems to produce in them a kind of pleasing 
intoxication. 
The root of the Valerian is considered as a 
valuable remedy for many of those ailments which 
luxury engenders in the human frame ; exerting a 
peculiar influence on the nervous system, reviving 
the spirits, and strengthening the sight. 
