THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY; 
475 
the same parallel ; these are plants of the genera narcissus 
and galanthus. As we proceed south they increase. Pan- 
cratium appears on the shores of the Mediterranean ; crinums 
and pancratiums abound in the West and East Indies; hse- 
manthus is found for the first time with some of the latter 
on the Gold Coast ; hippeastra show themselves in countless 
numbers in Brazil, and across the whole of the continent of 
South America ; and, finally, at the Cape of Good Hope the 
maximum of the order is beheld in all the beauty of haeman- 
thus, crinum, clivia, cyrtanthus, and brunsvigia. the most 
remarkable of which is doryanthes.” — f Vegetable Kingdom/ 
p. 156. 
Our native representatives of the order are sufficiently 
interesting to deserve a passing notice here. 
The* genus Narcissus owes its name to the enamoured youth 
of that ilk, who drowned himself in that earliest of looking- 
glasses a pool of water. Under the name of daffodil, or 
daffydowndilley, it is known to most people. Dr. Syme 
says : “ Our present species, daffodil, has simply the old 
English name affo dyle, which signified f that which cometh 
early/ and it was long before the word was corrupted into 
daffodil.” 
This author goes on to say that “ the root, and to some 
extent the whole plant, is poisonous ; yet a useful spirit has 
been distilled from it, which is sometimes used as an embro- 
cation, and is also given as a medicine.” We know of no 
instance of its employment, but from its nature we should 
feel it necessary to be cautious that children, who will eat 
anything of attractive hue, did not partake of its flowers. 
The common wild single daffodil is very abundant in the 
orchards and about the hedgerows in Devon. 
The N. poeticus , the “ narcissus” or “ sissy” of our gar- 
dens, is a very handsome flower, possessing a most agreeable 
odour, but so strong when in quantity in a confined room as 
to sometimes cause serious mischief. Mrs. Lancaster tells 
us that the Chinese regard the narcissus as worthy of a place 
in the decorations of the shrines of their household gods, and 
place large china dishes of its blossoms before them on the 
first day of the new year, for which purpose the roots are 
planted in pots filled with pebbles and water, just in time to 
cause them to blow for this festival. 
The snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis , gets all its names from 
its snow-white flowers. The gardens possess of this flower a 
double form, but we think it not at all comparable to the 
single bells of the wilder examples. It is doubtful whether 
this is a truly aboriginal species in this country, as it is 
