The feeds are faid by Authors to poflefs a diuretic quality, and hence the powder of them has been recom- 
mended in the ftone and gravel. 
The great Bacon, who frequently defcended from his fublimer ftudies, and amufed himfelf with enquiries 
into the qualities and properties of plants, has left us a curious method of preferving the fcent of this flower 
“ 'Take Violets, and infufe a good pugil in a quart of. Vmeger , let them fland three quarters of an hour, and tab 
“ them forth, and refrefh the infufon with like quantity of Violets feven times ; and it will make a Vmeger fo f ref 
“ of the flower, as if a twelve monet h after it be brought you in a faucer, you fall fmell it before it come at you 
“ Note. It fmelleth more perfectly of the flower a good while after than at the firflV 
The illuftrious prefcriber has given no directions concerning the ufe of this preparation, but it appears to u: 
to be one of the moft grateful prefervatives againfl: infeCtion, efpecially if the ftrongeft diftilled vinegar whicl 
has been drawn over in glafs, be made ufe of. 
The Violet has been much complimented by the antient Poets ; and our Shakespeare gives it a confpi 
cuous place in his catalogue of flowers. 
“ Violets dim, 
“ But fweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes, 
cc Or Cy there a’s breath 
The Commentators have not been fuccefsful in informing us how the “ lids o/'Juno’s eyes” bear any refembl* n ° 
to “ Violets dim," not recollecting that wfixetpct^oc (having violet eyelids) was a complimentary title with the Greek poets 
This epithet alludes to a well known cuftom which ftill prevails in Greece, of colouring the eye lids blue. *“ i 
“ Grecian girl is painted blue round the eyes ; and the infides of the fockets, with the edges on which th 
“ lathes grow, are tinged with black : For colouring the lathes and focket of the eye, they throw incenfe o 
“ Gum of Labdanum on fome coals of fire, intercept the finoak which afcends, with a plate, and colled th 
“ foot : This I faw applied ; a girl fitting crofs-legged, as ufual, on a fopha, and doting one of her eyes, tool 
“ the two lathes between the fore finger and thumb of her left hand, pulling them forward, and then thruflinj 
“ in, at the external corner, a bodkin which has been immerfed in the foot, and extracting it again, the par 
“ tides before adhering to it remained within, and were prefently ranged round thp organ, ferving as a foil t 
“ its luftre, betides contributing, as they fay, to its health, and increafing its apparent magnitude,” Chandler’ 
Travels into Greece. 
Altho’ the poet of nature has been rather obfcure on this fubj'ed, where he copies the ancients ; he make 
• ample amends when he gives us the genuine effufions of his own imagination. With what precifion am 
delicacy does he defcribe the foft enchantment of plaintive mufic, as refembling the fweetnefs of this flower 
illuftrating in a beautiful fimile the object of one fenfe by that of an other ! 
“ That flrain again ; it had a dying fall-, 
“ Oh! it came o’er my ear, like the fweet fouth, 
“ That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
“ Stealing and giving odour!” 
"A Greek poet fuppofed to be a Chriftian, from the feverity of his manners and purity of his iiiftruftions, forbids this cuftom of painting the ev f 
pds, in the rules of conduct which he addrtiles to young womtui, “ f 
“ Te5iff*iv vv f o fiMQxgoi criv CTTW^ar." 
Naumachiu?. 
It is probable that the Greeks borrowed this falhion from their Afiatic neighbours ; Jezekf.l, a native of Zidon, put Iter eye, in palatine as tl 
tranflators tell us in the margin of our bible ; the Prophets alfo allude to and ctnfure this cullcm, fee Jeremiah iv. 30. Ezekiel xxiii 40! ’ 
