( 32 ) 
Clafs and Order Didynamia Gymnofper- 
mia; and there can be no doubt of the 
Jpeciesy as there is but one. The flower, 
you obferve, is fo very minute, that to 
convince yourfelf of its Clafs and Order 
you muft have recourfe to your glafs; 
and alfo of its genus, which depends on 
the calyx being monophyllous, with one 
of its five teeth truncated, and on its 
having four feeds. You will know the 
Jpecies, by the fpikes being very long with 
a few reddifh pale blue flowers near the 
extremity, by its having a fmgle ftem, 
and the leaves oppofite and with nu- 
merous clefts. 
It feems very extraordinary that this in- 
iignificant plant fhould have acquired fo 
much importance in ancient times. Pliny 
tells us it was carried by EmbafTadors when 
they were fent to demand fatisfaclion for 
depredations, and that he who carried the 
plant was called Ferbenarius. He alfo in- 
forms us that is was ufed for fweeping the 
table of Jupiter His Jovis menfa verritur t 
domus pergantur lujlranturque. 
From Livy we learn that the plant Ver- 
bena was ufed in the ceremony when the 
league 
