A Thirsty June 
heads applied “ to the Crown of the Head (being first 
shaved), is said to be profitable against Dotage ! ” The 
Poppy was one of the flowers sacred to Venus ; they were 
also supposed — at least the Red Poppies — to have sprung 
from the drops of the blood of the Dragon slain by Saint 
Margaret. A nice name for the White Poppy in German is 
Schlaf bringender. 
Cop Rose, meaning “red button,” was an old Anglo-Saxon 
name for the Red Field Poppy. How pretty the Nigellas 
are ! — Katherine-flowers, so called because they resemble the 
spokes of St. Catherine’s wheel. And saith my old Herbal, 
“ The Fumes from this Herb being burnt drives away Flies, 
Gnats and Musketoes out of the Room in which it is used in 
Summertime.” Fennel-flowers they used also to be called, 
Love in a Mist, Love in a Puzzle, Bishopwort, and Devil in 
a Bush, the last because of their horned seeds. They grow 
wild in the loveliest profusion on the hillsides on the 
Riviera, all shades of blue, and pure white, looking like 
china flowerets. I saw some the other day looking very 
pretty as a thick border on each side of a garden-path. 
They never seem to grow very large flowers, however, 
here. 
June n. — The Water-hen has taken her young family 
away down the river. A few days ago we paid her a visit, 
peeping over the field-paling at her chicks tumbling about 
among the small branches of the decayed Larch bough which 
masked her nest — such beloved little dark soft-looking balls 
with reddish beaks ! She was not at home, we saw her 
walking afar off in the grass. To-day they were all gone, 
save one solitary egg, which, I suppose, is addled. I found 
a dead Hedgehog yesterday. I have not seen one dead 
or alive for a long time ; either they are rare, or else the 
gamekeepers kill them, as they bear a bad character in regard 
to eggs. An old Scotch name for the Hedgepig is “herison,” 
probably from the French herisson. In Italy his resem- 
blance to a Chestnut-burr (Riccio) has earned him the name 
of Riccio spinoso . In German he is the Igel, and in 
Spanish Erizo. 
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