134 the ASSOCIATIOISIS OF FLOWERS 
scape for many miles, and gives a hue of beauty to the 
mountain sides. The procuring of the flower and making 
it into cakes, is an employment of the villagers; and to 
the poor the preparation and sale of the saffron is a very 
important business. 
One singular practice of the Greeks is recorded by 
travellers in these islands, which shov/s how little accus- 
tomed their inhabitants are to the calculations necessary 
for successful commerce. The saffron is sold by the 
weight of a hen’s egg. It is not material to them whether 
the egg be large or small, provided its size is not very 
considerably above or below that of eggs in general. 
Neither is any regard paid to the circumstance of its 
freshness; although it is well knowm that an egg which 
has been long kept, is considerably heavier than one newly 
laid. Enough it is to the Greek peasant to see his saffron 
cake faidy weighed in the scale against an egg; and he 
makes no further stipulations in his bargain. 
Mr. Madden says that although the Oriental crocus is 
the same as that cultivated in England, it possesses a far 
greater degree of vigour in the East than in this country. 
According to some authors, the crocus derives its name 
from a Greek word signifying thread, from the thread or 
filament used for saffron; hut the ancient fable is that it 
received its name from Crocus, a youth who, being killed, 
w'as changed into a flo\ver. 
The crocus may be often observed to thrive less in 
situations where a stream washes the banks of the garden 
than elsewEere ; for the root is so palatable to the wmter- 
rat, that he will huiff it out wdth great diligence, and 
greedily devour it. 
The crocus belongs to the same natural order as the 
iris (Irfde^e), an order containing a great number of beau- 
tiful flow^ers, but mostly destitute of fragrance. Many of 
tlie genera are found in Africa, m.aking even the desert 
glad by their beauty; and by far the greater number which 
we possess have been brought from the Cape of Good 
Hope. A few of this order of plants enliven our native 
meadows. The yellow^ iris (Iris pseud-acorus) adds a 
lustre to the groups of wild flow^ers \vhich assemble about 
our rivulets, rendering their margins some of the gayest 
spots which England can show'. The roots of this iris 
