THE ST. JOHN^S WORT 215 
of a tree, and acquire a virulence which can kill those 
who are stung by it. Our gardens remind us that many 
plants will bear removal from their native soil, provided 
they receive the attention of man; but some are so tena- 
cious of their native circumstances, that no care will save 
them if transplanted. 
Plants, like animals, are found together in groups, 
covering a wide extent, like the buttercup, which bedecks 
a whole field, or single, as the bee-orchis, which is onl}r 
met with here and there. We see the goodness of Pro- 
vidence when we observe that those plants which are ne- 
cessary for the food of man, as corn, are social, and not 
scattered over the landscape; “so that,” says Dr. Kidd, 
“ they are capable of being cultivated gregariously, as it 
were, with comparatively little care or attention. Thus, 
in our own and other European countries the daily la- 
bourer, after his hired rvork for others, can cultivate his 
own private field of wheat or potatoes with very little 
additional expense of time or trouble.” 
In former days, when the knowledge of plants had made 
little progress, many of their familiar names indicated the 
properties they were supposed to possess. That some of 
the virtues ascribed to various plants might really be 
found in them, although in a less degree than was once 
imagined, there can be no doubt, as many are still used 
in medicines, and others are considered good remedies, 
l)ut have yielded to newer discoveries. A large number 
of plants, hoW'Over, received their names from some super- 
stitious veneration attached to them from legends, and 
were regarded as charms and spells, and worn as pre- 
ventives to disease. Thus, in the days of chivalry, when 
a combat between two persons w^as about to commence, 
an oath was administered to each knight, of w^hich the 
following was a part: “Ye shall swear that ye have no 
stone of virtue, nor hearbe of virtue, nor charm, nor ex- 
periment, nor none other enchantment; and that ye trust 
in none other things properly, but in God, and your body, 
and your brave quarrel.” 
In early times the common perforated St. John’s wort 
was called also “the balm of the warrior’s wound,” and 
“ the herb of war;” and in allusion to the clear little dots 
of the leaves, which look like sm.all pierced holes, the 
poet says. 
