242 THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 
elegant flowers which we have in the garden; and though 
so frequent that the little bed in front of the cottage 
window is often graced with it, it is generally much ad- 
mired. Some other less common species of garden lily 
are also white. 
The common white lily has lost some of the interest 
which it possessed among our ancestors; for they sup- 
posed that the price of a bushel of wheat in the ensuing 
season was foretold by the number of white cups which 
surmounted its stem — each bell being a sign of a shil- 
ling. This fancy actually prevailed during a long number 
of years; and it is a strange instance of self-deception 
that summer after summer they continued to believe a 
prediction so continually proved to be fallacious. This 
flower was highly extolled by ancient herbalists as a cure 
for the bite of a serpent; and its bruised petals laid upon 
a wound are still justly considered by country people a 
safe and speedy remedy. They are much employed by 
those sage matrons who take charge of the wounds and 
bruises which befall the children of the village, and who 
may rival “the learnedst lady in the land,” of Spenser, in 
their “power of herbs.” 
The orange lily (Lilium bulbiferum), though wanting 
the classic elegance of its white rival, is still a handsome 
ornament of the flower-bed. It is a native of the south- 
ern countries of Europe. When the Dutch were dis- 
pleased with the House of Orange, they used to exter- 
minate this flower from their gardens, on account of its 
colour. The tiger-spotted lily (Lilium tigrinum) is an- 
other beautiful lily, which we should be sorry to spare 
from the summer garden, and is found wild in China. 
The common Turk’s-cap lily (Lilium martagon) is the 
ancient hyacinth — “ the sanguine flower inscribed with 
woe.” It is not now so frequently cultivated as for- 
merly. 
One plant of this species, the scarlet Kamschatka lily 
(Lilium Camschatcense), is very important to the natives 
of the cold Kamschatska. Over the dreary lands of that 
country this lily extends itself very plentifully; and it is, 
besides, an object of frequent culture. It forms, by its 
rich and gay colours, and by its profusion, a prominent 
object in the flora of a country of which the natural pro- 
