THE NATURALIST. 
DERIVATIONS OF THE LATIN NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS. 
By Mr. T. B. Hall. 
(Continued from page 26.) 
Aceras. —From a , without, and negus , a horn, in allusion to the absence of 
a spur. 
Aceras a,nthropophora , Green-man Orchis, or T way blade.—It is difficult to 
cultivate, and can only be propagated by seeds, which thrive best in a mixture 
of sand, loam, and chalk. The English name is given on account of the supposed 
resemblance of the flower to a naked human figure, with its hands and legs 
cut off. 
Acinos. — Loudon spells it Acynos, and states it to be the Greek name of a 
balsamic plant, which probably was related to Thymus . Withering states 
that under an erroneous notion that this plant produces no seeds, the ancients 
applied to it the name atoms (Acynos), sine semine, sterilis. 
Acinos vulgaris, Basil Thyme.—This plant has a fragrant aromatic smell, and 
is rare in Scotland. 
Aconitum. —From attorn, a rock or stone, because it is found in barren or rocky 
places; or from anovaco , to sharpen, because it was used in medicines intended to 
quicken the sight; or from aawv, anv, a dart, savage nations poisoning their mis¬ 
siles with a preparation from certain species. Theophrastus derives it from 
Anovts , a city of Bithynia, near which it is said to abound. 
Aconihim napellus, Common Wolfsbane, Monkshood, Helmet-flower, Friar’s- 
eap,—It is not unfrequently met with in rustic gardens, with white, rose-coloured, 
and variegated flowers; nor can our island longer claim entire exemption from it 
as a native, notwithstanding Dryden recounts among our blessings, that 
“ Our land is from the rage of tigers freed. 
Nor nourishes the lion’s angry seed, 
Nor poisonous Aconite is here produced, 
Or grows unknown ; or is, when known, refus’d.” 
That this herb is one of the most powerful of vegetable poisons cannot be doubted. 
“ The force and facultie of Woolfe’s-bane is deadly, both to man and all kinds of 
beasts,” says Gerarde, who records several instances of its fatal effects; but it 
appears that various plants of somewhat similar names have been confounded by 
ancient writers, and are scarcely to be discriminated by the moderns. The 
flowers sometimes communicate, in a degree, their noxious quality even by their 
vol. hi.—NO. XVII. 
K 
