ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 719 
mon European plant, is occasionally found in a half wild 
state on the borders of fields. Its name was given in refer- 
rence to its power, real or imaginary, of healing or consoli¬ 
dating wounds. D. Ajcicis , a common garden plant, derives 
its name from certain markings on the petals, presenting 
more or less resemblance to the letters AI AI ; hence, also, it 
has been conjectured to be the hyacinth of the ancients, de¬ 
scribed as possessing similar markings. Dr. Daubeny, the 
latest commentator on the plants mentioned in ancient 
Greek and Latin writers, concludes that the term huahin- 
thos was in general applied to some plant of the lily tribe, 
but that the poets confounded with this the larkspur, which 
has upon it the markings alluded to; and that the name 
hyacinth was given, in the first instance, to the plant which 
most distinctly exhibited them. 
“ Some of the cultivated species, such as D. grandijlorum , 
D. chinense , D. sibiricum, &c., are called bee larkspurs, 
from the resemblance of the petals, which are studded with 
yellow hairs, to a humble bee whose head is buried in the 
recesses of the flower. One of the most beautiful species 
in cultivation is D.formosum, with large, rich, blue flowers, 
and D. cardinale is remarkable for its scarlet flowers.”* 
All the species are powerful poisons. The larkspur was 
formerly used in rustic medicine, but is highly dangerous in 
uneducated hands. Still the whole herbage may be useful 
in the shape of decoction, as a wash to kill the parasites to 
which most domestic animals are subject. The active prin¬ 
ciple has been separated, and is known as Delphinia. It is 
a powerful irritant poison, with much the same effects as 
Veratrine , and both are equally dangerous in incautious 
hands. 
3. Aconitum is a well-known garden plant, which from 
the peculiar shape of the flower rejoices in the common name 
of monkshood. The whole flower is usually of a dark indigo 
blue, being tall, and forming a handsome spike of peculiarly 
formed, irregular flowers. Like the others of this order, they 
assume various colours under cultivation, but the root-stock 
of all is similar, being fleshy, like a poor turnip, and hence 
the name napellus, in which condition it is often mistaken 
for horseradish, and being used as a condiment for beef has 
frequently been the cause of poisoning. Mrs. Lankester says, 
“ the root has occasionally been mistaken for horseradish, 
and has been eaten accordingly with fatal results ; it is, 
however, shorter, darker, and more fibrous than horse¬ 
radish.” Its dark external rind is very significant, but 
* M. T. M., in * Treasury of Botany,’ 
