338 . MAT 
avatars. 8, Aparajita, a form of Bhavani, the female 
principle. The.lad, Mr. Paterfon remarks, may be the 
Aphrodite of the Greeks ; and Mahefwari, or a female 
Siva, riding on a white bull, may have given rife to the 
dory of Europa’s rape; while Brahmi, or the female 
Brahma, with the fvvan, may, in like manner, have occa¬ 
sioned the fable of Jupiter and Leda. Thefe explanations 
were, perhaps, invented by the Greeks, to account for 
Symbols, of the meaning of which they we're ignorant. 
On the foregoing paffage, Mr. Colebrook, the fuccefibr 
of fir William Jones in the chair of the Afiatic Society, 
gives the following information : “The eight Saktis, or 
energies of as many deities, are alfo called Matris, or mo¬ 
thers. They are called Brahmi, &c. becaufe they Sprung 
from the bodies of Brahma, and the other gods refpedtively. 
In Some places they are thus enumerated : Brahmi, Ma¬ 
hefwari, Aindri, Varahi, Vaifhnavi, Kaumari, Chamunda, 
and Charchika. Some reduce the number to Seven; omit¬ 
ting the two latter, and adding Kauveri (which fee.) 
Prayers are addrelfed to the Matris on various occafions, 
efpecially in the Cavachas, or defenfive incantations. 
(See Mantra.) Two are cited by Mr. Colebrooke, to¬ 
gether with an extratt from the Marcandeya Purana, de¬ 
scriptive of thefe goddefles. “ May Brahmani, conferring 
the benefit of all benedictions, protect me on the eaft ; and 
Narayani on the fouth-eaft, for the fake of realizing every 
wifh ; Mahefwari too on the South, rendering every thing 
aufpicious; Chamunda on the South-weft, difcomfiting all 
enemies; and on the weft Kaumari, armed with her lance 
and flayer of foes ; on the north-weft, Aparajita, the beau¬ 
teous giver of victory; on the north Varahi, granter of 
boons; and on the north-eaft Narafinhi, the baniflier of 
terror. May thefe mothers, being eight deities and active 
powers, defend me.” Another incantation Amply enu¬ 
merates the fame eight goddefles, and proceeds thus: 
“ May thefe, and all Matris, guard me with their respec¬ 
tive W'eapons on all quarters, and on every point.” In 
the Devi Mahatmya, the aflembling of the Matris to com¬ 
bat the demons is defcribed ; and we Shall extraCl the paf¬ 
fage, with fome others, as defcriptive generally of the 
principal female divinities of the Hindoos, and throwing 
Some light on an obfcure, but interefting, branch of the 
mythology of that, and we may fafely fay of other, people. 
“ The energy of each god, exactly like him, with the fame 
form, the fame decoration, and the fame vehicle, came to 
light againft the demons. The Sakti of Brahma, girt 
with a white gourd, arrived on a car yoked with Swans ; 
her title is Brahmani. Mahefwari came riding on a bull, 
and bearing a trident, with a vaft ferpent for a ring, a 
crefcent for a gem. Kaumari, bearing a lance in her hand 
and riding on a peacock. Vaiflinavi alfo arrived, fitting 
on an eagle, and bearing a couch, a difcus, a club, and a 
bow and a fword, in her feveral hands. The energy of 
Hari, vvho aflunred the unrivalled form of the holy boar, 
likewife came there, afluming the body of Varahi. Nara¬ 
finhi too, embodied in a form precifely fimilar to that of 
Nrifinhi, with an ereCl mane reaching to the hoft of ftars. 
Aindri came, bearing the thunder-bolt, and riding on 
the king of elephants, and in every refpeCl like Indra, with 
a hundred eyes. Laftly, came the dreadful energy named 
Chandika, who Sprung from the body of Devi, horrible, 
howling like a hundred (hakals; fhe, furnamed Aparajita, 
the unconquered goddefs, thus addrefled Ifani, whofe 
head is encircled with his dulky-braided locks.”—“Thus,” 
continues the ftory, which is too long for infertion, “did 
the wrathful hoft of Matris flay the demons.” 
In the Uttara kalpa of the fame Purana, the Matris are 
thus defcribed : “ Chamunda Handing on a corpfe ; Va¬ 
rahi fitting on a buffalo; Aindri mounted on an elephant; 
Vaifhnavi borne by an eagle; Mahefwari riding on a bull ; 
Kaumari conveyed by a peacock; Brahmi carried by a 
fwan ; and Aparajita revered by the univerfe; are all Ma¬ 
tris endowed with every faculty.” 
The probability of thefe and fimilar Puranic legends 
foaving been the origin of thofe of Aphrodite, Europa, 
MAT 
and Leda, is above hinted. A farther confideration of the 
paflages quoted might lead to a belief of greater identity- 
in the mythology of theeaftern and weftern heathens. A 
virgin goddefs conveyed by a peacock, a hundred-eyed 
deity, and one borne by an eagle, are common to both. 
Other points of uniformity will occur to the claflical 
reader; and we mean to refume the Subject under the ar¬ 
ticle Sakti. See alfo the Afiatic Researches, vol. viii. p. 
68-87. 
MATRICA'RIA, f. [So named from having been Sup¬ 
posed to be efficacious in diforders of the matrix.] Fe¬ 
verfew; in botany, a genus of the clafs fyngenefia, or¬ 
der polygamia fuperflua, natural order of compolitte dif- 
coideas, (corymbiferae, JvJf-) Generic characters—Calyx: 
common hemispherical; Scales linear, imbricate, almoft 
equal, not fcariofe. Corolla : compound radiate ; co- 
rollets hermaphrodite, tubular, numerous, in a hemisphe¬ 
rical difk ; females in the ray Several. Proper of the her¬ 
maphrodite funnel-form, five-cleft. Spreading; female 
oblong, three-toothed. Stamina : to the hermaphrodites ; 
filaments, five, capillary, very fiiort; anthers cylindrical, 
tubular. Piftillum: to the hermaphrodites ; germ oblong, 
naked ; ftyle filiform, the length of the ftamens ; ftigma 
bifid, Spreading. To the females : germ naked ; ftyle fili¬ 
form, almoft the length of the hermaphrodite ; ftigmas 
two, revolute. Pericarpium : none; calyx unchanged. 
Seeds : Solitary, oblong, without any pappus or down, to 
both Sorts of florets. Receptacle: naked, convex. — Effeti- 
tial CharaEler. Calyx hemispherical, imbricate; the mar¬ 
ginal Scales Solid, fliarpifli; down none ; receptacle naked. 
There are eight fpecies. 
1. Matricaria parthenium, or common feverfew : leaves 
compound, flat; leaflets ovate,galhed ; peduncles branched. 
Common feverfew has a perennial or biennial root, com- 
pofed of a great number of fibres, and. Spreading wide on 
every fide. Stem from two to three feet high, ereft, firm, 
round, ftriated, (lightly hairy, branched on every Side. 
Leaves alternate, pale green, foft and tender, pinnatifid 
with two or three pairs of ovate jagged pinnas, and a larger 
one terminating; three-lobed, wedge-draped, the middle 
lobe trifid, the fide-lobes notched, roughifh, (lightly 
hairy : when magnified they appear as if Sprinkled with 
minute Spangles. Flowering heads Solitary, Sometimes on 
Simple, but oftener on branched, peduncles, forming to¬ 
gether a loofe umbel, or rather corymb, hairy ; the pe¬ 
duncles are thickeft juft beneath the flower, and about 
two inches long. Scales of the calyx numerous, ovate, 
with dry membranaceous margins, which is one charafter 
of Chryfanthemum. Florets of the ray wedge-fliaped, 
terminated by three teeth, and white : thofe of the difk 
crooked. Sprinkled with minute Alining particles, yellow 
only at the top. Sometimes the florets of the ray are 
wanting; and the flowers frequently become double. 
Seeds whitilh, with deep longitudinal furrows, ovate, trun¬ 
cated at the baSe. Receptacle dotted. Native of many 
parts of Europe, in wafte places, under hedges and walls, 
in church-yards, Sometimes in corn-fields, in gardens, 
where it is alfo cultivated in a double (late. 
Miller enumerates Seven varieties.—1. With very dou¬ 
ble flowers. 2. With double flowers, having the florets 
of the ray plane ; of the difk filtular. 3. With very Small 
rays. 4. With very (hort filtular florets. 5. With naked 
heads, having no rays. 6. With naked Sulphur-coloured 
heads. 7. With elegant curled leaves. They flower in 
June, and the feeds ripen in autumn. 
The whole plant has a ftrong Smell, to moft perfons 
unpleafant, and a bitter tafte. It yields an eflential oil 
by diftillation. It has always been efteemed a good em- 
menagogue ; it is alfo Serviceable in hylteric complaints. 
The belt way of taking it is in a flight infufion. It is an 
agreeable carminative and bitter, ltrengthening the fto- 
mach and difperfing flatulencies. The exprefled juice ig 
Said to kill worms in the bowels. It has likewife been 
recommended as a febrifuge, whence its Engliftr name fej 
verj'cw. In German it is mutter kraut, mutterhamille, jung - 
(y fernkraui 3 
