PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE. 
203 
PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE. 
This evergreen trailer is a native of Peru, and bears 
beautiful lilac-coloured flowers; and, in the greenhouse, con¬ 
tinues in bloom nearly the whole of the year. 
The Orientals say that the perfumes of the heliotrope 
elevate their souls towards heaven; it is true that they ex¬ 
hilarate us, and produce a degree of intoxication. The sen¬ 
sation produced by inhaling them, may, it is said, be renew¬ 
ed by imagination, even though years have passed away 
after the reality was experienced. 
The Countess Eleanora, natural daughter of Christian IV., 
king of Denmark, who became so notorious by the misfor¬ 
tunes, crimes, and exile of Count Ulfeld, her husband, offers 
to us a striking proof of the . power of perfumes on the 
memory. This princess, at the age of thirteen, had become 
attached to a young man to whom she was subsequently af¬ 
fianced. This young man died in the castle where they 
were making preparations for the marriage. Elenora, in 
despair, wished to take a long last look at the object of her 
love; and, if alive, to bid a last adieu. She was conducted 
into the chamber where he had just expired. The body was 
already placed on a bier, and covered with rosemary. The 
spectacle made such a deep impression upon the affianced 
maiden, that though she afterwards exhibited courage equal 
to her misfortunes, she never could breathe the perfume of 
rosemary without falling into the most frightful convulsions. 
The celebrated Jussieu, while botanising in the Cordilleras, 
19 
