40 
Its leaves have been considered a good substitute for 
tea, especially in Germany and Sweden, and it has ob¬ 
tained from the French the name of The de l’Europe. 
Though so beautiful, and so profusely scattered 
“ In every lane and every alley green, 
Dingle and bushy dell, 
And every bosky bourn from side to side,” 
I am not aware that it figures much in poetry; Spenser, 
however, is supposed to allude to it under the name 
astrophel, in compliment to Sir Philip Sidney. 
The following interesting anecdote, connected with 
this flower, is recorded by Schimmelpenninck: — 
Rousseau, in his earliest and happiest days, was en¬ 
joying, in company with a friend, the lovely scenery 
surrounding Geneva. As they were commenting on the 
various objects of attraction which gave a charm to the 
landscape, his companion pointed to a bed of the Ve¬ 
ronica Chamaedrys, remarking, that its cheerful beauty 
accorded well with the scene. At a later period of his 
life, the philosopher again visited Geneva, and again 
rambled to the very spot which had charmed him thirty 
years before. His name had now become the very 
watchword of literature and philosophy, “ falsely so 
called,” but fame was all he had reaped—he was a 
