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Foxglove. 
also Charlotte Smith and Eliza Cook, alluding to its “ bells.” 
The former poetess invites the bee to 
“Explore the foxglove’s freckled bell;” 
and the latter woos the south wind to ring 
“ A fairy chime 
Upon the foxglove bells.” 
The common foxglove varies in colour from a Roman pur¬ 
ple to a violet hue, and is found of a cream colour, orange- 
tawney, blush-colour, and white. It is a pity these plants are 
poisonous, for they are extremely beautiful, particularly those 
kinds which are of a deep rose. They are all speckled within 
the bell, which adds still more to their richness. Tennyson 
truly styles them “ the foxglove’s dappled bells.” 
This elegant plant was well known to the ancients for its 
medicinal qualities, and during the middle ages its celebrity 
as a vulnerary became proverbial in Italy, of which country 
the iron-coloured species is a native. Modern botanists have 
claimed it as an important remedy in pulmonary complaints : 
“The foxglove-leaves, with caution given, 
Another proof of favouring Heaven 
Will happily display: 
The rabid pulse it can abate, 
The hectic flush can moderate, 
And, blest by Him whose will is fate, 
May give a lengthen’d day.” 
Poets frequently presuming upon their intimate acquaintance 
with Nature, term her children by any name that’s sweet, and 
often electing amongst themselves what certain things certain 
blooms shall typify, have christened the finger-flower “ emblem 
of punishment:” 
“Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, 
Emblems of punishment and pi'ide.” 
