PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
3 
Latin name, but this name is now seldom used, being, by a 
curious perversion, solely given to the pretty little early- 
flowering Winter Aconite ( Eranthis hyemalis), which is not a 
true Aconite, though closely allied; it then got the name cf 
Wolfs-bane, as the direct translation of the Greek lycoctonum , 
a name which it had from the idea that arrows tipped with 
the juice, or baits anointed with it, would kill wolves and 
other vermin; and, lastly, it got the expressive name of 
Monk’s-hood 1 and the Helmet-flower, from the curious shape 
of the upper sepal overtopping the rest of the flower. 
As to its poisonous qualities, all authors agree that every 
species of the family is very poisonous, the A. ferox of the 
Himalaya being probably the most so. Every part of the 
plant, from the root to the pollen dust, seems to be equally 
powerful, and it has the special bad quality of being, to inex¬ 
perienced eyes, so like some harmless plant, that the poison 
has been often taken by mistake with deadly results. This 
charge against the plant is of long standing, dating certainly 
from the time of Virgil— mise?vs fcillunt aconita legentes —and, 
no doubt, from much before his time. As it was a common 
belief that poisons were antidotes against other poisons, the 
Aconite was supposed to be an antidote against the most 
deadly one — 
“I have heard that Aconite 
Being timely taken hath a healing might 
Against the scorpion’s stroke.” 
Ben Jonson, Sejanus , hi. 3, 
Yet, in spite of its poisonous qualities, the plant has always 
held, and deservedly, a place among the ornamental plants of 
our gardens 3 its stately habit and its handsome leaves and 
flowers make it a favourite. Nearly all the species are worth 
growing, the best, perhaps, being A. Napellus , both white and 
1 This was certainly its natne in Shakespeare’s time— 
“ And with the Flower Monk’s-hood makes a coole.” 
CuI'wode, CAlt ha Poet arum, 1599 (st. 117)4 
