Parsley. 
3°9 
Its elegantly indented leaves caused it to be adopted, to¬ 
gether with the acanthus, in the adornment of the Corinthian 
capital. It is recorded that the Carthaginians, having found 
this herb in the delightful vales of Sardinia, carried it with 
them to the Phocean gardens of the Marseillais; and ancient 
coins have been found representing Sardinia under the figure 
of a female, standing beside a vase containing a bunch of 
parsley. 
On festive occasions it was customary for the Greeks to 
wear a wreath formed of sprigs of this plant, and a crown 
of fresh parsley was the prize awarded to the winner of the 
Nemsean sports ; at the Elean games, at one time, a chaplet 
of withered parsley was the winner’s guerdon. The victors in 
the Isthmian games at Rome were crowned with leaves of this 
herb; and on many other like memorable occasions was it 
employed. 
“If,” it is stated in “Time’s Telescope,” for 1825, “after 
having bruised some sprigs of parsley in your hands, you 
attempt to rinse your glasses, they will generally snap and 
suddenly break.” 
An eminent writer on the symbolism of flowers, after justly 
remarking what an elegant decoration for the board the beau¬ 
tiful green of this plant affords, pathetically laments that “a 
branch of laurel and a parsley crown are the attributes which 
would now-a-days suit the god of banquets. These plants 
have been employed for nobler purposes ; but, in the age of 
gastronomy, it will not do to insist too strongly on what was 
done in the heroic ages.” 
