THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 249 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
1 
J1 W 
D | D 
JULY 22—28, 1852. 
Weather near London in 1851 . 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Day of 
Year. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. Rain in In. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
Age. 
bef. Sun. 
22 Th 
Great Burr-Reed flowers. 
30.036 — 29.806 
76 —58 
K. 
08 
11 a. 4 
1 a. 8 
5 
6 7 
204 
23 F 
Hooded Willow Herb flowers. 
29.737 — 29.550 
71—57 
E. 
7 0 
13 
0 
6 
6 9 
24 S 
Water Plaintain flowers. 
29.553 — 29.4/3 
60—53 
s.w. 
28 
14 
58 a. 7 
11 36 
3) 
8 
6 11 
206 
25 Sun 
7 Sunday afterTrinity. St. James. 
29.888 — 29.469 
71—51 
N.E. 
_ 
16 
5 7 
6 12 
207 
26 M 
[Ds. Camb. b. 1797. 
29.749 —29.656 
69—44 
W. 
01 
17 
0 3 
9 
6 12 
208 
27 To 
Swifts depart. 
29.914—29.898 
72-57 
S.W. 
02 
18 
54 
0 36 
10 
6 11 
209 
28 W 
Wood Sage flowers. 
29.895—29.803 
69—57 
s.w. 
06 
20 
52 
1 17 
11 
6 10 
210 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-five years 
, the average highest and lowest tempera- 
tures of these days are 73 . 6 ° and 52.3° respectively. The greatest heat, 92 °, occurred on the 25th in 
in 1838 . During the period 99 days were fine, and on 76 rain fell. 
1844 ; and the lowest cold, 
40°, on the 24th 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
CROWFOOTS—RANUNCULACE.®. 
(Continued from p. 235.) 
HELLEEORUS. HELLEBORE. BEAR’S-FOOT, 
Generic Character. —Calyx none. Petals five, below 
I tlie seed vessel, roundish, blunt, concave, permanent. Nec¬ 
taries more numerous, much shorter, in a circle within the 
petals, deciduous, eacli of one leaf, tubular; narrower in 
the lower part; with two upright, blunt, unequal lips at the 
orifice. Stamens very numerous; filaments awl-shaped. 
Anthers terminal, erect, roundish, of two cells, bursting at 
the edges. Germans several, from three to ten, egg-shaped, 
compressed, erect. Styles awl-shaped. Stigmas terminal, 
roundish. Seed-vessels ( follicles ) egg-shaped, compressed, 
leathery, keeled, beaked with the styles, opening at the 
rounded inner margin. Seeds several, oval, at the edges of 
the seed-vessel, attached, in two rows, to a linear, double- 
notched, deciduous receptacle. 
Hellebores viridis: Green-flowered Hellebore; Bastard 
Black Bear's-foot. 
Description .—It is a perennial. Root fleshy, and black, 
with many long, strong fibres. Stem eighteen inches high, 
erect, round, smooth, rather branched at top, leafy, reddish 
at the bottom. Leaves smooth, soft, light green, those at 
the root on long foot-stalks, hut those on the stem are 
almost stalkless, and partially sheath the stem; the lobes 
of the leaves (by some called leaflets) are from seven to ten 
in number, and are spear-head shaped, pointed, sharply 
saw-toothed on their edge. Flowers on stalks an inch long, 
springing from between the leaf and tlie stem, round, bear¬ 
ing either two or one nodding, green, terminal flowers or 
flower. Nectaries eight or ten, as long as the styles, rims a 
little saw-toothed and bent in, upper lip as if cut off aud 
slightly two-toothed. Stamens fifty or more, with pale yel¬ 
low anthers not sharp pointed. Pistils usually three, rarely 
four or five. Seeds cylindric-egg-shaped, rather wrinkled, 
and of a dark lead colour. 
Places where found. —Woods and thick hedge-rows on a 
chalky soil. 
Time of flowering. —April—May. 
History. —The generic name is derived from two Greek 
words, elein, destructive, and bora, fodder, alluding to its 
poisonous qualities when eaten. The powder of the diied 
leaves used as snuff are said to have cured several persons 
of that peculiar affection of the eyes which enables them to 
see best with a very small amount of light. Its roots are 
often sold as those of the Black Hellebore ( H. niyer). In¬ 
deed, Haller speaks of all the virtues of the Hellebores 
under this species, and it seems to have been substituted 
by the German medical practitioners for what is considered 
to have been the true Hellebore of the ancients, H. orientalis. 
Parkinson says, “ an idle conceit possessed many in ancient 
times, that he who would dig up the roots hereof, had need 
to eat garlick beforehand, lest the evil vapours that should 
arise from it in the digging up should offend the head and 
brain.” The medicinal properties of the next species are 
also possessed by this. 
Hellebores fcetidus : Stinking Hellebore ; Bear’s Foot; 
Setterwort. 
Description. —It is a perennial evergreen. Root small, but 
furnished with very numerous, slender, dark-coloured fibres. 
Stem from about two to nearly three feet high, round towards 
the bottom, naked, marked with alternate scars, showing 
where former leaves grew; much branched at the top. 
Leaves formed of seven or nine long narrow lobes joined at 
their base, commonly four on each side, and one in the 
middle or the centre of the leaf-stalk; each lobe saw-edged 
and sharp-pointed. Leaves of a very deep green, but the 
branches, stipules, flower-stalks and flowers, are a pale, yel¬ 
lowish green. At the divisions of the branches are broad- 
spear-headed, stem-clasping stipules, deeply two-cleft at the ! 
end. At the bottom of each flower-stalk is a hroad, whole, ! 
spear-headed bracte. Both the stipules and bractes are j 
often purple, and all the plant is smooth. Flowers almost j 
globular, drooping, on stalks forming a kind of panicles; i 
petals roundish and green, with purplish edges; stamens \ 
the length of the petals, with white anthers. Germcns three, i 
hairy. Nectaries from five to eight, notched. 
Places where found. —Hedges and other shady places on 1 
chalky soils. 
Time of glowering. —December—April. 
History. —Gerarde says it was in his time called the 
Setter-wort., Setter-grass, and Ox-heal. These names are 
from its use in rowelling cattle; that is, making a seton of 
the root, and putting it through the animal’s dew-lap. This 
operation old farriers called selteriny, a corruption, perhaps, 
of setoning. 
Ten to fifteen grains of the dried leaves are frequently 
given to children to destroy worms, but they must be used 
sparingly, being violent in then - operation ; and instances 
of their fatal effects are recorded. A decoction of a drachm 
of the green leaves is equal to fifteen grains of the dried 
leaves. The powdered roots mixed with meal destroy mice. 
A decoction of one or two drachms operates as a drastic 
No. CXCIX., Vol. VIII, 
