March > 3 . 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
47.3 
M d 
V w 
MARCH 23—29, 1854. 
Weather near London in 
Barometer. jTherino. Wind. 
1853. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
It. & S. 1 
Moon*s 
Age. 
Clock 
bf. Sun. i 
Day of 
Year. 
23 ! Til 
Platvsma nieritum. 
| 29 655—29.829 
40—23 
N.E. 
01 
57 a 6 
15 a 6 
4 2 
24 
6 
45 
82 
24 F 
j Chile ni us festivus. 
| 29-843—29.891 
41 — 17 
N. 
06 
56 
4 45 1 
25 
6 
27 
83 
25 S 
Lady Day. 
]. 29 . 916 — 29.847 
41 — 18 
N.E. 
— 
54 
19 
5 15 
20 
6 
9 
84 
26 : Son 
4tii, or Midlent Sunday. 
30 . 025 — 29.966 
41 — 17 
N.E. 
— 
51 
20 
5 38 
27 
5 
50 
85 
27 : m 
Calathus mclanocephalus 
30 . 063 — 29.999 
50—27 
W. 
— 
49 
22 
5 55 
28 
5 
32 
86 
28 To 
Stomis puznicatus. 
30.150—30.129 
48—21 
E. 
— 
4 7 
24 
sets. 
® 
5 
13 
87 
29 ; \V 
Clivina fossor. 
30.141—29.995 
48—26 
E. 
— 
45 
25* 
7 a 25 
1 
4 
55 
88 
Meteorology of the Week.—A t Chiswick,from observations during the last twenty-seven years, the average highest and lowest tem¬ 
peratures of these days are 52 2° and 33.8° respectively. The greatest heat, 75°, occurred on the 27th in 1830 ; and the lowest cold, 14°, on the I 
25th in 18S0. During the period 118 days were fine, and on 71 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
(Continued from page 453.) 
Cardamixe hirsuta: Hairy Lady’s Smock; Lesser Hairy 
Cuckoo Flower. 
Description .—It is an annual, j Rout of many white fibres. 
Herb variable in size and luxuriance, deep green, more or 
less hairy, rarely quite smooth. Stems from three to twelve 
inches, or more, in height, usually several, erect, usually 
furnished with lateral branches of various lengths, leafy, 
angular, often zigzag, hollow in the centre, clothed with fine, 
prominent, scattered hairs. Leaves alternate, all pinnate 
(leafleted). Stem on short stalks, without stipulas; leaflets 
stalked, sometimes alternate, all for the most part somewhat 
hairy; those of the root-leaves roundish, or heart-shaped, 
coarsely notched, numerous, and forming a circle on the 
ground; those of the lower or middle part of the stem 
more oblong ; the upper ones narrow-reversed-egg-sliaped, 
or quite line-like, blunt, generally entire, but in this respect, 
as w'ell as in length, they vary. Flowers small, in a flat, 
upright cluster. Petals white. Two shorter stamens often 
wanting. Pads in long clusters, erect, slender, smooth, or 
occasionally hairy, their valves undulated by the projection 
of the seeds; stigma almost stalkless. 
Time of flowering .—March to June. 
Places where found. — It grows on dry, gravelly hanks 
sometimes, but occurs most frequently in moist shady places. 
Not uncommon. 
History .—Some botanists have considered this to be 
merely a variety of the Cardamine parviflora of Linnams, a 
species not native of England, but the short pods, bushy 
stem, and differently-shaped leaflets show that parviflora is 
another species. The present species, C. hirsuta , has a 
stronger flavour than G. impaiiens, and in Ray’s time many 
persons used it as a salad herb. — (Smith. Withering. 
Pay.) 
The word Ehaloeth is used in the Old Testament to 
describe both a wood and the tree front which it was 
obtained. In the first case it is translated in our 
version Aloes, and in the second case as Lign Aloes. 
Wherever the wood, or its produce, is mentioned, it is 
in connection with two aromatics—Myrrh and Cassia 
(Psalm xlv. 8 ; Pros. vii. 17), and with some others by 
Solomon, who says, in Canticles iv. 13. 14—“ Thy plants 
are an orchard of Pomegranates, witli pleasant fruits; 
Camphiro and Spikenard, Spikenard and Saffron; 
Calamus and Cinnamon, with trees of Frankincense; 
Myrrh and Aloes, with all the chief spices.” 
The mixture of aromatics last mentioned appears to 
have been in high esteem, and to have been that 
especially preferred by the Jews for embalming purposes. 
Thus we are told that “ Nicodemus, which at the first 
came to Jesus by night, brought a mixture of Myrrh 
and Aloes, about an hundred pounds weight. Then 
took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen 
clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to 
bury." (John xix. 39, 40.) 
The quantity thus employed has been objected to as 
excessive, but it is certain that the quantity of spices 
and fragrant gums either burnt, or applied to the body 
upon such occasions, was always proportioned to the 
honour intended to be paid to the deceased. Thus at 
the funeral of Herod there were five hundred spice 
bearers; and at that of Gamaliel eighty pounds of Opo- 
balsamum alone were used, to say nothing of other 
aromatics. (Joseph Antiq. 1. xvii. c. 10. Talmud, Mess- 
achoth Semach. 8.) 
The Elialoetli was used, however, for other purposes, 
and amongst these the perfuming of bedding and 
dresses are specified in the texts which we have quoted. 
For such purposes resins would not be suitable, and 
this seems a testimony that the wood itself imparted 
the perfume. This is corroborated by some of our best 
Hebraists who agree that the word employed in the Old 
Testament uniformly denotes a kind of wood or tree. 
This suggests the question, by what name is that tree 
now known ? Dioscorides, and some modern Arabians, 
with a few intermediate writers, have called this wood 
Agallochon or Xylaloe, which is a compound word, 
meaning “ The Wood of Aloe.” Why they should so 
No. CCLXXXVI , Vol. XI. 
