April 13. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
15 
M 
D 
D 
W 
APRIL 13—19, 1854. 
Weather neae London in 1853. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon's 
Age. 
Clock 
bf. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. Wind. 
ltain in 
Inches. 
13 
Th 
Leistus rufescens. 
30.057—29.892 
e* 
1 
CO 
N. 
04 
11 a 5 
50 a 6 
ises. 
© 
0 34 
103 
14 
F 
Good Friday. 
30.145-29 999 
57—31 
N. 
— 
9 
52 
8 a 48 
17 
0 18 
104 
15 
S 
Elaphrus uliginosus. 
30.166—30.105 
51—42 
N.W. 
— 
7 
54 
10 1(3 
18 
0 3 
105 
16 
Sun 
Easter Sunday. 
30.098—30.083 
55—39 
N.W. 
— 
4 
55 
11 42 
19 
oaf .12 
106 
17 
M 
Easter Monday. 
30.068—29-997 
58—45 
W. 
— 
2 
57 
morn. 
20 
0 26 
107 
18 
To 
Easter Tuesday. 
30.070—30.000 
65—33 
N. 
—• 
0 
59 
0 58 
21 
0 40 
108 
19 
W 
Bembidium littorale. 
29 . 896 — 29.760 
56—37 
S.W. 
07 
IT 
VII 
1 2 1 
22 
0 54 
109 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick,from observations during the last twenty-seven years, the average highest and lowest tem¬ 
peratures of these days are 57° and 3/° respectively. The greatest heat, 73°, occurred on the 14th in 1652 ; and the low est cold, 20°, on the 
l6th in 1847* During the period 96 days were fine, and on 93 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
(Continued from Vol. xi., payc 473.) 
Cardamine huteksis : Meadow Lady’s Smock; Cuckoo 
Flower. 
Description .—It is a perennial. Root tuberous, somewhat 
toothed in the manner of the genus Dentaria, to which the 
affinity of this species is remarkable, and with which, there¬ 
fore, Mr. Brown has united the whole genus. Herb variable 
in luxuriance ; generally smooth, of a shining green; now 
and then a little hairy. Stem about a foot high, or more, 
round, leafy, simple. Root-leaves several, on long stalks, 
each of one or more pairs of roundish, or heart-shaped, 
! wavy, angular, or toothed leaflets, sometimes viviparious in 
shady places, the terminal one largest; stem-leaves of more 
numerous, and much narrower, leaflets, which are in general 
line-like, entire, and smooth. Flowers in flat bunches, 
I numerous, large, and handsome; sometimes more or less 
j double. The petals either light purple, flesh-coloured, or 
■ white, are remarkable for a tooth, or notch, on the claw, 
1 noticed in Haller, but not from his own observation. Pods 
j not often perfected. Style more prominent than in some 
other species. 
Time of flowering .—April and May. 
Places where found .—Common in meadows and moist 
I pastures. 
History .—This is 
“ The wan-hued Lady’s Smock, that loves to spring, 
Near the swamp margin of some plashy pond, 
Amid the blooms that early Aprils bring.” 
It was this “ wan-hue ” which probably suggested the old 
[ English name of Lady’s Smock, or Chemise, for in the 
monkish days every popular flower was associated by the 
ecclesiastics with the name of some saint of their Calendar. 
Very soon after Lady-day, or the day specially dedicated to 
the Virgin Mary, this plant opens its flowers, and this may 
have induced them to apyfly to it the name of “ Our Lady’s 
Smock,” for though when freshly opened they have a 
pinkish or purplish tinge, yet the petals are soon bleached, 
and justify the rhymer’s description of the season as being 
“ When Lady’s Smocks of silver white 
Do paint the meadows with delight.” 
Or, as in better poetry, 
“ While pink-eyed Cuckoo Flow’rs , all silver whits, 
Fling o’er the dazzling glare a softer light.” 
The name of “Cuckoo Flower” was given because that 
bird and this plant’s blossoms appear about the same time. 
So regularly does the. bird make its appearance in Sussex, 
that the 14th of April is known there as the “ Cuckoo day." 
Old Gerarde says it is called “ in English, Cuckoo flowers ; 
in Norfolk, Canterbury Bells; at the Namptwich, in 
Cheshire, where I had my beginning, Lady Smocks, which 
hath given me cause to christen it after my country fashion.” 
Parkinson says of this and the other species, “ these 
herbs are seldom used, either as sauce, or sallet, or in 
physic, but more for pleasure and to deck up the garlands 
. of the country people.” Some later authorities, however, 
have had a higher opinion of it as a medical plant, and the 
following is the statement of the two Drs. Withering:— 
“ The virtue of the flowers in hysteric and epileptic cases 
was first mentioned by Ray, in his letters, published by 
himself; and since then, by Sir W. Baker in Med. Tr. i. 443. 
The dose is from twenty to ninety grains twice a day. Do 
they not act like Erysimum Cheiranthoides in the epilepsies 
of children, and cure the disease by destroying the worms 
in the stomach and intestines, which were the cause of the 
tits ? I have accounts of their success in young epileptics, 
from good authority ; but have never been fortunate enough 
to see them of much use in hysterical cases. Whilst in 
Cornwall in the year 1793, I had the pleasure of meeting 
with the Rev. Mr. Gregor, who told me that the flowering 
tops of the Ladies’-smock had been successfully used by his 
family for some generations in the cure of epilepsies, and 
some cases he mentioned to me were not likely to have been 
owing to worms. Our medical practitioners have only used 
the flowers, but Mr. Gregor’s family use the flowering tops. 
Can this account for the different success? (The evidence 
of Mr. Gregor has been fully confirmed by the testimony of 
others entirely unconnected with his family, and resident in 
a different part of England.) Lady Holt, late of Aston Hall, 
Warwickshire, and her sister, Mrs. Bracebridge, were long 
celebrated for curing many inveterate cases of epilepsy by 
the use of Ladies’-smock. They were accustomed to give 
three doses a day, twelve grains each, of the powder care¬ 
fully prepared from the dried heads of the plant, and to 
continue its use many weeks. The failure of this remedy 
may often be attributable to improper management in the 
preparation ; and the virtue may easily be dissipated by too 
much heat. The whole flowering head should be pinched 
off the stalk together, when in full bloom and before the 
seeds are formed, and when free from either dew or rain. 
Spread the heads upon pewter dishes before a brisk lire, 
stirring and moving them. Rub them to a powder when 
i sufficiently dry; pass it through a sieve; and put it into 
No. CCLXXXIX., Vol. XII. 
