126 
DICTIONARY OF TIIE 
I cling to thee, Vetch, or Chick Pea. 
I die if neglected, Laurestine. See p. 80. 
I feel jour benefits, Flax. 
Linen, lace, and paper remind us every instant of this 
useful plant. The seeds are used in preparing poultices, and 
also make a useful drink; while the oil expressed from them 
is invaluable to painters. 
Illness, Garden Anemone. 
In some provinces the anemone is thought to poison the 
air, and cause various maladies. Ovid makes the anemone 
spring from the blood of Adonis. 
“ ‘ Could Pluto’s queen with jealous fury storm, 
And Menthe to a fragrant herb transform ? 
Yet dares not Venus with a change surprise, 
And in a flower bid her fallen hero rise ? ’ 
Then on the blood sweet nectar she bestows; 
The scented blood in little bubbles rose, 
Little as rainy drops which fluttering fly, 
Borne by the winds along a lowering sky. 
Short time ensued, till where the blood was shed 
A flower began to rear its purple head; 
Such as on Punic apples is revealed, 
Or in the filmy rind but half concealed. 
Still here the fate of lovely forms we see, 
So sudden fades the sweet anemone. 
The feeble stems to stormy blasts a prey, 
Their sickly beauties droop and pine away; 
The winds forbid the flowers to flourish long, 
Which owe to winds their name in Grecian song.” 
Tr. by Eusden. 
Immortality, Amaranth. See p. 74. 
Impatience, Balsamine. 
The impatient seed-vessels of the balsamine burst open 
suddenly at the slightest touch. 
