56 
BITTERNESS. 
BIRTH. 
DITTANY OF CRETE. 
When Juno presided at the birth of chil¬ 
dren, under the name of Lueina, she wore a 
wreath of dittany. The agreeable fragrance 
of this shrub, and its medicinal qualities 
which rendered it so celebrated among the 
ancients, still procure it much esteem. It 
was originally introduced from Crete. 
BITTERNESS. 
ALOE. 
The aloe is said to thrive best in the de¬ 
sert, and is only attached to the soil by a very 
slender fibre. ■ Its taste is very sharp and bit¬ 
ter. So sorrow drives us away from the 
world, detaches our hearts from the earth, 
and fills them with bitterness. This plant 
derives its support almost entirely from the 
air, and assumes very singular and fantastic 
shapes. Le Yaillant found many species 
very numerous in the deserts of Namaquoise ; 
some of them six feet long, which were thick 
and armed with long spines. Erom the centre 
of these a light twig shoots forth to the height 
of a tall tree, all garnished with flowers. 
Others exalt themselves like the cactus, 
bristling with thorns. Others, again, are 
marbled, and seem like serpents creeping 
