ENTERTAINMENT, FEASTING. 
93 
of vervain to the new married bride, as put¬ 
ting her under the protection of that goddess. 
Pliny also tells us that it was made use of by 
the Druids in casting lots, in drawing omens, 
and in other magical arts. 
ENTERTAINMENT, FEASTING. 
PARSLEY. 
Parsley was in great reputation among 
the Greeks. In their banquets they crowned 
their brows with its light tendrils, which they 
thought created gaiety and so increased their 
appetites. At Rome, in the Isthmian games, 
the conquerors were crowned with parsley. 
It is thought this plant came from Sardi¬ 
nia, because that province is represented on 
ancient medals under the form of a female^ 
near whom is a vase in which is a bouquet ol 
parsley. But this plant grows in all the fresh 
and shady places in Greece, and in the south¬ 
ern provinces of France. Guy de la Brosse 
affirms that it grows also near Paris, on 
Mount Valerian; but it is presumable that 
the plant he designates is not the true pars¬ 
ley, since its introduction into France is at¬ 
tributed to Rabelais, who, according to the 
learned, brought it from Rome with the Ro- 
