THE LADIES^ FLORAE CABINET. 
171 . 
a last affectionate look upon liis lady-love he cried, 
“Forget-me-not!” and was birried in the waters. 
Thus the last cry of the drowning lover became asso¬ 
ciated ever- after with the flowers of the MyosotU'palm- 
tvis, which now bears a corresponding name in nearly 
every European lang:uage. 
One too cidtical might, if so disposed, spoil this pretty 
story by pointing out the difliculty of the lady s perceiv¬ 
ing flowers so small as the * * Forget-me-not, or for that 
matter any flowers, even were they as large as the Vic¬ 
toria Eegia, at that distance in the evening; but we are 
not to forget that the charm of a legend oftentimes con¬ 
sists altogether in its very improbabilities. The stoiy 
has, if the %vriter—writing now from memory only- 
does not eiT, been told differently elsewhere, and the 
scene laid on the banks of a river into whose swift cur¬ 
rent and treacherous eddies the devoted lover slipped 
while reaching to obtain the flowers for his betrothed, 
to whom he was to have been married the rrext day. 
Mills, who introduced into his notes the story of the 
two lovers.as communicated to him by Anthony Todd 
Thonrson, a botanical lectur'er, says that the name of 
‘ ‘ Forget-me-not ” appears to be of considerable antiquity. 
He gives as a synonyme ‘‘Floure of Souvenawx” a 
name wlrich he says was bestowed upon Myosotis scirpi- 
oides in England, and describes a famous joust fought 
in 1465 between two knights for a prize on wlrich that 
flower was woven as evidence of the existence of the 
name as early as the reign of Edward the Foru'th. 
Prior, however (“ Popular Names for British Plants,” 
second editioir, page eighty-foru-), who appears to iiave 
made a thorough investigation into the history of the 
name, and to have traced it to its origin, doubts the 
identity of the plant of that period, and says that tlrei'e 
is no ground for supposing that it was the same as our 
present “Forget-me-not.” 
He also states that in England, Fr-ance, aird the Nether¬ 
lands, the name of “Forget-me-not” was assigned exclu¬ 
sively to a species of ground-pine (Afiiga Chamcepitys), 
with reference to a uarrseous taste wlrich it left in the 
mouth, by all the herbalistc and botanical writers who 
merrtioned the plant at all, from the fifteenth century, 
until it was transferTed—subsequent to the pirblication 
of Gray’s “Natural AtTangement” in 1821—nith the 
story of the drowned lover to Myosotis palustris, which 
has always been called in Errglaud by the less agreeably- 
suggestive name of “ mouse-ear scorpion-grass.” 
The name “Forget-me-not” further apirears to have 
been originally bestowed upon a species of veronica (“ V. 
Chamcedrys”) by the Danish herbalists, with refer-ence 
to the falling pff and flying away of the blossoms, and 
Prior thus sums irp its history: 
“ The blossoms fall from a veronica, and it is called 
“ Speedwell! ” and “ Forget-irre-not.” The natrre passes 
to a plant of nauseous taste, the ground-pine, and Dale- 
champ explains it as expressive of this disagreeable 
quality. It attaches itself to a river-side plant, and the 
story books are r-eady with a legend.” 
To this we may add that it is to be hoped the name 
has found a permanent abiding place, for, however, it 
may have been .bestowed upon Myosotis palustris, the 
association is not only an exceedingly happy one, 
but no more fitting medium could be chosen through 
which to express the tender serrtiments of enduring 
affection than this beautiful flower of remembrance. 
— Selected. 
WONDERS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 
THE PALM FAMILY— Continued. 
Lodoieea Seychellarum. Soon after the trade be¬ 
tween India and England commenced, some iirrmense 
double cocoa-nuts were occasionally found floaturg upon 
the waves of the Indian Oceair, and whose native coun¬ 
try could not be traced. The mystery in which these 
productions were enveloped, was increased by their 
being a sor-t of infallible remedy among the Hindoos 
for every description of malady, even for all kinds of 
poison; and they not only called them the “ Ti-easure,” 
but the “nut of Solomon,” by which appellation the 
Christians .also learned to ascribe to them almost un¬ 
heard of value. Their hard kernel was reduced to pow¬ 
der in poiphjuy vases, mixed with powdered coral and 
other hard ingredients; and even to be allowed to 
drink out of the vessel in wliich this was prepared 
bi’ought a high price. 
It is said, “ The blind faith which the human mind so 
often bestows on pretended remedies, worked a great 
many cures, and the extravagance of tlie fables at¬ 
tached to ‘The Treasure,’ only increased its efficacy.” 
The following fable is a fair sample of the many that 
found ready believers. It was said thei’e was but one 
tree in the world which produced these nuts, and that 
its roots were fixed in the bed of tile ocean, deeper than 
any line could reach, and that on the top sat a griffin, 
which, every night, went to one of the neighboring 
islands to fetch an elephant, or a rliinoceros for supper; 
unless, indeed, some unfortunate vessel came in the 
vicinity, when the griffin stopped it till he had de¬ 
voured all on board. 
These nuts brought the most extravagant prices. 
Rochou asserts that it was not uncommon at one time 
to see them sold for more than $2,000 each. The Em¬ 
peror Rudolph the Second could not procure one at the 
price of 4,000 florins. Some of the wealthy Indians had 
cups made of them, which they ornamented with gold 
and precious stones. 
The wild rage for these “ Treasures” lasted for many 
years, until, in 1768, Captain Duchenin, from the Isles 
of France, and M. Barre the hydrographer, went to the 
Seychelles Islands on an exploring expedition, and dis¬ 
covered there the birth-place of “The Treasure,” on the 
very spot where a former French officer had seen them, 
without apparently knowing wliat they were. The 
French vessel took in a cargo of the nuts, which were 
thrown on the market at Bombay, which not only dis¬ 
pelled the fables and took fiem them their supposed 
medical properties; but brought down the price to a 
nominal rate. 
Whatever may have been said about the fruits of the 
tree, there can be no doubt as to its being one of the 
wonders of the vegetable kingdom. 
This magnificent palm grows to the height of 100 feet, 
pei-fectly upright, the stem is cylindrical and straight as 
an iron pillar. It is of slow growth: the shortest ireriod 
