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posed by our ancestors to be a magical 
I plant, possessing strange powers. It drove 
Mt | away tempests, dispelled enchantments, and 
| | | cured epilepsy! But certain ceremonies 
HH | were required to be observed before it could 
HI be used as a medicine. 
HI) The patient must not taste the root of it, 
wie | if the woodpecker were in sight, for if he 
HI I did he became blind. Nor must it be taken 
HH | except at a certain hour of the night and 
| phase of the moon ; but its power to heal or 
HII | aid was great, if these rules were observed. 
| | i | Alas! its day is gone by, and the Peony 
| | scarcely now retains its old high place as a 
lil gorgeous flower in our gardens. 
II | The Poppy was the gift of Ceres, the 
| | ] goddess of agriculture, who created it that 
| she might find solace in its slumberous 
Hi i qualities, from her grief at the loss of her 
| daughter Proserpine, who had been carried 
| off by Pluto,— 









| | i ‘*Sleep-bringing Poppy, by the ploughman late, 
| Not without cause to Ceres consecrate.” 
BROWNE. 









