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substitute for the costly Indian Cloves in flavouring dainty dishes
as well as liquors. The Gilliflower was also thought to possess
metocinal properties. Gerarde assures us, that “ The conserve
ma J J the flowers of the Clove Gilloflower and sugar is exceeding
cordiall, and woonderfully above measure doth comfort the heart
being eaten now and then.” It was, also, thought good against
pestflential fevers. A red Carnation distinguishes several of
me Italian painters. Benvenuto Tisio was called “ II Garofalo ”
having painted a Gilliflower in the corner of his picflures.
- — The Carnation is under the dominion of Tupiter. (See also
G i l l i f l o w e r ). '
0-7- Carob-tree, or St. John’s Bread (Ceratoma
Sthqua) flourishes m the East, and in Palestine (to quote from
Gerard J there is “ such plenty of it, that it is left unto swine and
other wflde beasts to feed upon, as our Acorns and Beech-mast.”
Hence it has long been supposed by many that the shells of the
Carob-pod were the husks which the Prodigal Son was fain to feed
upon, although they were what “ the swine did e a t ; and no man
gave unto Jm J (Luke xv., 16). In Germany, as in England,
toe (Jarob obtmned the name of St. John’s Bread, from the popular
belief that the Baptist fed upon it whilst in the wilderness. Gerarde
says: “ This is of some called Saint John’s Bread, and thought
to be that which is translated Locusts, whereon Saint John did
teed when he was in the wildernesse, besides the wilde honey
whereol he did also e a t ; but there is small certainty of this ; but it
IS most certain that the people of that country doe feed on these
cods. B y others it has been supposed that the Locusts on which
John the Baptist fed were the tender shoots of plants, and that the
wild honey was the pulp in the pod of the Carob, whence it derived
toe name of St. John’s Bread. According to a Sicilian tradition,
toe Carob is a tree of ill-repute, because it was on one of this
species that the traitor Judas Iscariot hung himself. In Syria
and Asia Minor, the Carob, venerated alike by Christian and
Mussulman, is dedicated to St. George, whose shrines are alwavs
erecited beneath the shadow of its boughs,
C A R R O T .—The wild Carrot {Daucus Cavota) is also called
Bird s-nest or B ee’s-nest, because, in its seeding state, the umbel
resembles a nest. -In the reign of James the First, ladies adorned
their head-dresses with Carrot-leaves, the light feathery verdure of
which was considered a pleasing substitute for the plumage of birds
The ancient Greeks called the Carrot PMleon, because of its
connecflion with amatory affairs. We read in Gerarde in what this
consisted. He remarks that the Carrot “ serveth for love matters •
and Cr J e n s as Pliny writeth, said that the use hereof winneth
love; which things be written of wilde Carrot, the root whereof is
more effecflual than that of the garden.” According to Galen the
root of the wild Carrot possessed the power of exciting the passions
The seed was administered to women under the belief that it
induced and helped conception. To dream of Carrots signifies
profit and strength to them that are at law for an inheritance, for
we pluck them out of the ground with our hand, branches, strings,
and veins. Carrots are held to be under Mercury,
C A S H EW .—The nuts of the Cashew {Anacardium occidentah)
are supposed by the Indians to excite the passions. The negroes of
the West Indies say a branch of the Cashew-tree supplied the
crown of Thorns used at our Saviour’s crucifixion, and that, in consequence,
one of the bright golden petals of the flower became
black and blood-stained.
C A S S A V A .—The South American Cassava {Jatropha Manihot)
is also known as the edible-rooted physic-nut, and in Brazil it bears
the name of Mandioc. There are two kinds of Cassavas—the bitter
and the sweet. From the roots of both bread is made, the tubers
being first peeled and then ground into farina, and a poisonous
juice expressed. Should this juice be drunk by cattle or poultry,
they will become speedily much swollen, and die in convulsions;
but if the same liquid is boiled with meat, and seasoned, it forms a
favourite soup, called by the Brazilians Casserepo. The juice is
used by the Indians for the poisoning of arrows: it is sometimes
fermented, and converted into an intoxicating liquor in great favour
with the Indians and negroes. Tapioca is a kind of starch prepared
from the farina of Cassava roots.
C A S S IA .—The Cassia mentioned by Moses in Exodus
X X X ., 24 (called in Hebrew Kidda, the bark), was a sweet spice
commanded to be used in the composition of the holy oil employed
in the consecration of the sacred vessels of the Tabernacle. It is
supposed to have been the bark of an aromatic tree, known by the
ancients as Costus, preparations of the bark and root of which were
sometimes burnt on the pagan altars. There were three sorts of
Costus—the Arabian, the Indian, and the Syrian ; the root of the
first of these was most esteemed for its aromatic properties : it had
a fragrant smell similar to the perfume of Crris or Violets, and was
called Costus dulcis or odoratus.
C A S S IA - T R E E .—The Cassia, or Senna-tree, belongs to a
genus numerous in species, which are generally diffused in warm
countries : among them is the Moon-tree of the Chinese, and this
Cassia is considered by them to be the first of all medicaments.
They have a saying, “ The Cassia can be eaten, therefore it is
cut down,” which probably explains their belief that in the middle
of the Moon there grows a Cassia-tree, at the foot of which is a
man who is endeavouring continually to fell it. This man is one
Kang Won, a native of Si-ho. Whilst under the tuition of a Geni,
he committed a grave fault, for which he was condemned from
henceforth to cut down the Cassia-tree. They call the Moon,
therefore, the Kueilan, or the disk of the Cassia. The Chinese give