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trees in a grove/called Carnea, dedicated to the god, they provoked
his anger and indignation: to expiate this sacrilege, the Greeks instituted
the festival called Carnea. The Cornel is under Venus.
C o R O N A T io N - F L O W E R .— S e e Camatiou.
C O S TM A R Y .—This plant, the Balsamita vulgans, owes its
name of Costmary to the Greek Kostos, an unknown aromatic plant,
and to the facft of its being dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene. A
variety of the plant is also called, after her, Maudlein, either in
allusion to her box of scented ointment or to its use in the uterine
affecfhions over which, as the special patroness of unchaste women,
she presided. In old times, the plant was known as Herha Sanctcv
or Divce Marie. The Costmary is held to be under Jupiter.
C O S T U S .—The Costus speciosus, an Indian swamp tree, celebrated
for its sweet fruit, is a sacred tree, and in the Hindu
mythology figures as Kushtha, one of the trees of heaven. It is a
magical tree, curing fevers, and is looked upon as the first of medicinal
plants. It is represented as the friend and companion of
Soma, the god of Ambrosia. It is called the Revealer of Ambrosia,
inasmuch as its fruit grew on the summit of Mount Himavant at
the moment when the golden boat of the gods touched its summit,
and by its illuminating powers enabled them to find the Ambrosia.
C O T T O N -P L A N T .—The Cotton-plant {Cossypium) was first
cultivated in the East, whence were procured the finest muslins (so
named from Mosul, in Mesopotamia, where it was first made),
calico (from Calicut, in India), and Nankeen (from Nankin, in
China, where the yellow Cotton-plants grow). Now the Cotton-
plant gives employment to millions of people, sends thousands of
ships across the sea, and binds together the two great Anglo-Saxon
nations. Although so useful, the Cotton is not one of the sacred
plants of In d ia : in an Indian poem, however, the plant is noticed
favourably:—“ We love the fruits of the Cotton because, although
tasteless, they have the property of concealing that which ought to
be concealed ” (in allusion to the use of cotton as clothing). The
Khonds, whenever founding a new settlement, always plant first a
Cotton-plant, which they hold sacred and religiously preserve.------
M. Agassiz, in his work on Brazil, recounts a strange legend re-
spedting the Cossypium Brazilianum. Caro Sacaibu, the first of men,
was a demi-god. His son, Rairu, an inferior being, obeyed the
instrudtions of his father, who, however, did not love him. To
get rid of him, Sacaibu construdted an armadillo, and buried it in
the earth, leaving visible only the tail, rubbed with Mistletoe.
Then he ordered his son to bring him the armadillo. Rairu
obeyed, but scarcely had he touched the tail, when, aided by Sacaibu,
it dragged Rairu to the bottom of the earth. But thanks to his
wit, Rairu contrived to make his way to the surface again, and told
Sacaibu that in the subterranean regions lived a race of men and
women, who, if transported to earth, would cultivate it. Sacaibu
allowed himself to be convinced of this, and accordingly descended
in his turn to the bottom of the earth by the aid of a rope composed
of Cotton, which he had sown for the first time on the occasion.
The first men brought to earth by means of Sacaibu’s rope were
small and ugly, but the more rope he pulled up, the handsomer became
the men, until just as he was about to pull out the handsomest
the Cotton rope broke, and the brightest specimens of
humanity were doomed for ever to remain in the bowels of mother
earth. That is the reason why, in this earth of ours, beauty is so
scarce.
C o v e n t r y B e l l s .—See Campanula.
C O W S L IP .—The familiar name. Cowslip, is presumed to be
derived from the Anglo-Saxon Cu-slyppe: Skeat thinks because the
plant was supposed to spring up where a patch of cow-dung had
fallen. The flowers of the common Cowslip, Petty Mullein, or
Paigle {Primula veris), are, in some parts of Kent, called Fairy Cups.
The odour of Cowslips is said to calm the heart. A pleasant and
wholesome wine is made from them, resembling Muscadel. It is
said to induce sleep. Says Pope :—
“ For want of rest,
Lettuce and Cowslip vemQ—probatum est."
Cowslip-balls are made in the following manner:—The umbels or
heads are picked off as close as possible to the top of the main
stalks. From fifty to sixty of these are hung across a string
stretched between the backs of two chairs. The flowers are then
pressed carefully together, and the string tied tightly, so as to
colledt them into a ball. Care should be taken to have all the
flowers open, so as to make the surface of the ball even.------
Culpeper, the astrological herbalist, says that the Greeks gave the
name of Paralysis to the Cowslip because the flowers strengthened
the brain and nerves, and were a remedy for palsy. He adds, that
Venus lays claims to this herb, and it is under the sign Aries.
C O W S L IP O F J E R U S A L E M .—The Virginian Cowslip
or Lungwort {Pulmonaria officinalis), is called Cowslip of Jerusalem,
Sage of Jerusalem, Sage of Bethlehem, Wild Comfrey and Lungwort,
being supposed, from its spotted leaves, to be a remedy for
diseased lungs. Linnseus christened the plant Dodecatheon, or
Twelve Divinities, because, in April, it is crowned with twelve pink
flowers reversed. The Lung-wort is considered to be a herb of
Jupiter.
C O W -T R E E .—The ancient inhabitants of Venezuela regarded
as sacred the Chichiuhalquehuill, Tree -of Milk, or Celestial
Tree, that distilled milk from the extremity of its branches, and
around which were seated infants who had expired a few days after
their birth. A Mexican drawing of this Celestial Tree is preserved
in the Vatican, and is noticed by Humboldt, who first heard of the
Pald_ de Vaca, or Cow-tree, in the year 1800, and supposed it to be