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peculiar to the Cordillera of the coast. It was also found by
Mr. Bridemeyer, a botanist, at a distance of three days’ journey
to the east of Caraccas, in the valley of Caucagua, where it is
known by the name of Arhol de Leche, or the Milk-tree ; and where
the inhabitants profess to recognise, from the thickness and colour
of the foliage, the trunks that yield the most juice,—as the herdsman
distinguishes, from external signs, a good milch cow. At
Barbula, this vegetable fountain is more aptly termed the Palo de
Vaca, or Cow-tree, It rises, as Humboldt informs us, like the
broad-leaved Star-apple [Chrysophyllum Cainito), to a height of from
thirty to forty feet, and is furnished with round branches, which,
while young, are angular, and clothed with a fine heavy down.
The trunk, on being wounded, yields its agreeable and nutritious
fluid in the greatest profusion. Humboldt remarks that “ a few
drops of vegetable juice recall to our minds all the powerfulness
and the fecundity of nature. On the barren flank of a rock grows
a tree with coriaceous and dry leaves. Its large woody roots can
scarcely penetrate into the stone. For several months of the year,
not a single shower moistens its foliage. Its branches appear
dead and dried; but when the trunk is pierced, there flows from
it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at the rising of the sun that
this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The blacks and natives
are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large
bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow, and thickens at its
surface. Some empty their bowls under the tree itself, others carry
the juice home to their children. We seem to see the family of a
shepherd who distributes the milk of his flock.”
C R A N E ’ S B I L L .—The Crane’s Bill, or English Geranium,
derived its name from a fancied resemblance of the fruit to the
beak of that bird. Another name for the plant is Dove’s Foot.------
Astrologers say that it is under the dominion of Mars.
C R A N B E R R Y .—The Cranberry [Vaccinium Oxycoccus) was
formerly known as the Marsh-wort or Fen-berry. The Druids
called the plant Samolus, and used great ceremonies in gathering i t ;
these consisted in a previous fast, in not looking back during the
time of their plucking it, and lastly in using their left hand only.
This plant was considered to be particularly efficacious in curing
the diseases incident to swine and cattle.
C R E S S .—Chaucer calls the Cress by its old Saxon name of
Keys, which may possibly have been the origin of the vulgar saying
of not caring a “ curse” for anything—meaning a Cress. Gerarde
tells us that the Spartans were in the habit of eating Cresses with
their bread; this they did no doubt on account of an opinion held
very generally among the ancients that those who ate Cress became
firm and decided, for which reason the plant was in great request.
Water-Cresses, according to astrologers, are herbs of the Moon.
C r o s s - F l o w e r .— See Milkwort.
'lit
C R O C U S .—Legendary lore derives the name of this flower
from a beautiful youth named Crocus, who was consumed by the
ardency of his love for the shepherdess Smilax, and was afterwards
metamorphosed into the flower which still preserves his name;
Smilax being also transformed, some accounts say into a flower,
others into a Yew.
Crocus and Smilax may be turned to flowers,
And the Curetes spring from bounteous showers.” - Ovid.
Rapin s a y s :
“ Crocus and Smilax, once a loving pair,
But now transformed, delightful blossoms bear. ”
According to a Grecian legend, the Crocus sprang from the blood
of the infant Crocus, who was accidentally struck by a metal disc
thrown by Mercury whilst playing a game. One of the Sanscrit
names of the Crocus, or Saffron, is asvig, which signifies “ blood.”
The dawn is sometimes called by the classic poets, on account of
its colour, crocea. The ancients often used to adorn the nuptial
couch with Crocus-flowers, perhaps because it is one of the flowers
of which, according to Homer, the couch of Jove and Juno was
composed.
“ And sudden Hyacinths the turf bestrew.
And flowery Crocus made the mountains glow.”
The Egyptians, at their banquets, encircled their wine cups with
garlands of Crocus and Saffron, and in their religious processions
these flowers were carried with other blooms and aromatics.------
The Jews made use of the Saffron Crocus [Crocus sativus) as an
aromatic, and in the Song of Solomon it is referred to as highly
appreciated :—“ Thy plants are an orchard of Pomegranates, with
pleasant fruits; Camphire, with Spikenard; Spikenard and Saffron,”
&c. The Greeks employed the Crocus in the composition of
their perfumes. Thus Hipponax says :—
“ I then my nose with baccaris anointed
Redolent of Crocus.”
The Romans were so fond of the Crocus, that they not only had
their apartments and banqueting halls strewed with this plant, but
they also composed with it unguents and essences which were
highly prized. Some of the latter were often made to flow in
small streams at their entertainments, or to descend in dewy
showers over the audience. Lucan, in his ‘ Pharsalia,’ describing
how the blood runs out'of the veins of a person bitten by a serpent,
says that it spouts out in the same manner as the sweet-smelling
essence of Saffron issues from the limbs of a statue. In both
Greece and Rome, as in later years in this land. Crocus was a
favourite addition to dishes of luxury, and Shakspeare speaks of
Saffron to colour the warden pies. In olden times. Crocus was
held to be a great cordial and strengthener of the heart and lungs ;
it was also considered useful in the plague and similar pestilences;