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Apuleius tells us that the Eagle, when he wishes to soar high
and scan far and wide, plucks a wild Lettuce, and expressing the
juice, rubs with it his eyes, which in consequence become wonderfully
clear and far-seeing. The Hawk, for a similar purpose, was
thought to employ the Hawk-bit, or Hawk-weed (Hieracium).
Pigeons and Doves, not to be behind their traditional enemy, discovered
that Vervain possessed the power of curing dimness of
vision, and were not slow to use it with that object: hence the plant
obtained the name of Pigeon’s-grass. Geese were thought to
“ help their diseases” with Galium aparine, called on that account
Goose-grass; and they are said to sometimes feed on the Potentilla
anserina, or Goose Tansy. On the other hand, they were so averse
to the herb known to the ancients as Chenomychon, that they took
to flight the moment they spied it.
There is an old tradition of a certain life-giving herb, which
was known to birds, and a story is told of how one day an old man
watched two birds fighting till one was overcome. In an almost
exhausted state it went and ate of a certain herb, and then returned
to the onslaught. When the old man had observed this occur several
times, he went and plucked the herb which had proved so valuable to
the little bird; and when at last it came once more in search of the
life-giving plant, and found it gone, it uttered a shrill cry, and fell
down dead. The name of the herb is not given; but the story has
such a strong family likeness to that narrated by Forestus, in which
the Goat’s Rue is introduced, that, probably, Galega is the life-
giving herb referred to. The story told by Forestus is as follows:—
A certain old man once taking a walk by the bank of a river, saw
a Lizard fighting with a Viper ; so he quietly lay down on the
ground, that he might the better witness the fight without being
seen by the combatants. The Lizard, being the inferior in point
of strength, was speedily wounded by a very powerful stroke from
the Viper—so much so, that it lay on the turf as if dying. But
shortly recovering itself, it crept through the rather long Grass,
without being noticed by the Viper, along the bank of the river,
to a certain herb (Goat’s Rue), growing there nigh at hand. The
Lizard, having devoured it, regained at once its former strength,
and returning to the Viper, attacked it in the same way as before,
but was wounded again from receiving another deadly blow from
the Viper. Once more the Lizard secretly made for the herb,
to regain its strength, and being revived, it again engaged with
its dangerous enemy—but in vain; for it experienced the same
fate as before. Looking on, the old man wondered at the plant
not less than at the battle; and in order to try if the herb possessed
other hidden powers, he pulled it up secretly, while the
Lizard was engaged afresh with the Viper. The Lizard having
been again wounded, returned towards the herb, but not being
able to find it in its accustomed place, it sank exhausted and
died.
Numerous plants have had the names of birds given to them,
either from certain peculiarities in their strudture resembling birds,
or because they form acceptable food for the feathered race. Thus
the Cock’s Comb is so called from the shape of its calyx ; the
Cock’s Foot, from the form of its spike; and the Cock’s Head (the
Sainfoin), from the shape of the legume. The Crane’s Bill and the
Heron’s Bill both derive their names from the form of_ their
respective seed vessels. The Guinea Hen {Fritillaria meleagris) has
been so called from its petals being spotted like this bird. The
Pheasant’s Eye [Adonis autumnalis) owes its name to its bright red
corolla and dark centre; the Sparrow Tongue (the Knot-grass) to
its small acute leaves ; and the L a rk ’s Spur, Heel, Toe, or Claw
(Delphinium) to its projecting nectary. Chickweed and Duckweed
have been so called from being favourite food for poultry. The
Crow has given its name to a greater number of plants than any
other bird. The Ranunculus is the Coronopus or Crow Foot of
Dioscorides, the Geranium pratense is the Crowfoot Crane’s Bill, the
Lotus corniculatus is called Crow Toes, the Daffodil and the Blue-bell
both bear the name of Crow Bells, the Empetrum nigrum is the Crow
Berry, Allium vineale is Crow Garlick, Scilla nutans. Crow Leeks,
and the Scandix Pecten, Crow Needles. The Hen has a few plants
named after it, the greater and lesser Hen Bits [Lamium amplexicaule
and Veronica hederifoUa) ; the Hen s Foot (Caucalis daucoides), so
called from the resemblance of its leaves to a hen’s claw ; and
Henbane [Hyoscyamus niger), which seems to have derived its name
from the baneful effects its seeds have upon poultry.
pFantii) eomnccfeil— coitR eKnlmaF^.
The Ass has named after it the Ass Parsley (yEthusa Cynapium),
and the Ass’s Foot, the Coltsfoot, Tussilago Farfara. William Coles
says that “ if the Asse be oppressed with melancholy, he eates of
the Herbe Asplenion or Miltwaste, and eases himself of the swelling
of the spleen.” D. C. Franciscus Paullini has given, in an old
work, an account of three Asses he met in Westphalia, which
were in the habit of intoxicating themselves by eating white
Henbane and Nightshade. These four-footed drunkards, when
in their cups, strayed to a pond, where they pulled themselves
together with a dip and a c.raught of water. The same author
relates another story, A miller of Thuringia had brought mea
with his nine Asses into the next district. Having accepted the
hospitality of some boon companions, he left his long-eared friends
to wander around the place and to feed from the hedgerows and
public roads. There they chanced to find a quantity of Thistles
that had been cut, and other food mixed with Hemlock, and at
once devoured the spoil greedily and confidently. At dusk, the
miller, rising to depart, was easily detained by his associates, who
cried out that the road was short, and that the moon, which had