LEOPARD'S-BANE. Doronicum Pardalianches.

Natural Order Composite Discordeæ.

Corymbiferæ,

Juss. A Genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Super

fua Class.

Were man to live coeval with the sun,

The patriarch pupil would be learning still;
Yet, dying, leave his lesson half unlearn'd.

YOUNG.

NOTWITHSTANDING the study of botany, as far as it relates to the nature and virtue of herbs and plants, is the most ancient and universal of all sciences, yet we may at the present time consider ourselves but in the infancy of the art. So much does the vegetable world offer to our contemplation and research, that to become thoroughly acquainted with the phytonomy of a small portion of our native plants is more than the longest liver has been able to accomplish. With the introduction of exotic plants we are naturally led to inquire into their character, and how far they have been made subservient to the human species of their natural regions: this inquiry is frequently made, without taking into consideration the difference of climate and habits of the people from whom we receive

them; and this accounts for our so frequently finding them deficient in the virtues ascribed to them by the natives, to whom many plants become agreeable and wholesome, from custom and other causes, which, with us, would act as a violent and dangerous medicine.

The materia medica of the most ancient physicians, that have been handed down to us through the languages of different countries, seem all to have derived the foundation of their knowledge originally from the Arabians; and as the present European name of Doronicum is derived from the Arabic Doronigi or Durugi, it is probable that this plant was in some celebrity with these wandering tribes, who must, of necessity, have made themselves acquainted with the qualities of herbs.

The trivial name of this species of Doronicum is derived from the Greek Pardalio, Leopard, and Agcho (pr. Angcho), to strangle: hence our name of Leopard's Bane, because it was said to cause the death of any animal that ate it; and it was therefore formerly mixed with flesh to destroy leopards.

Martyn observes" that this plant has been stigmatized as poisonous, seemingly without much reason ;" and he adds, "the famous Conrad Gesner took two drams of the root without injury." But we are informed, in the Historia Plantarum ascribed to Boerhaave, that Gesner took some of

this plant in the morning fasting, and two hours afterwards he wrote a letter to a friend, in which he said that he was then in good health; but it appears, from the account of his other friends, that he had not sent off the letter an hour before he was taken ill and died.

Matthiolus appears to have been a strong advocate for the admission of this plant into medical use, and he asserted that it had no venomous quality; but he afterwards had reason to change his opinion, having given it to a dog, which it killed.

This plant is a native of the mountains of Switzerland, the Alps, Austria, Hungary, &c. Most of our modern English writers on botany mention it as indigenous to this country; but Martyn says, "this is one of the plants which, from the facility with which it propagates itself, has lately escaped from the gardens to increase the British Flora. Mr. Lightfoot remarked it in Scotland, but always near houses; and Dr. Stokes near Duplin House. Dr. Turner's account of this plant seems to confirm Mr. Martyn's statement, as this writer says, in 1568, "Doronicum, otherwise called Carnabadium, groweth not that I knowe of in England, and, that I remember, I never sawe it growyng but once, and that was in Germanye." He adds, "the rootes are wel knowen in the apothecaries' shoppes ;"

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and he concludes, "the Arabian commendeth this herbe verye muche agaynst the diseases of the herte, and holds that it is good against poyson and venome."

Gerard tells us that he had the Leopard's- Bane growing in his garden, and he observes that it grows naturally in the mountains of France; and adds, "it is also brought into, and acquainted with, our English grounds.”

The greatest recommendation of this plant to a station in the realm of Flora, is, that it will grow in any soil or situation, and its bright yellow flowers make a conspicuous figure among shrubs, particularly in a shady spot, both in the month of May, and again in autumn, provided the plants be cut down before the seed ripens.

The Leopard's-Bane multiplies very fast by its spreading roots, and if the seeds are permitted to scatter, they will produce plants wherever they fall, so as to become a troublesome weed: on this account, as well as that of having the flowers at two distinct seasons of the year, we recommend the stalks to be cut down when the flowers begin to fade.

ROCKET. Hesperis.

Natural Order Siliquose. Cruciferæ, Juss. A Genus of the Tetradynamia Siliquosa Class.

That keep

Their odour to themselves all day;
But when the sunlight dies away,
Let the delicious secret out

To every breeze that roams about.

T. MOORE.

THE ancients named this family of plants Hesperis, from Hesper or Vesper, because they do not discharge their perfume until the evening. In floral language, these flowers are made the emblem of Falsehood or Deceit, on account of their denying their odorous virtues to the light of day.

We have no plant that exhales so delightful a fragrance in the night as the Hesperis Tristas, Night-smelling Rocket, or Night-odorous Stock. This flower has for many ages been a favourite with the German ladies, and is consequently much cultivated in that country in pots for the apartments; and hence it obtained the name of Dame's Violet, in addition to that of Nacht Violen. It has been known in this country as long back as the