kind, which, Sibthorp says, are merely varieties, the male being larger and more downy than the female; but Pliny distinguishes the male as the white variety, and the female as the black, corresponding with the spring and autumnal mandragora of modern Botanists.

In the V.MS. of Dioscorides, so often alluded to, is a curious drawing, which I have transferred to this work; representing Euperis, the Goddess of Discovery, presenting in triumph to Dioscorides the root of this mandrake, which she has just had pulled up, whilst the unfortunate dog, which had been employed for that purpose, is depicted in the agonies of death.

This is an evident allusion to one of the superstitious notions, which Josephus, amongst others, has recorded (Wars of the Jews, lib. 7. cap. 6.) respecting this plant. After mentioning the danger of taking it up, he says, "there is one way however in which this may be done with safety. That is as follows: They dig all round the root, so that it adheres to the earth only by its extremities. Then they fasten a dog to the root by a string, and the dog, striving to follow his master who calls him away, easily tears up the plant, but then dies upon the spot; whereas the master can take this wonderful root in his hand without danger." Josephus adds, that the great use of this plant is to dispel demons, who cannot bear either its smell or its presence.

c See plate annexed.

11. Mentha, mint,

serpentia gramina menta." (119.)

What species is referred to may be doubtful, but perhaps m. pulegium or pennyroyal, not unfrequent in Italy, is intended.

12. Myrica,

"Non omnes arbusta juvant, humilesque myrica."

(ECL. iv. 2.) Fée mentions four sorts of plants designated by this name: 1st, the pupíkn of Theophrastus, having cottony fruit, which corresponds with one kind mentioned in Dioscorides: this he considers to be tamarix Gallica, an opinion confirmed by Dr. Sibthorp's authority, and by the drawing contained in the V. MS., which is a fair representation of the plant in question.

2nd, μvpíkŋ of Dioscorides, with fruit like a gall nut. Perhaps tamarix Africana.

3rd, myrice of Pliny, in which are included, not only several kinds of erica, but also tamarix Gallica.

4th, myrica of Lenæus and Favorinus, as cited by Pliny, which comprehends several of the smaller kinds of erica.

13. Moloche,

"Et moloche, prono sequitur quæ vertice solem."

(247.) μaλáxn Diosc. (see Fl. Gr.) probably malva sylvestris. Pliny says the cultivated mallow is called malope, the wild one moloche, (xx. 84.)

He attributes sundry virtues to it, but the

moderns only regard it as an emollient and demulcent, and employ it chiefly as an external application.

14. Megaris bulbi,

"Jam Megaris veniant genitalia semina bulbi." (106.) From the virtues here attributed to this plant, it has been thought that some kind of orchis is intended, but the bulbs of the orchis do not contain seeds.

Pliny, in his 19th Book, c. 30, alludes to the bulbi Megarei, which Cato also had mentioned in his 8th chapter, unaccompanied however with any description.

Nicander praises the Μεγαρήας βολβούς, whilst Ovid condemns them as aphrodisiac; but this is nearly all we know respecting their qualities, and it is therefore rather precipitate to set them down as orchises, especially when Pliny associates them with squill in the passage above cited. Schneider regards the plant as more probably the arum italicum. Dioscorides only says, that these bulbs are known to every one, but unluckily the knowledge the ancients had on the subject has not been handed down to us.

15. Ocymum,

"Tum quoque proscisso riguoque inspersa novali
Ocima comprimite," (318.)

was therefore a weed apt to spring up amongst grass, and must not be confounded with the ocymum or ocinum spoken of by Cato, which, as I explained in a former Lecture, was a forage herb;

whereas this is rather the condiment now used in foreign cookery, although the medicinal virtues attributed to the plant by Pliny have led me to place it among simples. It is probably the ocymum basilicon of modern botanists.

16. Papaver. The poppy spoken of by Columella, seems to have been the p. rheas, or corn poppy, "cereale papaver;"

(314.)

though possibly glauceum luteum may be intended, when he speaks of

Virgil, however, probably has in his eye the pa

paver somniferum, where he speaks of

"lethæa papavera."

17. Panax,

(GEORG. iv. 545-)

"Medica panacem lachryma." (103.)

probably opoponax chironium, Umbelliferæ.' A gum resin is obtained from this plant by incisions into the root, a milky excretion flowing out (medica lachryma) which, like other juices of the kind, possesses stimulant properties. See Pliny xii. 57. 18. Ruta,

"Palladiæ baccæ jutura saporem," (121.)

is ruta graveolens L., a plant with a strong disagreeable smell, which, however, the ancients appear to have relished. It is a powerful stimulant and narcotic, but is not much used in modern practice.

19. Scilla, squill, scilla maritima, the medi