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kinds in England were the Don Quevedo and the Valentinier: the former was sold at two guineas; the latter at two and a half.

"This," says Beckmann, " may be called the lesser Tulipomania, which has given occasion to some laughable circumstances. When John Balthasar Schuppe was in Holland, a merchant gave a herring to a sailor who had brought him some goods. The sailor seeing some valuable Tulip-roots lying about, which he considered as of little consequence, thinking them to be onions, took some of them unperceived, and ate them with his herring. Through this mistake the sailor's breakfast cost the merchant a much greater sum than if he had treated the Prince of Orange."

"Another laughable anecdote is told of an Englishman, who, being in a Dutchman's garden, pulled a couple of Tulips, on which he wished to make some botanical observations, and put them into his pocket; but he was apprehended as a thief, and obliged to pay a considerable sum before he could obtain his liberty."..

In proportion as Tulips blow later in the year, their stems are longer, and consequently the more they require support: their bending to the wind, and their resemblance to the turbans from which they are named, are alluded to by Mr. Moore in the following lines:

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"What triumph crowds the rich Divan to-day
With turban'd heads, of every hue and race,
Bowing before that veiled and awful face,

Like tulip-beds, of different shape and dyes,
Bending beneath th' invisible west wind's sighs!"

LALLA ROOKH.

A Turkish poet, in an ode translated by Sir W. Jones, compares "Roses and Tulips to the cheeks of beautiful maids, in whose ears the pearls hang like drops of dew."

"Then comes the tulip-race, where beauty plays
Her idle freaks: from family diffused
To family, as flies the father dust,

The varied colours run; and while they break
On the charmed eye, th' exulting florist marks
With secret pride the wonders of his hand."

THOMSON.

VALERIANEE.

VALERIAN.

VALERIANA.

TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

The derivation of this name is uncertain.-French, la valériane.— Italian, valeriana.

THE Valerians vary in size from three or four feet to as many inches; their flowers are commonly red or white; but there are a few species with blue, and with yellow flowers.

The seeds may be sown of the annual kinds, and the roots parted of the perennial, in spring or autumn. Some of them, as the Red and the Alpine Valerians, thrive best on rocks, old walls, or buildings; the seed being scattered in the joints and chinks.

The Pyrenean species likes shade and a moist soil: the Garden Valerian likes moisture too, and plenty of room, as it spreads fast.

All the kinds must be kept moderately moist. Some give the Alpine kinds a poor stony soil covered with moss, in imitation of their natural place of growth, on mossy rocks, where the snow lies six or seven months in the year.

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VERBENACEE.

VERVAIN.

VERBENA.

DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMA.

The derivation of Verbena is uncertain: it originally signified any herb used to decorate altars. The present plant is also named Juno'stears, Columbine, and Pigeon's-grass.-French, verveine.-Italian, verbena.

THE Verbenas are generally natives of warm countries, and require much care and tenderness; most of them may be preserved, however, without a stove, when once raised. The Cut-leaved Rose Vervain is an annual or biennial plant, in some estimation for its brilliant colours. It flowers in June and July.

The most popular kind is the Three-leaved, of which the scent seems to partake of the Lemon and the Almond. The leaves are delicate and elegant; the flowers pale purple. This delightful little shrub is a native of South America: it may stand abroad in the summer, but should be housed again about Michaelmas. It may be increased by cuttings planted in any of the summer months.

The Common Vervain-in French, vervene verveine; herbe sacrée [sacred herb]: in Italian, verbena; erba colombina [dove-wort]—is a native of Europe, Barbary, China, Cochinchina, and Japan. With us it grows by road-sides, and in dry sunny pastures. Mr. Miller remarks," that although Vervain is very common, yet it is never found above a quarter of a mile from a house," whence it has been named by some, Simpler's-joy. The fact, however, is not allowed; and Dr. Withering found it in plenty at the foot of St. Vincent's rocks. It begins to flower in July, and continues to the end of autumn.

Vervain was held sacred among the ancients, and was employed in sacrifices, incantations, &c.: it is one of the plants termed by the Greeks Sacred Herb. It was sus

pended round the neck as an amulet, thought good against venomous bites, and recommended as a sovereign medicine for various diseases. In Britain it has fallen into disuse, in spite of a pamphlet written expressly to recommend it, directing the root to be tied with a yard of white satin riband round the neck, and to remain there till the patient recovered.

Drayton, in the Muse's Elysium, calls it the “Holy Vervain;" and in the same poem speaks of it as worn by heralds :

"A wreath of vervain heralds wear,

Amongst our garlands named,

Being sent that dreadful news to bear,"
Offensive war proclaimed."

"Black melancholy rusts, that fed despair

Through wounds long rage, with sprinkled vervain cleared; Strewed leaves of willow to refresh the air,

And with rich fumes his sullen senses cheered."

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THE species of Violets are very numerous; the Tricoloured or Pansy-violet has been noticed under its more familiar name of Heart's-ease. At the head of the other Violets ranks the Viola Odorata, or Sweet-violet-in French, violette de Mars [March violet]; violier commun: and in Italian, viola Marzia; viola mammola-which is a native of every part of Europe, in woods, bushes, and hedges, flowering in March and April. In 1804, Mr.

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Martyn gathered a handful of them from one root at the end of November. The flower varies in colour, though most commonly a deep purple: it is sometimes of a paler purple, sometimes a red-purple, flesh-coloured, or quite white; but it is always delightfully fragrant.

A syrup is prepared from this Violet, used in chemistry to detect an acid or an alkali, the former changing the blue colour to a red, and the latter to a green. For this purpose, the flowers are cultivated in large quantities at Stratford upon Avon. This Violet is very common in Japan, where it flowers from January to April. There are both double and single-flowered varieties: the white are generally the largest flowers; some maintain them to be the most fragrant: they blow later than the purple.

The Violet is scarcely less a favourite with the poets than the Rose itself; but whether lovers will acquiesce in the assertion made by Mr. Barry Cornwall, they must decide.

"There was a mark on Laïs' swan-like breast,

(A purple flower with its leaf of green,) Like that the Italian saw when on the rest

He stole of the unconscious Imogene,

And bore away the dark fallacious test

Of what was not, although it might have been,
And much perplexed Leonatus Posthumus:

In truth, it might have puzzled one of us.

"The king told Gyges of the purple flower;

(It chanced to be the flower the boy liked most ;)
It has a scent as though love, for its dower,
Had on it all his odorous arrows tost;

For though the rose has more perfuming power,
The violet, (haply 'cause 'tis almost lost,

And takes us so much trouble to discover)

Stands first with most, but always with a lover."

"such odours as the rose

Wastes on the summer air, or such as rise

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