NARCISSUS ANGUSTIFOLIUS.-NARROW-LEAVED NARCISSUS.

CLASS VI. HEXANDRIA.-ORDER I. MONOGYNIA.

NATURAL ORDER, AMARYLLIDE.--THE NARCISSUS TRIBE.

FLOWERS solitary, cup of the nectary very short, membranous and notched at the edge, leaves bluntly keeled, with reflected edges. Flower pure white; the nectary edged with crimson; fragrant. Perennial; flowers in May; grows in dry open fields in England.

Under the name of Poeticus three different species of Narcissus, appearing perfectly distinct, though familiar in many respects, and regarded as such by the old botanists, viz.:

Narcissus albus circulo purpureo, v et vi. . . . .

Narcissus albus magno odoro flore circulo pallido, C. Bauh.
Narcissus pallidus circulo luteo

Narcissus medio purpureus præcox.

Narcissus medio purpureus serotinus,. Park Parad.
Narcissus medio luteus vulgaris

The first of these, the one here figured, is evidently the poeticus of Linnæus, judging by the authors to whom he refers in the third edition of his Spec. Pl. which are indeed few in number, and confined chiefly to Baub. Pin. and Dodonaus; of the second and third he takes no notice.

The two former ones of these have the greatest affinity, inasmuch as they both produce for the most part only one flower, of a white colour, having a very short nectary, edged with red; to both of these Linnæus's specific description is equally applicable, as well as the trivial name of poeticus, given them indiscriminately by several of the old botanists, some regarding the first, some the second, as the plant mentioned by Theocritus, Virgil, and Ovid; unfortunately both of them are found to grow in the same meadows, and have the same obvious appearances, it is therefore utterly impossible to say which of the two was the Narcissus of the poets; if we have the greatest difficulty in ascertaining what the plants were of the botanists of those times, how are we to discover what the poets meant, who with very few exceptions have been unpardonably inattentive to the appearances of nature. The term Poeticus is equally suitable to both.

Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, tells us of the fate of the lovely Narcissus. A thousand nymphs loved the handsome youth, but suffered the pangs of unrequited love. Viewing himself in the crystal fount he became enamoured of his own image.

For as his own bright image he surveyed,

He fell in love with the fantastic shade;

And o'er the fair resemblance hung unmoved,

Nor knew, fond youth! it was himself he loved.—OVID.

In consequence of this error he slighted the love of Echo, who witnessed his fruitless vows to the deceitful image. Addison thus translates the passage :

:

Then on the wholesome earth he gasping lies,
Till death shuts up those self-admiring eyes.
To the cold shades his flitting ghost retires,
And in the Stygian waves itself admires.
For him the Naiads and Dryads mourn,
Whom the sad Echo answers in her turn!
And now the sister-nymphs prepare his urn;
When looking for his corpse, they only found
A rising stalk with yellow blossoms crowned.

The cup in the centre of the flower is supposed to contain the tears of Narcissus, to which Milton alludes; and Virgil in the following, where he is speaking of the occupations of the bees :—

"Some within the house lay tears of daffodils, and tough glue from the barks of trees, for the foundations of the combs, and then suspend the tenacious wax."-MARTYN'S TRANSLATION.

Thomson celebrates the sweetness of the Narcissus :

"No gradual bloom is wanting; from the bud,
First-born of Spring. to Summer's musky tribes;

Nor hyacinths, of purest virgin white,

Low bent, and blushing inward; nor jonquils,
Of potent fragrance; nor Narcissus fair,
As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still."

THOMSON'S SPRING.

"Narcissus, drooping on his rill,
Keeps his odorous beauty still."*

* Translation from MILTON.

Virgil, in one passage in the fifth pastoral, speaks of the Narcissus as purple; and Mr. Davidson, in a note on that passage, observes that Dioscorides also speaks of a species of Narcissus which is purple :

"Pro molli violà, pro purpureo narcisso."

"In lieu of the soft violet, in lieu of the empurpled Narcissus."-DAVIDSON'S TRANSLATION.

Several of them have a ring of purple:

"Bring rich carnations, flower de luces, lilies,

The checqued and purple-ringed daffodillies."-BEN JONSON.

The narcotic odour of the Narcissus was known to the ancients, indeed its name is said to be derived from (vapky,) stupor; and hence it was one of their funereal flowers. The smell of many is, however, exceedingly grateful; but in confined apartments their exhalations are reputed to be noxious. The bulbs of these plants abound more or less in farina, containing an emetic principle, which in some, as the N. poeticus, N. Jonquilla, &c. is predominant, that they were called bulbi vomitarii by the older herbalists. N. odorus, Pseudo-narcissus, and Tazetta, have similar properties, and are administered on the continent in doses of five or ten grains to produce nausea, and thirty grains as an emetic.

The extract is the best form in which the active principle of the Narcissi can be exhibited medicinally. Two or three drachms of this preparation will destroy life in the course of a few hours. In doses of two or three grains it is regarded by some persons as almost a specific in hooping-cough. But Laennec says, in speaking of its effects in pertussis, "I have used this extract inuch, and have occasionally seen it effect surprisingly rapid cures; for instance, in five or six days; but this result is rare, and as a general remedy I find it much less efficacious than Belladonna."

A watery extract of Narcissus [Dr. Taylor on Poisons, p. 512] administered to dogs was found by Orfila to cause vomiting and other symptoms of local irritation, followed by death. It acts upon the nervous system, as well as locally upon the mucous membrane of the stomach, which was found deeply reddened in some of the experiments.

*The lover of either the garden or the country landscape, cannot have failed to remark the effect of the seasons upon the gradual development of its leaves and blossoms. Each month has its peculiar floral ornaments; and although the warmth or the coldness of the atmosphere has an influence in accelerating or retarding, by a short period, the unfolding of flowers, yet each month is so far constant in its processes that we look with confidence for the plants which generally grace it. January has its snowdrops, and June its roses. In the coldest weather the laurustinus and Christmas-rose are blooming in our gardens, and the furze gives its lustre to the lone moorland. Then that "bonnie gem" the spring-daisy-the morning-star of the flowers-appears here and there, and the groundsel puts forth its yellow blossoms. The garden beds present the fair snowdrop, and the rich golden luxuriance of the crocus. The boughs of the mezereon are clothed with lilac clusters; the hepaticas venture to unfold their small rose-coloured or blue flowers; the daffodils hang down their yellow cups; and the brilliant vases of the anemonies are open to the vernal showers; and then follow the many lovely blossoms of spring and summer.

The trees, as they resume their foliage in the early part of the year, exhibit, each month, a greater richness and variety of colour. The young buds of the honeysuckle often unfold in January; the gooseberry and lilac about February; and the hawthorn is getting gradually covered during April, and preparing for its show of May flowers, while the lime is as yet scarcely producing a leaf. Then, when the lilac-tree is full, not only of its foliage, but covered with its flowery clusters, and the birch leaves quiver to the winds, the elm and ash open their young buds, and a small leaf or two appears here and there on their branches. The garden acacia remains many days longer before it shows one token of spring, and the summer foliage has lent a rich glory to wood and garden before one full green leaf decks the stately walnut tree.

It was the opinion of Linnæus that the agriculturist might be guided in sowing his grain by the leafing of trees, and several naturalists have agreed with him. The old proverb, often acted upon by farmers, is founded on a similar principle.

"When the sloe-tree is white as a sheet,

Sow your barley whether it is dry or wet."

Mr. Templeton, in his Naturalist's Report, thus remarks upon this subject:-"As plants vegetate according to the temperature which prevails, and flowers blow in a regular and never-varying order, we have certain means which can never fail, for directing us when to begin and leave off the various operations of husbandry and gardening. Should we therefore find, after a few years' experience, that the best crops were uniformly produced when we sowed or planted at the time a particular tree or plant flowered, we have ever a sure guide, independent of astronomical revolutions, and can direct others to pursue the same plan in whatever country they are placed. Thus, if we have found that on sowing peas, or other seed, when the gooseberry flowered, they are ready for gathering when the corn-marigold flowered, we are pretty sure that each succeeding year the same uniformity will prevail." It is well known that our ancestors named some months according to their natural appearances: thus February was termed Sprout-kale, and March, Stormymonth; and Mr. Loudon tells us that the Indians of America plant their corn when the wild-plum blooms, or when the leaves of the oak are about the size of the squirrel's ears. The names of some of their months are also given according to their observations of vegetable changes. Thus, one is called by the poetical name of the budding-month, and one rather later is termed the flowering month; while the autumn is mournfully characterized by a word which signifies the fall of the leaf.

* Flowers and their Association.