Admiring this new music, ‘Thou,’ he said,
‘Who can’st not be the partner of my bed,
At least shall be the consort of my mind;
And often, often to my lips be joined.’
He formed the Reeds, proportioned as they are,
Unequal in their length, and waxed with care,
They still retain the name of his ungrateful fair.”—Dryden.
The Philadelphus coronarius is the shrub into which, according to Ovid, the nymph Syrinx was metamorphosed. The stems of this shrub are used in Turkey for making pipe-sticks. Evelyn applied the name Syringa also to the Lilac, which for the same reason was called “Pipe-tree.”
TAMARIND.—The Tamarindus Indica is in Ceylon dedicated to Siva, as the god of destruction. The natives of India have a prejudice against sleeping under the Tamarind, and the acid damp from the tree is known to affect the cloth of tents that are pitched under them for any length of time. So strong is the prejudice of the natives against the Tamarind-tree, that it is difficult to prevent them from destroying it, as they believe it hurtful to vegetation. It is chiefly cultivated for its seed-pods, which are used medicinally, and for food.——Dreams connected with Tamarinds are of ill omen, portending trouble, loss, and disappointment.——The Tamarind is held to be under the dominion of Venus.
TAMARISK.—The Tamarix orientalis is also known as the Tamarisk of Osiris. The ancient Egyptians