[832] Or Vervain.
[833] Sprengel identified this plant at first with the Buplevrum longifolium of Linnæus, the Long-leaved hare’s ear, but at a later period with the Mercurialis tomentosa, the Woolly mercury. Fée suggests the Cacalia petasites or albifrons, though with diffidence. Littré gives the Cacalia verbascifolia of Sibthorp.
[834] See c. 83 of this Book; also B. xxii. c. 30, and B. xxvii. c. 111.
[835] There has been much discussion on the identification of the Hyssopum of the ancients, their descriptions varying very considerably. It has been suggested that that of the Egyptians was the Origanum Ægyptianum; that of the Hebrews, the Origanum Syriacum; that of Dioscorides, the Origanum Smyrnæum; and that of the other Greek writers, the Teuerium pseudo-hyssopus, or else the Thymbra verticillata and spicata. Fée is inclined to identify that here mentioned by Pliny with the Thymbra spicata of Linnæus, and the Garden hyssop of Dioscorides, with the Hyssopus officinalis of Linnæus. Littré states, however, that this last is a stranger to Greece, and that M. Fräas (Synopsis, p. 182) identifies the hyssop of Dioscorides with the Origanum Smyrnæum or Syriacum.
[836] Generally identified with the Serapias lingua of Linnæus.
[837] The same, most probably, as the Gladiolus of B. xxi. c. 67. See also the next Chapter in this Book.
[838] This was a characteristic feature of the masks used in the Roman Comedy.
[839] See Note 837 above. The medicinal properties here attributed to the Xiphion, or Gladiolus communis, our common Red corn-flag, are very doubtful, as Fée remarks.
[840] With the outer coat on, of course.
[841] Dalechamps is probably right in preferring the reading “carpentis” to “serpentis,” in which case the meaning would be, “or bones when accidentally crushed by the wheels of vehicles.”