tical. It further owns the botanical name of Narcissus
(pseudo-narcissus)--not after the classical youth who met with his
death through vainly trying to embrace his image reflected in a clear
stream because of its exquisite beauty, and who is fabled to have
been therefore changed into flower--but by reason of the narcotic
properties which the plant possesses, as signified by the Greek
word, _Narkao_, "to benumb." Pliny described it as a _Narce
narcisswm dictum, non a fabuloso puero_. An extract of the bulbs
when applied to open wounds has produced staggering, numbness
of the whole nervous system, and paralysis of the heart. Socrates
called this plant the "Chaplet of the Infernal Gods," because of its
[142] narcotic effects. Nevertheless, the roots of the asphodel were
thought by the ancient Greeks to be edible, and they were
therefore laid in tombs as food for the dead. Lucian tells us that
Charon, the ferryman who rowed the souls of the departed over the
river Styx, said: "I know why Mercury keeps us waiting here so
long. Down in these regions there is nothing to be had but,
asphodel, and oblations, in the midst of mist and darkness;
whereas up in heaven he finds it all bright and clear, with
ambrosia there, and nectar in plenty."

In the Middle Ages the roots of the Daffodil were called _Cibi
regis_, "food for a king,"; but his Majesty must have had a
disturbed night after partaking thereof, as they are highly
stimulating to the kidneys: indeed, there is strong reason for
supposing that these roots have a prior claim to those of the
dandelion for lectimingous fame, (_lectus_, "the bed"; _mingo_, to
"irrigate").

The brilliant yellow blossom of the Daffodil possesses, as is well
known, a bell-shaped crown in the midst of its petals, which is
strikingly characteristic. The flower-stalk is hollow, bearing on its
summit a membranous sheath, which envelops a single flower of
an unpleasant odour. But the Jonquil, which is a cultivated variety
of the Daffodil, having white petals with a yellow crown, yields a
delicious perfume, which modern chemistry can closely imitate by
a hydrocarbon compound. If "naphthalin," a product of coal tar oil,
has but the smallest particle of its scent diffused in a room, the
special aroma of jonquil and narcissus is at once perceived.

When the flowers of the Daffodil are dried in the sun, if a
decoction of them is made, from fifteen to thirty grains will prove
emetic like that of Ipecacua