tle hand near his.

(_Continued on page 358._)

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

True Tales of the Year 1806.

XI. THE GREEN MAN.

There are always people in every age who delight in notoriety, and will
do anything to get themselves talked about; and there was a man of this
sort, at Brighton, in the year 1806.

His craze was to be always dressed in green, and large crowds would
assemble every day, outside his house, to see him drive off in his green
gig, with a green whip, and a servant in green livery beside him.

The gentleman himself was invariably dressed in green pantaloons, and a
green waistcoat, frock, and cravat. A green silk handkerchief stuck out
of his pocket, and a large watch, with green seals, was fastened by a
green chain to the green buttons of his waistcoat.

His food too was only green fruit and vegetables, and his house was
entirely furnished in green.

Such fads and fancies are not unknown in our own day. At one time
'Browning' teas were held in a peculiar way. The guests would assemble
and find the table laid with a brown, unbleached table-cloth; brown
bread and butter and chocolate cakes were the chief diet, and every
guest was expected to wear a brown costume. During the meal selections
from Browning's poems were read by one of the company, and in this way
they thought they honoured their favourite poet!

PLANTS WITH SIGNS.

In the olden time people did not study botany very deeply, being too
busy with other matters, and they had neither books nor pictures about
plants. But they talked of plants more than we perhaps think they did,
and had a good many ideas concerning them, showing that they kept their
eyes open to observe Nature. One of the facts noticed many centuries
ago was that some plants have curious marks on flower, leaf, stem or
root. Indeed, some persons supposed that all plants had signs by which
you could tell their use for physic, food, or whatever else it might be.

Several plants were thought to be like the human body, such as the
mandrake and the ginseng; and these, it was said, must also be good for
man. Again, amongst the orchis tribes, foreign specimens of which are
often so valuable, we find very singular marks and shapes. England has a
man orchis and a lady orchis, but neither of them really suits the name,
for their flowers have rather the appearance of a winged insect.

It is worth noting that not only the common people believed in the signs
or marks to