One ancient dogma taught that each plant possessed the power of healing one particular disease, made known by some outward sign or similiarity. Thus bright-eyed flowers were good for those with failing sight; red blossoms of all kinds would arrest nose-bleed; Turmeric, a very yellow dye, cured jaundice; plants with long, tubular flowers were excellent specifics for throat troubles. Many of these medicinal superstitions linger among the more simple of the earth’s inhabitants today. Dutch and English countrymen still believe that a Potato carried in the pocket is a sort of protective charm against rheumatism. In Ohio, the farmers sometimes wear a string of Job’s Tears seeds in an effort to cure goitre. In New England, the same magic charm is used to help babies through the troublesome period of teething. The devil and his evil spirits have always wielded a large influence over certain members of the plant kingdom. In Scotland, up until the seventeenth century, it was customary to allow a small section of each farm to lie untilled and uncropped as a peace offering to Satan. In certain English counties, children of today will not pick Blackberries after a certain date, believing that the Evil One has trampled them and made them poisonous to humans. German peasants, without batting an eye, will tell you that the devil, in one form or another, has the regular habit of stealing portions of their crops. Of plants that are dedicated to Satan, or more properly, which he has appropriated, there are many hundreds. Toadstools, because of their miraculously fast growth and fantastic shape, have always been associated with the kingdom of evil. It is not quite so apparent why other more beautiful plants are also handed over to Satan, though a reason can usually be found. The most alluring and gorgeous flowers are quite apt to be poisonous. In old Bohemia, the Belladonna was a favourite of the devil. He could be enticed from it on Walpurgis Night by letting loose a black hen, after which he ran. In Russia, people shun the Sow-Thistle as a devil-plant. Some Germans believe that evil spirits lurk in Lettuce beds. To the same people, the Herban is the “Devil’s Eye.” Many nationalities are quite sure that the Herb-Bennett, when kept in a house, takes its owners out from under the devil’s influence. Thistle is often used for the same purpose. The Greeks used to place a Laurel bough over their doors to ward off evil. There is an English Fungus called Lycoperdon, or Puff-Ball, which produces a mass of dusty spores not unlike snuff. The annoyance experienced by people in the vicinity of the bursting pods has led to the plant being called “Devil’s Snuff-Box.” Children use it for various amusing pranks. Closely allied to the devil-plants are the witch-plants, vegetable favourites of his human emissaries. The Elder is supposed to be a frequent meeting-place of these sinister hags; under its branches they bury their satanic offspring.