ceremonies, since whoever returns from a pilgrimage to Mecca hangs it over his street door as a proof of his having performed that holy journey. The superstitious Egyptians believe that this plant hinders evil spirits and apparitions from entering the house, and on this account whoever walks the streets in Cairo will find it over the doors of both Christians and Jews.”----The Arabic name of the Aloe, _Saber_, signifies patience, and in Mecca at the end of most graves, facing the epitaph, is planted an Aloe, as an allusion to the patience required by those awaiting the arrival of the great day of resurrection. Most Eastern poets, however, speak of the Aloe as the symbol of bitterness; and the Romans seem to have been well acquainted with this qualification, judging from the allusion to it in Juvenal:--“_Plus Aloes quam mellis habere._” “As bitter as Aloes” is a proverbial saying of considerable antiquity, derived doubtless from the acrid taste of the medicines obtained from the plant, and made principally from the pulp of the fleshy leaf of the Succotrine Aloe, the leaves of which have a remarkable efficacy in curing scalds and burns.----Not only, however, for its medicinal properties is the Aloe esteemed, for in some countries, particularly Mexico, the poor derive from it almost every necessary of life. The ancient manuscripts of Mexico are chiefly inscribed upon paper made from the fibres of the _pité_, or pith. Of the points of the leaves of the Aloe are made nails, darts, and awls, and with these last the Indians pierce holes in their ears when they propose to honour the Devil with some peculiar testimonies of their devotion. =ALYSSUM.=--This plant was regarded by the Neapolitans as possessing magic qualities, and was suspended in their houses as a charm against the Evil Eye. Its name _Alyssum_ is derived from the Greek _a_, not, and _lussa_, madness. In England, the plant was called Alisson and Madwort, because, as Gerarde says, it is “a present remedie for them that are bitten of a mad dog.” =AMARANTH.=--In Spenser’s ‘Fairy Queen’ is to be found the following allusion to the mythological origin of the Amaranth:-- “And all about grew every sort of flower, To which sad lovers were transformed of yore; Fresh Hyacinthus, Phœbus’ paramour, Foolish Narciss, that likes the watery shore: Sad Amaranthus, made a flower but late, Sad Amaranthus, in whose purple gore Me seems I see Aminta’s wretched fate, To whom sweet poets’ verse hath given endless date.”