As to its poisonous qualities, all authors agree that every species of the family is very poisonous, the A. ferox of the Himalaya being probably the most so. Every part of the plant, from the root to the pollen dust, seems to be equally powerful, and it has the special bad quality of being, to inexperienced eyes, so like some harmless plant, that the poison has been often taken by mistake with deadly results. This charge against the plant is of long standing, dating certainly from the time of Virgil--_miseros fallunt aconita legentes_--and, no doubt, from much before his time. As it was a common belief that poisons were antidotes against other poisons, the Aconite was supposed to be an antidote against the most deadly one-- "I have heard that Aconite Being timely taken hath a healing might Against the scorpion's stroke." BEN JONSON, _Sejanus_, act iii, sc. 3. Yet, in spite of its poisonous qualities, the plant has always held, and deservedly, a place among the ornamental plants of our gardens; its stately habit and its handsome leaves and flowers make it a favourite. Nearly all the species are worth growing, the best, perhaps, being A. Napellus, both white and blue, A. paniculatum, A. japonicum, and A. autumnale. All the species grow well in shade and under trees. In Shakespeare's time Gerard grew in his London garden four species--A. lycoctonum, A. variegatum, A. Napellus, and A. Pyrenaicum. FOOTNOTES: [10:1] "_Aconita_, thung." Ælfric's "Vocabulary," 10th century. "_Aconitum_, thung." Anglo-Saxon Vocabulary, 11th century. "_Aconita_, thung." "Durham Glossary of the names of Worts," 11th century. The ancient Vocabularies and Glossaries, to which I shall frequently refer, are printed in I. Wright's "Volume of Vocabularies," 1857. II. "Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England," by Rev. O. Cockayne, published under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, 3 vols., 1866. III. "Promptorium Parvulorum," edited by Albert Way, and published by the Camden Society, 3 vols., 1843-65. IV. "Catholicon Anglicum," edited by S. J. Hertage, and published by the Early English Text Society, 1881, and by the Camden Society, 1882. [10:2] This was certainly its name in Shakespeare's time-- "And with the Flower Monk's-hood makes a coole." CUTWODE, _Caltha Poetarum_, 1599 (st. 117). ACORN, _see_ OAK. ALMOND. _Thersites._ The parrot will not do more for an Almond. _Troilus and Cressida_, act v, sc. 2 (193).