Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-06-04
A MAGICAL PLANT,
In Some Respects 1t Rudely Resembles the
Human Form


Chamber Journal doubts whether any
better instance could be found of the
wealth of tradition, legend and story that
centres IN a single little plant than that
which has accumulated around the man
drake. 1t has literature al! to itself,
and learning seems to have exhausted it
self over its chronology. The plant itself
Is so insignificant that it would not natu-
rally excite any great interest. Its leaves
are long sharp pointed and hairy, rising
Immediately from the grOuAd, and are of
vivid dark green. Its flowers are dingy
white stained with veins of purple and
Its fruit OF pale orange about the size of a
nutmeg.
The root is SpinCle-shaped, often divi-
ded into two or three forks, and rudely
resembles the human form, from which
possibly it takes it name. But if we turn
from the plant itself to the monument of
learning that has been erected around it.
1t is impossible not to be struck with the
universal interest it has possessed for all
people and in all ages. We do not know
how many Shakesperean commentators,
have puzzled over the allusion in Juliet's
immortal soliIoquy:
l"And shrieks like Mandrakes torn out of the
earth,
1ndt living luOItdIS nearing IEen run maQ,
and contrasted it with the parallel apos-
trophe of Suffolk in King Henry VI"
who, asked by Queen Margaret whether
he has not spirit to curse his enemies, re-
plies
Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan,
would invent as bitter searching terms,
As curst, as harsh, as horrible to hear
| As the legend runs, in order to procure
the magic plant it was necessary to cut
away all the suckers to the main root be-
fore pulling it up, which would cause
| death to any man or creature who heard
the human screams it made. They had
an ingenious is cowardiy way of getting
over the difficulty, which would certainly
not commend itself nowadays to the soci
ETY. for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ami
mails. After carefully stopping their ears
they took dog and tied its tail securely
to the plant, and then walking away to
short distance called the dog to follow.
In doing this, the luckIess animal would
pull up the much coveted root, but would
fall dead upon the spot. This was, at any
rate, according to Josephus, the old Jew
esh practice, but the tradition at least
| long survived. Whatever may be the
origin of the theory that the root shrieked
or groaned when separated from the earth,
it certainly remained current tradition
long after Shakespeare immortalized it.
Since, however, the root is named from
It's imaginary resemblance to the human
figure, it is not unnatural to suppose that
it may have been credited with possessing
some of the attributes of human feeling
| Langhorne, In the latter part of the
eighteenth century told us to
| Mark how that rooted mandrake wears
| His human feet, his human hands
Among its names In this connection are
those of the Devils Food" and the
Devils Apple" the ''Tuphach ell Shei-
tan of the Arabs That this the uncanny
belief continued down to almost modern
times is shown by an ancedote for which
Madame du Meyer is responsible. Accord
ing to this, on the murder of the Marechai
de Fabert in 1862, which was popularity
attributed to his having lroken a contract
with the devil, two mandrakes of extra
ordinary beauty were found by his friends
| in his rooms, and these were regarded as
conclusive proofs of the diabolical league,
of which they failed to find, as they hoped,
| any written record.
It has always been in great vogue in
the east, both Jews and Arabs having
| from time immemorial also valued it for
| the magic virtues which were so long COM
| monty attached TO phllIre InlS at
| tribute, which dates at least from old tes-
lament times, remained current in It
ally until the middle ages, for there are
plenty of records show that there was brisk
demands for the root among the Italian
ladies. Perhaps the most extraordinary
of the properties attributed to it are those
which it shared in common with the Ras-
trivtrava of Russia, fer enabling house
breakers to pick locks, which is certainly
one of the most amusing developments Of
the solar theory "Love," it is said
Laughs at locksmiths" but the connec-
ton between the mandrake and burglaring
seem little forced. There is a tradition
that the moonworth will unshoe horses
if they step upon the plant and similar
powers have been attributed to the Vervain
and the mandrake.