Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-04-11
A Magic Plant.

ttnlelS Ill iLelio piohb VIA
.- ;ru which has accumulated round the
,n drake. It has literature all to it
D., r, and learning seems to have ex-
Il 5led itself over its etymology. TIE
= mt itself is so insignificant that il
could not naturally excite any great
ia crest Its leaves are long, sharp
p nted. and hairy, rising Immediately
l.nm the ground, 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 spindle shaped,
often divided into two or three forks,
and rudely resembles the human form,
from which possibly it takes its name.
But if we turn from the plant itself to
the monument of learning that has been
erected around it, it is impossible not to
lie struck with the universal interest it
has possessed for all people in all ages.
We do not know how many Shakes
pearean commentators have puzzled over
the allusion in juices immortal solilo-
guy:
And shrieks like mandrakes torn out Of the
earth,
That living mortals hearing them run mad;
and contrasted it with the parallel
apostrophe of Suffolk in king Henry
VI" who, asked by Queen Margaret
whether he has not spirit to curse his
enemies, replies:
Wou1 curses kill, as doth the mandrake's
groan,
Two. Al. ent as bitter searching terms,
AS curst as harsh, as horrible to hear.
As the legend runs, in order to pro-
cure the magic plant it was necessary
to cut away all the suckers to the main
root before pulling it up. which would
cause death to any man or creature who
heard the human screams it made.
They had an ingenious if cowardly way
of getting over the difficulty, which
would not commend itself nowadays
to the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals. After carefully
stopping their ears, they took a dog
and tied its tail securely to the plant,
and then walking away to short dis
lance called the dog to follow. In doing
this the luckless 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
Jewish practice, but the tradition at
least long survived Whatever may be
the origin for the theory that the root
shrieked or groaned when pulled up
or separated from the earth, it GER
tainly remained a current tradition long
after Shakespeare immortalized it.
~ f,N
is 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,
tells 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
Sheitan," of the Arabs. That this UNI
canny belief continued down to almost
modern times is shown by an anecdote
for which Madame du Meyer is respon-
sible. According to this, on the murder
of Marechal de Fabert in 1862, which
was popularity attributed to his having
broken compact with the devil, two
mandrakes of extraordinary 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. 1t has always been i'll
great vogue in the East, both Jews and
Arabs having from time immemorial
also valued it for the magic virtues
which were so long commonly attached
to love philter. This attribute, which
dates at least from the Old Testament
times remained current in Italy until
the Middle Ages, for there are plenty
of records showing that there was a
brisk demand for the root among the
Italian ladies. Perhaps the most ex-
traordinary of the properties attributed
to it are those which it shared in COM
mon with the Rastrivtrava, of Russia,
of 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 connection be-
tween the mandrake and "burgling"
seems a little forced. There is ira
dition that the moonwort will unshoe
horses if they step upon the plant, and
similar powers have been attributed to
the vervain and the mandrake. -
chambers Journal.