The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-28

WY HEN Proserpine was carried
M away by Pluto, her mother,
w Ceres. despaired of ever seeing
her again. Her grief was so great that
she could neither sleep nor eat, and she
besought Flora, the Goddess of the Flow
ers, to help her. Flora appealed to SOM
nus, one of the gods, and with his aid
created a flower which possessed mar
cotic qualities. After partaking of q
liquid distilled from the seed of this
plant, Ceres fell into a deep sleep.
According to the traditions of the an
cient Greeks, this was the origin of the
poppy Ceres adopted the flower for
her own, and poppy seeds were planted
with the corn and wheat to proitiate
the Goddess of Agriculture and to- pre-
vent her from destroying the crops
should she becorpe angered. The flower
was called provarer rheaea, or corn rose,
and Ceres is represented crowned with
peoples and beaded wheat.
According to an Indian legend, there
lived on the banks of the Ganges an an
cient dervish. who had pet mouse of
which he was so fond that he en-
dowed 1t with the gift of speech. A
cat that lived in the vicinity kept the
mouse in such state of terror that
the sage changed 1t into dog. The
animal was still Discontinued, and was
then to an elephant, whom the dervish
named Postomani or poppy seed.
One day as she was In the garden the
king passed. Attracted by the beauty
of the maiden, he returned and insisted
upon knowing her name and parentage.
Postomani told him that she was prin-
cess who had been left in the care of the
wise man when child. The king was
so much in love that he did not stop TO
question the truth Of her story, but insist
ed upon being married at once by the
dervish.
They lived happily, until one day she
was standing by WE'LL and, becoming
dizzy fell In and was drowned In or
der to reconcile the king to her loss the
dervish told him that she was not of
royal birth, but had been a mouse, a
dog. an ape ETC., and he gave directions
that the well should be filled with earth
without removing the body. and he said
that out Of her grave would be obtained a
drug, and whoever should use this drug
would be endowed with one quality of
each of the animals into which Posto-
mani had been transformed. He should
be mischievous like the mouse, savage
like the dog. filthy like the ape, Wild
like the boar and slow like the ele-
plant.
The narcotic qualities of the plant
were recognized very early by the an
clients. Hypos. the God of Sleep, and
Thanatos. the God of Death. were both
represented holding peoples in their
hands.
The youths and maidens of both Greece
and Rome used poppy leaves to test the
sincerity of their lovers. A leaf of the
flower was placed IN the palm Of the left
hand. If, upon being smartly struck with
the right hand. 1t snapped with a sharp
sound the loved one was faithful; il it
failed to make any noise. alas! Theocrit-
us alludes to this custom.
By prophetic poppy leaf. found
Your changed affection, for it gave no
sound
The North American Indians have few
legends associated with flowers. but the
poppy Is one of the exceptions. In very
early times before the white man had
set foot in the New World, there was a
famine In the land. When winter came
and the cold winds blew. all vegetation
was frozen. and the Indians died by the
hundreds until there was left only the
Chief Monona and his young sQpaw,
Together they started out to find some
place At refuge. crossing the frozen
rivers and climbing the snow capped