The San Francisco call., 1910-10-02

DO,
Flower, whenct comes thy dazzling hue y v
-. -. ..st +,..%'.. ,i..+ O. Montgomery.
N a cave near the summit OF Mount
Pelion In .Thessaly$lived Chiron, the
wisest. and most just of all the Gem
taurs. He. was renowned among the
gods for his wisdom and knowledge
and for his skill inemusic, medicine and
the use OF weapons. He instructed: the
youth of Olympus in. these arts and
almost all of his pupils distinguished
themselves in Grecian story. Hercules
was one of his pupils and. when he re-
turned from the second of his great
labors--the Staying of the Hydra with
nine heads-Chiron; his instructor, was
. one of the first to welcome him home.
In handling his weapons, one of the ar:
rows poisoned by the. blood of the
Hydra fell upon Chiron's foot, inflict-
ing an. ugly wound. A plant with. a
blue flower just then sprang. UP. at their
feet and Hercules, whom Chiron had
instructed in sthe healing art, bound
the root upon the wound which in
short time was healed and ever since
the plant has been known as Centauria,
IT'S MEDICAL. PROPERTIES
The, Able BartheIemy, in his history
of the. travels'' OF Anarcharsis; writes
that when Anacharsis went to Thes-
sally he Visited:;the cave of Chiron~ on
Mount Pelion and the ,centaur showed
him a plant with a. ragged blue flower
and explained to him it's: !. wonderftil>.
healing qualities An eye wash was.
prepared. from the leaves, almost mag
icaI in. it's results, but the. secret of the
preparation was known only to one
person. to whom. Chiron himself had.
intrusted II. and who was to transmit it
only to his descendants. ~ ;r:.:
Plfny writes also Of its, medical
properties. According ITO his: natural
history 20 different remedies We're pre-.
pared from tile Centauria. Pieces OF
meat were welded. together simply by
being boiled with the, root. and he
quotes the healing Of Chiron's foot
as an. evidence of.~the efficacy of the
cure. +. .. :.
WHEN CYANUs DIED .:...:.......
! Another neurological. account: Of the
flower. is tile story of: the youth named
Cyanus who was devoted to. Flora, the
goddess of flowers. s OF all her gifts, !.
he loved the cornfiower the best. He
was SO enamored Of it that he would
scarcely leave the fields when it was in
BLOSSOM and he always wore garments
of the same bright blue color as his
fayorite flower. Most of his time he
spent in weaving garlands of the bios
sons .....5. ~
sOne morning he was found dead in a
cornfield,, and in his hands and all
about him were the blue flowers he
had gathered. Flora grieved for the
beautiful youth, and, as a reward for
his deyotion, she transformer his body
into the flower that he loved so well.
There is: a tradition that Cyanus is
the original of the Little Boy Blue"
of the old English nursery rhyme.
Y: In Russian folk lore there is a story
of handsome youth named Basil, who
was betrothed to maiden of his own .
country. An enchantress named Rus
salka, who fell in love with him, fail
ing to win him from his allegiance, en-
ticed him into a. field and changed him
into the blue flower which in Russia is
called the Basilek. -: Z;
NATIONAL FLOWER OF GERMANY
The cornfower is the national flower
of Germany, and is associated with the
beautiful and unfortunate Louisa of
Prussia, the mother of William, first
emperor of Germany. On the 14th OF
October, 1906, was fought the double
battle of Jena and Auerstadt, and
Queen Louisa was forced to make her
escape from Berlin with her two sons,
the elder of whop was about 9 years /.
old. On the way to Konigsburg the
carriage broke down anJ they were
obliged TO alight and wait by the road