Among famous diamonds of the world should be mentioned the Koh-i-noor of the British crown, which, Hindu legend relates, was worn five thousand years ago by one of their national heroes. The largest known diamond, weighing three hundred sixty-seven carats, was found in Borneo, and is now owned by the Rajah of Matan.
FEBRUARY,--fortnights two-- Briefest of the months are you, Of the winter's children last. Why do you go by so fast? Is it not a little strange Once in four years you should change, That the sun should shine and give You another day to live? May be this is only done Since you are the smallest one; So I make the shortest rhyme For you, as befits your time:
You're the baby of the year, And to me you're very dear, Just because you bring the line, "Will you be my Valentine?" --_Frank Dempster Sherman._
The snow had begun in the gloaming, And busily all the night Had been heaping field and highway With a silence deep and white.
Every pine and fir and hemlock Wore ermine too dear for an earl, And the poorest twig on the elm-tree Was ridged inch-deep with pearl.
From sheds new-roofed with Carrara Came Chanticleer's muffled crow, The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down, And still fluttered down the snow. --_Lowell._
DR. ALBERT SCHNEIDER, Northwestern University School of Pharmacy.
But first he cheweth greyn and _licorys_ To smellen sweete.--_Miller's Tale, l. 504; Chaucer._
The licorice yielding plant is a perennial herb with a thick root-stock, having a number of long sparingly branched roots and very long runners or rhizomes. It belongs to the same family as the peas and beans (_Leguminosæ_). It has purplish flowers with the irregular corolla characteristic of the family. The pods are rather small, much compressed, each with from two to five seeds.
The plant is in all probability a native of the warm parts of the Mediterranean region. There are several varieties of _G. glabra_, all of which are more or less extensively cultivated and placed upon the market.
As to the exact habitat of licorice there is some difference of opinion. According to some authorities its native home is in the vicinity of the sea of Azov. Dioscorides was among the first to give a description of the plant and designated the pontic lands and Kappadonia of Asia Minor as its home. The Romans named the plant _Glycyrrhiza_. Celsius, Scribonius Largus, and Plinius described it as _Radix dulcis_, sweet root, on account of its sweet taste. Galenus, the eminent Roman physician, made extensive medicinal use of the roots as well as of the juice. Alexander Trallianus also recommended licorice very highly. Although this plant enjoyed extensive use during the middle ages it was apparently not included in the herbal list of Charlemagne, _Karl der Grosse_. In the 13th century licorice was highly prized in Switzerland as a remedy for lung troubles. It was similarly used in Wales and in Denmark. Pietro di Crescenzi of Bologna (1305) was the first to give a full report of the occurrence and cultivation of licorice. The Benedictine monks of St. Michaelis cultivated it extensively in the vicinity of Bamberg. The eminent authority, Flückiger, reports a peculiar practice by these monks. A new hand in the horticultural work was initiated by requiring him to dig up a complete root of a licorice plant with all its branches including the rhizome. This was by no means an easy task on account of the ramification of the roots and the extreme length of the rhizome.