244 NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES, &c.
the ancient badge of Florence still attests, at first argent, but subsequently turned into gules :
" Per division fatto vermiglio."
Orris-root
(the Tuscan plant), too, is known to cause paralysis if largely taken,
a point offering another analogy to the specific use of the ancient
Hyacinthus.* Visconti actually figures a statue of Hyacinthus holding
in his hand a fleur-de-lys for an identifying symbol. This flower, too,
exhibits on the petals Apolla's cry of grief, " AI, AI," mentioned as
its prime characteristic by the poet, and also by Pliny, f Pausanias,
however, makes a distinction between the flower of Ajax and that of the
Amyclsean boy : " The people of Salamis say that the flower of Ajax
first showed itself in their country after his death. It is white with
a pink tinge, and, both in blossom and leaves, is smaller than the
lily. The same letters are seen upon it as upon the hyacinthus " (I.
35). Again he has : " Their garlands are woven out of the flower that
the people there (Corinth) call the ' cosmo-sandalon,' which is, in my
opinion, the hyacinthus, both for size and for colour. Besides, there
are upon it the letters expressing lamentation " (II. 35). The first of
these was evidently our common Turk's-cap. But it is also quite as
evident that the ancients gave the name of Hyacinthus to several
totally distinct flowers, provided only their petals exhibited the
necessary notes of woe.i
