42. Chap. 42.-The Sillybum.

CHAP. 42.—THE SILLYBUM.

The sillybum[1] resembles the white chamæleon, and is a plant quite as prickly. In Cilicia, Syria, and Phoenicia, the countries where it grows, it is not thought worth while to boil it, the cooking of it being so extremely troublesome, it is said. It is of no use whatever in medicine.

1. See B. xxvi. c. 25. Sprengel identifies it with the Carduus marianus of Linnæus. Fée inclines, however, to the belief that it is the Sonchus palustris of Linnæus; the marsh sow-thistle.