We meet with organism of the form in the family of the Araceæ, or aroid
plants. An enveloping leaf (bract), called the spathe, which is often
brilliantly colored, surrounds the florets, or fruits, that are disposed
upon a spadix. Even the older writers--Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Galen,
and Pliny--devote a considerable amount of attention to several species of
this interesting family, especially to the value of their swollen stems as
a food-stuff, to their uses in medicine, etc. Some species of Arum were
eaten, and even nowadays the value of the swollen stems of some species of
the family causes them to be cultivated, as, for instance, in Egypt and
India, etc. (the so-called Portland sago, Portland Island arrowroot, is
prepared from the swollen stems of _Arum maculatum_). In contrast with the
smooth or softly undulating outlines of the spathe of Mediterranean Araceæ,
one species stands out in relief, in which the sharply-marked fold of the
spathe almost corresponds to the forms of the ornaments which we are
discussing. It is _Dracunculus vulgaris_, and derives its name from its
stem, which is spotted like a snake. This plant, which is pretty widely
distributed in olive woods and in the river valleys of the countries
bordering on the Mediterranean, was employed to a considerable extent in
medicine by the ancients (and is so still nowadays, according to Von
Heldreich, in Greece). It was, besides, the object of particular regard,
because it was said not only to heal snake-bite, but the mere fact of
having it about one was supposed to keep away snakes, who were said
altogether to avoid the places where it grew. But, apart from this, the
striking appearance of this plant, which often grows to an enormous size,
would be sufficient to suggest its employment in art. According to
measurements of Dr. Julius Schmidt, who is not long since dead, and was the
director of the Observatory at Athens, a number of these plants grow in the
Valley of Cephisus, and attain a height of as much as two meters, the
spathe alone measuring nearly one meter. [The lecturer here exhibited a