Chamomile

“ In Shakespeare's day camomile grew in "the wild field by Richmond Green."
"Our ordinary Camomill [says Parkinson] is well known to all to have many small trailing branches set with very fine small leaves and spreading thick over the ground taking root as it spreadeth; the tops [Pg 246] of the branches have white flowers with yellow thrums in the middle, very like unto the Featherfew, but somewhat greater not so hard but more soft and gentle in handling and the whole herb is to be of a very sweet scent. ”

“ Now among these four footed inhabitants of the high places near the sky, the white chamois is the king of the herds and the pet of the dwarfs. No hunter can kill this leader, for he is the property of the fairies. After a man has shot his hundredth animal, the white chamois appears, to give him warning to stop killing his fellow creatures. This king of the hook-horns can leap, as if it were flying, over chasms. It moves through the deep snows far faster than the strongest man in the land. ”

“ These pretty animals live in herds, five, ten, and sometimes twenty together. They are merry, wise creatures, graceful and agile in their movements, and spring from cliff to cliff and across chasms with extraordinary lightness and sureness of foot.
In the winter the chamois seek the upper forests on the mountain slopes, where, under the shelter of the widely branching umbrella fir, the drooping boughs of which hang almost to the ground, they find snug quarters, and long dry grass for winter provender.
The opening of spring in the Swiss Alps is attended by many wonderful phenomena. ”

“ Few characters of modern days are invested with such romantic interest—nay, even at one time, with such mysterious interest—as that of Schamyl. Born in prosaic modern times, his life presents all the attributes of the hero of the middle ages. Endowed with personal beauty and strength rare even amongst the hardy tribe of which he was the chief, Nature had bestowed upon him another gift, yet more precious. She had given him the rare tact, the wondrous charm that wins personal love, and that enables men, and sometimes women, to rule mankind with absolute power. ”

“ I am now deeply engaged on my Fauna, and shall take care to have my manuscripts sent to the University of Berlin before my decease.
I have selected thee, my dear Chamisso, to be the guardian of my wonderful history, thinking that, when I have left this world, it may afford valuable instruction to the living. As for thee, Chamisso, if thou wouldst live amongst thy fellow-creatures, learn to value thy shadow more than gold; if thou wouldst only live to thyself and thy nobler part--in this thou needest no counsel. ”

“ The very old chamois, with beards, often live alone and off by themselves. So the dwarfs and chamois are much alike, in this respect, that they are both chin choppers, in having hair growing, [237] like a tuft, under their chins, and both are able to whistle. For, when a hunter comes near and the wind blows from him to them, the sentinel, or watchman of the herd gives the alarm, by means of a short shrill sound. ”

“ The first discovery I made was that the beauty of the lake had not been exaggerated. Within a day or two I made another discovery. This was, that the lauded chamois is not a wild goat; that it is not a horned animal; that it is not shy; that it does not avoid human society; and that there is no peril in hunting it.
The chamois is a black or brown creature no bigger than a mustard seed; you do not have to go after it, it comes after you; it arrives in vast herds and skips and scampers all over your body, inside your clothes ”

“ You ought to have called it a chamois. Then I should have believed that chamois still exist.”
“Still exist? Why, we had chamois only the other day for luncheon.”
“It might have been bad mutton.”
“What next! It was delicious; and no more like mutton than—than——”
“I see what it is. You are afraid of climbing rocks. You have lost your nerve; I noticed it long ago on the cliffs at Scanno, but there are certain subjects one does not like to dwell upon between friends. Troppo vino. You comprehend?” ”

“ Never from that hour was the tame chamois seen on the slopes of the Scheideck, but its bell was often heard by the hunters ringing among the wild solitudes of the Wetterhorn.
It is only when the chamois has lost, through disease, that amount of intelligence with which it is gifted by nature that it will abandon its mountain home and seek the haunts of man. ”

“ On the most sunny slopes the white-flowered, fragrant chamaebatia is spread like a carpet, brightened during early summer with the crimson sarcodes, the wild rose, and innumerable violets and gilias. Not even in the shadiest nooks will you find any rank, untidy weeds or unwholesome darkness. ”

“ The Chamois, which is classed by many among [Pg 364] goats, in some degree approaches the antelopes. Its horns shoot straight up, and then at the tips turn suddenly back, like a fish hook; it frequents all the mountain chains of Europe and western Asia; in summer climbing to the highest summits, and displaying the most daring agility. In the winter it comes down just below the regions of perpetual snow, for the sake of nourishment. Its smell, sight, and hearing, are very acute, and it will detect the approach of a hunter at the distance of half a league. ”

“ The chamois is found in herds, numbering from five to twenty, in the Carpathian Mountains, the Pyrenees, and the Apennines; but most frequently in the Alps of Bavaria and Styria. It feeds on the buds of Alpine herbs and trees. When pursued it will leap down the most precipitous cliffs. The peculiar flavor of the flesh of these animals, especially of the young ones, is greatly appreciated by many persons. Out of their skin, a leather is manufactured noted for its softness. ”

“ One of Chammy’s mottoes was “Perceverantia vincit” (Perseverance overcomes) , and if his master put him back on his perch a hundred and fifty times after he, Chammy, had made up his mind to reach the top of that curtain, or get out at the window to climb a tree, he would watch his chance, bide his time, and begin all over again.
That is the sort of chameleon Chammy was.
The deliberation manifested in all the droll animal’s movements was something to watch and wonder at, and afforded no end of amusement to Lizzie and Tom. He never lifted more than one leg at a time. Not he. ”

“ CAMOMILE (Anthemis nobilis) . Falstaff points a moral in the lowly camomile: "Though the Camomile the more it is trodden on the faster it grows, yet youth the more it is wasted the sooner it wears." [82] A similar idea occurs in Lyly's [Pg 245] "Euphues" (1588) : "Though the Camomile the more it is trodden and pressed down the more it spreadeth, yet the violet the oftener it is handled and touched, the sooner it withereth and decayeth."
[82] "King Henry IV"; Part I, Act II, Scene IV.
Emblem of patience, the camomile was often used to point a moral and to teach patience. ”

“ Must we omit this graceful ruminant from the number of mammals inhabiting the eternal snows? No; for it is not of his own will that the chamois has taken refuge upon the snowy peaks of the Alps. If we meet with him there, it is because he seeks to shelter himself from the destructive instincts of man.
The chamois is one of those animal species which, before a century, perhaps, will have disappeared; his bones will then figure in the palæontological museums by the side of the skeletons of extinct species. ”

“ When Chammy saw a fly that he had taken a fancy to, he would stalk cautiously along towards it, one leg at a time of course, and if the fly was fool enough to wait there long enough, why, it got caught and swallowed, that was all. If it didn’t, why Chammy evinced no great degree of disappointment, another fly would be sure to come. Everything comes to the chameleon who waits. ”

“ What is the fragrance in thy tresses?
’T is the scent of the champa’s breath;
The meaning of champa bloom is passion—
And of datura—death!
Sweet are thy ways and thy strange caresses,
That sear as flame, and exult as wine.
But I care only for that wild moment
When my soul arises and reaches thine.
Wistful voices of wild birds calling—
Far, faint lightning towards the West,—
Twinkling lights of a Tyah homestead,—
Ruddy glow on a girl’s bare breast ”

“ If some other animal were to induce the chamois to believe that it should at the least have feet with suckers to them, like a fly, before venturing in such breakneck places, or if by any means it could get to know how bad a foot it really has, there would soon be no more chamois. The chamois continues to exist through its absolute refusal to hear reason upon the matter. ”

“ I looked round—an old woman was calling after me;—“Take care, sir, take care—you have lost your shadow!”—“Thanks, good woman.”—I threw her a piece of gold for her well-meant counsel, and walked away under the trees.
At the gate I was again condemned to hear from the sentinel, “Where has the gentleman left his shadow?” and immediately afterwards a couple of women exclaimed, “Good heavens! the poor fellow has no shadow!” ”

“ No sooner is the object of alarm scented or seen than each one seeks safety in the most inaccessible situations, which are often reached by a series of astounding leaps over crevasses, up the faces of seemingly perpendicular rocks, or down the sides of equally precipitous chasms. The chamois will not hesitate, it is said, thus to leap down 20 or even 30 ft., and this it effects with apparent ease by throwing itself forward diagonally and striking its feet several times in its descent against the face of the rock. ”

“ Chamisso, Adalbert von, a German naturalist and littérateur born in France, but educated in Berlin; is famous for his poetical productions, but especially as the author of "Peter Schlemihl," the man who lost his shadow, which has been translated into nearly every European language; he wrote several works on natural history (1781-1838) .
Chamouni, or Chamonix, a village in the dep. of Haute-Savoie, 33 m. SE. of Geneva, in a valley forming the upper basin of the Arve, famous for its beauty and for its glaciers; it is from this point that the ascent of Mont Blanc is usually made. ”

“ The contrasts between his times and ours, the marvelous changes that have almost entirely transformed man’s environment within the past three hundred years, make it difficult if not impossible for us to-day properly to appreciate the soul-controlling purposes of Champlain, or estimate the sacrifices he endured in the outworking of those purposes. ”

“ It is evident to any one acquainted with zoology that, whatever may be the Hebrew word, "Chamois" cannot be the correct rendering, inasmuch as this animal does not inhabit Palestine, nor are there any proofs that it ever did so. The Chamois frequents the lofty inaccessible crags of the highest mountains, finding its food in the scanty herbage which grows in such regions, appearing on the brink of awful precipices, and leaping from ledge to ledge with ease and safety. We must, therefore, look for some other animal. ”

“ Schamyl was thirty-seven years of age when he was raised to the rank of a murschid and leader of the tribes. At that period in his prime, he had outgrown the early delicacy of his constitution, and was a warrior as distinguished in personal appearance as in character and intellectual culture. He was of middle stature; had fair hair, since turned to white; grey eyes overshadowed by thick, well-drawn brows; a mouth, like his hands and feet, small; a regular, so-called Grecian nose; and a complexion remarkable among his countrymen for its fairness and delicacy of skin. ”

“ The chamois, a very favourite subject with the wood-carvers, is the only member of the antelope family in Western Europe; it is found in almost every part of the Alps, but is now much rarer than it was formerly. A full-grown chamois in good condition weighs about sixty pounds. The hair is thick, and changes colour with the season, being a red yellowish-brown in summer and almost black in winter. The horns, which curve backwards, rise from the head above and between the eyes to a height which rarely exceeds seven inches. ”

“ These chamois ladies, and the little folks of the family, that is, the doe and fawn, generally live down among the lower forests, while the daddies and strong young bucks stay, most of the time, up among the high rocks and peaks. They all eat the lovely flowers, grasses, mosses and aromatic herbs, that have a hot taste, and which keep them warm inside. ”

“ What could I make of this singular proposal for disposing of my shadow? He is crazy! thought I; and with an altered tone, yet more forcible, as contrasted with the humility of his own, I replied:
“How is this, good friend? Is not your own shadow enough for you? This seems to me a whimsical sort of bargain indeed.” He began again, “I have in my pocket many matters which might not be quite unacceptable to the gentleman; for this invaluable shadow I deem any price too little.” ”

“ United States. A male child born abroad of American parents has an equal
chance to become President with one born on American soil.
CHAMOIS SKINS.
The animal from which the chamois skin derives its name inhabits the
high mountains from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus. Chamois are most
numerous in the Alps, where they dwell in small herds and feed on the
herbage of the mountain sides. They are about the size of a small goat,
dark chestnut-brown in color, with the exception of the forehead, the
sides of the lower jaws and the muzzle, which are white. ”

“ During our brief conversation the chameleons (for there were two) continued their ascension of the cord. Nothing more absurd than their appearance could be imagined. It must be admitted that the chameleon is not beautiful, and, although people say that Nature does everything well, it strikes us that by taking a very little more trouble she might easily have made a prettier animal than he. But, like all great artists, Nature has her caprices, and she occasionally amuses herself by modelling grotesque shapes. ”