Ranunculus

“ With one of the species of Ranunculus the ancients were wont to poison the points of their arrows.——The Buttercup, also known as King’s Cup, Gold Cup, Gold Knobs, Leopard’s Foot, and Cuckoo-bud, belongs to the Ranunculus family.——The Crowfoot or Crowflower (the Coronopus of Dioscorides) is also a Ranunculus: this plant possesses the power of raising blisters on the skin, and is employed by mendicants to raise wounds on their limbs, in order to excite sympathy. Cattle generally refuse the acrid Crowfoot (R. acris) , but if they perchance eat it, it will blister their mouths. ”

“ Pastures and waste places, too frequent, May to August.
III. R. bulbosus, Bulbous Crowfoot. Stem erect, half to one foot, greatly swollen at base: no runners. Flower-stalk furrowed, sepals turned back, nearly or quite touching the stalk; petals not spreading, but cup-shaped. Meadows everywhere, April to July.
The name Ranunculus is derived from the Latin, Rana, a frog, in allusion to the damp meadows and the ponds where certain species are to be found in company with frogs. ”

“ When the rapacity of collectors shall have reduced it elsewhere to the condition of a vegetable Dodo, future travellers may rejoice that it has found a refuge in this corner of Africa. The distribution of the genus Ranunculus, in nearly every known country, supplies many topics for thought and inquiry. There are very few regions where the unbotanical traveller fails to recognise the familiar buttercup of his youth; yet, if he examines the plants, he will find well-marked differences in the leaves, the fruit, the stem, or the root, though the flowers may be scarcely distinguishable. ”

“ Thus in the Ranunculaceae we find the conspicuous part of the flower to be the petals in Ranunculus, the sepals in Helleborus, Anemone, etc., and the stamens in most species of Thalictrum. In all these we have a simple regular flower, but in Aquilegia it is made complex by the spurred petals, and in Delphinium and Aconitum it becomes quite irregular. In the more simple class self-fertilisation occurs freely, but it is prevented in the more complex flowers by the stamens maturing before the pistil. ”

“ The leaves vary much in shape and in size. The larger, from the root (radical) , are more or less heart-shaped, the edges bluntly angled; the smaller ones, from the stem (caudal) , may approach towards the form of an ivy-leaf. The sepals (calyx) vary from three to five, usually three, and the petals from seven to twelve. The stamens are numerous, as also are the carpels or divisions of the fruit. As in the Anemone (page 3) , these are achenes, a form persistent throughout the genus Ranunculus; each contains a single seed. ”

“ This genus is represented by six species, of which three inhabit the island of Java; one, recognizable by its vertical nostrils, is peculiar to continental India; the fifth is native to the island of Timor; and the sixth is found at Pulu Penang. The Dranunculus inhabits Amboyna in the Moluccas, Celebes, and the Philippine Islands.
The dragons are the only existing reptiles that possess organs of aerial locomotion. Other saurians have folds of skin along the flanks ”

“ Recovering herself, however, and with an air of bright friendliness, she laid a hand upon the great arm-chair, above which hung the ancient sword of her ancestor, the Comte Guilbert Mauprat de Chambery, and said: “Sit here, Ranulph.”
Seating himself he gave a heavy sigh—one of those passing breaths of content which come to the hardest lives now and then: as though the Spirit of Life itself, in ironical apology for human existence, gives moments of respite from which hope is born again. Not for over four long years had Ranulph sat thus quietly in the presence of Guida. ”

“ As he was walking among the trees, brooding with averted eyes, he was suddenly confronted by the Seigneur of Rozel, who also was shaken from his discretion and the best interests of the two fugitives he was bound to protect, by a late offence against his own dignity. A seed of rancor had been sown in his mind which had grown to a great size and must burst in a dark flower of vengeance. ”

“ He is the cursed one! He would bring a widow to a Brahmin hearth. Jai Kâli ma! Jai Kâli ma!"
"Mother! mother! for God's sake," pleaded Ramanund, aghast at the prospect of having the secret of his heart made bazaar property. "Think; give me time."
"Time!" she echoed wildly. "What time is there when folks die every minute for thy sin? Oh, Raino, son of my prayer, repent--do atonement. Lo! come with me even now and humble thyself before Her feet. I will ask no more but that to-day--no more." She thrust her hands feverishly into his as if to drag him to the shrine. ”

“ The long white hair and beard, with the benevolent forehead, gave him the look of some latter-day St. Helier, grieving for the sins and praying for the sorrows of mankind; but from the hateful mouth came profanity fit only for the dreadful communion of a Witches’ Sabbath.
Hearing the footsteps of Ranulph and Dormy, he crouched and shivered in terror, but Ranulph, who knew too well his revolting cowardice, called to him reassuringly. On their approach he stretched out his talon-like fingers in a gesture of entreaty. ”

“ Rhanto, shepherdess, listen to me! Now I understand why I longed to see you; why your memory came to me so often in Rome whenever I thought of Saguntum. Live and be to Actæon the last spring of his existence! I love you, Rhanto! You are my last love; the flower which blooms in the winter of my life! I love you, Rhanto! I have loved you since that day when I saw you revealed like a goddess. Live and let me be your Erotion! ”

“ They heard voices. The horseman had called for something to drink, and it was brought to him without his dismounting. Then Miss Raynard was heard calling, "Ralph! Ralph!" She wondered, perhaps, at his long absence, or wanted him for some purpose in the house.
No answer was returned. Raynard, Dunn, and Mrs. Fletcher lifted the body over the low hedge into Raynard's croft or garden, and buried it in a place where the ground had been disturbed that day by his having stubbed up an old root. They carefully covered the body with earth, and Raynard sowed mustard-seed over the place. ”

“ Like a dead thing lay the mound at his feet; and as flies around the dead, his thoughts buzzed around its secret.
Slowly understanding came.... The troll-temper of the father had descended upon the son.... Denied the vent of battle-fury, it had taken some uglier shape, some monstrous shape that galled the Jarl’s pride to own!... It had possessed him that day at the Pool, and he believed that the forester had seen its degrading marks.... Its marks! Shrinking, Randvar’s memory groped among the myriad tales he had heard of men accursed ... ”

“ The suspicions of the landlord were awakened upon lifting my valise after your departure, and he insulted me to my face by calling me an imposter, and a contraband prince, I sprang up to stab him, but La Rancune had removed my sword, fearing lest despair on account of the ungrateful mistress who has abandoned me, might lead me to thrust it through my heart. This precaution was needless, O La Rancune! An actor never stabs himself with the sword that he has worn in many a comedy; nor does he who is himself the hero of tragedy ape the hero of a romance. ”

“ The Panch-Phul Ranee’s country lies beyond the Red Sea, and is surrounded by seven seas, and she dwells in a house built in the centre of her father’s kingdom. Round her house are seven ditches, and seven hedges made of spears, and she has vowed not to marry any man who cannot jump these seven ditches and seven hedges; and because she is very beautiful many great and noble men have tried to do this, but in vain.
“The Rajah and Ranee, her father and mother, are very fond of her and proud of her. Every day she goes to the palace to see them, and they weigh her in a pair of scales. ”

“ It was that of the Rhinoceros, sure enough, and it led back to the river.
“Wow, how unfortunate; he must have escaped us,” laughed the Cave Hyena, inwardly rejoicing.
“Let not that worry you,” Grun Waugh retorted. “You will have your fill of fighting when we overtake the Mammoth.”
“Ow!” yowled Crocut, and then he shut up like a clam.
“The Rhinoceros has turned tail,” thought Grun Waugh. “He came here and then went back again. I am glad of that. One less; so much the easier for us. The Rhinoceros is the worst of the lot—when he is mad.” ”

“ It was the first glimpse Randvar had had of her since that day in the forest, so rigidly had mourning custom secluded her in her bower. As a man 96who has lived long on a memory, he drank thirstily of the wine of her beauty, felt it course hotly through his veins. He was still leaning forward when he felt the Jarl’s gaze upon him, and knew that his face had betrayed him. ”

“ The hermit crieth out: the squire cometh forward and thereupon beareth one to the ground with his spear. The hermit seizeth him and bindeth him to a tree so strait that he may not move. The other three think to defend them and to rescue their fellow. Lancelot leapeth up all startled when he heareth the noise and armeth himself as quickly as he may, albeit not so quickly but that or ever he come, the hermit hath taken the other three and bound them with the fourth. But of them were some that were wounded right sore. ”

“ It is remarkable that, although Ranulf, besides many other mortal wounds, had the veins and arteries of his neck and his windpipe separated with a sword, he made signs for a priest, and from the merit of his past life, and the honour and veneration he had shewn to those chosen into the sacred order of Christ, he was confessed, and received extreme unction before he died. And, indeed, many events concur to prove that, as those who respect the priesthood, in their latter days enjoy the satisfaction of friendly intercourse, so do their revilers and accusers often die without that consolation. ”

“ So soon as they heard him coming they dress them on their feet, and then writhe along as serpents, then cast forth such fire, and so bright a flame amidst the rock, as that all the cavern is lighted up thereof, and they see by the brightness of light of their jaws the brachet coming. So soon as they have espied her, they carry her in their claws and make her the greatest cheer in the world. Lancelot passeth beyond without gainsay, and espieth, toward the issue of the cavern, the lion that was come from the forest all famished. He cometh thither right hardily, sword drawn. ”

“ A touch of romance is given to the laconic description in Doomsday Book of the Hamstede Manor, by the mention of Ranulph Pevrel as holding one hide of land under the abbot, for that villein married the Conqueror's former mistress, the beautiful Ingelrica, and the fact that the lovers were in fairly prosperous circumstances is proved by Ranulph having owned nearly six times as much land as any other dweller on the estate. ”

“ Ranulph reached the point where, if the rock was to be scaled at all, the ascent must be made. For a distance there was shelving where foothold might be had by a fearless man with a steady head and sure balance. ”

“ The eyes of the Rhinoceros are very small, and he seldom turns his head, and therefore sees nothing but what is before him. To this he owes his death, and never escapes, if there is so much plain as to enable the horse to get before him. ”

“ Wulli cried. “He never said that to me.”
“He would be a Moo Hoo himself if he did,” said the Lioness with a leer.
“Quite right, my dear,” observed Grun Waugh with an approving nod. “We must credit the Mammoth with some sense. He waits until the Rhinoceros [57] is beyond his hearing when he speaks of the fat little creature he has made friends with.”
“And horned pig—do not forget that,” added the Cave Wolf; and once more be doubled up to claw the back of his head. The Hyena emitted a fiendish laugh; in fact all viewed these tributes to the Rhinoceros with the utmost good-nature; all but Wulli. ”

“ The tongue of the young Rhinoceros is soft, for the skin is much tougher and thicker too, than that of a calf, and has apparently some furrows or wrinkles in it, but it has no pustules nor rudiments of any that are discernible, nor indeed has any use for them. On the other hand, the tongue and inside of the upper lip of the old Rhinoceros are very rough, and this appears to me to arise from the constant use he makes of these parts in seizing the branches of trees which have rough barks, particularly the acacia. ”

“ After a while the young Ranee had a son, and he was called Ramchundra. He grew up straight and tall, and he was the joy of his mother’s eyes.
One day, when he was fourteen years old, and big and strong for his age, he sat in the garden with his mother. The crows flew down about them, and she began to caress and talk 242 to them as usual. “Ah, my dear ones!” she cried, “how sad is your fate! If I could but release you, how happy I should be.”
“Mother,” said the boy, “I can plainly see that these crows are not ordinary birds. ”

“ It was as clear as daylight, even to Randolph, that the woman was innocent. Her little harmless magic was the pathetic effort of a child to kill a dragon. He hesitated a moment before he spoke, and then he decided like the gentleman he was. If it helped the child to believe that her enchanted straw had slain the monster—well, he would let her believe it.
"And now, sir, may I go?"
Randolph looked at the woman in a sort of wonder.
"Are you not afraid," he said, "of the night and the mountains, and the long road?"
"Oh no, sir," she replied simply. "The good God will be everywhere now." ”