taken to mount the goblet described below.
I follow the original as nearly as I can : "A
lady, one-half of whose body is that of a
woman, and the other half that of a wild
beast on two feet, stands on a terrace
enamelled azure with small trees, stags, and
greyhounds. And from the bosom (giron) of
the lady issues the head of an ox, one of
whose horns she clasps in her hands; and in
the said head is a spout (biberon), and to the
ears of the said head, and at the sides of the
said lady, beneath her arms, hang small
chains with the escocheons of the Archbishop
of Rouen and Marigny; and the said lady
wears a mantle cup up at the sides, and a high
hat on her head, both of which are enamelled;
and behind the said lady, on the back of the
said beast (her other part), is placed a goblet
of crystal mounted on a silver enamelled
pedestal with scroll and open work, and round
the crystal are four bats, and the lid is
bordered with silver, and the knob (fretel) is
made of vine-leaves, from whence issues a
three-sided bud, enamelled azure and green.
And the said lady, the pedestal, the goblet,
and the lid, weigh altogether five marks,
seven ounces, and twelve deniers."

This must have been an awkward goblet
to drink out of, but these extravagant
cups are numerous in the inventories of
Louis of Anjou. We have a gilt monkey
on a green terrace, under an oak, wearing
a bishop's mitre, and extending his paws
in the manner of a benediction; and
he, with all his attendant devices, is
only the framework, as it were, of another
goblet. We have a cock serving as a
vase (aiguière), the body and tail covered
with pearls, the neck, wings, and head silver,
enamelled yellow, green, and azure, and on
his back a fox, which seizes him by the comb.
We have a fountain filled with fish on a
terrace where grows a lofty tree, in the midst
of which is a flying serpent ; and a monkey
sits beneath, fishing with a line and basket,
having just caught a barbel ; while dogs and
rabbits, children and butterflies, enamel the
ground. In short, there was nothing
grotesque or incongruous that did not find a
place in these singular drinking vessels. But
the aiguière, generally speaking, was of very
elegant form, and the materials of which it
was composed exceedingly costly. Its
attendant cup, the hanap, was made of the
richest as well as the poorest substances,
according to the rank of the owner. King
Charles the Wise drank out of a hanap of
jasper set with gold and precious stones ; the
hanap of the artisan outside his palace gate
was a wooden cup. One of the many hanaps
of Louis of Aujou is thus described : "A
hanap with a cover, on a tripod, sown with
enamels, in which are trees and rabbits of
divers colours ; and on the pedestal are three
flying serpents, with azure enamelled wings,
and by means of their tails they support the
hanap. And between their tails are three
other smaller flying serpents, also with enamelled
wings. And the said hanap and cover
is ornamented with a raised foliage, and on
the top is a knob—weighing, in all, eight
marks, seven ounces." The next is of a
more poetical character: "A hanap on three
feet, strewed with enamels of birds and raised
foliage, and the knob of the cover gilt and
adorned with raised leaves. And round the
bottom of the hanap, and on the lid, are
enamelled the History of Tristan and Yseut;
and the hanap is supported by three dogs,
and weighs, altogether, ten marks, three
ounces." But, the costliest hanap in the Duke
of Anjou's collection was one that weighed
upwards of thirty-two marks. On the cup,
amidst the most splendid jewels, appeared
shepherds playing the flute and Saracen horn
—shapherdesses spinning while their dogs
guard the flocks, rabbits in abundance, groves
of trees, a lady presenting a ring to the lover
who sits beside her, many armed knights,
Saladin on horseback attended by Saracens ;
and, to complete the list, the Emperor
Charlemagne seated in his chair of state, his
sword in his right hand, his shield on his left
arm, and his feet resting on a lion, with
Saracen banners around, and on the rim is
inscribed these sentences : "A loyal life will
I lead, for by loyalty a man is honoured. He
who is loyal all his life is honoured without
reproach." Under various names, such as
godets, gobelets, flascons, boutailles, quartes,
coupes, pintes, and pots, these drinking-
vessels were all, more or less, elaborately
ornamented. It was the same with the salières
(which must by no means be confounded
with modern salt-cellars, however graceful
the form of the latter), the nefs (or ships),
the mestiers (candlesticks), the chauderons
(tureens), the chauffettes (basins), the
tranchois (trenchers), and the escuelles (plates) :
all that ingenuity could devise or wealth
create went to the construction of a service
of plate in the middle ages.

OUR POISONOUS WILD FLOWERS.

THE notion is so prevalent amongst the
poor that free use may be made of the
herbs of the field as medicine, the practice
is also so common among children of
munching leaves, or roots, or berries, of wild
plants among which they walk in summer
time ; that we are very much obliged to Mr.
Johnson, the botanical lecturer at Guy's
Hospital, for having published, for the use
of the general public, a short and simple
account of the British poisonous plants, with
a picture of each to stand instead of a
technical description.

There are the buttercups, to begin with, so
caustic that the hands of children gathering
them are sometimes inflamed, or even
blistered. The deep colour of butter was
ascribed to the eating of these flowers by the
cows, wherefore they were called butter-