280 FLAFLA Asia Minor, having white flowers. The rhizomes or under ground stems of these three species constitute the " orris- root " or rhizoma Iridis of pharmacy, formerly known as "ireos" or "orice," which is exported in considerable quantity from southern Europe, more especially from the neighbourhood of Leghorn and Trieste. To prepare orris- root the rhizome is in August dug up and freed of its rootlets and brown outer bark ; it is then dried, and packed in casks for sale. Orris-root occurs in commerce in whitish, knobby, sometimes branched pieces, of about the thickness of the thumb, and having on one side numerous pits where the rootlets were attached. It has a bitterish and acrid taste, and is purgative and emetic in properties. By drying it acquires the odour of violets. It is exported to India, where it is called beklibunufsha (violet-root). By the ancients it was valued both for its odour and its healing virtues ; and in England it was in past times in repute as a medicine for various complaints. Gerard states that " the root of the common Flower de-luce, cleane washed, and stamped with a few drops of Rose water, and laid plaister-wise upon the face of man or woman, doth in two dayes at the most take away the blacknesse or blewnesse of any stroke or bruse "; he further advocates the use of the same remedy in dropsy and infirmities of the chest. It is now employed in the preparation of violet-powder, and of scented hair and tooth-powders and oils, as a perfume for the breath, for making issue-peas, and occasionally as an errhine. At the risk of causing irrita tion of the mouth and disturbance of the bowels, it is sometimes given to teething infants to bite. In America the rhizome of I. versicolor, the Blue Flag, as also that of /. Florentirta, is employed as a purgative and alterative in strumous complaints. Orris-root contains, besides gum, ligneous matter, and elliptical granules of starch, an acid resin, iridin or irisin, precipitable from the tincture by water, and said in small doses to act as a stimulant of the glandular system ; also one-twelfth per cent, of a semi- solid substance, the butter or camphor of orris, which consists apparently of myristic acid with a little essential oil, and which with about 15 parts of spirits forms the oil or essence of orris-root. According to some writers the blossom of the iris is represented in the well-known heraldic device, the FLEUR-DE-LIS (q. v.}. The ancient arms of Florence are a red shield bearing a white lily or iris. The Sweet Flag, or Sweet Sedge, probably the aKopov of Dioscorides, is the species Acorus Calamus, L., a plant of the natural order Acoracece or Orontiacece. It has a wide distribution, growing in wet situations in the Himalayas, North America, Siberia, and various parts of Europe, including England, and has bee a naturalized in Scotland and Ireland. The leaves are sweet-scented, and are ensiform, equitant, 3 to 6 feet long, and two-thirds to 1 inches broad ; and the spadix is lateral, with bisexual flowers. The rhizome (rhizoma calami aromatici), which has a more powerful odour than the herbage, is creeping, horizontal, and woody ; it has been employed as an aromatic stimulant, antispasmodic, and tonic. Sir J. E. Smith Eng. Flora, ii. 158, 2d ed., 1828) mentions it as a popu lar remedy in Norfolk for ague. In India it is used as an insectifuge, and is administered in infantile diarrhoea. It is an ingredient in pot-pourri, is employed for flavouring beer, and is chewed to clear the voice ; and its volatile oil is employed by makers of snuff and aromatic vinegar. The rhizome of Acorus Calamm is sometimes adulterated with that of Iris Pseudacorus, which, however, is distin<mish- able by its lack of odour, astringent taste, and dark colour. See J. Gerard, Hcrlall, edition of Thorn. Johnson, 1633, p 49 sq.; Lindley, Med. ami GEcon. Lot., 1856; J. D. Hooker, The Student s Flora, 1870 ; Pluckier and Hanbnry, Pharmacographia 1874 ; Bentley and Trirnen, Mcd. Plants, tab. 273 uiid 279. FLAGELLANTS. The practice of some form of flagel lation as a religious observance is of very early origin, and has been more or less followed by nearly every nation, both savage and civilized. Special whipping ceremonies have also had a wide prevalence. According to Herodotus (ii. 40, 61), it was the custom of the ancient Egyptians to beat themselves during or after the sacrifice at the annual festival in honour of their goddess Isis. In Laced0emon, at the festival of Artemis Orthia or Orthosia, the chief ceremony was that of the Diamastigosis, or flogging of youths before her altar, a custom which is said to have been introduced by Lycurgus, and which is known to have existed down to the time of Tertullian. From Sparta it spread to other places in Greece, Asia Minor, and Italy (see vol. ii. p. 644). Flagellation was a prominent feature in the Roman festival of the Liqiercalia, at which it was the custom of the Luperci to run through the most fre quented parts of the city, having leathern thongs in their hands, with which they struck all whom they met, the blow being believed to have a salutary influence (see Ovid, Fasti, ii. 425 sqq. ; Plutarch, Caesar, 61). The discipline of flagellation was introduced at a very early period into the Christian Church as a punishment ; the first recorded instances of it are isolated cases which happened about the beginning of the 5th century; thus Augustine (Ep. 159 ad Marcell.) mentions that in his day flogging was resorted to us a means of discipline, not only by parents and schoolmasters, but also by bishops in their courts ; and Joannes Cassianus, writing about the same period, says of offending monks, "vel plagis emendantur vel expulsione purgantur." In the decrees of several provincial councils the practice is referred to as usual and right. But self-flagellation as a voluntary penance was not introduced till a considerably later period. The custom seems to have made but little progress till about the end of the llth century, when it was largely recommended by the precepts and example of Cardinal Peter Damian ; and in the 13th century fraternities were specially formed for its observance as a regular and public religious ceremony. The first of these was instituted about 1210 through the preaching of St Anthony of Padua, but the new order did not make much progress till about 1260, when, finding a favourable soil in the penitence and fear resulting from the disastrous effects of the long-protracted Guelph and Ghibel- line wars in Italy, it suddenly sprung up into vigorous growth through the exhortations and example of Rainer, a monk of Perugia. Great numbers of the inhabitants of this city, noble and ignoble, old and young, traversed the streets, carrying in their hands leathern thongs, with which, accord ing to the chronicle of the monk of Padua, "they drew forth blood from their tortured bodies amid sighs and tears, singing at the same time penitential psalms, and en treating the compassion of the Deity." Many of them soon began a pilgrimage through the neighbouring towns, and in creasing in numbers as they went, some journeyed through Lombardy into Provence, and others carried the infection to Rome. As they at first effected a considerable im provement in the habits of the people, the religious authorities gave them their countenance ; but the Ghibel- lines, dreading their political influence, prohibited them from entering their territories. Other bands of flagellants visited Bavario, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, and Poland, making many converts on their way; but their exhibitions gradually awakened the disgust of the better classes of society, and the tumult and disorder resulting from such large and promiscuous gatherings soon led to their pro hibition both by the clergy and the civil rulers. The fraternities again made their appearance after the great plague in the 14th century, this time in Hungary, and spread thence through Germany. From the Continent
