" G." says : " Concerning the pronunciation of the name Veronica, Dante (if my scansion is correct,) accents the penult, which gives us Va-ro-nee'-ka. He refers to the relic of that name".

[Besides the interest attached to the knowledge of how the word is pronounced by the great Italian poet, it affords evidence that the name of the plant in question had a different origin from the story of the cross. So far as we can learn the plant's name has always been pronounced Ve-ron'-e-ca; accent on the second syllable, as in Betonica. The two distinct pronunciations at the earliest introductions of the name, so far as an argument could be drawn from that fact, would favor a distinct origin. But, as we have already shown, the earlier Herbalists classed these plants with Betonica, and there is every reason to conclude that Veronica is a corruption of that word, and has no relation whatever to the legend of St. Veronica and the crucifixion; the adoption of that explanation by scientific men, is not in accord with that love of positive truth for which they are usually distinguished. They have here adopted as a fact, a guess, which we have seen has no foundation whatever. - Ed. G. M].