D.L.R.
HENNA.
The henna or al hinna (Lawsonia inermis) is found in great abundance in Egypt, India, Persia and Arabia. In Bengal it goes by the name ofMindee. It is much used here for garden hedges. Hindu females rub it on the palms of their hands, the tips of their fingers and the soles of their feet to give them a red dye. The same red dye has been observed upon the nails of Egyptian mummies. In Egypt sprigs of henna are hawked about the streets for sale with the cry of "O, odours of Paradise; O, flowers of the henna!" Thomas Moore alludes to one of the uses of the henna:--
Thus some bring leaves of henna to imbueThe fingers' ends of a bright roseate hue,So bright, that in the mirror's depth they seemLike tips of coral branches in the stream.
MOSS.
MOSSES (musci) are sometimes confounded with Lichens. True mosses are green, and lichens are gray. All the mosses are of exquisitely delicate structure. They are found in every part of the world where the atmosphere is moist. They have a wonderful tenacity of life and can often be restored to their original freshness after they have been dried for years. It was the sight of a small moss in the interior of Africa that suggested to Mungo Park such consolatory reflections as saved him from despair. He had been stripped of all he had by banditti.
"In this forlorn and almost helpless condition," he says, "when the robbers had left me, I sat for some time looking around me with amazement and terror. Whichever way I turned, nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I found myself in the midst of a vast wilderness, in the depth of the rainy season--naked and alone,--surrounded by savages. I was five hundred miles from any European settlement. All these circumstances crowded at once upon my recollection; and I confess that my spirits began to fail me. I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no alternative, but to lie down and perish. The influence of religion, however aided and supported me. I reflected that no human prudence or foresight could possibly have averted my present sufferings. I was indeed a stranger in a strange land, yet I was still under the eye of that Providence who has condescended to call himself the stranger's friend. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small Moss irresistibly caught my eye; and though the whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and fruit, without admiration. Can that Being (thought I) who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of creatures formed after his own image? Surely not.--Reflections like these would not allow me to despair. I started up; and disregarding both, hunger and fatigue, traveled forward, assured that relief was at hand; and I was not disappointed."
VICTORIA REGIA.
On this Queen of Aquatic Plants the language of admiration has been exhausted. It was discovered in the first year of the present century by the botanist Haenke who was sent by the Spanish Government to investigate the vegetable productions of Peru. When in a canoe on the Rio Mamore, one of the great tributaries of the river Amazon, he came suddenly upon the noblest and largest flower that he had ever seen. He fell on his knees in a transport of admiration. It was the plant now known as the Victoria Regia, or American Water-lily.
It was not till February 1849, that Dr. Hugh Rodie and Mr. Lachie of Demerara forwarded seeds of the plant to Sir W.T. Hooker in vials of pure water. They were sown in earth, in pots immersed in water, and enclosed in a glass case. They vegetated rapidly. The plants first came to perfection at Chatsworth the seat of the Duke of Devonshire,[093]and subsequently at the Royal gardens at Kew.
Early in November of the same year, (1849,) the leaves of the plant at Chatsworth were 4 feet 8 inches in diameter. A child weighing forty two pounds was placed upon one of the leaves which bore the weight well. The largest leaf of the plant by the middle of the next month was five feet in diameter with a turned up edge of from two to four inches. It then bore up a person of 11 stone weight. The flat leaf of the Victoria Regia as it floats on the surface of the water, resembles in point of form the brass high edged platter in which Hindus eat their rice.
The flowers in the middle of May 1850 measured one foot one inch in diameter. The rapidity of the growth of this plant is one of its most remarkable characteristics, its leaves often expanding eight inches in diameter daily, and Mr. John Fisk Allen, who has published in America an admirably illustrated work upon the subject, tells us that instances under his own observation have occurred of the leaves increasing at the rate of half an inch hourly.
Not only is there an extraordinary variety in the colours of the several specimens of this flower, but a singularly rapid succession of changes of hue in the same individual flower as it progresses from bud to blossom.
This vegetable wonder was introduced into North America in 1851. It grows to a larger size there than in England. Some of the leaves of the plant cultivated in North America measure seventy-two inches in diameter.
This plant has been proved to be perennial. It grows best in from 4 to 6 feet of water. Each plant generally sends but four or five leaves to the surface.
In addition to the other attractions of this noble Water Lily, is the exquisite character of its perfume, which strongly resembles that of a fresh pineapple just cut open.
The Victoria Regia in the Calcutta Botanic Garden has from some cause or other not flourished so well as it was expected to do. The largest leaf is not more than four feet and three quarters in diameter. But there can be little doubt that when the habits of the plant are better understood it will be brought to great perfection in this country. I strongly recommend my native friends to decorate their tanks with this the most glorious of aquatic plants.
THE FLY-ORCHIS--THE BEE-ORCHIS.
Of these strange freaks of nature many strange stories are told. I cannot repeat them all. I shall content myself with quoting the following passage from D'Israeli'sCuriosities of Literature:--
"There is preserved in the British Museum, a black stone, on which nature has sketched a resemblance of the portrait of Chaucer. Stones of this kind, possessing a sufficient degree of resemblance, are rare; but art appears not to have been used. Even in plants, we find this sort of resemblance. There is a species of the orchis found in the mountainous parts of Lincolnshire, Kent, &c. Nature has formed a bee, apparently feeding on the breast of the flower, with so much exactness, that it is impossible at a very small distance to distinguish the imposition. Hence the plant derives its name, and is called, theBee-flower. Langhorne elegantly notices its appearance.
See on that floweret's velvet breast,How close the busy vagrant lies?His thin-wrought plume, his downy breast,Th' ambrosial gold that swells his thighs.Perhaps his fragrant load may bindHis limbs;--we'll set the captive free--I sought the living bee to find,And found the picture of a bee,'
The late Mr. James of Exeter wrote to me on this subject: 'This orchis is common near our sea-coasts; but instead of being exactly like a BEE,it is not like it at all. It has a general resemblance to afly, and by the help of imagination, may be supposed to be a fly pitched upon the flower. The mandrake very frequently has a forked root, which may be fancied to resemble thighs and legs. I have seen it helped out with nails on the toes.'
An ingenious botanist, a stranger to me, after reading this article, was so kind as to send me specimens of theflyorchis,ophrys muscifera, and of thebeeorchis,ophrys apifera. Their resemblance to these insects when in full flower is the most perfect conceivable; they are distinct plants. The poetical eye of Langhorne was equally correct and fanciful; and that too of Jackson, who differed so positively. Many controversies have been carried on, from a want of a little more knowledge; like that of the BEEorchisand the FLYorchis; both parties prove to be right."[094]
THE FUCHSIA.
The Fuchsia is decidedly the mostgracefulflower in the world. It unfortunately wants fragrance or it would be thebeau idealof a favorite of Flora. There is a story about its first introduction into England which is worth reprinting here:
'Old Mr. Lee, a nurseryman and gardener, near London, well known fifty or sixty years ago, was one day showing his variegated treasures to a friend, who suddenly turned to him, and declared, 'Well, you have not in your collection a prettier flower than I saw this morning at Wapping!'--'No! and pray what was this phoenix like?' 'Why, the plant was elegant, and the flowers hung in rows like tassels from the pendant branches; their colour the richest crimson; in the centre a fold of deep purple,' and so forth. Particular directions being demanded and given, Mr. Lee posted off to Wapping, where he at once perceived that the plant was new in this part of the world. He saw and admired. Entering the house, he said, 'My good woman, that is a nice plant. I should like to buy it.'--'I could not sell it for any money, for it was brought me from the West Indies by my husband, who has now left again, and I must keep it for his sake.'--'But I must have it!'--'No sir!'--'Here,' emptying his pockets; 'here are gold, silver, copper.' (His stock was something more than eight guineas.)--'Well a-day! but this is a power of money, sure and sure.'--''Tis yours, and the plant is mine; and, my good dame, you shall have one of the first young ones I rear, to keep for your husband's sake,'--'Alack, alack!'--'You shall.' A coach was called, in which was safely deposited our florist and his seemingly dear purchase. His first work was to pull off and utterly destroy every vestige of blossom and bud. The plant was divided into cuttings, which were forced in bark beds and hotbeds; were redivided and subdivided. Every effort was used to multiply it. By the commencement of the next flowering season, Mr. Lee was the delighted possessor of 300 Fuchsia plants, all giving promise of blossom. The two which opened first were removed into his show-house. A lady came:--'Why, Mr. Lee, my dear Mr. Lee, where did you get this charming flower?'--'Hem! 'tis a new thing, my lady; pretty, is it not?'--'Pretty! 'tis lovely. Its price?'--'A guinea: thank your ladyship;' and one of the plants stood proudly in her ladyship's boudoir. 'My dear Charlotte, where did you get?' &c.--'Oh! 'tis a new thing; I saw it at old Lee's; pretty, is it not?'--'Pretty! 'tis beautiful! Its price!'--'A guinea; there was another left.' The visitor's horses smoked off to the suburb; a third flowering plant stood on the spot whence the first had been taken. The second guinea was paid, and the second chosen Fuchsia adorned the drawing-room of her second ladyship The scene was repeated, as new-comers saw and were attracted by the beauty of the plant. New chariots flew to the gates of old Lee's nursery-ground. Two Fuchsias, young, graceful and bursting into healthy flower, were constantly seen on the same spot in his repository. He neglected not to gladden the faithful sailor's wife by the promised gift; but, ere the flower season closed, 300 golden guineas clinked in his purse, the produce of the single shrub of the widow of Wapping; the reward of the taste, decision, skill, and perseverance of old Mr. Lee.'
Whether this story about the fuchsia, be only partly fact and partly fiction I shall not pretend to determine; but the best authorities acknowledge that Mr. Lee, one of the founders of the Hammersmith Nursery, was the first to make the plant generally known in England and that he for some time got a guinea for each of the cuttings. The fuchsia is a native of Mexico and Chili. I believe that most of the plants of this genus introduced into India have flourished for a brief period and then sickened and died.
The poets of England have not yet sung the Fuschia's praise. Here are three stanzas written for a gentleman who had been presented, by the lady of his love with a superb plant of this kind.
A FUCHSIA.
I.A deed of grace--a graceful gift--and graceful too the giver!Like ear-rings on thine own fair head, these long buds hang and quiver:Each tremulous taper branch is thrilled--flutter the wing-like leaves--For thus to part from thee, sweet maid, the floral spirit grieves!II.Rude gods in brass or gold enchant an untaught devotee--Fair marble shapes, rich paintings old, are Art's idolatry;But nought e'er charmed a human breast like this small tremulous flower,Minute and delicate work divine of world-creative power!III.This flower's the Queen of all earth's flowers, and loveliest things appearLinked by some secret sympathy, in this mysterious sphere;The giver and the gift seem one, and thou thyself art nighWhen this glory of the garden greets thy lover's raptured eye.
D.L.R.
"Do you know the proper name of this flower?" writes Jeremy Bentham to a lady-friend, "and the signification of its name? Fuchsia from Fuchs, a German botanist."
ROSEMARY.
There's rosemary--that's for remembrance:Pray you, love, remember.
Hamlet
There's rosemarie; the Arabians Justifie(Physitions of exceeding perfect skill)It comforteth the brain and memory.
Chester.
Bacon speaks of heaths of ROSEMARY (Rosmarinus[095]) that "will smell a great way in the sea; perhaps twenty miles." This reminds us of Milton's Paradise.
So lovely seemedThat landscape, and of pure, now purer air,Meets his approach, and to the heart inspiresVernal delight and joy, able to driveAll sadness but despair. Now gentle galesFanning their odoriferous wings, dispenseNative perfumes, and whisper whence they stoleThose balmy spoils. As when to them who sailBeyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pastMozambic, off at sea north east winds blowSabean odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest, with such delayWell pleased they slack their course, and many a leagueCheered with the grateful smell, old Ocean smiles.
Rosemary used to be carried at funerals, and worn as wedding favors.
LewisPray take a piece of RosemaryMiramontI'll wear it,But for the lady's sake, and none of your's!
Beaumont and Fletcher's "Elder Brother."
Rosemary, says Malone, being supposed to strengthen the memory, was the emblem of fidelity in lovers. So inA Handfull of Pleasant Delites, containing Sundrie New Sonets, 16mo. 1854:
Rosemary is for remembranceBetween us daie and night,Wishing that I might alwaies haveYou present in my sight.
The poem in which these lines are found, is entitled, 'A Nosegay alwaies sweet for Lovers to send for Tokens of Love.'
Roger Hochet in his sermon entitledA Marriage Present(1607) thus speaks of the Rosemary;--"It overtoppeth all the flowers in the garden, boasting man's rule. It helpeth the brain, strengtheneth the memorie, and is very medicinable for the head. Another propertie of the rosemary is, it affects the heart. Let this rosemarinus, this flower of men, ensigne of your wisdom, love, and loyaltie, be carried not only in your hands, but in your hearts and heads."
"Hungary water" is made up chiefly from the oil distilled from this shrub.
I should talk on a little longer about other shrubs, herbs, and flowers, (particularly of flowers) such as the "pink-eyed Pimpernel" (the poor man's weather glass) and the fragrant Violet, ('the modest grace of the vernal year,') the scarlet crested Geranium with its crimpled leaves, and the yellow and purple Amaranth, powdered with gold,
A flower which onceIn Paradise, fast by the tree of lifeBegan to bloom,
and the crisp and well-varnished Holly with "its rutilant berries," and the white Lily, (the vestal Lady of the Vale,--"the flower of virgin light") and the luscious Honeysuckle, and the chaste Snowdrop,
Venturous harbinger of springAnd pensive monitor of fleeting years,
and the sweet Heliotrope and the gay and elegant Nasturtium, and a great many other "bonnie gems" upon the breast of our dear mother earth,--but this gossipping book has already extended to so unconscionable a size that I must quicken my progress towards a conclusion[096].
I am indebted to the kindness ofBabu Kasiprasad Ghosh, the first Hindu gentlemen who ever published a volume of poems in the English language[097]for the following interesting list of Indian flowers used in Hindu ceremonies. Many copies of the poems of Kasiprasad Ghosh, were sent to the English public critics, several of whom spoke of the author's talents with commendation. The late Miss Emma Roberts wrote a brief biography of him for one of the London annuals, so that there must be many of my readers at home who will not on this occasion hear of his name for the first time.
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF INDIAN FLOWERS, COMMONLY USED IN HINDU CEREMONIES.[098]
A'KUNDA (Calotropis Gigantea).--A pretty purple coloured, and slightly scented flower, having a sweet and agreeable smell. It is calledArcain Sanscrit, and has two varieties, both of which are held to be sacred to Shiva. It forms one of the five darts with which the Indian God of Love is supposed to pierce the hearts of young mortals.[099]Sir William Jones refers to it in his Hymn to Kama Deva. It possesses medicinal properties.[100]
A'PARA'JITA (Clitoria ternatea).--A conically shaped flower, the upper part of which is tinged with blue and the lower part is white. Some are wholly white. It is held to be sacred to Durgá.
ASOCA. (Jonesia Asoca).--A small yellow flower, which blooms in large clusters in the month of April and gives a most beautiful appearance to the tree. It is eaten by young females as a medicine. It smells like the Saffron.
A'TASHI.--A small yellowish or brown coloured flower without any smell. It is supposed to be sacred to Shiva, and is very often alluded to by the Indian poets. It resembles the flower of the flax or Linum usitatissimum.[101]
BAKA.--A kidney shaped flower, having several varieties, all of which are held to be sacred to Vishnu, and are in consequence used in his worship. It is supposed to possess medicinal virtues and is used by the native doctors.
BAKU'LA (Mimusops Etengi).--A very small, yellowish, and fragrant flower. It is used in making garlands and other female ornaments. Krishna is said to have fascinated the milkmaids of Brindabun by playing on his celebrated flute under aBaku'latree on the banks of the Jumna, which is, therefore, invariably alluded to in all the Sanscrit and vernacular poems relating to his amours with those young women.
BA'KASHA (Justicia Adhatoda).--A white flower, having a slight smell. It is used in certain native medicines.
BELA (Jasminum Zambac).--A fragrant small white flower, in common use among native females, who make garlands of it to wear in their braids of hair. A kind ofuttaris extracted from this flower, which is much esteemed by natives. It is supposed to form one of the darts of Kama Deva or the God of Love. European Botanists seem to have confounded this flower with the Monika, which they also call the Jasminum Zambac.
BHU'MI CHAMPAKA.--An oblong variegated flower, which shoots out from the ground at the approach of spring. It has a slight smell, and is considered to possess medicinal properties. The great peculiarity of this flower is that it blooms when there is not apparently the slightest trace of the existence of the shrub above ground. When the flower dies away, the leaves make their appearance.
CHAMPA' (Michelia Champaka).--A tulip shaped yellow flower possessing a very strong smell.[102]It forms one of the darts of Kama Deva, the Indian Cupid. It is particularly sacred to Krishna.
CHUNDRA MALLIKA' (Chrysanthemum Indiana).--A pretty round yellow flower which blooms in winter. The plant is used in making hedges in gardens and presents a beautiful appearance in the cold weather when the blossoms appear.
DHASTU'RA (Datura Fastuosa).--A large tulip shaped white flower, sacred to Mahadeva, the third Godhead of the Hindu Trinity. The seeds of this flower have narcotic properties.[103]
DRONA.--A white flower with a very slight smell.
DOPATI (Impatiens Balsamina).--A small flower having a slight smell. There are several varieties of this flower. Some are red and some white, while others are both white and red.
GA'NDA' (Tagetes erecta).--A handsome yellow flower, which sometimes grows very large. It is commonly used in making garlands, with which the natives decorate their idols, and the Europeans in India their churches and gates on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
GANDHA RA'J (Gardenia Florida).--A strongly scented white flower, which blooms at night.
GOLANCHA (Menispermum Glabrum).--A white flower. The plant is already well known to Europeans as a febrifuge.
JAVA' (Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis).--A large blood coloured flower held to be especially sacred to Kali. There are two species of it, viz. the ordinary Javá commonly seen in our gardens and parterres, and thePancha Mukhi, which, as its name imports, has five compartments and is the largest of the two.[104]
JAYANTI (Aeschynomene Sesban).--A small yellowish flower, held to be sacred to Shiva.
JHA'NTI.--A small white flower possessing medicinal properties. The leaves of the plants are used in curing certain ulcers.
JA'NTI (Jasminum Grandiflorum).--Also a small white flower having a sweet smell. TheuttarcalledChumeliis extracted from it.
JUYIN (Jasminum Auriculatum).--The Indian Jasmine. It is a very small white flower remarkable for its sweetness. It is also used in making a species ofuttarwhich is highly prized by the natives, as also in forming a great variety of imitation female ornaments.
KADAMBA (Nauclea Cadamba).--A ball shaped yellow flower held to be particularly sacred to Krishna, many of whose gambols with the milkmaids of Brindabun are said to have been performed under the Kadamba tree, which is in consequence very frequently alluded to in the vernacular poems relating to his loves with those celebrated beauties.
KINSUKA (Butea Frondosa).--A handsome but scentless white flower.
KANAKA CHAMPA (Pterospermum Acerifolium).--A yellowish flower which hangs down in form of a tassel. It has a strong smell, which is perceived at a great distance when it is on the tree, but the moment it is plucked off, it begins to lose its fragrance.
KANCHANA (Bauhinia Variegata).--There are several varieties of this flower. Some are white, some are purple, while others are red. It gives a handsome appearance to the tree when the latter is in full blossom.
KUNDA (Jasminum pulescens).--A very pretty white flower. Indian poets frequently compare a set of handsome teeth, to this flower. It is held to be especially sacred to Vishnu.
KARABIRA (Nerium Odosum).--There are two species of this flower, viz. the white and red, both of which are sacred to Shiva.
KAMINI (Murraya Exotica).--A pretty small white flower having a strong smell. It blooms at night and is very delicate to the touch. Thekaminitree is frequently used as a garden hedge.
KRISHNA CHURA (Poinciana Pulcherrima).--A pretty small flower, which, as its name imports resembles the head ornament of Krishna. When the Krishna Chura tree is in full blossom, it has a very handsome appearance.
KRISHNA KELI (Mirabilis Jalapa.)[105]--A small tulip shaped yellow flower. The bulb of the plant has medicinal properties and is used by the natives as a poultice.
KUMADA (Nymphaea Esculenta)--A white flower, resembling the lotus, but blooming at night, whence the Indian poets suppose that it is in love with Chandra or the Moon, as the lotus is imagined by them to be in love with the Sun.
LAVANGA LATA' (Limonia Scandens.)--A very small red flower growing upon a creeper, which has been celebrated by Jaya Deva in his famous work called theGita Govinda. This creeper is used in native gardens for bowers.
MALLIKA' (Jasminum Zambac.)--A white flower resembling theBela. It has a very sweet smell and is used by native females to make ornaments. It is frequently alluded to by Indian poets.
MUCHAKUNDA (Pterospermum Suberifolia).--A strongly scented flower, which grows in clusters and is of a brown colour.
MA'LATI (Echites Caryophyllata.)--The flower of a creeper which is commonly used in native gardens. It has a slight smell and is of a white colour.
MA'DHAVI (Gaertnera Racemosa.)--The flower of another creeper which is also to be seen in native gardens. It is likewise of a white colour.
NA'GESWARA (Mesua Ferrua.)--A white flower with yellow filaments, which are said to possess medicinal properties and are used by the native physicians. It has a very sweet smell and is supposed by Indian poets to form one of the darts of Kama Deva. See Sir William Jones's Hymn to that deity.
PADMA (Nelumbium Speciosum.)--The Indian lotus, which is held to be sacred to Vishnu, Brama, Mahadava, Durga, Lakshami and Saraswati as well as all the higher orders of Indian deities. It is a very elegant flower and is highly esteemed by the natives, in consequence of which the Indian poets frequently allude to it in their writings.
PA'RIJATA (Buchanania Latifolia.)--A handsome white flower, with a slight smell. In native poetry, it furnishes a simile for pretty eyes, and is held to be sacred to Vishnu.
PAREGATA (Erythrina Fulgens.)--A flower which is supposed to bloom in the garden of Indra in heaven, and forms the subject of an interesting episode in thePuranas, in which the two wives of Krisna, (Rukmini and Satyabhama) are said to have quarrelled for the exclusive possession of this flower, which their husband had stolen from the celestial garden referred to. It is supposed to be identical with the flower of thePalta madar.
RAJANI GANDHA (Polianthus Tuberosa.)--A white tulip-shaped flower which blooms at night, from which circumstance it is called "the Rajani Gandha, (or night-fragrance giver)." It is the Indian tuberose.
RANGANA.--A small and very pretty red flower which is used by native females in ornamenting their betels.
SEONTI.Rosa Glandulefera. A white flower resembling the rose in size and appearance. It has a sweet smell.
SEPHA'LIKA (Nyctanthes Arbor-tristis.)--A very pretty and delicate flower which blooms at night, and drops down shortly after. It has a sweet smell and is held to be sacred to Shiva. The juice of the leaves of the Sephalika tree are used in curing both remittant and intermittent fevers.
SURYJA MUKHI (Helianthus Annuus).--A large and very handsome yellow flower, which is said to turn itself to the Sun, as he goes from East to West, whence it has derived its name.
SURYJA MANI (Hibiscus Phoeniceus).--A small red flower.
GOLAKA CHAMPA.--A large beautiful white tulip-shaped flower having a sweet smell. It is externally white but internally orange-colored.
TAGUR (Tabernoemontana Coronaria).--A white flower having a slight smell.
TARU LATA.--A beautiful creeper with small red flowers. It is used in native gardens for making hedges.
K.G.
Pliny in his Natural History alludes to the marks of time exhibited in the regular opening and closing of flowers. Linnaeus enumerates forty- six flowers that might be used for the construction of a floral time- piece. This great Swedish botanist invented a Floral horologe, "whose wheels were the sun and earth and whose index-figures were flowers." Perhaps his invention, however, was not wholly original. Andrew Marvell in his "Thoughts in a Garden" mentions a sort of floral dial:--
How well the skilful gardener drewOf flowers and herbs this dial new!Where, from above, the milder sunDoes through a fragrant zodiac run:And, as it works, th'industrious beeComputes its time as well as we:How could such sweet and wholesome hoursBe reckoned, but with herbs and flowers?
Marvell[106]
Milton's notation of time--"at shut of evening flowers," has a beautiful simplicity, and though Shakespeare does not seem to have marked his time on a floral clock, yet, like all true poets, he has made very free use of other appearances of nature to indicate the commencement and the close of day.
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch--Than we will ship him hence.
Hamlet.
Fare thee well at once!The glow-worm shows the matin to be nearAnd gins to pale his uneffectual fire.
Hamlet.
But look! The morn, in russet mantle clad,Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill:--Break we our watch up.
Hamlet.
Light thickens, and the crowMakes wing to the rooky wood.
Macbeth.
Such picturesque notations of time as these, are in the works of Shakespeare, as thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks in Valombrosa. In one of his Sonnets he thus counts the years of human life by the succession of the seasons.
To me, fair friend, you never can be old,For as you were when first your eye I eyed,Such seems your beauty still. Three winters coldHave from the forests shook three summers' pride;Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turnedIn process of the seasons have I seen;Three April's perfumes in three hot Junes burnedSince first I saw you fresh which yet are green.
Grainger, a prosaic verse-writer who once commenced a paragraph of a poem with "Now, Muse, let's sing of rats!" called upon the slave drivers in the West Indies to time their imposition of cruel tasks by the opening and closing of flowers.
Till morning dawn and Lucifer withdrawHis beamy chariot, let not the loud bellCall forth thy negroes from their rushy couch:And ere the sun with mid-day fervor glow,When every broom-bush opes her yellow flower,Let thy black laborers from their toil desist:Nor till the broom her every petal lock,Let the loud bell recal them to the hoe,But when the jalap her bright tint displays,When the solanum fills her cup with dew,And crickets, snakes and lizards gin their coil,Let them find shelter in their cane-thatched huts.
Sugar Cane.[107]
I shall here give (from Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Gardening) the form of a flower dial. It may be interesting to many of my readers:--
'Twas a lovely thought to mark the hoursAs they floated in light awayBy the opening and the folding flowersThat laugh to the summer day.[108]
Mr. Hemans.
Of course it will be necessary to adjust theHorologium Florae(or Flower clock) to the nature of the climate. Flowers expand at a later hour in a cold climate than in a warm one. "A flower," says Loudon, "that opens at six o'clock in the morning at Senegal, will not open in France or England till eight or nine, nor in Sweden till ten. A flower that opens at ten o'clock at Senegal will not open in France or England till noon or later, and in Sweden it will not open at all. And a flower that does not open till noon or later at Senegal will not open at all in France or England. This seems as if heat or its absence were also (as well as light) an agent in the opening and shutting of flowers; though the opening of such as blow only in the night cannot be attributed to either light or heat."
The seasons may be marked in a similar manner by their floral representatives. Mary Howitt quotes as a motto to her poem onHoly Flowersthe following example of religious devotion timed by flowers:--
"Mindful of the pious festivals which our church prescribes," (says a Franciscan Friar) "I have sought to make these charming objects of floral nature, thetime-pieces of my religious calendar, and the mementos of the hastening period of my mortality. Thus I can light the taper to our Virgin Mother on the blowing of the white snow-drop which opens its floweret at the time of Candlemas; the lady's smock and the daffodil, remind me of the Annunciation; the blue harebell, of the Festival of St George; the ranunculus, of the Invention of the Cross; the scarlet lychnis, of St. John the Baptist's day; the white lily, of the Visitation of our Lady, and the Virgin's bower, of her Assumption; and Michaelmas, Martinmas, Holyrood, and Christmas, have all their appropriate monitors. I learn the time of day from the shutting of the blossoms of the Star of Jerusalem and the Dandelion, and the hour of the night by the stars."
Some flowers afford a certain means of determining the state of the atmosphere. If I understand Mr. Tyas rightly he attributes the following remarks to Hartley Coleridge.--
"Many species of flowers are admirable barometers. Most of the bulbous- rooted flowers contract, or close their petals entirely on the approach of rain. The African marigold indicates rain, if the corolla is closed after seven or eight in the morning. The common bind-weed closes its flowers on the approach of rain; but the anagallis arvensis, or scarlet pimpernel, is the most sure in its indications as the petals constantly close on the least humidity of the atmosphere. Barley is also singularly affected by the moisture or dryness of the air. The awns are furnished with stiff points, all turning towards one end, which extend when moist, and shorten when dry. The points, too, prevent their receding, so that they are drawn up or forward; as moisture is returned, they advance and so on; indeed they may be actually seen to travel forwards. The capsules of the geranium furnish admirable barometers. Fasten the beard, when fully ripe, upon a stand, and it will twist itself, or untwist, according as the air is moist or dry. The flowers of the chick-weed, convolvulus, and oxalis, or wood sorrel, close their petals on the approach of rain."
The famous German writer, Jean Paul Richter, describes what he callsa Human Clock.
A HUMAN CLOCK.
"I believe" says Richter "the flower clock of Linnaeus, in Upsal (Horologium Florae) whose wheels are the sun and earth, and whose index-figures are flowers, of which one always awakens and opens later than another, was what secretly suggested my conception of the human clock.
I formerly occupied two chambers in Scheeraw, in the middle of the market place: from the front room I overlooked the whole market-place and the royal buildings and from the back one, the botanical garden. Whoever now dwells in these two rooms possesses an excellent harmony, arranged to his hand, between the flower clock in the garden and the human clock in the marketplace. At three o'clock in the morning, the yellow meadow goats-beard opens; and brides awake, and the stable-boy begins to rattle and feed the horses beneath the lodger. At four o'clock the little hawk weed awakes, choristers going to the Cathedral who are clocks with chimes, and the bakers. At five, kitchen maids, dairy maids, and butter-cups awake. At six, the sow-thistle and cooks. At seven o'clock many of the Ladies' maids are awake in the Palace, the Chicory in my botanical garden, and some tradesmen. At eight o'clock all the colleges awake and the little mouse-ear. At nine o'clock, the female nobility already begin to stir; the marigold, and even many young ladies, who have come from the country on a visit, begin to look out of their windows. Between ten and eleven o'clock the Court Ladies and the whole staff of Lords of the Bed-chamber, the green colewort and the Alpine dandelion, and the reader of the Princess rouse themselves out of their morning sleep; and the whole Palace, considering that the morning sun gleams so brightly to-day from the lofty sky through the coloured silk curtains, curtails a little of its slumber.
At twelve o'clock, the Prince: at one, his wife and the carnation have their eyes open in their flower vase. What awakes late in the afternoon at four o'clock is only the red-hawkweed, and the night watchman as cuckoo-clock, and these two only tell the time as evening-clocks and moon-clocks.
From the eyes of the unfortunate man, who like the jalap plant (Mirabilia jalapa), first opens them at five o'clock, we will turn our own in pity aside. It is a rich man who only exchanges the fever fancies of being pinched with hot pincers for waking pains.
I could never know when it was two o'clock, because at that time, together with a thousand other stout gentlemen and the yellow mouse-ear, I always fell asleep; but at three o'clock in the afternoon, and at three in the morning, I awoke as regularly as though I was a repeater. Thus we mortals may be a flower-clock for higher beings, when our flower-leaves close upon our last bed; or sand clocks, when the sand of our life is so run down that it is renewed in the other world; or picture-clocks because, when our death-bell here below strikes and rings, our image steps forth, from its case into the next world.
On each event of the kind, when seventy years of human life have passed away, they may perhaps say, what! another hour already gone! how the time flies!"--From Balfour's Phyto-Theology.
Some of the natives of India who possess extensive estates might think it worth their while to plant a LABYRINTH for the amusement of their friends. I therefore give a plan of one from London'sArboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum. It would not be advisable to occupy much of a limited estate in a toy of this nature; but where the ground required for it can be easily spared or would otherwise be wasted, there could be no objection to adding this sort of amusement to the very many others that may be included in a pleasure ground. The plan here given, resembles the labyrinth at Hampton Court. The hedges should be a little above a man's height and the paths should be just wide enough for two persons abreast. The ground should be kept scrupulously clean and well rolled and the hedges well trimmed, or in this country the labyrinth would soon be damp and unwholesome, especially in the rains. To prevent its affording a place of refuge and concealment for snakes and other reptiles, the gardener should cut off all young shoots and leaves within half a foot of the ground. The centre building should be a tasteful summer-house, in which people might read or smoke or take refreshments. To make thelabyrinthstill more intricate Mr. Loudon suggests that stop-hedges might be introduced across the path, at different places, as indicated in the figure by dotted lines.[110]