432 FLOWERS OE 



the beautiful hunter. Unfortunately, however, botany 

 has its " glorious uncertainties," like law, and this is 

 one of them ; for it has been gravely remarked, that 

 "whether the goddess of beauty changed her lover 

 into this plant or the Anemone, would be difficult to 

 decide, since the Linnsean system of dividing plants 

 into families did not exist when the gods and goddes- 

 ses made love upon the earth ; and previous to the 

 time of the Swedish botanist, the Adonis was consi- 

 dered to be one of the Anemonies, which it greatly 

 resembles." In answer to this doubt, I can only 

 alledge, as in the case of the celebrated something 

 black as a crow, that the flower of the Adonis is at 

 any rate as red as blood, whether the vital current of 

 the goddess lover ever came in contact with its petals 

 or not. And now, if any one should take exception 

 at this flower- sipping as an idle or unprofitable em- 

 ployment, I shall merely, in defence of my floration, 

 make this quotation from the ambling versification of 

 the once admired COWLEY, who thus apostrophizes 

 on the subject 



" Who, that hath reason and his smell, 

 Would not among Roses and Jasmine dwell, 

 Rather than all his spirits choke 

 With exhalations of dirt and smoke ?" 



This is certainly a home thrust, and I therefore confi- 

 dently anticipate that I shall be able to count a pretty 

 considerable number of noses in favour of botanical 

 looking-out ! 



As writers more familiar with the study than the 

 field, often refer sarcastically to " mere botanists," as 

 if so taken up with system and technical verbiage, as 

 to be incompetent to feel in their souls the divine 



