THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 459 



It is for them that nature displays her most sumptuous 

 adornments. The velvety curtains of their virgin couch, 

 woven by the hands of fairies, steep them in light and fire 

 amidst their folds of purple and sapphire. In one part, 

 faithless husbands profusely scatter life and fecundity on 

 everything around them ; in another chaste households live 

 retired, and jealous brides conceal their lovers beneath 

 domes of azure and gold. 



The delicate envelopes which attract our regards repre- 

 sent only the ephemeral and perfumed palace in which the 

 mysteries of Hymen are about to be accomplished. But so 

 soon as the golden dust of the stamens is spread upon the 

 altar, the odorous sources dry up, the veils of the temple 

 fade and wither, and the marvellous edifice soon lies scat- 

 tered on the ground, whilst the now fruitful mother silently 

 nourishes her precious offspring. 



All flowers do not exhibit such luxury in these or- 

 gans. Generally they possess two protecting envelopes, and 

 contain, at the same time, ardent husbands and tender 

 wives. 



More rarely they present only one sex. In this case the 

 one class, without ornament and without perfume, only 

 contains a few cenobites ; whilst others display all the 

 splendor of a harem, the perfumed canopies of which only 

 veil a bevy of sultanas. 



Nature's aim is always clearly defined, and she has pro- 

 fuse resources for attaining it. A few grains of pollen, al- 

 most invisible, are enough to impregnate a flower, and she 

 pours it out open-handed ; ninety-nine hundredths of it may 

 be lost. A single spouse and this is the case with certain 



