356 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Saxon's sword and shield laid beside him in the earth ; so, possibly, 

 these prehistoric men may have wished that the stone idols which, 

 when living, they adored the lares and penates of their time should 

 be laid beside them in their tombs. 



But, in pursuing the train of thought suggested by our author, we 

 had wellnigh forgotten his book, and we have only space to congrat- 

 ulate all those who are interested in these researches and they are 

 now many on the ample and valuable additions which he has made 

 to this new and most interesting chapter in the history of our race. 

 Nature. 







CULTIVATING WILD-FLOWERS. 



By Prof. SAMUEL LOCKWOOD. 



BUT few are aware of the many American wild-flowers which merit 

 and would repay cultivation. The showy scarlet sage (Salvia 

 coccinea) is a common sea-coast weed in some of the extreme Southern 

 States. In the North it has deservedly become a favorite ; and cul- 

 ture has placed it within the reach of every one, even the poorest. 

 The brilliant, deep-red cardinal-flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is highly 

 esteemed abroad as a garden-plant ; and yet, to dwellers in our cities, 

 this plant is almost unknown, although it is one of our common wild- 

 flowers, lavishing its bewitching beauty in numberless places, both 

 North and South. Nor is the above word a mere figure of speech. 

 An English scientific gardener lately visited Long Branch. He took a 

 ride among the surroundings of that watering-place. When between 

 Eatontown and Red Bank, he suddenly requested the driver to stop, 

 at the same time uttering an exclamation which caused Jehu to doubt 

 the gentleman's soundness of mind. The carriage was stopped, and 

 away went the well-dressed Englishman over the field-fence, as lithe 

 and agile as a youth. He actually plunged into the half-swampy 

 ground, and made, as nearly as possible, a straight line toward a scar- 

 let speck in the vernal distance. No high-mettled bull in a Spanish 

 arena ever went more intently at the little red banner of the picador 

 than went our friend John B., Esq., through that wet New Jersey 

 meadow for that scarlet flower, which drew him like a fascination. It 

 was a pitiable plight that he presented on his return to the carriage, 

 exultant with his prize. To the astonished driver he offered these 

 apologetic words : " This is the splendid Lobelia cardinalis, which I 

 have cultivated with so much care at home, and, behold ! here it grows 

 wild ! " To which Jehu, whose astonishment had now become modi- 

 fied by a shade of contempt, returned an ingenious equivocation : 

 " That is worth a gentleman spoiling his clothes for ! " 



