236 tJohnston^s Flora of Bermck upofi Tweed, 



within the district of this author, whereas it is a most abun- 

 dant weed in the south of England, and naturalises itself 

 easily in America. It is delightful to observe how the boun- 

 daries of knowledge enlarge as we make progress, and there 

 is nothing which marks poverty of intellect so much as that 

 conlplacency which supposes it has gathered in all that a sub- 

 ject will afford. 



The Flora of Dr. Johnston comprehends a copious list of 

 species, which is not so remarkable for containing any that 

 are peculiar to the district (which is the case with the 

 eastern counties and Cornwall), as it is for the singular 

 stations where some of them are found. Thus to find Rhodiola 

 rosea, which is generally alpine, on the sea coast, is quite 

 unexpected ; as are ^^mpetrum nigrum and ,Scilla verna, on 

 sea banks. Eriophorum pubescens, which is of modern 

 creation, seems to be frequent, while the old E. polystachion 

 is not common. The difference of these species is not very 

 obvious ; and, like a thousand others of the present day, are 

 only known by the " ear mark." Dr. Johnston's keen eye 

 has rediscovered, in Ray's locality on Cheviot, the long lost 

 Cornus suecica. 



Of the origin of the name "Forget me not" (TV/yosotis) 

 the author gives the following account, extracted from Mill's 

 History of Chivah-y, and communicated to that work by Dr. 

 A. T. Thomson : — " Two lovers were loitering on the margin 

 of a lake on a fine summer's evening, when the maiden espied 

 some of the flowers of ikfyos^tis growing on the water, close to 

 the bank of an island, at some distance from the shore. She 

 expressed a desire to possess them, when the knight, in the 

 true spirit of chivalry, plunged into the water, and swimming 

 to the spot, cropped the wished for plant, but his strength 

 was unable to fulfil the object of his achievement, and feeling 

 that he could not regain the shore, although very near it, he 

 threw the flowers upon the bank, and casting a last affection- 

 ate look upon his lady-love, he cried, ' Forget me not ! ' and 

 was buried in the waters." As the world insists upon a 

 reason, this story is as good as another; but the worthy 

 knight must have been sadly out of his element not to have 

 been able to return from a bank on which his mistress could 

 discern so minute a blossom, unless, indeed, we suppose him 

 to have been clad in armour, which was a habiliment ill 

 adapted for a lover by land or water. 



Is the author correct in assigning the name of" Blue-bells" 

 to Campanula rotundifolia ? We had always imagined that 

 the " Blue-bells of Scotland" were the AScilla nutans, and 

 that the Campanula rotundifolia \vas the " Hare-bell," from 



