27 



and unperceived by the cattle : he therefore recom- 

 mended them to keep their cattle on upland grounds 

 till the season of the year was sufficiently advanced to 

 make the pasturage sound and dry j for when the plant 

 is distinctly obvious it is always rejected by those ani- 

 mals to whom it may be hurtful. The farmers took 

 his advice, and the evil was removed. This is an illus- 

 trious instance to demonstrate the advantage a scientific 

 man has over plodding ignorance j and may even serve 

 to shew the mean part of the creation, who see no 

 value in any thing but what they can immediately 

 convert into money, that even a little intellect in 

 natural history may contribute to their views of human 

 happiness. 



PASSION-FLOWER. Of this genus there are 

 no less than thirty-seven different species. This is the 

 common blue Passion-flower, which in a few years 

 may be trained up to more than forty feet high, and 

 the stalks will grow to a very considerable size. It 

 grows naturally in Brazil, but is hardy enough to 

 thrive here in the open air, and is now become the 

 most common species in England. 



This beautiful tribe of plants was unknown till 

 the discovery of America, and the different species 

 are chiefly found in South America and the islands. 

 It has its name from a fanciful analogy of the different 

 parts of the flower to the Passion of Christ. The 

 Jesuits, who went as missionaries to South America, 

 thought they discovered in the three pistilla the repre- 



