156 FLORA HFSTOllICA. 



persons we presume must be delighted by the 

 fragrance which it throws from the balconies into 

 the streets of London, giving something hke a 

 breath of garden air to the *' close-pent man," 

 whose avocations will not permit a ramble be- 

 yond the squares of the fashionable part of the 

 town. To such it must be a luxurious treat to 

 catch a few ambrosial gales on a summer's even- 

 ing from the heated pavement, where offensive 

 odours are but too frequently met with, notwith- 

 standing the good regulations for cleansing the 

 streets and the natural cleanliness of the inhabit- 

 ants in general. We have frequently found the per- 

 fume of the Mignonette so powerful in some of the 

 better streets of London, that we have considered 

 it sufficient to protect the inhabitants from those 

 effluvias which bring disorders in the air. The 

 perfume of Mignonette in the streets of our me- 

 tropolis reminds us of the fragrance from the 

 roasting of coffee in many parts of Paris, with- 

 out which some of their streets of business in 

 that city would scarcely be endurable in the rainy 

 season of the year. 



The Sweet Reseda or Mignonette is now said 

 to grow naturally in some parts of Barbary, as 

 well as in Egypt. Monsieur Desfontaincs ob- 

 served- it growing in the sands near Mascar in 



