JUNE. 187 



" Most persons must have felt the extraordinary power of scents in 

 recalling the memory of long-past years ; before the following lines 

 were written— 



" ' The smell of Violets hidden in the Grass 



Poured back into my empty soul and frame 

 The times when I remember to have been 

 Joyful and free from blame.' 



" Milton, who is usually most accurate in his observation of nature, 

 makes the remark that — 



" ' In the Violet-embroidered vale 

 The love-lorn nightingale, 

 Nightly her sad song mourneth ■well.' 



And it certainly is a curious circumstance that the broad band, 

 extending across England, which rejoices in the possession of the sweet- 

 scented Viola odorata, is, I believe, also frequented by this bird. Does 

 the plant nourish any peculiar insect on which the nightingale habitually 

 feeds ? 



" The sweet Violet is not the only one used by the rustic practitioner. 

 The Dog- Violet (V. canina) — which, in spite of all our predilections, 

 has really a prettier blossom than its more valued and favoured sister 

 — is used to cure cutaneous disorders, and mixed with milk, it forms a 

 highly-prized cosmetic. In mountainous and sunny districts the flowers 

 of this Violet are of great size and of a brilliant colour, though the plant 

 becomes proportionately dwarfed ; while, in barren and sandy ' dunes,' 

 there is satifactory reason to believe that it dwindles into the V. 

 flavicornis of some botanists. This plant, with the three following, 

 belongs to the subdivision of the Violets which are furnished with an 

 evident stem ; the remaining three British species being stemless, or 

 nearly so. 



" The so-called cream-coloured Violet (V. lactea) is a rare species, 

 occurring on high and heathy land, and bearing some resemblance to 

 the V. montana of Linnaeus, but it is now generally considered to be a 

 distinct plant. 



" The yellow mountain Violet (V. lutea) occurs in the wilder districts 

 of Wales, Scotland, the north of England, and also, I believe, in Corn- 

 wall. At a first view it bears some resemblance to the Pansy (V. 

 tricolor), though, in reality, quite distinct from it. 



" This last is the ' Hearts-ease,' the ' Herb-trinity,' the ' Love-in- 

 idleness ; ' the plant with many other pleasant names. Who does not 

 know how Cupid, ' in idleness,' shot his shaft at the fair queen of the 

 ' throned west,' who passed on — 



" ' In maiden meditation, fancy free ? ' 

 and how the winged arrow — 



" ' Fell upon a little western flower, 



Before milk-white ; now purple with love's wound, 

 And maidens call it Love-in-idleness.' 



" And who knows not, upon the same authority, that — 



" ' The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid, 

 Will make a man or woman madly dote, 

 Upon the next live creature that it sees ? ' 



