204 PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE. 



suddenly inhaled the most exquisite perfumes. He expect- 

 ed to find some brilliantly coloured flowers, but only per- 

 ceived some pretty clumps of an agreeable green, bearing 

 flowers of a pale blue colour. On approaching nearer, he 

 observed that the flowers turned gently towards the sun, 

 which they appeared to regard with reverential love. Struck 

 with this peculiar disposition, he gave the plant the name 

 of heliotrope, which is derived from two Greek words, sig- 

 nifying " sun," and " I turn." The learned botanist, de- 

 lighted with this charming acquisition, collected a quantity 

 of the seeds, and sent them to the Jardin du Roi, at Paris, 

 where it was first cultivated in Europe. The ladies col- 

 lected it with enthusiasm,— placed it in their richest vases, 

 — called it the flower of love, — and received with indiffer- 

 ence every bouquet in which their favourite flower was 

 not to be found. 



An anonymous writer has made it emblematical of flat- 

 tery, as it is said that when a cloud obscures the sky, it 

 droops its head. We would rather suppose that, like the 

 lover, whose heart is sad when absent from his mistress, 

 so the heliotrope droops because it is deprived of the cheer- 

 ing rays of the sun that it seems to adore. 



There is a flower whose modest eye 

 Is turn'd with looks of light and love, 

 Who breathes her softest, sweetest sigh, 

 Whene'er the sun is bright above. 



