JUNE, JULY, AND AUGUST. 



129 



beautiful thing imaginable un- 

 der the magnifying glass ; the 

 petals are not so remarkable, 

 but the calyx (the protecting 

 green envelope of the flower) is 

 as delicate as though it wei-e 

 modeled in spun glass ; the 

 translucent lines of green 

 and white, the hairy sur- 

 face, and the symmetry 

 of the tiny form, are all 

 worth the closest exam- 

 ination. My pen-and-ink 

 drawing is hard and coarse be- 

 side Nature's perfect art ; if 

 the plant had been formed of 

 the most fragile and delicately 

 colored glass it could scarcely 

 have ])een more curious or 

 beautiful. There are two other 

 varieties of the catchfly which 

 are common : Starry Campion 

 {Silene stellata) and Bladder 

 Campion {Silene inflata). The 

 petals of the former are cut in 

 a fringe ; the stem of the latter 

 is smooth, and its calyx is 



Silene Noctiflora. 



