20 NATURAL SCIENCE. Jan.. 



feathered eagle of steel, lately shown at Chicago, is hardly to be 

 conceived by us hurried Europeans. 



Poetry, with all its conventions, and they are neither few nor 

 easy, is for the Japanese almost entirely an impressionist rendering of 

 nature. Sometimes a mere sketch, that appeals to one solely by its 

 beauty ; sometimes a piece of such sympathy vv^ith the soul of things 

 that its subtlety and delicacy perpetually charm while they 

 perpetually elude us. But this is a subject on which my pen is apt to 

 run away with me, so in this place I must content myself with 

 translating, however imperfectly, a poem of either kind. First, 

 then, read this description of — 



AN AUTUMN EVE. 

 Passed the shower ; but yet 

 On dark fir-leaf its memory lies 

 In pearls of glistening wet, 

 Wherefrom silver mists arise 

 Veiling in night the autumn skies. 



And now hear this, remembering that it is centuries older than the 



song of Keats : — 



MORN ING-GLORIES. 



Shame ! that one should call 

 Morning-glories' dew-sprent gleam 



A thing ephemeral. 

 Flowers, on that wise, might deem 

 Man an evanescent dream. 



Thus we pass to the pleasures and pursuits of the people, of 

 which this last poem inevitably reminds us. For if there is one thing 

 characteristic of the Japanese, it is their love of flowers. When I was 

 in Tokyo it was late summer, and early every day the florists' gardens 

 at Irya were thronged by those who came to see the morning-glories 

 bloom, while towards evening worshippers visited the island shrines 

 of Benten to delight in the sacred lotos that flowered around them. 

 Everyone has heard of the numbers that crowd that wonderful 

 avenue at Ueno Park when its double cherry-blossoms float like 

 pink clouds in the air, while the world itself has yielded to the 

 chrysanthemum, the royal symbol of Japan. Nor is this merely 

 fashion, of the same sort that takes some of us to private views and 

 musical " at homes." No house in Japan so small but has its little 

 landscape garden, if only in the back-yard ; and no inn so humble but 

 can find a flower to brighten the room of every guest. 



The love of animals, though not perhaps quite so conspicuous, is 

 nevertheless sufficiently obvious. Some of this may be due to the 

 influence of the Buddhist religion with its principle of incarnation. 

 This at least places a great check on the taking of animal life, so 

 long, that is, as the animals are warm-blooded. This too, together 

 with various mythological traditions, may account for the prevalent 

 practice of keeping sacred animals attached to the various temples. 

 These animals are generally albinos, but also include herds of deer, 



