MYSTIC PLANTS. 429 



snowy breast. Meekness and innocence seem em- 

 bodied in this singular freak of nature ; and who can 

 marvel that crafty priests, ever watchful for any 

 phenomenon convertible into the miraculous, should 

 have knelt before this wondrous flower, and trained 

 the minds of the superstitious natives to accept the 

 title, the ' Flower of the Holy Ghost,' to gaze upon 

 it with awe and reverence, sanctifying even the rotten 

 wood from which it springs, and the air laden with its 

 exquisite perfume ? But it is the flower alone I fear 

 they worship ; their minds ascend not from ' nature 

 up to nature's God ;' the image only is bowed down 

 to, not He who made it. The stalks of the plant are 

 jointed, and attain a height of from six to seven feet, 

 and from each joint spring two lanceolate leaves ; 

 the time of flowering is in June and July." 



The " snipe orchis " will at once recur to us in this 

 connection, as reminding us of a flying bird, repre- 

 sented in the centre of the flower, but, in this 

 instance, without any mystical association (see fig. 45 

 ante). 



We may allude, also, to the flowers which have 

 been associated with the dead. The Greeks used 

 amaranth, polyanthus, parsley, and myrtle to 

 decorate tombs, and roses were prominent amongst 

 funereal flowers. The latter also are planted on 

 graves by the Chinese. In Upper Germany the 

 graves are often covered with Diimthus Carthu- 



