15 
Tetralix. The appearance of these beautiful flowers 
served to open an immediate communication of 
minds and taste, led to harmony of ideas on other 
subjects, and proved the beginning of a friendship 
which was never impaired by time or a nearer afli- 
nity with each other. These are the graces which 
compose the poetry of life; which require neither 
equipages nor liveries; which, instead of waste, create 
abundance; and best of all, unlock the treasures of a 
well-stored mind, 
* Rich in the pure and precious pearls of splendid thought!” 
Those only who have witnessed the effect which 
the tranquillity of the country, the sight of gardens, 
the unpacking even of dried specimens, had upon 
him, can form an idea of the serenity and charm 
such situations and objects produced ;—a flow of 
happy spirits, never overbearing, a ready wit, an en- 
joyment which communicated its happiness to all 
about him, not a solitary pleasure, exclusive of so- 
ciety, but which made society itself more welcome. 
In his “ Biographical Memoirs of Norwich Bo- 
tanists,” published in the seventh volume of the 
Linnean Society’s Transactions, in 1804, Sir James 
has recorded an event worthy of remembrance. 
“JT became,” he says, “at the age of eighteen, de- 
sirous to study botany as a science. The only book I 
could then procure was Berkenhout, Hudson’s Flora 
having become extremely scarce. I received Berken- 
hout on the 9th of January 1778, and on the | 1th be- 
gan, with infinite delight, to examine the Ulex euro- 
peus (common furze), the only plant then in flower. 
