1 6 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 



and almost formed, by Aime Martin ; and 

 the earlier works on the subject were only 

 translations or adaptations from the French : 

 but English writers have a good deal altered 

 and modified ' it since ; and as new flowers 

 come yearly to us from other lands, every 

 fresh vocabulary may contain additional words 

 or sentence, even as our own tongue grows 

 by grafts from other languages. 



We have, in this little volume, added about 

 thirty new significant blossoms to the old 

 ones; and our fair readers will thus find "a 

 tongue " for the flowers which bloom in the 

 conservatory and greenhouse, as well as for 

 our old garden favourites, and will not be 

 condemned during the long winter months to 

 floral silence. 



