20 THE VOICES OF FLOWERS. 



nists begin to wonder. Is it possible that another palm-tree 

 grows in Paris? Notices are published, and advertisements 

 inserted in the papers, inquiring for another palm; and lo! in 

 a distant court-yard, unknown and alone, another palm-tree is 

 found in blossom, and its pollen, floating over that great city, 

 had settled upon the tender points of the palm-flower in the 

 garden and produced the fruit. What a delicate attraction 

 must have guided that little dust, as it floated away from the 

 stamens of the one flower, through the dust and smoke of the 

 city, to settle upon the small point of the stigma of the other, 

 and how exquisite the sympathy which existed between 

 them ! 



There are other little globes of matter, not so mysterious as 

 the former, and much smaller. They are of a different nature, 

 and their existence affords us occasions of great pleasure. They 

 are so minute that no naked eye can see them, nor can the 

 microscope reveal them; and yet there is little doubt nay, 

 there is a certainty of their existence. I refer to the causes 

 of the fragrance of flowers. If the yellow rind of a fresh orange 

 is squeezed near the flame of a candle, sudden flashes of light 

 dart into the flame. If these little jets are carefully caught on 

 clean glass, they leave perfectly circular spots. They were 

 globular when in the air, and were little balls of essential oil, 

 which were forced out from the cells of the orange-peel. Now, 

 what violence has performed in a coarse degree upon that 

 rind, the infinitely gentler fingers of nature do to all fragrant 

 flowers. Millions of invisible balls of delightful odors float 

 away from every blossom and shrub that can in any degree be 



