are found small beds of the fragrant purple Ground Ivy 

 (Nepeta Glec/ioma), whose many virtues made it highly 

 prized by our remote ancestors. And then appears that 

 emblem of constancy the Violet, ( Viola canina), which in 



some places is so 

 abundant as to 

 give its blue lilac 

 tint to a con- 

 siderable space. 

 A few days later, 

 and the whole 

 bank, in some 

 spots, is ablaze 

 with the purple 

 racemes of the 

 Wild Hyacinth (Ayr aphis nutans), set off by its green 

 and glossy linear leaves. At the same time is found the 

 pendent bells of the "Wood Sorrel (Oocalis acetosella), 

 formerly called Wood Sour, from the oxalic acid contained 

 in its bright green triple leaves. This is a much admired 

 vernal visitant, so graceful is its form, and so delicately 

 beautiful its blossoms. It possesses, too, an additional 

 interest in being a peculiarly sensitive plant. The white 

 flowers, streaked with purple, close at the approach of rain, 

 and, at night, petals and leaves alike fold up, and, 

 apparently, the whole plant goes to sleep. 



Not a few eminent observers (after carefully noting the 

 way in which the Wood Sorrel, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and 

 others of the solar tribe, expand and contract,) have come 

 to the conclusion that plants are endowed, more or less, 

 with a kind of sensibility. Wordsworth, who in this view 



