6 ENGLISH WILD ILOWEIiS. 



That intermixture of delicious hues 

 Along so vast a surface, ail at once, 

 In one impression, by connecting force 

 Of their own beauty imaged in the heart." 



WOfcDSWOBTH. 



Nor are the uses of these plants confined to aesthetic 

 teaching ; they have a material value. The humblest 

 amongst them plays its part not only iu the economy 

 of the universe, but in some degree ministers more or 

 less to the comforts or necessities of human life. The 

 humble lichen is closer allied to the imperial purple 

 than we dream of. In the infant days of commerce it 

 was eagerly sought after, for it was one of the ingre- 

 dients used in producing the famous purple dye of 

 Tyre and Sidon. Ptolemy tells us of voyages to the 

 Irish coast to procure these humble wild plants, and 

 it is curious to note that at present the coast of Clare 

 is remarkable not only for its lichens, but for the tact 

 that they grow on a species of alum shale, which is 

 likely to add to their value for dyeing purposes. Tho 

 Lichen (Eoccella) is still gathered, as it was in the 

 days of Pliny, for the purpose of dyeing woollen 

 cloths red or purple. The It. tinctoria afforded the 

 first dye for blue British broadcloths, once so uni- 

 versally used ; and to this humble plant was due the 



