THE MEADOW CRANE'S-BILL. 11 



curable until quite late in the autumn. The deeply-cut 

 leaves, and the large size and light bluish-purple tint 

 of the blossoms effectually distinguish it from all our 

 other species of crane's-bills. 



The meadow crane's-bill is the Geranium pratente 

 of scientific nomenclature. The generic name is derived 

 from the Greek word for a crane, geranos, the form of the 

 fruit being supposed to be somewhat suggestive of that of 

 the bill of a crane, whence also its common English name 

 crane's-bill. The resemblance is but faint, but in the 

 olden times they do not appear to have been very critical 

 on these points, and a name once given is not readily 

 shaken off again, even if a better could be suggested in its 

 place. The specific name pratense is a Latin word, and 

 signifies that which grows in meadows ; its ordinary appel- 

 lation, the meadow crane's-bill, is therefore a much more 

 literal reproduction of its botanical title than is often the 

 case in plant names. 



The large size of both flower and leaf prevents our 

 giving much of the gi'owth of the plant on our plate, and, 

 indeed, the limited space at our disposal has, even as it is, 

 compelled us to do but scant justice, for though the flowers 

 are of natural size, the leaf is much smaller than an average 

 specimen. It will be noticed that a line that would just 

 go round and enclose the leaf within it would not be far 

 from a circle, and in a fairly representative leaf such a 

 circle would be from six to eight inches in diameter. 



The meadow crane's-bill is a perennial. The stems fork 

 a good deal, and are somewhat swollen at the various joints ; 

 they attain to almost a yard in height. The leaves are 

 dark green, and from the absence of all glossiness appear 

 somewhat dull in effect; they are very deeply divided, 



