THE LIME. 93 



whose wings are azure above, and beneath dotted 

 with jewels ; birds that lift up cheering voices, and 

 lay down pretty feathers ; when the golden-flowered 

 and fragrant galium, and the milk-white cups of the 

 grass-of- Parnassus, make a desert, then let the haunt 

 of the lizards receive this name in England always 

 thoughtless, and usually unjust. 



By its Buds the lime-tree may be told in earliest 

 spring. While those of the oak are ovoid and 

 amber-tinted, and those of the beech like little 

 brown spikes, those of the lime are short and thick, 

 and of a reddish colour. They nicely illustrate the 

 facility with which accurate botanical knowledge 

 may be secured at seasons when many people think 

 that botany is impossible because there are "no 

 flowers." True, it is by the flowers and fruit that 

 the last and most intimate knowledge is gained; 

 but to neglect the buds and other early and antici- 

 pative parts, is to behave as if the study of man con- 

 sisted only in the contemplation of his maturity, and 

 the golden preparations that make childhood were 

 unworthy of note. Nothing can be known even 

 approximately, unless it be watched during develop- 

 ment. The best part of the history of life is that of 

 its changes, for wherever life is normal and pro- 

 gressive, as all life was intended to be, every change 

 must needs be marked by something new, and rela- 

 tively more beautiful than any event or state that 

 has yet been registered. Life that is not so charac- 



