DESCKIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERING SHRUBS. 443 



" ' To crown the bowl,' says Mr. Davidson, ' sometimes 

 signifies no more than to fill the cup to the brim ; but 

 here it is to be taken literally for adorning the bowl with 

 flowers, according to the ancient custom. Otherwise, 

 implemtque mero would be mere tautology.' Horace re- 

 peatedly speaks of crowning the bowl with Roses. 



" The Romans were at great expense to procure Roses 

 in winter ; Suetonius affirms that Nero spent upwards of 

 4,000,000 of sesterces, about thirty thousand pounds, for 

 Roses, at one supper. Horace alludes to this custom in 

 his thirty-eighth Ode, Book i. 



• Seek not for late-blowing Roses ; I ask no other crown than simple Myrtle. 



" It is said that the Turks cannot endure to see a Rose- 

 leaf fall to the ground, because says Gerarde, ' some of 

 them have dreamed that the first Rose sprang from the 

 blood of Venus.' 



"It may, perhaps, be worth while to quote Gerarde's 

 translation of a passage from Anacreon, rather for its cu- 

 riosity than beauty : — 



' The Rose is the honor and beauty of flowers, 

 The Rose is the care and tiie love of the spring, 

 The Rose is the pleasure of th' heavenly powers ; 

 The boy of fair Venus. Cythera's darling, 

 Doth wrap his head round with garlands of Rose, 

 When to the dances of the Graces he goes.' 



" Many species of the Rose preserve their sweet per- 

 fume even after death ; as the poet observes in the follow- 

 ing passage : — 



' And first of all, tlie Rose ; because its breath 

 Is rich beyond the rest ; and when it dies. 

 It doth bequeatii a charm to sweeten death.' 



" The very essence of this sweet perfume is extracted 

 from the flowers ; and the attar of Roses is dearer than 

 gold : — 



