202 PROSERPINA. 



the form and colour of its flower, and method of its fruit, 

 rightly associated with the roses, yet by the richness and 

 sweetness of its kernel must be held mentally connected 

 with all plants that bear nuts. These assuredly must 

 have something in their structure common, justifying 

 their being gathered into a conceived or coucei stable group 

 of ' Nuciferse, ' in which the almond, hazel, walnut, 

 cocoa-nut, and such others would be considered as having 

 relationship, at least in their power of secreting a crisp 

 and sweet substance which is not wood, nor bark, nor 

 pulp, nor seed-pabulum reducible to softness by boiling ; 

 but quite separate substance, for which I do not know 

 that there at present exists any botanical name, of 

 which, hitherto, I find no general account, and can only 

 myself give so much, on reflection, as that it is crisp and 

 close in texture, and always contains some kind of oil or 

 milk. 



35. Again, suppose the arrangement of plants could, 

 with respect to their flowers and fruits, be made ap- 

 proximately complete, they must instantly be broken 

 and reformed by comparison of their stems and leaves. 

 The three creeping families of the Charites, Rosa, Ru- 

 bra, and Fragaria, must then be frankly separated from 

 the elastic Persica and knotty Pomum ; of which one 

 wild and lovely species, the hawthorn, is no less notable 

 for the massive accumulation of wood in the stubborn 

 stem of it, than the wild rose for her lovely power of 

 wreathing her garlands at pleasure wherever they are 



