ISO PROSERPINA. 



that is to say, where they spring from the main 

 stem. 



10. Now there is already a received and useful 

 botanical word, ' cyme ' (which we shall want in 

 a little while,) derived from the Greek Kiipa, a 

 swelling or rising wave, and used to express a 

 swelling cluster of foamy blossom. Connected with 

 that word, but in a sort the reverse of it, you have 

 the Greek ' KVfj./3r],' the hollow of a cup, or bowl ; 

 whence kvjj./3oXov, cymbal, — that is to say, a 

 musical instrument owing its tone to its hollowness. 

 These words become in Latin, cymba, and cym- 

 balum ; and I think you will find it entirely 

 convenient and advantageous to call the leaf- 

 stalk distinctively the 'cymba,' retaining the 

 mingled idea of cup and boat, with respect at 

 least to the part of it that holds the bud ; and 

 understanding that it gathers itself into a V- 

 shaped, or even narrowly vertical, section, as a 

 boat narrows to its bow, for strength to sustain 

 the leaf. 



With this word you may learn the Virgilian 

 line, that shows the final use of iron — or iron- 

 darkened — ships : 



" Et ferruginea subvectat corpora cymba." 



The " subvectat corpora " will serve to remind you 



