206 HOUSE, GARDEN, AND FIELD 



into a third class which we may call symbolic or conven- 

 tional expressions. Nodding or shaking the head, and most 

 of the gestures executed by the arms and hands are of 

 this sort. They may become habitual and even uncon- 

 scious, but they are most practised by those nations or 

 individuals who habitually endeavour to express their 

 feelings strongly, and thereby to influence their fellow- 

 men. Smiling is a mode of expression whose origin is 

 particularly hard to trace, but its significance has come 

 to be entirely conventional. 



XXXVII. LONDON PRIDE. 



It would be hard to name a flower more characteristic 

 of the town garden than London Pride. Better than 

 almost anything else, it withstands smoke and shade, and 

 its power of flourishing amidst mean surroundings some- 

 what damages the plant in our recollection. If we saw 

 it only in its native haunts, and learned to associate it 

 with rocks, the shade of trees, and the rush of water, we 

 should more easily realise how beautiful it really is. 

 London Pride belongs to the Saxifrages, a family which 

 includes many plants cultivated for their good looks, such 

 as the large-leaved and pink-flowered Siberian saxifrage 

 (S. crassifolia), the Mother-of-thousands (S. sarmentosa), 

 which is often grown in baskets, with its runners hanging 

 down, and the Alum-root (Heuchera sanguinea), a Mexican 

 plant with coral-red flowers. London Pride is native to 

 the Pyrenees, Portugal and Corsica, and also grows wild 

 on the hills of Killarney. It has been commonly grown 

 in English gardens for some centuries, as old books on 

 gardening show, but I am unable to give the date and 

 circumstances of its introduction. It was formerly called 

 " None-so-pretty," and " London Pride " is a name of 

 later date. At Killarney it is called " Fox's cabbage." 



The fleshy leaves of London Pride are clustered in 



