CHAP. xx. NA TIVE ROSES. 341 



half cautious; for during June I have been suffering 

 severely from rheumatism, to an extent greater than 

 ever I did before. ' The vengeance ' has got hold of both 

 my feet, so much so that I have a difficulty in walking. 

 That, you may be sure, was gloomy for me. I grumbled 

 to be compelled to walk slow, especially when the spirit 

 within said, Forward" 



And yet, when sufficiently well, Dick immediately 

 went to the fields again to gather ferns, grasses, plants, 

 and wild roses. One day he says to his brother-in-law, 

 "I have had a ramble sixteen miles out and sixteen 

 miles home again for a small fern not so long as your 

 little finger. I would not have gone so far, but that the 

 fern would not come to me. I had another ramble 

 twelve miles away and twelve miles home again, and all 

 for nothing. The plant I went to get was not growing 

 for want of moisture." 



Dick had many applications for native roses. He 

 sent a number of them to Professor Babington of Cam- 

 bridge ; but he thought that the professor's opinion as 

 to the species to which they belonged was not quite 

 correct. Writing to a friend he said, " The genus Rosa 

 is a difficult one, even for the most experienced botanist. 

 It is hardly possible to tell the different species by their 

 leaves alone. Their fruit is a far better test. For 

 example, the leaves of the spiny or thorny rose may be 

 found of various sizes from an eighth of an inch to 

 more than an inch long. They differ so much in their 

 hairiness and smoothness that it would almost puzzle a 



conjuror to define which was which. Some years since 

 16 



