158 ROSE OF JERICHO. 



MRS. F. 



With pleasure. The Rose of Jericho (Jlnastedica hiero- 

 chuntina) is, as you see, a dwarf plant, being only from three 

 to four inches high. During the period of vegetation, it is 

 green and soft, but towards the end of its life, the root and 

 branches assume a ligneous or woody consistency. The 

 branches, thus hardened and dried, curve over each other, so 

 as to form an irregular ball. In this state, the plant is rolled 

 by the winds in the sandy deserts of the East, to which it is 

 indigenous, until chance throws it near some humid spot. 

 Its branches then imbibe the water and spread out, its capsules 

 closed by the drought, open their valves, and the seeds sow 

 themselves where they find the moisture necessary to their 

 vegetation. 



Anastatica Hierochuntina. 



ESTHER. 



What a beautiful provision of Providence! 



MRS. F. 



This hygroscopic 



HENRIETTA. 



Oh! please, aunt, stop and tell me the meaning of that 

 word. 



MRS. F. 



It is from the Greek, hugros moist, and skopeo to view; 

 that is, the property of perceiving moisture. You probably 



