316 FRAGAANCE OF FLOWERS. 



ESTHER. 



Then the part which is pressed down by the seeds, being 

 unscraped, is thicker than the other, and therefore rises 

 above it. 



MRS. F. 



Exactly so. Henrietta, open the window, and see if it still 



ESTHER. 



No, it does not, mamma. How delightful the air is after 

 the shower! How sweet the flowers smell! 



Yes; a heavy shower in summer brings out the perfume of 

 all flowers. An hour ago, when the sun had heated and dried 

 the air, we should have found the flowers comparatively scent- 

 less; but the dampness of the air brings out their perfume, 

 and seems to produce a total change in the odoriferous organs 

 of plants. I can smell the musk mimulus (Mimulus moscha- 

 tus] most powerfully, although it is in the further bed of the 

 garden. 



ESTHER.. 



And the same difference is, I am sure, most perceptible 

 between a morning and a noonday walk in autumn. "When 

 the sun has dried the air, and the plants are ill able to bear 

 his action, in consequence of the dryness of the source from 

 which they draw their means of compensating for his evapo- 

 ration, the garden is scentless;*" but walk in it before the 

 dew has dispersed, when every herb, tree, plant and flower is 

 "redolent with sweets," when the air is impregnated with 

 balsamic odors, and all nature appears to be offering up 

 incense in morning sacrifice, in gratitude for the refreshment 

 and rest of the night with its cooling vapors; go into a 

 garden then, and we must feel the truth of the beautiful words 

 of the poet: 



* Liudlej-. 



