APRIL. 59 



the eyes of Jehovah, and no apphance of 

 man's device could cleanse him, till he turned 

 and submitted himself to God. As it is in 

 our day, so it was then, man could not atone 

 for past pollution or present sin, and the only 

 means of pm-ification and forgiveness was that 

 which the Holy Scriptures reveal. 



The roots of some of these flowers, especially 

 one termed the edible fig marigold {Mescmhry- 

 anthemum edule) are very valuable to the Hot- 

 tentots, who often pull them up from their 

 sandy soils. One species of this plant is 

 abundant in the very different climate of the 

 Canadian woods. When the soil is sandy it 

 covers the earth like a thick mat, and when it 

 encroaches on the spot which the colonist has 

 appropriated for a garden, it is a most trouble- 

 some weed. It is a variety of the hour- 

 blowing fig marigold, and sends forth a con- 

 stant succession of yellow star-shaped flowers 

 from among its thick green traihng stalks and 

 its iuicy foliage. 



ivitto speaks of these flowers on the Arabian 

 deserts as exceedingly numerous, and as ex- 

 hibiting every playful variety in the form of 

 the leaves. He says that " their aspect often 

 presents a delightful contrast to the comfortless 

 waste around, and the arid soil beneath 



them.'" 



Not the less beautiful, because it is very 

 common, is the lilac tree, {Syringa vulgaris,) 

 which graces alike the poor man's cottage 

 door, and the highest cultui-ed garden of his 



