The Crioceres 



sel is stripped bare to the wood. Soon I 

 have nothing left, in the way of their regu- 

 lation diet, to offer my famished captives. I 

 know that all the lilies, native or exotic, the 

 Turk's cap lily, or Martagon, the lily of 

 Chalcedon, the tiger lily and many others, are 

 to their taste ; I do not forget that the crown 

 imperial fritillary and the Persian fritillary 

 are equally welcome; but most of these deli- 

 cate plants have refused the hospitality of 

 my two acres of pebbles and those which it is 

 more or less possible for me to grow are 

 now as tattered as the common lily. There 

 is not a patch of green left on them. 



In botany the lily gives its name to the 

 family of the Liliaceae, of which it is the 

 leading representative. Those who feed 

 upon the lily ought also, in the absence of 

 anything better, to accept the other plants 

 of the same group. This is my opinion at 

 first; it is not that of the Crioceris, who 

 knows more than I do about the virtues of 

 plants. 



The family of the Liliaceae is subdivided 

 into three tribes: the lilies, the daffodils and 

 the asparaguses. Not any of the daffodil 

 tribe suit my famishing prisoners, who allow 

 themselves to die of inanition on the leaves 

 of the following genera, the only varieties 

 441 



