THE DANDELION. 41 



thatch, as if it loved to embellish the dwell- 

 ings of the poor with its golden-coloured 

 flowers. Growing in dry or elevated places, 

 the leaves are admirably constructed, both 

 as regards their size and thickness, for im- 

 bibing moisture from the atmosphere. They 

 are likewise curiously hollowed out, like the 

 teeth of a large timber saw, and this for a 

 two-fold purpose, the one that grasses, and 

 such flowers, as the wild sorrel or the com- 

 mon wormwood, may spring up between the 

 openings: the other that the recurved form 

 of the wing-cleft leaves, may serve as spouts 

 for the retention of every rain-drop from 

 passing showers, and conveying it to the 

 root. 



While looking at wild or garden flowers, 

 I have often thought that they, like men, 

 have each an individual character; for who 

 is there that may not be considered as the 

 nucleus of a cii'cle, whether occupying a 



