184 PASQUE-FLOWER. 



and l)uoyant, and cause them to float upon 

 the air when scarcely any wind is stir- 

 ring. In others, the capsules open when the 

 seeds are ripe, and dislodge them with a 

 sudden jerk. And how very beautiful are 

 those winged or curiously constructed seeds 

 which the winds rock in their green cradles 

 before bearing them away! Those of the 

 common dandelion seem like fairy shuttle- 

 cocks ; others may be compared to feathers ; 

 others, again, rise on slender stalks, with one 

 minute groove fitting into the other, or rest 

 like small diadems on the maternal calyx, 

 as if unwilling to forego their hold. Those 

 of the carb'ne thistle are tiny darts, headed 

 with a plume. Ossian remarked the rapid 

 dispersion of seeds, when, many ages since, 

 he observed in his own mountain home, 

 among rocks and cataracts, the singular con- 

 struction and elegant appearance of this 

 little seed floating over the wild heath, or 



