304 WILD FLOWERS. 



which is represented in the woodcut, and which 

 takes its name from the German appellation, bach- 

 bunge, so pleasantly recalling to us the old provin- 

 cialism still retained in the slightly altered form of 

 beck for a brook ; 4. The common, or V. officindlis, 

 which, as its name suggests, was the plant most 

 employed as a medicine ; 5. The, so-called, moun- 

 tain-speedwell (V. montana), which, however, is an 

 inhabitant of moist and shady woods ; 6. And last, 

 though not least, the beautiful V. chamcedrys, the 

 germander-speedwell ; of which Professor Henslow 

 records a curious and interesting variety with cho- 

 colate-coloured blossoms. 



The third division contains : 1. The prettily- 

 growing, and early-flowering, ivy-leaved speedwell 

 ( V. hederifolia) ; 2. The green ; and 3. The grey, 

 field-speedwells (V. agrestis &ndpolita), which bear 

 so great a resemblance as to be barely separable ; 

 4 The buxbaum, or V. buxbaumii; 5. The wall- 

 speedwell (V. arvensis) ; 6. The very rare blunt- 

 fingered; and 7. Vernal, speedwells (V. triphyllos 

 and verna). 



The following anecdote, extracted from Mr. Hib- 

 berd's " Brambles and Bay-leaves/' is too pleasantly 

 told not to be a welcome addition to this account of 

 the veronica : 



"During the earliest and happiest years of the 

 life of Rousseau, he was one day walking with a 

 beloved friend. It was summer time, the evening 

 was calm, quiet, and serene. The sun was setting 

 in glory, and spreading his sheeted fires over the 

 western sky, and upon the unrippled surface of the 



