THE MOUNTAIN FLAX. 319 



arisen from its azure blossom resembling the clear 

 blue colour of the sky.* 



This, as Plutarch hints, may have been a miscon- 

 ception, but still the reverence attached by the 

 Egyptians to the lotus and other flowers is evident ; 

 and Plutarch himself admits that particular mean- 

 ings were attached by them to certain flowers. 



* See above, pages 115 and 293. 



