82 THE CHRISTIAN NATURALIST. 



glory than any thing here can bestow, and feels a hal- 

 lowed sobriety even in the midst of the most joyous 

 scenes of his earthly existence. 



All the flowers of the field and of the garden may 

 in this manner teach us to " redeem the time." But 

 there is a certain class which does this in so happy and 

 forcible a way, that it requires some further notice in 

 this place. We allude to what are sometimes termed 

 by Botanists * Dial-plants,' from the circumstance of 

 their opening and shutting their blossoms at particular 

 hours. The celebrated Linnaeus has given a list of 

 flowers of this description, which has been not inaptly 

 termed ' Flora's Watch.' It would be easy to assemble 

 these in one group, so as to mark the flight of time, by 

 the closing and expanding of their flower-petals ; and 

 this with almost as much accuracy as by the hands of a 

 clock. To what cause this curious feature in their 

 natural history is to be ascribed, is yet unascertained. 

 Whether it be analogous to the sleep of animals, or 

 whether it be the effect of a peculiar irritability which 

 is peculiar to the vegetable kingdom, seems altogether 

 doubtful. The fact, however, is one which though in- 

 explicable, ought not to be lost upon us. We can 

 scarcely doubt but that it was designed by a merciful 



