66 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



adapted for truthful delineation in conventional tracery. 

 The tree of Jesse is indeed often met with in the reredos 

 and east windows of English churches, and usually we 

 have no hint of any special symbol or any properly objec- 

 tive thought in the work, although, doubtless, there is fair 

 excuse for it. 



The white jessamine has been in cultivation in this 

 country so long that we have no record of its introduction, 

 and know not whence it was obtained. In the books it is 

 reported to have been introduced from the East Indies in 

 the year 1548, but Gerarde, in 1597, speaks of it as com- 

 monly used for covering arbours; and as to its native 

 country, we can scarcely localise it, except in a general 

 way, as an Eastern plant. It is perfectly hardy in this 

 country, rarely suffering even in the severest winters, and 

 it is particularly well adapted for planting in town gardens, 

 as defect of light and the deposition of dust on its leaves 

 do not prevent its healthy growth and free flowering. As 

 a wall tree, however, it lacks character, and often looks 

 dingy and dejected ; but if fairly well taken care of, the 

 natural elegance of the plant is pleasingly displayed, and 

 the delicious fragrance of its delicate white flowers abund- 

 antly justifies its place in the garden. 



To obtain the evanescent odour of the flowers of this 

 plant, a complicated process is required. To merely press 

 them or to distil them with water would be useless, the 

 essential essence being too subtle for retention by any 

 such simple methods of procedure. The flowers are first 

 embedded in fat, to which they communicate their odorous 

 treasure, which is then separated from the fat, and obtained 

 in a more elegant form by means of alcohol. The last part 

 of the process is comparatively modern, but the first pro- 



