THE IRIS, 



Iris Gfrmaniea. 



RIS was the daughter of Thaumas 

 and Electra, and her office was that 

 of messenger to Juno. Therefore 

 it is that in the " Iliad " and the 

 <^Eneid" this "lady of colour" has 

 important business to transact, and, 

 as a matter of course, her traffic 

 between heaven and earth is facili- 

 tated by that prehistoric railroad 

 and aerial bridge, the "bow bent 

 in the sky," resplendent with in- 

 numerable tints. The hues of the 

 rainbow are seen in the human eye, 

 for in truth the bow is there 



"Bespeaking our fears, dissolving in 



tears, 



And looking to heaven through 

 colours of love." 



Hence the eye, which is the sole 

 source of our knowledge of colour, 

 is the symbol of Iris, and the flower before us derives its 

 name from the variety and splendour of its painting, and 

 is, as our cousins of the West might say, a genuine " eye- 

 opener " when summer has renewed the beauty of its bloom. 



