BALSAM. 57 



branched from top to bottom, loaded with its party- 

 coloured flowers, and thus forming a most beautiful bush. 1 '' 



There are white, purple, and red ; striped and varie- 

 gated, single and double, of each. Millar mentions two 

 remarkable varieties : the Immortal Eagle, a beautiful 

 plant with an abundance of large double scarlet and white, 

 or purple and white flowers ; and the Cockspur, of which 

 the flowers are single, but as large as those of the former 

 species ; with red and white stripes. This is apt to grow 

 to a considerable size before it flowers ; so that in bad 

 seasons it will bear but few blossoms. 



In Ceylon and Cochin-China, there is a species of Bal- 

 sam, from the leaves of which the inhabitants of Cochin- 

 China make a decoction to wash and scent their hair. 



The flowers of the Balsam will be handsomer if the 

 plant be raised in a hot-bed : in May, if the weather be 

 mild, it may be gradually accustomed to the open air. It 

 must be watered every evening, but gently ; and being a 

 succulent plant, great care must be taken not to let water 

 drip on it, nor to sprinkle it on the leaves or flowers. It 

 loves the shade, and will thrive the better if shaded from 

 the mid-day sun by the intervention of some light shrub, 

 as the' Persian lilac, &c. The Balsam is a general fa- 

 vourite for the number and beauty of the flowers, their 

 sweetness, and the uprightness and transparency of its 

 stem : 



" Balsam, with its shaft of amber/' 



says the poet, and the propriety of the expression has 

 been questioned ; but the introduction of a Balsam in the 

 sunshine not only fully justified its propriety, but excited 

 surprise in those who had questioned it, at their own want 

 of observation. 



