THE SNOWDROP. 93 



better, or sound better ? it has " Lightfootia, La- 

 peyrousia, Hedwigia, Schkuhria, Scheuchzeria;" 

 and surely we may admit, in common benevolence, 

 sucb partialities as " good King Henry, sweet Wil- 

 liam, sweet Marjory, sweet Cicely, Lettuce, Mary 

 Gold, and Rose." There are epithets, however, 

 so very extraordinary > that we must consider them 

 as mere perversions, or at least incapable of expla- 

 nation at this period. The terms of modern science 

 waver daily ; names undergo an annual change, 

 fade with the leaf, and give place to others ; but 

 the ancient terms, which some may ridicule, have 

 remained for centuries, and will yet remain, till 

 nature is swallowed up by art. No : let our an- 

 cient herbalists, " a grave and whiskered race/' 

 retain the honours due to their labours, which 

 were most needful and important ones at those 

 periods : by them were many of the casualties and 

 sufferings of man and beast relieved ; and by aid 

 of perseverance, better constitutions to act upon, 

 and faith to operate, than we possess, they pro- 

 bably effected cures, which we moderns should fail 

 to accomplish if attempted. 



Upon an old bank, tangled with bushes and rub- 

 bish, we find in abundance that very early trans- 

 lated, and perfectly domesticated flower, the cottage 

 snowdrop (galanthus nivalis) ; a plant that is un- 

 doubtedly a native of our island, for I have seen it 

 in situations where nature only could introduce it, 



