THE IRIS 151 



fashion. The Japanese ladies used the powder of its 

 roots to whiten their pretty faces, and enhance the 

 brilliance of eyebrows, eyes, and mouths. Hunger, 

 indeed, might have been trusted to rob their little 

 cheeks of colour, but they could not face each other 

 without this precious powder ; and the irises, banished 

 from the garden, found their way to the roof. Doubt" 

 less, however, this is a legend, for the stories good 

 enough to be true so seldom are. 



