134 FLOWERS AS EMBLEMS, 



the touch ; and the balsam of impatience, because its cap- 

 sules snap in the hand that is put forth to gather them. 

 Let us not deride the harmless amusements that spring 

 from this philological use of flowers, nor despise the inge- 

 nuity that invented them. A bouquet that conveys an 

 affectionate message from a young lover to his mistress 

 possesses a charm in her sight which genius could hardly 

 express in the finest verses. 



Flowers serve a more needful purpose in the economy 

 of nature than we are prone to imagine ; and they pro- 

 duce more effect on the dullest minds than many even of 

 the most susceptible would acknowledge. But it is not 

 an uncommon habit, especially among the ignorant, to 

 ridicule the study of flowers and those who are devoted 

 to it. On the other hand, they do not despise the occu- 

 pation of the florist, because it brings him money. Others 

 consider botany a trifling pursuit, worthy the attention only 

 of persons of effeminate habits ; but I have never been able 

 to learn that these objectors are contemners of any of those 

 fashionable habits which are confessedly enervating and 

 destructive of mental and physical power. Nothing can 

 enervate that actively employs the mind and exercises 

 the body at the same time, as may be said of the out- 

 door study of botany and that of any other branch of 

 natural history. They are the most invigorating of all 

 intellectual pursuits. Nor is the study of flowers the less 

 worthy of attention, though we admit that it exercises 

 the imagination and fancy more than it stores the mind 

 with knowledge. The same charge may be brought against 

 the pursuit of any of the fine arts. 



The botanist, however, does not study flowers merely 

 as beautiful objects. As a scientific observer, he finds in 

 them the exponents of the laws of vegetation, which can 

 be understood only by the keenest perceptions. Hence 

 the fact that among botanists may be named some of the 



