ARBUTUS. 73 



beauties of the field, or the exotic charms of 

 the shrubbery ; for, however elegant, however 

 admirable, however diversified, the structure 

 of vegetables may be, it does not strike the 

 eye of those who are ignorant of their parts 

 enough to interest them, because they do not 

 even know where to look, or the use of what 

 they look at. They have no conception of 

 that assemblage and chain of relations and 

 combinations which overwhelm with their 

 wonders the mind of the observer who has 

 studied this part of the creation, and who would 

 find more beauties in the little inflated flower 

 of the arbutus, than the indolent observer 

 can perceive in the gay amaryllis of Buenos 

 Ayres, or than the indifferent spectator will 

 see in the matchless elegance of the passiflora, 

 whose stars so splendidly illuminate the Bra^ 

 zilian forests. The very formation of the 

 arbutus flowers strikes the botanist with admi- 

 ration. He there learns that nothing is too 

 minute to show the wisdom of the universal 

 Creator ; he observes how carefully nature 

 has adapted these winter blossoms to the sea- 

 son of their flowering. These little vegetable 

 bottles, which house so securely the parts of 

 fructification from the storm, cover also 

 the embryo fruit with their crystal-like bell, 

 which admits the necessary light, whilst 



