THE CHEDDAR PINK 235 



Nature-lovers, fearful of the gradual extinction of 

 the Cheddar pink, in view of this relentless uproot- 

 ing, and the extensive blasting and quarrying that 

 are gradually reducing the available area, have suc- 

 cessfully intoduced it into other localities. Even 

 away up in far Stirlingshire, some five hundred feet 

 above the sea, we know of a locality where seeds 

 sent from Cheddar have germinated in the crannies 

 of an old stone wall, and have taken most kindly to 

 their new home. At Castle Gary, Shepton Mallet, 

 Bath, and elsewhere the same thing has happened, 

 so that even if the Cheddar pink should presently 

 disappear from its original locality, we may fairly 

 hope that it will not thereby be wholly lost to 

 Britain. 



The Cheddar pink was, we find, referred to by 

 Ray in the year 1680, and from time to time after- 

 wards by other writers. Hudson, in his " Flora 

 Anglica," published in 1762, calls it the Dianthus 

 glaucus a name suggested by the grey-green of its 

 foliage, and its popular names in France, Belgium, 

 Switzerland, and Germany are all based upon 

 observation of this glaucous tint. 



The right-hand flower on the following Plate, 

 XXXIII., is the Dianthus neglectus of science. Its 

 popular name, the glacier pink, sufficiently indicates 

 to us that we have again a souvenir of glorious days 



thing, but will strive to save and comfort all gentle life, and 

 guard and perfect all natural beauty upon earth." 



