BOTANY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 69 



celebrated for giving the remarkably delicious 

 flavor to the honey of Hymettus. The wild 

 Thyme still abounds there, and the bees feast 

 on its blossoms, surviving, as Wordsworth 

 tells us, all the revolutions that have changed 

 the features and uprooted the population of At- 

 tica. Though the defile of Thermopylae has be- 

 come a swampy plain, and the bed of the Cephi- 

 sus is laid dry. this one feature of the country 

 has remained unallered : 



" And still his honey'd store Hymettus yields, 

 There the blithe bee his fragant fortress builds, 

 The free born wanderer of the mountain air." 



It has been remarked of the Ringent flowers that 

 they are never poisonous, many of them on the 

 contrary are much used for family medicine, as 

 the Pennyroyal. Catnep. and Horehound. 



L. Is it true that Cats are so fond of Catnep. 



E. Yes. its odor makes it very attractive to 

 them, so much so that they often tear it up and 

 eat it with much greediness. What is the 

 second order in this class ? 



L. Angiospermia or covered seeds, which are 

 also generally contained in a Capsule or little 

 box. 



E. In this order are found the labiate corol- 



