AUGUST 



" Now to sorrow must I tune my song, 

 And set my harp to notes of saddest woe." 



MILTON. 



IF one wanted to photograph the movements of an 

 opening blossom, one should select the Crinum 

 Augustum. It is a noble plant, this lily ; about 4 

 feet high, with scented flowers, numbering twenty- 

 two in a bunch at the end of a long stalk as thick 

 as a ruler. I passed by one just after a shower of 

 rain this evening, and noticed that four or five of 

 the 4-inch long, pink-striped buds were just ready 

 to open. I came by again shortly after, and lo ! 

 and behold ! they were open, quite wide open, too. 

 In my next turn twenty minutes after, the long 

 petals had entirely curled themselves backwards 

 like ram's horns. One could see them all a-quiver 

 with the intensity of the movement still. In one 

 hour the points of those petals must have described 



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