688 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Still fairest found where all is fair, 



For the sweet shade thou'st given me, 



Ask what thou wilt, 'tis granted thee. 



Then said the rose with deepened glow, 



On me another grace bestow; 



The spirit paused in silent thought, 



What grace was there, that flower had not, 



'Twas but a moment, o'er the rose 



A veil of moss the angel throws; 



And clothed in nature's simplest weed 



Can there a flower, that flower exceed. 



Time, however, admonishes rae that I must draw to a close. I could 

 enumerate many other trees and plants with which much of the poetical 

 feeling of the ancients is associated. Among these may be named the ash, 

 of which Cupid made his arrows — although he afterwards made them of 

 cypress, embleniatical, I suppose, of the melancholy consequences of the 

 wounds which the shafts of love inflict. We also have the beech, the birch, 

 the sweet chesnut — which shaded Mount Olympus, the favorite residence 

 of the gods — the sycamore, the alder, the larch, the yew, the spindle tree, 

 the walnut, the laburnum, the indas tree. "We may also name the laurus- 

 tinus — the dogwood — sacred to Apollo, in a grove of which the trial of 

 beauty in which Paris adjudged the prize to Venus, took place. 



Among smaller plants and shrubs we mightjiame the lavender, the rose- 

 mary, the ivy, the daphne, the laurel, the lily — which owes the purity of its 

 color to the milk which flowed from the breasts of Juno when nursing Her- 

 cules, that which fell to the earth producing lilies, that which remained in 

 the sky produced the milky way — the violet, the iris, and the narcissus. 

 And among fruit trees the apple, the pear, the plum, the peach, and many 

 other fruit trees. 



Such are the more striking objects from whence emanated the odors, 

 imagery, and poetical feeling which is so profusely spread over the classic 

 pages either of verse or prose. 



On motion of Mr. Carpenter the thanks of the Association were presented 

 to Mr. James Hogg for his interesting lecture, and a copy was requested for 

 publication. 



Adjourned. John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



February 7, 1865. 



Mr. Benjamin C. Townsend the President of the Association in the chair. 



On the tables were displayed a very large and choice collection of green 

 house plants, in bloom, from the nursery of Mr. John Henderson, of Jersey City. 



The chairman introduced to the audience Mr. John Henderson, who deli- 

 vered the third lecture of the course, 



Winter Flowers. 



Mr. Preaident, Ladies and Gentlemen : 



The subject I propose calling your attention to this evening, is one that I 

 feel assured you are all interested in. It is that of Winter Flowers. When 

 I say winter flowers, I do not mean those flowers only that blossom naturally 



