108 , TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



constitution of man of all the fruits of the earth ; and it is often prescribed 

 by physicians for its highly remedial properties, it being never subject to 

 the acetous fermentation. It is for the reason of its combination of excel- 

 lencies that this fruit has received from the French the appellation of 

 " Uemhleme de bonte parfaite;" " the emblem of perfect beneficence; " " the 

 most perfect gift of God." In Europe it is found in all the northern and 

 central regions, on the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Caucasian mountains, 

 encircling the confines of eternal snow; and Bayard Taylor found it plenty 

 in Lapland. In Asia, it is found on the mighty range of the Himalaya. In 

 South America it is found from two deg. north latitude to fifty-three deg. 

 south lat., in Surinam, Peru, Chili, Buenos Ayres and Patagonia. In North 

 America it is found from fifteen deg. to sixty-seven deg. north lat. in Mexico 

 and in all of the United States; along the shores of the Pacific up to and inclu- 

 ding the Russian Possessions, in all the British Provinces, including New- 

 foundland, Labrador and Hudson's Bay, up to the regions of the Arctic 

 Circle. Sir John Leslie states that he found it growing in matchless pro- 

 fusion on the borders of the Arctic Zone. A correspondent, who dates his 

 letter from the Russian Possessions, north of Lake Athabasco, sixty deg. 

 north latitude, writes me: "There are plenty of wild strawberries, and 

 good ones too." It is the only edible fruit found in the torrid, temperate 

 and frigid zones, a fact hitherto entirely ignored by all European and 

 American writers, who have invariably stated it to be a native of the tem- 

 perate zones only. 



I have gathei'ed fruits from the plants of nineteen of our States, and have 

 found it plentiful in both the Canadas; and I well remember when ram- 

 bling along the banks of the St. Lawrence, below Quebec, the merry peal of 

 children who, with their tiny baskets, were crying "wild strawberries 1" 

 around the falls of Montmorency. 



I have wandered along the shores of the Pacific and plucked the bright 

 berries of the Fragaria lucida, whose tendrils overhang its banks. I have 

 rambled among multitudes of the vines bordering the shores of the bay of 

 San Francisco; and the first sound that greeted my ear, when entering the 

 plaza of that city, was women crying California strawberries. These coral 

 berries have regaled me on the Mexican Coi'dillera; and their tiny tendrils 

 pendantly bordering the roads of lava, greeted us with their spicy aroma 

 when travei'sing the vast volcanic mountains of Jalapa, 



It will thus be seen that the little Fragaria or strawberry plant expands 

 its domain over a vast area of our globe. It enriches the central tropical 

 regions of Surinam and Peru, extending its southern domain to the remotest 

 border of Patagonia. It extends its fibrous tendrils over both the tempe- 

 rate zones, and even into the frigid realms of the Arctic Circle, and spreads 

 its verdant mantle as the last edible fruit approaching to the polar regions. 



The attributes of God and nature are wisdom and love; and as all emana- 

 tions must partake and represent their source, it thence follows, as a con- 

 sequence, that every object of creation, whether great or diminutive, is 

 ushered into existence for a wise and beneficent purpose. It also follows 

 that every condition attached to each object of creation is good, wise and 

 necessary to consummate the great purpose intended. 



If it were better that any tree or plant should, on account of climate or 



