22 LETTER XXVII. 



This is the general character of the Vine tribe, 

 the genera and species of which usually deviate so little 

 from the Vine itself, that you would hardly fail to 

 recognise them at the first glance- The Fox gi'apes of 

 America ( Vitis Labrusca and others) are, for instance, 

 Vines wdth broader and more woolly leaves, and berries 

 with a vile indescribable taste ; the River-grape (Vitis 

 odoratissima, or riparia), the delicious odour of whose 

 flowers makes ample amends for their minuteness, 

 would be taken for a common Vine if its leaves were 

 not less lobed and more heart-shaped, and its berries 

 so small, and black, and acid ; while the American 

 creeper ( Ampelopsis quinquefolia), with its rich autum- 

 nal mantle of crimson, and the various kinds of Cissus, 

 deviate from the ordinary appearance of the Vine 

 chiefly in consequence of the leaves being separated 

 into several distinct pieces. 



Considering how common, and how useful a plant 

 the Vine is, it is worth pausing here to consider a 

 little, to w^hat other plants it is most related ; and I 

 am the more inclined to do so because you like to be 

 surprised, and some of its relations are undoubtedly 

 of a Nery surprising character. What say you to 

 Hemlock ? I think I see you throw down my letter 

 with what would be astonishment, if it were not for 

 the incredulity mixed up with it. And yet I am not 

 mystifying you, but in plain, sober, serious English, I 

 say that the Vine and the Hemlock are nearly related 

 to each other. For the proof ; 



