INTRODUCTORY. 11 
sence—even were they deprived of other attrac- 
tions—by the soft rustling sounds which they 
give forth when they are gently touched by the 
wind. Perhaps the careless man will see nothing 
to admire in a blade of grass. Yet is not the 
soul of the sincere lover of Nature moved with a 
pleasurable emotion when looking at the refresh- 
ing expanse of a rolling meadow, even when no 
bloom of colour occurs to relieve the uniformity 
of waving green? But rarely, during spring- 
tide and summer, do we wander anywhere with- 
out sight of at least one floral crown, if it be 
only a modest daisy, or the golden calice of a 
buttercup peeping out perhaps from the tiny 
strip of greensward which may front a city 
dwelling, or from the half-rural roadside of a 
town suburb ; and if we pass beyond town limits 
we may see many a wide expanse of level meadow, 
gentle upland or hillside, bathed in a rich 
glow of colour from myriads of floral crowns 
—unbroken white, or gold, or purple. 
Turning from the flowers which nestle amongst 
the blades of grass, and from the rustling green of 
these tender herbs, we shall pass, by another as- 
