40 THROUGH GLADE AND MEAD. 
Europe as well as of this country, that Linnzus selected 
the poetical name of the genus. The following is the 
account which he himself gives of it in his “Tour in 
Lapland.” ‘“ Andromeda polifolia was now (June 12) 
in its highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds 
in a most agreeable manner. The flowers are quite 
blood-red before they expand; but, when full grown, 
the corolla is of a flesh color. Scarcely any painter’s 
art can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female 
complexion; still less could any artificial color upon 
the face itself bear any comparison with this lovely 
blossom. As I contemplated it, I could not help think- 
ing of Andromeda as described by the poets, and the 
more I meditated upon their descriptions, the more 
applicable they seemed to the little plant before me. 
This plant is always fixed on some turfy little hillock 
in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was 
chained to a rock in the sea which bathed her feet, as 
the fresh water does the roots of this plant. At length 
comes Perseus in the shape of summer, dries up the 
surrounding water, and destroys the monsters about 
her.” 
The tale has been nowhere more finely told than 
in Charles Kingsley’s poem, “ Andromeda,” one of the 
best specimens of English hexameters, in which the 
grey-eyed Pallas Athené blesses the nuptials of Perseus 
and Andromeda: 
