THE MID-AUGUST FLOWERS. 239 
remains are found in great abundance in the coal strata. 
In the changed conditions of life they now play an un- 
important part. My earliest recollection of them is 
associated with Christmas festivities, where in festoon 
and wreath they formed the larger part of the decora- 
tion of the village church, a service which, in New 
England at least, they seem destined for some time to 
fulfil. Persistent survivors of a declining family, they 
tell an interesting chapter of the earth’s history. 
