DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERING SHRUBS. 443 
“¢To crown the bowl,’ says Mr. Davidson, ‘ sometimes 
signifies no more than to fill the cup to the brim; but 
here it is toebe taken literally for adorning the bow! with 
flowers, according to the ancient custom. Otherwise, 
implevitque mero would be mere tautology.’ Horace re- 
peatedly speaks of crowning the bowl with Roses, 
“The Romans were at great expense to procure Roses 
in winter; Suetonius affirms that Nero spent upwards of 
4,000,000 of sesterces, about thirty thousand pounds, for 
Roses, at one supper. Horace alludes to this custom in 
his thirty-eighth Ode, Book i. 
‘Seek not for late-blowing Roses ; I ask no other crown than simple Myrtle. 
“Tt is said that the Turks cannot endure to see a Rose- 
leaf fall to the ground, because says Gerarde, ‘some of 
them have dreamed that the first Rose sprang from the 
blood of Venus.’ 
“It may, perhaps, be worth while to quote Gerarde’s 
translation of a passage from Anacreon, rather for its cu- 
riosity than beauty : — 
‘The Rose is the honor and beauty of flowers, 
The Rose is the care and the love of the spring, 
The Rose is the pleasure of th’ heavenly powers ; 
The boy of fair Venus. Cythera’s darling, 
Doth wrap his head round with garlands of Rose, 
When to the dances of the Graces he goes.’ 
“‘Many species of the Rose preserve their sweet per- 
fume even after death; as the poet observes in the follow- 
ing passage : — 
‘ And first of all, the Rose ; because its breath 
Is rich beyond the rest ; and when it dies, 
It doth bequeath a charm to sweeten death.’ 
“The very essence of this sweet perfume is extracted 
from the flowers; and the attar of Roses is dearer than 
gold: — 
