124 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



that Moses in the book of Exodus speaks of the colour 

 of the hyacinth — but whether he refers to it only as a 

 colour, or as a flower, or as a precious stone, it is impossible 

 to say — for it has been differently translated in various 

 languages. Saint-Simon tells us that Dioscorides, in the 

 time of Vespasian, describes a flower he calls " Hyacinthos " 

 in these words: "L'Hyacinthe a les feuilles des plantes 

 bulbeuses et la tige dodrantale (c'est-a-dire de trois 

 paulmes, pans ou empans de haut, on n'est pas d'accord 

 sur cette mesure non plus), faible, et plus mince que le 

 petit doigt, de couleur verte, dont le haut s'incline sous le 

 poids d'une tete chargee de fleurs purpurescentes. 1 ' People 

 have argued indefinitely on the precise shade of " purple," 

 and to this day they have not decided if it should be more 

 red than blue or more blue than red. The general opinion 

 seems to be that the original hyacinth was the colour of the 

 natural wild hyacinth (which is a Scilla ?) which grows in 

 the woods, where the red variety is not nearly as commonly 

 found as the blue. 



On the other hand, the first species may have been red, 

 for in old fables it seems the hyacinth was thought to be 

 red. Ovid relates how a flower sprang from the blood of 

 the young Hyacinthus, 1 whom Apollo slew by accident with 

 a quoit. Others, like Pliny and Pausanias, say the blood of 

 Ajax, slain near Salamis, was changed into this flower. 



Whatever its original colour, and whatever country it 

 came from, it is certain that many species have been pro- 

 duced by the florists of Haarlem, and have entirely originated 

 in their gardens. Yet it is to be remembered that all came 

 from the old original stock, however different they have now 

 become. Their natural simplicity has been lost to a certain 

 extent. 



Florists divide hyacinths into four classes : 

 Unless blue blood was spilt. 



