PONDS AND LAKES. 



247 



hi II lit is widely known iu India and Japan as the lotus, and 

 is there cousidered sacred and is fi'eely copied in their 

 decorative designs. It is also prohably the lotus of ancient 

 Egypt. 



Picture for yourself a pumpkin-leaf erected three oi' 

 four feet high ou a stem, and great buds that look, foi- all 

 the world, like gigantic tea-rose buds, and you AS'ill have a 



-»t*w>. 



AN ARRANGEMENT OF LOTUSES AND LILY-PADS. 



fair idea of the geueral appearance of the lotus. Of coui'se, 

 the leaves of the lotus are more finely veined and smoother 

 and more shiniuij of textui'e, and the ilowei's o-rander and 

 richer in tint than the tea-rose bud ; but, for all that, the 

 pum2:)kin-leaf and tea-rose bud comparison is a suggestive 

 one. The botanical name of the lotus, Nthnahiiim, signifj^- 

 ing a rose or spray of a Avateilng-pot, is veiy descriptive of 

 the curious seed-pod. There is a fine Nelinnhitim, native to 



