INTRODUCTION. 17 



they were believed to be harmless, and to live upon 

 dew, they were addressed by endearing epithets, and 

 regarded as almost divine. 



Happy creature ! what below 

 Can more happy live than thou ? 

 Seated on thy leafy throne, 

 Summer weaves thy verdant crown ; 

 Sipping o'er the pearly lawn 

 The fragrant nectar of the dawn. 



Plants, regarded in their relationship to different 

 nations and races, have been the theme of more than 

 one writer on botanical geography. 1 There are many 

 suggestions in such a view which are of interest, and 

 we may, in passing, allude to two or three instances. 

 The South Sea Islands are associated with the bread- 

 fruit tree, which is the staple food-plant to the natives 

 of Oceania. The lower Coral Islands have the cocoa- 

 nut palm, which grows abundantly in the Indian 

 Islands between Asia and Australia, and on the coasts 

 of India. The New Zealand flax (Plwnnium tenax) 

 is characteristic of the islands from which it derives 

 its name. Amongst the Island Malays we find the 

 clove and nutmeg. Maize was the original posses- 

 sion of the American races. Before the time of the 

 Europeans the maguey plant was the vine of the 



1 Schouw, p. 223, etc. 

 C 



