CHAPTER VII 



A SECRET OF THE CHARM OF FLOWERS 



When my mind was occupied with the subject 



of the last chapter — the human quaUty in some 



sweet bird voices — it struck me forcibly that aU 



resemblances to man in the animal and vegetable 



worlds and in inanimate nature, enter largely into 



and strongly colour our aesthetic feehngs. We 



have but to listen to the human tones in wind 



and water, and in animal voices ; and to recognise 



the human shape in plant, and rock, and cloud, 



and in the round heads of certain mammals, 



like the seal ; and the human expression in the 



eyes, and faces generally, of many mammals, 



birds and reptiles, to know that these casual 



resemblances are a great deal to us. They 



constitute the expression of numberless natural 



sights and sounds with which we are familiar, 



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