brown, for winter is not far off. From 

 afar I descry my old home and joy- 

 fully press onward in my haste. 



" Alas ! as I come nearer I see the 

 ruin time has wrought in my home; 

 see my faithful servants, grown old and 

 grey, rush forth to meet me ; my chil- 

 dren, lean and ragged, cluster at the 

 gate. Sad though all things look, there 

 is the old pine tree and my chrysanthe- 

 mums laden with blossoms of gold." 



Thus wrote T'ao Yiian-Ming, who 

 lived from 36^ to 427 and became 

 one of the most learned and noted of 

 all the Chinese writers. 



From China the chrysanthemum 

 was introduced into Japan, and thence 

 all over the world, but one will look 

 in vain in old " Herballs," for them 

 under this name. The first of these 

 flowers to bloom in European gardens, 

 over two hundred years ago, were 

 called by the long name of Matricaria 

 164 



