154 SYLVA FL01UFERA. 



of rose leaves to produce seventeen ounces of 

 the oil. 



Of the birth of the rose, it is related in 

 fable, that Flora having found the corpse of 

 a favourite nymph, whose beauty of person 

 was only surpassed by the purity of her heart 

 and chastity of mind, resolved to raise a plant 

 from the precious remains of this daughter of 

 the Dryads, for which purpose she begged the 

 assistance of Venus and the Graces, as well as 

 of all the deities that preside over gardens, 

 to assist in the transformation of the nymph 

 into a flower, that was to be by them pro- 

 claimed queen of all the vegetable beauties. 

 The ceremony was attended by the zephyrs, 

 who cleared the atmosphere, in order that 

 Apollo might bless the new-created progeny 

 by his beams. Bacchus supplied rivers of 

 nectar to nourish it, and Vertumnus poured 

 his choicest perfumes over the plant. When 

 the metamorphosis was complete, Pomona 

 strewed her fruit over the young branches, 

 which were then crowned by Flora with a 

 diadem, that had been purposely prepared 

 by the celestials to distinguish this queen of 

 flowers. 



Anacreon's birth of the rose stands thus 

 translated by Moore . 



