THE MELANCHOLY 

 THISTLE. 



Citictis heterophyllaa. Nat.Ord., Cowpoxitte. 



E are so accustomed to the idea 

 that a thistle must necessarily 

 be fully armed with sharp and 

 piercing spines, and altogether 

 deserving of the motto of the 

 Order of the Thistle, Nemo me 

 imp une lacessit which may be 

 freely translated as, "Nobody 

 meddles with me without regret- 

 ting it," or as the Scots more 

 freely and tersely have it, "Ye 

 daurna meddle wi' me" that a 

 thistle without this armature 

 seems a thing contrary to nature. 

 The subject of our plate is never- 

 theless a true thistle, though, as may be readily seen, it 

 altogether lacks so essential a characteristic of its fellow- 

 thistles. It has always appeared to us that its name, the 

 melancholy thistle, is open to misconception, for it seems 

 to cast somewhat of a slur on the plant, implying that 

 it would be as disagreeably poignant as the others if it 

 could, and that it regrets with unavailing grief that it is 

 wanting in the power of making itself unpleasant. This is 

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