THE SEED-GARDEN. 189 



spring with pretty flowers. Specimens of each 

 are carried to the botanic garden, where they 

 soon wither, while on the mound they retain 

 their freshness till the ripening of the seed. We 

 here see, in all their native elegance, the mossy 

 maehringia, the two flowered violet, androsaces, 

 primeroses, and saxifrages of the Pyrenees, the 

 alpine soldanella, the wormwood of the glaciers, 

 artemisia glacialis, various species of willow- 

 herb, epilobium, catchfly, and ranunculus, which 

 grow in the edges of the snow, with several 

 dwarf- willows and other shrubs of Greenland 

 and Upper Canada. At the end of this stage we 

 reascend the terrace. 



In the middle of the garden are a basin and 

 a well ; unfortunately the water is so strongly 

 impregnated with selenite that it forms a crust 

 about the roots, which necessitates the use of 

 river water for the delicate species : this incon- 

 venience will be remedied by conducting the 

 water of the canal of the Ourcq to the Museum. 

 About the basin are troughs for aquatic plants. 



The above concise description affords an idea 

 of the various labours of this garden. It is 

 hardly necessary to add, that it every year fur- 

 nishes undescribed plants, the product of seeds 

 sent without names by travellers. The super- 

 intendance is exclusively confided to M. John 



