THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



667 



liquid cautery insinuates itself into every 

 intertice under the nail, along the fistula 

 into the ulcer at the matrix of the nail, 

 accomplishing in a minute, without pain, all 

 that can be effected by the painful applica- 

 tion of nitrate of silver for several weeks. 



From the Valley Farmer. 



Flowers. 



Beautiful things are the sweet, bright 

 flowers w r ith which God has strewn our 

 earthly home. Everywhere are they spring- 

 ing up along our pathway, gladdening our 

 hearts with their beauty and fragrance, 

 teaching us lessons of purity and innocence, 

 and showing us the goodness, wisdom and 

 love of our Father. 



They seize upon the affections of all. 

 The old and the young, the learned and the 

 unlearned, the good and the bad, all love 

 the beautiful flowers. Their very nature is 

 to awaken and call forth the better and 

 purer feelings of the soul. Great and good 

 men and women, the high and the low, 

 school boys and school girls, have all studied 

 them and written and sung their praises. 

 They have been called "the stars of the 

 earth," "the alphabet of the angels," and 

 various other appellations equally significant 

 artyjt beautiful. The people of almost every 

 nation and clime have worshipped them. 

 The Grecian isles abound in rare -flowers, 

 and these the ancient Greeks scattered in 

 the porticoes of their temples; with them 

 they adorned their altars and decorated the 

 statues of their gods; they strewed them in 

 the victors path and wore wreathes of roses 

 in their holy ceremonies, and at their ban- 

 quets and festivals they crowned themselves 

 with them. Says a poet: 



"It was the custom there, to bring away 



The bride from home, at blushing shut of day, 



Veiled in a chariot, heralded along, 



By strewn flowers, torches and a marriage song." 



Sunny Italy is a land of flowers, and its 

 people have in all ages loved and reverenced 

 them. Madame De Stael, in her work en- 

 titled Corinne, or L'ltalie, represents her 

 heroine in speaking of this country as say- 

 ing, "knew you that land where oranges 

 flourish, which the rays of heaven make 

 fruitful with love ? Have you heard the 

 melodious sounds which celebrate the sweet- 

 ness of its night? Reply, Oh ! stranger, is 

 nature with you beautiful and beneficent?" 

 In Syrian lands it is said soft perfumes dif- 



fuse from every flower. In Hindostan the 

 god of love is represented with his bow of 

 sugar cane twined with flowers, his string, 

 of bees; his five arrows each pointed with 

 an Indian flower and he is called " God of 

 the flowery shafts and flowery bow." The 

 blooming vales of Japan are filled with gor- 

 geous lillies and Japonicas, with flowers so 

 beautiful that the females are named from 

 them. In Turkey and some other countries 

 the tulip and other flowers were formerly 

 held very sacred and could be procured only 

 at an enormous price. In our own happy 

 land we may say they are worshipped, for 

 have they not devoted to them the choicest 

 spots about our houses? Do we not beautify 

 our person with them, and ornament and 

 render cheerful our apartments with their 

 presence ? Is not the bridal altar adorned 

 with them, and do we not strew them in 

 the coffins and plant them upon the graves 

 of our departed ones, as tokens of our af- 

 fection, as emblems of a renewal beyond the 

 tomb? 



Flowers, too, in all ages, have had their 

 language, chaste and pure, the language of 

 friendship and love: 



"In Eastern lands they talk in flowers, 



And they tell in a garland their loves and cares ; 



Each blossom that blooms in their garden bowers, 

 On its leaves a mystic language beams." 



The hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyp- 

 tians abound in floral symbols, and from 

 hence we may surmise that the Greeks be- 

 came accustomed to this figurative language. 

 The Chinese have an alphabet composed 

 entirely of plants and roots. Gothic books 

 are full of emblems composed of flowers. 

 We, also, of the present day, have books 

 devoted to the use of the language of flowers ; 

 we exchange our thoughts and make known 

 the sweet and tender sentiments of our 

 hearts through them. It is a charming 

 language, a delicate and pleasing way of 

 expressing our affections, our sorrows and 

 loves. 



The study of plants and flowers is a de- 

 lightful and useful one, it unfolds so many 

 wonders and beauties, and affords so much 

 instruction ; the cultivation of them is also 

 delightful and useful, developing mind, soul 

 and body. Lir.neus, the great Swedish 

 botanist; Humboldt, the p*eat geologist; 

 Tournefort, and hundreds of others have 

 devoted their lives and interests to this 

 study, have delighted in it, and through it 



