140 



BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



mind that is delighted with such admiration, must be almost insensibly led to an 

 attendant pleasure, the contemplation, the perception of Infinite Wisdom and 

 Power, manifested in the adornment, splendour, and formation, of even the 

 simplest flower of the field. I would not arrogate for man an exclusive right, or 

 make him generally the sole consideration of the beneficence of Providence ; but 

 there are influences which his reason can alone perceive — incitements to good 

 thoughts and worthy actions. 



Flowers, in all ages, have been the representatives of innocence and purity. 

 We decorate the bride, and strew her path with flowers ; we present the undefiled 

 blossoms as a similitude of her beauty and untainted mind, trusting that her 

 destiny through life will be like theirs, grateful and pleasing to all. W e scatter 

 them over the shell, the bier, and the earth, when we consign our mortal blossoms 

 to the dust, as emblems of transient joy, fading pleasures, and withered hopes ; 

 yet rest in sure and certain trust that each in due season will be renewed again. 

 All the writers of antiquity make mention of their uses and application in Heathen 

 and Pagan ceremonies, whether of the temple, the banquet, or the tomb— the 

 rites, the pleasures, or the sorrows of man ; and in concord with the usages of 

 the period, the author of the " Book of Wisdom" says, " Let us crown ourselves 

 with rose-buds and flowers before they wither. - " All orders of creation, ".every 

 form of creeping things, and abominable beasts," have been, perhaps, at one time 

 or other, by some nation or sect, either the objects of direct worship, or emblems 

 of an invisible sanctity ; but though individuals of the vegetable world may have 

 veiled the mysteries, and been rendered sacred to particular deities and purposes, 

 yet in very few instances, we believe, were they made the representatives of a 

 deified object, or been bowed down to with divine honours. The worship of the 

 one true Being could never have been polluted by any symbol suggested by the 

 open flowers and lily-work of the Temple.— (Journal of a Naturalist.) 



BOTANICAL NOTICES OF NEW PLANTS. 



DICOTYLEDONES. 



NYMPHiEACEiE. Dec. NELUMBIACEiE. Lindl. 



Nelumbium iatteum. Decand. Yellow Nelumbium. Bot. Mag. t. 3753. 

 This is a very showy and handsome aquatic, bearing yellowish flowers tipped with 

 green, and which are about six inches in diameter, and is said to be the largest 

 flower in North America, with the exception of Magnolia macrophylla. It is a 

 native of North America, and is found in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, &c. It was 

 flowered in the establishment of Mr. Sylvester, of Chorley, Lancashire, and was 

 raised from seed which was given to that gentleman by Mr. Anderson of the 

 Chelsea Gardens. It was flowered when the water was at a temperature of from 



