118 
careful not to do so if he found a person of a greedy and 
poaching propensity. It was feared that cultivation would 
rob us of our jewel. This has not happened. Still the 
precious gem remains. Let us now so watch over the 
Flower of the Axe, that while we will show to the student of 
nature how it still exists, we will not give to the invading 
foe the opportunity of tearing it up root and branch. 
Our Lobelia* very much resembles that which is found in 
gardens. The corolla or flower is divided into two parts or 
lips. The upper lip is again divided into two, and the 
lower lip into three parts. The colour is light blue. The 
stem is nearly upright. The lower leaves are inversely egg- 
shaped or oblong, and slightly toothed. The upper leaves 
are lance-shaped and serrate. The flowers are in a loose 
cluster, and appear in the months of July, August, and the 
early part of September. Why this plant should have fixed 
on this particular spot, and be found wild in no other place in 
Scotland, England, or Wales, is indeed a mystery. Many 
plants are considered to be naturalized and only an escape 
from gardens. No botanist has ever doubted that this is a 
thoroughly wild plant, and that no cultivation was ever the 
the cause of its visiting these regions. There are many 
places in England, and in Devonshire, where the soil and 
climate seem to be precisely similar, and yet it has never 
been discovered in any of these places. There is no unva- 
rying general rule for nature’s productions. 
With regard to the difierent species of the animal and 
vegetable tribes, it is sometimes extremely difficult to 
account for their locality. In the bleakest regions we 
occasionally meet with tropical plants, and in the torrid 
zone we light on fruits and flowers alone to be expected in 
our colder clime. There is, however, sufficient regularity 
to reward and to amuse the student of natural history. 
Not a flower 
But shows some touch in freckle, streak, or stain 
Of his unrivalled pencil. He inspires 
Their balmy odours and imparts their hues. 
And bathos their eyes with nectar and includes 
In grains as countless as the sea-side sand 
The forms which sprinkle all the earth. 
* See Plate IV. 
