THE HYACllSJTH 
167 
It h Eemarkabie how seldom in the dress of flowers we 
meet with any sombre colours. The few blossoms which 
are of a dull-purple hue belong to poisonous plants ; brown 
flowers are almost peculiar to night-scented plants; and 
scarcely an instance occurs of a blossom approaching to 
black. The black hollyhocks and roses, of which we 
often hear, are in reality of a deep purplish-red. A spot 
of almost pure black is seen in the midst of the white 
petals of the bean-flower, and was by the ancients believed 
to be worn as mourning, on account of the supposed per- 
nicious effects of the bean. 
The hyacinth is one of the few flowers which will bear 
the saline atmosphere. It seems also to grow quite as 
well with its roots immersed in water as when fixed in 
the soil. Moisture being requisite for the growth and 
fertility of vegetation, it was formerly thought by many 
philosophers that vegetables derived their nuti’iment solely 
from water, and that the earth was merely useful to them 
as affording them the means of stability. Du Hamel, 
who advocated this opinion, raised several young trees by 
water alone. He even reared an oak to the age of eight 
years, when it died from some neglect; but as its roots 
were found at the lime of its decay to be in a very un- 
sound state, and it had annually decreased in vigour for 
some years, the experiment has not been deemed favour- 
able to his opinion. 
Later experiments have proved that plants derive sus- 
tenance from the‘ various ingredients which compose the 
soil, and also from the atmosphere; and that very few, 
except marine plants, and some bulbous-rooted flowers, 
as the hyacinth and lily, will vegetate if wholly immersed 
in water. 
When reared in sitting-rooms, the hyacinth is often 
weakened by the plan of filling the glass with water, which 
renders the bulbs liable to decay. When first placed in 
the glass, the water should not reach the bulbs by an 
inch or more, as the fibres will then touch the water with- 
out its coming in contact with the bulbous part. Hyacinth 
growers should prefer green or other dark-coloured glasses 
to white ones, and place them in a damp, dark situation, 
where the plant will have a tendency to strike out its roots 
