FRAGRANT LEAVES V. SWEET-SCENTED FLOWERS. 
137 
When we look back a long way in the world’s history, we 
may get a glimpse of those great primaeval foundation stones— 
the five senses—on which all subsequent human intelligence 
and culture are superimposed. Since man first existed on the 
earth his nose has helped his eyes in the selection of his food, 
and this is a trait general to all the higher animals. If you 
give any of the larger apes some edible substance of which he 
has no previous experience, he at once tests it with his nose 
after seeing it, and by the nose—the sense of smell—very 
largely all the animals are guided; and we ought, I think, to 
cultivate this primitive instinct and be guided by it ourselves 
more keenly than we do. 
At a very early period in man’s history it would appear as 
though his senses, or instincts, and his reasoning powers were 
very unequally balanced, so that the senses often overpowered 
the mind. Savage man develops his brain mainly through the 
exercise of his senses ; but a cultured man of to-day prides 
himself on his self-abnegation or altruism, and so his senses are 
developed and educated only under the brake-power influence of 
his brain. In a word the senses are very apt to say to us, “It 
is a lovely morning ; let us go out and shoot something ” ; but 
our higher mental nature whispers, “ No ! Let us try to make 
all beautiful living things as happy as we can.” Remembering 
this dual nature in ourselves, the conflict between the animal 
instincts and our reasoning powers, I think you will see that it 
is extremely probable that men and women of old were led to 
enjoy and use sweet-smelling natural products instinctively long 
before they could perceive any sanitary value in perfumes. 
So much, then, for the early history, and you will naturally 
ask me what I have to say about sweet-scented leaves. Well, 
my object to-day is to try and persuade you, and all gardeners, 
to place a higher value on sweet-smelling leaves than even 
some of you do already. I want you to rate all fragrant foliage 
quite as highly as you now profess to value sweet-scented 
blossoms. I also wish to point out some of the essential 
differences, and advantages, even of foliage leaves, as opposed 
to those floral leaves we call flowers. I am also particularly 
anxious to try and show that there is a sanitary basis, rather 
than a merely sensuous reason, for the usage of sweet odours 
and vegetable perfumes, whether the same be fresh or dried, 
living, dead, or distilled. 
