788 
ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 
(nymplie), a water-nymph, in reference to the habitation of 
these plants. As the rose is the queen of the bower, so un¬ 
doubtedly the lily is the empress of the lake, and we may 
almost endorse her poetical Indian name “ camada ” or 
(( delight of the waters.” The lovely purity and delicacy of 
the w r hite water-lily can scarcely be exaggerated, but, per¬ 
haps, it is only when seen in its favourite haunts in profu¬ 
sion and perfection that we can fully enter into the fervid 
descriptions of some of our British poets. In Japan, either 
natural or artificial white water-lilies are borne in the funeral 
processions of young persons as emblems of purity. Like 
the sacred lotus of the Nile, the flowers of our white water- 
lily rise and expand as the day advances and the sun gains 
strength, closing again at evening, sleeping, as it were, 
through the hours of darkness, until called into life again 
by the warm rays of light. Moore poetically describes this 
natural process :— 
“ Those virgin lilies all the night, 
Bathing their beauties in the lake, 
That they may rise more fresh and bright, 
When their beloved sun’s awake.” 
The stimulus of the sun’s rays seems to have relation to 
the fertilisation of the plant. The pollen if scattered beneath 
the water would be washed away and decomposed, while on 
the expanded raised flower it is received without injury. 
This is truly the object for which— 
“ The Water-lily to the light 
Her chalice rears of silver white.” 
The water-lily may be transplanted from its native home 
by placing the thick rhizomes in baskets of earth and fasten¬ 
ing stones to them, so as to keep them well under water, 
and nothing can be more lovely than a calm lake on whose 
bosom may be seen floating numbers of these snowy nymphs. 
The thick stems have a bitter astringent taste, but free from 
any poisonous qualities. In Ireland and the Island of Java 
the tuberous rootstocks are used to dye a dark brown colour. 
They have been used in medicine, and esteemed narcotic. 
In China starch is obtained from them for dietetical pur¬ 
poses. 
The Nuphar lutea , yellow Nuphar—yellow water-lily, 
water-can, brandy bottle, clote, &c., &c.—is very common 
in all our streams, especially the more sluggish ones. In 
the Yeo in the Yeovil district it is very common, so also on 
the reaches of the River Stour, in Dorsetshire. Here its 
yellow flowers occupy the waters continuously, giving rise to 
