work on “ Floral Emblems,” modern 
compilers and writers on this subject 
have been largely indebted, although 
they have somehow failed in acknow¬ 
ledging their obligations. This we are 
not ashamed to do, deeming it better to 
be honest, than to obtain a reputation 
for originality at the expense of another. 
“ The first principle is, to observe that 
the pronoun I, or me, is expressed by 
inclining the flower to the left; and the 
pronoun thou, or thee, by sloping it to 
the right 5 but when represented by draw¬ 
ings on paper, those positions should be 
reversed, as the flower should lean to the 
heart of the person whom it is to signify. 
The articles a, an, and the, may be ex¬ 
pressed by tendrils: the first by a single 
tendril, the second by a double tendril, 
and the third by one with three branches. 
“ The second rule is, that if a flower 
26 
