THE PRIMROSE. 
"The botanic name, Primula, is derived 
from primus, first, prime, or early, and hence 
prime-rose contracted into primrose. 
This little flower, in itself so fair, shows yet 
fairer from the early season of its appearance; 
peeping forth even from the retreating snows 
of winter : it forms a happy shade of union 
between the delicate Snow-drop and the 
flaming Crocus, which also venture forth in 
the very dawn of spring. 
There are many varieties of the Primrose, 
so called (the Polyanthus and Auricula, 
though bearing other names, are likewise 
varieties) ; but the most common are the Sul¬ 
phur-coloured and the Lilac. The Lilac 
Primrose does not equal the other in beauty : 
we do not often find it wild; it is chiefly 
known to us as a garden-flower. It is indeed 
the Sulphur-coloured Primrose which we par¬ 
ticularly understand by that name: it is the 
Primrose : it is this which we associate with 
the cowslips and the meadows : it is this which 
shines like an earth-star from the grass by the 
brook-side, lighting the hand to pluck it. We 
do indeed give the name of Primrose to the 
Lilac flower, but we do this in courtesy ; we 
feel that it is not the Primrose of our youth ; 
not the Primrose with which we have played 
at bo-peep in the woods; not the irresistible 
Primrose which has so often lured our young 
feet into the wet grass, and procured us coughs 
G 2 
