Natural Order: Caryofthyllacece — Pink Family . 
Silent' ^trmerta. 
vr; : 
A 
CJ 
aB^WARIETIES of this plant to the number of about one hundred, 
K of which perhaps a dozen are indigenous to the United States, 
have been noted by botanists. It is cultivated as a garden 
5 annual, many varieties having been introduced from Europe — 
the rose-colored from Sicily, and the red from Portugal, while 
jS j Russia has furnished a perennial species. They all bloom plenti- 
J s fully, and are appropriate for planting in the borders, or for rock- 
^ work. The stem is about a foot and a half high, and the flowers 
k mostly a purplish pink, white, and red. Beneath each joint there is a 
agUr glutinous substance that retains any light insect that touches it. It 
derives its name from Silenus, the reputed foster-father and drunken 
companion of Bacchus, who, when caught asleep and encircled with 
a cordon of flowers by mortals, could be compelled to prophesy; so 
the ancient Greeks imagined. 
Hitt 
TTIGH walls and strong the body may confine, 
And iron gates obstruct the prisoner’s gaze, 
And massive bolts may baffle his design, 
And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways; 
Yet scorns the immortal mind this base control! 
No chains can bind it and no cells enclose; 
Swifter than light it flies from pole to pole, 
And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes. 
—A nony mons. 
LIBERTY! the prisoner’s pleasing dream, 
The poet’s muse, his passion and his theme; 
Genius is thine, and thou art Fancy’s nurse; 
Lost without thee the ennobling powers of verse; 
Heroic song from thy free touch acquires 
Its clearest tone, the rapture it inspires. —Covjper. 
T T E gives the signal of command, 
He waves — he drops —the lifted hand! 
It was a sound of clashing steel — 
Why starts he thus? what doth he feel? 
The clanking of his iron chain 
Hath made him prisoner again! —Mrs. Norton. 
