56 LANGUAGE AND 
peals for the benefit of such elves as lurk “ under 
the blossom that hangs on the bough,” and who, 
like their human brethren, “use flowers for 
their charactery!” 
A great favorite in this much-admired floral 
fraternity is the Venus's Looking-glass, selected 
as the type of flattery . The mirrors of the an¬ 
cients were always circular in form, and this 
plant is said to have received its popular coo-no- 
men from the resemblance of its round-shaped 
blossom to the form of a mirror, and beino- con¬ 
sidered extremely pretty, it was appropriated to 
the Goddess of Beauty. The classics, however, 
tell a different tale, and relate that Venus one 
day dropped one of her mirrors, which possessed 
the quality of beautifying whatever it reflected. 
A shepherd picked it up; but no sooner had he 
gazed upon it than ho forgot his favorite nymph 
and everything else he. should have? recollected, 
and, like another Narcissus, did nothing but ad¬ 
mire his own charms. Cupid discovered how 
affairs stood, and, fearful of the trouble that 
might arise from such a silly error, broke the 
mirror and transformed the fragments into this 
bright plant, which has ever since been called 
Venus’s Looking-glass. 
There is a very pretty campanula with deli¬ 
cate lilac-hucd flowers, that hang like bells from 
the stalk. It is called by the French “Nun of 
the fields,” probably in remembrance of some 
