124 
FLORAL CEREMONIES. 
it is the opinion of Baccius, that, at their 
desserts, the number of their flowers far ex¬ 
ceeded that of their fruits. The odour of 
flowers was thought to arouse the fainting ap¬ 
petite, and it certainly must have added an 
ethereal enjoyment to the grosser pleasures of 
their banqueting boards. 
Flowers are not only used as a stimulus to 
the palate, or that two senses might be gratified 
at one time, but it was thought that certain 
plants and flowers facilitated the functions of 
the brain, and assisted materially to neutralize 
the inebriating qualities of wine. Even the 
warriors did not hesitate to crown themselves 
with flowers during their principal repast. 
These observations are equally applicable to 
the Greeks, as to the Romans. 
Horace, it seems, could not sit down to his 
bachelor’s glass of wine without his garland. 
This lively little ode occurs at the conclusion of 
his first book 
“ I tell thee, boy, that I detest 
The grandeur of a Persian feast, 
Not for me the Linden’s rind 
Shall the flowery chaplet bind. 
