PREFACE. 
6 
-J? 
ingly over the weary traveller, to the gentle 
Mimosa, shrinking in its reproachful sensitive¬ 
ness from rude approach, they mark the dear¬ 
est, loveliest traits of human being. 
The offering of flowers, in all ages and in all 
climes, is the sweetest gift of the lover and the 
friend. Speaking, like the eye and the lip, what 
the tongue may not reveal, they are the fitting 
interpreters of the deep heart thoughts, and while 
love exists, flowers will ever be its dearest lan¬ 
guage. 
