INTRODUCTION. 
If we rrfay believe modem .interpreters, the 
language of flowers was known to the ancients, 
and it would appear that the Greeks understood 
the art of communicating a secret message 
through the medium of a bouquet. It is only 
necessary to consult the Dream-book of Arte- 
midorus to be "convinced that every individual 
flower of which the wreaths of the ancients 
were composed conveyed some particular mean¬ 
ing. At all events, it is evident that garlands 
were conspicuous in the emblematic devices of 
antiquity. 
Our English poets have not neglected to avail 
themselves of the emblematic language of flow¬ 
ers. On this subject, a writer in one of our 
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