ACANTHUS. 
103 
throw flowers on it. An offering had preceded 
his: the nurse of the bride had collected the 
flowers and veil which were to have adorned her 
on her wedding-day, placed them in a little 
basket near the tomb on an Acanthus plant, and 
covered it with a large tile. The following spring 
the leaves of the Acanthus surrounded the basket, 
but, impeded by the tile, they turned back and 
bent round gracefully towards their extremities. 
Callimachus, astonished at this rural decoration, 
which looked like a work of the weeping Graces, 
made it the capital of the Corinthian order—a 
charming ornament that we still imitate and ad¬ 
mire. 
