264 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
Beloved Daughter, Cinquefoil. In wet weather 
the leaves of this plant contract and bend 
over the'flower, forming, as it were, a little 
tent to cover it—an apt emblem of an affec¬ 
tionate mother engaged in protecting a be¬ 
loved child. 
Beneficence, Mallow. Page 145. The Potato, 
the peculiar vegetable of the poor, is also re¬ 
garded as an emblem of beneficence. This 
root, lasting bat for a year, escapes the mo¬ 
nopoly of trade. Modest as true charity, the 
potato hides its treasures: it bestows them 
on the rich, and feeds the poor with them. 
America presented us with this useful vege¬ 
table, which has for ever banished from Eu¬ 
rope one of the direst calamities—famine. 
Beware of Excess, Saffron. A weak infusion of 
Saffron cheers the spirits, but those who drink 
too much of this liquor go mad. It is the 
same with its odour : if you smell to it slightly) 
it refreshes ; if to excess, it kills. 
Blackness, Ebony-tree. Pluto, the sovereign 
of the infernal regions, was seated on a throne 
of Ebony. It is said of a wicked man—he 
has a heart as black as Ebony. This saying 
