INTRODUCTION. 17 
able and delightful companions were assembled to pass the 
hours in heedless pleasures—where no care — no sorrow — no 
unpleasant recollections of past disappointments — of hopes 
destroyed—or the overthrow of anticipated happiness — are 
allowed to interrupt our joy, and mar the beauty of the en¬ 
chanted scene. Alas ! these are but day-dreams, scattered by 
a breath. The rude realities of life—the continual frustration 
of long-cherished designs—and the constant blighting, if not 
extinction of our fondest hopes — all prove how utterly falla¬ 
cious are the projects on which unassisted man attempts to 
construct a durable felicity. Read it! Does it not carry our 
fancy to an airy Eden ? 
Shall I sing of happy hours 
Numbered by opening and closing flowers? 
Of smiles, and sighs that give no pain, 
And seem as they were heard in vain — 
Softly heard in leafy bowers, 
Blent with the whispers of the vine, 
The half blush of the eglantine, 
And the pure sweetness of the jessamine ; 
What is it those sighs confess ? 
But we are extending this part beyond our lirr^its. Flowers 
afford a certain means of determining the state of the atmo¬ 
sphere. “ Many species are admirable barometers. Most of 
the bulbous-rooted flowers contract, or close their petals entire¬ 
ly, on the approach of rain. The African marigold indicates 
rain, if the corolla is closed after seven or eight in the morning. 
The common bindweed closes its flowers on the approach of 
rain; but the anagallis arvensis, or scarlet pimpernel,” which 
we often call shepherd’s weather-glass, “ is the most sure in its 
indications, as the petals constantly close on the least humidity 
of the atmosphere. Barley is also singularly affected by the 
