INTRODUCTION. 
If we may believe modern interpreters, tbe - 
language of flowers was known to the ancients, 
and it would appear that the Greeks under¬ 
stood 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 
flowers. On this subject, a late writer has the 
following observations. 
B 
