ACANTHUS. 
95 
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, hut, impeded by the tile, they turned 
hack, 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 admire. 
