274 
FLORAL EMBLEMS. 
the hoya appears to have been formed by 
nature, when in a frolic she tried to mimic 
art, as it bears more the resemblance of sculp¬ 
ture than of vegetation. When this orna¬ 
mental climbing' plant embellishes the co¬ 
lumns of our conservatories, we may truly 
say in the words of Milton— 
“ Nor did there want 
Cornice, or freeze, with bossy sculpture graven.” 
SECRECY. 
This emblem is formed by a full blown 
rose being' placed over two buds. 
“ It was told under the rose.” 
It is related in mythological history that 
the god of love made Harpocrates, the god of 
silence, a present of the first rose, to bribe 
him not to divulge any of the private prac¬ 
tices of his mother Venus. Hence the rose was 
made the symbol of silence, and it became 
