16 
INTRODUCTION. 
are but day-dreams scattered by a breath. The 
rude realities of life—the continual frustra¬ 
tion of long-cherished designs, — and the con¬ 
stant blighting, if not extinction of our fondest 
hopes, — all prove how utterly fallacious 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 
limits. Flowers afford a certain means of de¬ 
termining the state of the atmosphere. “ Many 
species are admirable barometers. Most of 
the bulbous rooted flowers contract, or close 
their petals entirely, on the approach of rain. 
The African marigold indicates rain, if the 
