PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE, 
193 
some handsome bushes, of a light green, the extre¬ 
mities of whose sprays were tipped with flowers of 
a faint blue colour. He went up to these bushes, 
which were about six feet high, and saw that the 
flowers which they bore were all turned towards 
the sun. Struck with this peculiarity, the learned 
botanist gave to the plant the name of Heliotrope, 
and, collecting some of its seeds, he sent them to 
the royal garden at Paris, where the Heliotrope was 
first cultivated in 1740. It has since spread to all 
the countries of Europe, and, though there is nothing 
striking in its appearance, it has become a general 
favourite with the fair sex. 
An anonymous poet has drawn from this flower 
a signification, the very reverse of that which we 
have attached to it: 
There is a flower, whose modest eye 
Is turned with looks of light and love, 
Who breathes her softest, sweetest sigh, 
Whene’er the sun is bright above. 
Let clouds obscure, or darkness veil. 
Her fond idolatry is fled; 
Her sighs no more their sweets exhale. 
The loving eye is cold and dead. 
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