


SCARLET GERANIUM. 205 
me this morning a pot of Geranium: but I can 
tell you that I made him take back the flower ; 
desiring him not to let me see it any more.” 
“ And why so?” asked the young man, in asto- 
nishment. ‘It was, since you wish to know, 
because the Geranium is a beautiful scarlet 
flower ; while you look at it, it pleases the eye; 
but when you press it ever so slightly, it gives 
out a disagreeable smell.” With these words, 
Madame de Stael rose and went out of the 
room, leaving, you may be sure, the cheeks of 
the young fool as red as his coat or the flower 
to which he had just been likened. 
Among the cultivated varieties of the Gera- 
nium there are, however, some which have a 
very agreeable scent, and whose flowers exhibit 
many diversities of colour. It is also found 
in a wild state under the names of Crane’s Bill 
and Herb Robert. The following poetic tri- 
bute has been paid to it by the latter appella- 
tion :— 
I will not sing the mossy rose, 
The jasmine sweet, or lily fair, 
The tints the. rich carnation shews, 
The stock’s sweet scent that fills the air. 
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