


18 INTRODUCTION. 
indeed, they may actually be said to travel 
forwards. The capsules of the geranium fur- 
nish admirable barometers. Fasten the beard 
when fully ripe, upon a stand, and it will twist 
itself, or untwist, according as the air is moist 
or dry. The flowers of the chick-weed, con- 
volvulus, and oxalis, or wood sorrel, close their 
petals on the approach of rain. 
Gardens have been the delight of poets in 
all ages. All our poets have sung of flowers. 
They serve all purposes ; and we are reminded 
of the fable of the flowers, where the rose 
says,— 
What can a poet do without us ? 
«¢ But it is not poets alone who half-worship 
flowers. What an enthusiastic devotion is that 
which sends a man from the attractions of 
home, the ties of neighbourhood, the bonds of 
country, to range plains, valleys, hills, and 
mountains, for a new flower. What a spirit 
must have animated Hermann, Hasselquist, 
Tournefort, Linnezus, Solander, Saussure, Hum- 
boldt, and hundreds of those who have sacri- 























