420  Secret— Private— Personal         { Am'jiiyr'I9Ih9arm' 
others.  The  fragrance  of  this  aromatic  gum  or  resin  reminds  of 
another ;  the  juice  of  this  cane  reminds  of  other  sweets ;  the  chewed 
leaf  of  acetocella,  of  other  sours ;  a  sliver  of  gentian  brings  to 
thought  other  bitters ;  the  smoke  of  smouldering  cascarilla  reminds 
of  musk.  Indeed,  a  single  substance  may  play  a  double  part,  as 
thought  turns  first  to  one  substance  and  then  to  another.  Close 
your  eyes,  warm  the  blossom  of  the  sweet  shrub  in  your  hand, 
think  of  strawberries,  then  bring  the  blossom  to  your  nostrils,  the 
aroma  of  strawberries  comes  also.  Think  now  of  pineapples — 
behold,  the  same  unweighable  emanation  from  the  same  blossom, 
impresses  the  senses  with  the  likeness  of  the  delicious  pineapple. 
The  taste  of  dulcamara  is  first  bitter,  then  comes  the  sweet  after- 
taste— hence  the  well-applied  name,  "  bitter  sweet." 
Personal  is  each  thing  that  is — and  yet,  no  two  leaves  are  exactly 
the  same  in  contour,  edge  and  thickness,  no  two  odors  are  precisely 
alike,  separated  is  each  from  the  other,  by  some  distinction,  slight 
though  it  be.  Although  .nature  leans  on  the  one-ness  of  the  family 
relationships,  inherent  in  its  several  parts,  there  are  yet  shadings 
bespeaking  individual  distinction.  To  level  the  whole  by  destroying 
the  personality  of  each  fragment  in  this  mighty  maze,  would  be 
untenable,  unthinkable. 
Akin  to  the  modest  violet,  clinging  close  to  the  earth  in  the 
woodland's  shadows,  is  the  mighty  hickory  that,  far  separated  by 
structure  and  nature,  rears  its  head  aloft  and  basks  in  the  sunshine 
above  its  fellows  of  the  primeval  forest,  looking  down  even  upon 
the  top  of  its  sturdy  oak  companion.  A  cloak  of  bark  has  each 
trunk — that  of  the  hickory  shell-like,  that  of  the  oak  deep-furrowed 
— the  violet  nestles  perhaps  in  a  crevice  of  the  root  bark. 
Who  would  seek  to  endow  the  snow-white  lily  of  the  valley  with 
the  glory  of  the  wild  rose,  or,  because  the  lily,  compared,  for  its 
beauty,  with  the  splendor  of  Solomon,  is  white,  would  one  take 
from  the  rose  the  blush  of  red  that  crowns  its  thorny  stem?  Who 
would  drive  from  the  dove  its  gentle  personality,  or  make  of  the 
eagle  a  trembling  nonentity?  Wherever  in  air,  liquid  or  earth  man 
turns  the  critical  eye,  come  family  relationships,  as  well  as  indi- 
vidual distinctions,  that  teach  him  inclined  to  reason  from  the  lesson 
nature  spreads  before  him,  that  this  mighty  maze  is  not  a  disjointed 
medley,  but  a  systematic  whole,  in  which  the  greatest  lessons,  of 
strength,  usefulness  or  beauty,  may  come  from  a  study  of  the 
closest  shadings  that-  tend  to  personality. 
