and green. The petals are evasated like those of the lily. It is better adapted than the rose to serve as an emblem of the vain pleasures of this nether world, for the thorns that surround it are more numerous, and it almost touches the ground. Among the simples, the most elegant is the bluebell of our gardens, which, however, far surpasses it by the beauty of its form and the nicety of its shades, varying from white to the deepest azure. Adam's needle, found only on the most barren elevation, is the finest of all pyramidals. About the middle of its stem, which is generally about three feet high, begins a pyramid of flowers, growing close to each other, highly shaded with red and diminishing in size as they approach the summit, which terminates in a point. Its foot is protected by a number of hard, oblong, ribbed and sharp leaves, which have given it the name of Adam's needle. The root is commonly of the thickness of a man's arm, its color white and its form resembles that of the carrot. The Indians eat it occasionally and the Mexicans use it to manufacture soap.
There are many other varieties of flowers, some of them very remarkable and rare even in America, which are still without a name even among travelers. To one of the principal, distinguished by having its bronzed leaves disposed in such a manner as to imitate the capital of a Corinthian column, we have given the name of Corinthian. Another, a kind of straw color, by the form of its stem and its division into twelve branches, brought to our minds the famous dream of the Patriarch Joseph, and we have called it the Josephine. A third, the handsomest of all the daisies (Reines Marguerites) that I have ever seen, having a yellow disk with black and red shades and seven or eight rays, any of which would form a fine flower, has been named by us the Dominica', not only because it appeared like the Lady and Mistress of all the flowers around, but also because we discovered it on Sunday.
SHRUBS. The shrubs that bear fruit are few. The most common are the currant and gooseberry of various