Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 August 1881 — Fragrance of Flowers. [ARTICLE]

Fragrance of Flowers.

Leigh Hunt has the following genial passage touching the perfume of flowers : “ Oh, world of mystery that everywhere hangs about us and within us ! Who can, even in imagination, penetrate to the depths, of the commonest of the phenomena of our daily life ? Take, for instance, one of these pots of nareisse. We have ourselves had a plant _of tbn variety known as soliel d'or, in in a sitting-room for six weeks, during the depth of winter, giving forth the whole of that time without (so far as we know) ceasing, even during sleep (for we need hardly tell our readers that plants do sleep), the same full stream of fragrance. Love itself does not seem to preserve more absolutely its wealth, while most liberally dispensing it! That fragrance has a material basis, though we cannot detect it by our finest tests. What millions of millions of millions of atoms must go to the formation of even a single gust, as it were, of tins divine flower-breath! Yet this goes on through seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and ceases only with the health of the poor flower petals. Where, then, in these petals, these thin, unsubstantial cream-flakes, may we look to find stored up all these inexhaustible supplies,? Where, indeed ? and if they are not stored up, but newly created as given forth, is not that even more wonderful? Would that any one could show us the nature and modes of operation of siich miraculous chemistry.”