The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-08-14
THE INFLUENCE OF FLOWERS.
Some Singular Effects Produced Upon HUI
man Beings.

some singular Effects Produced Upon HUI
man Beings.
In popular acceptation, the soul Of
the flower resides in its perfume. But
certain loveliest fiower-souls sometimes
exercise singular repellances for indi-
viduals of the human family. There
have been those, even, who could not
endure the fragrance of the rose. To
my knowledge, one observer finds in
the scent of lilacs an unpleasant remind
er of the odor of escaping gas Another
makes no distinction between the
breath of mignonette and the smell of
fresh corn meal. TO me the scent of
the thistle is identical with that of
the bumblebee sprawling luXuriously
among its purple filaments; and the
first time the delicate, feathery flowers
Of the beach plum were brought me,
surely their odor was the same had
noted in downy chicks and nesting
birds.
Beside the qualification which flowers
provide for the sense of sight and the
sense of smell, there is another and
quite rare distinct pleasure-that which
is conveyed in the contact of a flower;
as in subtle spray of lilacs brushing
against your face, the dabbling touches
of the SNOWFALL, the tender GOODNESS of
apple blossoms dashed with rain, the
refined sickness of the lily, which gave
an old-time poet countenance in de-
scribing his lady's hand; so smooth, so
white, so soft it was. las it had worn d
lily for glove" Further tactile differ
entiation is to be found in the warm,
vital and airy touch of the rose $50 I'M
like the quality of the lily petal in the
viscid sultriness of the poppy and the
petunia, in the tissuey thinness and dry
ness of the larkspur blossom.
If flowers might but spcak-as the in
tent and listening looks of certain flow
ers almost suggest they might-or if
one might but speak to a flower, calling
it by name and it would recognize the
voice, like pet bird, how such touch
OF conscious intelligence would further
endear the precious vanisherS! Yet |
sympathize with the lady who told me
that she left metropolitan orchard
show somewhat abruptly because too
closely followed by the eltin eyes and
mlschievous inucndoes of these curious
lovely eXotics. Nor is it difficult to UNI
derstand the haunted feeling of re-
proach experienced by my little neigh
Dor, a child who had stolen some rogue
ish pansies, and who was heard to cry
out as She threw them away: There!
will you stop calling me 'thief'?" Some
plants are born sorcerers, and require
no Medea to release their pOtencies.
Such, to my fancy, is the boodroot,
with its innoccnt-faced milll-white BIOS
som and its red bleeding root. Such is
the Indian pipe (monotropa) ever u
moonlight spirit, with not drop of green
blood in its veins. Also of this necroman-
tic order is the mandrake, and ! have
spent many fascinated quarter of an
hour over a woodSide knoll where this
plant appeared in all stages of vernal
development; first, pale green waXen
cones lust pushing through the mold;
next, with the appearing of the round
flower bud, little musing acolytes, with
bowed shaven heads and mantles drawn
tightly over their shoulders; and last,
the deeply notched leaf, now loosened
| from the stem about which it had been
folded, diminutive mandarins, with
their umbrellas half or fully spread to
the warm sun. | have, however, at
times known the most familiar, homcly,
and serviceable plants to exercise spells
of the cnchanter. One summer, having
my study in an old house through whose
broken window entered weak, pallid,
yard-long spray of grapevine, it seemed
to me, as | sat by my little table at
work, that this branch strove with all
it's feeble powers to reach me and pc
tition for support l even fancied a
slight oscillation moved it when there
was no stir of the air), and that if
would patiently hold out to it my little
finger the vine branch might in a few
hours clasp it with grateful tendrils.
Had it done SO, who knows whether its
spell might ever have been reversed,
and | released from durance?-Edith
Nj. Thomas, in Atlantic.