of the Commune, and accordingly its suppression was decreed.
On the 25th of May, however, Paris was again occupied by the government
troops, and thus the number of the 1st of June was published as
punctually as all its predecessors.

C. H. H.

WATER-LILIES.

Who does not love the beautiful water-lily, the _Nympha odorata_ of our
ponds and lakes? No one, not even he of whom the poet said,

A primrose by the river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more,

could be quite insensible to the charms of this loveliest of wild
flowers. Yet those who have seen it only in those crowded, half-wilted
bunches in the vegetable markets or in the hands of enterprising urchins
on railroad trains know little of its perfect state. To come upon it
unexpectedly, holding its snowy petals proudly open upon the still water
of some sylvan lake, is a poetic inspiration. There it breathes its
divinest fragrance. There, enthroned with its companions among its
shining green leaves spread out upon the water, it is an enchanting
vision. Plucked from its anchorage at the bottom of the lake, it soon
closes its corolla, as if hiding its beauty and its sorrow from the eyes
of the captor.

Our pond-lily closely resembles the lotus, the _Nympha lotus_ of Egypt,
Syria and other countries of the East, which has been venerated in all
times, and figures extensively in Egyptian hieroglyphics, besides
forming the model for the capital of Egyptian columns. Another, or
perhaps the same species, is held sacred among the Hindoos. It is
intimately connected with their religion, and they give it a wonderful
origin. Vishnu, the God of Light, the Preserver, is represented seated
upon the lotus and holding one of the flowers in his hand.

There are two species of the water-lily in the East--the one mentioned
and the _Nympha coerulea_. The latter, as the name implies, is blue,
and said to be wonderfully beautiful. A blue water-lily! What an object
to thrill the soul of the florist! It must be rare even in gardens of
acclimatization. Who has ever seen one? Perhaps it would flourish in
some of our small lakes farther South. It would produce a splendid
effect growing with the white water-lily in our ponds.

During the last year or two there have been paragraphs in our newspapers
declaring that the pond-lily could be made to grow in gardens. Most
people have doubted it. Cou