t in their
being produced under ground, and include the leaves and flower in
miniature, which are to be expanded in the ensuing spring. By cautiously
cutting in the early spring through the concentric coats of a
tulip-root, longitudinally from the top to the base, and taking them off
successively, the whole flower of the next summer's tulip is beautifully
seen by the naked eye, with its petals, pistil, and stamens; the flowers
exist in other bulbs, in the same manner, as in Hyacinths, but the
individual flowers of these being less, they are not so easily differed,
or so conspicuous to the naked eye.

In the seeds of the Nymphaea Nelumbo, the leaves of the plant are seen
so distinctly, that Mr. Ferber found out by them to what plant the seeds
belonged. Amoen. Acad. V. vi. No. 120. He says that Mariotte first
observed the future flower and foliage in the bulb of a Tulip; and adds,
that it is pleasant to see in the buds of the Hepatica, and Pedicularia
hirsuta, yet lying in the earth; and in the gems of Daphne Mezereon;
and at the base of Osmunda Lunaria, a perfect plant of the future year
compleat in all its parts. Ibid.]

But bright from earth amid the troubled air
Ascends fair COLCHICA with radiant hair,
215 Warms the cold bosom of the hoary year,
And lights with Beauty's blaze the dusky sphere.
_Three_ blushing Maids the intrepid Nymph attend,
And _six_ gay Youths, enamour'd train! defend.
So shines with silver guards the Georgian star,
220 And drives on Night's blue arch his glittering car;
Hangs o'er the billowy clouds his lucid form,
Wades through the mist, and dances in the storm.

[_Colchicum autumnale_. I. 214. Autumnal Meadow-saffron. Six males,
three females. The germ is buried within the root, which thus seems
to constitute a part of the flower. Families of Plants, p. 242 These
singular flowers appear in the autumn without any leaves, whence in some
countries they are called Naked Ladies: in the March following the green
leaves spring up, and in April the seed-vessel rises from the ground; the
seeds ripen in May, contrary to the usual habits of vegetables, which
slower in the spring, and ripen their seeds in the autumn. Miller's Dict.
The juice of the root of this plant is so acrid as to produce violent
effects on the human constitution, which also prevents it from being
eaten by subterranean insects, and thus guards the seed-vessel during