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Show [ 6 J Two knights before thy fragrant altar bend, Adored MELISSA l and two fquires attend. 6o NIEADIA's {oft chains .five fuppliant beat.IX confefs, And hand 1n hand the laughing belle adclrefs ; Alike to all, fhe bows with ·wanton air, Rolls her dark eye, and waves .her golden hair • .Jfelijfa. I. 6o. Balm. In each flower there are four males and one female; two of the males fhnd higher than the other two; whence the name of the clafs ''two powers." J have obferved in the Ballota, and others of this clafs, th at the two lower fl:amens, or males, become mature before the two higher. After they have lhed their dufl:, they turn themfelves away outwards, and the pifl.il, or female, continuing to grow a little taller, is applied to the upper fl:amens. Sec Gloriofa and Gcnina. All the pbnts of this clafs, which have naked feed s, are aromatic. The M arum and Nepeta are particularly delightful to cats; no other brute animals fecm delighted with any odours but thofe of their food or prey. Meadia. 1. 6r. Dodccatheon, American Cowfiip. Five males and one female. The males, or anthers, touch each other. 1 he uncommon beauty of this flower occalioned Linneus to give it a name fignifying the twelve heathen gods; and Dr. Mead to affix his own name to it. The pifl:il is much longer than the fl:amens, hence the flowerfl: alks have their elegant bend, that the fl:igma may hang downwards to receive the fecundating dLJR: of the anthers. And the petals are fo beautifully turned back to prevent the rain or dew- drops from fiiding down and wafhing off this dufl: prematurely; and at the fame time expo.Gng it to the light and air. As foon as the feeds arc formed, it erects all the flower-fl:alks to prevent them from falling our, and thus lofcs the beauty of its figure. Is this a mechanical effect, or does it indicate a vegetable fl:orge to pre. ferve its offspring? See note on llcx, and Gloriofa. In the Meadia, the Borago, Cyclamen, Solanum, and many others, the fibments are very !hort compared with the fl:yle. Hence it bec~me necdE1ry, tfl:, to furnifh the fl:amens |