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Show ( I 2 ] With charms defpotic fair CHONDRILLA reigns· O'er the [oft hearts of jive fraternal fwains; If :lighs the changeful nymph, alike they mourn ; And, if ilie fmiles, with rival raptures burn. 100 So, tun' d in u~ifon, Eolian Lyre ! Sounds in [ weet fpmphony thy kindred wue ; Now, gently f wept by Zephyr's vernal wings, Sink in foft cadences the love-G.ck firings ; And now with mingling chords, and voices higher, 1 o 5 Peal the full anthems of the aerial choir. Five fifl:er-ny1nphs to join Diana's train With thee, fair LYCHNrs! vow,-but vow in vain; Chondrilla. I. 97· Of the clafs Confederate Males. The numerous florets, which confl:itute the diik of the flowers in this clafs, contain in each five males fur rounding one female, which are conneCl:ed at top, whence the name of the clafs. An I tali:m writer, in a difcourfe on the irritability of flowers, aff~rts, that if the top of the floret be touched, all the filaments which fupport the cylindrical anther will contract themfelves, and that by thus raifing or depreffing the anther the whole of the prolific dufl: is collected on the fl:igma. He adds, that if one filament be touched after it is feparated from the floret, that it will, contract like the mufcular fibres of animal bodies ; his experiments w~re tried on the Centaurea Calcitrapoides, and on artichokes, and globe-thiftlcs. Dtfcourfe on irritability of plants. D odfley. Lychnis. I. 108. Ten males and five females. The flowers which contain the fi ve females, and thofc which contain the ten males, are found on different plants; and often ( IJ J Beneath one roof reG.des the virgin band, Flies the fond fwain, and fcorns his offer'd hand;·. But when [oft hours on breezy pinions move, And ftniling May attunes her lute to love, Each w nton beauty, trick' d in all her grace; IIO Sha es t 1e bright dew-drops from her blufhing face ; In gay undrefs difplays her rival charms,. And calls her wondering lovers to her arms .. When the young Hours amid her tangled hair Wove the freih rofe-bud, and the lily fair, Proud GLoRrosA led three chofen fwains, The blu:fhing captives of her virgin chains.- 115 120• at a o-reat difl:ance from each other. Five of the ten males arrive at their maturity fome di 5 ~ef()re the other five, as may be feen by opening the corol before it naturally expa~ ds itfelf. When the females arrive at their maturity, they rife a~ove the petals, as if looking abroarl for their difl:ant hufbands ; the fcarlet ones contnbute much tq the beauty of our me:.dows in May and J t~ne. Glorroja. 1. Il 9. Superba. Six males, one female. The petals of this ~eautiful flower with three of the fl:amens, which are firft mature, ftanJ up in app:uent d1forder; and the |