_Latin_--Mica millegrana.
_French_--Miette aux mille perles.
_English_--Thousand pearls.
Now this on the whole I consider the prettiest of the group, and so
look for a plate of it which I can copy. Hunting all through my
botanical books, I find the best of all is Baxter's Oxford one, and
determine at once to engrave that. When turning the page of his text I
find: "The specimen of this curious and interesting little plant from
which the accompanying drawing was made was communicated to me by Miss
Susan Beever. To the kindness of this young lady, and that of her
sister, Miss Mary Beever, I am indebted for the four plants figured in
this number."
I have copied lest you should have trouble in looking for the book,
but now, you darling Susie, please tell me whether I may not separate
these lovely pearlworts wholly from the spergulas,--by the pearlworts
having only two leaves like real pinks at the joints, and the
spergulas, a _cluster_; and tell me how the spergulas scatter their
seeds, I can't find any account of it.
* * * * *
I would fain have come to see that St. Bruno lily; but if I don't come
to see Susie and you, be sure I am able to come to see nothing. At
present I am very deeply involved in the classification of the
minerals in the Sheffield Museum, important as the first practical
arrangement ever yet attempted for popular teaching, and this with my
other work makes me fit for nothing in the afternoon but
wood-chopping. But I will call to-day on Dr. Brown's friends.
I hope you will not be too much shocked with the audacities of the
new number[26] of "Proserpina," or with its ignorances. I am going
during my wood-chopping really to ascertain in my own way what simple
persons ought to know about tree growth, and give it clearly in the
next number. I meant to do the whole book very differently, but can
only now give the fragmentary pieces as they chance to come, or it
would never be done at all.
You must know before anybody else how the exogens are to be completely
divided. I keep the four great useful groups, mallow, geranium, mint,
and wallflower, under the head of domestic orders, that their sweet
service and companionship with us may be understood; then the
water-lily and the heath, both four foils, are to be studied in their
solitudes (I shall throw all that are not four foils out of the
Ericaceae); then finally there are to be seven orders of the dark
proserpine, headed by the draconids (snapdragons), and including the
anemones, hellebores, ivies, and forget-me-nots.
What plants I cannot get ranged under these 12+4+2+7==25 in all,
orders, I shall give broken notices of, as I have time, leaving my
pupils to arrange them as they like. I can't do it all.
The whole household was out after breakfast to-day to the top of the
moor to plant cranberries; and we squeezed and splashed and spluttered
in the boggiest places the lovely sunshine had left, till we found
places squashy and squeezy enough to please the most particular and
coolest of cranberry minds; and then each of us choosing a little
special bed of bog, the tufts were deeply put in with every manner of
tacit benediction, such as might befit a bog and a berry, and many an
expressed thanksgiving to Susie and to the kind sender of the
luxuriant plants. I have never had gift from you, dear Susie, more
truly interesting and gladdening to me, and many a day I shall climb
the moor to see the fate of the plants and look across to the Thwaite.
I've been out most of the forenoon and am too sleepy to shape
letters, but will try and get a word of thanks to the far finder of
the dainty things to-morrow.
What loveliness everywhere in a duckling sort of state just now.
[Footnote 26: Part 5.]
* * * * *