better than gravel would have done, but, being on a steep slope, it is not liable to be washed away, as that material would have been, by every shower of rain. The walk is formed by flat laminæ of the sandstone, from six inches to a foot in thickness, not very even on the surface, and joined together in the most irregular

forms, like the lava pavements in Portici, and other towns in Italy. The stones rise from 3 in. to 9 in. above the surface of the grass; the width averages from 4 ft. to 5 ft.; but sometimes, where very large stones occur, the walk is double that height. Sometimes we are inclined to think that, if this rocky walk only rose an inch or two above the surface, instead of 6 or 8 inches, the effect would be better, and the walk would have the appearance of being more solid and secure, and it would, perhaps, also be less conspicuous at a distance; but we throw out the hint, as we do every

other where Mr. Wells's taste is concerned, with great doubts. One valuable practice which is adopted at Redleaf is, that, in every part of the garden scenery where the slope is considerable, the walks are paved with brick, and have brick or stone edgings. Some great advantages result from this practice. The walks are never injured by rain, but rather improved by being washed clean ; and, as no weeds can grow in them, nor can they get soft with rain, nor powdery with dry weather, they never require rolling. Gravel walks must be turned or partially renewed every two or three years; and the box, which is annually clipped, should also be taken up and replanted, sometimes every six or seven years. Brick or flagstone walks, or walks of asphalte, however, with brick or stone edgings, if properly laid at first on a solid foundation, and with such drainage as will admit of no water stagnating beneath the bricks, will last ten or twelve

years, without any repairs whatever.

ART. II. The Ancient History of the Rose. By Randle Wilbraham Falconer, Fellow of the Botanical Society, Edinburgh, &c.

(Read before the Botanical Society, Jan. 11. 1838.) To the horticulturist the early history of the Rose may form a pleasing subject of study, while, perhaps, the scientific botanist will not find in it anything worthy of his attention.

In the following pages no attenipt has been made to identify the kinds of roses mentioned by ancient writers, except in one or two instances, as the descriptions given of them are much too vague and indefinite to allow of any just conclusions being formed in regard to their respective species. The chief objects have been to enumerate and give the description of the roses mentioned by ancient writers, to show the periods of their flowering, their localities, the modes by which they were propagated, and the various uses to which they were applied.

Among both the Greeks and Romans some attention appears to have been paid to the cultivation of flowers, as offerings or as ornaments; as offerings in the temples of their deities, and as ornaments on occasions of public or private festivity. The Romans, however, appear to have esteemed flowers more than the Grecians, and the origin of this greater regard for them; may not improbably be found in the imitation of that luxury and splendour which the Romans had witnessed in eastern countries.

The rose is mentioned by Homer and by Anacreon. By the former, in the hymn to Ceres; by the latter, in many of his odes; through which we learn that it was a flower remarkable for the beauty of its petals; that it grew amidst thorns; that it had a divine fragrance; was of the colour of the human complexion ; that it was the most beautiful of all flowers; “ the queen

of flowers;" the flower of love."

Theophrastus and Pliny state that roses may be distinguished one from another by the roughness, smoothness, colour, smell, and the greater or smaller number of their flower leaves or petals. The latter writer, speaking of the rose generally, thus describes it :-“ The rose grows upon a thorny, rather than on an herbaceous, plant; it grows also upon a plant similar to a bramble. There it has an agreeable smell, but not perceptible at any great distance. The whole flower sprouts at first enclosed in a calyx full of seeds, which in a short time swells, and becomes pointed at the summit like green alabastri.* By degrees the flower grows, opens, and expands itself, containing in the middle of its calyx the erect yellow stamina.” This author then proceeds to enumerate eleven kinds of roses, which, he says, were well known to the Romans. They are the following: 1. Rosa Prænestina.

7. R. centifolia. 2. R. Campana.

8. R. Græca. 3. R. Milesia.

9. R. Græcula. 4. R. Trachinia.

10. R. moscheuton. 5. R. Alabandica.

11. R. coroneola. 6. R. spineola. Four other kinds of roses are mentioned by Pliny, in different parts of his Natural History ; but of these he gives no description; they do not appear to have been in such high repute as the above, though somewhat esteemed for their medicinal properties. These kinds are called R. alba, pallida, spinosa, and quinquefolia.

Of the first two kinds of the eleven more particularly described by Pliny, the Campanian was the earliest in flower, and the Prænestine the first which ceased blowing. The Milesian was of a very bright colour, and consisted of not more than twelve petals: it was the latest which came into blossom. The Trachinian rose was less red than the Milesian. The colour of the petals of the Alabandic rose inclined to white: it was less esteemed than any of the preceding. The Rosa spineola had a large number of very small petals, and was the least esteemed of all. The Rosa centifolia, or hundred-leaved rose, had many small petals. It grew in Campania in Italy, and in Greece near Philippi; to the latter place, however, Pliny says it was not indigenous. It grew also in the vicinity of Mon's * The “ alabastrus” was a perfume-box which the rosebud resembled in form.

a

Pangæus ; and the neighbouring inhabitants, taking it from this place, cultivated it for profit. The rose called Græca by the Romans, but by the Greeks Lychnis, had only five petals; it was of the size of a violet, and grew only in moist situations : it was scentless. The petals of the Rosa Græcula, which were very broad, were rolled or convoluted into a ball; they did not expand, except when forced by the hand, and had the appearance of always growing. The Rosa moscheuton had petals shaped like an olive, and grew upon a stem like that of the mallow. (" Funditur è caule malvaceo.") The Rosa coroneola was an autumnal rose, and, when compared with other kinds of roses, had a flower of a middle size. All of the above-mentioned roses, according to Pliny, were destitute of fragrance, with the exception of the R. coroneola. The Prænestine and Campanian roses obtained their names from their respective localities. The Trachinian rose appears to have been a native of Thessaly, and grew near the city of Heraclea, called also Trachinia. The Milesian and Alabandic roses were probably foreign kinds; the former deriving its appellation from Miletus, a city in the Island of Crete, where it was first found; the latter from Alabanda, a city of Caria, in Asia Minor.

Mentzelius, in his Lexicon Plantarum, regards the Prænestine, Trachinian, and Milesian as varieties of what he calls the Rosa rubra saccharina; which he considers the same as the R. Græcula of Pliny. Mentzelius and Clusius both agree in calling the Milesian rose, the Rose de Provence. Ferrarius, in his work entitled Flora, seu de Florum Cultura, states that the rose called by him “ Rosa alba multiplex” has, by different authors, been regarded as either the Rosa spineola, Campana, or Alabandica of Pliny. He says, also, that some authors consider the Rosa damascena multiplex to be same as the Rosa coroneola, while others, again, think it is the Rosa spineola, mentioned by Pliny.

The flower enumerated among the roses by Pliny, and which was called by the Romans R. Græca, but by the Greeks Auxris (Lychnis), is the flower mentioned by Dioscorides under the name Auxris otePawatıxy, or Lychnis coronaria. It is generally considered to have been a species of our present genus Lýchnis, commonly known as the rose campion. Dioscorides says, the “ Auxeris crearwatıxy is a flower resembling

στεφανωματική a the white violet, but of a purple colour.” It was woven into crowns, hence called oTeQuvwpatixň, or coronaria.

There is one other rose mentioned by Pliny, but not classed by him with the kinds most celebrated among the Romans, namely the Rosa sylvestris. This rose, called also Cynorhodon, by Pliny, and by Scribonius Largus R. canina, grew upon a briar, according to the former author, and had a leaf resembling