s bow,
480 And seal with muttering lips the faithless vow,
Licentious Hymen joins their mingled hands,
And loosely twines the meretricious bands.--
Thus where pleased VENUS, in the southern main,
Sheds all her smiles on Otaheite's plain,

485 Wide o'er the isle her silken net she draws,
And the Loves laugh at all, but Nature's laws."

Here ceased the Goddess,--o'er the silent strings
Applauding Zephyrs swept their fluttering wings;
Enraptur'd Sylphs arose in murmuring crowds
490 To air-wove canopies and pillowy clouds;
Each Gnome reluctant sought his earthy cell,
And each bright Floret clos'd her velvet bell.
Then, on soft tiptoe, NIGHT approaching near
Hung o'er the tuneless lyre his sable ear;
495 Gem'd with bright stars the still etherial plain,
And bad his Nightingales repeat the strain.

[Illustration: Apocynum androsaemifolium.]

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

P. 7. _Additional note to Curcuma._ These anther-less filaments seem to
be an endeavour of the plant to produce more stamens, as would appear
from some experiments of M. Reynier, instituted for another purpose:
he cut away the stamens of many flowers, with design to prevent their
fecundity, and in many instances the flower threw out new filaments from
the wounded part of different lengths; but did not produce new anthers.
The experiments were made on the geum rivale, different kinds of mallows,
and the aechinops ritro. Critical Review for March, 1788.

P. 8. _Addition to the note on Iris._ In the Persian Iris the end of the
lower petal is purple, with white edges and orange streaks, creeping, as
it were, into the mouth of the flower like an insect; by which deception
in its native climate it probably prevents a similar insect from
plundering it of its honey: the edges of the lower petal lap over those
of the upper one, which prevents it from opening too wide on fine days,
and facilitates its return at night; whence the rain is excluded, and the
air admitted. See Polymorpha, Rubia, and Cypripedia in Vol. I.

P. 12. _Additional note on Chandrilla._ In the natural state of the
expanded flower of the barberry, the stamens lie on the petals; under
the concave summits of which the anthers shelter themselves, and in this
situation remain perfectly rigid; but on touching the inside of the
filament near its base with a fine bristle, or blunt needle, the stamen