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3CHAPTER I.HISTORICAL.ORIENTAL LITERATURE.Man was probably impressed from the first with the grace and beautyof the waterlilies ;for their distribution is worldwide. There is evidenceenough that the seeds and roots (tubers) of various species have beenused for food by many savage races, as in Australia, Madagascar, WestAfrica and Central America ;but naturallyit remained for more civilizedpeoples to rise to anything like an aesthetic interest. A Chinese writer ofthe eleventh century a. d., Chou Tun-I, is thus quoted in Giles's " Gemsof Chinese Literature,"Since the opening: days of the T'angr dynasty [600 a. d.],it has been fashionableto admire the paeony ;but my favorite is the waterlily. How stainless it risesfrom its slimy bed ! Howmodestly it reposes on the clear pool an emblem ofpurity and truth !Symmetrically perfect, its subtle perfume is wafted far and wide ;while there it rests in spotless state, something to be regarded reverently from adistance, and not to be profaned by familiar approach.In my opinion, the chrysanthemum is the flower of retirement and culture ;thepaeony, the flower of rank and wealth ;the waterlily, the Lady Virtue sans pareille.Alas ! few have loved the chrysanthemum since T'ao Yuan-ming ; and nonenow love the waterlily like myself ;whereas the paeony is a general favorite with allmankind.The waterlily of China is the littleNymphaea tetragona, which,though pure white and of pleasant scent, never attains to much morethan a pigmy size ;and its odor is not nearly so rich as that of ourown N. odorata. It is interesting also to note that our author is expressingonly a personal opinion, one which is not at all general, andwhich indeed may be regarded as heretical.India is much richer ingorgeous varieties of waterlily than anyother portion of the globe. By day the blue N. stellata exhibitsseveral shades of color, even running off by degrees into pink in partsof Bengal. At night and early in the morning the great white N. lotusand the deep crimson N. rubra expand their flowers 6 to 10 inches in3