Water-lillies

Water -lily is the corunion naine of sev enil plant reniarkable for their beauty There ave upwards of twenty difieren kiuds of theuj. Tbcy all have large float ing leaves, with white, red or blue flowers wluoh appear on the surface of the water The blue water-lily is very fragrant ; anc trom its frequent representation in the sculptures of Kgypt, it appears to have been regarded as a sacred plant by the an cient Egyptians. An eatable specios ia a Dfttive of' the Kast Indias, where it is met with in wet, ferny districts; and there is a variety of ibis which has deep red flowers which are held in euperstitious veneration by the Hindoos in the localities in which i grows. Another kind is f'ound spread througl Eypt, India, and Moluccas, Ceylon, Java and (Jhina, aud has been discovered at on or two places west of África. It is callee "lotvt,' and in India, China, and other Buddhist oountries it is held sacrod by the followers of that religión. A Hindoo, upon entering the study of Sir William Jones, prostrated himself before some specimens which happened to lie there for examina tion. The flowers are of a beautiful white They open duriüg the day and close at oight, and give oat a strong odor like that of winu. We are all faiuiliur with our own white lily, wliich very muoh roseinbles the lotus, except that the flowers and leaves instead ol' riting some distance above the water, rest upon the surface of it, and the are somewhat smaller than those of the lotus. The most splendid of the watcr-lilies is the Victoria regia, so called in honor ol Queen Victoria. Tbis beautiful production of the vegetable kingdoni is a native of South America, and was not known in this country until about thirty years ago. In the size and color of its leaves, as wel as its delightful fragrancc, it may bc callee the queen of' floral bcauties. The rim of' each leaf is a bright green, with purple crimson in the middle. Tht. tints of the buds are from white to rich piuk and rose, and the fragrance that ol the most delicious pinoapples. The under part of the leaf is covered with air chambers which keep it afloat anti enablo t to bear astonishing weight. A young lady has stood upon one and been borne up soaio time with safety. On tho under side, alsq, there are ribs and cross girders, placed in such a manoer as to give it very great strength. Sir Joseph Paxton assures us that the hint he reoeivcd from this "natural engineer" first led him to devise the self-supportiní: principie on which he erected the exhibition building in Hyde Hark, now the Cryslal Palace at Sydenham, near London. The Victoria water-lily was first reared in England at Chatsworth, the mansion of the Duke of Devonshire, and blossomcd November 1, 1849. The first flower was presented to Qneen Victoria, as a fitting tributo to her majesty whose name from the first was given to