[9] [See Proverbial Expressions.]
[10] [See Proverbial Expressions.]
[12] It is evidently not our modern hyacinth that is here described. It is perhaps some species of iris, or perhaps of larkspur or of pansy.
[13] The sunflower.
[14] This correct description of the rainbow is literally translated from Ovid.
[15] Sir James Mackintosh says of this, “Do you think that even a Chinese could paint the gay colors of a butterfly with more minute exactness than the following lines: ‘The velvet nap,’ etc.?”—Life, Vol. II., 246.
[16] [See Proverbial Expressions.]
[17] Hecate was a mysterious divinity sometimes identified with Diana and sometimes with Proserpine. As Diana represents the moonlight splendor of night, so Hecate represents its darkness and terrors. She was the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft, and was believed to wander by night along the earth, seen only by the dogs, whose barking told her approach.
[18] Alcides, a name of Hercules.