JULY. 291 



the mountains of "Wales and the north. GARDINER, in 

 his Flora of Forfarshire, says " the berries are called 

 by the shepherds Avrons ; at first they are red, but 

 when fully ripe of a yellowish colour, juicy and nutri- 

 tious.." 



The bright furrow-weeds of the corn, flaring before 

 our view, have long demanded notice, and at length 

 we must turn to them. We have reached the middle 

 of July the sun blazes in the heavens with intolera- 

 ble splendour, no friendly cumuloid cloud with its 

 fortress-like masses of vapour sails stately in the air, 

 and not a breath of wind is stirring to fan our stream- 

 ing and aching foreheads as we pass amidst the stately 

 glories of the corn-fields, now just faintly imbibing 

 their primary tinge, that will settle, in maturity, into 

 that auburn hue so delightful to the eye as the pledge 

 of plenty. There can be little doubt that Wheat had 

 its origin in the East, but in what particular region it 

 is now to be found in a wild state nobody can tell 

 with certainty, and perhaps it was always solely con- 

 fined to the care of man. But the " furrow- weeds" 

 what a splendid show they make among the corn, and 

 how came they there ? It is most probable that many 

 have accompanied the corn in its progress from nation 

 to nation, still keeping up that companionship they 

 originally possessed. This is undoubtedly the case 

 with the specious scarlet Poppy, which from remote 

 ages has been associated with the worship of Ceres, 

 and sculptured upon the statues of the goddess. It 

 was an ancient custom, also, to offer Poppies to the 

 dead, and OVID represents the Poppy (Papaver somni- 

 ferum, probably,) as growing before the misty cave of 

 Sleep. The association of the Lethean Poppy with 



