Dec. 1, 1S6S. 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



273 



blossoms of the past year. To a portion of these 

 autumnal treasures, the contents of a small basket 

 which I filled yesterday in a solitary ramble, I intend 

 to devote this sheet of paper— so let me begin to 

 describe my bouquet. 



I will place this bundle of berries in the centre of 

 my vase : it will keep off evil spirits ; at least my 

 Welsh nurse taught me to believe that the wood of 

 the Mountain Ash possessed a charm against witches 

 and "the little people," as she called the fairy folk, 

 who made the green rings in our meadow, where I 

 always found the finest mushrooms ; but I kept 

 most carefully outside the charmed circle when 

 gathering them, lest I should be "carried off to 

 dance at their revels for a thousand years, and only 

 wake up at the expiration of that time to find my 

 dear mamma, Nurse Bridget, and all laid," where 

 they now, alas ! rest, " in the cold grave." 



Next to the Ash-berries I will put a ring of 

 Colchicum blossoms; they look very lovely; their 

 pale, delicate purple colour contrasts well with the 

 peculiar hue of the fruit. What a singular plant 

 the Colchicum or Meadow-saffron is : its bloom 

 appears in autumn before the leaves ; they do not 

 peep forth till the following spring, and proceed, as 

 do the flowers, direct from the cormus. We get in 

 the Coltsfoot flowers before foliage. You know of 

 course that the blossoms come out early in the 

 spring, and the leaves the following summer; but 

 the Colchicum flowers die off without giving any 

 signs of either fruit or foliage. Then, next spring, 

 both seeds and leaves come forth together ; the 

 germen develope under ground in the bulb, and 

 the fruit rises on a short peduncle, ripens about 

 June, and perishes before the fresh blossom appears. 



There are several poetical fictions respecting the 

 Colchicum, and it is supposed to have been a 

 favourite plant of that old enchantress, Medea. She 

 was born at Colchis, and as the Meadow-saffron 

 was originally brought from Natoli, it is very pro- 

 bable she was well versed in its deadly properties. 

 In proper hands, and when administered according 

 to the directions of the duly qualified medical man, 

 Colchicum is often a great boon to suffering hu- 

 manity, but many fatal instances are on record of 

 the mischief done with it in domestic practice. 



Although mother nature has not dressed the 

 Colchicum blossom with the garb of leaves, I must 

 place a little green next to it in my nosegay ; and 

 here is the Eye-bright close at hand. 



Famed Euphrasy may not be left unsung, 

 That gives dim eyes to wander leagues along. 



What a lovely little plant it is, with its elegant pen- 

 cilled flowers, and small, light-green, smooth, deeply 

 toothed leaves. Its yellow eye is said to have sug- 

 gested the name in Latin, Euphrasia, being derived 

 from the Greek of "joy" or "gladness;" but some 

 botanical writers affirm that the appellation was 



given it in consequence of its efficacy in eye diseases. 

 Milton tells us it was used by Michael, enjoined with 

 rue, to remove the film which the "false fruit" 

 had bred in our first father's " visual nerve." The 

 grand old gardener's domestic medicines were all 

 doubtless furnished by mother earth. Now comes a 

 small spray or two of the Golden-rod, the Goldruthe 

 of Germany, where many persons yet extol its 

 virtues, as much as quaint old Gerade did when he 

 cured " Master Cartwright, a gentle man of Grayes 

 Inne" of a wound in the lungs by an outward appli- 

 cation thereof ; and here let me introduce a rare bit 

 of Herb-Robert, Geranium Robertianum, one of our 

 native Geraniums. It blooms from April up to the 

 end of October, and I found such a sweet plant of it 

 on an old wall in the course of my walk, that it 

 brightened the whole scene with its cheerful flowers, 

 and forcibly reminded me of those lines : 



Oh ! emblem of a steadfast mind, 



Which, through the varying scenes of life, 



By genuine piety refined, 



Holds on its way 'midst storms and strife. 



I cannot at this moment remember who they are 

 written by, but I know they are addressed to the 

 flower in question. 



One more branch, and my vase and my paper will 

 be filled. I should by rights have given the Oak the 

 first place. The Oak chaplets of the Greeks and 

 Romans, the Oak trees of the forest of Dodona, the 

 monarch Oaks of Druidical renown, all demand that 

 due honour be accorded to the Quercus Robur. Well, 

 poets and novel writers, political economists and 

 philosophers, have done and said their utmost 

 in its praise, and little remains for me to add. 

 Acorns are now as valuable as they were when 

 panage was deemed a right, and constituted the 

 dowry of the daughters of a Saxon King,' but our 

 swine keepers seem ignorant of the fact. Vast 

 numbers are wasted. I believe boars feed on them 

 yet, and so would pigs if they were allowed to. 



How pretty the Oak-apples are : those galls pro- 

 duced on the young branches by the puncture of an 

 insect. I have made a necklet of some intermixed 

 with gilt beads. They really look, now in this age 

 of chains and chaplets, very novel ; and I intend to 

 try to polish or varnish a few rows, for I think that 

 if they could be made to look bright, like the fruit 

 of the Horse-chesnut, it would immensely improve 

 their appearance in the matter of decoration. 



Helen E. Watney. 



Protection to Birds. — An association to pro- 

 tect birds on British coasts during breeding season 

 has been formed in Yorkshire. Its aim is to secure 

 an Act of Parliament for that purpose. Support is 

 invited from all naturalists. Address the Secre 

 taries, the Rev. F. Barnes, M.A., Bridlington Rec- 

 tory, or T. Harland, Esq., Solicitor, Bridlington 

 Quay. 



