504 Chit-chat, 



And usherM with a shower still. 

 When the gust had blown its fill j 

 Ending on the rustling leaves, 

 With minute drops from off the eaves.'* 



In plain prose, it rained all day ; and, though the transit 

 lasted seven hours, we never saw the sun once. It was that 

 kind of rain that, I suppose, extended all over the realm ; for 

 my esteemed friend Parson Archer, in Buckinghamshire, 

 writes me of his like disappointment. 



Von Os. 1 should like to know 'whe7r it was observed. 



Dov. That shows the great utility of putting occasionally such 

 chit-chat as this into the Magazine : somebody may gratify 

 us with an answer and remarks, should they think astronomy 

 part of natural history. 



Von Os, That Cornu Amm6ni5 in your hall is the largest 

 I ever saw ; why, it measures nearly 2 ft. in diameter. Where 

 did it come from ? 



JDov. Keynsham, in Somersetshire. 



VonOs. Ha ! « the Well of St. Keyne." 



Dov, They are there so plentiful that the roads are repaired 

 with them ; and when one is found larger or more perfect 

 than usual, they work it into the wall of a house. As I passed 

 on the coach between Bath and Bristol, the good-natured 

 driver told me they were called snake-stones : for that, in thei/ 

 dreadful papish times, the land was overcrawled by serpents ; 

 and one of them having bitten the foot of St. Keyna, with her 

 rod she turned them all into stone ! He smiled incredulously 

 when I told him they were snails — Mollusca — probably a 

 Nautilus ? Of course, they are all without heads ; and the 

 simple people carve a head on the large ones, which, from 

 necessity, is always proportionably too small ; and the attempt 

 at deception defeats itself. 



Vo7i Os, What fine large Eastern poppies ! How showy 

 they appear among the shrubs ! Did you ever see those 

 coruscations or flashes issuing from orange-coloured flowers, 

 said to have been first observed by the daughter of Linnaeus ? 



Dov. Yes ; once from the marigold, and once from the 

 nasturtium (Tropae^olum majus), at the close of a very hot 

 day. I have no doubt they are electrical. 



Fon Os, There is another singular phenomenon attendant 

 on that pungently fragrant plant the Z)ictamnus Fraxinella. 

 If, after a very hot day, a flame be applied near the blossom, 

 its exhalation will blaze beautifully. 



Dov, These are pleasant little notices. 



Von Os, And so this is a specimen of your proposed chit- 

 chat. 



Dov, Yes ; hastily and heedlessly thrown together, I must 



