320 



BECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



a flower series, for the upper ones become 

 less leaf-like ; nevcptheless, -whether in every 

 respect like an ordinary 

 leaf, or whether not more 

 than an insignificant scale, 

 the appendage at the base 

 of a peduncle or pedicel is 

 always known as the bract. 

 Eefer back to the various 

 figures with which the 

 present paper and those 

 preceding are illustrated, 

 and you will find numerous 

 instances of bracts. At 

 times, however, bracts, or 

 collections of bracts, are 

 called involucres, when 

 they envelope such collec- 

 tions of blossoms as the 

 heads of the composites, 

 the umbels, etc. The bract 

 of the common lime-tree 

 is such an excellent ex- 

 ample of bract formation 

 (Fig. 61), that though the 

 lime is scarcely a "way- 

 side weed," we make no 

 excuse for bringing it 

 If you really do 

 not as yet know a lime- 

 tree, you cannot miss it 

 henceforth when you 

 know that you cannot go 



Fig. 60. Eeproductive » , 



Organs, or Flower of lOrward 

 Common " Wake- 

 robin," inclosed in 

 a large bract, called a 

 spathe. a, stamens; 

 6, pistils. 



Via. 61.— Twg of Lime-tree, a, bract; h, leaf; e, fruit 



within many yards of it in July without being 

 attracted by the scent of the blossoms, or by 

 the hum of the myriads of bees which swarm 

 around it. Go, pray, for the sake of the 

 bract, pluck a twig of the first lime you meet 

 with, only remember it belongs to Handful 

 No. I., for it is a many-petaled bloomer. 

 Spekcee Thomson, M.D. 



BEUTE MADNESS. 



AMONa the singular occurrences met with in 

 the animal world, I never heard of a more 

 curious one than that which I am about to 

 relate : — A lady, resident in the country, was 

 fond of rearing poultry ; among these was a 

 young pullet, which successfully brought out a 

 brood of some ten or twelve chickens. All 

 went on well for a time ; but the adjoining 

 farm-yard was infested with rats, and in one 

 fatal night the whole brood was carried ofi" 

 — clean gone, and not a vestige remained to 

 tell the tale. The poor mother was first 

 disconsolate, and then became positively 

 frantic, and did all that a dumb creature 

 could do to show that her brain was com- 

 pletely turned. 



Time, which assuages all woes, seemed 

 at last to mellow her delirium of grief 

 into a settled misalectrophy, or advised 

 hatred of chanticleer and all his race ; and 

 never from that moment did she produce a 

 single egg, or bring up another brood. Her 

 comb became enlarged, spurs sprouted on her 

 legs ; her tail feathers grew long and drooped, 

 and her morning crow rivalled that of the 

 greatest patriarch of the yard ! Strange me- 

 tamorphosis, and all arising from the shock 

 to her maternal love; that powerful, all- 

 engrossing feeling — that (Tr6pm (sforqe), as 

 the Greeks appropriately called it — which, in 

 this instance, not only endowed one of the 

 gentler sex with the intrepidity of the bolder, 

 but positively invested her with their outward 

 attributes. O. S. Bound. 



