Sio The youriLiil of Forcsli^y, 



Tii£ GuAT MuTii. — This insect, there is little doubt, eoutiiiucs tu spread iti 

 the neighbourhood of London — a whiti'ot" the strong goat smell, to whicli it 

 owes its name, striking the sense in very many plantations iii the western 

 suburbs. We may note that the more we know of it, the greater the number 

 of trees we find it attacks. We have noted the oak among the various trees 

 that it attacks. The cases, however, in which the oak suffers are compara- 

 tively rare, and we therefore mention a striking instance of a whole row of 

 bleached and barked dead oak trees which we saw some time since in a field 

 not very far from Bedhill, which owed their death entirely to the attacks of 

 this insect, as was evident from scars on the wood. They were pointed out 

 to us by Mr. John Glutton, on whose property they stood ; and he was good 

 enough to cause another to be cut down at some distance, which wa,s also 

 dying under the attacks of this insect. — A. U. in " The Gardener^ 



Ornajiextal Bekeied Tkeks. — Now that wild flowers are so scarce, what 

 few we have at this time of year being completely obliterated by the long- 

 continued rains, it is pleasing to see amid so much green something that will 

 fix the eye. Few objects can vie with the bright coral-red berries of the 

 rowan tree, or mountain ash (Pi/nis aucuparia) ; its fine umbrageous head 

 of fern-like foliage, from the points of its shoots bearing its clusters of berries, 

 far more enduring than flowers, atti'active objects in shrubbery, park, and 

 forest scenery, such as ought not to be neglected in making provision for 

 when planting time arrives. It will grow anywhere, its upright and weeping 

 forms, with the yellow-berried, deserving a place in the most select arrange' 

 ments of trees of moderate growth. Also very conspicuous just now, as they 

 have been for many weeks, are the bright scarlet berries in massive bunches 

 of the scarlet-berried elder, which, seen at any distance among green foliage, 

 are very showy and effective, especially if in front be a good breadth of 

 Darwin's barberry, its clusters of shining deep purple berries having in 

 contrast with the scarlet of the elder a fine effect. 



Labuuxuh Poisoning. — Mr. A. M. Roberts, writing from Epping Forest to 

 the editor of the Lancet, gives an instance, which came under his immediate 

 notice, of poisoning by laburnum berries. A little boy of five years old, after 

 taking a hearty meal an hour before, was known to eat some of these berries. 

 An hour afterwards the child commenced to vomit, and at intervals com- 

 plained of drowsiness, the skin being cold and clammy, the pupils contracted, 

 and the pulse vei-y high. An emetic quickly acted, the vomit consisting of 

 bread, mucus, vegetable matter, and water. An hour later the drowsiness 

 increased, and the pulse had risen to 130. At this stage of the poison coffee 

 was given, which was immediately vomited ; it required the exertions of 

 all present to keep the child aroused ; the skin was very cold and bathed in 

 perspiration, and the pupils wore widely dilated, and not sensitive to light. 

 After a hot bath and hypodermic injection of caffeine he began to- recover, 

 and at midnight the child was awake and lively, and next morning he was in 

 his Usual health. Mr. Roberts considers that, but for the presence in the 

 stomach of a large quantity of food, the results would have been much more 

 serious. 



Thk Decay of Tkees and Sukubs in Suburban Gardens^ — This is a subject 

 that cannot fail to strike the attention of any observant person interested in 

 gardening matters. Signs of this decay are by no means uncommon in gardens 

 in the suburbs of Loudon. The atmosphere is genei'ally held respounible, but 

 it is a much more innocent agent than is generally supposed. Imperfect 



