of throwing away his legs and arms than a young lord in London thinks of Bqaandering 

 his acres. Professor Forbes was ready to receive one with his hucket, and a gorgeous speci- 

 men caiue up. Whether the coUl water was too miicli for him, or the sight of the bucket 

 too terrific, in a moment he proceeded to dissolve his corporation, and in every mesh of the 

 dredge his fragments wore seen escaping. In despair, he grasped at the largest, and lirought 

 up the extremity of an arm with its terminating eye, the spinous eyelid of wliich opened 



and closed with something extremely like a wink of derision." A correspondent of a 



London journal says : " You appear to think it likely that sulphur will be found a cure for 

 the potato disease. I think the fact that the murrain does not attack potatoes grown in 

 the Swansea copper smoke, much strengthens that opinion; for the copper smoke contains 

 a large quantity of sulphur, although it contains other materials. Land at Swansea, near 

 the copper works, which was formerly barren and useless, now lots, I am informed, at £8 

 per acre, for the purpose of growing potatoes. I know that the ground in the neighborhood 

 of the copper smoke is much valued for the purpose of growing potatoes, and that large 



quantities are cultivated there." In reference to an article in a late number, a friend 



remarks : " It may not be uninteresting to observe that, iu cases of famine, the roots 

 (rhizomes) of ferns have, in former times, been employed for food. In the English Chronicle 

 for 1377 to 1461, published by the Camden Society in 1855, I find the following passage 

 (p. 55) : ' And the nexte j'eer aftir, the xii yeer of Kyng llarri, was the grete frost,' &c. 

 * * * ' And the nexte yeer aftir began the grete derthe of corn in this laud, the whiche 

 endurid ii yeer, so that a bushelle of whete was sold for xh/., and the poer peple in dyvers 

 partiez of the North cuntre eet breed maad of farn rotes." — Thomas Bell, the Wakes, Sel- 



horne. Almost all the stinging hairs of plants end in a little knob-shaped swelling, 



which is exceedingly brittle, and easily knocked off by a touch. The opened point, on 

 being pressed against, exudes the secretions contained in the cells, and these are often 

 poisonous. The most dangerous of all is the Urtica urentissima, called Devil's Leaf. The 

 wounds of this plant give pain for years after, especially in damp weather, and occasionally 

 death from lock-jaw is the result. Could this poison be separated and collected, it would 



be the most powerful vegetable poison known. The hyena-dog, from the South of Africa, 



is attracting attention abroad. There is no mane as in the hyenas, and the tail resembles 

 that of some dogs ; the head is hyena-like, and it has only four toes to each foot. Its 

 color is reddish or yellowish-brown, variously mottled. It is swift, fierce, and active, and 



hunts in packs, at night by preference, but frequently in the day. Anglers employ an 



infusion of the leaves or husks of English walnuts for pouring upon the earth, in order to 



procure worms, which it is said to bring speedily to the surface. The receipts at the 



Crystal Palace, Sydenham, are stated to be so insufficient that the Directors have been 

 driven to the expedient of proposing to raise the large sum of twelve hundred and fifty 

 thousand dollars — a measure which only extreme necessity could justify. It is proposed to 



convert it into a grand picnic establishment ; alas ! The process by which blood manure is 



made : Mix about two portions of bones, two of blood, and one of sulphuric acid together, and 

 the result is a blood manure. Calcined bones are more easily acted on by the acid than fresh 

 ones, and are therefore better for the purpose. The blood and bones are mixed together 



first, and then the acid is added. What is the handsomest flowering hardy shrub for 



July? is answered by the Gardeners' Chronicle, hy nzvaXwg the Spirae callosa, thus described: 

 A shrub about four feet high, and as much in diameter, most gracefully branching from the 

 ground ; slender shoots of a dull red, and simple leaves of a quiet green, such as the most 

 fastidious artist would select for a contrast with brighter colors. Then let every branch 

 burst out its spreading twigs loaded with tiny flowers, arranged like those of a Laurustinus, 

 but more loosely ; the youngest dull red, and as large as a pin ; others, more grown 

 a vivid crimson centre when the gay petals are preparing to burst their dingy caly 



