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but found sparingly in some other soiith western counties ; the 

 Welsh Poppy, found chiefly in Wales, but found also in other 

 ■western parts, and rather abundant at Cheddar ; French beans, 

 which don't come from France, but from the East Indies, and are 

 called " French " to signify simply their foreign origin, and French 

 Asparagus, only so called in the Bath Market, and growing abun- 

 dantly in our neighbourhood. The London Rocket gains its name 

 from the remarkable, but well recorded fact, that though a rare 

 plant, it appeared in great abundance in the ruined streets of 

 London after the Great Fire. Its wandering habits are veiy 

 remarkable. It has quite disappeai-ed from London and theneigh- 

 boTirhood, and may now be said to be confined to Berwick -on- 

 Tweed, and there only to the one spot where the heaps of manure 

 are collected from the streets. This manure is afterwards dis- 

 tributed on fields in the neighboiu-hood, yet the Rocket never comes 

 up on them. It once appeared in great abundance on an embank- 

 ment of the North British Railway, made from one of these fields, 

 but in four or five years it disappeared. (Johnston's Botany of 

 Eastern Border). 



A large number of plants are named from animals. From the 

 poultry yard we get Chickweed (supposed to be good to feed 

 chickens on). Henbane (supposed to have some connection with 

 " hen," but this is very doubtful), Cockscomb, and Hen-and-Chicken 

 Daisy. These two last names explain themselves, but the plants 

 are worth a minute's obsei-vation. The Cockscomb, such a 

 favourite with many gardeners, has a large scarlet fleshy part, 

 which most people admire as the flower. It is, however, only the 

 flowei'-stalk ; the flowers themselves are very small, inconspicuous, 

 and very numerous, clustering round under this large cockscomb. 

 The Hen-and-chicken Daisy is one of our most favourite cottage 

 plants ; and it has a very great botanical interest. Many of you will 

 know that there is no fact in Botany more well-established than 

 that aU the parts of a plant are interchangeable, and that especially 

 all the parts of a plant, the root, stem, flower-stalks, thorns, 

 flowers, and even seeds, are only different developments of the leaf, 

 or the leaf presented in different shapes. Now the Hen-and-chicken 

 Daisy gives us a very curious proof of this. If you examine a 



