HOLY ROOD TIDE. 255 



SEPT. 11. SS. Protus and Hyacinthus, martyrs, 

 A.D. 257. 

 St. Paphnutius, bishop, 335. 

 St. Patiens, bishop of Lyons, 480. 

 St. Vindiciana ? 



06s. The saints whose victory the church commemorates on this 

 day are honoured among the most illustrious martyrs that ennobled 

 Rome with their blood. They are said in the acts of St. Eugenia 

 to have been eunuchs and retainers to that virtuous lady and martyr, 

 who is honoured on the 25th of December. Their martyrdom and 

 that of Eugenia is placed in these acts under Valerian in 257. 

 • St. Vindiciane is mentioned today in the Flemish Calendar. 



Variegated Meadow Saffron Colchicumvariegatum fl. 

 Whiteflowered Starwort Aster albus full fl. 

 Glaucous Starwort Aster Novi Belgii fl. 

 New England Starwort Aster Novae Angliae full fl. 

 Corymbose Starwort Aster corymbosus full fl. 



There will be a succession of Asters now till Martlemas, and 

 some remain in blow till Allhallowtide. 



Fungi of various kinds, particularly after some wet weather has 



fallen, continue to spring up, and constitute a curious subject of 



research to the botanist till late in the autumn. We now may view 



Mushrooms that dot the meadows fjreen; 

 Tall Aziiricks, wliosi- crimson pileuses 

 Are spotted as if flies hiid settled on them. 

 And tlience derive their name; Boletuses, 

 Tawiiey or brown, slatecoloured, Idue or grey. 

 Some edible, and some fursooth a |)oison, fit 

 To lope with Aconite, or the deadly Dwale, 

 That hangs its veuom'd berries like a fruit. 

 Nor can we be too cautious of this tribe, 

 For all of them, from the Champignon fair, 

 'I'liatapes the Mushroom's aye, to the Piziza, 

 W'ith orange crest, there's more or less of mischief. 



Dry Rot, Mould on Paste, Mould on Cheese, and various other exterior 

 incrustations, are funguses. But the most remarkable are tlie Fairy HiuL'S, 

 about which there has been much controversy. See Gentleman's Magazine, 

 Index. 



Formerly, no natural history of them having been given, they were ascribed 

 to fairies. They are alluded to in Kandolph's Amyntas, Act iii. sc.4 : 

 They do request you now 

 To give them leave to dance a Fairy lling. 



The most clear and satisfactory remarks on the origin of Fairy Rings are 

 probably those of L)r. Woilaston, Secretary of the Royal Society, printed in 

 tbe second part of the Philosophical Transactions for 1»07, made during a few 

 years' residence in tlie country. The cause of their appearance he ascribes to 

 the growth of certain spei ies of Agaric, which so entirely absorb all nutriment 

 from the soil beneath, that the herbage is for a while destroyed. 



Still the more luxuriant growth of the grass in the periphery of this circle 

 remains unexplained. 



