MARCH. 29 



hast well seen : for I will hasten my word and 

 will perform it." * 



The redbreast and the blackbird already sing 

 their welcome to the spring ; and foremost 

 among the flowers are the bright blossoms of 

 the mezereon, {DajjJnie mezereum.) Long be- 

 fore the rongli winds have subsided, its odours 

 greet our sense, and its beauty adorns our 

 gardens. It is also a wild flower, and grows in 

 many woods of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hamp- 

 shire, and other counties ; although it was in- 

 troduced from Sweden, into the English garden, 

 many years before a better acquaintance ^^ith 

 our native botany had led to the knowledge 

 that it belonged to England's Flora. Its purple 

 clusters arc out before the leaves appear, which 

 Cowper has noticed. 



" Hrezereon too, 

 Though leafless, wen attired, and thick beset 

 Witli blushing leaves investing ever)' sjiray." 



The mezereon grows in woods throughout 

 Europe ; from the forests of the cold Lapland, 

 where it looks gay among the dark firs and the 

 stunted ])irch trees, to the richly-decked groves 

 of the blight islands of the Mediterranean sea ; 

 and in some islands of the Levant, it is so 

 plentiful, that a silver-leaved variety is com- 

 monly used for Ijrooms, and called broom plant, 

 {Herbe aux baluis.) 



Almost every part of the mezereon is acrid. 

 Its one-seeded Ijerries are highly j)oisonous. 

 Dr. Thornton records the case oi his young 



» Jer. i. 11, 12 



