AUGUST. 159 



occasionally found wild in our woods, and was 

 kno^Mi to the older Avriters as the raspis, or 

 hiiidberry. The Arctic bramble, {Rubus arc- 

 ticus,) so common in Sweden, bears a fruit 

 much eaten by the people of that country. 



The bramble is the subject of the oldest 

 apologue extant, when Jotham, bitterly re- 

 proaching the men of Shechem for their ingra- 

 titude to his father's house, narrated to them, 

 in the eastern manner, the parable of "the 

 trees choosing a king."* 



AUGUST. 



" The scarlet pimpernel creeps here and there, 

 Amid the corn the crimson poppies blush, 

 Still on the brooks gleam water-lilies rare, 



And puri>le loosestrife and the flowering rush: 

 Still honeysuckle blooms perfume the gale. 



Where brj'ony leaves adorn the hedgerows green, 

 Where peep the scabious and the campion pale, 



With trumpet-like convolvuli between; 

 The blue campanula and chicory wild, 



And yellow toad-flax, variegate the plain. 

 And with a thankful heart and sense beguiled, 

 We look upon the fields of ripening grain." 



H. G. Adamb. 



August, with its flowers and fruits, wears a 

 rich and plenteous aspect. The brown corn, 

 now ready lor the sickle, is waving over the 

 field ; the broad and leafy branches of the trees 

 afford a shade to the tired cattle ; the golden 

 cones of the hop are twining round the tall 

 poles ; and the orchard trees are laden with 



* Judges ix. 8—15. 



