CHAP. XJ THE PUBLICATION OF 'MY GARDEN.' 115 



district. The Celtic, Koman, and Anglo-Saxon periods of its 

 history are exemplified, as are also the mediaeval. The prin- 

 ciples of gardening are given, and the very tools that are neces- 

 sary for that operation fully described. The construction of glass 

 houses, with their ventilation, and the curious and novel modes 

 for heating them, are also explained. The arrangements for the 

 propagation of plants, the management of garden vegetables, 

 of the fruit garden, the general flower garden, the special flower 

 garden (comprising the roses, orchids, climbing plants, Alpine 

 flowers, ornamental grasses); weeds and wild plants; the algae, 

 mosses, lichens, liverworts, fungi ; the ferns, lycopods, &c., are 

 all fully set forth. Forest trees and shrubs are duly noticed 

 (this chapter was written during the three weeks he was in Scot- 

 land, in the autumn of 1871, when he also wrote ' The Widow and 

 the Babbits'); and the animal kingdom, from the animalcules 

 in the river Wandle and insects of the garden to the larger 

 animals. The birds and the fish and the reptiles hold an im- 

 portant part in the work. The climate and spring frosts are 

 recorded ; and the work ends with a calendar of plants in flower 

 under glass and out of doors, of fruit, of vegetables, of garden 

 operations, and of the natural history, during every week for the 

 year 1871. ' My Garden ' is illustrated by 1300 engravings, 

 nearly all taken from nature ; it is not only a work of reference, 

 but it is fitted, from the beauty of its illustrations, for the 

 drawing-room table. This book has been compared to White's 

 1 Natural History of Selborne.' To those who are lovers of 

 gardening this book is indeed a prize !* 



Not many months before ' My Garden ' was issued to the 

 public, Professor Huxley, who was giving a course of lectures 

 at the London Institution, fell suddenly ill. The audience were 

 already assembling in the theatre of the London Institution. 

 What was to be done ? Some one rushed off to our house, a 

 few doors off, and fortunately my father came in at that very 

 moment. " It is a pity," he said, " that so many should come, 

 some a long distance, and should go away disappointed. Suppose 

 I give them a lecture ?" " Yes, do ! " was the eager exclamation. 

 Then my father said he would give them a lecture, a gossip about 

 gardening. So, without any preparation, he walked into the 

 theatre, crowded with people who had come to hear Professor 

 Huxley on Biology, but who remained to hear what Mr. Smee 



* ' My Garden ' is published by Messrs. Bell, York Street, Co vent Garden. 



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