MARCH. ,55 



them out and laying them on the stone, the 

 more readily to fracture them; — a fact but 

 recently noticed by naturalists, but familiar to 

 the peasantry. Cottagers now gather the ten- 

 der-springing tops of nettles to make pottage, 

 considered by them a great purifier of the 

 blood. They also boil them instead of spinach, 

 as they do the tops of the wild hop, as a sub- 

 stitute for asparagus. But of all vegetables that 

 are cultivated, next to the potato, rhubarb has 

 become, perhaps, the most valuable to the poor, 

 and pleasant to all. Of late its growth has 

 rapidly increased, and people who, some years 

 ago, never saw such an article exposed in our 

 markets, are now astonished at the quantities 

 brought there, and disposed of with the greatest 

 readiness. As a most wholesome and agreeable 

 vegetable, coming in early and supplying a de- 

 lightful acidulous material for pies and pud- 

 dings, till gooseberries are ready, it is inva- 

 luable, and seems destined to acquire universal 

 estimation. 



March, which was the first month in anti- 

 quity, was named so after Mars, the god of 

 war, because he was the father of their first 

 Prince. This, at least, is the reason given by 

 Ovid. The Saxons called it Lenct-monatk, 



