Natural Calendar of Coincidence. Of | 
which eccurs in the Weald-clay, and is frequently referred to 
by Dr. Fitton and others as a proof of the fresh-water origin 
of the Sussex-beds, is a minute crustaceous animal, with an ov al 
arched case, or shell, not much larger than a grain of millet. 
The living species which resemble it the closest are aquatic 
Monéeuli swimming in fresh water, and depositing their eggs 
on the leaves of aquatic plants, or in the mud. The shells of 
Cypris faba are found in great abundance in the fresh-water 
limestone, at the foot of Mount Gergovia, in Auvergne. 
Art. III. Sketch of a Natural Calendar of Coincidence, with 
Preliminary Remarks. By the Rev. W. T. Bree, M.A. 
Sir, 
Our forefathers, I am inclined to think, paid more atten- 
tion to the periodical eccurrences of nature, as guides for 
direction in their domestic and rural occupations, than per- 
haps we of the present day are accustomed to do. They 
seem to have referred to the book of nature more frequently 
and regularly than to the almanack. Whether it were, that 
the one, being always open before them, was ready for refer- 
ence, and not ake other, certain it is that they attended to the 
signs of the seasons, and appear to have regarded certain 
oOo 
Pe aniral occurrences as indicating and reminding them of the 
proper season for commencing a variety of affairs in common 
life. The time was, perhaps it is not yet gone by, when no 
good housewife would think of brewing when the beans were 
in blossom. ‘The bursting of the eile buds, it was believed, 
announced the period at which eels begin to stir out of fhe 
winter quarters, and therefore marked the season for the 
miller or fisherman to put down his leaps, to catch them at 
the wears and floodgates. The angler considered the season 
at which tench bite most freely to be indicated by the bloom- 
ing of the wheat; and when the mulberry tree came into 
leaf, the most cautious gardener judged that he might safely 
commit his tender Lhe to the open alr, without appr ehen- 
sion of 1 injury from frosts and cold. Then there was a variety 
of old sayings or proverbs in vogue, of a corresponding cha- 
racter, stich ¢ aS, 
“ When the sloe tree is white as a sheet, 
Sow your barley, whether it be dry or wet.” 
“ When elder is white, brew and bake a peck, 
When elder is black, brew and bake a sack.” 
“ ‘You must look for grass on the top of the oak tree,” &c. 
Vou. III. — No. 11. Cc 
