122 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST 



thus gain a wider view of the significance of his favourite branch 

 of study. 



In consultation with Baron von Mueller regarding the plants 

 of the months, none have yet been compiled of our flora ; in fact, 

 it is impossible, since the seasons merge so into each other. 

 Our earliest flowering plants are — Wuivnbea dioica, the 

 Droseras, Acacia dealbata, A. pycnaniha, A. moUissima. A list of 

 calendar plants is to be found in the "Select Plants;" these 

 are just the genera from the enonomic section. The last flower 

 of the season is Eriochilus auttimnaUs ; the flowering season being 

 from ist April to 31st March. 



Such observations would be useful in exciting an interest in 

 natural science among the young, as they would form matter for 

 recording the birthdays of flowers, butterflies, and birds, and 

 with which children may compare their own birthdays and those 

 of their friends. For natural history classes in schools it will 

 supply lists of objects to be sought for on country walks and 

 excursions at the proper seasons, and it will furnish special and 

 appropriate subjects for teachers and lectures to explain at the 

 proper seasons. 



PERIODICITY IN NATURAL PHENOMENA. 



We are accustomed to divide the year into four seasons — 

 spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; but in Australia Nature 

 divides it into three, and she shows a disposition to contract the 

 three into two as we proceed south or north of the tropics. The 

 natural seasons are chiefly the result of variations in the heat 

 and light of the sun's rays, while in the tropics moisture piays 

 the principal part ; hence we have in the former warm and cold 

 seasons, and in the latter wet and dry seasons. 



The three seasons of organic objects are: — (i) The season of 

 growth, or its correlative reproduction ; (2) the season of matura- 

 tion {i.e., the ripening of fruits and seeds, and buds of vegetables, 

 and the consolidation and fattening of animals) ; and (3) the 

 season of rest or equilibrium of the two former conditions {i.e., 

 the defoliation of trees, and, in extreme cases, hibernation of 

 animals). The natural seasons are mo"st distinctly marked the 

 lower we go in the organic scale, but they are more or less 

 distinguishable throughout the vegetable and animal kingdom. 

 The range of seasons varies with different species of plants, and 

 they are further modified by various natural and artificial con- 

 ditions, our climate being such that plants may be seen in flower 

 all the year round. Cultivation, with its numerous appliances 

 for modifying the physical conditions of temperature, moisture, 

 and soil, tends to a hastening or shortening of the earlier seasons 

 — hence cultivated plants generally blossom and fruit earlier than 

 wild ones of the same species ; and some meteorological con- 

 ditions, such as high temperature and droughts, if they do not 



