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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



range of scenery, to be drawn away, and the 

 attention so much distracted that the arrangement 

 cannot be perceived. Let any one who doubts 

 this, take a look at a bed of Verbenas, or any other 

 gay-colored plants, backed by a dense mass of 

 Rhododendrons or other evergreens, at a dis- 

 tance of eight or ten yards; and on another 

 which has an extensive sweep of grass beyond 

 it, with nothing to check the eye from ranging 

 away; and he must at once see that in the former 

 case the beauty of the colors will make a much 

 greater impression than in the latter. The same 

 will be the case in an arrangement of many 

 beds; there should be a boundary, in many 

 places high enough to produce shade, so that the 

 attention may be concentrated on the flowers and 

 their arrangement. White and light flowers 

 should be furthest from the eye ; scarlet and white 

 look well in juxta-position; but the scarlet should 

 be nearest the spectator, and the white backed 

 by something dark. We have still much to 

 learn on this interesting subject. Scarlet and 

 yellow also look well side by side, and a very 

 fine effect is produced in certain situations by 

 a large bed of scarlet geraniums, with a few 

 plants of dwarf yellow dahlias intermixed at 

 from four to five feet apart. A very little com- 

 mon sense exercised in this matter, would work 

 quite a reformation in some of our so-called 

 " flower-gardens." — Amelia. 



The Wedding Ring : — 



Pretty, simple, shining thing, 



Made for tiny finger fair, 

 How much sorrow dost thou bring, — 



Sorrow which we all could spare! 

 In each maiden's ear I'll sing, 

 O ! beware the wedding-ring ! 



Symbol of eternity! 



Death alone should part thy tie; 

 Awful is that word to me ; 



From thy tempting let me fly — 

 For some spirit on the wing 

 Says, " Beware the wedding-ring ! " 



Many hearts this ring does bind, 



That were bound by "Love" before; 



Many hands by it are twined, 

 That its twining will deplore : 



And from them I warning bring 



To beware the wedding-ring. 



Yet if heart and hand unite, 



And if soul to soid be given, 

 Then the solemn nuptial rite 



Is a sweet foretaste of heaven ! 

 Then, persuasively I'll sing, 

 Maidens, take the wedding-ring ! 



T. J. O. 



Odors of Flowers. — The peculiar odors of 

 plants depend on various secreted volatile mat- 

 ters, which are often so subtle as to be incapable 

 of detection by the ordinary chemical means. 

 Nothing is known of the causes which render one 

 flower odoriferous and another scentless. In 

 some cases the odors of plants remain after being 

 dried, but in general they disappear. Some 

 leaves, as Woodruff, become scented only after 

 drying ; and certain woods, as Teneriffe Rose- 



wood, give out their odor only when heated by 

 friction. Meteorological causes have a great in- 

 fluence on the odors of living plants. Dew or 

 gentle rain, with intervals of sunshine, seems to 

 be the circumstance best fitted for eliciting vege- 

 table perfumes. Light has a powerful influence 

 on the odor as well as the color of flowers. 

 Plants when etiolated by keeping in darkness, 

 generally lose their odor. In certain cases, the 

 perfumes of plants are developed only in the even- 

 ning. White flowers present the larger propor- 

 tion of odoriferous species: the orange and 

 brown flowers often giving a disagreeable odor. — 

 J. B. 



ANECDOTES OF GOLDSMITH— No. II. 



( Continued from page 215.) 



He sallies forth as a student of Medicine — 

 Hocus-pocus of a boarding-house — Trans- 

 formation of a leg of mutton. 



While Oliver was thus piping and poetising 

 at the parsonage, his uncle Contarine received a 

 visit from Dean Goldsmith, of Cloyne, a kind of 

 magnate in the wide, but improvident, family 

 connection, throughout which his word was law, 

 and almost gospel. This august dignitary was 

 pleased to discover signs of talent in Oliver, and 

 suggested that as he had attempted divinity and 

 law without success, he should now try physic. 

 The advice came from too important a source to 

 be disregarded; and it was determined to send 

 him to Edinburgh to commence his studies. 

 The Dean having given the advice, added to it, 

 we trust, his blessing, but no money. That was 

 furnished from the scantier purses of Goldsmith's 

 brother, his sister (Mrs. Hodson), and his ever- 

 ready uncle Contarine, 



It was in the autumn of 1752 that Goldsmith 

 arrived in Edinburgh. His outset in that city 

 came near adding to the list of his indiscretions 

 and disasters. Having taken lodgings at hap- 

 hazard, he left his trunk there, containing all his 

 worldly efforts, and sallied forth to see the town. 

 After sauntering about the streets until a late 

 hour, he thought of returning home; when, to 

 his confusion, he found he had not acquainted 

 himself with the name either of his landlady or 

 of the street in which she lived. Fortunately, 

 in the height of his whimsical perplexity, he met 

 the cawdy, or porter, who had carried his trunk, 

 and who now served him as a guide. 



He did not remain long in the lodgings in 

 which he had put up. The hostess was too adroit 

 at that hocus-pocus of the table, which often is- 

 practised in cheap boarding-houses. No one 

 could conjure a single joint through a greater 

 variety of forms. A loin of mutton, according 

 to Goldsmith's account, would serve him and two 

 fellow-students a whole week. ' A brandered 

 chop was served up one day, a fried steak 

 another, collops with onion sauce a third, and so 

 on, until the fleshy parts were quite consumed. 

 Finally, a dish of broth was manufactured from 

 the bones on the seventh day, and the landlady 

 rested from her labors.' Goldsmith had a good- 

 humored mode of taking things, and for a short 

 time amused himself with the shifts and ex- 

 pedients of his landlady, which struck him in a 



