1889] 



The young naturalist. 



iig 



lively recollection of his own amours, sought to perpetuate her 

 memory by causing the lurid wall-flower to spring from her blood." 

 Alas ! for the degeneracy of modern days, when in the slang of 

 the ball-room, ladies who are left to sit alone are known as 

 " wall-flowers " ! Spenser speaks of " The pretty pawnee and the 

 chevisaunce," or more properly " ckerisaunce" or " heart's-ease," a name 

 which was then applied to the wall-flower, but which has been trans- 

 ferred in more modern days to the pansy. Chaucer also uses the 

 word in the sense of comfort or heart's-ease. The older botanists 

 called the wall-flower " Lecoium" and the present name " Cheiranthus" 

 is of comparatively recent date. Its etymology has been traced 

 to the Arabic " Kheyry" a name applied to a plant with red and 

 sweet-scented flowers, the affix " anthos" a flower, was tacked on, to 

 give it a Greek appearance, and then the whole was taken for a Greek 

 term to mean " cheiv" the hand, " anthus " a flower=a "hand-flower," 

 i.e. a flower by reason of its beauty and fragrance worthy to be carried 

 in the hand — to make up into bouquets and nosegays. 



The Squirrel. — (Sciurus vulgaris). 



By W. H. WARNER. 



This nimble and interesting little creature frequents the tops of 

 high trees in woods, and is tolerably common in most parts of the 

 country that abound with oak, beech, and fir woods. In pine and fir 

 trees it is perhaps more frequently seen than in others, the dark and 

 heavy foliage affording it both shelter and concealment. Here it may 

 be seen at any time of the day, and on moonlight nights, playing 

 among the boughs, and leaping from branch to branch in its own 

 nimble fashion. Its feats of climbing and jumping are really astonish- 

 ing, I have seen it run up the almost smooth trunk of the beech with 

 as much celerity as on the ground, and also observed it take flying 

 leaps between small trees a considerable distance apart. When 

 collecting nuts in the fall of the year it will run to the extreme end of 

 the bough or twig, and though borne down by the frail support 

 manage to secure its nut. In these feats of agility the squirrel seems 

 to be quite indifferent as to the position of its head and often descends 

 the trunks of trees with that important part of its body reversed. 



In spring and summer I have often noticed the squirrels having 

 fine fun among the trees, chasing each other up and down the pine 

 trunks as if they were gone completely mad. The noise made by 



