142 
Naturalist's Calendar. 
VI.—NATURALIST’S CALENDAR. 
FOR SEPTEMBER. 
BOTANY. 
This is tlie first month of Autumn, and we are reminded of it in every direction. The trees 
have now put on their gay and splendid liveries; Fungi abound; and in the gardens, the Mi- 
chaelmas-Uaisy is in full bloom; in .short, every tiling tells ns that Summer is de]>arted. 
The plants in flower this rrionth, are, Colchicum autumnale, Meadow Saffron; a powerful, 
but somewhat uncertain and dangerous remedy for Gout, and .some other disorders. 'J'he 
flowers appear at this time of year, (and sometimes in August) entirely destitute of leaves, and 
when they wither, the plant is uo more seen till the Spring, when the leaves and seed ve«<sels 
make their appearance: as soon as the seed is ripe, the leaves die away, and the plant is again 
lost till the time of flowering in Autumn. Specimens should therefore be gathered in various 
parts of the year. It is found chiefly in flat meadows, but is rather a local plant. It grows 
plentifully between Duffield and Derby; Maltby, Yorkshire; and various places in the North 
and West of England. ('uscuta europcpus, Dodder ;—a small parasitical j)lant, found on the 
stems of Nettles, &c. Parnassia palustris, Grass of Parnassus;—a beautiful plant, remark¬ 
able for the singular conformation of its nectary. It is found in bogs, and on the tops of moun¬ 
tains, as Masson, Matlock-Bath, and on most of the limestone hills about Buxton. 
Gentiana amarclla, Autumnal Gentian; Gentiana campeslris, Field Gentian; Geranium aan- 
(juincum. Bloody Crane'^bill; Scilla autumnalls, Autumnal Squill; Diant/ius iIeltoi,les, ^la-idan 
Pink; Genistapilosn. Hairy Greenweed; Utex nanus. Dwarf Furze; Hypericum harbatum, 
Bearded St. John’s-Wort; in dry or mountainous pastures. 
SuUcornia herhacea, Common Jointed Glasswort, or Blarsh Samphire; Erodium mari/imtim, 
Sea Stork’s-Bill; Altheea officinalis. Marsh Mallow ; Chara nidifica. Proliferous Stone-Wort; 
Ruppia. maritinn. Sea Tassel Grass Erythrcea pulcheVa, Dwarf Branched Centaury; (Eno- 
//terff Ziftfnn/s, CommonEvenin" Primrose; Silencmaritima, SeaCatchfly; Alyssum marilimum. 
Sweet Alyssum; Chrysocoma Lynosyris, Flax-leaved Goldilocks ; Aster Tripolium, Sea Star- 
wort ; on the sea-coiist, and in salt marshes. 
Lobelia ureas. Stinging Lobelia; Seaecio lividus. Green.scaled Groundsel; on dry heaths. 
Polygenum hydropiper, Biting Persicaria; P. minus. Small Persicaria; Mentha pulcyium. 
Pennyroyal; Inula pulicaria, Small Fleawort; Ceratophyllum demersnm. Common Hornweed; 
C. suhmersuin. Unarmed Hornweed; Hidens cernua. Nodding Burr-Marigold ; in moist places, 
ditches, and ponds 
Neottia spiralis, I>adies’Traces; Crocus sativus. Saffron; in pastures. Oxalis corniculata. 
Yellow Wood-Sorrel; Chenopodiuni murale. Nettle-Leaved Goosefoot; C. botryoides, Clus¬ 
tered Goosefoot; in waste grounds. 
Many of the Ferns are now in fruit, as Pohjpodium. vulyare; Woodsia ilvensis; Cystea fra- 
gilis; Asplenium Trichomanes, Rutcumuraria, aUernifolium., septentrionalc, Adiontum-nigrum, 
lanceohtum, and fontanum; Pteris crispa; Adiantum Cap Ulus-veneris; these are found on 
rocks, walls, and .shady banks, and in woods, &c. 
'^Fungi, must be considered as an appendage and ornament of Autumn, they are not gene¬ 
rally in healthy speudour till fostered by the evening dews and damps of September, and in 
this season, no part of the vegetable world can exceed them in elegance of form, and gentle¬ 
ness of frabrication; but these fragile children of the earth are beauties of an hour, 
“ Tr.insient as the morning dew, 
“They glitter and exhale, 
and must be viewed before advancing age changes all their features.”* They may now be 
found on decaying branches and plants of all kinds, in woods, ])astures, indeed in all situations, 
and on almost all substances,- they are a'ways interesting, frequently exquisitely beautiful, 
and many of them present the most singular objects for the Microscope. Many of the species 
may be preserved by covering them with clean and finely sifted sand, and drying them in a 
stove or oven, of a moderate lieat. 
Many kinds of Sea-weed, {Fucus, Conferva, ^-c.) will be best found after the stonns, which 
take place about the Equinox, as those xvhich grow in deep water will frequently be thrown 
on shore. These are easily preserved; the larger kinds merely requiring to he rinsed in fresh 
%yater, and hung up to dry, and then wrapped up in brown paper. The smaller and more de¬ 
licate kinds should be floated in a vesse’ of water, and the ymper they are intended to be fixed 
on gently slid under them, it should then be gradually raised so as to let the water run ofl', and 
leave the plant entirely s])read on the paper. They will in general adhere sufticieutly to the 
paper, witnout gum, or any further trouble, and need only be left to dry, 
ENTOMOLOGY. 
The author of the “Journal of a Naturalist,” recommends Prussic Acid as the quickest, and 
therefore the best, method ot killing insects. He says, “A crow-quill must be shaped into .a 
point, like a rather long pen; this point dipped into I’russic Acid, and an incision made with it 
immediately beneath tlie head, into the middle of the shoulders of the creature, so as to admit 
the fluid into the body of the insect. Immediately after this, in every instance in which 1 have 
triedit, a privation of sensation appears to take place, the cor|)oreal actiOTi of the creature 
ceasing, a feeble tremulous motion of the aiiteniue, being a'one perceptible; and these j)arts 
.seem^ hist tortress that is abandoned by sensation, as they ar« the yirimnry prineii>lc of 
sensibility, when life is perfect; extinction of animation etisues. not iTmere sus|)eusiou, but an 
annihilation of every power, muscular and vital.” 
* “.loui'oal of n Naturalist,” an amusing anH io'tructb c wf); 1<, in vUinh will be found mii'b interesting 
i'.-formation, on this and most f>thrr branches of N’-atural Hi'-'or<. 
