August 10. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
315 
M 
w 
D 
19 
Th 
20 
F 
21 
S 
22 
Son 
23 
M 
24 
To 
25 
W 
AUGUST 19—25, 1852. 
Common Tansey flowers. 
Bull’s shrill autumnal noise. 
Sun’s declin., 12° 0' n. 
11 Sunday after Trinity. 
Balsam flowers. 
St. Bartholomew. 
Soap wort flowers. 
Weather near London in 1851, 
Barometer. Thermo. Wind. Rain in In. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
30.355 — 
30.31/ 
72—45 
E. 
__ 
54 a. 4 
13 a. 7 
9 
18 
4 
3 
20 
232 
30.294 — 
30.153 
82—50 
s.w. 
— 
55 
11 
9 
41 
5 
3 
6 
233 
30.119 — 
30.003 
79-54 
j S.W. 
— 
57 
9 
10 
6 
6 
2 
51 
234 
30.012 — 
29.936 
82—57 
s.w. 
— 
59 
7 
10 
37 
3 
2 
36 
235 
29-870 — 
29-849 
76—59 
s.w. 
01 
V 
5 
11 
15 
8 
2 
21: 
236 
-9-8/9 — 
29-781 
72-46 
s.w. 
18 
2 
2 
morn. 
9 
2 
5 
237 
30.160 — 
30.044 
71—41 
N.W. 
— 
3 
0 
0 
2 
10 
1 
49; 
238 
eteorology of the u eek. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-five years, the average highest and lowest tempera¬ 
tures of these days are 71.5° and 50.8° respectively. The greatest heat, 83°, occurred on the 25th in 1820 ; and the lowest cold, 32°, on the 21st 
in 1850. During the period 100 daj r s were fine, and on 75 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
crowfoots—r an u nculace je . 
{Continued from page 285.) 
DELPHINIUM. LARKSPUR. 
Generic Character. —Calyx none. Petals five, below 
seed-vessel, unequal, ranged in a circle, spreading; the 
upper one extended behind into a long, tubular, straight, 
bluntish spur ; the rest longish egg-shaped, with claws, 
various in various species. Nectary divided, of one or two 
stalkless leaves, placed in front within the row of petals, on 
the upper side, extended behind in the form of a tube con¬ 
tained in the spur of the uppermost petal. Stamens nu¬ 
merous. Filaments awl-shaped, widened at the base, much 
shorter than the corolla, directed upwards. Anthers 
roundish, small, erect. Gertnens, three, or one, or five, egg- 
shaped, each terminating in a style shorter than the stamens. 
Stiymas simple, bent-back. Seed-vessels ( follicles ), as many 
as. the germens, longish egg-shaped, or somewhat cylin¬ 
drical, of one valve, bursting at the inner side. Seeds 
numerous, angular, rough, at the edges of the seed-vessel. 
Delphinium consolida : Field Larkspur; Dolphin Flower. 
Description .—It is an annual. Root simple and slender. 
Stem upright, from one to two feet high, cylindrical, downy, 
leafy, dividing into alternate, spreading branches. Leaves 
alternate, the lower on stalks about half-an-inch long, but j 
the upper stalkless, or nearly so ; they are divided down to , 
the base into three or five lobes, each lobe deeply cut into 
narrow segments, and the segments are often forked at 
their ends. Stipules none. Flowers few, in loose clusters I 
at the end of the branches ; flower-stalks one-flowered, with | 
a few entire, awl-shaped leaves on them. Petals usually j 
blue, but varying to purple, pink, and white; irregularly j 
scolloped on the edge; the side petals the broadest, the I 
uppermost spear-head-shaped, not blunter than the others, 
rather shorter than the nectary, but projecting backwards 
into a conical tube. Nectary within the upper petal. 
Stamens about seventeen, with yellow, roundish, double 
anthers. Pistils, usually two, but often only one, with very 
short styles, having a white, flat, fleshy summit. Seed-pod 
yellowish-brown, smooth, solitary, with short permanent 
style. Seeds nine or ten, in a double row; black, shiniDg, 
angular, rough with short hairs and tubercles. Bractcs at 
the base, and in the middle of each flower’s stalk. 
Places where found. —In sandy or chalky corn-fields. Un¬ 
common. 
Time of flowering. —June and July. 
History. —It is called Delphinium, from the Greek for a 
Dolphin, its flower-buds being thought like that fish in 
shape, as it was drawn by the ancients. The specific name, 
consolida, is from the Latin word, signifying to reunite, 
because formerly considered as a powerful remedy for the 
healing of wounds. The English name of Larkspur is 
derived from the long spur of the flower, which was com¬ 
pared to the long hind claw of the lark. It was not ob¬ 
served wild by Gerarde, nor by Johnson, the editor of his 
“Herbal,” in 1630, but Parkinson, in 1620, states that it 
was then “ found in some fields of our own country.” He 
says—“ We call them in English, Larks-lieels, Larks-spurs, 
Larks-toes or claws, and Monks hoods." Sir J. Hill, in his 
Herbal, states that a decoction in water of the leaves is 
beneficial for the bleeding piles, stopping the bleeding, yet j 
allaying inflammation; that a conserve of the flowers allays 
diarrhoea in children ; and that the juice of the flowers is an ; 
excellent application to the eyes when diseased. It was the 
fresh juice of the leaves that was applied to wounds, j 
j The seeds are acrid and poisonous, and the whole plant we 
j look upon as too dangerous to be ignorantly used as a 
j medicine. It is said to be an ingredient of those French 
| cosmetics which, when first employed, improve the com¬ 
plexion, but which soon are so destructive of the skin’s 
surface. The juice of the petals mixed with a little alum 
is said to make a good blue ink, but we think it cannot be 
lasting. The best blue ink is made by dissolving Indigo in 
sulphuric acid, and largely diluting it with water. Sheep 
and goats eat the herbage of the Larkspur, but horses, 
cows, and swine reject it. The caterpillar of that lovely, but 
extremely rare moth, Chariclca Delphinii (Peas-blossom j 
Moth), feeds on the wild Larkspur. This moth has been , 
caught at Chelsea, at Windsor, and in Bolstrode Park. ' 
{Smith. Withering. Martyn. Westwood.) 
Having before us a copy of Mr. Trotter’s pamphlet On 
the Rearing and Management of Poultry, which has just 
issued from the press, we lay aside, for this week, our 
notes upon older poultry literature, just to glance over 
its contents, and to recommend it to the notice of our 
readers. It is an enlargement, and more fully illustrated 
republication, of Mr. Trotter’s Essay, to which the Royal 
Agricultural Society awarded a prize in 1851; audits 
No. CCIIL, Von. VIII. 
