March 28.] 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENER, 
841 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M| W 
Dl D 
MARCH 28—APRIL 3, 1850. 
28!Th Maundy Thursday. Domestic Goose hatches. 
29 iP Good Friday. Large Bloody-nosed Beetle 
30jS Cowslip flowers. [appears 
31;Sun Easter Sunday. Domestic Duck hatches. 
l]M Easter Monday. Ivy berries ripe. 
2jTu Easter Tuesday. Peach leaves open. 
3!W Richard Bp. of Chich. Apricot leaves open. 
Weather near London 
in 1849. 
T. 45°—38°. 
S.E. 
Fine. 
T. 51°—29°. 
E. 
Rain. 
T. 52°—29°. 
S.W. 
Rain. 
T. 59°—34°. 
S. 
Rain. 
T. 55°—40°. 
S.W. 
Rain. 
T. 56°—26°. 
s. 
Rain. 
T. 58°—26°. 
S.W. 
Fine. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
bef. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
4 7 
24 
7a. 9 
15 
5 
13 
8 7 
45 
25 
8 23 
16 
4 
54 
88 
42 
27 
9 33 
17 
4 
36 
89 
40 
29 
10 39 
18 
4 
17 
90 
V 
VI 
11 a.43 
19 
3 
59 
91 
36 
32 
morn. 
20 
3 
41 
92 
33 
34 
0 41 
21 
3 
23 
93 
Maundy Thursday is always the day next before Good Friday. 
The derivation of the name is obscure ; but, besides that we men¬ 
tioned last year, this one is not improbable. As this day is comme¬ 
morating that on which our Saviour commanded his disciples to 
remember him as often as they supped together, and issued that 
“new commandment,” “ Love one another,” this may well be de¬ 
signated Mandate Thursday— -dies mandatum. The custom of re¬ 
lieving indigent persons on this day commenced in England during 
the reign of Edward III, a.d. 1363; and now the lord almoner or 
his deputy deliver to as many poor men and women as the sovereign 
has attained to years of age, woollen and linen cloth, shoes, stockings, 
five threepenny loaves, beef, dried salmon, cod, herrings, wooden cups 
of ale and wine, a sovereign, and as many silver pennies as the sove¬ 
reign is years old. 
Good Friday. —On the present occasion we shall do no more than 
make a few observations upon those “ cross buns ” of which Poor 
Robin says— 
“ Good Friday comes this month—the old woman runs 
With one or two a-penny hot cross buns, 
Whose virtue is, if you believe what’s said, 
They’ll not grow mouldy like the common bread.” 
The custom of eating this “ spiced dainty ” was adopted, probably, 
by the early founders of Christianity, to supersede the idolatrous use 
of similar cakes at this season. Sacred cakes called boun were offered 
at the Arkite temples. “The offerings,” says Bryant, “which people 
in ancient times used to present to the Gods were generally purchased 
at the entrance of the temple, especially every species of consecrated 
bread, which was denominated accordingly. One species of sacred 
bread was of great antiquity, and called boun ” Diogenes Laertius 
describes the ingredients of these cakes as being flour mingled with 
honey. T-here is little doubt that the cross put upon our anniversary 
buns was the symbol adopted to denote the commemoration to which 
they were dedicated. The best recipe for making buns, that we know 
ot, is the following Rub half a pound of butter thoroughly into 
three pounds and a half of flour ; add half a pound of powdered loaf 
sugar, three eggs previously well beaten, a pint and three-quarters of 
new milk gently warmed, and four tablespoonshil of yeast. Mix the 
whole, let it rise well, by placing it before the fire, and then add 
either currants, or powdered carraway seeds, or grated lemon peel 
according to the flavour desired. Bake in cheesecake tins, and the 
buns will be exceedingly light. 
Meteorology or the Week. —During the last twentv-three 
years, the average highest and lowest temperatures of the above seven 
days, at Chiswick, have been 54.5° and 35.5°, respectively. The great¬ 
est heat during the same days occurred on the 3rd of April, 1848 
when the thermometer reached 78° ; and the greatest cold on the 1st 
in 1838, when it fell to 16°. There were, during the same period, 104 
dry days, and 54 on which rain fell. 
Natural Phenomena Indicative of Weather.—' When the 
moon looks red or fiery, wind may he anticipated to be near at hand ; 
it it looks pale, with ill-defined edges, rain is usually approaching; 
and when its lace is clear, bright, and sharp-edged, continued fine 
weather is promised. The 
fourth day of the moon was 
that which the ancients es¬ 
pecially regarded ; and ac¬ 
cordingly as she then wore 
one of the above appear¬ 
ances, they felt assured the 
rest of the month would he 
windy, rainy, or fine. Vir¬ 
gil says, 
“ But if, unerring sign, the 
orb of night 
Clear wheel through heav’n 
her fourth increasing light 
Rain nor rude blast shall vex 
that hallow’d day, 
And thus the month shall 
glide serene away.” 
An opinion, Dr. Forster 
says, has prevailed for ages 
in Sussex, that a Saturday’s 
moon —that is, a new moon 
occurring on Saturday — 
brings blowing and wet wea¬ 
ther; and he observes, as a 
curious fact, that for twenty 
years he observed this to be 
the case. 
RANGE OF BAROMETER—RAIN IN INCHES. 
March 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
93 
R 
/ 29.914 
29-740 
2Q.822 
30.395 
29-813 
29.577 
29.604 
29.813 
29.399 
I 29.897 
29.704 
29722 
30.269 
29.672 
29-505 
29.483 
29.731 
29.250 
R. 
— 
— 
— 
— 
0.01 
0.07 
0.32 
0.21 
— 
90 
R 
/ 29.922 
29.921 
29.950 
30.505 
30.270 
30.097 
29.760 
29.899 
29.385 
129.787 
29.860 
•29-932 
30.441 
30.035 
29.807 
29.679 
29.824 
29.343 
R. 
0.10 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
0.14 
39 
]> 
/ 29.915 
29.914 
29.848 
30.373 
30.273 
30.116 
29.712 
29.831 
29.433 
129.836 
29.836 
29.602 
30.283 
29.907 
29-858 
29.621 
29 . 76 O 
29.280 
R. 
0.08 
0.05 
0.01 
— 
0.02 
— 
0.01 
0.02 
0.16 
31 
R 
r 29.638 
29795 
29.455 
30.285 
30.227 
29.706 
29.568 
29.998 
29.607 
l 29.497 
29.426 
29.384 
30.159 
30.151 
29.606 
29.416 
29.899 
29.560 
A-pril 
R. 
0.03 
0.13 
0.08 
— 
— 
— 
— 
— 
0.30 
1 
R 
/ 29.684 
29.457 
2g.500 
30.223 
.30.237 
29.591 
29.404 
30.024 
29.524 
X 29.596 
29.303 
29.484 
30.170 
30.194 
29.445 
29.300 
30.002 
29.448 
R. 
0.05 
0.02 
0.18 
— 
— 
0.03 
0.05 
— 
0.12 
o 
R 
/29727 
29-780 
29.649 
30.130 
30.086 
29.284 
29.333 
29.984 
29.437 
l 29.600 
29.576 
29.452 
29.970 
30.051 
29.122 
29.247 
29.881 
29.410 
R. 
— 
0.02 
0.05 
— 
— 
0.06 
— 
— 
0.10 
3 
JL 
r 29.707 
30.012 
29./9S 
29.830 
29.968 
29725 
29.452 
29-991 
29.684 
I 29.640 
29.819 
29.572 
29.704 
29-882 
29.486 
29-340 
£9-848 
29.526 
R. 
~ 
0.22 
-- 
0.06 
0.04 
— 
Insects. —In cutting, or rather splitting, some decayed logs of 
wood, a few days since, several of the lame or grubs of the Rose 
beetle were dislodged. This insect is the Cetonia aurata of some 
naturalists, and the Scarnbaus auratus of others. The grub is of a 
dirty-white colour, and the tail end thicker and more highly glazed 
than the remainder of its body. It is usually found in decayed 
wood; but being occasionally discovered in the nest of the ant under 
ground, where it seems to feed upon the bits of wood of which the nest 
s composed, it thence has the popular name of “ King of the Ants.’’ 
After remaining about three years in the larva state, it makes a 
sort of cocoon of chips of wood glued together by an excretion of 
its own. In this it passes the winter, and in June following emerges 
in the perfect form. The Rose beetle flies well, with a considerable 
humming noise, during the hottest part of the day, passing from 
flower to flower—preferring, but not exclusively, our roses. It robs 
them of their honey ; hut, not content with this, devours occasionally 
their nectaries, and the lowermost juicy portion of the petals. Our 
drawing represents the larva, pupa, and beetle of their natural size. 
The beetle is of a shining-green colour above, and the wing-sheaths 
dotted with white. Beneath the body and head are coppery red. 
( Carpenter’s Zoology, &c.) 
No, L3.XVIU, Vol. III. 
