Mabcii 21. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
473 
i 
I 
•m! w 
MARCH 24—30, 1853. 
Weather near London in 1852. 
Barometer. Thermo. Wind. Rain in In. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.&S. 
Moon's 
Age. 
Clock 
bf. Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
24 Th 
Afzelian ; thick woods. 
29.887 
— 29.801 48—31 
E. i — 
55 a. 5 
17 a. 6 
6 4 
15 
6 
23 
83 
25 F 
I-iADY Day. Good Friday. 
30.094 
— 29.941 44—31 
N.E. — 
53 
19 
rises. 
(5) 
6 
5 
84 
26 S 
Marbled single dot; furze. 
'29.807 
—29.766,47—27 
W.E.i — 
51 
21 
Sail 
17 
5 
40 
85 
27 Sun 
Easter Sunday. 
29.063 
— 29.616, 50—25 
W. 1 — 
49 
23 
9 38 
18 
5 
28 
86 
28 M 
Easter Monday. 
29.632 
— 29.615 63—27 
N.E. — 
40 
24 
11 5 
19 
5 
9 
87 
29 To 
Easter Tuesday. 
29.53s 
— 29.271 06—28 
E. ' 10 
44 
26 
20 
4 
50 
88 
30 \V 
March Dagger; trees. 
29.378 
— 29.200 64—25 
S.W. 02 
42 
27 
0 29 
21 
4 
32 
89 
AIetborology of the Week. At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-six years, the average highest and lowest tempera¬ 
tures of these days are 52.5'>, and 33.8“respectively. The greatest heat, 75“, occurred on the 27th in 1830 j and the lowest cold, 14“ on the 23th 
m 1850. During the period II 7 days were fine, and on 65 rain fell. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
i^Conlinued from paye 1.33.) 
POPPyWOBTS.—PAPAVEKACE2E. 
CHEIJDONIUir.—CELANDINE. 
Genf-bic Cii.abacteb. —Calyx below the germ, of two 
roundish egg-shaped, concave, acute, deciduous leaves. 
Petals four, equal, roundish, flat, spreading, narrowest at tlie 
base. Stamens numerous, about tliirty, filaments widening 
upwards, shorter than the corolla. Anthers vertical, erect, 
compressed, blunt, of two lobes. Germen cylindrical, the 
lengtli of the stamens. Style none. Stiyma small, blunt, 
cloven. Pod somewhat cylindrical, of one-cell, and two-un¬ 
dulated, deciduous valves. Seeds numerous, nearly oval, 
dotted, polished, with a pale, compressed, notched crest 
along the upper edge ; disposed in two rows, on short stalks, 
along a linear, permanent, marginal receptacle, at each side, 
between the edges of the valves. 
Chf.lidoniuji majus : Common or Great Celandine; 
Swallow-wort; Tetter-wort. 
Description. — It is a perennial. Bool spindle shaped- 
Stem two feet high, branched, swelled at the joints, leafy, 
round, slightly hairy. Bndical-leaves in a tuft; stem-leaves 
alternate, one to each branch. All the leaves smooth, very 
deeply wing-cleft, rather than pinnate; their lobes two or 
three pair, with a larger terminal one, all rounded, bluntly i 
lobed and notched; the lateral ones sometimes widened at | 
their lower margin, near the base, almost as if eared ; their 
colour a deep shining green. Flowers bright yellow, in i 
umbels on long, often hairy, stalks. Petals oval, and ! 
smooth-edged. Calyx tawny, often hairy, deciduous. Seeds 
black and shining, each with a whitish deciduous crest. 
Time of jl.ince.riny .—April to July. 
Places where found .—Beneath hedges, and in thickets, 
especially on chalky soils, and, as Gerard says—“ in the i 
shade, rather than in the sun." 
History .—The Chetidoniums belong to the Bolyandria 
Monogynia Class and Order of the Linnsean system. The 
name. Celandine, is derived from the Greek Itelidon, a 
swallow, “ not, says Gerard, because it first springeth 
at the coming in of the swallows, or dieth when they go i 
away, for it may be found all tbo year, but because some 
hold opinion that with this herb the dams restore .sight 
to their young ones when their eyes be out; which things 
are vain and false.” Wo think it not improbable that the 
name was applied from its first hloominy about the time 
of the swallows return. 
The juice of every part of this plant is yellow, and very 
acrimonious. It removes tetters and ringworms. Diluted with 
milk it consumes white opake spots upon the eyes. It de¬ 
stroys warts, and cures the psora (itch). There is no doubt 
that a medicine of such activity may be converted to more 
important purposes. Salisbury assures us that it is an ex¬ 
cellent remedy in jaundice, and other obstructions of the 
viscera ; and, if taken with perseverence, will greatly relieve 
the scurvy. It should be used fresh, as it loses part of its 
virtue in drying.—In Cochin-China the roots are esteemed 
for various medicinal purposes. A double-flowered viulety 
is sometimes admitted into gardens. 
It gives a yellow dj'e to cotton, and is applied beneficially 
to ulcers in horses. The benefits derived from its juice are 
partly attributable to its acrid principle, and partly to the 
sulphur which it contains. 
CiiELiDONiuji BACiNi-vruJi: Jagged Celandine. 
This differs from the preceding in having its leaves cut 
into narrow, jagged, acute lobes, and in having its petals 
saw-edged or cut. Johnson gave a drawing and description 
of it in his edition of Gerard’s Herbal, as long ago as 1030, 
but it had been previously noticed by Clusius and Bauhine. 
Brofossor John Martyn found it at Wimbledon, and Miller 
had previously found it there, and ascertained that it re¬ 
produced itself from seeds. {Smith. Martyn. Witheriny. I 
Gerard.) 
j We como now to that most important consideration— 
tho general decoration of the grounds by trees and 
shrubs, creating tliat diversity of appearance which is 
at once destructive of baldness and productive of va¬ 
riety : without the latter it is vain to think of producing 
a lasting effect. 
We confess, at the outset, that it is not easy to lay 
down rules for tho disposition of trees and shrubs, 
whether for ornament or for mere shelter;—such rules 
might speedily lead to mannerism, which should at 
all times be avoided, Certain principles, however, may 
be offered, by which to guide the uninformed; but even j 
these must subserve—not overrule — tho general im- I 
pression sought to he created, and ho modified loss or 
more by local circumstances. 
Planting, for the present purpose, may he classed 
under five heads; and as our remarks are not in¬ 
tended to refer so much to the park as the pleasure 
ground, we shall dwell chiefly on Shrubberies, Shrub- 
masses, Shelter, Seclusion, and Boundaries : these ai’e 
the chief subjects, hut they may compel us, in our 
course, to diverge occasionally. 
No. CCXXXIV., VoL. IX. 
