strength of vision from their juices. The golden rod, a tall yellow flower; the coltsfoot, a lower blossom, which visits us in early spring, flowering long before its leaves appear; the camomile, the wormwood, the bright blue succory, the groundsel, the wild lettuce, and a great number of others, are known to many. The dandelion is thus called from dent de lion; its notched leaf being supposed to be shaped like a lion's tooth. It has gained nothing however by the exchange of this for its old name, for it once bore the prettier one of condrilla. It is much used in medicine, and its leaves are eaten as salad on the continent.

Many compound flowers ornament our garden both during summer and autumn; from the stately sunflower, which grows to an immense size in woods and plains in Mexico, and excited the astonishment of the Spanish conquerors, to the marigold, which received its name, calendula, of the Romans, from the word calends, because it is to be found in flower in all the calends, or months of the year. The many

coloured dahlias are natives of the sandy fields of Mexico; the African marigolds have come to us from Japan and India; and the beautiful China-asters (Chrysanthemum sinense) are objects of general culture in the Chinese gardens, and far exceed in beauty those which we prize in this country. The French call this flower Reine Marguerite, or queen daisy. The chrysanthemums (literally flowers of gold) are valuable winter flowers, with their delicious scent. In the language of flowers they signify "do not leave me," and this meaning is more significant than many things expressed by floral symbols, as they are the latest blossoms of the year.

THE HOLLY.

From out the hedge-row's faded side,
Forsaken now by half its pride,

Still shoots the holly's unchanged green,

But not in barren beauty seen,

For, clustered o'er that goodly bough,

Are scarlet berries blushing now.

How forcibly recalled to me

The scenes of long-past infancy,

By violet of the early spring,
By paly primrose gathering,

By cowslip, like a fairy cup,

Just made to serve the dew-drops up.

And well do I remember, how
Soon as we knew the holly bough
Should bear its winter fruit, we found,
And with it, ivy berries bound,
But not till we had dyed them blue,
To make the contrast gay and true.

Bright holly, thy dark shining hue,
We even then with pleasure view,
When flowers of every rainbow tint
On earth the hues of heaven print,
And yielding to the sunny ray

Their luscious perfumes-live their day.

But when the snow-flake's silvery sheen
O'er wood, and hill, and vale, is seen,
Thy berries, with the ivy's jet,
Like ebony with rubies set,

Peeping from out their verdant wreath,
Shine brightest 'midst the general death.

And then from every cottage pane
We see thee beaming forth again,

And sacred church, and lordly hall,
Proclaim by thee their festival;

Thou thoughts of peace and joy dost bring,
With promise of another spring.

Our fathers taught us thus to cheer,
With nature's charms, the dying year,
And the soft laurel's emblemed peace,
With thy gay beauty to increase,
Till, Christmas fires bright blazing now,
We may not miss the holly bough.

CHAPTER XXVI.

BUTTER-BUR-USED AS REMEDY AGAINST THE PLAGUE

LARGE LEAVES-INSTINCT OF BEES-GARDEN BUTTERBUR.

"No gem-like eye glitters in thy pale face,
No rich aroma breathes from thy dull lip,
Yet Petasites, there is that in thee
Which calls emotion from its lurking place
To work upon the brow, and tinge the cheek:
There is a scene to which thou art allied,—
A room the sun scarce sees; an atmosphere
Converted into poison, and the couch

The plague-spot marks his own; where crowded
victims

Mingle their groans, their weeping, and despair."

THE plague-flower was the name formerly borne by this plant, and what a host of melancholy recollections does its appellation bring to