to Europe, Asia, and Africa. It flowers from July to September.

French Lavender (also called Purple Stoechas, from being found in the islands named the Stoechades) may be sown in March; several seeds together in a light, dry soil. When the plants are two inches high, they may be separated, and planted into pots seven inches wide: they must be placed in the shade till they have taken root, and be gently watered every second day. If the winter prove severe, they should be housed; but in a dry soil they will

bear our common winters very well. This species may also be raised from cuttings, like the Common Lavender. It is a native of the South of Europe, and is in bloom from May to July.

The other kinds of Lavender may be increased either by cuttings or seeds; but they do not all ripen seeds in this country. They require winter shelter; and the Thickleaved species, which is a native of the East Indies, must be preserved in a hot-house.

They should have but just water enough to prevent drought; especially in the winter.

The stalks of the Lavender, even when the flowers have been stripped away, have an agreeable scent; and if burnt, will diffuse it powerfully and pleasantly: they form an agreeable substitute for pastiles, and will burn very well in the little vessels made for that purpose. To a Londoner it becomes a kind of rural pleasure to hear the cry of"Three bunches a penny, sweet Lavender."

"And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom
Shall be erewhile in arid bundles bound,

To lurk amidst her labours of the loom,

And crown her kerchiefs clean with mickle rare perfume."

SHENSTONE'S SCHOOL-MISTRESS.

AURANTIACEE.

LEMON-TREE.

CITRUS-LIMON.

POLYADELPHIA POLYANDRIA.

French, le limonier; l'arbre du limon.-Italian, limone.

THE Lemon may be treated like the Orange-tree; and as the treatment is given at great length under that head, it would be useless to repeat it. The only difference is, that the Lemon, being rather hardier, may be placed in the more airy part of the room in winter, and may have rather more water; though the orange must be frequently supplied, even in winter, unless it be a bitter frost.

The Lemon is a variety of the citron, which was first known in Europe by the name of the Median-apple, being brought from Media. Virgil terms it the "happy apple :" probably," says Mr. Davidson, "on account of its great virtues :"

66

"Media fert tristes succos, tardumque saporem

Felicis mali; quo non præsentius ullum,
Pocula si quando sævæ infecere novercæ,
Miscueruntque herbas, et non innoxia verba,
Auxilium venit, ac membris agit atra venena.'

GEORGIC 2.

"Nor be the citron, Media's boast, unsung,
Though harsh the juice, and lingering on the tongue:
When the drugg'd bowl, mid witching curses brew'd,
Wastes the pale youth by step-dame hate pursued,
Its powerful aid unbinds the mutter'd spell,
And frees the victim from the draught of hell.”

DR. PARIS'S TRANSLATION.

Martyn, in his Notes, cites a story related by Athenæus of the use of citrons against poisons, which he had from a

friend of his, who was governor of Egypt. This governor had condemned two malefactors to death by the bite of serpents. As they were led to execution, a person, taking compassion on them, gave them a citron to eat. The consequence of this was, that though they were exposed to the bite of the most venomous serpents, they received no injury. The governor being surprised at this extraordinary event, inquired of the soldiers who guarded them, what they had eaten or drank that day, and being informed that they had only eaten a citron, he ordered that the next day one of them should eat citron, and the other not. He who had not tasted the citron died presently after he was bitten; the other remained unhurt.

JASMINEE.

LILA C.

SYRINGA.

DIANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

French, lilas commun; lilas; queue de renard de jardin [garden fox-tail].-Italian, siringa: in Sicily, alberu di pacenzia.

THE name Syringa is of Greek origin, and signifies a pipe. The old English name is Pipe-tree. Caspar Bauhin supposes Syringa to be an African wood. Linnæus was inclined to trace the name to the nymph Syrinx, who, to escape the pursuit of the god Pan, was, at her own request, changed by the gods into a reed; of which Pan formed a musical instrument, and gave it the name of his favourite nymph:

"Among the Hamadryade Nonacrines,

(On cold Arcadian hills) for beauty famed,
A Nais dwelt; the nymphs her Syrinx named,

Who oft deceived the satyrs that pursued,
The rural gods, and those whom woods include.
In exercises, and in chaste desire,

Diana-like; and such in her attire.

You either in each other might behold,

Save that her bow was horn-Diana's, gold:

Yet oft mistook. Pan, crown'd with pines, returning
From steep Lycæus, saw her; and love-burning,
Thus said: Fair virgin, grant a god's request,
And be his wife.' Surcease to tell the rest;
How from his prayers she fled, as from her shame,
Till to smooth Ladon's sandy banks she came :
There stopp'd; implored the liquid sister's aid
To change her shape, and pity a forced maid.
Pan, when he thought he had his Syrinx clasp'd
Between his arms, reeds for her body grasp❜d.
He sighs: they, stirr'd therewith, report again
A mournful sound, like one that did complain.
Rapt with the music-' Yet, oh sweet!' said he,
'Together ever thus converse will we.'
Then of unequal wax-join'd reeds he framed
This seven-fold pipe: of her 'twas Syrinx named."
SANDYS' OVID, book 1.

Lilac, or Lilag, is a Persian word, signifying a flower. Of the Common Lilac there are three varieties: the Blue, the Violet, and the White. The second is generally known by the name of the Scotch Lilac: this has the fullest flowers.

"The Lilac," says Mr. Martyn, "is very commonly seen in English gardens, where it has long been cultivated as a flowering shrub. It is supposed to grow naturally in some parts of Persia; but it is so hardy as to resist the greatest cold of this country.

"The Scotch Lilac," continues he, "is the most beautiful of the three; and is probably so called because it was first mentioned in the catalogue of the Edinburgh garden."

Gerarde and Parkinson cultivated the Blue and the White kinds under the name of Pipe-tree, or Pipe-privet. Gerarde says, "I have them growing in my garden in great plenty." (1597.) This shows it to have been at that time comparatively rare; and the beautiful Lilac now so common in our gardens and shrubberies was far more so. The flowers appear towards the end of April, or early in May, and usually last about a month. Although called a shrub, the Lilac will grow to the height of eighteen or twenty feet; and the leaves growing very luxuriantly, it may be considered as a tree of very respectable dimensions.

The species of Lilac best adapted for pots is the Persian, which seldom exceeds six feet in height. The flowers blow some weeks later than those of the Common Lilac, and last longer in beauty; but do not produce ripe seeds. in England. It is a light and elegant shrub, of a more lady-like delicacy than the Common kind; compared to which, it is as the light and crisp Chinese-rose compared to the full-blown beauty of the Cabbage-rose. This shrub was formerly known among the nurserymen by the name of the Persian Jasmin.

The Common Lilac thrives best upon a rich, light soil, such as the gardens in the neighbourhood of London are chiefly composed of; and there they grow much larger than in any other part of England. In a strong loam, or a chalky soil, they make little or no progress. The best time to transplant them is in the autumn. The Common Lilac is a native of Persia, as well as the Persian, specifically so called; but the latter was brought to this country about half a century later.

It may not be altogether useless to mention, that the flowers of the Lilac are always produced upon the shoots