the number of from twenty to thirty parts little thread-like organs terminating in a pair of membranous cases, containing minute granules. In this tribe the cases turn their openings, which are vertical slits, outwardsan observation which, minute as it seems, is not unworthy of attention.

The remaining parts are the seed-bearing leaves, which, in this flower, number six or eight, representing two circles.

The common form of the organ is, to have its extremity lengthened out and glandular at the tip; whilst the germs are borne on the margin of the transformed leaf which folds on itself, uniting at the edge-often the pressure allows but a single germ to come to perfection. It is very common for the several organs of this kind belonging to one flower to be combined by pressure from without into one mass, forming a compound seed-vessel; occasionally, all but one are suppressed, in which case we have a single simple seed-vessel, such as in the pea-pod.

In the case before us, all the parts of all the circles remain separate, which is characteristic of the great natural family to which it belongs; but instead of the numerous, single-seeded, closely-fitting seed vessels, giving the idea of so many naked seeds, of many of its allies, our plant has six or eight pods, each with several seeds; thus showing itself to belong to the section of the Hellebores. Within each seed the infant germ, which is very minute, is enfolded in a fleshy substance, called, from a supposed resemblance in nature to the white of an egg, albumen, which is altogether wanting in many seeds, and of which the absence or presence is noted as of great importance.

There is an underground stem, from beneath which the root fibres proceed; swelled at the buds, and which increases so as to make the plant easy to introduce. The leaves rise out of the ground on their own peculiar stalks, and each consists of several pieces spread equally around a centre. It is a native of various parts of Europe, chiefly towards the south-as in France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy. Few gardens are withont it, and none ought to be; since it is at the same time pretty in itself, easily procured, and, in the earliness of its flowering season, possesses a rare and much-prized charm.

The botanical name is Eranthis hyemalis. These botanical names frighten away many persons from the study of flowers; yet they are really a great assistance, and without them no one could acquire or retain a knowledge of any considerable number of plants. Common vernacular names are often uncertain in their application, often merely local; of no use in communicating with foreigners, and of no assistance in connecting the particular species in our memories, with

its allies, or enabling us to refer it to its place in a general system; without which our best observations would be a mass of confusion, and we could hardly be said to have advanced a step in the knowledge of Nature. English names, if made precise enough to be of any use, become stiff and formal; and quite as difficult as those which equally belong to all the world. The two names which we apply to an object, tell us the family to which it immediately belongs, and its own distinctive appellation.

When the instructed botanist hears the names we have announced, he remembers that Eranthis is a small family; or to use the scientific term, a genus, closely allied to Helleborus, with which it agrees in its regular flower, and in its interior floral envelope or circle of petals assuming the form of honeycups; whilst the green leafy circle under the flower, the fading and falling outer floral circle or calyx, and a little difference in the shape and arrangement of the seeds, are thought to justify its having a name of its own.

The hellebores, with the columbines, larkspurs,and monks' hoods, form the tribe of the Helleboracea, which is one of the leading divisions of the great natural order of Ranunculaceae, including, with other families, those well-known ones, Clematis, Anemone, Ranunculus, and Paonia.

All this, which occurs at once to the memory of the well-informed botanist, is easily learned from books even by a beginner; and by taking the trouble to look over a few descriptions, and compare a few plates with living specimens, he sees what is common to all the allies, and forms the conception of a distinct natural group with which the little subject of these remarks is thenceforth conW. HINCKS, F.L.S.

nected.

ZOOLOGICAL FOLK LORE.-No. IV. BY J. M'INTOSH, MEM. ENT. SOC., ETC. (Continued from Vol. IV., Page 279.)

I NOW RETURN to the curious catalogue of popular superstitions, at which I think some few of us can afford to laugh heartily ;— albeit very many-if they knew we were laughing would rate us for it soundly!

No. 28. THE TOAD.-The following is an excellent remedy to stop bleeding at the nose, mouth, &c. Take a toad and dry him up in the sun. Then put him into a linen bag, and hang him with a string about the neck of the party that bleedeth, letting it hang so low that it may touch the heart on the left side (near to the heart). This will certainly stay all manner of bleeding at the mouth, nose, &c. Powdered toads, put in a bag and laid on the stomach, will relieve any pain in that important part of the body!

29. TOOTH-ACH.-In some parts of the country you are sagely requested, when suffering from the torments of tooth-ach, to take a nail and tear the gums about the teeth till they bleed. Then drive the nail into a wooden bean up to the head. After this has been carefully done, the pain will cease, and you will never again be tormented with tooth-ach!!

30. CURE FOR THRUSH.-In Devonshire, they take a child to a running stream; and drawing a straw through its mouth, they repeat the words,-"Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, &c."

31. "SNAIL, SNAIL, COME OUT OF YOUR HOLE, &c."-In every county we have visited, there have we found children amusing themselves by chanting songs to snails, trying to induce them thereby to put forth their horns. In Surrey and Scotland the chant is

hairy caterpillar in a small bag round the neck of the child. As the caterpillar dies, so does the cough! In former times, the remedy was that of riding the child on the back of a bear! And to this day, you are told to pass the child nine times over the back and under the belly of an ass!!

34. PIGEONS.-It is a sure sign of death if an invalid asks for a pigeon!!

35. PIGS.-If fishermen meet a pig on their way to their boats, they will return again. The event is an omen that bodes ill to their fishing!

36. TO AVERT SICKNESS.-Hang up a sickle, or some iron implement, at the head of the sick person's bed!

37. ROASTED MICE. We have lately heard, that when children had the measles their nurse gave them roasted mice to cure them!

38. A WHITE HORSE.-In some of the northern counties it is considered bad luck to meet a white horse, unless you spit at him. This act averts the ill consequences!

39. STILL-BORN CHILDREN. -In Devonshire it is thought lucky to have a still-born child put into an open grave; as it is considered a sure passport to Heaven for the next person who is buried there!!

40. CHILDREN'S NAILS.-It is a general belief amongst the common people, and in fact in high circles, that if a child's fingernails are cut before it is a year old, it will be a thief. They must be bitten off when they require shortening! It is also believed, that if adults pare their nails on a Sunday, they will be unlucky during the week!!

41. TURNING THE BED AFTER AN ACCOUCHEMENT.-It is considered unlucky to have the bed turned till a full month has expired!! It is also considered unlucky to turn the bed on Fridays. We are acquainted with an old dame, who would not have a bed turned on that day in her house for any money!

42. RINGWORM.-In some parts of Scotland it is said, that if a little ashes are taken between the forefinger and thumb, three successive mornings,-and the ashes allowed to drop on the part affected, it will disappear. Not, however, before repeating the following lines:

Ringworm, ringworm red!

Never mayst thou spread, spread;
But aye grow less and less,

And die away among the ash!

43. If a person's left ear burn, or feel hot, somebody is praising the party; if the right ear burn, this is a sure sign that some one is speaking evil of the person. This I believe to be common in most counties, and amongst nearly every grade of society. Taunton, Somerset.

(To be Continued.)

he did not sell, and made no use of them. The wife of the famous physician Gaubius had such a propensity to rob, that when she made a purchase, she always sought to take something. Countesses M., at Wesel, and P., at Frankfort, also had this propensity. Madame de W. had been educated with peculiar care. Her wit and talents secured her a distinguished place in society. But neither her education nor her fortune saved her from the most decided propensity to theft. Lavater speaks of a physician, who never left the room of his patients without robbing them of something, and who never thought of the matter afterward. In the evening his wife used to examine his pockets; she there found keys, scissors, thimbles, knives, spoons, buckles, and cases, and sent them to their respective owners. Moritz, in his experimental treatise on the soul, relates, with the greatest minuteness, the history of a robber who had the propensity to theft, in such a degree that, being in articulo mortis, at the point of death, he stole the suuff-box of his confessor. Doctor Bernard, physician of his majesty the king of Bavaria, speaks of an Alsatian of his acquaintance, who was always committing thefts, though he had everything in abundance, and was not avaricious. He had been educated with care, and his vicious propensity had repeatedly exposed him to punishment. His father had him enlisted as a soldier, but even this measure failed to correct him. He committed some considerable thefts, and was condemned to be hanged. The son of a distinguished literary man offers us a similar example. He was distinguished among all his comrades for his talents, but, from his early infancy, he robbed his parents, sister, domestics, comrades, and professors. He stole the most valuable books from his father's library. Every kind of means was tried to correct him; he was sent into the service, and underwent several times the most rigorous punishments, but, all was useless. The conduct of this unhappy young man was regular in all other respects: he did not justify his thefts; but if they addressed to him on this subject the most earnest and the most amicable representations, he remained indifferent; he seemed not to understand them. The almoner of a regiment of Prussian cuirassiers, a man otherwise well educated, and endowed with moral qualities, had so decided a propensity to theft, that frequently on the parade he robbed the officers of their handkerchiefs. His general esteemed him highly; but as soon as he appeared they shut everything up with the greatest care, for he had often carried away handkerchiefs, shirts, and even stockings belonging to the women. When he was asked for what he had taken, he always returned it cheerfully. M. Kneisler, director of the prison at Prague, once spoke to us of the wife of a rich shopkeeper, who continually robbed her husband in the most ingenious manner. It was found necessary to confine her in gaol; but she had no sooner escaped than she robbed again, and was shut up for the second time. Being set at liberty, new thefts caused her to be condemned to a third detention, longer than the preceding. She even robbed in the prison. She had contrived, with great skill, an opening in a stove which warmed the room where the money-box of the establishment was placed. The repeated depredations she committed on it were observed. They

attached bells to the doors and windows to discover her, but in vain; at length, by the discharge of pistols, which went off the moment she touched the box, she was so much terrified, that she had not time to escape by the stove. We have seen in a prison at Copenhagen an incorrigible thief, who sometimes distributed his gains to the poor. In another place, a thief, shut up for the seventh time, assured us with sorrow that it did not seem possible to him to act otherwise. He eagerly begged to be retained in prison, and to be furnished with the means of gaining his living.

I might cite thousands of similar facts, which prove, at the same time, that the propensity to theft is not always the consequence of a bad education, of idleness, of poverty, of the want of certain good qualities, nor even the want of morality and religion; and this is so true, that every one shuts his eyes on trifling larcenies, when committed by rich people, who are otherwise of good character. These thefts are imputed to absence of mind. But may not the same propensity be found in the poor ? and does it then change its character? Is its nature altered by the value of the thing stolen? It follows, from these cases, that it requires great prudence and experience to fix, with exactness, the degree of criminality.

Let us now consider, under the same point of view, another mischievous propensity.

Excessive propensity to kill, enfeebling Moral Liberty.

There is in man an inclination, which varies in degree, from simple indifference at seeing animals" suffer, and from simple pleasure at witnessing the destruction of life, to the most imperious desire of killing. Our sensibility revolts at this doctrine, but it is nevertheless only too true. Whoever would judge justly the phenomena of nature, must have the courage to acknowledge things as they are, and, in general, not to make man better than he is.

We observe, that among children as among adults, among coarse people as well as those who have received education, some are sensitive and others indifferent to the sufferings of their fellows. Some even find pleasure in tormenting animals, in seeing them tortured, and in killing them, without our being able to charge it either to habit or to defect of education. I could cite several instances in which this inclination, when very ener getic, has decided individuals in their choice of employment. A student used to shock his companions by the particular pleasure he took in tormenting insects, birds, and other animals. It was to satisfy this propensity, as he himself said, that he made himself a surgeon. An apothecary's boy experienced such a violent propensity to kill, that he took up the trade of a hangman. The son of a shopkeeper, whose mind took the same turn, embraced that of a butcher. A rich Dutchman used to pay the butchers, who made large contracts for supplying vessels with beef, to let him kill the cattle.

We may also judge of the existence of this propensity and of its diversity, by the impression produced on spectators by the punishment to which criminals are subjected. Some cannot support the spectacle; others seek it as an amusement. The Chevalier Selwyn made particular exertions to be

placed near the criminal who was undergoing punishment. They relate an anecdote of La Condamine, that, one day, making efforts to penetrate the crowd assembled at the place of execution, and being repulsed by the soldiers, the executioner exclaimed, "Le the gentleman pass, he is an amateur." M. Bruggmanns, professor at Leyden, mentioned to us a Dutch clergyman, who had so decided a desire for killing, and for witnessing death, that he took the place of almoner of a regiment, solely to have an opportunity of seeing a great number of men destroyed. This same individual raised, at his house, the females of various domestic animals, and when they brought forth young, his favorite occupation was to cut their throats. He used to take charge of killing all the animals that were to be cooked. He corresponded with the executioners throughout the country, and would travel several miles on foot, to be present at executions; so that the executioners always secured to him the distinction of a place near them. On the field of battle, we find striking examples of the different degree in which this disposition exists. One soldier, at the view of the blood which he causes to flow, feels the intoxication of carnage; another, moved by pity, inflicts feeble blows, or at least spares the conquered; turns away at the sight of a child, of a woman, and of an old man, and checks himself after a victory.

The man enslaved by the cruel propensity of which I here speak, still preserves the power of subduing, or of giving it a direction which is not injurious. But the power of subduing a vicious propensity is weakened in such an individual, in proportion as he has received less education, or the organs of the qualities of a superior order are less developed. If it happens that this propensity is carried to the highest degree, the man experiences but little opposition between his pernicious propensities and his external duties; and though even in this case he is not deprived of moral liberty, or the faculty of being determined by motives, he still finds pleasure in homicide. I shall include in this case all the robbers, who, not content with plunder, have shown the sanguinary inclination to torment and kill without necessity. John Rosbeck was not satisfied, like his companions, with ill-treating his victims to make them confess the place where their treasures were concealed. He invented and exercised the most atrocious cruelties, for the sole pleasure of seeing the sufferings and the blood of children, women, and old men. His first imprisonment continued nineteen months; he was shut up in a subterranean dungeon, so narrow that he could hardly breathe. His feet were loaded with chains; he was up to the ankles in dirty water; and when he was taken from this sink, it was to undergo cruel torture. Still he would confess nothing; he was set at liberty, and the first use he made of his freedom, was to commit a robbery in open day. He soon committed new murders, and was finally put to death. At the beginning of the last century, several murders were committed in Holland, on the frontiers of the country of Cleves. The author of these crimes was a long time unknown. Finally, an old minstrel, who used to go to play the violin at all the weddings in the neighborhood, was suspected from some conversation among his children. Carried before the magistrate, he confessed thirty

four distinct murders, and asserted that he had committed them without malice, and without any intention to rob, solely because he found extraor dinary pleasure in them. This fact was communicated to us by M. Serrurier, magistrate at Amsterdam.

The well-known Sabatino, condemned at Palermo, for various crimes, at the moment he ascended the scaffold, confessed that he had killed a man with a musket-shot two years before. When asked what could have induced him to commit such an outrage, he coolly replied, that he had fired his musket on the man to satisfy himself that the powder was good!

Louis XV., says M. Lacratelle, had a wellfounded aversion to the brother of the Duke de Bourbon Condé, the Count de Charolais, a prince who would have revived all the crimes of Nero, if, to the misfortune of mankind, he had been permitted to occupy a throne. Even in the sports of his childhood, he manifested an instinct of cruelty which might make one shudder. He amused himself in torturing animals; his violence to his servants was absolutely ferocious. They pretend that he tried to mingle cruelty even with his debaucheries, and that he practised divers barbarities on the very courtezans who were brought to him. The popular tradition, confirmed by several records, accuses him of several homicides. He committed murder, as is said, without interest, resentment, or anger. He used to fire at bricklayers, in order to enjoy the barbarous pleasure of seeing them fall from the tops of the houses on which they worked.

These last facts, fortunately very rare, show us that this detestable propensity is sometimes altogether independent of education, of examples of seduction or habit, and that it has its source solely in a bad organisation. In fact, there are sometimes committed crimes so barbarous, with circumstances so revolting and disgusting, that it would be dif ficult to explain them in any other manner. Prochaska relates that a woman of Milan used to lure children to her house by flatteries, kill them, salt their flesh, and devour them daily. He also cites the example of a man, who, in the indulgence of this atrocious propensity, killed a traveller and a young girl to devour them. I have already mentioned the daughter of a cannibal, who, though educated at a distance from him, partook, from an early age, of this savage passion.

FOND HEARTS FOR EVER!

Fond words do not ensure fond hearts,

Nor glances bold prove love; The tongue that deepest truth imparts, May often faltering prove. Love's ways, 'tis known, are different ways, In different tempers found; But oh!-give me the timid gaze,

That, bashful, seeks the ground'!
Give me the steps that softly glide,

Lest earth their place should tell ;-
The feelings that 'neath blushes hide,
As birds 'mid roses dwell;-
The lips that tremble lest a word

Their secret hopes betray ;-
The whispers 'neath the moonlight_heard,
That shun the ruder day!