ber the English name of the plant in question. We have pretty well got over that not very rational feeling of objecting to call plants by an appropriate name, and one too that shall be known the world over; and if, when botanists are naming new flowers, they would be at once as appropriate and poetical as Linnæus, when he named another of the plants we have mentioned, we verily believe they might make us in love with as many hard words as they pleased. We refer to the Andromeda, which derives its designation from the daughter of the King of Ethiopia, who was tied naked on a rock, and exposed to the ravenous jaws of a seamonster, in order to appease the anger of Neptune; but being relieved by Perseus, became his bride, and had many children. Such is the tradition Linnæus thus beautifully illustrates in the appearance of the flower: "Andrómeda polifolia was now (June 12) in its highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable manner. The flowers are quite blood red before they expand, but when full-grown, the corolla is of a flesh-colour. Scarcely any painter's art can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion, still less could any artificial colour upon the face itself bear a comparison with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it, I could not help thinking of Andromeda as described by the poets, and the more I meditated upon their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to the little plant before me; so that, if these writers had it in view, they could scarcely have contrived a more apposite fable. Andromeda is represented by them as a virgin of most exquisite and unrivalled charms, but these charms remain in perfection only as long as she retains her virgin purity, which is also applicable to the plant now preparing to celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to a rock in the sea; which bathed her feet, as the fresh water does the roots of this plant; dragons and venomous serpents surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of her vegetable resembler, and, when they pair in the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive affliction, so does this rosy-coloured flower hang its head, growing paler and paler till it withers away. Hence, as this plant forms a new genus, I have chosen for it the name of Andromeda."* He subsequently pursued the analogy further: "At length," says he, "comes Perseus, in the shape of summer, dries up the surrounding water, and destroys the monsters, rendering the damsel a fruitful mother, who then carries her head (the capsule) erect." Many other interesting floral compartments adorn this part of the grounds, among them a rosary, in which however the plants are as yet too small to be effective. Here, too, is the Secretary's office, and residence, in a picturesque little building, with a richly-furnished lawn in front, and a fine shady grove, with a cast of Diana and the hart, at one side. The only other part of the gardens that we can here mention is the mount, with its winding walks of ascent, at the foot of which are numerous masses of interesting geological specimens. From the summit we obtain by far the finest view of the whole of the gardens, which from hence have really a charming effect; whilst beyond them, if we look in * Sir J. Smith's Translation of Linnæus' Lachesis Lapponica. one direction, we have the handsome terraces of the Park, backed by impenetrable masses of houses, and in another, the ever-beautiful "sister hills" of Hampstead and Highgate. In conclusion we may observe, that in the cut before given of the knotted garden which embodied the notions of our forefathers, and in the view of the grounds of the Society, shown below, we have a tolerably satisfactory evidence of the progress of that truer taste in gardening to which we have previously alluded. ABOUT 36,000 criminals and other persons (exclusive of debtors) pass through the Metropolitan gaols, houses of correction, bridewells, and penitentiaries, every year. In the year 1839 the number of persons taken into custody by the metropolitan police was equal to the whole population of some of our largest towns, being 65,965. The disproportion of the sexes was not greater than in the colony of New South Wales, there being 22,467 females and 43,498 males. The numbers taken up for drunkenness were 13,952 males and 7317 females, or nearly one-third of the whole number: the amount taken from drunken persons and restored to them when sober was 9430/., in 1837. The number of disorderly characters apprehended in 1839, was 4957 males and 3217 females; together 8174 persons; besides 3154 disorderly prostitutes, 4436 for common assaults, and 1448 for assaults on the police; and of vagrants the number was 3780. There were 6764 common larceny cases; and 3196 persons were apprehended as 'suspicious characters.' In the class of cases already enumerated are included 52,221 persons. Altogether, of the 65,965 persons taken into custody there were 33,882 at once discharged by the magistrates; 28,488 were summarily convicted or held to bail, and 3595 were committed for trial, of whom 2813 were convicted. Larcenies in a dwelling-house were most numerous in Whitechapel in 1837, and in St. George's in the Borough, in 1836. Larcenies from the person were most common in Covent Garden in the one year and in Shadwell in the other. Highway robberies, burglaries, house and shop-breaking occurred VOL. V. Y most frequently in the suburbs-as in Whitechapel, Southwark, Lambeth, Mile End, and Poplar; but the number of this class of offences, in the whole of the metropolitan district in 1839, was under 200. The parish of St. James's furnished, in 1837, the largest proportionate number of cases for the police under the head of drunkenness, disorderly prostitutes, and vagrancy. Clerkenwell was distinguished for the largest number of cases of horse-stealing, assaults with attempt to rescue, and wilful damage. Common assaults were most frequent in Covent Garden in 1837, and in St. George's in the East in 1836; coining and uttering counterfeit coin in Clerkenwell and Covent Garden; embezzlement in Whitechapel and Clerkenwell; and pawning illegally in Mile End and Lambeth. Murder was most prevalent in Clerkenwell and Whitechapel; manslaughter in Islington and Clerkenwell; and arson in Marylebone and Westminster. One thing is at least clear, that Clerkenwell holds a bad pre-eminence for the number and nature of the offences committed within its limits; but district returns must be continued for a series of years before the character of any particular division of the metropolis can be fully brought out. Comparing Middlesex (including London) with England and Wales, we find that in assaults the county is very much above the average, a result which probably arises in a great degree from the presence of a numerous and efficient police force, which, by affording the means of immediate arrest in cases of this nature, augments the number of cases brought before the magistrates; and the same cause will account for the smaller proportion of murders, as interference frequently takes place before quarrels proceed to a fatal termination. The assaults on peace-officers are also few in number, from its being well known that the aid of additional policemen can be easily obtained. The valuable property in shops and warehouses is usually so well protected in London, both by the presence of a police force and internally by bolts and bars, that the average of burglaries is also fewer than in the country; and the same may be said of housebreaking, which crime, as already stated, chiefly occurs in the suburbs. Robbery, with violence, is also below the average; but in malicious offences against property, the disproportion in Middlesex is very striking, which is to be accounted for by the difficulty of finding means to gratify private vengeance in this way, while, in the country, stack-burning, and killing and maiming cattle are crimes of easy commission. But in crimes which call for dexterity and intelligence the preponderance in Middlesex is very great, as in the case of larceny from the person (pocket-picking) and forgery. Lastly, the disproportion of female criminals in the metropolis is very considerable. In 1842, out of 5569 female offenders, 989 were committed in Middlesex, or between onefifth and one-sixth, instead of about one-ninth. In the Metropolitan police district the amount of loss by 11,589 robberies in 1838 was 28,6197., and the number for which a police force could fairly be responsible was 2919, involving a loss of 10,914, including 446 cases of robbery by "means unknown." At the commencement of the present century Mr. Colquhoun, himself a police magistrate, estimated the amount of depredations on property committed in the metropolis and its vicinity at 2,000,000l.! Is it to be supposed that, with the present most efficient police force of about 3500 persons, less than 2 per cent. of the felonies should now become known? It is quite clear, indeed, that Mr. Colquhoun's statement was either very far wide of the mark, or that a most enormous saving has been effected by an improved system of police. Still there is no manner of doubt, that, from the number of persons living habitually by depredations on property, the amount of loss must be very great. The Constabulary Commissioners, who had access to the best sources of information, made a return of the number of depredators and offenders against the law, or who had been subjected to the law, or brought within the cognizance of the police in the metropolitan police district, and the following was the result of their investigation. They divided the whole number into three classes:-1. Persons who have no visible means of subsistence, and who are believed to live by violation of the law, as by habitual depredation, by fraud, by prostitution, &c. 2. Persons following some ostensible and legal occupation, but who are known to have committed an offence, and are believed to augment their gains by habitual or occasional violation of the law. 3. Persons not known to have committed any offences, but known as associates of the above classes, and otherwise deemed to be suspicious characters. The following is the return: This return, tested as it was by the average length of career of offenders passing through the prisons of the metropolis, is no doubt as near the truth as possible. Besides this return, the Constabulary Commissioners also obtained another, giving the number of houses open for the accommodation of delinquency and vice in the same district; and this return we subjoin: |