tricts in the Midland counties it is so abundant as to lead a stranger to imagine that they have been planted for a crop, rather than that they grew there merely in a wild state. It has also been introduced into the garden; but if pampered with richer soil than that of its native fields, the flower loses its light and elegant appearance, and becomes double and heavy.

The Daffodil has frequently been introduced into poetry, and made the theme of song. Spenser, in “The Faery Queen," describes the black-eyed Cymoint, the mother of Marinell, as receiving the intelligence that he was slain by Britomartis, when

She played

Among her watery sisters, by a pond,

Gathering sweet Daffodillies, to have made

Gay garlands, from the sun their foreheads fair to shade.
Eftsoons both flowers and garlands far away she flung,
And her fair dewy locks yrent.

We are told that there was an annual festival on which Daffodils were scattered upon the flowing stream of the Severn, a custom to which Milton refers in Comus.

There is a gentle nymph not far from hence,

That with moist curb sways the smooth Severn stream,
Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure;

Whilom, she was the daughter of Locrine,
That had the sceptre from his father Brute.
She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit
Of her enraged step-dame, Guendolen,
Commended her fair innocence to the flood,
That staid her flight with his cross flowing course,
The water nymphs, that in the bottom played,
Held up their pearled wrists, and took her in,
Bearing her straight to aged Nereus' hall;
Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank head,

And gave her to his daughters to imbathe
In nectared lavers, strewed with asphodel;
And through the porch and inlet of each sense
Dropt in ambrosial oils, till she revived,
And underwent a quick immortal change,
Made goddess of the river: still she retains
Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve
Visits the herds among the twilight meadows,
Helping all urchin blasts, and ill-luck signs
That the shrewd meddling elf delights to make,
Which she, with precious vialed liquors heals;
For which the shepherds at their festivals

Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays,

And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream,
Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy Daffodils.

Dryden also commemorates the same custom :

The daughters of the flood have searched the mead
For violets pale, and cropped the poppy's head;
The short Narcissus and fair Daffodil;

Pansies to please the sight, and cassia sweet to smell.

Dr. Wordsworth was so struck with the appearance of a large number of the Daffodil in bloom, that he recorded his feelings in four very pretty verses ;-feelings which were not limited in their influence to the time when he was gazing upon these beautiful flowers, but excited a gladdening power upon his mind when in retirement.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden Daffodils;

Beside the lake, beside the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle in the milky-way.
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company;

I gazed-and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft when on my couch I lie,
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the Daffodils.

The common Daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus) is placed in the Linnæan class Hexandria and order Monogynia, and in the Natural order Amaryllideæ.

THE LESSER CELANDINE.

Ficaria; Dil. La petite chelidoine; Fr. Feign-ranunkel; Ger. SpeenCelidonia minore; Ital. Ficaria; Sp. Celidonia Tschisttakmenscho; Russ.

kruied; Dutch.

menor; Port.

Pleasures newly found are sweet,

When they lie about our feet;

February last, my heart

First at sight of thee was glad;

All unheard of as thou art,

Thou must needs I think, have had,
Celandine! and long ago,

Praise of which I nothing know.

WORDSWORTH.

TIME, ever on the wing, brings us once more to that season of the year when we are disposed to look with more than usual eagerness for the return of our favourite flowers. Their abundance, in the summer, by dividing our attention, takes away that feeling of longing expectation which we entertain in reference to the small number, which venture first to peep forth, as winter recedes at the approach of spring. Now do we watch for the green tips of the Snowdrop emerging from the snowy vesture of the grove, or mark the gentle rising of the soil as the Crocus presses upwards to the genial light. Now, upon yonder grassy bank, we observe the pale-green leaves of the Primrose gradually unfolding; beneath that shady hedgerow, the small leaves of the sweet Violet peeping out, and on close examination, we find the buds of both flowers up-shooting from the midst; and within that stately grove, where many of its trees have stood for centuries, in open glades we notice the elegantly cut leaves of the pale Anemone; while the green pasture is

gemmed with yellow flowers, which nearly every one classes with the Buttercups of the more advanced year; but in truth, it is not to be so classed, although its specific name, Ranunculoides, expresses that it has some resemblance thereto.

Draw one from its bed and mark its root, with numerous fibres and lengthened fleshy tubers, from which shoot forth many stems, of varied lengths, some simple, and others branched, smooth and leafy, now erect, and now lying prostrate on the earth; and here we observe it differs somewhat from the common Buttercup, which elevates its upright stem to the height of eighteen inches or two feet, and clothes it more or less with slender hairs, putting forth from it, and its numerous branches, hairy leaves cut into three linear segments. The Celandine has numerous round, heart-shaped leaves, of a bright yellow-green, which are frequently spotted on the upper surface with black, the under surface being paler and occasionally glaucous. The flowers are solitary and erect, at the extremity of the stem, which rarely exceeds a few inches in length. The calyx, or flower-cup, consists of three spreading pieces, smooth and ribbed, of an oblong shape. The petals vary in number from eight to twelve, seldom exceeding the latter, and are commonly of a bright shining golden yellow. It is common in pastures, moist meadows, woods, and shady places, blooming in full beauty from March to May.

The herbage of the Celandine is sometimes eaten as greens in Sweden, and is esteemed as a useful antiscorbutic. It is considered to be injurious to moist grass lands, whence we are told it may be effectually expelled by a dressing of coal or wood ashes.