The roof of the houses is formed of curvilinear iron bars, and the whole is heated by steam. The principal range of hothouses is shown in our engraving. It is on the terrace, having several fountains and broad flights of steps in front of it. The plants are labelled with their common and scientific names, and in some cases with the names of their countries. Opposite to the hothouses are the herbaceous grounds, laid out in a circular manner, and divided into small compartments for the Linnæan classification. The grounds generally are laid out in walks, and beds of well-cultivated native plants, intermingled with parterres of the more gaudy exotic races. They are also adorned with ponds and cisterns for aquatic vegetation, and at the west end is a small arboretum. In front of the hothouses is a parade," ," furnished with seats; Brussels is seen from it with great advantage.

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The gardens are open to the public three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, from ten o'clock till three. They are open every day for students and foreigners. The society to whom this young but liberally and excellently managed institution belongs, is composed of natives and foreigners; they have halfyearly exhibitions at the rotunda, which is at the back of the central conservatory.

PIASAU ROCK.

IASAU, or Pi-as-sau Rock, so called from a remarkable legend connected with it, is situated on the northern confines of the city of Alton, immediate on the Mississippi, from the surface of which it rises to a height of nearly one hundred feet, including a receding base of broken and shelving rock, extending about thirty feet from the water's edge, and about the same distance in height. Its summit is sparsely studded with dwarf cedars, and it presents a craggy and jagged front, with the exception of a space of about fifty feet

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by forty, which is smooth and even. this space is emblazoned the figure of a hybridous animal, having a head resembling that of a fox, from which protrude large horns or antlers; its back is supplied with wings, and it has a long curling tail, and four feet, or rather, four huge claws. The sketch of the figure is very rough, and evidently executed by no master hand. It seems to have been first drawn with a species of red paint, and afterward rubbed over and polished with lime, or some other white substance. Immediately in the rear is another figure, but so obliterated by time, and by being marked over with names of ambitious visiters (who have taken this only available method of making themselves known to fame), that it is impossible to trace its outline; it is probable, however, from the few marks visible, that it was intended to represent an animal similar to the former, but in a different position. The figure, which remains entire, is about eight feet long, and five in height, to the tip of the wing which is thrown upward over the back. The Piasau rock is the lower extremity of the bluffs, which, commencing at Alton, extend northward up the Mississippi river. It has been marked as we have described, " from the time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary;" and what is most remarkable, the tradition connected with it, is not confined to a few tribes of Indians only, but seems to exist among all the aboriginal inhabitants of the great west, none of whom even to this day, pass the rock without discharging their arrows or rifles at the figure, upon and around which, are innumerable marks of balls and other missiles.

The legend, as we have heard it, is as follows: The numerous and powerful nation, called the Illinois, formerly inhabited the state which now bears their name, over the greater portion of which their hunting grounds extended. For very many years they continued to increase in numbers and prosperity, and were deemed the bravest and most warlike of all the tribes of the Great Valley. At length, in the most populous district of their country, near the residence of their greatest chief, there appeared an enormous animal, part beast, part bird, which took up its

abode on the rock, and banqueted daily upon numbers of the people, whom it bore off in its immense talons. It was covered with scales of every possible color, and had a large tail, with a blow of which it could shake the earth; from its head, which was like the head of a fox with the beak of an eagle, projected immense horns, and its four feet were armed with powerful claws, in each of which it could carry a buffalo. The flapping of its enormous wings was like the roar of thunder; and when it dived into the river, it threw the waves far upon the land. To this animal they gave the name of the "Bird of the Pi-as-sau," or the bird of the evil spirit. In vain did the "medicine men" use all their powers to drive away this fearful visiter. Day by day the number of their tribe diminished, to feed his insatiate appetite. At last the young chief of the nation, Wassatogo, who was beloved by his people, and esteemed as their bravest and best warrior, called a council of the priests, in a secret cave, where, after fasting for many days, they slept, and the Great Spirit came to the young chief in his sleep, and told him the only way to rid his people of their destroyer, was to offer himself as a sacrifice. Wassatogo started up with joy, and aroused the slumbering priests, informed them what had occurred to him, and of his determination to make the sacrifice required. He then assembled the tribe, and made a speechrecounting his deeds of valor, acquainting them of his dream, and exhorting them, like him, to be ever ready to die for their people. Wassatogo then dressed himself in his chieftain's garb, put on his warpaint, as if going to battle, and taking his bow, arrows, and tomahawk, he placed himself on a prominent point of the rock, to await the coming of the monster bird. Meanwhile, as he had been directed in his vision, a band of his best braves had been concealed in the interstices of the rock, each with his arrow drawn to the head, waiting the moment when their chief should be attacked, to wreak their last vengeance on their enemy. High and erect the bold Wassatogo stood, chanting his death dirge, with a calm and placid countenance, when suddenly there came a roar as of awful thunder, and in an in

stant the bird of the Pi-as-sau, uttering a wild scream that shook the hills, darted upon and seized the chieftain in his talons; at that moment Wassatogo dealt it a blow in the head with his tomahawk, and his braves let fly their arrows from the ambush, and the unwieldy carcass of the bird rolled down the cliff, while the chieftain remained unhurt. The tribe now gave way to the wildest joy, and held a great feast in honor of the event, and to commemorate it, painted the figure of the bird, on the side of the rock on whose summit Wassatogo had stood, and there it has endured for ages, a mark for the arrow or bullet of every red man, who has since passed it, in descending the great father of waters.

Every people have had their traditions of monsters and strangely-formed destructive animals. The ancient Greeks and Romans had their stories of centaurs and of hydras; the Moors and Egyptians, their tales of anthropophagi and various other hideous creatures; and even the English have transmitted a legend of the winged dragon vanquished by St. George. Historians have traced the probable causes, and reconciled to nature the fables of the monsters of antiquity by allowing largely for the workings of the imagination, among a semi-barbarous people. It may be, that the tradition of the Pi-as-sau bird is not without a foundation in truth. when we reflect on it, in connexion with the enormous fossil remains found in various places in the west, and allow for the imperfect skill of the limners who sketched its portrait, and for the natural love for the marvellous in man, as well as for the additions made by the fancy of the rude savages who have perpetuated it in oral lore; and, taking these considerations together with the resemblance of many parts of the animals of tradition, to the skeletons of the mammoth, the mastodon, and the missourium, it would be no uneasy or unreasonable task, to believe that some one of those animals formed the basis on which the imagination of the savage has erected his legend of the bird of the Pi-as-sau. In connexion with this subject, and with a view of throwing out a hint that may be useful to others, we make a few extracts concerning bones that have been found at

different periods and places. Dr. William Goforth, of Cincinnati, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, dated in December, 1806, in describing some bones taken by him from Big-bone Lick, Kentucky, says: "The bones of one paw nearly filled a flour barrel; it had four claws, and when the bones were regularly placed together, measured from the oscalists to the end of either middle claw, five feet two inches. The bones of this paw were similar to those of a bear's foot. Where I found these bones, I found large quantities of bear's bones at the same time, and had an opportunity of arranging and comparing the bones together, and the similarity was striking in every particular, except the size. The vertebræ of the back and neck, when arranged in order with the os sacrum and coccygis, measured nearly sixty feet, allowing for cartilages; though I am not confident the bones all belonged to one animal, and the number of vertebræ I can not recollect. I had some thigh bones of incognita of a monstrous size, when compared with any other animal," &c.

In 1839, Mr. Albert Koch, proprietor of the St. Louis Museum, procured a large quantity of bones, from the vicinity of the Sulphur springs, on Little Rock creek, in Jefferson county, Missouri, about twentytwo miles south of St. Louis. To a skeleton formed of some of these bones, he gave the name of Koch's Missourium. This animal had a trunk, and enormous tusks and claws, and was much larger than the Mastodon. Among the bones found by Mr. Koch, was the "head of an undescribed animal from which it appears that it exceeded the elephant from four to six times."

The tradition of the Indians certainly bears strong affinity to the existence of those immense animals, which have left us no trace of their being, except their bones. What an extensive scheme for conjecture and research, do they afford to the antiquarian, the naturalist, and the philosopher!

REMEMBER that labor is indispensable to excellence. This is an incontrovertible truth, although vanity can not be brought to believe, or indolence be made to heed it.

THE KINKAJOU.

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F solitary and recluse habits, this animal for the most part, lives among the branches of the trees in large forests, and is in every respect well adapted for climbing; being, however, decidedly nocturnal, it is but little exposed to the observation even of those who sojourn among the places frequented by it. During the day it sleeps in its retreat, rolled up like a ball, and, if roused, appears torpid and inactive. As soon, however, as the dusk of evening sets in, it is fully awake, and is all activity, displaying the utmost restlessness and address, climbing from branch to branch in quest of food, and using its prehensile tail to assist itself in its manoeuvres. Few mammalia are more incommoded by light than the kinkajou; the pupils of the eyes contract to a mere round point, even when the rays of the sun have not been very bright, while the animal at the same time testifies by its actions its aversion to the unwelcome glare.

In size the kinkajou is equal to a fullgrown cat, but its limbs are much stouter and more muscular, and its body more firmly built. In walking, the sole of the foot is applied fairly to the ground, as in the case of the badger. Its claws are strong and curved, the toes on each foot being five. The ears are short and rounded. The fur is full, but not long, and very closely set. The kinkajou was not unknown to Buffon, who, however, for a long time confounded it with the glutton, nor was he aware of his error until an opportunity occurred of his seeing two of these animals. One was exhibited at St. Germain in 1773, under the title of "an animal unknown to naturalists." The other was in the possession of a gentleman in Paris, who brought it from New Spain. This latter individual was suffered to go at large, being perfectly tame; and, after rambling about all night, would return to its accustomed sleeping-place, where it was always to be found in the morning. Without being docile, it is familiar, but