Beeches thrive best on calcareous hills. They have been found at the height of 5,132 English feet, on some of the Alpine mountains. In Hereford and Monmouthshire, the beech is converted into charcoal; and, in several counties, its leaves are used for beds, instead of feathers. The wood of this tree is almost as necessary to the cabinetmakers and turners of the metropolis, as oak is to the ship-builder. The nuts or mast of the beech afford food for deer, swine, squirrels, &c. When these nuts are eaten by the human species, they occasion giddiness and headache; but after being well dried and ground, they have been found to make wholesome bread; and have also occasionally been roasted, and used as a substitute for coffee. Beech-mast oil, expressed from the mast, after it has been shelled and pounded, is used in many parts of France and Silesia instead of butter; according to some accounts, it is little inferior to oil of olives. The thickness of the foliage of the beech, and the wide spreading of its branches, which invited the shepherds of Italy to repose beneath its shade, during the heats of noon, are twice introduced into the beautiful scenery of Virgil's Eclogues, in lines familiar to most of our readers. The use of its smooth and green bark, for receiving inscriptions from the sylvan pen of lovers,' is noticed by the same poet. Ovid, in his Epistle from none to Paris, refers to the custom, line 21, and adds the beautiful thought of the name of the fair-one And on my trunk's surviving frame T. CAMPBELL, Esq. growing and spreading with the growth of the tree :— The wood of the beech was formerly, as at present, made into cups and bowls, which received an additional value from the hands of the carver.-(See Virgil, Ecl. iii, 36.) BIRCH, Common (betula alba).-The birch will grow in forests where no grass appears, among bogs and mosses, and on the sides of mountains, where its light pendent foliage, mingled with the fir and mountain-ash, constitutes some very pleasing woodland scenery. Some of the most gloomy and desolate scenes in North Wales are enlivened by the appearance of the birch. The common birch is easily propagated, either from seeds or layers, and will flourish in most soils. ; The wood of this tree was, in antient times, used for the construction of boats, and at present, on account of its hardness, is employed, in the north of Europe, for making carriages and wheels. In France, it is generally used for wooden shoes; and in England, for women's shoe-heels, travelling boxes, &c. it also affords very good fuel. In Sweden, it is employed for covering houses, and is very durable. On deeply wounding or boring the trunk of this tree, in the beginning of spring, a sweetish juice exudes in large quantities; and one branch alone will yield a gallon in a day. This juice is recommended in impurities of the blood. By proper fermentation, and with the addition of sugar, it makes a pleasant wine. Evelyn, in recording the numerous uses of the birch, thus sums up the long catalogue: To say nothing of the magisterial fasces, for which, antiently, the cudgels were used by the lictor, for lighter faults; as now the gentler rods by our tyrannical pædagogues.' Birch-trees, when old, have their bark rough and in dented. 'What a fine doublet of white satin is worn by the birch,' says Swift, struck with its glossy bark, so distinguishable from every other. The beauty of its branches and foliage induced our ancestors to adorn their festivals with it. 'It serveth well,' says Gerard, to the decking up of houses and banqueting rooms, for places of pleasure, and for beautifying of streets, in the cross and gang [procession] weeke.' The birch is of very extensive use in those northern countries where no other deciduous tree will grow to any size. The wood is applied to various domestic purposes: the Tartars, and other neighbouring nations, cover their huts with its bark; and the navigators of the Volga construct portable boats, cradles, vessels, &c. from the same materials. It serves the North American Indians for canoes, and upon it plans of uncir travels are drawn. But the birch is so necessary to the Laplander, that he could scarcely exist without it. Of the outer bark, when cut into thongs and interwoven, they make fishing-shoes, ropes, baskets, and many other utensils: it affords, also, an excellent cloak, with which the head is covered as a defence against rain. The dwarf-birch (betula nana), a plant confined to cold countries, and found only in the northern part of our island, is also highly serviceable to the Laplander, though a humble shrub scarcely two feet in height. For the ptarmigan (tetrao lagopus), the only bird who does not migrate southward during winter, lives under the snow on the seeds and catkins of this plant. for many months in the year, and supplies the Laplander with a principal part of his food during autumn and winter. The branches piled up regularly, and covered with the skin of a rein-deer, form his bed at home, and only seat. He also burns this shrub, which, by its constant smoke, drives away the gnats, the chief annoyance of the Laplander. [To be continued.] MARCH. AMONG the Romans, March, from Mars, was the first month, and marriages made in this month were accounted unhappy. The Saxons called March lentmonat, or length-moneth, because the days did first. begin, in length, to exceed the nights.' Remarkable Days. 1.-SAINT DAVID. SAINT David was the great ornament and pattern of his age. He spoke with much force and energy, but his example was more powerful than his eloquence; and he has, in all succeeding ages, been the glory of` the British church. He continued in the see of St. David's many years; and having founded several monasteries, and been the spiritual father of many saints both British and Irish, he died about the year 544, at a very advanced age. He was buried in the church of Saint Andrew, which, with the town and whole diocess, are named after him. The leek worn on this day by Welshmen is said to be in memory of a great victory obtained by them over the Saxons; they, during the battle, having leeks in their hats, to distinguish themselves, by order of Saint David. Another account adds, that they were fighting under their King Cadwallo, near a field that was replenished with that vegetable. The following is Shakspeare's account of it, in his Henry V, in the dialogue between Fluellin and the king:: Flu. Your grandfather of famous memory, a'nt please your majesty, and your great uncle, Edward the plack prince of Wales, as I have read in the chronicles, fought a most prave pattle here in France. K. Henry. They did, Fluellin. Flu. Your majesty says very true. your ma jesty is remembered of it, the Welshmen did goot service in a garden where LEEKS did grow, wearing LEEKS in their Monmouth caps, which, your majesty knows, to this hour is an honourable padge of the service; and, I do pelieve, your majesty takes no scorn to wear the LEEK upon St. Tavy's-day. K. Henry. I wear it for a memorable honour. 2. SAINT CHAD. Saint Ceadda or Chad was educated in the monastery of Lindisfarne, under Saint Aidan. To improve himself in sacred literature he went into Ireland, and spent some time with Saint Egbert, till recalled by his brother, Saint Cedd, to assist him in arranging the concerns of the monastery of Lestingay, which he had founded in the mountains of the Deiri, or Woulds of Yorkshire. Saint Cedd being made bishop of London or of the East Saxons, left to him the entire government of this house. Saint Chad was afterwards Bishop of Lichfield: he died in the great pestilence of 673. *4. 1193.-SALADIN DIEd. This celebrated emperor of the Saracens, when in his last moments, ordered the cloth in which he was to be shrouded to be hung up before the gate of his palace, and a herald to proclaim the following words: 'Behold all that Saladin, the conqueror of the east, carries with him.' The Ember days are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first Sunday in Leut, and after the 13th of December. It is enjoined by a canon of the church, that deacons and ministers be ordained, or made, but only on the Sundays immediately following these Ember feasts.'-(Nelson.) 7 .- -PERPETUA. Perpetua, a noble lady of Carthage, only twentytwo years of age, suffered martyrdom in 203, by order of Minutius Firmianus, under the persecution of the Emperor Severus. In the amphitheatre, Perpetua was exposed to the attacks of a wild cow, and, after being |